Archi Automate User Guide

Updated for version 27.29 · October 2026.

Getting started

What you need

To use Archi Automate you need three things:

• One or more supported host applications installed — Revit 2024–2027, Rhino 8 (including Grasshopper), Archicad, AutoCAD, Blender, SketchUp, Vectorworks, QGIS, or Unreal Engine — and/or IFC files for the openBIM connector (which needs no CAD application at all). For Tekla Structures and other applications that have a .NET API, see Dynamic Bridge.
• An MCP-capable AI client — Claude, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Antigravity, Gemini CLI, Cline, JetBrains AI Assistant, or any other MCP client.
• A licence — or simply start the 14-day full-featured trial, which runs automatically on first use with no key and covers every host.

For reliable AI-composed operations we recommend a capable model tier — Claude Opus 4.8 (High) or GPT-5.5 (High) or better. Voice input is available wherever your AI client provides it.

How it works

Archi Automate runs quietly in the background. A single MCP server presents one tool surface to your AI client and routes each request to the right host bridge. Tools are namespaced per host (revit_*, rhino_*, archicad_*, autocad_*, blender_*, sketchup_*, vectorworks_*, qgis_*, unreal_*, ifc_*, bcf_*). Dedicated grasshopper_* tools target definitions in the active Rhino 8 process and use that Rhino session; they do not create another host session. The Dynamic Bridge has its own dotnet_* tools, the same for every application. A cross-host discovery tool lists every running session at once.

• For Revit, Rhino, AutoCAD, Blender, SketchUp, Vectorworks, QGIS, and Unreal Engine, the AI composes governed operations at runtime across the host's own API, in the host's own scripting language — C# for the .NET hosts, Python for Blender, Vectorworks, QGIS and Unreal Engine, Ruby for SketchUp. It is not limited to a fixed list of commands.
• For Tekla Structures and other applications that have a .NET API, the Dynamic Bridge lets the AI look the API up in your own installation and write C# against it. Nothing is pre-programmed for any application.
• For Grasshopper, dedicated tools read definitions, graphs and data trees; discover installed components; create and edit graph objects and connections; set sliders, panels and toggles; open or save files; and explicitly solve the definition. Every operation is routed through the existing Rhino 8 bridge.
• For Archicad, the AI drives a first-party add-on that exposes a curated, governed set of read and write commands. In Archicad 29 and 30 it also lists and opens views, reads and draws 2D elements, creates walls, columns and slabs, and applies its changes in batches that are all or nothing and can be previewed (see Archicad: read and draw in 2D); in preview, it can also write short C# read probes and write tasks. Vectorworks additionally offers curated 2D authoring commands (create/delete drawing objects) on top of its Python surface, governed the same way.
• For openBIM, a headless connector opens IFC files — or federates several disciplines — in memory and provides the whole openBIM suite: IFC read/author, IDS validation and authoring, clash detection, quantity take-off, embodied-carbon estimation, visual snapshots, COBie/glTF export, and BCF coordination — independent of any CAD vendor.

No host adds a ribbon button; the bridges run silently. Interoperability between programs is handled by the AI in the conversation — Archi Automate does not sync data between applications behind your back.

Supported hosts & AI clients

Hosts

Grasshopper definitions through Rhino 8

Grasshopper is a capability of the Rhino 8 bridge, not an additional host. Keep Rhino 8 running with the definition open: the grasshopper_* tools target that active Rhino process and share its session, package, licence, execution mode, guardrails and audit history.

• Inspect: list open definitions; read components, parameters, wires, nicknames, lock state, values and data trees while preserving branch paths and value types.
• Discover: search and describe the installed Grasshopper component catalogue before building or editing a graph.
• Edit: atomically add, remove or move standard installed components; connect or disconnect parameters; rename or lock objects; and set Number Slider, Panel and Boolean Toggle values.
• Manage and run: create, open and save .gh files, then explicitly solve a definition when you request it.

Graph writes are prevalidated and grouped into one undo record. Preview mode applies the proposed graph edit and then undoes it without solving. Opening a definition loads it disabled and does not auto-solve. Standard installed components can be created; creating new script components is intentionally not supported.

You can run several host sessions at once, and a single AI conversation can target each of them. openBIM works on IFC exported from any authoring tool — Revit, Archicad, Rhino, MicroStation, Tekla and more — and can federate several discipline models into one session for cross-discipline checks.

Archicad: read and draw in 2D

New in 27.29. Your AI assistant can now work in the drawings of your Archicad project, not only in the 3D model. It can read what is there, draw new 2D elements, and change what you already drew. It works in Archicad 29 and 30. Archicad 27 and 28 are coming.

What the assistant can read.

