Robot Code

A monorepo hosting python scripts for updating and maintaining my Robot FeatureScripts as well as hosting and deploying the Robot Manager Onshape library app.

Note: This repo is equipped to run with VSCode on Linux (specifically, WSL Ubuntu).

Robot Manager

The Robot manager app lives in the frontend and backend folders. The app uses Python and flask as the backend and API and Vite and React for the frontend. The app is deployed using Google Cloud App Engine, with Google Cloud Firestore as the database.

Repo Setup

First, create a new file in the root of this project named .env and add the following contents:

# Server config
API_LOGGING=true # Enable or disable logging
API_BASE_PATH=https://cad.onshape.com # Use a different base path
API_VERSION=10 # Use a different version of the API

# API Keys
API_ACCESS_KEY=<Your API Access Key>
API_SECRET_KEY=<Your API Secret Key>

# OAuth
OAUTH_CLIENT_ID=<Your OAuth client id>
OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET=<Your OAuth client secret>
SESSION_SECRET=literallyAnythingWillDo

NODE_ENV=development
FIRESTORE_EMULATOR_HOST=127.0.0.1:8080

You only need API keys if you plan on accessing the Onshape API via regular python script. Likewise, you only need OAuth keys if you're planning on accessing the Onshape API via Robot manager.

Python Setup

Install python:

sudo apt install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deadsnakes/ppa
sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3.12

Note that Python version 3.12 or greater is a hard requirement.

Also, you may need to restart your terminal after installing software-properties-common.

Install pipx:

sudo apt install pipx
pipx ensurepath

The use pipx to install poetry, then install the project:

pipx install poetry
poetry install

Onshape OAuth App Setup

To test Onshape app changes, you will need to create an OAuth application in the Onshape Developer Portal. Fill out the following information:

• Name: (Arbitrary) Robot Manager Test
• Primary format: (Arbitrary) com.robot-manager-test
• Redirect URLs: https://localhost:3000/redirect
• OAuth URL: https://localhost:3000/sign-in
• Uncheck "Application can request purchases on your behalf".

Click save, then copy your OAuth app's OAuth client identifier and OAuth client secret and add them to your .env file.

Next, add the necessary Extensions to your OAuth application so you can see it in documents you open:

1. Open your OAuth application in the Onshape Developer Portal.
2. Go to the Extensions tab.
3. Create two extensions with the following properties:
   • Name: Robot manager test
   • Location: Element right panel
   • Context: Inside assembly/Inside part studio
   • Action URL: https://localhost:3000/app?elementType=ASSEMBLY&documentId={$documentId}&instanceType={$workspaceOrVersion}&instanceId={$workspaceOrVersionId}&elementId={$elementId} https://localhost:3000/app?elementType=PART_STUDIO&documentId={$documentId}&instanceType={$workspaceOrVersion}&instanceId={$workspaceOrVersionId}&elementId={$elementId}

Onshape API Key Setup

This isn't required for running Robot Manager but will allow you to use the Onshape API with API keys via locally developed Python scripts.

1. Get an API key from the Onshape developer portal.
2. Add your access key and secret key to .env.

You can then call make_key_api() inside a locally running Python script to get an Api instance you can pass to endpoints in onshape_api/endpoints.

Flask Credentials Setup

Onshape requires all apps, even temporary test apps, to use https. This creates a big headache for local development. In order to solve this issue, you'll need to generate a certificate and add it to a folder named credentials in the root of this project:

/credentials/cert.pem
/credentials/key.pem

This can be done automatically by running the script make_credentials.sh:

./scripts/make_credentials.sh

If successful, this should create a folder named credentials in the root of the project containing cert.pem and key.pem.

You'll then need to add a security exception to your browser to avoid getting blocked. In Firefox, the procedure is:

1. Start the development servers using the Launch servers VSCode task.
2. Open Firefox and go to Settings > Certificates > View Certificates... > Servers > Add Exception...
3. Enter https://localhost:3000 as the Location and click Get Certificate.
4. Check Permanently store this exception and then click Confirm Security Exception.

Frontend Setup

Install Node.js, then use npm to install the dependencies in frontend:

cd frontend
npm install

Google Cloud Dev Setup

To emulate the google cloud database locally, you'll need to install the Google Cloud CLI.

You should also install the firestore emulator and a Java JRE:

sudo apt install google-cloud-cli-firestore-emulator default-jre

You can test your build by starting up the google cloud emulator:

gcloud emulators firestore start

Note: this project uses Google Cloud Firestore as it's database. This is not to be confused with Google Firebase or Google Firebase's Firestore (yikes), as Google Firebase is a separate project from Google Cloud.

Development Servers

You should now be able to run the Launch servers VSCode task to launch the dev servers necessary to view and test the app. If everything is setup properly, you should see all three servers start successfully. You should also be able to launch Robot Manager from the right panel of any Onshape Part Studio or Assembly and see the Robot manager UI appear.

Deploying in Google Cloud

Robot Manager can be deployed by running the script ./scripts/deploy.sh.

Some notes:

• To allow the App deployed in the App Engine to connect to Firestore, the App Engine service account must be given the Firestore user role in IAM.
• You'll need to create an app.yaml file to deploy. A suitable app.yaml is:

runtime: python312

instance_class: F1

env_variables:
    API_VERSION: 10
    NODE_ENV: "production"
    OAUTH_CLIENT_ID: "<YOUR PRODUCTION OAUTH CLIENT ID IN QUOTES>"
    OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET: "<YOUR PRODUCTION OAUTH CLIENT SECRET IN QUOTES>"
    SESSION_SECRET: "<AN ARBITRARY SECRET YOU MAKE UP>"

# Ran out of memory with F1 instance and 2 workers, so only 2 workers on F2
entrypoint: gunicorn -b :8080 -w 2 -t 60 "backend.server:create_app()"

FeatureScript Scripts

Several scripts for pulling code from Onshape and pushing new versions of Robot FeatureScripts are included in scripts. Scripts can be invoked as follows:

./scripts/onshape.sh

The following scripts are available:

• deploy - Deploys the Robot manager app to google cloud.
• onshape - Can be used to push and pull code from Onshape via the API.
• robot - Can be used to release new versions of Robot FeatureScripts.