- The Plain Answer: What a CSWP-API Actually Is
- Who Issues It and How It Is Delivered
- Anatomy of the Exam: 18 Tasks and 10 Questions
- The 15 Objectives, Grouped by What You Actually Do
- Why VBA Is the Language That Matters Here
- What the CSWP-API Is Not
- Who Should Pursue It and Who Hires for It
- Fees, Retakes, Validity and Admission Rules
- A Preparation Path Built Around the Object Model
- Frequently Asked Questions
- CSWP-API is the Certified SOLIDWORKS Professional API credential from SOLIDWORKS, Dassault Systemes, testing VBA-based automation.
- The exam has 28 questions: 18 hands-on automation tasks and 10 multiple-choice, scored out of 100 points.
- You need 70 points to pass within 120 minutes; the exam cannot be paused.
- No prior certification is required, but SOLIDWORKS 2017 or later is the minimum software.
The Plain Answer: What a CSWP-API Actually Is
A CSWP-API is the Certified SOLIDWORKS Professional API credential, issued by SOLIDWORKS (Dassault Systemes). It verifies that you can write code that drives SOLIDWORKS: creating parts, building sketches and features, manipulating assemblies, generating drawings and saving files, all through the SOLIDWORKS application programming interface instead of the graphical interface.
The key distinction is the word "API." Most SOLIDWORKS certifications test how well you model, simulate or manage designs by clicking. The CSWP-API tests whether you can express those same operations as code. The exam page and the official guide focus on Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), the macro environment built into SOLIDWORKS. If you can read the object model, write a macro that traverses a model, and debug it when it fails, you are doing exactly what the exam measures.
If you have seen several variations of this question across the site, our short explainers on what CSWP-API is, what CSWP-API stands for and the meaning of CSWP-API cover the terminology. This article goes further and explains how the credential works in practice.
Who Issues It and How It Is Delivered
The credential is governed by SOLIDWORKS itself, not a third-party certifying body. Testing runs through Tangix/VirtualTester, and candidates should follow the current VirtualTester Web Client instructions published by SOLIDWORKS. The official guide describes a non-proctored online examination: you sit it on your own computer, using your own working commercial or student copy of SOLIDWORKS and your own Internet connection.
Because the exam runs in your own SOLIDWORKS session, your environment is part of the test. A broken installation, a missing reference, or a macro editor you have never opened will cost you time you cannot get back, since the exam cannot be paused.
Anatomy of the Exam: 18 Tasks and 10 Questions
The issuer-linked guide specifies the structure plainly:
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total questions | 28 |
| Hands-on automation tasks | 18 |
| Multiple-choice questions | 10 |
| Total points | 100 |
| Points required to pass | 70 (a 70% passing grade) |
| Duration | 120 minutes (two hours) |
| Pausing | Not allowed |
| Focus | Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) |
Two things deserve emphasis. First, the majority of the exam is hands-on: 18 of 28 items are automation tasks, which means you must produce working code or macro behavior, not merely recognize correct syntax. Second, the official practice sample is thin. The guide's sample contains only four multiple-choice questions, not a full 28-question mock. Anyone promising a complete official practice exam from the issuer is overstating what exists, which is why building your own fixtures and macros matters so much.
For a deeper look at how demanding that format feels, see how hard the CSWP-API exam is, and for the scoring threshold in detail, read the CSWP-API passing score breakdown.
The 15 Objectives, Grouped by What You Actually Do
The issuer lists 15 exam objectives without percentage weights, and describes the task list as non-exhaustive. Nothing here should be read as a weighted blueprint. Some listed headings overlap, particularly around drawings, and they are retained as the issuer wrote them. Grouping them by workflow makes them easier to study:
Foundation: Object Model and Troubleshooting
Everything else depends on these two objectives.
- Understanding the API Object Model: knowing how the application object leads to documents, then to features, bodies, sketches and drawing views.
- Troubleshooting: reading error behavior, checking return values and null objects, and fixing code that runs but does nothing.
Part-Level Automation
The modeling objectives that mirror what you would do by hand.
- Part design automation
- Adding sketch entities and dimensions
- Feature creations such as extrudes and cuts
Assembly-Level Automation
Working with multiple components and their states.
- Assembly automation
- Hide/Suppress/Resolve components
- Selection and traversal techniques: walking the feature tree or component hierarchy and selecting entities programmatically.
Drawing Automation
The cluster with the most listed objectives, including overlapping headings.
- Drawing Automation
- Creation of drawings
- Insert drawing views
- Insert a BOM
- Save drawings in different file formats
Data and File Handling
The closing steps of nearly every real automation.
- Add custom properties
- Save and close documents
Our dedicated guide to all 15 CSWP-API content areas walks through each objective individually. Treat the grouping above as a mental map, not as an official categorization.
Why VBA Is the Language That Matters Here
Many candidates arrive from CAD backgrounds with no programming experience, and the exam's VBA focus is the single biggest adjustment. VBA is built into SOLIDWORKS, so there is nothing to install: you open the macro editor, write procedures, and run them against open models. The exam measures that workflow.
The macro recorder helps, but only so far
SOLIDWORKS can record your GUI actions into a macro, and recorded code is a useful way to discover which API call corresponds to a command. But recorded macros are brittle. They often hard-code selections by name or coordinates, include redundant calls, and cannot express logic such as loops, conditions or error handling. Passing candidates learn to read recorder output as a hint, then rewrite it into robust code.
