Designing around STEP parts

Enclosures, brackets and mounts have to fit parts that already exist. Attach those parts as STEP files and Extrastep builds around them.

Attach parts

Click + in the chat box and choose STEP files (.step or .stp): up to 16 files, 32 MiB in total, per message. Each file appears as a chip; remove a chip to leave that file out before you send. Attached parts are imported when the turn starts, and they stay in the project even if you stop the turn.

Place and lock them

Describe where each part goes, in millimeters, and ask the agent to lock the placements you've settled:

Put the PCB at [0, 0, 5] and the LCD at [0, 7, 14]. Lock both placements.

Imported geometry never changes. A locked part keeps its position until you ask to unlock it, and the part list shows which placements are locked.

Reuse a part

Attach a repeated component once, then ask for as many as you need: Use the switch twice, at [-12, -12, 13] and [12, -12, 13]. Each copy gets its own name, position, lock and references.

Reserve space

Some requirements are about empty space: a plug's path into a connector, a button's travel, a screwdriver's reach. Model that space as a solid, attach it like any other part, and ask the agent to keep it clear of the enclosure.

A complete request

Build a base and a lid around the locked layout. Base: 84 × 60 mm, 18 mm tall, 2 mm walls, with four PCB standoffs under the board's mounting holes. Lid: 2 mm thick, with a display opening 0.5 mm larger than the display on each side and 6.8 mm holes over both switches.