AIKEA

Design flat-pack furniture with Claude, get back a kit a CNC shop can cut.

AIKEA is a Model Context Protocol server. You describe a bookcase, cabinet, storage cube or desk, and Claude designs it through AIKEA. The server works out every panel and its machining, and produces a fabrication package:

• CNC-ready DXFs: nested sheet layouts plus one file per part, with a layer for each operation (profile, drill Ø×depth, groove)

• Cut list and hardware list that includes spares (cam locks, dowels, confirmat screws, shelf pins, anti-tip kit)

• IKEA-style assembly instructions: lettered parts, hardware icons and isometric step drawings, in printable HTML

• Shop notes covering layer conventions, edge bores, edge banding and machining totals

• A quote request (RFQ) you can email to any CNC shop, or POST to a fabricator's webhook

How it works

idea ──► aikea_design ──► parts + joinery + checks ──► aikea_build ──► DXF / cut list / BOM / instructions / zip
             ▲    │                                                            │
             └────┘ revise (design_id)                        aikea_request_quote ──► CNC shop (webhook or email)

1. Parametric templates (bookshelf, cabinet, cube, desk) generate panels in 3D. Each panel has its own right-handed local frame, so every hole is in part coordinates, the same as on the CNC bed.

2. Joinery is computed in world space and projected onto both parts. A cam lock adds a 15mm housing and an 8mm edge bore to one panel, and a 5mm bolt hole to the mating face at the exact same world point. The tests check that every edge bore lines up with a hole in its mating part.

3. Validation flags parts that won't fit a sheet (grain-aware), shelf sag (δ = 5wL⁴/384EI against L/600), tip-over risk, and machining that clashes or sits too close to an edge.

4. Nesting uses MaxRects with several part orderings, and never rotates parts whose grain matters.

5. Outputs are written to $AIKEA_HOME/designs/<id>/ (default ~/.aikea).

Related MCP server: furniture-designer-mcp

Install

git clone https://github.com/atimics/aikea && cd aikea
npm install        # also builds dist/
npm test

Claude Desktop / Claude Code (stdio)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aikea": { "command": "node", "args": ["/absolute/path/to/aikea/dist/index.js"] }
  }
}

Claude Code: claude mcp add aikea -- node /absolute/path/to/aikea/dist/index.js

Remote connector (Streamable HTTP)

AIKEA_PUBLIC_URL=https://aikea.example.com PORT=3000 node dist/index.js --http
# MCP endpoint:   https://aikea.example.com/mcp
# Downloads:      https://aikea.example.com/files/<design_id>/<design_id>.zip

When AIKEA_PUBLIC_URL is set, build results include download links, which is what you need when the client runs somewhere else (for example, claude.ai custom connectors). HTTP mode is stateless and has no auth, so put it behind your own auth proxy before exposing it. A Dockerfile is included.

Tools

Built files are also exposed as MCP resources: aikea://designs/{id}/{design.json|instructions.html|SHOP_NOTES.md|cutlist.csv|hardware.csv}.

Example conversation

You: I need a bookcase for a 75cm alcove, 1.6m tall, for paperbacks. Plywood, and I'd like to be able to take it apart when I move.

Claude: (aikea_design bookshelf {width: 740, height: 1600, depth: 250, adjustableShelves: 4, joinery: "cam_dowel", material: "plywood_18"}) Here it is. At 740mm wide the shelves sag about 1mm under a full load of paperbacks (under L/600), which you won't see. It's tall enough to tip, so I've included an anti-tip kit… (aikea_build) Everything nests on one 4×8 sheet of plywood plus a hardboard back. Want me to write the quote request for a local CNC shop?

Materials and joinery

• cam_dowel: Ø15 cam housings with a 34mm drilling distance, Ø5 cam bolts, and Ø8×30 dowels. Knock-down and re-assemblable, like IKEA.

• confirmat: 7×50 confirmat screws through countersunk Ø7 clearance holes, into pilot holes in the panel edges.

The back panel slides into a stopped groove in the sides and a through groove in the top and bottom. Adjustable shelves sit on Ø5 pins on a 32mm grid.

DXF conventions

All files are AutoCAD R12, in mm, with face A up.

Most flatbed routers can't drill into panel edges, so edge bores are listed separately in SHOP_NOTES.md. The shop either drills them on a horizontal boring unit, or you drill them at home with a doweling jig.

Fulfilment: what "delivered" means today

As of 2026, no public API exists for "CNC-cut my flat-pack, kit the hardware and ship it." AIKEA therefore uses an adapter model:

• Email RFQ (works everywhere): aikea_request_quote returns a ready-to-send email with the package zip. It lists materials, sheet count, machining totals (the numbers shops quote from), and what you want done: edge banding, edge boring, hardware kitting, finishing and delivery. If Claude also has an email connector, it can send the email for you.

• Webhook (for shops that integrate): a fabricator in $AIKEA_HOME/fabricators.json (or AIKEA_FABRICATOR_WEBHOOK) receives a JSON POST with the full package:

{
  "schema": "aikea.rfq/v1",
  "design":   { "id": "...", "name": "...", "template": "bookshelf", "overall_mm": {"width":800,"depth":300,"height":1800}, "joinery": "cam_dowel" },
  "quantity": 1,
  "customer": { "name": "...", "email": "...", "postalCode": "..." },
  "services": { "edgeBanding": true, "horizontalBoring": true, "hardwareKit": true, "delivery": true, "finishing": null },
  "materials": [{ "key": "plywood_18", "sheets": 2, "sheet_mm": [2440, 1220], ... }],
  "machining": { "parts": 11, "profileCutM": 29.8, "holes": 220, "edgeBores": 26, "grooveM": 5.0, "edgeBandM": 8.9, "weightKg": 32.7 },
  "cutlist":  [ ... ], "hardware": [ ... ], "sheets": [ ... ], "files": [ ... ],
  "package_zip_base64": "UEsDB..."
}

Whatever the webhook returns (a quote id, price, lead time) is passed back to Claude. If you run a CNC shop and want to be a fulfilment partner, implement that endpoint.

CLI

node dist/cli.js design bookshelf examples/bookshelf.json --name "Hall bookcase" --build
node dist/cli.js build <design_id>
node dist/cli.js list

Limits (v0.1)

• Rectangular panels only: no doors, drawers, curves or vertical dividers yet. For wide units, build two carcasses side by side.

• Sag and stability checks are engineering estimates, not certifications. Always anchor tall furniture to the wall.

• Material moduli and sheet sizes are nominal. Measure your actual board thickness, because grooves are sized from the nominal value.

License

MIT