Elevator Pitch

• A practical benchmark tested how well several AI coding tools could generate a recognizable, parametric OpenSCAD Pantheon from reference images—showing that geometric judgment and workflow matter more than tool access or speed.

Key Takeaways

• The Pantheon is a useful OpenSCAD benchmark because it combines radial symmetry, repeated elements, and Boolean-friendly architecture without requiring organic sculpting.
• All agents could run the OpenSCAD CLI and iterate with PNG previews; the bottlenecks were proportions, detail choices, and reliable STL export.
• Speed didn’t correlate with quality, and preview renders can diverge from final mesh correctness (notably in Codex’s export).

Most Memorable Quotes

• “The limiting factor was not tool access. It was geometric judgment, camera setup, and whether a previewed model exported into a clean final mesh.”
• “Speed did not predict quality.”
• “Preview and export are not the same thing.”