Dassault SOLIDWORKS API
The core SOLIDWORKS API is COM-based desktop automation for VBA, C#, and C++, not a network API. REST exists at the edges: PDM Professional's Web API with per-vault tokens and 3DEXPERIENCE services with OAuth 2.0. All of it requires a subscription contract or Solution Partner status.
Frequently asked questions
Dassault SOLIDWORKS scores D on the API Report Card. The core SOLIDWORKS API is COM-based desktop automation for VBA, C#, and C++, not a network API. REST exists at the edges: PDM Professional's Web API with per-vault tokens and 3DEXPERIENCE services with OAuth 2.0. All of it requires a subscription contract or Solution Partner status.
Without a usable official API, teams fall back on manual exports, file drops, or one-off vendor integrations. The other option is an unofficial API layer like Supergood that automates the authenticated web app directly.
Dassault SOLIDWORKS is the flagship desktop 3D mechanical CAD product from Dassault Systemes, originally released in 1995 and now sold both as a Windows-native perpetual/subscription product and as a 3DEXPERIENCE-connected cloud offering.
Primary vertical: misc (mechanical engineering / discrete manufacturing / industrial design). A mechanical engineer at a discrete manufacturer launches SOLIDWORKS, opens an assembly checked out from SOLIDWORKS PDM or 3DEXPERIENCE PDM, models or modifies parts using parametric features, mates components into assemblies, generates 2D detail drawings, runs a SOLIDWORKS Simulation linear-static study, and re-checks the assembly in.
Very high inside mechanical CAD.
SOLIDWORKS is the system of record for the geometric definition of physical products, parts, assemblies, drawings, BOMs, revision history, that drive downstream manufacturing, procurement, and quality.
SOLIDWORKS first shipped in 1995, over 30 years old, and the desktop codebase is a mature Windows-native COM application.
Grades measure one thing: can a customer's engineering team get their own data out programmatically? We check six things (whether a real API exists, how access is gated, data coverage, auth quality, docs and developer experience, and stability) and roll them into a letter grade. Grades get re-verified, and they only move on evidence.