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Quick Start Guide

Get Caddie running inside your CAD software in under 5 minutes.

Alpha release — Caddie is under active development. SolidWorks 2022+ is fully supported today. Fusion 360 and Onshape integrations are on the roadmap.

System Requirements

Step 1 — Download & Extract

  1. Download CaddieAlpha.zip from the download section.
  2. Extract to a permanent folder — for example C:\Caddie\ or C:\Program Files\Caddie\.
    ⚠ Do not leave the files in your Downloads folder or on your Desktop. The DLL registration path is fixed — if you move the files later you will need to re-run the installer.
  3. Confirm the extracted folder contains: Caddie.SwAddin.dll, install.bat, unregister.bat, update.bat, and a ui\ subfolder.

Step 2 — Register the Add-In

  1. Open the extracted folder in File Explorer.
  2. Right-click install.bat → select Run as Administrator.
  3. Click Yes on the UAC (User Account Control) prompt.
  4. A command window will open briefly. You should see:
    SUCCESS: Caddie registered.
    If you see an error instead, see Troubleshooting below.

Step 3 — Enable in SolidWorks

  1. Open SolidWorks (or restart it if it was already running).
  2. Go to Tools → Add-Ins…
  3. Find Caddie in the list of available add-ins.
  4. Check the Active checkbox to load it now, and check Start Up so it loads automatically every time SolidWorks opens.
  5. Click OK.
  6. The Ask Caddie panel will appear on the right side of your SolidWorks window.

Step 4 — Start a Conversation

  1. Open any part, assembly, or drawing in SolidWorks.
  2. Caddie automatically captures your context — the feature tree, active configuration, rebuild errors, and a viewport screenshot. The context bar at the top of the chat panel will show your file name and feature count.
  3. Type your question in the input box and press Enter or click the send button ›.
  4. Caddie streams back a response referencing your specific feature names, sketches, and mates.
💡 What to ask
Caddie gives the best answers when questions are specific. Try:
"Why is my loft failing?"  •  "Review this bracket for manufacturing issues"  •  "How do I mate this part so it can only rotate on one axis?"  •  "What does Boss-Extrude3 do and why was it built this way?"

Updating Caddie

When a new version is released, Caddie will show an update banner inside SolidWorks automatically. To apply the update:

  1. Close SolidWorks.
  2. Download the new CaddieAlpha.zip and extract it.
  3. In the new folder, right-click update.bat → Run as Administrator. This copies the new files to your install directory without requiring re-registration.
  4. Reopen SolidWorks — the updated version loads automatically.

Uninstalling

  1. Close SolidWorks.
  2. Right-click unregister.bat → Run as Administrator.
  3. Delete the C:\Caddie\ folder (or wherever you extracted it).
  4. Optionally delete the app data folder: %AppData%\CaddieAddin\ (contains your conversation history and settings).

Troubleshooting

The add-in doesn't appear in Tools → Add-Ins
Make sure you right-clicked install.bat and chose Run as Administrator — not just double-clicked it. After registering, restart SolidWorks completely (close and reopen). If it still doesn't appear, open Command Prompt as Administrator and run:
regsvr32 "C:\Caddie\Caddie.SwAddin.dll"
Replace C:\Caddie\ with your actual install path.
Caddie loads but can't connect to AI
Check your internet connection. Caddie routes AI requests through a secure HTTPS proxy — make sure your firewall or corporate network isn't blocking outbound connections to *.workers.dev. If you're on a VPN, try disabling it temporarily to test.
The taskpane is blank or stuck on "Loading…"
This usually means the ui\ folder is missing or in the wrong location. Make sure a ui\ folder exists in the same directory as Caddie.SwAddin.dll, and that it contains index.html. Re-extract the zip if needed. You can also check the log at %AppData%\CaddieAddin\caddie.log for error details.
Context isn't updating when I open a new model
Click the ↻ Refresh button in the taskpane to manually trigger a context capture. Auto-capture fires on document open, switch, and save — but a manual refresh is the fastest way to force an update after making changes.
I get an error: "The type name HttpClient could not be found"
This is a build-time error, not a runtime error — only relevant if you're building from source. The fix is to add <Reference Include="System.Net.Http" /> to the Caddie.SwAddin.csproj file. Pre-built releases don't have this issue.
SolidWorks shows "Add-in failed to load" on startup
This typically means a DLL dependency is missing. Make sure all DLLs from the zip are in the same folder (don't move just Caddie.SwAddin.dll on its own). If you recently updated Windows, try repairing .NET Framework 4.8 via Windows Update or the Microsoft download page.
Still stuck? Email hello@askcaddie.app — we respond quickly during the alpha.