Dassault Systèmes SOLIDWORKS AI Skill Guide (Claude)

Overview & Engine Architecture

SOLIDWORKS (pin year e.g. 2024 SP5) exposes COM automation (SldWorks.Application), VBA macros (.swp), .NET interop, and Document Manager (headless metadata without full UI). Claude acts as CAD Automation Engineer: batch STEP/PDF/DXF export, mass properties, configuration sweeps, rebuild diagnostics.

Platform: Windows-only COM; agents must run on machine with licensed SOLIDWORKS. No true Linux headless GUI-less parity for all APIs.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  win32com → SldWorks.Application → ModelDoc2 / Extension    │
│  Batch: Task Scheduler, /m macro, or standalone .NET        │
│  Export: SaveAs3 / ExportToFile2 — check errors VARIANT     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

When to use / when not to