Project file

A project (.chipload) is a JSON file. Chipload writes every field; when you write one by hand or with a script, the fields marked no may be left out. Lengths are in mm, angles in radians, feeds in mm/min. chipload schema project prints the JSON Schema this page is made from.

Schema version 29. Older files load through Chipload’s migrations; this schema describes only the current version.

The file

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`active_part`	integer or null	no	The part new operations go into (its id). Null or no such part: the first part. Only the app and the command line read it; it changes nothing that is cut.
`drawing`	Drawing	yes	The drawing: the shapes Chipload cuts, imported from a DXF or drawn in Chipload.
`machine`	Machine	yes	The machine: post-processor, safe height, limits and zero.
`operations`	list of Operation	yes	The operations, cut in this order: grouped by part, in the parts’ order.
`parts`	list of Part	yes	The parts: groups of operations, each cut with its copies before the next part. At least one.
`schema_version`	`29`	yes	The version of the file format. Chipload upgrades older files when it reads them, and refuses newer ones.
`stock`	Stock	yes	The material on the machine.
`tools`	list of Tool	yes	The tools the operations cut with.
`written_by`	string or null	no	The Chipload version that wrote the file, for reference.

ArcSegment

From start_angle through sweep radians (positive = counter-clockwise).

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`center`	2 × number	yes	Centre, mm.
`radius`	number	yes	Radius, mm.
`start_angle`	number	yes	Where the arc starts, radians from +X, counter-clockwise.
`sweep`	number	yes	How far it turns, radians: positive counter-clockwise.

AutoThreshold

The word “auto”.

One of: "auto".

Bone

What a chosen corner gets.

One of: "none", "dogbone", "tbone".

Copies

A grid of copies of a part: copy (column c, row r) is the part moved by (c·dx, r·dy) mm.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`columns`	integer	yes	Copies along X, at least 1.
`dx`	number	yes	Distance from copy to copy along X, mm; negative grows to the left.
`dy`	number	yes	Distance from copy to copy along Y, mm; negative grows downwards.
`order`	CopyOrder	no	`by_operation`: each operation on every copy, then the next; `by_copy`: every operation on one copy, then the next copy.
`rows`	integer	yes	Copies along Y, at least 1.

CopyOrder

In which order the copies are cut.

"by_operation": Each operation on every copy, then the next operation.
"by_copy": Every operation on one copy, then the next copy. Called by_part before parts came (schema 22).

CornerChoice

A corner with its own bone, chosen by the user.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`along`	Wall or null	no	The wall a T-bone runs along, `longer` or `shorter`: the notch is in the other. Required with a T-bone; null otherwise.
`at`	2 × number	yes	The corner, in drawing coordinates (mm).
`bone`	Bone	yes	`none` (the corner stays round), `dogbone` or `tbone`.

Corners

How the tool reaches into the inside corners it would leave round, so a square part fits: every corner on the tool’s side up to max_angle.

`"type": "dogbone"`

In along the corner’s bisector.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`max_angle`	number	yes	Only corners this sharp or sharper, radians (1.745 = 100°).

`"type": "tbone"`

In along the longer wall: the notch is in the shorter one.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`max_angle`	number	yes	Only corners this sharp or sharper, radians (1.745 = 100°).

CustomPost

A user post-processor’s config and template, exactly as read from the posts folder.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`config`	string	yes	The post’s settings file (TOML), as copied.
`template`	string	yes	The post’s template, as copied.

Direction

One of: "climb", "conventional".

Drawing

The project’s drawing: shapes in millimetres, or (only for jobs from before v4) a reference to a DXF that still has to be embedded.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`dxfs`	list of DrawingSource	no	The DXFs the imported shapes came from, each as at its last import or update, with its own placement.
`hidden`	list of string	no	Groups and layers not drawn on the canvas (they are still cut): `dxf:1`, `dxf:1/layer:Cut`, `image:1`, `text:1`, `drawn:circle`, `drawn:rectangle`, `drawn:polyline`.
`images`	list of Image	no	Pictures traced into shapes, for V-carving.
`next_shape_id`	integer	yes	The id the next new shape gets. Ids are never reused.
`shapes`	list of Shape	yes	The shapes, imported and drawn.
`texts`	list of Text	no	Texts written into shapes, for V-carving, pocketing or profiling. Left out of the file when there are none, so projects without text open in older versions.

