Native Mac app: open friction from machining the rana-60 stator (tracking)

[ecto]

Beta-user notes from one real job — open the rana-60-cnc stator in the native Mac app and machine it on a desktop router. Full log with context, including everything already fixed in #890: docs/native-app-friction-log.md (numbers below match it).

Opening files

• 1 STEP / STL / DXF cannot be opened as geometry (import exists only in the MCP server and CLI)
• 3 DXF is not a declared document type, so open vcad.app file.dxf, drag-to-Dock and Finder "Open With" go to the system default handler
• 4 Opening into a running instance gives no feedback about which workspace the file landed in, or whether it replaced the scratch document
• 8 .vcadmesh bundle is written from the last full evaluation's keys; an unsaved scrub can leave a key stale until the next full solve
• 9 A long solve has no ETA, no cancel, and no coarse/outline fallback while it runs
• 10 Dock tile and menu bar appear long before the window shows anything
• 30 A degraded solid looks exactly like a good one: triangle soup (faces no longer selectable) opens with no indication, though the kernel records it (Solid::degradations, BooleanReport)

Kernel cost / authoring

• 13 No hint that facet count and tangent placement multiply boolean cost; eval_ms per node exists but is not surfaced (app or vcad info --timings)
• 14 No sub-root caching — needs a serialized BRep

Manufacture

• 16 Nothing checks the DXF outline against the loaded solid; a stale outline machines silently
• 17 Stock thickness stays at the 10 mm default after an outline import; "Use model bounds" reads render bounds, not part-in-stock
• 18 Part coordinates are centred on the origin while CAM assumes XY lower-left at 0 with stock top Z0; only the DXF import translates
• 19 Single tool, no drill op: holes smaller than the cutter are refused (with a message) rather than machined
• 20 Contour CAM: no roughing/finishing split, stock-to-leave, ramp/helix entry or lead-in; time estimate assumes fixed rapids
• 21 Tabs are a count placed by the kernel; not visible or movable in the viewport
• 22 No warning when a slot is narrower than the tool
• 23 Toolpath preview only after Generate; Setup shows no summary (moves, time, depth)
• 24 An import's only confirmation is a caption; the inspector should jump to the new operation

Tooling

• 27 CLI and app binaries are both named vcad; killing one by name kills the other
• 28 A git worktree gets its own kernel id (content-hashed sources), so its mesh cache starts cold
• 31 The borderless editor window has no accessibility window, Window-menu entry or title; a VCAD_STATUS dump (document, workspace, solve state) would make headless verification possible

Not done in #890 either: Quick Look extension, Receipt chip in every workspace, visionOS build verification (CoreSimulator on the dev machine was older than Xcode).

🤖 Filed by Claude Code