Sheet Metal Nesting API
Yes — there is an API for sheet-metal nesting. Nesting irregular sheet-metal parts — brackets, gussets, flanges, gaskets — onto plate stock is a true-shape nesting problem, and the CutOptim Engine API solves it over HTTP at POST /v1/optimize/nest. Your ERP, MES or quoting software sends the part outlines and the plate sizes as JSON and gets back the nested layout, the placement of every part and the plate count — for laser, plasma or waterjet.
This is live today. The nesting engine (jagua-rs, a geometric collision engine) runs in production behind POST /v1/optimize/nest — a different class of algorithm from the rectangular guillotine packer, returning a true-shape nest rather than a rectangular cut plan.
POST /v1/optimize/nest
{
"parts": [
{ "name": "gusset",
"polygon": [[0,0],[400,0],[0,400]],
"qty": 16, "allowedRotations": [0,90,180,270] },
{ "name": "bracket",
"polygon": [[0,0],[350,0],[350,120],[120,120],[120,350],[0,350]],
"qty": 10, "allowedRotations": "continuous",
"meta": { "part": "BRK-350" } }
],
"stock": [
{ "w": 3000, "h": 1500, "qty": 12,
"exclusions": [{ "polygon": [[0,0],[250,0],[0,250]], "quality": 0 }] }
],
"options": { "minSeparation": 2 }
}- — Live today on POST /v1/optimize/nest — arbitrary polygon parts (with holes), not just rectangles.
- — Per-sheet exclusion zones nest around a plate defect, a clamp footprint or a pre-printed area (stock[].exclusions).
- — Material partition: tag parts and plates and each part nests only on plate of its own material.
- — Attach a meta object (part number, order line) and it comes back on every placed copy, so the nest reconciles with your ERP.
- — On a representative 272-part job the nest used 6 sheets where the same parts by bounding box need 9 — the honest metric is plate count, not a density percentage.
- — Free validation: POST /v1/validate/nest checks a job with no key and no quota.
Why sheet-metal fabricators need it
Plate is expensive, and irregular parts waste it: a rectangular packer treats each part’s bounding box as solid, so the air inside a gusset or an L-bracket is thrown away. True-shape nesting interlocks the real outlines, reclaiming that air. On a representative 272-part job the nest used 6 sheets where the same parts by bounding box need 9 — the honest metric is plate count on the same parts, not a density percentage.
What you send and what comes back
Send each part as a polygon (with optional holes) and a quantity, plus the plate sizes. The response gives every placement as a rigid transform (a rotation in degrees, then an x/y translation), the plate count, the density and any parts that did not fit. Tag parts and plates with a material and the job is partitioned by material — a part is nested only on plate of its own material — and any meta object (your ERP part number, order line) comes back verbatim on every placed copy, so the nest reconciles with your system.
Exclusion zones — nest around a defect
Per-sheet exclusion zones (stock[].exclusions) let the engine nest around a plate defect, a clamp footprint or a pre-printed area — a quality-0 zone is a hard no-go region for every part. Rotation can be continuous or a discrete list, and options.minSeparation sets the clearance for the torch or beam width. The layout is deterministic: a pinned seed reproduces the same nest for a quote or an audit.
A two-page summary — the problem, what you send and get back, a request and response, and how to build on the engine. Print-ready, with a QR back to this page.