Missing NX's smart selection in Inventor? This addon brings tangent face selection, boss/pocket filtering, visual node-based parametric editing, and more.
NX-style topology selection, face coloring, physical thread generation, and visual parametric node editing for Autodesk Inventor. All tools live under the Power Tools tab in Inventor's ribbon.
| Inventor Version | .NET Runtime | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | .NET 8.0 | Tested |
| 2025 | .NET 8.0 | Tested |
| 2024 | .NET Framework 4.8 | Compatible (untested) |
| 2023 | .NET Framework 4.8 | Compatible (untested) |
| 2022 | .NET Framework 4.8 | Compatible (untested) |
The projects multi-target net48 and net8.0-windows. The installer automatically detects which Inventor versions are installed and deploys the correct build:
- Inventor 2025-2026
net8.0-windowsbuild - Inventor 2022-2024
net48(.NET Framework 4.8) build
| Add-in | Description | Shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| CaseSelection | NX-style smart face selection with topology filters (tangent, boss/pocket, feature, blend) | Ctrl+J |
| ColoringTool | Select faces with topology filters and apply any color via Inventor's appearance system | Ctrl+K |
| Threader | Generate physical helical thread geometry from cylindrical faces using ISO Metric and ANSI Unified standards | Ctrl+L |
| iNode | Visual node-based parametric editor inspired by Grasshopper. Connect nodes to build geometry workflows. Unfinished prototype - many features are broken or incomplete. Included for reference only. | Ctrl+N |
Double-click Install-All.bat or run:
.\Install-All.ps1This builds all three projects and copies them to the Inventor Add-ins folder for every detected Inventor version. Restart Inventor after installing.
Each add-in can be installed independently:
# Example: install only CaseSelection
.\CaseSelection\Install-CaseSelection.ps1Or double-click the Install.bat inside any add-in folder.
.\Uninstall-All.ps1 # Remove all
.\CaseSelection\Uninstall-CaseSelection.ps1 # Remove one- Autodesk Inventor 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, or 2026
- .NET SDK 8.0 or later (for building from source)
- Windows 10/11 x64
- Open a Part or Assembly document in Inventor
- Go to the Power Tools tab on the ribbon
- Each add-in has its own panel with a button to launch it
# Build all (builds for both net48 and net8.0-windows)
dotnet build CaseSelection\CaseSelection.csproj -c Release
dotnet build ColoringTool\ColoringTool.csproj -c Release
dotnet build Threader\Threader.csproj -c ReleaseThe Inventor Interop assembly is auto-detected from any installed Inventor version (2022-2026) via Directory.Build.props. No manual path configuration needed.
Inventor-Addins/
+-- Directory.Build.props # Shared build config (auto-detects Inventor)
+-- Install-All.bat / .ps1 # Install all add-ins at once
+-- Uninstall-All.bat / .ps1 # Uninstall all add-ins
+-- CaseSelection/ # Smart face selection tool
| +-- Core/ # Selection logic & topology algorithms
| +-- UI/ # WinForms floating dialog
| +-- ...
+-- ColoringTool/ # Face coloring tool
| +-- Core/ # Selection & color application logic
| +-- UI/ # WinForms dialog with color picker
| +-- ...
+-- Threader/ # Physical thread generator
| +-- Core/ # Cylinder analysis & thread generation
| +-- UI/ # WinForms dialog with thread options
| +-- ...
+-- iNode/ # Visual parametric node editor (Prototype)
+-- Core/ # Node graph engine & serialization
+-- Nodes/ # Node type implementations
+-- UI/ # Node editor canvas & forms
+-- ...
This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.