Create

The Create components are generators. You describe what you want in a sentence, or show a picture, and a model makes it: a 3D object, a 2D drawing, an annotation symbol, a material, a display mode.

Only the Generate button spends credit. Everything a generator makes is cached, so sliders, sizes and reopening the file are free.

Component	What it’s for
3D object	Describe a thing (“a dining chair”, “a wall basin”) or drop in a picture, press Generate, and get it as solids at real size, with named parts and materials.
2D object (next beta)	Flat things drawn for you at real size: a car or a bed in plan, a person in elevation, a tree canopy.
Symbol (next beta)	North arrows, section and level markers, tags, scale bars.
Material	Name a finish (“board-formed concrete”) and get a seamless texture and a Rhino material mapped at real-world scale.
Display mode (next beta)	Describe a look (“white clay with soft shadows”, “blueprint”) or show a picture, and get it as a Rhino display mode.

3D object

object_3d Describe a thing (“a dining chair”, “a wall basin”) or drop in a picture, press Generate, and get it as solids at real size, with named parts and materials. Resize it afterwards for free. Cost: US$0.01-0.02 per design (Sonnet 5.5); free from the cache.

Inputs

Input	Type	On the component	Default	What it does
`thing`	Text	Text field	`a dining chair`	what to model
`style`	Text	Text field	blank	style, materials, details (optional)
`image`	Text	Image drop	blank	reference image: drop one on the component, or a file path or URL (optional)
`detail`	Text	Dropdown	`detailed`	how much to model. One of `simple`, `detailed`
`variant`	Integer	Slider 0–50	`0`	another design for the same request
`generate`	Boolean	Button	—	build it with the model (paid); a design built before comes back free from the cache
`width`	Number	Slider 0–10	`0`	width (m); 0 = as built
`depth`	Number	Slider 0–10	`0`	depth (m); 0 = as built
`height`	Number	Slider 0–10	`0`	height (m); 0 = as built
`plane`	Plane	Wire	—	where it stands, front facing the plane’s -Y (default: world origin)

Outputs

Output	Type	What it gives you
`parts`	list of Brep	the object’s solids
`names`	list of Text	part names
`materials`	list of Text	material per part
`colours`	list of Colour	preview colour per part
`size`	Text	width x depth x height (m)
`info`	Text	model, cost, attempts
`code`	Text	the generated build code

How it works

Only the generate button calls the model. Changing thing, style, image, detail or variant waits for it (‘Press Generate to build …’); nothing is sent until then.
A design built before comes back free from the cache (<repo>/.alien/cache/objects), with or without the button. The default request (‘a dining chair’) ships with its design.
The model (setting model3d, default anthropic/claude-sonnet-5.5) writes def build(rg, math) returning (name, material, brep) tuples in metres, Z up, standing on z = 0, front facing -Y, from robust primitives (no booleans or fillets). Alien runs it with only rg and math, checks the parts and that the size is plausible (3 cm to 8 m), and sends any error back: up to 3 attempts.
Width, depth and height never call the model: each axis scales the built design on its own; 0 or unset means as built. After a build the sliders show the design’s size and span half to twice it (NODE_CONTROLS); sizes set for one design reset when the design changes.
Each design is saved once to the asset library at its built size (geometry.3dm, build.py, thumbnail, the reference image); resizing never makes a new asset.

2D object

object_2d

New since 0.02-alpha: arrives in the next beta.

Flat things drawn for you at real size: a car or a bed in plan, a person in elevation, a tree canopy. Describe it or show a picture, press Generate, and it lands as lines, fills and hatches. Cost: About US$0.01-0.02 per design; free from the cache.