DrawingSource

Provenance of the imported shapes.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`file`	string	yes	The DXF’s file name.
`flattened`	object	no	How many curves of each type (splines, ellipses) were turned into arcs.
`id`	integer	yes	The DXF’s id, which its shapes and selectors name.
`ignored`	object	no	How many entities of each type were left out (text, dimensions, …).
`imported`	object	no	How many entities of each type were imported.
`issues`	list of SourceIssue	no	What the import found: the import report.
`name`	string	yes	Its name in the Browser and messages; the file’s name without its extension at first.
`placement`	Placement	yes	How the imported drawing was moved, turned and scaled on the stock.
`sha256`	string	yes	The DXF’s SHA-256, to tell whether it changed.
`units`	Units	yes	The DXF’s units: `mm` or `inch`. Inch drawings are converted to mm on import.
`units_from`	UnitsFrom	yes	Where the units came from: the DXF itself, or the user’s choice.

Entry

How the tool goes down into the material at the start of each pass, for pockets and follow paths (a profile always spirals: its ramp_angle).

`"type": "plunge"`

Straight down: needs a centre-cutting tool. An empty struct variant, as Rings.

`"type": "ramp"`

Down along the path and back, never steeper than ramp_angle (radians, 0 < angle <= 30°).

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`ramp_angle`	number	yes	The steepest the ramp goes, radians: more than 0, at most 30° (0.5236).

`"type": "helix"`

Pockets only: down round a circle of radius (the tool centre’s), never steeper than ramp_angle.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`radius`	number	yes	The helix’s radius, mm: less than the tool radius.
`ramp_angle`	number	yes	The steepest the helix goes, radians: more than 0, at most 30° (0.5236).

Finish

A finishing pass on a profile.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`stock`	number	yes	Left on the wall by the roughing passes, mm: more than 0, less than the tool radius.

HoleMethod

How a Holes operation cuts.

`"type": "drill"`

Straight down at the hole’s centre, peck mm at a time.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`peck`	number or null	no	Drill this many mm at a time, lifting out between pecks to clear chips. Null: in one go.

`"type": "bore"`

A helix at the wall, at most step_down mm per turn and never steeper than ramp_angle (radians, 0 < angle <= 30°), then one level circle.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`direction`	Direction	yes	`climb` or `conventional`, as for a profile inside the hole.
`ramp_angle`	number	yes	The steepest the helix goes, radians: more than 0, at most 30° (0.5236).
`step_down`	number	yes	The most the helix goes down per turn, mm.

Image

A picture traced into shapes: the picture itself, where it goes, and how it becomes black and white. Its traced shapes are path shapes on its layer that name it in image.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`arcs`	boolean	yes	Traced edges are fitted with arcs as well as lines.
`blur`	number	yes	Blur before the threshold, in pixels, 0 to 10; 0: none.
`data`	string	yes	The picture file itself (PNG, JPEG or BMP), base64-encoded.
`file`	string	yes	The picture’s file name.
`id`	integer	yes	The image’s id, which its traced shapes name.
`invert`	boolean	yes	Carve the light parts instead of the dark ones.
`layer`	string	yes	The layer its traced shapes go on.
`min_area`	number	yes	Black or white specks smaller than this are dropped, mm², 0 to 100.
`rotation`	number	yes	Turned counter-clockwise about the picture’s centre, degrees, at least 0 and less than 360. `x`, `y` and `width` are before the turn; the traced shapes are turned after the trace.
`sha256`	string	yes	The picture’s SHA-256.
`smoothing`	number	yes	How far a traced edge may be simplified away from the picture’s edge, mm, 0.01 to 1.
`threshold`	ImageThreshold	yes	Grey values below this (0–255) are black: 1 to 254, or “auto” to pick it from the picture (Otsu’s method).
`trace`	ImageTrace	yes	What it is traced into: the black parts’ outlines (for a V-carve) or their centre lines (for a follow path).
`width`	number	yes	The picture’s width on the stock, mm; its height follows from the picture.
`x`	number	yes	X of the picture’s lower-left corner on the stock, mm.
`y`	number	yes	Y of the picture’s lower-left corner on the stock, mm.

