WWrenglerDocumentation
Documentation / Quick Start

Installation

Get the Wrengler plug-in installed and running in Rhino 8 — requirements, an account, and the first launch.

ℹ️

Wrengler is in preview — there has been no release yet. The plug-in targets Rhino 8 on Windows.

Requirements

  • Rhino 8 on Windows, version 8.0 or higher.
  • A Wrengler account. The plug-in presents a sign-in wall on open and runs no study without a session — the gate applies to Rhino commands typed at the prompt as well as to the panel.
  • An internet connection at first launch, to load the panel and sign in.

The ray engine itself runs on the CPU on any machine, so every study works without special hardware.

💡

A supported GPU is a speed-up, not a prerequisite. The engine picks the best backend your machine offers and falls back on its own — there is nothing to install or configure.

Your Account

Create one on this site before you install; the plug-in's Sign up link opens your browser here anyway. Then, in the panel, sign in with e-mail and password or with GitHub — GitHub opens your real system browser and returns to Rhino on its own. An account created through GitHub has no password, so use the same button next time.

After a successful sign-in Wrengler works offline for up to 14 days before asking again. That grace window extends from a sign-in that already happened: a machine that has never signed in cannot run a study, and there is no air-gapped or trial mode.

Your model is not part of any of this — analysis runs locally on your own machine and no geometry is uploaded to be analyzed.

Install via Package Manager

The route Wrengler will ship on, once released:

  1. In Rhino 8, go to Tools → Package Manager and search for Wrengler.
  2. Click Install, then restart Rhino when prompted.
  3. Type Wrengler in the command line — the panel opens, typically docked on the right, and asks you to sign in.

Updates arrive the same way: Update in Package Manager, then restart. Uninstall is Uninstall in the same place.

Install by hand

For a development build, until the package is published.

Yak CLI:

yak install wrengler.yak --source=.

Drag and drop:

  1. Right-click the Wrengler.rhp file → Properties → check Unblock → Apply.
  2. Drag it onto the Rhino 8 viewport and confirm.
  3. Restart Rhino.

Verify

Type Wrengler in the command line. The panel should appear, docked, showing the sign-in form (or the interface, if you are already signed in).

"An internet connection is required" — the panel is a web app the plug-in loads over the network, and it could not be reached. Check your connection or proxy and reopen the panel; nothing is wrong with the install. The engine on your machine is unaffected, but a study still needs a session, so studies stay blocked until the panel loads and you sign in.

Panel won't open, or shows blank — restart Rhino, then check the command history (_CommandHistory) for errors.

Signed in yesterday, asked again today — sessions expire; a refresh is normally invisible. If you have been offline for more than 14 days, the grace window has run out and you need a connection to sign in again.

Runs slower than expected — check the backend diagnostics to see which backend was selected, and update your GPU drivers. This only affects speed; every backend returns the same answer.

Next

First Steps — run your first study.