Correct what imported geometry can and cannot do - #991
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The Import page told users imported geometry "Can be used as boolean tools
(subtract imported geometry from KCL-created solids)" and "Can serve as
extrusion targets". Neither is true. An import has type `ImportedGeometry`
and every boolean is typed `[Solid]`, so both argument positions fail:
subtract([cube], tools = [t]) -> requires one or more `Solid`s,
but found an array of `ImportedGeometry`
subtract([base], tools = [cube]) -> tools requires an array of `Solid`s
`startSketchOn` rejects it too, so "extrude to face" is out as well. This
was verified against kcl-lib 0.2.177 for fillet, shell, patterns, and
sketch-on-face, and it holds for mesh and BREP files alike.
The child STEP page already said all of this correctly, so the accurate
bullets move up to the parent as a format-agnostic "Editing imported
geometry" section and the STEP page links to them, which stops the two
pages contradicting each other again.
Also on the Import page:
- Adds STL, OBJ, PLY, and SLDPRT, which the product accepts and
kcl-lang/foreign-imports documents, but this page never listed.
- Fixes `import bracket from "./parts/bracket.stp"`. Foreign files import
whole, so the form is `import "parts/bracket.stp" as bracket`.
- Corrects Unit Handling, which claimed Zoo interprets STEP unit metadata.
The STEP page says the opposite, and the STEP page is right.
Adds a "What Zookeeper Can't Do Yet" section to the Zookeeper page,
leading with imported CAD files, so there is somewhere to point a user who
asks the agent for an edit it cannot make.
Refs KittyCAD/text-to-cad#3969
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
r-barton
requested review from
Irev-Dev,
adamchalmers,
franknoirot and
jessfraz
as code owners
August 18, 2026 16:44
This was referenced Aug 18, 2026
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Why
A Zoo Design Studio user spent about three hours asking Zookeeper to cut a pocket into an imported STL. That can never work — but the Import page told them it could:
Both are false. Verified against kcl-lib 0.2.177:
subtract([cube], tools = [tool])requires one or more Solids ([Solid; 1+]), but found an array of ImportedGeometrysubtract([base], tools = [cube])tools requires an array of Solids ([Solid]), but found an array of ImportedGeometryunion,intersect[Solid; 2+]fillet,shell,patternLinear3drequires a value with type Solid, but found an imported geometrystartSketchOn(cube)requires ... Solid or Plane— so no extrude-to-face eitherclone,translate,rotate,scale,appearanceType-level rejection, identical for STEP (BREP) and STL (mesh).
The child STEP Import page already described this correctly. The parent page contradicted it.
What changed
data-management/import.mdx#editing-imported-geometry— Zookeeper cites this URL when it declines the request.kcl-lang/foreign-importsdocuments them; this page listed only STEP, GLB, FBX, and KCL, so an STL user found nothing.import bracket from "./parts/bracket.stp"→import "parts/bracket.stp" as bracket. Foreign files import whole.data-management/import/step.mdx— capability bullets replaced with a link to the parent anchor, so the two pages cannot drift apart again. Experimental banner and units/scale content untouched.zoo-design-studio/zookeeper.mdx— adds What Zookeeper Can't Do Yet, leading with imported CAD files and giving two prompts that do work. Previously the page was capability narrative only, with nowhere to point a blocked user.