ImageThreshold

Where grey turns black: “auto” or a grey value.

AutoThreshold: Picked from the picture.
integer: Grey values below this are black, 1 to 254.

ImageTrace

What a picture is traced into.

"outline": Closed outlines round the black parts, black inside.
"centre_line": Open (or closed) paths along the black strokes’ middles.

IssueSeverity

One of: "warning", "error".

Lead

Quarter-circle lead-in and lead-out.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`radius`	number	yes	Radius of the lead arcs, mm: more than 0, at most 10 tool diameters. Smaller where there’s no room.

LineSegment

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`end`	2 × number	yes	End point, mm.
`start`	2 × number	yes	Start point, mm.

Machine

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`custom_post`	CustomPost or null	no	Your own post-processor, copied into the project when chosen, so it gives the same G-code anywhere. Null: `post` is a built-in one.
`gcode_units`	Units	yes	The units the G-code is written in: `mm` (G21) or `inch` (G20). Everything else in the project stays in mm. Since schema 28.
`library_uid`	string or null	no	The `uid` of the machine profile these values came from, for reference; nothing that cuts reads it. Null: not from a profile.
`max_feed`	number or null	no	The machine’s fastest feed, mm/min: higher feeds are refused, and the cycle time uses it for rapids. Null: unknown.
`name`	string or null	no	The machine profile these values came from, for reference; nothing reads it.
`post`	string	yes	The post-processor: `grbl`, `linuxcnc`, `mach3`, or the name of your own.
`safe_z`	number	yes	The height for rapid moves sideways, mm above Z0. Above the stock top.
`spindle`	Spindle	yes	The spindle’s direction: `cw` (M3) or `ccw` (M4).
`tool_change`	ToolChange	yes	With several tools: `files` (one file per tool) or `program` (one file with tool changes).
`travel`	Travel or null	no	The machine’s travel, mm. When set, a program that moves farther is refused. Null: not checked.
`work_zero`	WorkZero	no	The point of the drawing that becomes X0 Y0 in the G-code. Missing: the drawing’s origin.

Operation

`"type": "profile"`

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`clearance`	number	yes	How far the cut moves into the material that is kept, mm: positive removes more (a larger pocket, a smaller part), negative leaves material. Less than the tool radius.
`corner_choices`	list of CornerChoice	no	Corners with their own bone, whatever `corners` says. Missing or empty: none. Left out when empty.
`corners`	Corners or null	no	Dogbones or T-bones in the inside corners, so square parts fit. Null: the corners stay round.
`direction`	Direction	yes	`climb` or `conventional` milling.
`enabled`	boolean	no	False: the operation stays in the project but isn’t cut. Missing: true.
`end_depth`	number	yes	Where the cut ends, mm down from the stock top. More than the start depth; below the stock bottom only within `stock.max_overcut`.
`feed`	number	yes	The cutting feed, mm/min.
`finish`	Finish or null	no	A finishing pass: the roughing passes leave `stock` mm on the wall, and one last lap at full depth takes it off. Null: none.
`name`	string	no	A name for the operation, shown in the list and on the setup sheet. Empty: none.
`part`	integer	yes	The id of the part it belongs to (`parts`).
`plunge_feed`	number	yes	The feed going down into the material, mm/min.
`ramp_angle`	number	yes	The steepest the spiral ramp goes down along the contour, radians: more than 0, at most 30° (0.5236). A profile always spirals down (docs/specs/profile-always-spiral.md).
`select`	Selector	yes	What the operation cuts: the shapes on a layer, or shapes by id.
`side`	Side	yes	Which side of the line the tool cuts: `outside` (cutting a part out), `inside` (a hole) or `on` the line.
`skin`	Skin or null	no	An onion skin: the passes stop `thickness` mm above the end depth, and one last lap cuts through it. Null: none.
`start_depth`	number	yes	Where the cut starts, mm down from the stock top: 0 for the top, more when an earlier operation already cut down to there.
`starts`	list of 2 × number	no	Where the cut starts, as points in drawing coordinates (mm): each moves the start of the ring (contour) nearest to it. Empty: chosen by Chipload.
`step_down`	number	yes	The deepest each pass goes, mm. The passes are equal, and the last one ends exactly at the end depth.
`tabs`	Tabs or null	no	Holding tabs left at the bottom of the cut, so a part cut out doesn’t come loose. Null: none.
`tool`	integer	yes	The id of the project tool it cuts with (`tools`).

