CutOptim Engine API

A cutting-optimization API: send parts and stock — 2D panels, 1D bars, timber or true-shape nesting of irregular parts — and get back the layout, cut plan and yield. By default the same request always returns the same plan.

See the full benchmark → · Measured, not claimed

{
  "parts": [
    { "name": "bracket", "polygon": […], "qty": 12, … },
    { "name": "gusset", "polygon": […], "qty": 14, … },
    { "name": "plate", "polygon": […], "holes": […], "qty": 12, … },
    { "name": "flange", "source": { … }, "qty": 10, … }
  ],
  "stock": [{ "w": 2500, "h": 1250, "exclusions": […], … }],
  "options": { "minSeparation": 5, "edgeClearance": 10 }
}

Why build on it

Build it, or call it

A cutting optimizer looks like a weekend project and turns into a long tail of edge cases: kerf and trim arithmetic, stock that runs out, rotation and grain rules, layouts that must be sawable edge to edge, polygons with holes — and a regression suite that proves a change never makes a plan worse. The Engine API is that work, already done and measured.

See the full benchmark →

Pricing

Every request counts the same — nesting included · We email you at 90% of the quota and when it runs out.

Try it free: a public demo key on the API reference, and test keys with 1,000 requests a month that are never billed

Larger volumes. 10,000 requests a month is the standard plan, not a ceiling on what we can run. If you need more — higher volume, separate keys for staging and production, or a dedicated arrangement — tell us your numbers and we price it individually. Tell us your volume →

By subscribing you accept the Engine API Service Terms (in English).

The regular CutOptim plans (Free / Pro / Workshop) are unrelated to the API — the in-app optimizer stays included in them. See app pricing →

What goes in, what comes out

One real job per mode: the request body on top, and below it the plan that came back, drawn straight from the response.

{
  "parts": [
    { "name": "Side", "w": 720, "h": 560, "qty": 6 },
    { "name": "Bottom", "w": 764, "h": 560, "qty": 3 },
    { "name": "Top", "w": 764, "h": 560, "qty": 3 },
    { "name": "Shelf", "w": 762, "h": 520, "qty": 3 },
    { "name": "Rail", "w": 764, "h": 100, "qty": 6 },
    { "name": "Plinth", "w": 764, "h": 120, "qty": 6 },
    { "name": "Door", "w": 397, "h": 716, "qty": 6, "rotatable": false },
    { "name": "Drawer front", "w": 796, "h": 176, "qty": 3 }
  ],
  "stock": [
    { "w": 2800, "h": 2070, "qty": 5, "price": 38.5 }
  ],
  "options": { "kerf": 4, "trim": { "left": 10, "right": 10, "top": 10, "bottom": 10 } }
}

{
  "parts": [
    { "name": "Post", "length": 2400, "qty": 4 },
    { "name": "Rail", "length": 1750, "qty": 6 },
    { "name": "Brace", "length": 940, "qty": 8 },
    { "name": "Cross", "length": 620, "qty": 10 }
  ],
  "stock": [
    { "length": 6000, "qty": 10, "price": 24.9 }
  ],
  "options": { "kerf": 3, "trim": { "start": 10 } }
}

{
  "parts": [
    { "name": "Stud", "sw": 45, "sh": 95, "length": 2350, "qty": 6 },
    { "name": "Nogging", "sw": 45, "sh": 95, "length": 555, "qty": 12 },
    { "name": "Joist", "sw": 45, "sh": 145, "length": 3600, "qty": 3 },
    { "name": "Blocking", "sw": 45, "sh": 145, "length": 1150, "qty": 3 }
  ],
  "stock": [
    { "name": "C24 45x95", "sw": 45, "sh": 95, "length": 4800, "qty": 10, "price": 9.8 },
    { "name": "C24 45x145", "sw": 45, "sh": 145, "length": 4800, "qty": 6, "price": 14.6 }
  ],
  "options": { "kerf": 3 }
}