• Where you are. The view in the front window, the current story, and all stories with their levels.
• The views of the project. Floor plan stories, sections, elevations, interior elevations, details, worksheets, layouts and master layouts. It can open a view so you see it on screen.
• The elements in a view. Walls, columns, slabs and other model elements. Also 2D elements: lines, polylines, arcs, circles, fills (hatches), splines, texts, labels and dimensions.
• The details of an element. Its type, story and layer. Its geometry: for example the start and end of a wall, the outline of a slab, the points of a dimension. The content of texts and labels.

The assistant can read a view without opening it. Your window does not jump around.

What the assistant can draw. In a floor plan, a section, a detail, a worksheet or a layout:

• Lines, polylines, arcs and circles.
• Fills (hatches), with the default fill settings.
• Texts and labels. A label can point at a building element or a fill (Archicad does not attach labels to lines, arcs, circles, texts or dimensions).
• Linear dimensions: a chain of points with the dimension line where you want it.
• Walls, columns and slabs. This is the only 3D modelling it does in this release.

It can also move elements, copy them at an offset, change the text of a text or a label, put elements on another layer, and delete elements (see the guardrails below). New elements can go on a layer you name, on a story you name, and with a pen you name. The layer must already exist.

The assistant works in metres, and in millimetres on paper for text sizes. Say your sizes in the units you use and it converts.

How changes are applied.

• All or nothing. The assistant sends its work as a batch of steps. If one step fails, none of them is applied, and the assistant tells you which step failed. You never get half a drawing.
• One undo step. A whole batch is a single step in Archicad's undo list. One Undo takes the whole batch back.
• Preview first. The assistant can run the batch as a preview. Archicad does the work, reports what it created and changed, and then reverts everything. You see what would happen, and your project stays as it was.
• A batch has at most 2000 steps. Your Guardrails can set a lower limit.
• Nothing is saved for you. Changes live in the open project until you save it.

How Guardrails modes affect it. Set the mode in the Hub, on the Guardrails page.

• Read only. The assistant reads views and elements, in 2D and 3D. It draws and changes nothing. Opening a view is allowed: it changes only what you see, not the project.
• Preview changes. Every drawing or change is run as a preview and reverted. You see the result in the answer, not in the project.
• Allow changes. Drawings and changes are applied, as one undo step per batch.
• Deletes are blocked by default. The Guardrails page has the setting Never delete elements. While it is on, the assistant cannot delete elements, in any mode. Turn it off only when you want the assistant to delete.
• The Archicad add-on checks the mode again by itself before every change, so a change cannot get through when your mode forbids it.
• If your company enforces a mode, the company setting wins.

Things to ask. Write them as you would to a colleague.

• "Dimension the outer walls on the ground floor." The assistant finds the walls, picks the outer ones, and draws a dimension chain along them. Ask for a preview first if you want to see it before it is drawn.
• "List every text on the worksheet 'Site notes' and fix typos." It reads all texts on that worksheet, shows you the corrections it proposes, and changes the texts once you agree.
• "What views does this project have? Open the section 'A-A'." It lists the views and brings the section to the front.
• "Draw a slab 6 by 4 metres at the origin on story 1. Preview it first." It runs the preview, tells you what it would create, and applies it when you say so.
• "Copy the lines in the detail 'Window head' two metres to the right." It reads the lines in that detail and copies them at the offset, as one undo step.
• "Put every text on the worksheet 'Site notes' on the layer 'Annotations', and add a label 'Check with surveyor' that points at the north boundary fill." It changes the layer of the texts and draws one label that points at the fill.

Repeated or rule-based work: C# tasks (in preview). When one batch cannot express the job, the assistant can write a short C# program. For example: label every wall with its length, or redraw a grid of lines. The program runs beside Archicad, not inside it. A program that is slow or never ends cannot freeze Archicad. Its changes go to Archicad as a batch at the end, and the same Guardrails apply: not in Read only, a preview in Preview changes. A program that only reads (to measure every line on a worksheet, say) changes nothing. This feature is in preview: it may change, and it may be taken out of a later release.

What you need.

• Archi Automate 27.29 or later, with a licence or a trial.
• Archicad 29 or 30, running, with your project open. Archicad 27 and 28 are coming.
• The Archi Automate add-on loaded in Archicad. After you update Archi Automate, restart Archicad so it loads the new add-on. Until you do, the assistant says that Archicad must be restarted.
• After updating, restart or reconnect your AI client so it loads the new tools.

Limits.

• The assistant does not create sections, details, worksheets or their markers. It reads and draws in the ones that exist.
• Dimensions are static. They do not follow the walls when you move them later. Archicad does not let add-ons place dimensions on layouts: dimension the drawing's view instead.
• Each change works on one view, and in the floor plan on one story. While it runs, Archicad shows that story, then goes back to the story you were on. A request that touches several stories is done as one change per story.
• If a dialog is open in Archicad, Archicad answers no requests until you close it. The assistant tells you so and waits.
• It does not create layers, pens, fills or other attributes, and it does not change the library.
• For building elements it draws walls, columns and slabs. It does not model doors, windows, roofs, stairs or other 3D elements in this release.
• It does not publish, and it does not work with Teamwork projects.
• Archicad's official commands for property values, classifications and similar settings cannot be previewed. They are refused in Preview changes and need Allow changes.
• A C# task can send part of its changes early. If it then fails, the part already sent stays applied. Each part is still all or nothing.
• The result depends on the AI model you use. Check what it drew. Code and batches that ran without an error are not a checked drawing.

