license: apache-2.0
pretty_name: FreeCAD computer-use environment (REA)
tags:
- computer-use
- cua
- gui-agent
- rl-environment
- agentenv
- desktop
- linux
- rea
- cad
- 3d
FreeCAD: a computer-use environment
The real FreeCAD 0.21 3D CAD running on an Ubuntu 24.04 desktop, as an agentenv computer environment. An agent completes the task only through screenshots, mouse and keyboard, and a verifier grades the saved files with no model.
FreeCAD 0.21 starts with a synthetic part already open: a 160 x 100 x 5 mm plate. The agent has to cut a 10 mm hole through the middle of the plate using only FreeCAD's menus, toolbars and property editor: switch to the Part workbench, add a cylinder, name it Hole, size and place it, subtract it from the plate with a Boolean cut, and save. Every agent run stayed in the GUI, at about 55 actions per run. (With the Python console left open and allowed, the same agent solved a sibling task 5 of 5 times in about 10 actions, for about $0.52 per run, by typing Python instead.)
Watch
- Agent runs (Claude Code with Claude Sonnet 5.5): run 1, run 2, run 3, run 4, run 5
- Scripted witness, which proves the task can be done through the computer: witness.mp4
Each video is the computer's own screen recording at 10 frames per second.
The task
FreeCAD is already open with ~/Documents/plate.FCStd loaded; it holds one part, Plate, a 160 x 100 x 5 mm box. Using FreeCAD's menus, toolbars and dialogs only (not the Python console or macros), cut a 10 mm diameter hole straight through the middle of the plate: switch to the Part workbench (View > Workbench > Part), add a cylinder from it and name it Hole, size and place it with its properties, subtract it from Plate with Part > Boolean > Cut, then save the document in place.
bundle/artifacts/add-hole-gui-check/verify.py reads the app's files through the computer's data/get view and passes only if every check holds:
| Check | Kind | File |
|---|---|---|
cut |
value_equals |
Documents/plate.FCStd |
named-hole |
value_equals |
Documents/plate.FCStd |
radius |
value_equals |
Documents/plate.FCStd |
middle-x |
value_equals |
Documents/plate.FCStd |
middle-y |
value_equals |
Documents/plate.FCStd |
starts-below |
value_equals |
Documents/plate.FCStd |
tall-enough |
value_equals |
Documents/plate.FCStd |
upright |
value_equals |
Documents/plate.FCStd |
.FCStd is a zip archive. REA's view opens it and parses the Document.xml inside, and the checks address elements by name with selectors such as [name=Object][@type=Part::Cut]. They require a Part::Cut; a cylinder labelled Hole with radius 5 mm ± 0.01; its centre within 1 mm of the plate's (x 80, y 50); upright; and starting at or below the plate with a height of at least 5 mm.
Results
5 of 5 runs passed, about $1.25 per run.
| Run | Outcome | Cost | Video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | passed | $1.51 | video |
| 2 | passed | $1.08 | video |
| 3 | passed | $1.47 | video |
| 4 | passed | $1.03 | video |
| 5 | passed | $1.18 | video |
Run it
You need Docker. agentenv-framework builds the computer: Ubuntu 24.04 with the app installed from the FreeCAD maintainers' PPA (freecad 0.21.2, amd64).
pip install agentenv-framework==0.9.1431
hf download earakely-scale/FreeCADComputerEnv-REA --repo-type dataset --local-dir freecad
agent-env run freecad/bundle --task add-hole-gui --agent claude-code --model <model>
The agent needs a model provider configured for agentenv. --task smoke only boots the computer, with no agent. bundle/README.md describes the bundle in detail.
How it was made
REA built this environment from a real session with the app:
- Capture. REA launched FreeCAD on a Linux desktop and recorded its package, windows and opened files while a scripted user made the edit. It also recorded the app's state folders before and after.
- Export. REA turned the capture into an agentenv
computer_app. It installs the app, seeds the starting files, starts the app, and waits for its main window. It also serves typed views of the app's files for verifiers. - Task. The task's checks were validated against the capture: they fail on the starting state and pass on the captured end state.
- Witness and runs. Scripted computer actions solved the task in a fresh computer, and the verifier failed before, passed after and failed again after
data/reset. Then an agent solved it 5 times, each run recorded.
What's inside
bundle/ the agentenv bundle: envs/ (app module, seed files), tasks/, artifacts/ (verifier), evals/
media/ witness and agent-run recordings (MP4) with short GIF previews
results.json the runs above, with each check's result
Limits
- The checks address the cylinder as the first object created after the plate, because FreeCAD's GUI cannot set an object's internal name; an agent that leaves another object before the cylinder fails.
- The 'goes through' checks are separate (starts at or below the plate, at least 5 mm tall), so a cylinder far below the plate would also pass.
- The prompt names each step, and the screen is the same on every boot, so the task tests careful GUI operation more than planning.
- FreeCAD for Ubuntu 24.04 comes only from the maintainers' PPA, which builds amd64 only; this environment needs an amd64 host.
- Five runs is a small sample.
Licences
The bundle code, the task and the synthetic seed files are Apache-2.0. FreeCAD itself is not included: the computer installs it from the FreeCAD maintainers' PPA (freecad 0.21.2, amd64) at build time, under its own licence (LGPL-2.0-or-later).