The web workbench

The PLM server serves its own interface at its address, for example http://127.0.0.1:8088/. It needs nothing installed: sign in with your username and password.

Navigation

The top bar has Home, Parts, Inbox (with a badge counting what waits on you) and Workflows, and a More menu:

Your account menu has My account (API tokens, sign out everywhere) and Change password. Administrators also get Users and permissions, Part types, Occurrence fields, Workflow editor, Setup wizard, Server settings, Security, Scripts, Audit log and Backups.

Pages open in tabs below the navigation bar. Opening the same page again selects its tab. Click a tab's × to close it; drag tabs to reorder them, or use Alt+Shift+Left/Right on a focused tab. Scroll positions, selections and form entries are kept when you switch tabs, and closing a tab with unsaved entries asks first. Tabs last for the browser page session.

Home

Your workspace as a tree, with the selected item's details on the right. See Attachments and workspaces.

Parts

Search and filter the catalog (text, category, tag, manufacturer, supplier, attribute values, has 3D geometry, has thumbnail), a page of 25, 50 or 100 rows at a time. Select rows with their checkboxes, Shift or Ctrl, or Select all matching for batch actions such as Force resave selected parts.

A part's page shows its number and revision, and tabs:

A family's page adds its table, members, Generate, CSV import and orphans; a template's page adds the spin-out form. When the server hosts the CAD app, Open in CAD and Edit in CAD beside the heading open the revision in the CAD app in a new tab. Routine views show readable status rather than document hashes; the raw document is under Advanced.

Importing native files

Import native files turns CAD documents into PLM parts from the browser. Choose a .nbrep file, several files, or a folder. An assembly needs only its top file: the parts and sub-assemblies it embeds are found at any depth, and each becomes a part of its own, with each sub-assembly getting its own BOM.

1. Name the import set. Re-importing the same design under the same set name updates it; another name makes an independent copy.
2. Review the discovered items and choose a part type for each new part (or one for all). For existing parts choose Create new revision, Replace editable draft or Reuse existing revision. Unchanged items from an earlier import of the set are reused, not written again.
3. Review import, check the list, and import. New documents are drafts. Assembly placements and BOM quantities are kept and component links point at the new PLM revisions.

When two copies of a component differ, the wizard says so and lets you choose. Missing components and circular assemblies stop the plan. Progress is saved in the browser: Pause and Resume continue without making parts twice, and you can download a receipt. Completed parts stay if a later one fails.

Setup wizard

On an administrator's first sign-in, Setup wizard walks through the server's setup. It stays available afterwards, and each step saves through the normal pages.

1. Part types: review the numbering rules or add counter, free-text, pattern or script types. Counter types preview their next number.
2. Catalog: edit the supplied engineering catalog as slash-separated paths, one per line. Adding merges with existing categories.
3. Accounts: configure groups or create users.
4. Lifecycle: rename the status names (draft, in review, released, obsolete) and choose whether review, release and obsolete are available.
5. KiCad libraries (optional): import all of KiCad's official symbol libraries, or one, as electrical parts with their symbols, footprints and 3D models, numbered by a dedicated kicad counter type and classified by library. A part is imported only when its footprint and at least one 3D model import. An all-library import can take hours; it runs while the page is open, can pause and resume, and keeps a detailed report. Downloads are cached in the data directory.
6. Mechanical starter families (optional): socket screws and washers, bar stock, I beams and aluminium extrusion profiles, as editable families. These are generic examples: check dimensions against the actual product before release.

Finish marks setup complete; Continue setup later keeps what you have done.

Document viewers

Selecting a file or attachment shows it in the details pane, or open it in its own tab with Open document or a double click. PDFs and images display in the page; Markdown opens in a visual editor with a Source text mode. Files you may not edit stay readable. Saving a workspace file keeps the previous version.

Administrators can add viewers for other file types with a script loaded after the page's own: FileDocuments.register({ id, mimeTypes, extensions, create }), where create(context) builds the viewer in context.container and returns its controller. Self-hosted scripts only: the page's Content Security Policy allows no other origin.

Browser agents (WebMCP)

In a browser that supports WebMCP, the page registers its API as tools for the browser's built-in agent: search and read parts, BOMs, reviews and the audit trail, create and change parts and revisions, check out and in, submit and decide reviews, act on workflows and open pages. Every tool acts as the signed-in user and is refused by the server exactly as the page would be. There is no sign-in tool; signing in is always the person's. WebMCP needs a secure context: https://, or localhost.