The Sibe add-in for SolidWorks, in depth

You can run your whole day from the add-in panel, directly in SOLIDWORKS® 3D CAD: find a file, see who has it, check it out, check it back in with a note.

The panel lives in the right-hand task pane and has four tabs: Vault, Changes, References and Settings.

Vault tab

• Refresh the vault, open the local folder, clear or re-download the cache, turn sync off for a folder
• Switch between tree view and flat view, with or without the description column
• The triangle icon collapses and expands folders
• Double-click a file to open it. Its name shows in bold while it is open in SolidWorks
• Right-click → Check-out to claim a file
• A small pencil icon marks a file you have modified locally; new files carry an added locally icon
• Non-CAD files work too — double-click a spreadsheet and it opens in its own application
• Favorite Folders and Locate Active Document get you back to what you were working on

Find a file

• Search across file name and description at the same time — both are highlighted in the results
• Sort by name, description or checked-out state, or by clicking a column
• Filter to SolidWorks files only, or to files checked out by you

Changes tab

You see what is waiting to be checked in on the Changes tab. The notes field is required — the note becomes the version history, so future-you can tell what changed without opening the file.

After a successful check-in the Changes list clears and your files stay open in SolidWorks.

Discarding local work: Undo Check-Out and Roll Back throw away local changes. Re-cache afterward and Sibe pulls down the last known good version.

References tab

You see your local project status and folder structure here — what is cached, what is not, and how it hangs together.

Settings tab

You set your workspace name and local cache folder here, and a send the log in link opens the logs folder when support asks for it.

Two rules for the cache folder:

• Keep it near the root of C:, for example C:\SibeCache. Long paths break at Windows' 260-character path limit.
• Never put it inside OneDrive, Google Drive or Dropbox. Two things syncing the same files fight each other, and version tracking suffers.

And one habit: open files from the add-in, not from the cache folder in Windows Explorer. Opening them directly bypasses Sibe's check-out tracking.

Common questions

Do I have to leave SolidWorks to use Sibe?
No. You check files in and out directly in SolidWorks through the add-in panel, and Sibe tracks every version.

Does the search look at descriptions too?
Yes, file name and description at the same time.

Can I hide everything except SolidWorks files?
Yes. The SolidWorks files only filter hides STL and anything else sitting in the folder.

How do I see what I have checked out?
Use the checked out by me filter, or sort the list by checked-out state.

I want to throw away today's changes.
Use Undo Check-Out or Roll Back, then re-cache the folder.

Support asked for my logs.
Settings tab → send the log in. It opens the logs folder.

That's the series. Back to the full onboarding playlist.

Still stuck? Start a chat from the bottom-right of any Sibe page, or email support@sibe.io.

SOLIDWORKS is a registered trademark of Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation. Sibe is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Dassault Systèmes.

Updated on: 08/21/2026