Three minutes. Then ask your AI to make something.

  1. Install Kiln

    Here’s what happens: two free tools go on your computer (Kiln, and OpenSCAD — the engine it designs with), Kiln gets connected to your AI app, then you ask it to make something. There’s a download or two, so give it a few minutes.

    How would you like to install it?

    Copy this and paste it to your agent — it does the whole setup for you, on any operating system, with no account needed.

    Set up Kiln (kiln3d.com) on this computer and connect it to you, then show me it works. I'm not technical: do the technical parts yourself, explain in plain words, and never accept Kiln's Terms for me — only I can (step 3). 1. Install Kiln in its own sandbox (no admin): run uv tool install kiln3d. If uv isn't installed, install it first with its official one-line installer for my OS, then continue. (uv brings its own Python — don't install Python separately.) The kiln command may not be on your PATH yet; it installs to my user bin folder (commonly ~/.local/bin/kiln; "uv tool list" shows where). Use that full path for every kiln command below. 2. Install OpenSCAD, the engine Kiln designs with — the DEVELOPMENT SNAPSHOT, not the normal version (the normal one is years old and silently breaks designs). macOS: brew install --cask openscad@snapshot. Windows/Linux: get the latest snapshot from https://openscad.org/downloads#snapshots. Confirm it's 2024 or newer. If installing it needs me to click something, walk me through it. 3. Terms: I accept these myself — you must NOT (if you run the accept command, it silently agrees without showing me anything). Paste me the key points from https://www.kiln3d.com/terms — especially: Free and Pro are for personal use, selling prints needs the Business tier, fulfillment has a fee, no warranty. Then tell me how to open my Terminal and run <kiln full path> accept-terms there myself, and wait until I confirm. If I'm away, stop and leave me just that one step. Never use --yes or KILN_ACCEPT_TERMS. 4. Only after I confirm I accepted: run <kiln full path> install-mcp --force (the --force means I don't have to create an account), then <kiln full path> doctor. Note: doctor calls OpenSCAD "optional" and skips its version, so don't rely on it for OpenSCAD — trust your own step-2 check instead. 5. Don't restart or close yourself. As your final message, tell me by name which app to fully quit and reopen so Kiln loads (it's the app I'm chatting with you in), and to open a fresh terminal. Then tell me to come back and type: Kiln, design me a coaster. I should see a 3D preview in a few seconds; if not, I'll paste the error back to you. Don't run kiln signin during setup (it needs my browser and would stall you). But in your final message, tell me I can run <kiln full path> signin any time to create a free account — my designs save on this machine either way, and the free account switches on the parts of Kiln that run on Kiln's servers, starting with 3 decorations or textures a month — and that it's my choice.

    Install Kiln in one click.

    One-click install for Claude Desktop

    Downloads kiln.mcpb — always the current version.

    Double-click it. Claude Desktop installs Kiln and wires it in — nothing to paste, no config file to edit.

    Wires Claude Desktop only — the other two routes connect all your AI apps at once.

    The lines below go into Terminal — copy, paste, hit Enter. That’s the whole skill. Never opened it? On a Mac: press ⌘ Space, type “Terminal”, press Return. Never opened it? On Windows: open the Start menu, type “Terminal”, press Enter.

    First time only. Kiln needs a free tool called uv.

    macOS or Linux
    Paste into Terminalcurl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
    Windows
    Paste into Terminalwinget install --id=astral-sh.uv -e

    Already have uv? Skip this. Other install routes.

    Install Kiln

    Recommended: uv — installs Kiln in its own sandbox, no admin, and brings its own Python (nothing else to set up first):

    brew install uvuv tool install kiln3d

    No Homebrew? Get uv with its one-line installer first: curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

    Prefer pipx? Also isolated, works the same:

    brew install pipx && pipx ensurepathpipx install kiln3d

    Install OpenSCAD

    OpenSCAD is the engine Kiln designs with — install it once:

    brew install --cask openscad@snapshot

    Install from Source

    git clone https://github.com/codeofaxel/Kiln.gitcd Kiln && pip install -e ./kiln

    One-Line Installer

    Clones the repo and installs via pipx automatically:

    git clone https://github.com/codeofaxel/Kiln.git ~/.kiln/src && ~/.kiln/src/install.sh

    Install Kiln

    Recommended: uv — installs Kiln in its own sandbox, no admin, and brings its own Python (nothing else to set up first):

    curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | shuv tool install kiln3d

    Prefer pipx? Also isolated, works the same:

    # Debian / Ubuntu (Fedora: sudo dnf install pipx)sudo apt install pipx && pipx ensurepathpipx install kiln3d

    Install from Source

    git clone https://github.com/codeofaxel/Kiln.gitcd Kiln && pip install -e ./kiln

    One-Line Installer

    Clones the repo and installs via pipx automatically:

    git clone https://github.com/codeofaxel/Kiln.git ~/.kiln/src && ~/.kiln/src/install.sh

    Install OpenSCAD & a slicer

    OpenSCAD is the engine Kiln designs with; PrusaSlicer prepares your prints.

