About KerfSense

KerfSense exists because woodworking plans deserve a tool that thinks in boards and joints — not in sketches that happen to look like furniture.

Work directly, give an agent a specific task, or move between the two. The result stays in the same editable project.

A Windows desktop app in development. Optional agent workflows need a separate connection to Claude Code or Codex.

One project. Three ways to work.

Work by hand

Place boards, choose how they meet, and adjust the stock. Inspect the joints and cut list as the design takes shape.

Give your agent a task

Ask a connected agent to inspect a plan or make a specific change. It uses the app’s tools to work on boards and joints.

Keep shaping it together

Review the result in the app, use Undo for document edits, and refine it yourself. Continue from the project you can see and edit.

The app computes from your boards, joints, and dimensions. An optional agent can suggest ideas and request changes; KerfSense applies its native checks to those changes. You decide what belongs in the design.

Optional agent connection

Bring the agent you work with.

Claude Code and Codex can connect to the Windows app through MCP, the Model Context Protocol. A local bridge lets your agent inspect and edit the project in a visible KerfSense window.

You configure your agent separately. KerfSense does not include an AI subscription or a built-in chat service. The connection runs locally; your agent provider’s data handling applies to prompts and tool results.

Before you connect

These instructions are for people who already have a matching KerfSense Windows build and its installed AI bridge, Python 3, and Claude Code or Codex on the same computer. There is no public app download yet. Join early access for availability updates.

Opening and inspecting a plan works in Viewer mode. Creating or editing a plan needs active Author access in the app. Your early-access setup must include a dedicated app profile with that access for agent editing.

Add the local connection

Choose your agent below. These PowerShell commands register the installed bridge; they do not install or launch KerfSense. Use the full path to the dedicated app profile from your setup. If your agent already lists a KerfSense connection, check that configuration first.
Connect with Codex
With the Codex CLI installed, run these commands in PowerShell. They add a local stdio MCP server to your Codex configuration.
```
$kerfLauncher = Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA 'KerfSense/ai/launcher.py'
$kerfProfile = Read-Host 'Full path to your dedicated KerfSense app profile'
codex mcp add kerfsense -- python -u $kerfLauncher --profile-dir $kerfProfile mcp
```
Restart your Codex session to load the connection. In the CLI, codex mcp list shows configured servers.
Connect with Claude Code
With Claude Code installed, run these commands in PowerShell. They add a local stdio MCP server for your Windows user account.
```
$kerfLauncher = Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA 'KerfSense/ai/launcher.py'
$kerfProfile = Read-Host 'Full path to your dedicated KerfSense app profile'
claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope user kerfsense -- python -u $kerfLauncher --profile-dir $kerfProfile mcp
```
Start a new Claude Code session and use /mcp to check the connection. Complete any trust prompt in your agent.
The standard bridge location is shown above. If yours was installed elsewhere, use its actual launcher path. The app profile is separate from your .kerf project file. Do not copy a profile from an app that is running or use one profile in two app windows at once. Without a persistent profile, the bridge starts a fresh Viewer session.
Open a project deliberately

Listing the tools leaves the app closed. Ask your agent to launch KerfSense and open the .kerf file you choose. Each connection owns its app session; it does not attach to a window you already opened.

Launch KerfSense with my chosen project. Confirm the file and whether editing is available, then summarize its boards and joints without changing anything.

Check the visible window and project before asking for an edit. The connection exposes app.launch, app.session, and app.status for those checks.
Give it a bounded task, then review

Name the board or joint, the change, and the dimensions you want. Review the result in the app, use Undo for document edits, or continue working by hand. Agent editing uses the app’s document operations and still requires Author access.

You can turn the connection off

In the app, open AI access on and choose Turn off AI access to stop new requests while leaving your project open. Disconnecting does not undo a change already made.

Save your work and close the app normally before ending your agent session. Some agent hosts also end the app process when they exit.

Your project, in a .kerf file.

Plans are .kerf files: plain, human-inspectable, versioned documents. Compatibility is treated as a promise, not a feature — a file saved by an earlier version of KerfSense keeps opening in every later one, carried forward by explicit migration, never by luck.

The site's curated web demo reads the format with the same implementation the desktop app is built from — one source of truth, not a lookalike.

See a plan before you install anything.

The browser demo lets you inspect one included .kerf plan and its cut list. Were you sent a plan? Open it in your browser to review the build; the file is never uploaded. Editing and agent connections belong to the desktop app.

The maker

KerfSense is made by Sacred Noir.