FreeCAD/FreeCAD-documentation

The FreeCAD documentation

Note: This repository contains an automatic conversion of the FreeCAD wiki located at https://wiki.freecadweb.org to the markdown format. The conversion is done automatically through the migrate.py script located within this repository. The script downloads the wiki contents in XML format using the MediaWiki API and uses pandoc to convert between MediaWiki and markdown formats. This is a work in progress towards a more usable and portable version of the documentation, to be used from within FreeCAD through the Help module.

This documentation can be installed via the FreeCAD addons manager for offline browsing.

Introduction

This is the official documentation of FreeCAD. There are several ways to use this documentation: by exploring the hubs, by following the manual, or by searching for a specific page. The Help menu entries from within FreeCAD also allow you to browse this documentation, online or offline. This documentation is a work in progress, written by the community of users and developers of FreeCAD. If you find information that is wrong or missing, please help!

The hubs

<img alt="Crystal_Clear_app_display.png" src=wiki/images/Crystal_Clear_app_display.png style="width:32px;"> Users hub

This page contains documentation useful  for FreeCAD users in general: frequently asked questions, a list of all the workbenches, detailed instructions on how to install and use the FreeCAD application, tutorials, commands reference, and all you need to get started.

<img alt="" src=wiki/images/Crystal_Clear_app_terminal.png style="width:32px;"> Power users hub

This page gathers documentation for advanced users and people interested in writing Python code. There you will also find a repository of macros, instructions on how to install and use them, Python API documentation, and more information about customizing and extending FreeCAD to your specific needs.

<img alt="" src=wiki/images/Crystal_Clear_app_tutorials.png style="width:32px;">Developers hub

This section contains material for developers who want to work with the C++/Python FreeCAD source code: How to compile FreeCAD yourself, how the source code is structured, how to navigate it, how to develop new workbenches, and embed FreeCAD in your own application.

Manual

<img alt="" src=wiki/images/Crystal_Clear_manual.png style="width:32px;"> The FreeCAD manual

The manual is another, more linear way to present the information contained in this wiki. It is designed to be read like a book, and will gently introduce you to many other pages from the hubs above. ebook versions are also available, as well as a couple of translations in pdf format.

Translations

This documentation is fully translatable by users to other languages, and is in a continuous process of translation. Several partially or fully translated versions of this documentation are available:

Other interesting resources

• Help FreeCAD: How to contribute to the project?
• Donation options
• FreeCAD participates to the Google Summer of Code since 2016. Learn how to participate
• All the development communication happens on the forum, so be sure to visit it if you are interested in participating.