`"type": "pocket"`

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`clearance`	number	yes	How far the cut moves into the material that is kept, mm: positive removes more (a larger pocket, a smaller part), negative leaves material. Less than the tool radius.
`corner_choices`	list of CornerChoice	no	Corners with their own bone, whatever `corners` says. Missing or empty: none. Left out when empty.
`corners`	Corners or null	no	Dogbones or T-bones in the inside corners, so square parts fit. Null: the corners stay round.
`direction`	Direction	yes	`climb` or `conventional` milling.
`enabled`	boolean	no	False: the operation stays in the project but isn’t cut. Missing: true.
`end_depth`	number	yes	Where the cut ends, mm down from the stock top. More than the start depth; below the stock bottom only within `stock.max_overcut`.
`entry`	Entry	no	How the tool goes down at the start of each pass: `plunge` (straight down; needs a centre-cutting tool) or `ramp` along the path; pockets also `helix`. Missing: plunge.
`feed`	number	yes	The cutting feed, mm/min.
`lead`	Lead or null	no	A quarter-circle lead-in and lead-out from the cleared side onto the wall. Null: none.
`name`	string	no	A name for the operation, shown in the list and on the setup sheet. Empty: none.
`part`	integer	yes	The id of the part it belongs to (`parts`).
`plunge_feed`	number	yes	The feed going down into the material, mm/min.
`rest`	Rest or null	no	Rest machining: clear only what a larger tool leaves in these shapes. Null: the whole pocket.
`rest_passes`	list of RestPass	no	Rest passes: smaller endmills that clear what this pocket’s tool (or the pass before) leaves, in its shapes and depths. Missing or empty: none. Left out when empty.
`select`	Selector	yes	What the operation cuts: the shapes on a layer, or shapes by id.
`start_depth`	number	yes	Where the cut starts, mm down from the stock top: 0 for the top, more when an earlier operation already cut down to there.
`starts`	list of 2 × number	no	Where each wall ring starts, as points in drawing coordinates (mm): each moves the start of the wall ring nearest to it. Empty: chosen by Chipload.
`step_down`	number	yes	The deepest each pass goes, mm. The passes are equal, and the last one ends exactly at the end depth.
`stepover`	number	yes	The distance between the clearing rings, as a fraction of the tool diameter: more than 0, at most 1.
`tool`	integer	yes	The id of the project tool it cuts with (`tools`).

`"type": "vcarve"`

V-carve: a V-bit follows the centre line of closed shapes, as deep as makes the cut exactly as wide as the shape.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`enabled`	boolean	no	False: the operation stays in the project but isn’t cut. Missing: true.
`end_depth`	number	yes	The deepest the V-bit’s tip may go, mm down from the stock top. Strokes that need more are carved to it, narrower than drawn, with a warning.
`feed`	number	yes	The feed, mm/min, for moves no steeper than 45°.
`name`	string	no	A name for the operation, shown in the list and on the setup sheet. Empty: none.
`part`	integer	yes	The id of the part it belongs to (`parts`).
`plunge_feed`	number	yes	The feed for moves steeper than 45°, mm/min.
`select`	Selector	yes	What the operation cuts: the shapes on a layer, or shapes by id.
`start_depth`	number	yes	The surface carved, mm down from the stock top: 0 for the top, more to carve on a floor an earlier pocket cut.
`step_down`	number or null	no	Carve in passes no deeper than this, mm. Null: one pass.
`tool`	integer	yes	The id of the project tool it cuts with (`tools`).

