Settings

Hardcraft keeps one settings registry: config.KNOBS. It drives both the settings.json store and the generated Preferences widgets, so this table is the whole tunable surface.

• Widget — the property's name. Only the fill switches are drawn anywhere (the N-panel's Fill options); everything else, named or dashed, is settings.json-only calibration — deliberately not surfaced.
• Default — the value shipped in config.py.
• Overrides live in <blender config>/hardcraft/settings.json; Reset all in the N-panel restores every default.

Setting	Widget	Default	Range	What it does
COMMIT_WELD_FRAC Commit weld	commit_weld_frac	0.001	0 … 0.05	FINAL COMMIT seam-weld distance as a fraction of mesh scale — higher fuses looser CAD doubles, too high collapses features
MERGE_DIST_FRAC Live merge	merge_dist_frac	0	0 … 0.05	Per-fill merge-by-distance in the combined mesh (0 = off; the session keeps patches as separate coincident islands)
AUTO_SYM_SHARE_MIN Auto-sym share	auto_sym_share_min	0.3	0 … 1	Auto-sym twin verdict: floor on the per-direction mirror-vote share. Keep it low — a real twin in a dense cluster of small islands can score as low as 0.32
AUTO_SYM_AREA_TOL Auto-sym area tol	auto_sym_area_tol	0.02	0 … 0.5	Auto-sym twin verdict: max relative area mismatch of a pair (a mirror is an isometry — true twins match almost exactly)
AUTO_SYM_SHAPE_TOL Auto-sym shape tol	auto_sym_shape_tol	0.005	0 … 0.2	Auto-sym twin verdict: how far the mirrored patch may sit from its twin's surface (p90, as a fraction of the patch's own size) — catches a pair whose areas match while the boundary wanders
SELECT_SIMILAR_STRIP_RATIO Similar strip ratio	select_similar_strip_ratio	0.5	0 … 1	Select Similar shape split: normal-cloud anisotropy λ1/λ0 below which a curved island counts as an open strip (fillet band) rather than a wrapping wall (bore/boss) — 90° band ≈ 0.22, 180°+ ≈ 1.0
NEW_CUT_SPANS New split spans	gen_new_cut_spans	4	1 … 64	Span count a freshly placed split starts at (the span counter)
SPLIT_SNAP_PX Split snap px	split_snap_px	14	2 … 60	Ctrl end-snap grab radius for a split end, in screen pixels — a chord end within this of a boundary span vertex glues to it (the sticky release radius is 1.5x)
TRACKPAD_WHEEL_STEP_PX Trackpad wheel step	trackpad_wheel_step_px	40	-200 … 200	Magic Mouse / trackpad: smooth-scroll pixels per one discrete step of the Shift/Ctrl wheel tweaks (curve span / contour, split span / angle). Negative flips the scroll direction, 0 disables
MAX_SPAN_LEN_FRAC Span length frac	gen_max_span_len	0.04	0.005 … 0.5	Ribbon / strip width threshold, as a fraction of mesh scale — a boundary side under this reads as a thin-strip rail instead of a plain boundary side
SPAN_QUANTIZE Quantize spans	span_quantize	on	—	Solve every curve's default span for the whole model at target creation so annulus rims and opposite grid sides get equal counts (within one span of the silhouette law). A default, not an override: the wheel still pins. Applies to the NEXT New Target
SILHOUETTE_TOL Silhouette tol	silhouette_tol	0.1	0.01 … 2	Max deviation of a span chord from the true arc, in UNITS (a Plasticity-bridge mesh reads the 0.05 default as 0.05 mm) — lower = denser / tighter silhouette
MIN_LOOP_SPANS Min loop spans	gen_min_loop_spans	8	3 … 64	Minimum spans on a closed-loop arc (a hole / full circle)
SURFACE_STEP_FRAC Surface step	gen_surface_step	2	0.1 … 10	Coarse-tri surface Steiner spacing (lower = denser tri/quad soup)
SURFACE_RECOMBINE Recombine → quads	surface_recombine	on	—	Coarse-tri surface fill: merge the regular interior grid triangles into real QUADS (quad interior + tri border) instead of an all-triangle grid. Boundary stays verbatim (weld-safe); affects only coarse-tri patches. Re-fill to see it
RECOMBINE_MATCHING Recombine: global matching	recombine_matching	on	—	Pair the leftover triangles into quads by a GLOBAL optimum instead of a greedy pass, so corners and orphans get their quads too. The same quality gates decide which pairs may merge; unmatched tris stay tris. Re-fill to see it
RECOMBINE_FACE_ANGLE_DEG Recombine face angle	recombine_face_angle	40	0 … 89	Max angle between two triangles' normals for the recombine to merge them into a quad (deg): the coplanarity gate, judged together with the shape angle below