Unreal Engine

New in 27.29. Your AI assistant can now work in the Unreal Editor. It reads the open level, answers questions and makes changes by running short Python programs inside the editor, exports the level, and brings in scenes from your design tools for real-time visualisation. Tested with Unreal Engine 5.8.

What the assistant can do.

• Read the open level. The level and its sub-levels, the selection, the viewport camera, and the actors in the level with their class, position, size, tags, folder, meshes and materials. It can also list the assets in your project.
• Answer questions with read-only probes. For a question no fixed tool answers, the assistant writes a short Python program against the Unreal Editor's own scripting API and runs it inside the editor. A probe only reads: a probe that would change the level is refused.
• Make changes with write tasks. The assistant writes a Python task, and the editor runs the whole task as one undo step, named "Archi Automate: …" in Edit › Undo History. One Ctrl+Z takes it back. If a task fails part-way, everything it did is rolled back.
• Preview first. The assistant can run a write task as a preview: the editor does the work, the assistant reports what happened, and the change is reverted.
• Export the level as a glTF scene (.glb) with a list of its elements.
• Import scenes — .glb, .gltf, .fbx, .obj and Datasmith (.udatasmith) — into your project's content, and place them in the open level if you want. That includes the scene files Archi Automate exports from Revit, Rhino, Blender and IFC, so a model can go from your design tool into Unreal in one conversation.

Set it up.

1. Close the Unreal Editor, then install or update Archi Automate 27.29 or later. The installer adds the Archi Automate engine plugin to each Unreal Engine it finds.
2. Open your project, go to Edit › Plugins and enable Archi Automate. This also enables the Python Editor Script Plugin, which the bridge needs. Restart the editor.
3. Or, for projects that already have the Python Editor Script Plugin enabled: open the Hub and click Configure on the Unreal Engine card. This sets the bridge up for your Windows user. Restart the editor.
4. Restart or reconnect your AI client so it loads the new tools, then ask: "What is in the open Unreal level?"

How Guardrails modes affect it. Set the mode in the Hub, on the Guardrails page.

• Read only. The assistant reads the level and runs read-only probes. Write tasks and imports are refused.
• Preview changes. Every write task runs as a preview and is reverted. Importing and exporting files cannot be previewed, so they are refused in this mode.
• Allow changes. Write tasks are applied, one undo step each, and imports and exports run.
• Never delete elements does not apply in Unreal Engine. A write task can remove actors from the level. Choose Read only or Preview changes when the assistant must not change anything.
• Code is checked before it runs. A task cannot save, load or switch levels, run console commands, or read and write files on its own: files go through the import and export tools.
• While you play in the editor (Play In Editor), changes are refused.
• The plugin checks the mode again inside the editor before every request, including a mode your company enforces.

Things to ask.

• "What is in the open level? Group the actors by class and folder."
• "Which meshes in this level use the material M_Concrete?" The assistant answers with a read-only probe.
• "Move every light in the folder 'Street' up by 50 centimetres. Preview it first."
• "Export the 3D view of the open Revit model as a scene, and import it into this level at the origin."
• "Export this level as a glTF file to my Exports folder."

What you need.

• Archi Automate 27.29 or later, with a licence or a trial.
• The Unreal Editor on Windows, with your project open. Tested with Unreal Engine 5.8.
• The Python Editor Script Plugin enabled in the project (enabling Archi Automate enables it).
• For Datasmith files: the Datasmith Importer plugin enabled in the project.

Limits.

• Tested with Unreal Engine 5.8.
• Editor only. The plugin adds nothing to packaged projects.
• Never delete elements does not apply in Unreal Engine (see above).
• Imports create assets in your project. They cannot be previewed or undone with Ctrl+Z.
• The assistant works in the open level. It does not save, open or switch levels: save with Ctrl+S.
• A preview leaves the level marked as changed, although nothing in it changed.
• Undo covers what the editor records. In rare cases a change to an actor is not restored by Ctrl+Z; the answer then names that actor.
• A task that runs too long is stopped at the time limit. A task stuck inside one long engine operation cannot be stopped; the assistant then reports a timeout.
• SketchUp scene exports (Collada, .dae) cannot be imported. There is no direct export from Archicad to Unreal Engine.
• The result depends on the AI model you use. Check what it did in the level.

Unreal and Unreal Engine are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of America and elsewhere. Archi Automate is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Epic Games.

