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PreferredContourEntries resolves one entry per hole by walking the proposed hole route BACKWARD from the already-chosen perimeter entry. Each hole ranks against the downstream contour's ACTUAL emitted pierce (first non-rapid motion of the owned probe emission, native rounding included), so the cut chain flows toward the outside start rather than chaining on nominal points that rounding may move. Catalogue is the S04 merged list (preferred kinds where present, compass/arc fallbacks otherwise — pure circles included); ordering is the S05 facing/tier/travel ranker; feasibility is one S08-bounded pick per hole through caller-supplied S07 verdicts. A hole with no feasible candidate yields an explicit no-preference proposal naming the contour and reason — never a silent skip, never a partial chain. Arrival proxies (part arrival for the first hole, previous hole centre otherwise) keep the pass deterministic and circularity-free. Deterministic (repeat runs identical), cancellation-aware, ownership- checked, source program untouched, fresh owned probe programs only. This is a recommended-v1 proposal: nothing is installed into the search and no rapid is certified here — S12 wires it and must handle a blocked preferred rapid. Tests: circle pair flows hole->hole->outside via actual pierces (each pierce strictly nearer downstream than the opposite compass pierce); rectangular holes pick right-facing corners under all-clear evaluation; blocked ideal candidate falls back to next-ranked on the same hole; blocked hole yields honest no-preference finding; permutation integrity in route order excluding the perimeter; determinism; foreign perimeter refused; cancellation; fingerprint/ownership/fresh-program invariants. Gate 9/0/0; full Core 3580/25skip/0; cross-build 0 errors; scoped format verify 0; facing-drop and silent-skip mutants killed; nominal- vs-actual-pierce mutant documented near-equivalent.
OpenNest
A Windows desktop application for CNC nesting — imports DXF drawings, arranges parts on material plates, and exports layouts as DXF or G-code for cutting.
Features
- Import / export — DXF & DWG parts (ACadSharp), Excel BOMs, bend-line detection, built-in parametric shapes; export DXF or post-processed G-code.
- Nesting — pluggable whole-job engines (Default, Strip, Vertical/Horizontal Remnant, StockLadder, plus DLL plugins), NFP-based interlocking pair evaluation, gravity compaction, rotation sweeps, multi-plate/multi-material jobs.
- Plate operations — manual sheet cut-offs, plate- or nest-wide automatic scrap cutoffs with a minimum tail-to-keep setting, oversized-part splitting (straight, weld-gap tabs, spike-groove), interactive editing, and spacing-aware pushes that can slide along or away from touching parts.
- Visual overlap check — highlight shared material on the active plate, rechecked automatically after edits, including containment and cutouts, with area shading, pair centroids, and hover details through View > Overlap Check. Usage and limitations.
- CNC output — configurable lead-ins/outs and tabs, contour editing, user-defined G-code variables (
$name→#200+machine variables), plugin post-processors (Cincinnati CL-707/800/900/940/CLX included). Pre-post verification checks overlaps, missing lead-ins, and rapid crossings, with explicit risk acknowledgment required to bypass warnings.
Requirements
- Windows 10+ for the desktop app; the console, API, and most test projects build on Linux/macOS too.
- .NET 8 SDK to build from source.
Windows release ZIPs are self-contained: extract the entire archive into a new folder and run OpenNest.exe; no separate .NET installation is needed. The Rectangles and Irregular nesting engines are built in; see nesting engines. Use the ZIP and SHA-256 checksum from GitHub Releases, not the source-code archives.
Build, Test, Run
git clone https://github.com/ajisaacs/OpenNest.git
cd OpenNest
dotnet build OpenNest.sln # full solution (Windows)
dotnet test OpenNest.Engine.Tests/OpenNest.Engine.Tests.csproj # cross-platform engine tests
dotnet test OpenNest.Tests/OpenNest.Tests.csproj # core/engine/IO/API tests
dotnet test OpenNest.FrontEnd.Tests/OpenNest.FrontEnd.Tests.csproj # console/MCP/API integration
dotnet run --project OpenNest/OpenNest.csproj # desktop app (Windows)
OpenNest.WinForms.Tests (desktop-assembly tests) runs on Windows only; CI runs it and OpenNest.FrontEnd.Tests on a GitHub-hosted Windows runner for every master push and pull request. Format changed files with dotnet format OpenNest.sln --include <path>.
Shared coding-agent guidance lives in AGENTS.md. CLAUDE.md imports it for Claude Code compatibility; make shared instruction changes in AGENTS.md, not in duplicate agent-specific copies.
