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Improvements to Onshape - February 20, 2026

mlaflecheCADmlaflecheCAD Member, Onshape Employees, Developers Posts: 198 image
edited February 20 in New in Onshape
This update marks a major milestone with the introduction of Model Based Definition, enabling an entirely new approach to communicating manufacturing intent directly within your 3D models. Alongside MBD, you'll find a host of CAD improvements that streamline your design workflow, and the AI Advisor is now built into Onshape's help system to get you answers faster than ever. Let's jump right in.

CAD

MODEL-BASED DEFINITION

We are excited to introduce Model-Based Definition (MBD), available to all Onshape users at all plan levels.
MBD allows you to capture design intent, limits of requirements, and Product Manufacturing Information (PMI) directly in your model, for simple and effective communication downstream. Unlike other add-in MBD tools, Onshape MBD is core to your design, and a natural part of your modeling workflows. Sketches, features--even custom features, are MBD ready from their first use in a model. Paired with Onshape's powerful sharing and collaborative toolset, any and all stakeholders can understand relevant model information without ever having to download a file or install any software.

https://onshape.wistia.com/medias/a8z3hmv1rz

In this initial release, MBD is available in Onshape Part studios. We look forward to adding more features and additional capabilities in the coming releases.
For more information, you can view our help documentation. Additional documentation, including Onshape Learning Center content on MBD is coming soon.


MBD - STEP AP242 EXPORT

In addition to Onshape sharing and Publication capabilities for downstream stakeholders, Onshape MBD also supports exporting as STEP AP242. The AP242 format can include 3D PMI data for direct read into inspection software and tools, CMM programming, and more.



Below shows an example file, exported from Onshape, which has been imported into Creo while retaining all defined 3D PMI.




TWIST AND SCALE FOR SWEEP

New Twist and Scale options for Sweep provide new ways to control the profile of a sweep along its path. Twist provides three different methods to define the total number of rotations that the profile will make along the sweep path. Scale on the other hand allows you to specify the overall scale change of the profile from the beginning of the sweep to the end. These new sweep options will unlock new design possibilities when creating sweeps that may have previously required more complex surfacing or lofts.

https://onshape.wistia.com/medias/tsjs4igktz


OFFSET PLANES BY CURVES

Offset planes can now be created with the selection of circular or elliptical curve segments. These segments can be from sketch entities, model edges, or segments of more complex curves like the Routing curve. This new creation method eliminates unnecessary modeling steps and features.

https://onshape.wistia.com/medias/5fso1cltyl


REPLICATE ASSEMBLY SECTION-VIEW IN IN-CONTEXT PART STUDIO

Now when choosing to edit in context from an assembly with an active section view, the display of the section will be carried over to the Part Studio for In-context modeling. Likewise, when using the Go to assembly button from the active context, the orientation, zoom level, and display will be preserved when returning to the assembly. These enhancements are part of Onshape's ongoing improvements to the In-context modeling experience in Onshape.

https://onshape.wistia.com/medias/i5secuns2a


CONFIGURATION PANEL SEARCH FILTERS

Onshape’s new Configuration panel filters make it faster and easier to locate inputs, refine options, and manage complex product configurations. You can filter all configuration inputs based on input name, type, and unique filters like featurename, hasvisibilityconditions, and many others.

https://onshape.wistia.com/medias/pg9lvpsd0m


DRAWINGS

A SHAFT FIT TOLERANCE NO LONGER REQUIRES A HOLE TOLERANCE

Users are no longer required to specify a hole fit tolerance in order to create a shaft fit tolerance. This applies to each fit type and removes this extra step whenever you want to add a shaft fit tolerances to your drawings.

https://onshape.wistia.com/medias/bxncee7i1j

ADMINISTRATION

TRANSFER APPLICATION OWNERSHIP

Administrators can now transfer ownership of custom applications to other users, Companies, or Enterprises. This improvement simplifies application management when team members change roles or leave, ensuring continuity and control over custom-built integrations without recreating them from scratch.

https://onshape.wistia.com/medias/3wskn3tza1



RENDER STUDIO

CAMERA PANEL

A new Camera panel is now available in Render Studio, giving you dedicated controls for managing camera settings in one convenient location. Adjust camera position/orientation, focal length/field of view, depth of field, backgrounds, tone mapping, and other parameters with a streamlined interface designed for faster scene composition.

https://onshape.wistia.com/medias/qrmv6liyes

EMISSIVE VOLUMES

Render Studio Advanced now supports emissive volumes, allowing volumetric entities like fog and smoke to emit light within your scene. Create dramatic glowing atmospheric effects for product visualizations, adding another layer of realism and artistic control to your renders.

https://onshape.wistia.com/medias/rb0ftgrs5b


CAM STUDIO

IMPROVED CUTTING SELECTION ARROWS

Onshape CAM Studio introduces enhanced selection arrows for contouring operations to improve user experience and programming confidence. The update adds a new cutting side arrow that works alongside the existing cutting direction arrow, automatically adjusting for climb or conventional milling modes. When users change the tool hand from right to left or vice versa, both direction arrows automatically update to maintain accuracy while reflecting the correct cutting side. These improvements provide clearer visual feedback and give users greater confidence when programming CAM operations.

https://onshape.wistia.com/medias/3ut5wgbha0

EDUCATION ENTERPRISE

SUPPORT FOR SCHEDULED ASSIGNMENTS

Educators can now schedule assignments in advance. On the assignment details page, educators can opt into scheduling to set a publish and/or close date.  When the publish date and time are reached, the assignment will go live and move to an “In progress” state. Likewise, they can provide a date for when the assignment will be set to a “Closed” state. When the assignment is moved to a “Closed” state, students will no longer be able to submit from their assignments list.



DOCUMENTATION

HELP - AI ADVISOR SEARCH RESULTS

Onshape Help has been enhanced with improved search results, delivering more relevant and accurate answers to your questions. Find the information you need faster with smarter search capabilities powered by AI Advisor.

https://onshape.wistia.com/medias/pk0hsau6f3



Please take a moment to try out these new features and improvements and leave your comments below. For a detailed list of all the changes in this update, please see the changelog.

Remember: The updates listed here are now live for all users when creating new Documents. Over the next few days, these features will also be available in Documents created before this update. Mobile app interface updates occur via the Apple App store or Google Play store and happen in the days following the update.

Regards,
Mike LaFleche   @mlaflecheCAD
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