Thumbnail Catalog Generation

Create visual catalogs of CAD parts with auto-generated thumbnails.

Workflow Overview

CAD Library

Parts Collection

Processing

Translate to

Extract Thumbnails

Extract Metadata

Catalog Generation

Create Thumbnail Grid

Build Index Page

Generate Search Data

Catalog Output

HTML Gallery

Index

PDF Catalog

Input→Process→Generate→Output

CLI Approach

Step 1: Generate Thumbnails for All Parts

mkdir -p ./catalog/thumbnails

raps object list cad-library --output json | jq -r '.[].key' | while read key; do
  URN=$(raps object urn cad-library "$key" --output plain)

  # Check if translation exists and is complete
  STATUS=$(raps translate manifest "$URN" 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.status // "none"')

  if [ "$STATUS" = "success" ]; then
    # Generate safe filename
    SAFE_NAME=$(echo "$key" | tr '/' '_' | sed 's/\.[^.]*$//')

    # Download thumbnail
    raps derivative thumbnail "$URN" --output "./catalog/thumbnails/${SAFE_NAME}.png"
    echo "Generated: ${SAFE_NAME}.png"
  else
    echo "Skipping (not translated): $key"
  fi
done

Step 2: Extract Part Metadata

echo "[]" > ./catalog/parts.json

raps object list cad-library --output json | jq -r '.[].key' | while read key; do
  URN=$(raps object urn cad-library "$key" --output plain)

  STATUS=$(raps translate manifest "$URN" 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.status // "none"')

  if [ "$STATUS" = "success" ]; then
    SAFE_NAME=$(echo "$key" | tr '/' '_' | sed 's/\.[^.]*$//')

    # Get properties
    PROPS=$(raps derivative properties "$URN" --output json 2>/dev/null | jq '.[0].properties // {}')

    # Add to catalog
    jq --arg key "$key" \
       --arg name "$SAFE_NAME" \
       --argjson props "$PROPS" \
       '. += [{key: $key, name: $name, thumbnail: ($name + ".png"), properties: $props}]' \
       ./catalog/parts.json > ./catalog/parts.tmp.json

    mv ./catalog/parts.tmp.json ./catalog/parts.json
  fi
done

Step 3: Generate HTML Catalog

cat > ./catalog/index.html << 'EOF'
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <title>Parts Catalog</title>
  <style>
    body { font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin: 20px; }
    .grid { display: grid; grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, minmax(200px, 1fr)); gap: 20px; }
    .part { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 10px; text-align: center; border-radius: 8px; }
    .part img { max-width: 100%; height: 150px; object-fit: contain; }
    .part h3 { font-size: 14px; margin: 10px 0 5px; }
    .part p { font-size: 12px; color: #666; margin: 0; }
    .search { margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 10px; width: 100%; font-size: 16px; }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <h1>Parts Catalog</h1>
  <input type="text" class="search" placeholder="Search parts..." onkeyup="filterParts(this.value)">
  <div class="grid" id="catalog"></div>

  <script>
    let parts = [];

    fetch('parts.json')
      .then(r => r.json())
      .then(data => {
        parts = data;
        renderParts(parts);
      });

    function renderParts(data) {
      const grid = document.getElementById('catalog');
      grid.innerHTML = data.map(p => `
        <div class="part">
          <img src="thumbnails/${p.thumbnail}" alt="${p.name}">
          <h3>${p.name}</h3>
          <p>${p.properties['Part Number'] || ''}</p>
          <p>${p.properties['Material'] || ''}</p>
        </div>
      `).join('');
    }

    function filterParts(query) {
      const filtered = parts.filter(p =>
        p.name.toLowerCase().includes(query.toLowerCase()) ||
        JSON.stringify(p.properties).toLowerCase().includes(query.toLowerCase())
      );
      renderParts(filtered);
    }
  </script>
</body>
</html>
EOF

echo "Catalog generated at ./catalog/index.html"

CI/CD Pipeline

# .github/workflows/catalog-generation.yml
name: Parts Catalog Generation

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 2 * * *'  # Daily at 2 AM
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  generate-catalog:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Install RAPS
        run: cargo install raps

      - name: Generate thumbnails
        env:
          APS_CLIENT_ID: ${{ secrets.APS_CLIENT_ID }}
          APS_CLIENT_SECRET: ${{ secrets.APS_CLIENT_SECRET }}
        run: |
          mkdir -p ./catalog/thumbnails

          raps object list cad-library --output json | jq -r '.[].key' | while read key; do
            URN=$(raps object urn cad-library "$key" --output plain)
            STATUS=$(raps translate manifest "$URN" 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.status // "none"')

            if [ "$STATUS" = "success" ]; then
              SAFE_NAME=$(echo "$key" | tr '/' '_' | sed 's/\.[^.]*$//')
              raps derivative thumbnail "$URN" --output "./catalog/thumbnails/${SAFE_NAME}.png" 2>/dev/null || true
            fi
          done

      - name: Generate metadata
        env:
          APS_CLIENT_ID: ${{ secrets.APS_CLIENT_ID }}
          APS_CLIENT_SECRET: ${{ secrets.APS_CLIENT_SECRET }}
        run: |
          echo "[]" > ./catalog/parts.json

          raps object list cad-library --output json | jq -r '.[].key' | while read key; do
            URN=$(raps object urn cad-library "$key" --output plain)
            STATUS=$(raps translate manifest "$URN" 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.status // "none"')

            if [ "$STATUS" = "success" ]; then
              SAFE_NAME=$(echo "$key" | tr '/' '_' | sed 's/\.[^.]*$//')
              PROPS=$(raps derivative properties "$URN" --output json 2>/dev/null | jq '.[0].properties // {}' || echo '{}')

              jq --arg key "$key" --arg name "$SAFE_NAME" --argjson props "$PROPS" \
                '. += [{key: $key, name: $name, thumbnail: ($name + ".png"), properties: $props}]' \
                ./catalog/parts.json > ./catalog/parts.tmp.json
              mv ./catalog/parts.tmp.json ./catalog/parts.json
            fi
          done

      - name: Generate HTML
        run: |
          # Generate index.html (see CLI section for template)
          cat > ./catalog/index.html << 'HTMLEOF'
          <!-- HTML template here -->
          HTMLEOF

      - name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
        with:
          github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          publish_dir: ./catalog

Pipeline Flow

Schedule/Manual

Daily 2 AM

→

Generation

List all parts

Generate thumbnails

Extract metadata

Build HTML

→

Deploy

GitHub Pages

MCP Integration

Generate Catalog

User: "Create a visual catalog of all parts in the CAD library"

User

AI Assistant

Cloud

User

Create parts catalog

aps_object_list(=“cad-library”)

MCP

List objects

APS

Object list

loop: For each part

aps_derivative_thumbnail()

MCP

Get thumbnail

APS

PNG data

aps_derivative_properties(urn)

MCP

Get properties

APS

Properties JSON

Generate HTML catalog

Catalog ready with link

AI Response:

Generated parts catalog with 45 items:

Catalog Statistics:

Total parts: 45

With thumbnails: 43

With metadata: 45

Categories:

Brackets: 12

Housings: 8

Shafts: 10

Gears: 15

View Catalog

Search Catalog

User: "Find all aluminum parts in the catalog"