Neurocad Link is a desktop agent that lets recipes deliver assets directly to your CAD applications through a live connection to Neurocad. Once a recipe runs and finishes, your file is immediately available in Altium, Fusion, SolidWorks, Cadence, or Inventor — no download, no manual import, no “save then reopen” step.
This page covers setup, what the connection looks like in practice, and what to do when something doesn’t land.
How Neurocad Link works
Neurocad Link runs in the background on your workstation. It maintains a connection to Neurocad’s session service and reports which CAD applications are installed and whether they’re currently running. When a recipe dispatches to your desktop, Neurocad sends a reference to the asset — not the file itself — and Neurocad Link fetches it using your identity and hands it off to the right application.
Your machine has to be online for Neurocad Link’s Send to desktop node to run recipes and connect to your CAD tools.
Step 1: Install Neurocad Link
Follow the download instructions provided at installation. Once Neurocad Link is installed:
- Install the Neurocad Link desktop companion.
- Sign in with the same Neurocad account you use in the browser.
- Open the CAD application you want to receive recipe outputs (or leave it closed — Neurocad Link will still register it).
- Neurocad Link registers your machine and applications automatically. You’re done.
Neurocad Link auto-installs into your current suite of tools on download. If a specific application isn’t registering, each supported app has its own connection guide under Connections → Desktop.
Supported applications
Five applications are supported today — three mechanical, two electronics.
Mechanical
- Autodesk Fusion — Receives 3D model and assembly assets.
- SolidWorks — Receives 3D model and assembly assets.
- Autodesk Inventor — Receives 3D model and assembly assets.
Electronics
- Altium Designer — Receives library symbols, footprints, and schematics.
- Cadence (OrCAD / Allegro) — Receives library symbols, footprints, and schematics.
Each application’s setup page covers installation steps, which asset types it accepts, version compatibility, and what to check if a dispatch completes but nothing opens in the app.
Seeing what’s connected
Go to Settings → Desktop applications for a live view of every machine and CAD application registered to your account.
Each entry shows:
- Machine name — The hostname Neurocad Link reported for that workstation.
- Online / Offline — Whether Neurocad Link is currently running and connected on that machine.
- Applications — Every CAD app detected on that machine, with a dot showing whether it’s currently open.
- Tag as local / This device — Marks this machine as the default target for your current browser session. Useful when you want recipes to default to the workstation you’re sitting at. Click again to remove the tag.
- Refresh — Re-fetches the live state from Neurocad. Use this right after installing Neurocad Link or opening a new CAD application if you don’t want to wait for the next automatic update.
Status at a glance:
- A green dot next to a machine means Neurocad Link is running and connected on that workstation
- A green dot next to an application means it’s currently open on the desktop.
- A grey dot next to a machine name means Neurocad Link is not running, the machine is asleep or the user signed out.
- No dot means the application isn’t installed or registered with Neurocad Link.
The Send to desktop node
Send to desktop is the recipe node that dispatches your output to a connected workstation. You’ll find it in the Connect section of the Node library.
Setting it up
The node has three inputs to configure:
- Asset ID — The output asset to open. If you wire this node directly from a Library, Schematic, or Create share link node, the asset ID is populated automatically.
- Machine — Select from the list of your online, connected workstations.
- Application — Options are pulled from what Neurocad Link reports on the chosen machine. Each option shows Running if the app is currently open, or its domain type if it’s installed but not running.
A successful run means the dispatch was delivered to your desktop — not that the file has finished opening. Neurocad Link handles the rest after the recipe completes.
A few things worth knowing
- It’s a Connect node, not a Local node. — Local nodes require an active browser session to run. Send to desktop runs on Neurocad’s servers and targets your desktop remotely. Recipes that use Send to desktop as their final step can be deployed to an automation.
- It runs as you. — The node uses your Neurocad Passport to identify your connected desktops. It dispatches to machines registered under your account only. There is no shared-workstation mode.
- It sends a reference, not a file. — The dispatch payload is an asset ID. Neurocad Link fetches the actual file from Neurocad’s asset service using your identity. Nothing is uploaded to or from your machine during the recipe run.
- It replaces the older Live design node. — If you have recipes that used Live design as a terminal output, replace it with Send to desktop and pick a machine and application. Same intent, new node, fully deployable.
Error reference
If Send to desktop reports an error, this table covers the most common ones and what to do.
Error
What to do
DESKTOP_IDENTITY_MISSING
Your Neurocad Passport isn’t connected or needs re-auth. Go to /connect and reconnect your Passport, then retry.
DESKTOP_MACHINE_NOT_FOUND
The machine isn’t showing as Online. Check Settings → Desktop applications, click Refresh, confirm the machine is green, and retry.
DESKTOP_MACHINE_AMBIGUOUS
Two workstations have the same hostname. Rename one in Neurocad Link settings, then retry.
DESKTOP_SOCKET_NOT_CONNECTED
The machine is registered but the socket dropped. Confirm Neurocad Link is running and signed in on the target workstation, then retry.
DESKTOP_APP_NOT_INSTALLED
The selected application isn’t registered on that machine. Pick a different application, or install and pair it, then retry.
DESKTOP_SESSION_NOT_FOUND
The desktop disconnected between when you loaded the recipe and when it ran. Refresh and retry.
DESKTOP_OPEN_FILE_FAILED
Neurocad Link accepted the dispatch but reported a failure. This is usually transient — retry first. If it persists, check the run data panel for details.
Asset ID error
Troubleshooting: dispatch says it succeeded but nothing opened
Walk this list in order. Almost every report is one of these:
- Neurocad Link is running on the target workstation and signed in to the right account.
- Settings → Desktop applications shows the machine as Online (green dot).
- The recipe is using your Passport — not someone else’s and not needs_reauth.
- The asset ID is actually present. Check the previous node’s output in the run data panel and confirm an asset ID exists.
- The machine and application selection in the node still match a live session. If the workstation was restarted or slept, click Refresh in Settings and re-test.
- If the machine was recently renamed, the recipe may have the old name baked in. Re-open the node and re-select the machine from the list.
- If two workstations share the same hostname, rename one in Neurocad Link settings.
If all of the above check out and nothing is opening, the issue is on the desktop side — Neurocad Link is running but the CAD application isn’t launching the file. Check the per-application setup docs for app-specific troubleshooting.
Reference
Failure messages
If a recipe run fails at the Send to desktop node, start here:
- Rewrite the prompt. — If the failure is upstream of Send to desktop, it’s usually prompt-related. Be specific about what you want Neurocad to extract.
- Verify the asset. — Confirm the previous node generated a valid output with an asset ID.
- Check your connection. — Make sure Neurocad Link is running and the target machine and application show as connected in Settings → Desktop applications.
- Contact support. — Reach us on the Neurocad Slack channel or at support@neurocad.com.