Dynamic Bridge

Dynamic Bridge. Works with Tekla Structures. Nothing is pre-programmed: your AI assistant reads the API of your own installation and writes the code as you ask, on your machine.

New in 27.28. The Dynamic Bridge runs C# that your AI assistant writes, live, against an installed application that has a .NET API. Archi ships no tools, no code and no settings for any particular application. It was tested with Tekla Structures 2026. It replaces the tekla_* tools of 27.27 and earlier.

What you can do. Ask in plain words. With Tekla Structures the assistant works with the whole API of your installation: the 3D model, the drawings, the catalogs and the rest. In our test before release an assistant listed the drawings of a model, read a drawing, printed a PDF, made a part list with weights, looked an item up in the catalog, added and removed a beam, and ran Tekla Structures' own clash check. None of this is a fixed tool: the assistant writes the code each time.

First use, step by step.

1. Start Tekla Structures and open your model.
2. Open the Hub, go to Guardrails and check that the mode is Allow changes. The first set-up stores a small file on your machine, and code runs in this mode only.
3. Ask your assistant: "Connect to my Tekla Structures."
4. The assistant finds your installation and tells you who signed its API files. Check that it is the publisher of the application.
5. The assistant stores a profile and checks the connection. The Hub's Dynamic Bridge card now says that a profile is set up.
6. Ask for the work — e.g. "List the drawings of this model," "Which views are on drawing A-12, and at what scale?" or "Give me a part list with weights."

You do this once per application and computer. After that, just ask.

What the assistant does.

• Finds the installation. It looks under Program Files for the application's folder and lists its API files, with who signed each one.
• Writes a profile. A profile is a small file on your machine. It names the installation folder, the API files to use and the objects a piece of code starts with. Archi ships no profile.
• Looks the API up. It reads the types, their members and the publisher's own documentation text from your installed files, so it does not have to guess names.
• Writes and runs a short piece of C#, reads the result, and goes on. One question or one change at a time. If a piece of code fails part-way, the answer says that the statements before the failing one have already run (nothing is undone) and what the result held at that point.

Everything runs on your computer, with your own installed application and your own licence for it. Archi's servers take no part in running the code, and Archi never sees the code, the model or project data. What the assistant reads from the model becomes part of your conversation with your AI provider.

Guardrails modes for this bridge. They are not the same as for the other hosts. Read this before you rely on a mode.

• There is no Read only mode for the Dynamic Bridge. It cannot tell a query from a change in an application it does not know. With Guardrails set to Read only or Approve changes, running code is refused; looking up the API still works.
• Preview changes compiles and checks the code and does NOT run it. Nothing is read from your model and nothing is changed.
• Allow changes runs it. Nothing is undone, committed or saved for you; a piece of code does whatever the application's API needs. Some applications cannot undo what code has inserted.
• Storing or removing a profile follows the mode as well, including a mode your company has locked: refused in Read only and Approve changes, checked but not stored in Preview changes, done in Allow changes. If the licence cannot be verified, storing or removing a profile is refused and nothing is changed.
• The code-safety rules (no file, process, network or reflection access by default, also when the code names them in full) apply to the code before it runs. The licence and the audit log apply as for every bridge, and the audit record says which profile the code ran against.
• A profile is only accepted for an installation under Program Files whose API files carry a valid publisher signature. Files are loaded only from that folder.
• An engineer checks the result. Code that ran without an error is not a checked result.

When you only want to read, set the mode to Allow changes and tell the assistant to change nothing. The Hub offers Read only, Preview changes and Allow changes; Approve changes is an older setting that a policy can still carry, and it behaves like Read only. If your company enforces a mode: for this bridge, Preview changes means "checked, not run", and Read only means code is not run at all.

What it needs.

• An installed application with a .NET Framework API, 64-bit. Tested with Tekla Structures 2026.
• The installation is under Program Files, and its API files carry a valid publisher signature.
• To run code: the application is running with your model open, under the same Windows user as your AI client.
• A capable AI model. In our test the strongest model did seven typical Tekla Structures tasks in about five minutes with no instructions. A mid-range model did six of the seven, and the seventh once it was given the matching chapter of the free guide.
• It works over remote desktop.

Limits.

• No Read only mode. Code runs in Allow changes only.
• Nothing is undone, committed or saved for you. Some applications cannot undo what code has inserted. Save your model before you let the assistant change it.
• Applications with a .NET Framework API, 64-bit. Tested with Tekla Structures 2026.
• No 3D viewer export and no rendering export for these applications in this release.
• Nothing is pre-programmed, so the result depends on the AI model and on the application's own API.

The free guide. Working with Tekla Structures through the Dynamic Bridge is a free guide in ten short chapters, published in our public GitHub repository for Archi Automate. It is optional: the product does not depend on it.

