Things that fit together
The components of a way of building, and how they meet — dimensions, tolerances, and attachment logic — so what comes out is assembled rather than merely drawn.
SystemsDesign within
Design within
a system of
making.
A System is a way of building, captured as context an AI can work inside — the parts, the rules, the constraints, and the materials that decide how a thing actually goes together. It's the difference between a model that looks right and one built the way someone in that trade would build it.
Open Design is live today: the base knowledge every model starts from. Named Systems for specific trades are being built on top of it.
What is
a System?
Think of Lego. The bricks, the stud spacing, the way pieces lock together, what you can and can't build — that's a system. Knowing it means you can design something that will actually click together, instead of drawing a shape and hoping. A System in Axle Keys is that same thing for a real trade: cabinetmaking, extrusion framing, sheet fabrication.
And a real Lego release isn't three brick types — it's enough of the system to build with confidence. That's the bar a named System has to clear here, which is why they take time.
What holds true
Material thicknesses, clearances, spacing conventions, the things a person in that trade wouldn't have to be told. Rules are what make an AI's output specific rather than plausible.
How it's really made
The part that's hard to copy: the exceptions, the reasons, the choices a maker knows from having built the thing. This is what a System accumulates, and why it gets sharper with use.
Available today
Open Design.
One System is live, and it's the one everything else is built on.
01● Live
Open Design
The base knowledge every model builds on. It carries how to model soundly — sound geometry, sensible parameters, real dimensions, parts that hold together — without assuming a particular material or trade. Every model in Studio starts here, and everything below is added on top of it rather than replacing it.
Output: Drawings · cut lists · STEP, STL, DAE · video · configurator
Being builtThe named
The named
Systems.
None of these are available yet. A System is only worth releasing when it knows enough to genuinely beat starting from scratch, so they're described here and tracked on the roadmap →
01○ In development
Cabinet & Casework
Panels, openings, shelves, doors and drawer fronts, backs and toe kicks — with sheet-good thicknesses, edge banding, and the conventions a cabinet shop actually builds to. The knowledge is in the conventions: how a shop breaks a carcass into parts, where the reveals go, which edges get banded.
Will carry- Carcasses and face frames
- Doors and drawer fronts
- Shelves, hardware, and hinge geometry
- Sheet goods, thicknesses, and edge banding
Planned output: Cut list + nesting · shop drawings
02○ In development
T-Slot Extrusion
Frames, enclosures, and structures on standard extrusion profiles, with the brackets, fasteners, and end caps that go with them. The T-slot standard lets any component connect to any other at any point along the rail — so the work is encoding every profile and fitting with its connection points and dimensional rules, then producing the cut lengths and hardware list to order from.
Will carry- Extrusion profiles — 2020, 2040, 4040, 4080
- Corner brackets and structural gussets
- T-slot nuts, bolts, end caps, and covers
- Linear motion — rails, wheels, carriage plates
Planned output: BOM + cut list
03○ Planned
Flat-Sheet & Laser
Flat-pack assemblies from sheet material, where joinery, kerf, and material thickness decide whether the parts actually fit together. Finger joints, box joints, living hinges, press-fit slots — each has to be parameterised against the material and the machine, or the parts come off the bed just slightly wrong.
Will carry- Panels and sheets, with material and thickness
- Finger and box joints, parameterised for kerf
- Living hinges — multiple patterns and flex profiles
- Press-fit slots with tolerance control
Planned output: DXF, nested and kerf-compensated
04○ Planned
Closet & Storage
Modular closet and storage built from uprights, rails, shelves, and hardware. The rules are specific and unforgiving: shelf spacing per storage type, clearances for drawers and doors, load limits by span, and hardware sized to panel thickness.
Will carry- Uprights, side panels, and fixed shelves
- Adjustable shelving and load-rated spans
- Hanging rails, rods, and double-hang layouts
- Drawer slides, hinges, handles, shelf pins
Planned output: Cut list + assembly drawings
05○ Planned
Snap-Fit & Print
Printable assemblies where snap arms, clips, and housings have to hold real tolerances on real machines. Deflection, retention force, and durability depend on material, layer orientation, and engagement depth in ways that are hard to reason about from first principles — which is exactly what a System is for.
Will carry- Cantilever snaps — arm length, thickness, engagement
- Annular snaps for lids, caps, and rings
- Torsional snaps for panels and access covers
- Mating receivers, tolerance-classed per material
Planned output: STL per part, oriented for layer strength
How Systems
work in Studio.
Designing within a System is the same as designing in Studio — you just start with a constraint that guarantees your output will be real.
Start from a System
Every model begins on Open Design, the base knowledge. As named Systems arrive you'll bind the one that matches your trade — and Systems compose, so a model can carry more than one.
Describe the build
Tell Axle what you want to make. It works within the rules the bound Systems carry, rather than inventing an approach from nothing.
Edit and configure
Adjust dimensions, counts, materials, and options. Because geometry is generated from parameters, a change re-derives the model instead of breaking it.
Take it out
Shop drawings, cut lists and nesting, STEP, STL or DAE, assembly video, or a live configurator for your own site.
Start with
Open Design.
You don't have to wait for a named System to build something real — Open Design models, verifies, and produces fabrication output today. The named Systems make that output more specific to your trade.