`"type": "path"`

Follow path: the tool centre on the selected shapes, open or closed.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`enabled`	boolean	no	False: the operation stays in the project but isn’t cut. Missing: true.
`end_depth`	number	yes	Where the cut ends, mm down from the stock top. More than the start depth; below the stock bottom only within `stock.max_overcut`.
`entry`	Entry	yes	How the tool goes down at the start of each pass: `plunge` or `ramp` along the path.
`feed`	number	yes	The cutting feed, mm/min.
`name`	string	no	A name for the operation, shown in the list and on the setup sheet. Empty: none.
`part`	integer	yes	The id of the part it belongs to (`parts`).
`plunge_feed`	number	yes	The feed going down into the material, mm/min.
`select`	Selector	yes	What the operation cuts: the shapes on a layer, or shapes by id.
`start_depth`	number	yes	Where the cut starts, mm down from the stock top: 0 for the top, more when an earlier operation already cut down to there.
`step_down`	number	yes	The deepest each pass goes, mm. The passes are equal, and the last one ends exactly at the end depth.
`tool`	integer	yes	The id of the project tool it cuts with (`tools`).

`"type": "holes"`

Holes: drilled with a drill, bored with a helix with an endmill.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`enabled`	boolean	no	False: the operation stays in the project but isn’t cut. Missing: true.
`end_depth`	number	yes	Where the hole ends, mm down from the stock top. For a drill, the depth of its point.
`feed`	number	yes	A bore’s feed round its helix and bottom circle, mm/min. A drill doesn’t use it.
`method`	HoleMethod	yes	How the holes are cut: `drill` with a drill, or `bore` (a helix) with an endmill.
`name`	string	no	A name for the operation, shown in the list and on the setup sheet. Empty: none.
`part`	integer	yes	The id of the part it belongs to (`parts`).
`plunge_feed`	number	yes	A drill’s feed down, or a bore’s feed straight down to the start depth, mm/min.
`select`	Selector	yes	What the operation cuts: the circles among the shapes on a layer, or shapes by id. Other shapes are skipped with a note.
`start_depth`	number	yes	Where the cut starts, mm down from the stock top: 0 for the top, more when an earlier operation already cut down to there.
`tool`	integer	yes	The id of the project tool it cuts with (`tools`).

`"type": "surface"`

Surface: the whole stock top taken down flat, in straight passes back and forth.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`enabled`	boolean	no	False: the operation stays in the project but isn’t cut. Missing: true.
`end_depth`	number	yes	How far down the stock top is taken, mm. At most the stock thickness.
`feed`	number	yes	The cutting feed, mm/min.
`name`	string	no	A name for the operation, shown in the list and on the setup sheet. Empty: none.
`part`	integer	yes	The id of the part it belongs to (`parts`). The stock is faced once, whatever copies the part has.
`plunge_feed`	number	yes	The feed going down beside the stock to each depth, mm/min.
`start_depth`	number	yes	Where the cut starts, mm down from the stock top: 0 for the top.
`step_down`	number	yes	The deepest each pass goes, mm. The passes are equal, and the last one ends exactly at the end depth.
`stepover`	number	yes	The distance between passes, as a fraction of the tool diameter: at least 0.1, at most 0.9.
`tool`	integer	yes	The id of the project tool it cuts with (`tools`): an endmill.

Part

A part: a named group of operations, cut together, with its own copies (docs/specs/parts.md §2). It owns no geometry: its operations select the shapes.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`copies`	Copies or null	no	Cut the part several times in a grid. Null: once.
`enabled`	boolean	yes	False: the part and all its operations stay in the project but aren’t cut.
`id`	integer	yes	Its number, unique in the project: what operations name it by.
`name`	string	yes	Its name, unique in the project, shown in the Browser, the report and the sheet.

PathSegment

object:
object:

Placement

Where the imported drawing is put: a DXF point p goes to scale · rotate(p) + (dx, dy), turned and scaled about the DXF’s origin.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`dx`	number	yes	Then moved along X, mm.
`dy`	number	yes	Then moved along Y, mm.
`rotation`	number	yes	Turned counter-clockwise about the DXF’s origin, degrees, at least 0 and less than 360, after the scale. Multiples of 90 are exact.
`scale`	number	yes	Scaled about the DXF’s origin by this factor, 0.001 to 1000; 1: as drawn.

Rest

Rest machining: the pocket clears only the material the larger tool after_tool can’t reach in its shapes.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`after_tool`	integer	yes	The id of the larger project tool whose leftovers this pocket clears.