Coming from 27.27? The tekla_* tools are replaced by the Dynamic Bridge. Ask your assistant to "connect to my Tekla Structures" and it sets itself up. In 27.27 the assistant reached the 3D model only; now it works with the whole API of your installation, drawings included. One thing is different: in 27.27 the model could be read with Guardrails set to Read only, and from 27.28 reading it needs Allow changes. Change saved prompts or skills that name a tekla_* tool to plain requests.

Tekla and Tekla Structures are trademarks of Trimble. Archi Automate is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Trimble.

Cloud platforms

Two Autodesk cloud services connect directly. Neither needs a desktop application, and neither needs a host licence.

Each connector signs you in through your browser, as yourself, and the two connections are cached independently — revoking one never signs you out of the other. Before the first sign-in can succeed, an administrator has to authorise the app on the Autodesk account: see Authorise the Autodesk cloud connectors.

AI image providers

Four cloud image providers connect through your own account. None needs a desktop application, and none needs a host licence; you pay the provider directly, per image, and Archi adds no mark-up.

Keys are added on the Hub's Services page. OpenAI's GPT Image 2.5 models additionally require your OpenAI organisation to be verified in OpenAI's own console; until then a valid key answers with an access error that names the step.

AI clients

Archi Automate is a standard MCP server, so it works with any MCP-capable AI client. The Hub gives one-click connection for eight clients and a guided manual setup for a ninth:

• One-click: Claude (Desktop & Code), OpenAI Codex, Cursor, VS Code (Copilot agent), Windsurf, Antigravity, Gemini CLI, Cline.
• Manual snippet: JetBrains AI Assistant.
• Any other current or future MCP client connects with the same copy-paste configuration.

Installation

One installer, all hosts

A single elevated install installs the shared components and a bridge for each host detected on your machine. Installation requires administrator rights (it writes to Program Files and, for Archicad, to the Archicad Add-Ons folder). Close any open host applications before installing.

• Revit — the add-in is registered automatically for the Revit years found on the machine. Restart Revit to load it.
• Rhino + Grasshopper — one plug-in is registered as a Yak package for Rhino 8. Restart Rhino to load it (the Hub can also run this from the Bridges page). Grasshopper needs no separate Archi Automate plug-in or Hub card.
• Blender — the add-on ships in the installer and is deployed machine-wide into Blender's scripts, so it auto-loads for all users. Restart Blender to load it. The Hub's Configure button on the Blender card can also install it per-user.
• AutoCAD — the plug-in is registered with AutoCAD's automatic plug-in loader. Restart AutoCAD to load it.
• Dynamic Bridge — nothing is installed into your application and nothing needs starting. Your assistant sets it up the first time you ask; see Dynamic Bridge.
• SketchUp / Vectorworks / QGIS — the extension or plug-in is installed into each application's extensions folder; restart the application to load it (the Hub's Configure button can also register it per-user).
• Archicad — the native add-on is copied into the Add-Ons folder of each installed Archicad generation — 27, 28, 29 and 30 are supported, and the installer deploys the matching signed add-on for each generation it finds (restart Archicad to load it, also after every update). The 2D drawing, views and batches are for Archicad 29 and 30. The resident bridge starts on demand the first time you use an Archicad tool.
• Unreal Engine — the installer adds the Archi Automate engine plugin to each Unreal Engine it finds; close the Unreal Editor before installing. In your project, enable Archi Automate under Edit › Plugins (this also enables the Python Editor Script Plugin) and restart the editor. For projects that already have the Python Editor Script Plugin enabled, the Hub's Configure button on the Unreal Engine card can set it up per user instead. See Unreal Engine.
• openBIM — nothing to install per host; the connector is headless and starts on demand the first time an IFC, IDS, or BCF tool is used.

Connect your AI client

After installation, open the Hub's LLMs page and click Connect next to your client. Archi Automate writes the connection entry into that client's configuration for you (per-user, backed up first, merged without overwriting your other settings). Restart the client afterwards. For step-by-step setup and a copy-paste snippet per client, use the Hub's Help page.

Authorise the Autodesk cloud connectors

The Forma and Construction Cloud connectors sign in as you, through your browser. Before that sign-in can succeed, an administrator has to authorise the Archi Automate app on the Autodesk account. These are one-time steps per account, and both procedures need the app's public identifiers:

• App name — Archi Automate
• Client ID — NzaIlycoSd2iK0cj1K3JDeX4Wzz3zy2yxIgRsquL3xi7CIHT
• Sign-in callback — http://localhost:53750/forma/callback. This is a local address and nothing listens externally, but endpoint-security policies that restrict local listeners may need to allow it.

ACC and BIM 360 — add the Custom Integration

1. An account admin opens Account Admin and goes to Settings → Custom Integrations.
2. Choose Add Custom Integration, paste the Client ID and the app name, and grant Document Management — add Account Administration too if you want project creation and membership management.
3. Repeat on every account your users need. An organisation with hubs in more than one region has more than one account, and each one must be authorised separately.