Quick start
- File > New Nest
- Import DXFs via the CAD Converter (layer/color filtering, bend detection, G-code preview) or create built-in shapes
- Define plate size, material, quadrant, spacing
- Fill — the engine arranges parts
- Optionally add cut-off lines, apply Part Sequencing to order crossing cut-offs before their parts, then save
.nest, export DXF, or post-process to G-code
Review part spacing before cutting, especially for interlocking pairs. See pair-spacing checks and current limitations.
Command-Line Interface
dotnet run --project OpenNest.Console -- part.dxf --size 60x120 # fill one plate
dotnet run --project OpenNest.Console -- part1.dxf part2.dxf --size 60x120 --autonest
dotnet run --project OpenNest.Console -- project.zip # re-fill a nest file
Key options: --size WxL, --autonest (validated single-sheet whole-job nesting), --allow-invalid (explicit warning override), --engine <name> (jobs engine or fill strategy), --quantity, --spacing, --template <nest>, --output <path>, --check-overlaps, --post <name>, --no-save. Run without arguments for the full list.
Benchmarking Engines
OpenNest.Benchmark runs every registered INestingEngine against .nest files (or a JSON manifest of DXFs + quantities) and scores by salvage-credited sheet area, with a penalty per unplaced part.
dotnet run --project OpenNest.Benchmark -- ./benchmark-jobs \
--sheet-sizes 48x96,60x120,72x120 --engines Irregular,Rectangles --csv results.csv
Layouts are validated (bounds, spacing, quantity, rotation, stock match); invalid runs place nothing and pay the penalty. --parallel (default 3) speeds up scoring but inflates Time(ms) — use --parallel 1 when comparing speed. Pass --sheet-sizes for an unbiased run; otherwise only each file's original sizes are offered. --progress logs each solve's start, the engine's NestJobProgress (plate evaluations throttled to one line per 2 s, every plate commit) and its finish. Custom engines drop in as DLLs implementing INestingEngine (public parameterless constructor) in an Engines/ folder next to the benchmark. Built-in engines and how to change them: nesting engines.
Project Structure
| Project | Purpose |
|---|---|
| OpenNest | WinForms desktop app |
| OpenNest.Core | Domain model, geometry, CNC primitives; material-overlap diagnostics |
| OpenNest.Engine | Nesting algorithms and whole-job contracts |
| OpenNest.IO | DXF/DWG, .nest, G-code, BOM I/O; CAD import |
| OpenNest.Console | Headless batch nesting |
| OpenNest.Api / .Data | Programmatic pipeline; machine & cutting-parameter data |
| OpenNest.Gpu | GPU-accelerated pair evaluation (ILGPU) |
| OpenNest.Benchmark | Head-to-head engine comparison |
| OpenNest.Mcp | MCP server for AI tool integration |
| Posts/ | Post-processor plugins (Cincinnati CL / CI Fiber lasers, Gravograph IS8000) |
| *.Tests | Cross-platform suites; WinForms tests are Windows-only |
Nesting Engines
Engines implement INestingEngine.Solve(NestJob). Desktop Auto Nest, console autonest, MCP autonest and the API use one independent validation pipeline for every engine, including plug-ins. Invalid layouts require an explicit decision; malformed output cannot be kept. See automatic nesting and validation for caller behavior and API validation status.
| Engine | Description |
|---|---|
| Default | Any job: runs Irregular and Rectangles and keeps the cheapest valid layout |
| Rectangles | Plain and near-rectangular plates: maximal-rectangles box packing |
| Irregular | Irregular profiles: no-fit-polygon frontier packing |
| Fill | Multi-phase: linear fill → pairs → rect best-fit → extents (named Default in earlier releases) |
| Strip | Iterative shrink-fill for mixed-drawing layouts |
| Vertical / Horizontal Remnant | Optimizes a clean remnant drop on one edge |
| StockLadder | Whole-job, stock-constrained baseline with salvage-credit ranking |
Which engine suits which jobs, renamed engine names, and the rules for changing an engine: nesting engines.
File Format
.nest files are ZIP archives containing drawing programs, metadata, plates, and placements. Saved nests retain each part's lead-ins, lead-outs, tab gaps, and locks, plus the plate's cutting settings. Changing a drawing's geometry removes obsolete cutting paths from its parts; name, quantity, and color edits preserve them. See the file-format reference for compatibility and recovery behavior.
Supported Formats
| Format | Import | Export |
|---|---|---|
| DXF | Yes | Yes |
| DWG | Yes | No |
| Excel BOM | Yes | No |
| G-code | No | Yes (post-processors) |
.nest |
Yes | Yes |
Keyboard Shortcuts
Ctrl+F fill area · F zoom to fit · Shift+wheel / middle-click rotate · X/Y push · arrows nudge · Shift+arrow push.
Status & License
Actively developed; core workflows run end-to-end from DXF import to G-code. Contributions welcome. MIT licensed — see LICENSE.