{
  "parts": [
    { "name": "bracket", "polygon": [[0,0], [300,0], [300,100], [100,100], [100,300], [0,300]], "qty": 12, "allowedRotations": [0,90,180,270] },
    { "name": "gusset", "polygon": [[0,0], [250,0], [0,250]], "qty": 14, "allowedRotations": [0,90,180,270] },
    { "name": "plate", "polygon": [[0,0], [240,0], [240,160], [0,160]], "holes": [[[60,65], [180,65], [180,95], [60,95]]], "qty": 12, "allowedRotations": [0,90] },
    { "name": "flange", "source": { "content": "<svg xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\"><circle cx=\"90\" cy=\"90\" r=\"90\"/><circle cx=\"90\" cy=\"90\" r=\"32\"/><circle cx=\"90\" cy=\"30\" r=\"9\"/><circle cx=\"150\" cy=\"90\" r=\"9\"/><circle cx=\"90\" cy=\"150\" r=\"9\"/><circle cx=\"30\" cy=\"90\" r=\"9\"/></svg>", "filename": "flange.svg" }, "qty": 10, "allowedRotations": [0] }
  ],
  "stock": [
    { "w": 2500, "h": 1250, "qty": 3, "price": 96, "exclusions": [{ "polygon": [[1150,0], [1350,0], [1350,70], [1150,70]], "quality": 0 }] }
  ],
  "options": { "minSeparation": 5, "edgeClearance": 10 }
}

What the API does

Two speeds: quote now, save material later

Most integrations need both — an answer while a customer waits, and a tighter plan when the job goes to the machine. You choose per call.

The response has the same shape either way. On 2D the max engine accepts a narrower set of options than heuristic (the reference lists them), and a nesting job with exclusion zones is still served by lbf.

Which engine serves which mode

The endpoint you POST to picks the mode; the engine parameter picks the algorithm. The default heuristic engine serves 2D, 1D and timber; balanced is 2D only; the asynchronous max engine serves 2D panels and true-shape nesting; and nesting defaults to its own lbf engine. Same engine as the app, over HTTP.

• heuristic — The default — a guillotine multi-strategy packer. Highest yield, every layout is saw-cuttable, and it always returns a cut plan. It serves 2D, 1D and timber.
• balanced — An opt-in MaxRects free-nester for 2D. Much faster on very large jobs for slightly less yield, but its layouts often cannot be sawn edge-to-edge, so they carry no cut plan.
• max — The asynchronous tier: you submit the job and poll GET /v1/jobs/{id} for the result. On 2D it is a tree search that reaches the proven optimum on far more jobs, at seconds-to-a-minute per solve — still deterministic and saw-cuttable. On true-shape nesting it runs lbf first, then spends a time budget looking for a layout with fewer sheets and never returns more; that search is time-limited, so its nests say deterministic: false.
• lbf — The true-shape nesting default. It packs irregular polygons into each other’s pockets for laser, plasma and waterjet — instantly and deterministically. max (above) can then search the same job for fewer sheets.

Which endpoint for which material: flat sheets — plywood, MDF, glass, acrylic, sheet metal — go to /v1/optimize/2d; bars, tube, pipe and profile to /v1/optimize/1d; structural timber (a 50×150 only from 50×150) to /v1/optimize/wood; irregular polygons for laser, plasma and waterjet to /v1/optimize/nest.

One call, a full plan

curl https://api.cutoptim.com/v1/optimize/2d \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer co_live_…" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "parts": [
      { "name": "Door",    "w": 600, "h": 400, "qty": 4 },
      { "name": "Shelf",   "w": 800, "h": 300, "qty": 6 }
    ],
    "stock":   [{ "w": 2440, "h": 1220, "price": 42 }],
    "options": { "kerf": 3, "effort": "balanced" },
    "engine":  "heuristic"
  }'

Comes back as:

{
  "metrics": { "sheetCount": 1, "yieldPct": 80.62, "placed": 10, "total": 10,
               "cutLines": 10, "sawPasses": 13, "cutLength": 10720, "totalPrice": 42 },
  "sheets":  [ … ],
  "cutPlan": [{ "sheet": 0, "step": 1, "axis": "h", "pos": 400, "length": 2440, "stage": 1 }, … ],
  "guillotineValid": true,
  "engineVersion": "1.0.0+10e0c941",
  "deterministic": true
}

Full request and response shape, every option, all error codes and every engine:API reference → · Integration guide →

Fast or dense? Pick with one option

The effort option trades solve time against yield. Here is that trade, measured on one demanding job — every figure comes from the real packer.

And it is fast either way: even the largest production jobs — 2,000 parts and more — solve in single-digit seconds on the default engine, comfortably inside the API time budget.

Solutions by industry

The same engine, positioned for the way one trade cuts. Each page shows the endpoint, a request and a response, and the fields that matter for that material.

The engine works on geometry, not on a material catalogue: sheet metal and plate, wood-based panels, glass, plastics and acrylic, composites, foam, cardboard and paper all go through the same endpoints. The material only changes the numbers you send — kerf or part spacing, edge clearance, stock sizes.