When this step is missing the connection still appears to succeed — the hub is simply absent from the listings, because the refusal comes back inside an otherwise successful response. Archi Automate reports that as "needs provisioning" rather than as a failure.

Forma — install the extension, in the right order

Forma grants API access per project through an extension, and installing that extension takes a snapshot of its permissions. Configure the extension completely before you install it — changes made afterwards do not take effect until it is installed again.

1. In the Forma hub's extension management, add the Archi Automate extension.
2. Before installing it, put the Client ID above in the extension's Service accounts field, and add the projects it may reach to the extension's project list.
3. Only then install the extension into the site. After any later change to the permissions or the project list, install it again.

The symptom of the wrong order is a persistent access-denied that no amount of re-consenting will fix. Two further Forma details: use the pro_… project id from the design-mode URL rather than the up_… id shown on the project overview, and make sure the project's region matches — the wrong region is refused in the same way.

Trial and licences

• Trial — on first run without a key, a 14-day full-featured trial starts automatically and covers all hosts.
• Desktop licence — single-machine activation (perpetual or subscription).
• Floating licence — one seat checked out from your company pool, shared across hosts and released on shutdown.

One licence covers you across every host application and the Dynamic Bridge at the same time. For silent and managed deployment, see the Silent Installer Guide.

The Hub

The Hub is a small desktop dashboard with a left navigation rail of four pages: Bridges, LLMs, Guardrails, and Help. It detects and manages every host bridge and AI client, edits the guardrail policy, and shows live session status.

Bridges

Shows a card for each of the ten desktop and file hosts — Revit, Rhino, Archicad, AutoCAD, Blender, SketchUp, Vectorworks, QGIS, Unreal Engine, and an openBIM (IFC) card with the buildingSMART mark — and a Dynamic Bridge card that says whether a profile is set up, plus overall Connection and Licence tiles and a Sessions grid. Grasshopper stays inside the Rhino card because its tools run in the active Rhino 8 process.

• Green — running and the bridge is live (a session is actually being served).
• Amber — installed and configured, but no session is being served right now.
• Grey — host not installed.

Each card has an action where one applies — for example Configure to register the bridge. Revit is set up by the installer and Rhino via Yak; Grasshopper uses that same Rhino package and card. The Archicad and openBIM bridges are out-of-process and start on demand — the first relevant AI request spins them up — so a card can show the host present with the bridge not yet running. The openBIM card carries the buildingSMART mark and surfaces its capabilities: IFC, IDS, and BCF, plus analysis (clash, quantity take-off, embodied carbon) and export (COBie, glTF).

LLMs

Where you connect AI clients. Each of the eight one-click clients (plus JetBrains) shows its configured/running status with a one-click Connect that writes the Archi Automate entry into that client's config. Restart the client after connecting.

The LLMs page: one-click connection for eight AI clients, plus JetBrains and any other MCP client.

Services

Where you add the API keys for the cloud image providers. One tile per provider — OpenAI, Black Forest Labs, fal.ai and Google — each with a status dot and the actions that apply: Set key, Test (a free call that confirms the key works), Remove, and Get a key, which opens the provider's own key page. Keys are stored encrypted for your Windows user on this machine, are read only by the local Archi Automate server, and are never passed to the AI assistant or included in any prompt. The guardrail policy can restrict which providers may be used and can disable key entry through the assistant altogether, so the Hub stays the only way in.

Guardrails

A graphical editor for the guardrail policy (see Guardrails & settings): execution mode, a code-safety toggle, a cap on how many elements one operation can touch, Never delete elements (on by default; enforced in Archicad, Forma and Grasshopper), and audit logging — with a read-only view of the full policy and its file path. Changes save to the local policy and apply on the next request, with no host restart.

The Guardrails page: choose what the AI may do, set safety limits, and review the policy.

Help

Per-client setup guides — status, Connect, Open config folder, a native-format snippet, and step-by-step instructions — plus a short "how it works & troubleshooting" card.

The Help page: connect each assistant, with a copy-paste snippet and instructions.

Workflows

Guardrails & settings

One global policy governs every host. You edit it on the Hub's Guardrails page; changes apply on the next request with no host restart.

Execution modes

• Read only — the AI can read and analyse any model but cannot change anything. The safest setting. The Dynamic Bridge is the exception: it runs no code in this mode, so it reads nothing.
• Preview changes (dry-run) — the AI composes the operation and shows exactly what would change, then rolls it back; nothing is written until you commit. Supported where the host and operation allow it — today Revit, Rhino, Archicad drawing and editing batches, Unreal Engine write tasks, and openBIM model edits (IFC authoring, classification, EPD write-back). The Dynamic Bridge is different: Preview changes checks the code and does not run it.
• Allow changes (default: a new installation starts in this mode) — write operations are applied. Required for Archicad's official-command writes (property values, classifications and similar), for Vectorworks structured writes, for the scripting hosts' write tasks (AutoCAD, Blender, SketchUp, Vectorworks, QGIS), for Unreal Engine scene import and export, for all code run through the Dynamic Bridge, and for openBIM file-writing tools — saving IFC, exporting COBie/glTF, and all BCF writes — which apply directly and cannot be previewed.