RestPass

One rest pass of a pocket (docs/specs/rest-passes.md §2): it takes the pocket’s shapes, depths, clearance and direction, and clears only what the tool before it leaves.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`enabled`	boolean	no	False: kept, but not cut. Missing: true.
`entry`	Entry	yes	How the tool goes down: `plunge`, `ramp` or `helix`.
`feed`	number	yes	The cutting feed, mm/min.
`plunge_feed`	number	yes	The feed going down into the material, mm/min.
`step_down`	number	yes	The deepest each pass goes, mm.
`stepover`	number	yes	The distance between the clearing rings, as a fraction of the tool diameter.
`tool`	integer	yes	The id of the project tool it cuts with (`tools`): an endmill smaller than the tool before it.

Selector

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`dxf`	integer or null	no	Only shapes from this DXF (an id in `drawing.dxfs`).
`exclude`	list of integer or null	no	Shapes of that DXF, image or text left out (ids); with `dxf`, `image` or `text` only. A contour with any of them isn’t cut. A traced image’s, or a text’s, are found again when it is made again.
`image`	integer or null	no	Only shapes traced from this image (an id in `drawing.images`).
`layer`	string or null	no	Every shape on this layer (upper or lower case don’t matter).
`shapes`	list of integer or null	no	These shapes, by id.
`text`	integer or null	no	Only the letters of this text (an id in `drawing.texts`).

Shape

One shape of the drawing: imported from a DXF (path: lines and arcs, one shape per DXF entity), or drawn in Chipload (circle, rectangle, polyline). One flat object: id, layer, kind, then the fields of that kind.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`angle`	number or null	no	rectangle: its rotation about the centre, radians, counter-clockwise.
`bulges`	list of number or null	no	polyline: one per segment, as in DXF: tan(sweep / 4); 0 straight, 1 a counter-clockwise half circle, -1 clockwise.
`center`	2 × number or null	no	circle, rectangle: the centre, mm.
`closed`	boolean or null	no	path, polyline: whether it ends where it starts.
`corner_radius`	number or null	no	rectangle: the radius of its corners, mm; 0 for sharp ones.
`dxf`	integer or null	no	path: the DXF it was imported from (its id in `drawing.dxfs`).
`dxf_handle`	string or null	no	path: the handle of the DXF entity it came from, which keeps its id when the DXF is updated.
`dxf_type`	string or null	no	path: the DXF entity’s type, e.g. LWPOLYLINE.
`id`	integer	yes	The shape’s id, which operations select it by.
`image`	integer or null	no	path: the image it was traced from; absent for shapes from a DXF.
`kind`	ShapeKind	yes	`path` (imported from a DXF), or a shape drawn in Chipload: `circle`, `rectangle`, `polyline`.
`layer`	string	yes	Its layer.
`length`	number or null	no	rectangle: its size along its own X axis, mm.
`name`	string or null	no	circle, rectangle, polyline: its name in the Browser; left out when it has none.
`points`	list of 2 × number or null	no	polyline: its points, mm.
`radius`	number or null	no	circle: the radius, mm.
`segments`	list of PathSegment or null	no	path: its lines and arcs, mm.
`text`	integer or null	no	path: the text it is a letter of (its id in `drawing.texts`).
`width`	number or null	no	rectangle: its size along its own Y axis, mm.

ShapeKind

One of: "path", "circle", "rectangle", "polyline".

Side

One of: "inside", "outside", "on".

Skin

An onion skin on a profile.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`thickness`	number	yes	Left above the end depth until the last lap, mm: more than 0, at most the step down.

SourceIssue

An import-time issue that can’t be recomputed from the shapes.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`code`	string	yes	What kind of issue, e.g. `duplicate` or `open_contour` (see the import page of the guide).
`message`	string	yes	What it is, in words.
`severity`	IssueSeverity	yes	`warning` or `error`.

Spindle

"cw": M3
"ccw": M4

Stock

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`max_overcut`	number	yes	How far a cut may go below the stock bottom, into the spoilboard, mm.
`origin`	StockOrigin	no	Where the stock lies around the drawing’s origin: its `bottom_left` corner or its `center` there.
`thickness`	number	yes	Thickness, mm. Depths count down from the top.
`x`	number	yes	Size along X, mm.
`y`	number	yes	Size along Y, mm.
`z_zero`	ZZero	no	Where Z0 is: the stock `top` or `bottom`.

StockCorner

One of: "center", "bottom_left", "bottom_right", "top_left", "top_right".

