From Query Variables to Mirror Assembly: Fresh Onshape Features Worth Exploring

TL;DR: PTC’s cloud-native CAD platform delivers 13 major releases in 9 months, fundamentally rethinking parametric selection and symmetric assemblies. Here are the highlights from the last three months' worth of releases.

The theme from the last few months of releases has been a dramatic increase in momentum across the board. It’s not just the depth of individual features, but the breadth of capabilities spanning drawings, CAM Studio, Render Studio, simulation, core modeling, and more.

Watch the full quarterly review below, with chapters for each feature demonstration:

Redesigned Documents Page Improves Navigation

The documents page received a comprehensive overhaul focused on information density and accessibility. The new layout displays folders and documents simultaneously rather than requiring navigation between separate views. Users can customize which properties appear in document lists, and hovering over the smaller thumbnails triggers larger preview images.

The changes address a common workflow bottleneck: drilling down through nested folder structures to find specific documents. The simultaneous folder-and-document view keeps context visible while reducing the number of clicks required to access files.

Straight Pipe Tap Joins Hole Feature Options

Onshape’s Hole feature now includes straight pipe taps alongside the existing tapered pipe tap option. While seemingly minor, this was one of the most frequently requested improvements from users who previously had to construct these features manually or develop workarounds.

The implementation follows the standard hole feature pattern: select the straight type, choose your pipe tap thread type and size, and place it. The addition rounds out the hole feature’s coverage of common fastener and connection types.

Copy Link to Release Candidate

Release management workflows got simpler with the ability to copy direct URLs to release candidates. Previously, sharing a release candidate required explaining navigation steps: open the document, go to version history, find the release, click through. Now, users can right-click a release in version history or click the link icon when viewing a release to copy a shareable URL.

The improvement reduces friction in collaborative review processes, particularly when working with stakeholders who aren’t daily Onshape users and may not be familiar with the interface navigation patterns.

Document Notes Provide Contextual Annotation

A new Document notes feature adds a general-purpose annotation system attached directly to documents. The application is intentionally open-ended: it can explain configuration parameters, document design decisions, leave handoff instructions, or handle any other scenario where contextually relevant information needs to travel with the document.

The notes are visible to everyone who accesses the document, making them suitable for user guides, configuration documentation, or team coordination.

Markup Tools Available in Comment Replies

The markup tools available when creating comments now work in comment replies as well. This consistency improvement matters for threaded discussions where visual annotation is just as valuable in responses as it is in initial comments.

The change eliminates a workflow asymmetry that limited communication fidelity in collaborative review processes.

TECH TIP: How to Use Markups in Onshape

Configuration Panel Updates

Three improvements landed for users building complex configurations. First, configuration inputs can now be reordered via drag-and-drop in the configuration panel. As inputs are created, they appear in definition order, which may not reflect the logical grouping or visual presentation order users want.

Second, an expand/collapse all button handles the tedious task of managing visibility for configurations with dozens of inputs.

Third, the conditional input visibility interface where one input’s appearance depends on another input’s value is now dramatically simplified. The new interface uses human-readable logic instead of requiring manual syntax knowledge.

CAM Studio Interface Overhaul & Progressive Selection Filter

CAM Studio’s interface received substantial updates to align with Onshape’s design workspace. The toolbar and component icons now match the rest of the platform, creating a more cohesive experience for users moving between CAD and CAM workflows.

Beyond visual consistency, CAM Studio added progressive selection filters for hole patterns. When working with parts containing numerous hole features, users can enable filters for all blind holes or all through holes. Hovering over the geometry with the filter active automatically highlights and selects all matching features in a single click. This is a significant time-saver when generating toolpaths for complex parts with dozens or hundreds of holes.

Drawings: Named Views with Sections & Callout Highlighting

Drawings received the highest number of individual improvements this quarter, but two capabilities stand out for their workflow impact.

First, named views now preserve section cut information. Users can create complex section views at the part or assembly level using combinations of entities and planes, save them as named views, and insert them directly into drawings with the section state intact. This offloads section view construction to the modeling environment where users have more control, then allows reuse across multiple drawings.