Safety limits

• Code-safety — every AI-composed operation, in every language the hosts use (C#, Python, and Ruby alike), is screened against a configurable deny-list before it runs. This is defence-in-depth, not a sandbox.
• Max elements per operation — a cap so a single action can't touch your whole model at once.
• Never delete elements — on by default. It blocks element deletes in Archicad, Forma and Grasshopper. In the other applications, code the AI writes can still delete; choose Read only or Preview changes when nothing may change.
• Category limits — restrict which categories the AI may touch.
• Audit log — a record of every request, kept on this computer for review and compliance.
• Timeout & readiness — long-running requests time out at a configurable limit, and a request to a busy host is abandoned rather than run late.

An optional company overlay can override and lock selected settings across a team, enforced even offline.

Cloud AI image policy

The same policy file that governs writes also governs cloud rendering. An administrator can restrict the allowed providers, cap the maximum image size (1K, 2K or 4K), set the default model, and mark the installation as handling confidential projects. In confidential mode, providers whose terms allow them to train on submitted images are refused, and the other providers receive their no-storage switches with every request. Key entry through the assistant can be disabled so that keys only ever enter through the Hub.

Troubleshooting

A host shows no session

Cause: the host isn't running, the bridge isn't loaded (host not restarted after install), or — for Archicad — the resident bridge or the add-on isn't present.

Fix: confirm the host is open; check the Hub's Bridges page for the host card and dot; for Archicad ensure both the resident bridge and the add-on are present; restart the host if the bridge was just installed.

No Blender session appears

Cause: the add-on wasn't deployed into Blender's scripts, or Blender wasn't restarted after installing.

Fix: re-run the installer or use the Hub's Configure button on the Blender card, then restart Blender. The card turns green once Blender is open and the bridge is serving.

No session for AutoCAD, SketchUp, Vectorworks, or QGIS

Cause: the application isn't running, or the plug-in or extension isn't loaded (application not restarted after install).

Fix: open the application (with a model or project), check the Hub's Bridges page for the host card and its status dot, and restart the application if the bridge was just installed. For the Dynamic Bridge, see the entries below.

Dynamic Bridge: the connection fails, or code cannot reach the model

Cause: the application is not running, or no model is open in it; the application and your AI client run under different Windows users; or the bridge was started before the model was open.

Fix: start the application and open your model. Run the application and your AI client under the same Windows user. Then ask your assistant to restart the bridge for that application, and try again.

Dynamic Bridge: "Read only is not available"

Cause: this is by design. The Dynamic Bridge cannot tell a query from a change in an application it does not know, so it has no Read only mode. With Guardrails set to Read only, running code is refused. In Preview changes the code is checked and not run.

Fix: set Guardrails to Allow changes and tell the assistant to change nothing. Looking up the API works in every mode.

Dynamic Bridge: a profile is refused

Cause: the installation folder is not under Program Files, or it is reached through a link; or the API files do not carry a valid publisher signature. If the profile is fine but is not stored, Guardrails is not set to Allow changes.

Fix: point the assistant at the folder the application is really installed in, under Program Files. Files without a valid publisher signature cannot be used. Set Guardrails to Allow changes to store the profile. The answer lists each thing to correct. If the answer says the licence could not be verified, check the licence in the Hub and try again.

The tekla_* tools are gone

Cause: from 27.28 they are replaced by the Dynamic Bridge.

Fix: ask your assistant: "Connect to my Tekla Structures." Change saved prompts or skills that name a tekla_* tool to plain requests. See Dynamic Bridge.

Host running but not responding ("not ready")

Cause: the host is still starting, a dialog is open, or it is mid-command.

Fix: wait briefly and retry — the signal is recoverable by design, and no write is ever applied when it appears. Dismiss any open dialog. On slow machines an administrator can raise the pickup grace period.

A write was rejected

Cause: the execution mode is Read only, a company policy overrides it, Never delete elements is on (Archicad, Forma, Grasshopper), the target category is denied, or an action that cannot be previewed was asked for in Preview changes — for example an Archicad official-command write, or an Unreal Engine import or export.

Fix: set the mode to Allow changes, or Preview changes where the host supports it, in the Hub; turn off Never delete elements only when you want the assistant to delete; contact IT if a company policy is blocking it.

Archicad writes or project identity fail

Cause: the native add-on isn't loaded.

