PrintFarmer Desktop

A local-first desktop 3D model library for Windows and macOS, integrated with PrintFarmer.

PrintFarmer Desktop scans your existing STL/3MF folders in place, builds a fast searchable visual library, groups exact duplicates, organizes models with tags and collections, renders them in a rich 3D viewer, generates thumbnails, and lets you select one or more models and upload them (with thumbnails) to a PrintFarmer server.

Status

Early development. See the implementation plan and the tracked work items.

Architecture

• Electron shell with a hardened main/preload/renderer boundary.
• React + strict TypeScript + Vite renderer with a virtualized library grid.
• Three.js (WebGL2) for interactive viewing and deterministic thumbnails.
• Rust sidecar (native/model-core) that owns SQLite (WAL), folder scanning/watching, streaming SHA-256 hashing, pure-Rust STL/OBJ parsing, plus standard 3MF validation through an optional native lib3mf feature layered on top of the existing normalized scene cache and Production Extension parser.
• Backward-compatible integration with the .NET 10 PrintFarmer server for authentication, model/thumbnail upload, collections, and metadata sync.

Source models are never moved, modified, or uploaded without an explicit user action.

The packaged Windows/macOS release matrix, WebGL2 capability reporting, SwiftShader fallback, accessibility gate, and manual physical-GPU qualification workflow are documented in release validation.

The trust boundaries behind that claim, the adversaries they defend against, and the accepted residual risks are documented in the threat model.

Prepare an editable project for Snapmaker U1

PrintFarmer Desktop can create a new review copy of an editable Orca-family 3MF project for the Snapmaker U1. This workflow is available on Windows and macOS from the selected model's inspector and 3D preview.

1. Catalog and select an editable .3mf created by OrcaSlicer or another Orca-compatible slicer export.
2. Choose Prepare for Snapmaker U1.
3. Explicitly select either a bundled U1 process profile or import an editable U1 reference project. Imported references are copied into a content-addressed local store; the renderer never receives their path.
4. Review preflight blockers, warnings, and proposed changes. Optionally enable per-plate object exclusion.
5. Build and validate a temporary review copy, then toggle between the source and U1 output scenes.
6. Use Save As to create a new .3mf. Existing files and the source are never overwritten.

The source must contain editable geometry, project settings, model settings, one to four supported filament slots, valid object/tool routing, and valid OPC relationships. Geometry-only 3MFs, G-code-only/pre-sliced archives, unsupported Prusa/Cura projects, unsafe or malformed archives, dangling object references, and incomplete/ambiguous settings are rejected with an actionable blocker. Imported U1 references that contain local executable post-processing commands are also rejected; remove those commands before importing the reference. Unknown Orca-family producers are accepted with a warning and require careful review.

Every output replaces machine identity, dimensions, limits, tools, and all executable machine/filament G-code with values from the pinned bundled snapshot. It applies the selected hash-bound process, maps compatible filament settings, caps imported filament temperatures and volumetric flow at pinned material values, and clamps all supported global/per-object speed, Z travel, and acceleration overrides to independent pinned U1 ceilings; optionally enables object exclusion; removes stale plate G-code, slice metadata, custom per-layer G-code, digital signatures, and their obsolete OPC links; rebuilds the package deterministically; and reopens and validates the result. Geometry, build transforms, plate placement, tool routing, and unknown non-slice parts are preserved. Raw paint metadata is preserved, but the app reports it as render-unverified: inspect painted regions in Snapmaker Orca before printing.

The workflow is local-only. Projects and imported profiles are not uploaded, and the app performs no runtime profile download. Temporary review artifacts use owner-bound, expiring tokens, are removed when the workflow/window closes, and stale app-instance directories are removed on the next startup. The app checks the source SHA-256 before preflight/build and after native validation; cancel, failure, save, sidecar recovery, and app restart do not authorize a source write.

U1 profiles and provenance

Released builds contain a reviewed byte-for-byte snapshot from Snapmaker/Orca_Presets, pinned to commit 0c2d17834b7820339c1cf4326fda7db9da4a766a. The package verifier checks the manifest and every declared SHA-256 on Windows and macOS. Updates are maintainer-only, require an exact 40-character commit and reviewed path allowlist, and are documented in the contributing guide.

