1. A computer-readable medium storing an application programming interface (API) thereon for use with a software application for developing a three-dimensional (3D) model that is stored as model data and includes a plurality of components, each component having one or more elements, wherein the API includes a set of instructions that, when executed on a processor of a first computing device, cause the processor to: receive an indication that a selected one of the plurality of components has been modified by the software application in accordance with a set of one or more modification commands received from a user interface of the first computing device; generate component data indicative of the modifications of the selected component; and cause an update indication to be transmitted to a collaboration server via a communication network to synchronize the selected component between the first computing device and a second computing device, wherein the collaboration server is communicatively coupled to the first computing device and the second computing device, including: provide the component data in the update indication, and provide a component identifier in the update indication, wherein the component identifier uniquely identifies the selected component.