How to use the Teardown technical illustrations agent skill

What the Teardown skill makes the agent do

Once the skill is installed, the agent can turn an object, a written description, a photograph, a CAD model or a concept into a technical illustration in the style of an engineering or assembly drawing. It builds the 3D geometry, checks the rendered drawing and packages a local viewer page.

In the viewer you can switch between assembled and exploded views, toggle an Annotations option that labels each visible part with its name and a leader line, colour parts, and download the drawing as SVG, PNG or PDF files.

• Input: an object, description, photo, CAD model or concept
• Output: a technical illustration, with a local preview page and SVG, PNG and PDF downloads by default
• Purpose: explaining how something is constructed or layered

Install the Teardown skill from the ZIP or the Claude apps

Download the skill ZIP from the skill's page on this site. You can install it in one of two ways.

For Claude Code, unzip the download into your personal skills folder at ~/.claude/skills/, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder if you want the skill available only in that project.

In the Claude apps, upload the ZIP under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

• Personal install: ~/.claude/skills/
• Project install: .claude/skills/ inside your project
• Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the ZIP

Check what the skill needs before you start

The skill runs scripts. You need Node.js or a modern browser to open the bundled viewer.html preview page. The skill does not use the network.

CAD software is optional. You only need it if you want to supply an existing model for the skill to project into a drawing.

• Required: Node.js or a modern browser (to open viewer.html)
• Optional: CAD software, if you supply an existing model
• Runs scripts: yes
• Uses network: no

Trigger the skill with a natural request

You do not need special syntax. Describe the object or concept and say you want a technical illustration, an exploded view or an assembly drawing. Name the intended use and the output size if you have them, because the skill uses them to choose its views.

If you supply a photo or a reference image, say which part is the subject and which is only a style reference. The skill treats them differently.

• Ask for an exploded view of a named product or mechanism
• Ask for a layered breakdown of a concept, such as display subpixels or interface layers
• Say what the drawing is for, such as a classroom slide or a marketing figure
• Say whether you want only one deliverable, such as SVG, if you do not want the default preview page

Examples of requests that work well

Good requests name the subject, the purpose and the level of detail. The skill will proceed with stated assumptions, and it asks you only when your answer would change what the drawing shows, such as which internal parts matter.

• Make an exploded axonometric illustration of a handheld device for a design portfolio page.
• Show how the layers of a touchscreen stack on top of each other, one part per layer, labelled as a concept.
• Create an assembly-style illustration of this CAD model for a lecture slide, and keep the internal parts visible.
• Draw the pixel structure of a display as a stack of plates, so a student can see how the subpixels are arranged.

Use the viewer to switch views, labels and colours

The viewer opens from viewer.html. Use it to check the drawing and to prepare files for download. Switch between the assembled and exploded views to see how the parts fit together. Use the Annotations switch to show part names with leader lines. The colour panel fills any part with a tint of its line colour.

The viewer does not add balloons or dimension annotations. If you need a sheet with those, ask for it specifically, and the skill will compose a separate SVG sheet around the rendered views.

• Assembled / exploded switch for drawings with more than one part
• Annotations switch for part names and leader lines
• Colour panel for filling parts
• Downloads: SVG, PNG and PDF

Understand the limits of the drawings

The output explains construction. It is not a manufacturing drawing, so nothing is toleranced and invented dimensions stay invented. If you need a drawing to make a part, use your CAD tool's drawing workflow instead.

A styling photograph alone cannot establish the hidden internals or dimensions of a real object. For those, supply geometry or an authoritative reference. Where the skill has to assume internal construction, it labels the sheet as illustrative or as a concept.

• Do not use the output to manufacture parts
• Supply CAD or a product drawing if internal accuracy matters
• Concept sheets are labelled as concepts