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Ferrum Chemical Forge
Pre-alpha desktop editor for drawing chemical structures, composing reaction documents, and exporting vector figures.
Open source. 34 of 65 checklist features confirmed.
Main canvas
Would not run on our Mac
Would not run on our Mac
Default drawings
We could not finish testing this tool: Unmodified ./build.sh exited 1 while building pinned RDKit Release_2026_03_5. With Homebrew LLVM/Clang 23.1.5 and CMake 4.4.5, RealValueVect.h lines 90, 91 and 96 report: no template named 'vector' in namespace 'std'. CMake's FileParsers target exited 2. The build removed its staging output and produced no build/current runtime or runnable GUI. See build.log and install-checks.json. No app version command could run; testedVersion records the checkout commit as requested.
Would not run on our Mac
Caffeine
Would not run on our Mac
Paclitaxel
Would not run on our Mac
Cholesterol in 3D
- No app window opened; default rendering could not be assessed.
- No fixture imports or exports were attempted.
- No feature statuses assigned because the GUI was unavailable.
Facts
- GitHub stars
- 0 stars on 6 Nov 2026
- First commit
- 3 Aug 2026
- Repository activity
- 65 commits, 1 contributor, last push 11 Oct 2026
- Runs on
- macOS
- License
- Application: AGPL-3.0-only; Rust engine: LGPL-3.0-only.
- Price
- Free
- Relies on
- RDKit, InChI. BKChem-Qt lineage documented; current canvas derivation not established.
- Draws with
- Custom Rust render plans replayed by Qt QPainter; Rust SVG, tiny-skia PNG, and pdf-writer PDF export.
- Chemistry from
- Ferrum-Chem Rust model with RDKit through a private native adapter.
- Interface
- PySide6 / Qt Widgets with PyO3 bindings.
- Main language
- Rust
- Other languages
- Python: Qt desktop frontend; C++: Native RDKit chemistry adapter
- Renderer
- Original: Ferrum-Chem molecular renderer
- Third-party licenses
- Includes LGPL-3.0 PySide6/Qt, BSD-3-Clause RDKit, MIT/Apache-2.0/BSD Rust dependencies and bundled OFL-1.1 Atkinson fonts.
- Pre-alpha macOS arm64 source build; no released distribution or completed native accessibility acceptance.
- CDXML supports bounded simple-molecule import only; binary CDX is refused.
- Contract docs understate implemented ring choices, templates, atom properties, and paper controls.
Features
- Tested by running it
- Seen in the app
- The manual says yes
- Partly, with the reason shown
- Not supported
- Not established, which is not the same as no
Select a mark for its proof. A filled mark opens our screenshot, or the manual if the check left nothing to picture. A ring opens the manual.
Drawing structures
- Yes, according to the manual: Manual single, double, and triple bond authoring and property editing. Opens the cited page.Single, double and triple bondsManual single, double, and triple bond authoring and property editing.github.com
- Yes, according to the manual: Wedge and hashed tools; wavy bonds through Bond Properties. Opens the cited page.Wedge, hash and wavy bondsWedge and hashed tools; wavy bonds through Bond Properties.github.com
- No: Closed authoring vocabulary excludes dative, hydrogen, and quadruple bonds. Opens the cited page.Dative, hydrogen and quadruple bondsClosed authoring vocabulary excludes dative, hydrogen, and quadruple bonds.github.com
- Partly: Center checkbox only; no explicit left/right choice. Opens the cited page.Choose double-bond sideCenter checkbox only; no explicit left/right choice.github.com
- Yes, according to the manual: Common ring templates include benzene and aromatic heterocycles. Opens the cited page.Ring toolsCommon ring templates include benzene and aromatic heterocycles.github.com
- Yes, according to the manual: Four alpha/beta D-glucose pyranose/furanose Haworth recipes. Opens the cited page.Chair and Haworth ringsFour alpha/beta D-glucose pyranose/furanose Haworth recipes.github.com
- Not establishedChain tool
- Yes, according to the manual: Built-ins include substituted D-glucose Haworth structures and purine. Opens the cited page.Template libraryBuilt-ins include substituted D-glucose Haworth structures and purine.github.com
- Yes, according to the manual: Save Current as Template publishes reusable single-molecule CDML templates. Opens the cited page.Save your own templatesSave Current as Template publishes reusable single-molecule CDML templates.github.com
- Yes, according to the manual: Nine expandable compact groups include Me, Et, Ph, and OMe. Opens the cited page.Group abbreviationsNine expandable compact groups include Me, Et, Ph, and OMe.github.com
- Yes, according to the manual: Atom Properties edits element symbols, charge, isotope, and multiplicity. Opens the cited page.Charges, isotopes and atom labelsAtom Properties edits element symbols, charge, isotope, and multiplicity.github.com
- Yes, according to the manual: Radical dots, paired dots, and electron-pair marks. Opens the cited page.Radicals and lone pairsRadical dots, paired dots, and electron-pair marks.github.com
- Not establishedKeyboard drawing
- Partly: Rotation, scaling and mirroring available; lasso selection unverified. Opens the cited page.Lasso select and transformsRotation, scaling and mirroring available; lasso selection unverified.github.com
- Not establishedTilt drawings in perspective
Reactions and mechanisms
- Yes, according to the manual: Forward and equilibrium arrows; additional curved reaction-arrow tools. Opens the cited page.Reaction arrowsForward and equilibrium arrows; additional curved reaction-arrow tools.github.com
- Yes, according to the manual: Three-point curved electron arrows with Rust-generated heads. Opens the cited page.Curved mechanism arrowsThree-point curved electron arrows with Rust-generated heads.github.com
- Yes, according to the manual: CDML reactions reference reactant and product molecular graphs. Opens the cited page.Machine-readable reactionsCDML reactions reference reactant and product molecular graphs.github.com
- Not establishedAtom mapping
- Yes, according to the manual: Pz-orbital atom marks render as two lobes. Opens the cited page.Orbitals and symbolsPz-orbital atom marks render as two lobes.github.com