RECOMBINE_SHAPE_ANGLE_DEG Recombine shape angle	recombine_shape_angle	60	0 … 89	Quad-shape tolerance for the recombine (deg): higher merges more pairs into quads but allows more skewed quads; lower keeps only near-square merges
INTERIOR_LOCAL_DENSITY Local density (spans)	interior_local_density	on	—	Interior fill density follows the LOCAL boundary spans (graded lattice seeding, matched 1:1) instead of one median-based step — coarse boundary nearby gives a coarse interior, dense gives dense, and neighbours agree at shared seams. Re-fill to see it
LATTICE_CONSTRAIN_EDGES	—	on	—	Feed the edge between two neighbouring interior lattice nodes to the triangulator as a CONSTRAINT, like the boundary itself: it may not be cut, so a clean grid is guaranteed wherever it fits and triangle soup stays locked inside the cells a feature actually breaks. Escape hatch only
LATTICE_RAILS Lattice rails	—	on	—	A D-degenerated lattice axis (1-3 spans) lays continuous RAILS instead of sparse points: each transverse loop runs boundary-to-boundary as a constrained chain, so the coarse limit of D degenerates into a clean loft instead of triangle soup. Re-fill to see it
REMOVAL_CLOSE_FAR Close the far side	removal_close_far	off	—	CURVE Alt+F on one side of a hole or a slot through the part closes its far side too. OFF = only the side whose curves are picked closes; the walls stay until both sides are closed
RAIL_LOFT Rail loft	rail_loft	on	—	A ruled wall (cylinder / cone, CAD axis known) is filled by RAILS between opposite rim stations, paired by angle; a window or slot cuts into the rails, the rest is honest triangles. OFF = the general fill. Re-fill to see it
CAD_ANALYTIC_INTERIOR Analytic interior	cad_analytic_interior	off	—	Interior vertices land on the EXACT CAD surface instead of the imported triangles, on patches that lie on one analytic surface. OFF = the import's own tessellation. Re-fill to see it
CAD_CONCAVITY_AXIS CAD axis	cad_concavity_axis	off	—	The concave/convex test takes the patch axis from the CAD instead of estimating it from the face cloud. OFF = the estimate. Re-fill to see it
RAIL_LOFT_DEV_DEG	—	10	—	Rail loft: the most a rail may bend off the ruling (degrees) to end on a feature node; beyond it the rail stops at its last row and the band is triangulated. Artist law: 10
RUNG_LAW Rungs	rung_law	on	—	When D degenerates an axis to 1-2 loops, pair the patch's two long walls and lay transverse RUNGS at the sparser wall's verts, so the strip lofts instead of free-triangulating. End caps and corner features stay triangles. Needs Lattice rails ON. Re-fill to see it
RUNG_CAP_TURN_DEG	—	55	—	Rung law: a rim segment steeper than this many degrees to the long axis counts as an end CAP — no rungs land there
RUNG_MONO_TOL	—	0.15	—	Rung law: max net backstep of a wall along the long axis (fraction of the patch extent) before the law stands down for that patch
RUNG_BANK_DEPTH_FRAC	—	0.2	—	Rung law: a wall run must hug its side's extreme within this fraction of the cross extent — a displaced run (notch floor) is a feature shelf and gets no rungs
GIZMO_DENS_ZERO_SNAP	—	0.5	—	D gizmo: dragging past the density floor by this factor snaps the axis to 0 (loft — zero transverse loops); dragging up from 0 recovers through the floor
LATTICE_ROW_COMPLETE Row-complete lattice	—	on	—	An interior row whose end station falls outside the patch re-lays the whole axis one station coarser instead of leaving a gap — the row stays complete and evenly spaced, so the fill keeps its flow instead of triangulating across the hole. Re-fill to see it
RAILS_SEAT_LATTICE Rails seat lattice	—	on	—	A manual rail SEATS the interior lattice on itself: a whole station row lands on the drawn line, so both its banks recombine into quads. A rail adds a rule, it does not re-aim the patch's flow. OFF leaves a rail as a bare constrained chain. Re-fill to see it
PLANAR_NGON_VIEW Limited dissolve on flat	planar_ngon_view	on	—	Collapse a FLAT patch's triangle fill into limited-dissolve NGONS (edit-view cleanliness; boundary, hole rims and cut edges survive). The final mesh is unchanged: the normal transfer force-triangulates ngons first. Re-fill to see it
