pystl

PYthon STL generation using SolidPython2.

Library parts are defined as Python dataclasses with a build() method that returns an OpenSCADObject. Library parts can be composed together or combined with custom code before being emitted as a .scad and/or .stl file.

The usual workflow is to add a script under scripts/ that subclasses PyStlPart (see scripts/lamp_side_panel.py) or calls write_model() for ad-hoc geometry (see scripts/lamp_clamp.py), then run it with uv run.

One-time setup

Requires Python ≥ 3.10 and uv.

git clone <repo>
cd pystl
uv sync

STL export requires the OpenSCAD CLI to be in PATH.

Render parts

# PyStlPart-based script (defaults + help)
uv run python scripts/lamp_side_panel.py
uv run python scripts/lamp_side_panel.py --help

# Custom output directory
uv run python scripts/lamp_side_panel.py --outdir /tmp/prints

By default, output files land in output/ (gitignored). Exact filenames depend on the part class or script.

Viewing parts

Install OpenSCAD to inspect or tweak the .scad source interactively, and to enable STL export.

Windows (PowerShell)

& "C:\Program Files\OpenSCAD\openscad.exe" output\<YourPart>.scad

macOS

open output/<YourPart>.scad

Linux

openscad output/<YourPart>.scad

SolidPython2 API reference

• GitHub / docs: https://github.com/jeff-dh/SolidPython
• Primitives: cube, sphere, cylinder, polyhedron, …
• Transforms: .translate(), .rotate(), .scale(), .mirror(), …
• Boolean ops: a + b (union), a - b (difference), a * b (intersection)
• Output: model.save_as_scad("file.scad") · STL via openscad -o file.stl file.scad

Development

uv run pytest
uv run ruff check . && uv run ruff format .
uv run mypy src/

Project structure

src/pystl/
  py_stl_base.py   — PyStlPart base class (build + render)
  cli.py           — shared argparse/logging helpers used by scripts
  utils.py         — write_model, logging setup
  library/         — reusable sub-parts
scripts/           — one script per printable assembly / experiment
tests/             — pytest suite
output/            — generated .scad and .stl (gitignored)

See CLAUDE.md for conventions and tooling details.