Figures and layout
- Partly: Size, color, subscript and superscript; fixed typeface, no bold/italic. Opens the cited page.Rich text captionsSize, color, subscript and superscript; fixed typeface, no bold/italic.github.com
- Yes, according to the manual: Editable geometric shapes, rectangular brackets, round brackets, and wavy lines. Opens the cited page.Shapes, brackets and curvesEditable geometric shapes, rectangular brackets, round brackets, and wavy lines.github.com
- Yes, according to the manual: Six alignment commands operate on complete selected roots. Opens the cited page.Align and distributeSix alignment commands operate on complete selected roots.github.com
- No: Visual grouping remains a proposal outside current document grammar. Opens the cited page.Group and ungroupVisual grouping remains a proposal outside current document grammar.github.com
- Yes, according to the manual: Clean Geometry plus bond-length, bond-angle, and ring normalization. Opens the cited page.2D structure cleanupClean Geometry plus bond-length, bond-angle, and ring normalization.github.com
- Not establishedJournal drawing styles
- Not establishedReusable custom styles
- Yes, according to the manual: Individual geometric objects have editable stroke and fill colors. Opens the cited page.Color controlIndividual geometric objects have editable stroke and fill colors.github.com
- Yes, according to the manual: Per-atom colored label backgrounds through native CDML attributes. Opens the cited page.Color highlightingPer-atom colored label backgrounds through native CDML attributes.github.com
- Partly: Paper sizes and orientation supported; multipage model remains deferred. Opens the cited page.Page layout and multipagePaper sizes and orientation supported; multipage model remains deferred.github.com
- Not establishedImported pictures
- Not establishedTLC plates and tables
Chemistry intelligence
- Partly: Bounded neutral-atom capacity warnings; explicitly not general chemical-validity checking. Opens the cited page.Structure checkingBounded neutral-atom capacity warnings; explicitly not general chemical-validity checking.github.com
- No: Stereochemical inference explicitly dropped; authored depiction remains. Opens the cited page.R/S and E/Z labelsStereochemical inference explicitly dropped; authored depiction remains.raw.githubusercontent.com
- Yes, according to the manual: Formula, average molecular weight, monoisotopic mass, and elemental composition. Opens the cited page.Formula and massFormula, average molecular weight, monoisotopic mass, and elemental composition.github.com
- Not establishedProperty estimates
- Not establishedName to structure
- No: Authored display names only; generated naming is future work. Opens the cited page.Structure to nameAuthored display names only; generated naming is future work.github.com
- Not establishedNMR prediction
- Not establishedR-groups and query structures
- Not establishedPolymers and repeat units
- Yes, according to the manual: One-letter peptide sequences; bounded native-17 residue profile with zwitterionic termini. Opens the cited page.Peptides and nucleic acidsOne-letter peptide sequences; bounded native-17 residue profile with zwitterionic termini.github.com
- Not establishedImage to structure
- No: Live PubChem lookup explicitly dropped. Opens the cited page.Online structure lookupLive PubChem lookup explicitly dropped.raw.githubusercontent.com
- Not established3D model view
- Not establishedCrystal structures
Files and exchange
- Partly: Bounded simple-molecule import only; no CDXML export. Opens the cited page.CDXML import and exportBounded simple-molecule import only; no CDXML export.github.com
- No: Binary CDX input is explicitly refused. Opens the cited page.CDX import and exportBinary CDX input is explicitly refused.github.com
- Yes, according to the manual: MOL and SDF V2000/V3000 molecular interchange. Opens the cited page.MOL and SDFMOL and SDF V2000/V3000 molecular interchange.github.com
- Yes, according to the manual: SMILES conversion input and output through the local chemistry runtime. Opens the cited page.SMILESSMILES conversion input and output through the local chemistry runtime.github.com
- Yes, according to the manual: Standard and fixed-H InChI interchange. Opens the cited page.InChIStandard and fixed-H InChI interchange.github.com
- Not establishedRXN files
- Yes, according to the manual: Complete vector SVG document export. Opens the cited page.SVG exportComplete vector SVG document export.github.com
- Yes, according to the manual: Complete vector PDF document export. Opens the cited page.PDF exportComplete vector PDF document export.github.com
- Partly: PNG uses one pixel per page point, below 300 dpi. Opens the cited page.High-resolution PNGPNG uses one pixel per page point, below 300 dpi.github.com
- No: Editable clipboard transfer accepts Ferrum CDML only. Opens the cited page.Paste to and from ChemDrawEditable clipboard transfer accepts Ferrum CDML only.github.com
- Not establishedEditable in Word or PowerPoint
- Not establishedWindows Office OLE
APIs and automation
- Yes, according to the manual: Documented ferrum_chem operation protocol binding. Opens the cited page.Python APIDocumented ferrum_chem operation protocol binding.github.com
- Not establishedJavaScript or TypeScript API
- Yes, according to the manual: Inspect, validate, render, convert, and protocol commands without the GUI. Opens the cited page.Command-line toolInspect, validate, render, convert, and protocol commands without the GUI.github.com
- Not establishedAI agent control
- Not establishedBuilt-in AI assistant
Embedding and extension
- No: Third-party execution explicitly dropped; built-in actions remain. Opens the cited page.PluginsThird-party execution explicitly dropped; built-in actions remain.raw.githubusercontent.com
- Not established: Public Python API handles documents; Qt editor bridge is private.Embed in your own appPublic Python API handles documents; Qt editor bridge is private.github.com