DEGENERATE_MAX_ASPECT Degenerate aspect	gen_degen_aspect	50	2 … 200	Drop a small-minor patch as a sliver above this bbox aspect
LATTICE_SNAP_EVEN_FRAC	—	0.2	—	Evenness guard on lattice station snapping: snapping may distort a gap between stations by at most this fraction of its even value — beyond that the whole axis reverts to evenly spaced stations. Lower = stricter, snaps less often
RING_PREFERRED_MAX	—	0	0 … 256	ceiling on a radius class's full-circle count (0 = none); the top edge of the detail preset's band (Low 16 / Mid 24 / High 32)
RING_PREFERRED_MIN	—	0	0 … 256	floor of the same band: the least full-circle count a radius class may take (0 = none beyond MIN_LOOP_SPANS); the bottom edge of the detail preset's band (Low 8 / Mid 16 / High 24). A geometric floor (washer lip, nfloor) still outranks the band
SPAN_RADIUS_CLASS	—	on	—	L2 radius classes: every arc of one radius shares a full-circle count snapped to the preferred ring numbers (4 8 12 16 24 32 48 64); each arc takes its angular share. Escape hatch — OFF keeps the per-curve silhouette law inside the quantizer
CLASS_R_FRAC	—	0.03	0.001 … 0.2	L2: relative radius tolerance that groups arcs into one class
TUBE_RELAX_ITERS	—	3	0 … 20	tube kernel: interior relax iterations after the lay (0 = off)
RING_SNAP_FRAC	—	0.35	0 … 1	L2: a ring's law count snaps to a preferred number only within this fraction of itself (0.35 = 13→12 yes, 5→8 no)
SPAN_NEIGHBOUR_FLOOR	—	2	0 … 10	L4 neighbour floor: a curve's edge may be at most this many times the median edge of the other curves on its patches — a long, gently curved or straight edge beside dense neighbours gets more spans. Raises only; 0 = off
FILLET_TIP	—	on	—	Fillet to a point: the two rails of a fillet whose rails meet in one tip are tied 1:1 in the span solve, and the neighbour floor raises both together (or neither, when the neighbours cannot meet the tie). A wheeled rail breaks the tie. The fillet is filled as a fillet: profile lines from the cap to the tip, quads where the rails agree. OFF = today's solve and fill
SPAN_PREPASS	—	on	—	Two-phase build: every selected patch registers its boundary span contract and the shared seams are reconciled BEFORE anything is filled, so a first build equals a rebuild. Escape hatch only — turning it off brings back first-build/rebuild differences
PICK_TOL_FRAC Pick tolerance	pick_tol_frac	0.012	0.002 … 0.06	Hover/select tolerance for curves AND cuts as a fraction of mesh scale (one value for both). Lower = picks only what is right under the cursor — lets you place cuts densely; higher grabs neighbours
CONTOUR_BIAS_MAX Density max	contour_bias_max	4	0.5 … 6	Density (Ctrl+Wheel) redistribution LIMIT — the strongest bias the wheel can reach. Density is EXPONENTIAL: the peak:flat sample ratio is e^bias (~55x at 4, ~400x at 6), so a small bias already bunches HARD. Distribution only; the span count is unchanged
CONTOUR_BIAS_STEP Density step	contour_bias_step	0.5	0.1 … 2	Density bias change per Ctrl+Wheel notch (smaller = finer control)
CONTOUR_RANGE_LO Ramp start	contour_range_lo	0.2	0 … 1	Density RAMP start — a curve whose curvature VARIES less than this (normalized range) gets NO densify. Pure arcs / straights stay uniform. Lower it to densify gentler curves (e.g. a variable-radius arc)
CONTOUR_RANGE_HI Ramp full	contour_range_hi	0.6	0 … 1	Density RAMP full — at/above this curvature variation the curve gets the FULL dialed bias; between Start and Full it scales smoothly (no on/off cliff). Lower it so borderline curves densify harder
CONTOUR_SMOOTH_FRAC Contour smooth	contour_smooth_frac	0.15	0 … 1	Curvature-smooth window for contour densification, as a fraction of the curve's arc length (Gaussian σ). The quality knob — higher smooths the density warp over a longer span; 0 disables smoothing
STEP_CONVERTER_BIN CAD converter	step_converter_bin	``	—	Standalone CAD converter EXECUTABLE (the external dependency: OCC lives outside Blender). Leave empty and drop it into /hardcraft/bin/ instead — that slot is found automatically and survives a Blender upgrade. Dev fallback: the OCP-python source path (STEP_CONVERTER_PY, settings.json only)