StockOrigin

One of: "bottom_left", "center".

Tabs

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`at`	list of 2 × number	no	Tab centres placed by hand, in drawing coordinates (mm): a contour with points gets exactly those tabs, one without gets `count`, evenly spaced. Left out when empty.
`count`	integer	yes	Tabs per contour, at least 1.
`flank_angle`	number	yes	The slope of the tab’s sides, radians: π/2 (90°) straight, less for sloped tabs a ramped profile follows.
`height`	number	yes	The bridge’s thickness, up from the bottom of the cut, mm.
`width`	number	yes	The bridge left on the part, along its edge, mm (the flat top of a sloped tab).

Text

A text written into shapes: what it says, its font and size, and where it goes. Its letters are path shapes on its layer that name it in text, made again when it changes; the font is needed only for that, not to cut them.

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`align`	TextAlign	yes	How the lines line up against each other.
`anchor`	TextAnchor	no	What `x` and `y` are: the box’s lower-left corner (before the turn), or its centre. A centred text stays centred there when its words, font or size change. Missing: the corner.
`font`	string	yes	A built-in font: FreeSans, FreeSans Bold, FreeSerif, FreeSerif Bold, FreeMono or FreeMono Bold (`chipload text fonts`).
`height`	number	yes	The height of a capital letter, mm.
`id`	integer	yes	The text’s id, which its letters name.
`layer`	string	yes	The layer its letters go on.
`line_spacing`	number	yes	From one line’s base to the next, in capital heights.
`rotation`	number	yes	Turned counter-clockwise about the box’s centre, degrees, at least 0 and less than 360.
`spacing`	number	yes	Extra space between letters, mm; 0: the font’s own spacing, kerning included.
`text`	string	yes	What it says; a line break (“\n”) starts a new line.
`x`	number	yes	X of the text’s anchor on the stock, mm: the lower-left corner of its box (before the turn) or its centre.
`y`	number	yes	Y of the text’s anchor on the stock, mm.

TextAlign

How a text’s lines line up.

One of: "left", "center", "right".

TextAnchor

What a text’s position is (docs/specs/text.md §3).

"corner": The lower-left corner of the text’s box, before the turn.
"center": The centre of the text’s box (the turn keeps it in place).

Tool

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`angle`	number or null	no	V-bits: the included angle, radians. Null: unknown; a V-carve then refuses the tool.
`center_cutting`	boolean or null	no	Whether it can plunge straight down. False: profiles ramp in and pockets go down round a helix. Null: unknown.
`diameter`	number	yes	Diameter, mm. For a V-bit, its widest cutting diameter.
`flutes`	integer or null	no	Number of flutes, for the chip load. Null: unknown.
`id`	integer	yes	The tool’s number: what operations name it by, and its T number in the G-code.
`library_uid`	string or null	no	The `uid` of the library tool it came from, for reference; nothing that cuts reads it. Null: not from the library.
`name`	string or null	no	The library tool it came from, for reference.
`rpm`	number or null	no	Spindle speed, rpm. Needed to generate.
`tip_diameter`	number or null	no	V-bits: the flat tip’s diameter, mm. Null: pointed.
`type`	ToolType	no	`endmill`, `drill` or `vbit`.

ToolChange

How a job with several tools is written.

"files": One G-code file per tool group; the user changes the tool and sets Z zero between.
"program": One file with T<n> M6 at each change, for a sender that handles it.

ToolType

One of: "endmill", "drill", "vbit".

Travel

Field	Type	Required	Meaning
`x`	number	yes	Travel along X, mm.
`y`	number	yes	Travel along Y, mm.
`z`	number	yes	Travel along Z, mm.

Units

One of: "mm", "inch".

UnitsFrom

"dxf": Declared by the DXF ($INSUNITS).
"user": The DXF declared none; the user chose.

Wall

One of a corner’s two walls, by length.

One of: "longer", "shorter".

WorkZero

Where the G-code’s X0 Y0 is. The geometry never moves; only the output is translated.

object: The drawing’s own origin (the only choice before work_zero existed). An empty struct variant, not a unit one, so serde refuses stray fields here too.
object: A corner or the centre of the stock, as placed by stock.origin.
object: Any point, in drawing coordinates (mm).

ZZero

One of: "top", "bottom".

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