Inputs

Input	Type	On the component	Default	What it does
`thing`	Text	Text field	`a queen bed with pillows, in plan`	what to draw, and in plan or elevation
`style`	Text	Text field	blank	drawing style (optional): fills, hatches, how much detail
`image`	Text	Image drop	blank	reference image: drop one on the component, or a file path or URL (optional)
`detail`	Text	Dropdown	`detailed`	how much to draw. One of `simple`, `detailed`
`variant`	Integer	Slider 0–50	`0`	another design for the same request
`generate`	Boolean	Button	—	draw it with the model (paid); a design drawn before comes back free from the cache
`width`	Number	Slider 0–30	`0`	width (m, along X); 0 = as drawn
`depth`	Number	Slider 0–30	`0`	depth (m, along Y: length in plan, height in elevation); 0 = as drawn
`plane`	Plane	Wire	—	where it goes (default: world XY at the origin; an XZ plane stands an elevation up)

Outputs

Output	Type	What it gives you
`curves`	list of Curve	all linework, outlines of fills and hatches included
`fills`	list of Brep	filled areas (planar)
`hatches`	list of Geometry	a solid hatch per fill and the pattern hatches, for baking
`colours`	list of Colour	preview colour per fill
`names`	list of Text	element name per curve
`size`	Text	width x depth (m)
`info`	Text	model, cost, attempts, elements
`code`	Text	the generated build code

How it works

build(rg, math) returns (name, kind, geometry[, style]) with kind line, fill (tone or colour) or hatch (pattern, spacing, angle), in metres.
Plans are centred on the plane; elevations (starting at y = 0) stand on it; width and depth resize the cached design without a call.
Only Generate calls the model (setting model2d, else model3d, else Claude Sonnet 5.5); cached by request; saved once to the library as a drawing.

Symbol

symbol

New since 0.02-alpha: arrives in the next beta.

North arrows, section and level markers, tags, scale bars. Describe the symbol and get it drawn at paper size with text slots, placed at your drawing scale, and ready to bake as a Rhino block. Cost: About US$0.01 per symbol; free from the cache.

Inputs

Input	Type	On the component	Default	What it does
`description`	Text	Text field	`north arrow: a circle with a solid arrow and a bold N`	the annotation symbol to draw
`text`	Text	Text field	blank	text for the symbol, values separated by \| (e.g. A \| A201); empty = the sample text
`image`	Text	Image drop	blank	reference image: drop one on the component, or a file path or URL (optional)
`variant`	Integer	Slider 0–50	`0`	another design for the same request
`generate`	Boolean	Button	—	draw it with the model (paid); a design drawn before comes back free from the cache
`site`	Data	Wire	—	site record from bim_site (optional): drawing scale, and true north for north arrows
`scale`	Text	Dropdown	`site`	drawing scale: the symbol is drawn at paper size and scaled to the model (1:1 = paper mm). One of `site`, `1:1`, `1:20`, `1:50`, `1:100`, `1:200`, `1:250`, `1:500`, `1:1000`
`size`	Number	Slider 0–150	`0`	size on paper (mm, the longer side); 0 = as designed
`points`	list of Point3d	Wire	—	where to place copies (default: the plane’s origin)
`rotation`	Number	Slider -180–180	`0`	rotation (degrees, CCW)
`plane`	Plane	Wire	—	orientation, and the position when no points are given (default: world XY)
`block`	Boolean	Button	—	define or update the Rhino block ‘Alien · symbol · <name>’ and insert it at the points

Outputs

Output	Type	What it gives you
`curves`	list of Curve	linework, text and outlines, placed and scaled to the model
`fills`	list of Brep	solid areas (arrows, text, filled halves)
`hatches`	list of Geometry	a solid hatch per fill and the pattern hatches, for baking
`info`	Text	name, text slots, paper and model size, model, cost
`code`	Text	the generated build code

How it works

build(rg, math, text, label) in paper mm; text slots filled from ‘A | A201’; SCALE available for scale bars.
Placed at points with rotation, scaled by the site’s or a chosen drawing scale; north arrows turn to the site’s true north.
block defines or updates ‘Alien · symbol · <name>’ (paper mm) and replaces its tagged instances; saved to the library as a symbol.

Material

material_texture Name a finish (“board-formed concrete”) and get a seamless texture and a Rhino material mapped at real-world scale. Cost: About US$0.034 per texture; free from the cache.

