Quick start

Install Caddie, find the panel, and ask your first question. It takes about five minutes.

What you need

Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit
SolidWorks 2022 or newer. Caddie is tested most on SolidWorks 2026.
An internet connection
Permission to install software. The installer asks for administrator rights so it can register the add-in with SolidWorks.

Install

Close SolidWorks. The installer can't replace files SolidWorks has loaded.
Download CaddieSetup.exe and run it. If Windows shows "Windows protected your PC", click More info, then Run anyway. The installer isn't code-signed yet.
Click through the wizard. It takes a few seconds. There's no account to create.
Open SolidWorks. The Ask Caddie panel opens in the task pane on the right. The first time, it explains what it sends to answer you and asks whether you're learning SolidWorks or use it every day. That sets how much Caddie explains, and you can change it in Settings.

Panel not showing? In SolidWorks, open Tools › Add-Ins, tick Caddie in both columns (active now, and at start-up), and click OK. If the task pane is closed, open it from View › User Interface › Task Pane, then click the Caddie tab on its right edge.

Ask your first question

Open a part you know, ideally one with a rebuild error or a sketch that isn't fully defined.
Type a question in the box at the bottom the way you'd ask a colleague: "why is this failing", "what's the mass", "how would you make this lighter". Or click one of the questions under the welcome; they change with the document.
Read the answer. It names your features and values. If there's work to do, Caddie starts a guide or offers to make the change.

The green dot and file name above the box show which document Caddie is reading. It reads the model again each time you ask; Read the model again, in the ⋯ menu, does it on demand. New chat starts over, and the old conversation stays in History.

The Chat tab after asking 'fillit wont work ugh': Caddie names Fillet1 and its 12 mm radius, and a three-step guide card is open. — Asked “fillit wont work ugh”, Caddie found the failing fillet and opened a guide to fix it.

The tabs

Tab	What it's for
Chat	Ask anything. Once you've started, the suggestions under the conversation change with the document: Fix 2 issues, Mass & CG, Rename features, Check mates, Drawing checklist and so on. Attach an image with the paperclip, or paste one.
Learn	Practice exams with checked answers, Learn by building (Caddie guides you through a part, click by click), and Quick quiz. See Practise for the CSWA and CSWP.
Review	Check my model: a full check of the open model, most important first. Each problem has Fix it, where Caddie proposes the change, and Show me, a guide to fix it yourself.
History	Past conversations, kept on this PC.
Settings	Your name, how Caddie explains, how you work, notes on the open file, screenshots, saved conversations, and Copy a problem report. Changes save as you go.

Tell Caddie how you work

How Caddie explains in Settings has two choices. Step by step explains why as well as what, says what terms like over-defined mean, and prefers guides so you make the clicks. Short and direct leads with the answer and the numbers, and offers to make fixes for you to approve. Either way, "show me" or "just do it" gets you the other.

How you work in Settings holds your standards, and Caddie follows them in every answer. For example: "Inches unless I say otherwise. ANSI drawings. Default material 6061-T6. Minimum wall 2 mm. Name features by what they do."

Notes on this file holds facts the model can't show, such as what it mates with or who makes it. Caddie brings them up whenever that file is open. You can also just say "remember that this mates with the motor plate".

Getting good answers

Say the goal, not just the method. "This hole has to stay centred" gets a better answer than "add a midpoint".
Select something first if you mean a particular face, edge or feature. Caddie sees the selection.
Say "show me" or "do it". Show me starts a guide you follow; do it proposes a change for you to approve.
Ask follow-ups. Caddie remembers the conversation.
Check what matters. Caddie can be wrong. Treat numbers for a real design as a starting point and verify them.

Updates

When a new version is out, a bar at the top of the panel says so. Download it, close SolidWorks and run the installer. Your settings and history carry over.

Uninstall

Open Windows Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find Caddie for SOLIDWORKS and click Uninstall. Saved conversations and settings stay in %AppData%\CaddieAddin until you delete that folder, or use Delete all saved conversations in Settings first.