Interface Overview

LoomCAD features a modern, intuitive interface designed for efficient wire harness design. This guide introduces the main areas of the application.

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interface-overview-annotated.png

Main interface with numbered areas

Main Interface Areas

The LoomCAD interface consists of six main areas:

#	Area	Location	Purpose
1	Canvas	Center	Main drawing area
2	Toolbar	Top	Toolbar with tools and actions
3	Side Menu	Left	Project, library, and settings tabs
4	Object Property Inspector	Right	Property editor for selected elements
5	Status Bar	Bottom	Status bar and view controls
6	AI Chat	Floating (bottom right by default)	AI assistant panel

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Canvas

The Canvas is the central drawing area where you create and edit your wire harness designs.

canvas-area.png

Canvas area with grid visible and some components placed

Key features:

• Multi-layer drawing system (background, grid, bundles, components, annotations)
• Infinite canvas with pan and zoom
• Grid with optional snap-to-grid alignment Quick navigation: | Action | Mouse | Keyboard | |--------|-------|----------| | Pan | Middle button drag | - | | Zoom | Scroll wheel | Ctrl++ / - | | Fit to view | - | Ctrl+0 |

→ Learn more about Canvas

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Toolbar

The Toolbar is the top bar containing all drawing tools and actions.

board-menu.png

Top toolbar showing all button groups

Tool groups (left to right):

1. Navigation: Home, Reload, Import, Export
2. Edit: Undo, Redo (with history menu)
3. Clipboard: Copy, Paste
4. Selection: Inspection, Eraser
5. Drawing: Dimension, Bundle, Wire
6. Components: Library, Custom, Terminal
7. Primitives: Line, Circle, Rectangle, Text, SVG, Image
8. Manufacturing: View Manufacturing data

Right side:

• Help button (F1)
• Main Menu / Command Palette (Space)
• Profile dropdown

→ Learn more about Toolbar

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Side Menu

The Side Menu is a tabbed panel on the left side for project management and settings.

side-menu.png

Left sidebar with tabs visible

Tabs:

Icon	Tab	Purpose
	Sheets	Manage project sheets
	Library	Browse component library
	Objects	View object hierarchy
	Scripts	Manage scripts
	Visualization	Layer visibility, display settings
	Settings	Application settings

→ Learn more about Side Menu

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Object Property Inspector

The Inspector panel appears on the right side when you select an element. It shows and allows editing of the selected element's properties.

inspector-panel.png

Inspector panel showing component properties

Features:

• Context-sensitive properties (different for components, wires, bundles, etc.)
• Property types: text, numbers, colors, dropdowns, JSON
• Fetch buttons to import data from DigiKey, Octopart (in development), or local library
• Pin editor for components

To open:

1. Select any element on canvas with Inspection tool
2. Inspector appears automatically on the right

→ Learn more about Inspector

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Status Bar

The Status Bar is located at the bottom of the interface.

status-bar.png

Status bar showing coordinates, zoom, and toggles

Elements:

• Console toggle (show/hide debug console)
• AI Chat toggle
• Status message display
• Current coordinates (X, Y)
• Zoom level (%)
• Grid size input
• Grid visibility toggle
• Snap-to-grid toggle
• Application version

→ Learn more about Status Bar

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AI Chat

The AI Chat panel is your intelligent design assistant powered by large language models.

ai-chat-panel.png

AI Chat window with a conversation example

Key features:

• Natural language commands ("Create connector J1 with 8 pins")
• Context awareness via badges (sees your selection, DigiKey data)
• Script generation and execution
• Multiple AI providers (Claude, Gemini, OpenRouter, local LLMs)

To open:

• Click AI button in Controls Menu, or
• Use keyboard shortcut (if configured)

→ Learn more about AI Chat

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Command Palette

The Command Palette provides quick access to all commands via search.

command-palette.png

Command Palette dialog with search field and command list

To open: Press Space or Ctrl+P

Features:

• Search commands by name
• Browse by category
• See keyboard shortcuts
• View command prerequisites

→ Learn more about Command Palette

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Quick Reference

Essential Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Space	Open Command Palette
Escape	Select Inspection tool
F1	Open Help
Ctrl+Z	Undo
Ctrl+Shift+Z	Redo
Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V	Copy / Paste
Ctrl+0	Fit to view
Delete	Eraser tool

Mouse Controls

Action	Control
Select	Left click
Pan	Middle button drag
Zoom	Scroll wheel
Context menu	Right click
Multi-select	Ctrl + click

Context Menus

click on any element to see available actions. Different element

types have different options (components, wires, bundles, anchors, etc.). See Context Menu Quick Reference for a complete list.

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Next Steps

• Canvas - Learn canvas navigation and layers
• Toolbar - Explore all tools and actions
• Side Menu - Manage projects, sheets, and libraries
• Object Property Inspector - Edit element properties
• AI Chat - Use AI assistant for design tasks