Imported references are useful when a reviewed project-specific U1 setup is required. They must themselves be complete, editable U1 projects. The app stores their exact bytes and expected SHA-256 and rejects missing, changed, incomplete, or ambiguous references.

Troubleshooting and current limits

• Build is disabled: select a target profile and resolve every preflight blocker.
• Source changed: refresh/rescan the catalog and retry only after confirming the source file is stable.
• Destination exists/source conflict: choose a new filename; Save As is intentionally non-overwriting.
• Paint warning: open the result in the accepted Snapmaker Orca version and inspect every painted region before slicing.
• Profile unavailable/corrupt: use a bundled profile or re-import the exact editable U1 reference.
• Sidecar unavailable: restart the app; unsaved temporary output is disposable and the source remains unchanged.

Phase one does not generate printer-ready G-code, send jobs to a printer, control hardware, prove physical tool changes, repair unsupported slicer projects, remap more than four material slots, or visually certify painted regions. Snapmaker Orca and hardware acceptance remains a release gate recorded in the U1 acceptance checklist.

Printer Calibration

Printer Calibration is being developed as a native, first-class PFD workspace based on upstream OrcaSlicer calibration behavior and its official calibration guide. It will use PrintFarmer printer instances and sanitized configuration snapshots instead of a desktop-maintained printer catalog. PFD does not bundle third-party calibration models or launch a separate calibration application.

Repository layout

src/main/       Electron main process (windows, IPC, PrintFarmer transport, sidecar supervision)
src/preload/    Minimal typed context bridge
src/renderer/   React application (library, viewer, organization, uploads)
src/shared/     Versioned IPC/API schemas and non-privileged shared types
native/         Rust Cargo workspace (model-core sidecar)
tests/          TypeScript/Rust tests, fixtures, and packaging smoke tests
docs/security/  Threat model and security review records

Development

Prerequisites: Node.js 22+, Rust (stable), and a supported platform toolchain.

npm install
npm start

Optional native lib3mf validation

native/model-core now has a feature-gated lib3mf path:

cd native/model-core
cargo build --features lib3mf
cargo test --features lib3mf

• Current scope: CI/dev builds only. scripts/stage-sidecar.mjs still stages only the sidecar executable; it does not stage lib3mf.dll / lib3mf.dylib / lib3mf.so into packaged app resources.
• Release warning: do not enable --features lib3mf for a production or packaged release build until stage-sidecar.mjs gains a real native-library staging step. Today there is no production DLL/shared-library shipping path for this feature.
• Runtime behavior today: when the native library is absent, the app now falls back to the internal pure-Rust parser and marks the scene as SceneLoadStatus::Unsupported with an explanatory status message instead of hard-failing 3MF loading.
• Not verified here: rebuilding the native lib3mf C/C++ library from source. cl, cmake, and ninja were not available in this session, so CI/source builds still need Visual Studio Build Tools with the Desktop C++ workload (or an equivalent native toolchain) to prove the full native rebuild path.

Signed releases

Official v* tags build signed Windows artifacts and a signed, notarized universal macOS app. The universal Rust sidecar is signed before the outer Electron app. After both platform jobs verify their artifacts, CI publishes a detached Ed25519-signed latest.json update manifest.

Build installers locally with npm run make, which remains unsigned unless PRINTFARMER_REQUIRE_SIGNING=1 and every platform credential is present:

Windows   out/make/squirrel.windows/x64/*Setup.exe
Windows   out/make/zip/win32/x64/*.zip
macOS     out/make/*.dmg  and  out/make/zip/darwin/universal/*.zip

Unsigned local and package-smoke builds remain fully functional but do not check for in-app updates because they contain no production update public key. Tagged release builds verify signed metadata, reject rollback, and hash the downloaded installer or universal macOS ZIP before staging it. See Signed releases for credential names, release ordering, failure behavior, and interrupted-update recovery.

License and source

PrintFarmer Desktop is licensed under GNU AGPL v3.0 only (AGPL-3.0-only). The complete source, dependency locks, build scripts, attribution, and provenance records for each official binary release are available from that release's matching Git tag in this repository. See Third-Party Notices for the release and attribution policy.