API Help is part of your toolkit
Knowing how to navigate API Help quickly, finding a method, reading its parameters and return type, and following the link to related interfaces, is a practical skill the 120-minute clock rewards. You are not expected to memorize every method signature. You are expected to find and apply them efficiently.
What the CSWP-API Is Not
Because the credential name is specific, it helps to draw its boundaries clearly.
- It is not the general CSWP. The standard Certified SOLIDWORKS Professional exam focuses on modeling skill. The CSWP-API focuses on automation. They test different abilities, and holding one does not substitute for the other.
- It is not a C# add-in exam. Building compiled add-ins in C# or VB.NET is a related but separate skill set. The exam's stated focus is VBA.
- It is not a PDM API exam. Automating SOLIDWORKS PDM through its own API is a different domain from the SOLIDWORKS API tested here.
- It is not a course completion certificate. You prove skill by performing tasks in a timed exam, not by attending training.
Understanding these boundaries keeps your preparation focused. Time spent learning add-in architecture or PDM scripting will not directly raise your score on a VBA automation exam.
Who Should Pursue It and Who Hires for It
The credential suits people whose work sits where design meets automation:
- Design engineers who want to automate repetitive modeling, drawing and release tasks
- CAD administrators and application engineers who maintain templates, standards and custom tools
- Engineering consultants and SOLIDWORKS resellers who build customer-specific automation
- Manufacturers with configurable-product workflows that benefit from generated models and drawings
The strongest case for the credential is demonstrated automation value: macros that remove hours of repeated work, drawing generation that eliminates manual errors, or custom property workflows that keep data consistent. Be cautious about any claim of a fixed salary premium attached to the certification itself. No verified, universal uplift exists, and the credential is best treated as proof of capability that supports a stronger case for automation-focused roles. For a balanced view, see whether the CSWP-API certification is worth it, the CSWP-API salary guide and the overview of CSWP-API jobs.
Fees, Retakes, Validity and Admission Rules
| Topic | What the issuer states |
|---|---|
| Fee | US$49 for one North American attempt, excluding software and training |
| Prior certification | None required |
| Recommended preparation | SOLIDWORKS Design Essentials and API Fundamentals |
| Minimum software | SOLIDWORKS 2017 or later |
| Retakes | Require a new CSWP-API credit and at least a 14-day wait |
| Certificate validity | Customer and student certifications do not expire (per the issuer's 2020 Q&A) |
A few clarifications prevent common confusion. The recommended courses are preparation, not admission requirements: you can register without completing any training. The three-day length of the API Fundamentals course is unrelated to the two-hour exam and is not a mandatory training-hours rule. Also note that "2017" is a software minimum, not an exam-version label, since the live exam page and sample guide are undated.
Published population pass rates were not verified, and the 70% passing grade should not be mistaken for a pass rate. For the data picture, see what the pass-rate data shows. Pricing details are covered in the CSWP-API certification cost breakdown, eligibility in the CSWP-API requirements guide, and scheduling in the exam dates article.
A Preparation Path Built Around the Object Model
Generic study habits matter far less here than the order in which you learn the API. A sequence that follows how the objectives depend on each other works best, especially for a CAD user starting without programming experience:
VBA Basics and the Object Model
- Learn variables, procedures, conditions and loops in the SOLIDWORKS macro editor
- Trace the path from the application object to a document, then to its features
- Practice reading API Help until lookups feel fast
Parts, Sketches and Features
- Script sketch entities and dimensions
- Create extrudes and cuts from code, and verify results against the model
- Practice troubleshooting when a feature call returns nothing
Assemblies, Selection and Traversal
- Walk the feature tree and component hierarchy
- Select entities programmatically
- Hide, suppress and resolve components and confirm their states
Drawings, Properties and Saving
- Create drawings, insert views and a BOM
- Save drawings in multiple file formats
- Add custom properties, then save and close documents cleanly
- Run a full timed rehearsal of mixed tasks and questions
Whichever pace you choose, build your own practice fixtures: small part and assembly files paired with macros and clear result checks. Because the official sample offers only four multiple-choice questions, self-made tasks are the most realistic way to rehearse the 18 hands-on items. Our CSWP-API study guide expands this plan, and the CSWP-API cheat sheet gives a compact review of key facts. You can also test yourself with the CSWP-API practice questions on the main site, and revisit the practice test hub as you move through each objective.
Key Takeaway
Prepare in dependency order: object model first, then parts, then assemblies and selection, then drawings and file handling. Each later objective reuses skills from the earlier ones, so skipping ahead usually creates gaps you only discover under the two-hour clock.
Frequently Asked Questions
It stands for Certified SOLIDWORKS Professional API, a credential issued by SOLIDWORKS (Dassault Systemes) that tests your ability to automate SOLIDWORKS using code, with a focus on Visual Basic for Applications.
The official guide specifies 28 questions: 18 hands-on automation tasks and 10 multiple-choice questions, worth 100 total points. You need 70 points to pass, and you have 120 minutes.
No. No prior certification is required. SOLIDWORKS Design Essentials and API Fundamentals are recommended preparation, but training courses are not admission requirements for the exam.
According to the issuer's 2020 Certification Program Q&A, customer and student certifications do not expire. Check the current SOLIDWORKS certification pages in case policies have changed.
Yes. A retake requires a new CSWP-API credit and at least a 14-day wait. Because the exam cannot be paused and is taken on your own setup, verify your software and the current VirtualTester instructions before each attempt.