Inputs

Input	Type	On the component	Default	What it does
`finish`	Text	Text field	`board-formed concrete`	the material finish
`size`	Number	Slider 0.05–20	`1.2`	real-world size one tile covers (m)
`variant`	Integer	Slider 0–50	`0`	another texture for the same finish
`seamless`	Boolean	Switch	on	blend the edges so tiles repeat without seams
`generate`	Boolean	Button	—	paint it with the image model (paid); a texture painted before comes back free
`add`	Boolean	Button	—	add (or update) the material in the Rhino document
`name`	Text	Text field	blank	material name (default: the finish)

Outputs

Output	Type	What it gives you
`material`	Data	display material: wire into Custom Preview
`preview`	list of Brep	3 x 3 tiles at real size, to see the repeat
`texture`	Text	texture image file
`name`	Text	material name
`info`	Text	model, cost, seam check

How it works

Only the generate button calls the image model: a new finish or variant waits for it; a texture painted before comes back free. The texture is keyed by finish and variant, never by size.
size is the real-world size of one tile: moving it re-tiles the same texture for free; Generate again repaints at the new scale.
The image model paints a flat, evenly lit swatch about size metres across.
Seam check: if the wrap-around edges jump more than 1.35 x the texture’s own detail, the image is rolled half a tile and cross-faded over the seam cross; already-tiling patterns are left as drawn (blending them ghosts).
add (a button) creates or replaces a PBR render material: base colour + bump, WCS box mapping, one tile per size metres, so it needs no UV mapping.
Textures are cached in <repo>/.alien/cache/textures; each painted texture is saved once to the asset library (its seamless version).

Limits of this version

Display textures don’t show in captures of a backgrounded Rhino: check them by eye.

Display mode

display_mode

New since 0.02-alpha: arrives in the next beta.

Describe a look (“white clay with soft shadows”, “blueprint”) or show a picture, and get it as a Rhino display mode. Built-in modes are never touched. Cost: About US$0.005 per look; free from the cache.

Inputs

Input	Type	On the component	Default	What it does
`description`	Text	Text field	`white clay model with soft shadows and thin black edges`	the look you want
`image`	Text	Image drop	blank	reference image (optional): a render or drawing whose look to copy
`base`	Text	Dropdown	`auto`	built-in mode to start from (auto = the model’s pick). One of `auto`, `Shaded`, `Rendered`, `Arctic`, `Technical`, `Pen`, `Ghosted`
`name`	Text	Text field	blank	mode name: Rhino lists it as ‘Alien · <name>’ (empty = the model’s name)
`variant`	Integer	Slider 0–50	`0`	another take on the same request
`generate`	Boolean	Button	—	ask the model for the look (paid, about US$0.01); a look made before comes back free
`install`	Boolean	Button	—	create or update the Rhino display mode ‘Alien · <name>’ from the look
`apply`	Boolean	Button	—	show the mode in the active viewport (installs it first)

Outputs

Output	Type	What it gives you
`mode`	Text	the display mode’s name in Rhino
`spec`	Text	the look as JSON, checked and clamped
`info`	Text	what the look sets, model, cost, install state

How it works

The model returns a JSON look (background, shading, lighting, shadows, edges, silhouettes, curves, isocurves, grid, xray), checked and clamped.
install copies a built-in base (auto, Shaded, Rendered, Arctic, Technical, Pen, Ghosted) once, then updates the same mode in place; typed RhinoCommon attributes plus .ini edits for the material colour and technical lines. Built-in modes are never changed.
apply shows it in the active viewport; saved to the library as a display_mode (spec, .ini, capture). Setting modelDisplay picks the model.

Get started

Using Alien

Ready-made components

Reference

3D object

Inputs

Outputs

2D object

Inputs

Outputs

Symbol

Inputs

Outputs

Material

Inputs

Outputs

Display mode

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Outputs

​3D object

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​2D object

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​Symbol

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​Material

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​Display mode

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3D object

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2D object

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Symbol

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Material

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Display mode

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