STEP_CONVERTER_PY OCP python	step_converter_py	``	—	Python executable with the OCP (OpenCASCADE) bindings installed (pip install cadquery-ocp) — the bundled STEP→glb converter runs through it as a subprocess. Dev fallback only — empty is the normal state; the compiled converter is the path
STEP_NAME_SUFFIX Name suffix	step_name_suffix	_high	—	Appended to every object name the STEP import creates: the default '_high' turns the CAD body 'striker_pin' into 'striker_pin_high' (the import IS the high-poly source). Empty keeps the raw CAD names
APPLY_NAME_SUFFIX Low suffix	apply_name_suffix	_low	—	Apply naming convention: the finalized mesh inherits the CAD target's base name (hardcraft_retopo_ and the STEP '_high' suffix stripped) plus this suffix — the default '_low' pairs with '_high' for baking
APPLY_WEIGHTED_NORMAL Weighted Normal	apply_weighted_normal	off	—	Apply adds a live Weighted Normal modifier (keep sharp) on top of the CAD sharps and smooth shading, which are always applied
APPLY_PACK_UV Pack UV	apply_pack_uv	on	—	Apply packs the CAD charts into 0..1 with Blender's native Pack Islands after marking the seams
APPLY_UV_BY_HARDS UV by hards	apply_uv_by_hards	off	—	Apply re-lays the UV seams on the CAD hard edges: smooth surfaces stay one island, rings get one cut only when needed, over-long islands are cut on a smooth CAD border (fewer islands, fewer split vertices in the engine)
UV_HARD_AREA_TOL UV by hards: ring tolerance	—	2	—	A closed island is cut while the p99 of its per-triangle area distortion stays above this
UV_HARD_FILL_MIN UV by hards: fill minimum	—	0.5	—	An island filling its minimum-area rectangle below this is cut on a smooth CAD border
STEP_Y_UP STEP source is Y-up	step_y_up	off	—	Rotate an imported STEP +90 deg about X, for CADs that author with Y as the vertical axis (Blender is Z-up). A STEP file does not record an up axis, so this is a switch, not a detection. Set it before importing; it moves the object transform only, so an already-imported part can be fixed by rotating it by hand
BAKE_NORMAL_DATA Bake normal data	commit_bake_normal_data	on	—	At commit, stamp each output face with the source CAD face it came from, so Transfer CAD Normals reads an EXACT map instead of guessing by UV islands. Costs one int per face; turn off if you never use the normal transfer. Enabling it later needs a re-commit
BAKE_UV Bake UV	commit_bake_uv	on	—	Bake each patch's own parametrization into the UV layer at build time (tube = exact development, planar = projection, else LSCM) — the chart is visible right after build; packing is yours
STEP_REFINE_TORN	—	on	—	Re-mesh a STEP body whose tessellation came out TORN (adjacent faces left unstitched by sloppy CAD tolerances). Only the torn body is redone, on a fixed density ladder, keeping the least torn result; off = import the tear and report it
STEP_LIN_DEFL	—	0.05	—	Default chordal deflection the Import STEP dialog opens with, in the file's author units — tessellation density of the imported mesh (lower = denser; the dialog's Retopo/Bake presets and fields decide each import). A quality knob, not a completeness one: no faces are lost at any setting, but a coarse tessellation hands the normal repair needle triangles on fillets. The converter floors it at 2e-4 x the body's own extent (explosion guard)
STEP_ANG_DEFL_DEG	—	15	—	Default angular deflection (degrees) the Import STEP dialog opens with — the companion density knob to the chordal one
ORACLE_CORNER_DEG	—	15	—	Minimum turn (degrees) for a CAD edge endpoint to count as a boundary corner. Below it a tangent junction — fillet meeting a line, a cosmetic edge split — stays merged, so representation noise in the CAD does not seam a smooth run
MASS_SPAN_DEBOUNCE_MS	—	300	—	Idle milliseconds after the last Shift+Wheel notch before a mass-span gesture commits — the whole turn becomes ONE rebuild and ONE undo step. Raise it if a slow wheel commits mid-gesture
MASS_SPAN_REALTIME_MAX	—	20	—	Selections up to this many patches rebuild on EVERY Shift+Wheel notch (realtime); larger selections fall back to the debounced single commit. 0 = always debounce