Second, callout highlighting creates a dynamic connection between bills of materials and drawing views. Hovering over a BOM line item highlights both the associated balloon callout and the actual geometry in the drawing view. The feature dramatically improves comprehension for anyone reviewing a drawing who isn’t intimately familiar with the assembly. They can simply move their cursor through the BOM and watch as each component illuminates in the view. Users can navigate a BOM without any prior knowledge of subassembly names or part relationships and still develop a clear understanding of what each line item represents.

Query Variables

Every CAD user knows the frustration: you carefully select dozens of edges for a chamfer, adjust an upstream feature, and watch your selections fail. Query variables, introduced just two releases ago, eliminate this problem entirely.

Rather than manually picking geometry, users define parametric selection criteria that update automatically. Need all sharp convex edges on a configurable wheel, regardless of how many bolt holes it has? Create a query variable for edge convexity. Want all edges created by a specific hole pattern? Use query variables.

The feature supports vertices, edges, faces, and bodies, with built-in queries for common operations like parallel edges, fillet faces, and features produced by specific operations. Multiple queries can be combined. For example, all edges created by certain features except edges touching a specific face.

Additionally, advanced users can write custom queries using FeatureScript for specialized selection logic.

Surfacing Gets Enhanced Diagnostics

Advanced surface modelers received several diagnostic improvements. Rolling over splines and surfaces now displays preview information including span count, control point count, and degree. Multiple diagnostic views can layer simultaneously: curvature combs, deviation plots, zebra stripes, and Gaussian curvature can all display at once for comprehensive surface quality analysis.

A new curve deviation tool measures the gap between two curves, providing another standard measurement for high-quality surface work.

The Enclose feature also gained debugging assistance. When an enclosed surface has gaps, the open edges that still need closure are now highlighted, making it substantially easier to identify problems in complex enclosed geometries.

Render Studio: Panoramic Rendering for Product Visualization

Render Studio gained the ability to export panoramic EXR and HDR files from rendered lighting setups. The workflow allows users to model complex real-world lighting environments, capturing the precise placement and characteristics of spot lights, strip lights, and ambient reflections, then export that lighting as a reusable panoramic file.

Those panoramic files can then illuminate other rendered scenes, creating photorealistic product visualizations that maintain consistent lighting across multiple products or configurations.

Simulation Adds Inertial Relief

Simulation added inertial relief, which sounds complex but manifests as a simple checkbox in the simulation setup. The capability addresses scenarios where parts or assemblies are moving and not fully constrained in an inertial frame of reference.

Traditional linear static stress analysis requires parts to be static, which means creating artificial constraints. Inertial relief eliminates this workaround by automatically applying the body loads and accelerations needed to analyze the part in its natural state. The classic use cases include connecting rods with forces at both ends, control arms with loading from suspension springs and steering spindles, and carabiners with rope tension pulling from two points.

READ: How to Assess Your Models for Structural Weakness with Onshape

Assembly Mirror: More Than Just Geometry

Assembly mirror has been one of Onshape’s most requested features. The team deliberately waited, rethinking the approach rather than replicating existing implementations.

The result handles complexity other systems struggle with: multi-document assemblies, configured components, parts under release management, and intelligent transform-versus-derive decisions.

The PDM integration is where Onshape’s unified architecture shines. Transformed symmetric parts maintain a single line item in the bill of materials with the correct quantity. Only truly asymmetric parts that needed mirroring get new SKUs. There’s no accidental part number proliferation or confusion about which parts are truly distinct versus which are simply mirrored instances of the same part.

The feature is fully parametric and handles complications that would break simpler implementations.

Improvements Across the Platform

The full feature list, which is accessible through Onshape’s changelog, runs considerably longer than what’s covered here. Each three-week release includes improvements across the platform, from core modeling to specialized workflows like CAM, simulation, and rendering.

With the 200th release in the rearview mirror and momentum accelerating, the pattern is clear: Onshape isn’t just adding features but rethinking fundamental CAD problems and delivering implementations that work better than what came before.