# Scope

> Open a part. Inspect exact geometry. Ask better manufacturing questions.

**Category:** Self-hosted CAD intelligence
**Status:** Working system · self-hosted
**Role:** The part truth surface

Scope is a self-hosted CAD viewer and measurement service for native SolidWorks, STEP, IGES, BREP, DXF, and DWG files. It keeps exact geometry authoritative while making the same facts available to people and AI peers.

## Who it is for

Manufacturing and engineering teams that need a shared, inspectable account of part geometry without sending models to an external service.

## Capabilities

### Measures exact geometry

Resolve face, edge, hole, distance, angle, section, and mass properties against the B-rep.

### Reads native SolidWorks parts

Decode supported Parasolid geometry directly, with an exact-decode-or-loud-refuse contract.

### Builds a useful part record

Combine geometry, properties, prints, revision comparisons, and bounded manufacturing analysis.

### Serves people and peers

Expose the same measured facts through the web viewer, HTTP APIs, and MCP.

## Working sequence

1. **Open a part.** Upload a supported CAD file or choose one from the private library.
2. **Inspect the geometry.** Click faces and edges, take dimensions, and review extracted features.
3. **Carry the facts forward.** Use the record in review, estimating, or an AI-assisted manufacturing workflow.

## Boundaries

- Measurements come from exact geometry; the display mesh is never treated as measurement truth.
- Unsupported native geometry is refused with a reason rather than approximated silently.
- Thread and fit callouts are geometric inference and are labeled as such; the print remains authoritative.
- AI may interpret a feature, but it does not author exact dimensions.
- Scope has no built-in public-internet authentication boundary and should remain private or sit behind one.

## Next steps

- [Read the docs](/docs/scope/)
- [Understand the boundary](/principles/#evidence)
- [Documentation](https://kinra.ai/docs/scope/)

_Source authority: The Scope repository and its maintained reference documentation._