    # OpenSCAD (current build) = design engine, PrusaSlicer = slicing for printingsudo snap install openscad --edge && sudo apt install prusa-slicer

    Install Kiln

    Open PowerShell and install uv — it puts Kiln in its own sandbox and brings its own Python, so there’s no separate Python install and no PATH surgery:

    winget install --id=astral-sh.uv -e

    Close PowerShell and open it again so it picks up uv. Then:

    uv tool install kiln3d

    No winget? Use uv’s own installer instead: powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

    Install OpenSCAD

    OpenSCAD is the engine Kiln designs with — install the current build from openscad.org/downloads#snapshots (the development snapshot; the older stable build is slow and has SVG bugs).

    Connect your AI agent

    Create your free account (it saves your designs and syncs them across devices), accept Kiln’s terms (one time — it has to be you, not your AI), then wire Kiln into Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or Codex:

    kiln signinkiln accept-termskiln install-mcp

    Restart your agent afterward, then confirm everything works with kiln doctor. Rather not create an account yet? Use kiln install-mcp --force instead of signin — local still works, and you can sign in later.

    Already living in Claude Code? Even simpler — install the Kiln plugin instead: claude plugin marketplace add codeofaxel/Kiln, then claude plugin install kiln@kiln. (Needs uv — it’s free and takes one line to set up.)

    You’re on the right tab

    This setup lets Kiln find your 3D printer on your home network by itself — nothing to look up or type in. The WSL 2 tab next to it is a niche option for advanced Linux setups; if you’re not sure you need it, you don’t.

    Install Kiln

    Inside your WSL 2 Ubuntu terminal — recommended: uv (no admin, brings its own Python, nothing else to set up first):

    curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | shuv tool install kiln3d

    Prefer pipx? Also isolated, works the same:

    sudo apt install pipx && pipx ensurepathpipx install kiln3d

    Install from Source

    git clone https://github.com/codeofaxel/Kiln.gitcd Kiln && pip install -e ./kiln
    WSL 2 Networking Note

    mDNS printer discovery (kiln discover) does not work in WSL 2 because of NAT networking. Use your printer's IP address directly instead (works for Ethernet and Wi-Fi LAN setups):

    # Connect directly by IP addresskiln auth --name my-printer --host http://192.168.1.x:port --type octoprint --api-key YOUR_KEY

    Install OpenSCAD & a slicer

    OpenSCAD is the engine Kiln designs with; PrusaSlicer prepares your prints.

    # OpenSCAD (current build) = design engine, PrusaSlicer = slicing for printingsudo snap install openscad --edge && sudo apt install prusa-slicer

  2. Finish setup two minutes, one time

    The bundle handled the wiring. Two things it can’t do for you:

    Install OpenSCAD — the engine Kiln designs with. Take the development snapshot; the normal build is years old and silently makes wrong shapes.

    Paste into Terminal
    brew install --cask openscad@snapshot

    Download it from openscad.org/downloads#snapshots — confirm the build is 2024 or newer.

    Accept Kiln’s terms — the command shows them and asks you to type your acceptance, so it has to be you, not your AI:

    Paste into Terminal
    uvx --from kiln3d kiln accept-terms

    Then restart Claude Desktop.

    If Claude Desktop says the server failed to start: that is the uv step in step 1 — run it, then restart.

    Updating later: new versions come with the extension in Claude Desktop, not from kiln self-update — that one updates a command-line install.

  3. Connect your AI

    Three quick commands. signin creates your free account. accept-terms shows Kiln’s terms for you to read and agree to (one time, and it has to be you, not your AI). install-mcp wires Kiln into Claude Desktop, Claude Code, and Codex.

    kiln signin        # create your free account — designs save + sync
kiln accept-terms  # one time: read + agree to the terms
kiln install-mcp   # connect Kiln to your AI apps

    Restart your AI app and it can run your printer.

    Rather not create an account yet?

    Everything local works without one — skip signin and add --force:

    kiln accept-terms          # one time: read + agree to the terms
kiln install-mcp --force   # connect without an account

    You can run kiln signin to create your free account any time later. Your designs save to this machine either way — the account is what switches on Kiln’s cloud side, and anything in Pro.

    How you’ll know it worked: ask your AI “is Kiln connected?” and it’ll confirm Kiln is loaded and ready. That’s it — you’re set up.

    Using a different AI app? Paste the config yourself

    kiln install-mcp --print prints the exact snippet for your machine — it pins the full path, so it works even when kiln isn’t on that app’s PATH. It looks like this:

    {
  "mcpServers": {
    "kiln": {
      "command": "kiln",
      "args": [
        "serve"
      ]
    }
  }
}

  4. Ask

    Once Kiln is connected, just describe what you want in your own words — no special commands. Try something like:

    Make me a coaster with my dog’s photo on it

    Have a printer? Say which one — “on my Bambu A1” — and Kiln tunes everything to it and can start the print. No printer? You’ll still watch your design take shape in 3D, and you can print it anywhere later.

    Kiln thinks with your AI — so for designs you care about, use the most capable model you have, and give it room to think. That’s where great results come from.

    Made something you like? If you haven’t signed in yet, run kiln signin — free, one second. Switches on the parts of Kiln that run on our side, starting with your 3 decorations or textures a month.

You’re ready to print.

Free covers your first prints. Pro covers the rest of the workflow — version your designs, modify them mid-print, and leave the room while your agent handles the rest.

Get Pro →

$49 / month

Once installed, Kiln tells you when there’s a new version — run kiln self-update to upgrade, so you never have to check back here. Installed the Claude Desktop file instead? Update the extension there.

Stuck on install? See common questions →