# Run your first prompt in CADABRA

> Open a part you know, ask a read-only question first, then make one small reversible edit and check it in the feature tree before trusting anything larger.

URL: https://cadabrai.com/docs/getting-started/first-prompt/
Updated: 2026-08-15

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- [Getting started](https://cadabrai.com/docs/getting-started/) [Install](https://cadabrai.com/docs/getting-started/install/)
- [Your First Prompt](https://cadabrai.com/docs/getting-started/first-prompt/)
- [How It Works](https://cadabrai.com/docs/getting-started/how-it-works/)

- [All Five Modes](https://cadabrai.com/docs/modes/all-modes/)
- [Agent Mode](https://cadabrai.com/docs/modes/agent-mode/)
- [Ask Mode](https://cadabrai.com/docs/modes/ask-mode/)
- [Drawings Mode](https://cadabrai.com/docs/modes/drawings-mode/)

- [Writing Prompts](https://cadabrai.com/docs/prompts/writing-prompts/)
- [Prompt Library](https://cadabrai.com/docs/prompts/prompt-library/)

- [Drawing Standards](https://cadabrai.com/docs/standards/drawing-standards/)
- [Components and Fasteners](https://cadabrai.com/docs/standards/libraries-and-plm/)

- [Plans and Limits](https://cadabrai.com/docs/account/plans-and-limits/)
- [Preferences](https://cadabrai.com/docs/account/preferences/)
- [Billing](https://cadabrai.com/docs/account/billing/)

- [Data Handling](https://cadabrai.com/docs/security/data-handling/)

- [CADABRA Issues](https://cadabrai.com/docs/troubleshooting/cadabra-issues/)
- [SOLIDWORKS Errors](https://cadabrai.com/docs/troubleshooting/solidworks-errors/)

# Your first prompt

Start with one question and one small reversible edit, on a part whose behaviour you already know.

## Pick the right part to start on

Use a part you have modelled yourself and could rebuild from memory.

Avoid starting on a released assembly, a part under PDM checkout by someone else, or anything with an existing rebuild error.

## Ask before you edit

These change nothing. They tell you whether CADABRA is reading the document you think it is.

**What is the overall bounding box of this part?**

Confirms it can see the geometry.

**List the features in this tree and what each one does.**

Confirms it can read the history, not just the solid.

**What material is applied, and what is the mass?**

Confirms it can read properties.

**Why did this feature fail to rebuild?**

Confirms it can reason about the specific error in front of it.

## Then make one small edit

Pick a change with one obvious correct outcome and an easy undo. Changing a single dimension is ideal. Adding a fillet to a named face is a good second.

Say the operation, the reference, and the number. `Make the wall 3 mm thicker` works because all three are present. `Make it stronger` does not, because none of them are.

1. Type the instruction and let it run.
2. Look at the feature tree. New or modified features are the evidence of what it did.
3. Compare against what you expected. A difference usually means the instruction was ambiguous.
4. Undo it. Everything CADABRA does is a normal SOLIDWORKS operation, so the normal undo applies.

By default CADABRA pauses for you to review proposed changes before applying them. If you would rather it apply them directly, turn on **Auto-apply agent changes** in [Preferences](https://cadabrai.com/docs/account/preferences/).

## Where to go next

- The grammar that makes an instruction resolve: [writing prompts](https://cadabrai.com/docs/prompts/writing-prompts/).
- What each mode is for: [Agent, Ask and Drawings](https://cadabrai.com/docs/modes/).
- Making generated output match your company: [standards](https://cadabrai.com/docs/standards/).

On this page

- [Pick the right part to start on](#pick-a-part)
- [Ask before you edit](#ask-first)
- [Then make one small edit](#first-edit)
- [Where to go next](#next)