This online reference guide documents the SOLIDWORKS Application Programming Interface (API), which you can use to automate and customize the SOLIDWORKS software.

The API contains hundreds of functions that you can call from Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), VB.NET, Visual C#, Visual C++ 6.0 , and Visual C++/CLI. These functions provide direct access to SOLIDWORKS functionality such as creating a line, inserting an existing part into a part document, or verifying the parameters of a surface.

API Help is available on the Web and locally. To enable your desired access to API Help, select Help > Use SOLIDWORKS Web Help. A check mark indicates that API Help is enabled on the Web.

You can find the SOLIDWORKS primary interop assemblies (SolidWorks.Interop.*.dll) and type libraries (*.tlb) in the install_dir folder. Find the SOLIDWORKS redistributable interop assemblies in:

Every supported interface available in the SOLIDWORKS API, including its associated properties and methods, is documented; undocumented SOLIDWORKS API interfaces and functions are not supported and should not be used. Obsolete APIs are not supported. SOLIDWORKS recommends that you use the most current version of the API.

Use of the SOLIDWORKS API assumes that you are familiar with VBA, VB.NET, Visual C#, Visual C++ 6.0, or Visual C++/CLI.