Silo Server Roadmap
Introduction
Silo server is intended to be a PDM/PLM collaboration system for create files at its core. Many PDM and PLM softwares spend their efforts of keeping files from conflicting in different ways (mostly pessimistic locking) and tracking part metadata. While these features are essential, PDM/PLM could be so much more in terms of offering a server-based platform for Create users. Silo has many planned features that give it some analogous functionality to services like Git, while also acknowledging the target market of Create and Silo is manufacturing-bound mechanical parts.
Phase I: Foundational Modules and Groundwork
Core Silo provides part/assembly storage, version control, authentication, and a base REST API. Kindred Create will also use a special .kc format, providing additional metadata layers for use in both Create's Silo addon and Silo itself.
An API endpoint registry is central to the system, providing system knowledge of capabilities and command validity. This is an essential part of the modular system planned for Silo, as well as a behavioural guide for connected clients.
A web UI shell will provide an app launcher as the landing page, inspired by the Odoo apps menu for simplicity and familiarity amond Odoo users. Odoo also provides lots of quality API and contemporary module documentation, and is the highest priority external integration for Silo. If you haven't decided on an ERP system, and want to use Silo/Create in your R&D business, Odoo provides an inexpensive alternative to conventional providers.
A python scripting engine provides the basis for most module functionality. The development of Silo mdoules should be straightforward for those familiar with FreeCAD addon development.
One of the advantages of servers is batch processing. Using servers to handle complex, asynchronous processing jobs could help with client performance and enable features such as self-hosted AI analysis or advanced rendering more economically than purchasing many workstations capable of the same thing.
Phase II: Early Dependencies
A headless create instance is used for backend file processing, allowing full use of the Create/FreeCAD Python API to scripts running server-side.
A notification stream will be implemented, giving a groundwork for event hooks and webhook delivery systems to later be used by modules requiring them.
An audit trail system is important in many manufacturing environments - integrating standard audits like ISO 9001 and AS9100 early on will be helpful to create module that reduce quality burden on the manufacturer.
Phase III: Diffs and Shared Resources
Diffing is an important addition over conventional CAD version control. Processing the XML content of .kc files could provide intelligent insights to what has changed in a part from one revision to the next with minimal additional user input.
Thumbnails will be implemented in this phase, generated from the backend headless Create instance. A shared macro storage will be added to help facilitate team macro usage mroe cleanly than shared folders, and allows some version control of macros to be attached to commonly targeted documents. The same shared storage could be applied to themes and addons.
Another goal is user customizable part schemas - while this is currently conducted with YAML files, a more graphically based editor is planned for the web UI.
Phase IV: Compute
Batch processing introduced in Phase I gets its full realization here. CPU and GPU job queues allow users to submit FEA, CFD, rendering, and bulk export tasks to the server rather than tying up their workstation. An AI broker module routes LLM and machine learning workloads — such as GNN-based constraint optimization or automated part classification — through the same queue infrastructure. A reporting and analytics module rounds out this phase, surfacing metrics like part reuse, revision frequency, and compute usage across the organization.
Phase V: Engineering Workflow
This phase formalizes how engineering work moves through an organization. An approval and ECO workflow module introduces multi-stage review gates and digital signatures for engineering change orders. Shop floor drawing distribution provides controlled release of production drawings, viewable on web-based displays at machines or through a managed PDF distribution system. An import/export bridge handles STEP, IGES, and 3MF conversion as well as SOLIDWORKS migration tooling for teams transitioning to Create. Multi-tenant organization management is also introduced here for teams that need role-based access boundaries and storage quotas.
Phase VI: Manufacturing and Quality
Silo begins to overlap with manufacturing execution in this phase. An MES module — either standalone or as a bridge to an external system — connects approved designs to production scheduling. A quality and tolerance stackup module ingests inspection data from CMM devices and maps real-world measurements against nominal geometry, enabling statistical tolerance analysis across production runs. An inspection plan generator can produce CMM programs or inspection checklists directly from GD&T annotations in a drawing. A BIM inventory and receiving module ties physical warehouse locations to a live facility model, managed through a custom BIM-MES workbench in Create. Inventory becomes explorable in 3D — you can navigate your building and see where stock is located.
Phase VII: Platform and Ecosystem
The final phase extends Silo into a development and integration platform. Developer tools provide a managed Gitea instance with CI/CD pipelines for companies maintaining their own Create fork — building and distributing updates to configured client machines. This tooling is fully open-source; the goal is the same as FreeCAD itself — the software belongs to the customer, and any tools to make developing it easier should be available to everyone. Digital twin synchronization maps live sensor data onto BIM and assembly models for operational monitoring. ERP adapters provide bidirectional sync of parts, BOMs, ECOs, and production orders to Odoo, SAP, or other external systems.
Looking Ahead
Silo's roadmap is ambitious by design. Not every module will ship simultaneously, and the dependency tiers ensure that foundational work is solid before downstream features are built on top of it. The .kc file format and module manifest specification are the two contracts that define what it means to be part of the Silo ecosystem — getting those right is the first priority.
If you're interested in contributing, testing, or just following along, the source is available at git.kindred-systems.com/kindred/silo. We welcome feedback on the roadmap and module priorities from anyone working in engineering or manufacturing workflows.