Fix: ensure the add-on is installed in the Add-Ons folder of your Archicad version (27, 28, 29 or 30) and restart Archicad. Reads still work without it. After an update, the new tools answer that Archicad must be restarted until you restart it once.

Unreal Engine: no session, or a change is refused

Cause: the Archi Automate plugin or the Python Editor Script Plugin is not enabled in the project, the editor was not restarted after enabling it, or the AI client was not reconnected after the update. A change is refused in Read only, while you play in the editor (Play In Editor), or while you are in the middle of an edit such as a drag; an import or export is refused in Preview changes.

Fix: in the project, enable Archi Automate under Edit › Plugins and restart the editor, or use Configure on the Hub's Unreal Engine card if the project already has Python enabled. Check the card in the Hub, then reconnect your AI client. Stop Play In Editor before asking for a change. To import Datasmith files, enable the Datasmith Importer plugin in the project.

openBIM: "no model open" or file not found

Cause: a tool was called before a file was opened, or the path was wrong.

Fix: open an IFC file with an absolute path first; a ping or document list confirms what is loaded and its schema. Opening a new file replaces the previous one.

openBIM: BCF write refused, or "no BCF open"

Cause: a BCF call before a container was opened or created, or a BCF save / validate-to-BCF run while in Read only or Preview mode.

Fix: open or create a BCF container first. BCF writes aren't previewable — set the mode to Allow changes. To validate straight to BCF, open the IFC model first.

openBIM: newest authoring tools not visible in the client

Cause: the AI client is running against an older copy of the installed connector.

Fix: refresh the installed Archi Automate connector and reconnect the client. The newest IFC and BCF authoring tools are built and verified, but a client must reconnect to see them.

A render is refused, or a provider is "not configured"

• Provider not configured: no key is stored for that provider on this Windows user. Add it on the Hub's Services page and press Test.
• OpenAI answers with an access error for a GPT Image 2.5 model: the key is fine, but your OpenAI organisation has not completed Organization Verification. Complete it in OpenAI's console; access can take up to fifteen minutes to propagate.
• Google rejects every image model: the Google project behind the key has no billing account. Image models are not available on the free tier.
• Black Forest Labs rejects a large multi-image edit: FLUX.2 allows about nine megapixels of input plus output per call. The assistant downscales large references and warns; ask for a smaller output or fewer references.
• A provider or model is refused by policy: the guardrail policy restricts providers, the image size, or confidential-project handling. The message names the setting.

A Forma or ACC hub or project is missing

Cause: the Autodesk account has not been authorised for the app, or — on Forma — the extension was installed before it was configured, so its permissions were snapshotted without your projects.

Fix: for ACC, have an account admin add the Custom Integration on that account, in that region — each region is a separate account. For Forma, check the extension's service account and project list, then install the extension again; changes made after installing do not apply until you do. Check too that you are using the pro_… project id and the matching region. See Authorise the Autodesk cloud connectors.

Limitations

• Archicad 29 and 30 are live-tested. On Archicad 27 and 28 the add-on is installed and signed, but it has not yet been verified in real 27 and 28 installations, and the 2D drawing, views and batches are for Archicad 29 and 30 only: Archicad 27 and 28 are coming. Element reads are unaffected — they use Archicad's official API.
• The Forma and Construction Cloud connectors need each Autodesk account to be authorised once by an administrator; until that is done, a hub simply does not appear in the listings.
• Publishing a Revit cloud model needs an interactive, signed-in Revit session with the appropriate Autodesk entitlement. That is an Autodesk platform requirement rather than an Archi Automate one, and it means cloud publishing cannot run unattended.
• Migrating a project between hubs copies the latest version of each file. Version history, issues, markups and permissions do not travel — Autodesk exposes no mechanism to move them — and linked RVT paths need a relink pass afterwards.
• The Construction Cloud file-migration executor ships as an advanced, support-assisted workflow rather than a one-click card in the Hub.
• Archi Automate does not save models after a write — you save manually.
• Code-safety screening of AI-composed operations (C#, Python, and Ruby alike) is defence-in-depth, not a true sandbox.
• Archicad: drawing and editing batches can be previewed; Archicad's official-command writes (property values, classifications and similar) cannot, and need Allow changes. 3D modelling is walls, columns and slabs; dimensions are static; Teamwork projects are not supported. Changes live in the open project until you save.
• Blender scene export is basic today (MVP); full parity with the Revit / Rhino / IFC exporters is a follow-up.
• Blender has no first-class render tool yet — rendering works today through the governed Python path; a dedicated render tool is on the roadmap.
• Blender asset import reaches the internet to download public CC0 assets from Poly Haven; no model data leaves your machine.
• Vectorworks structured writes (create/delete 2D objects) apply directly in Allow-changes mode — they cannot be previewed.
• Scene export maturity varies by host: IFC, Revit, and Rhino produce a full viewer-ready scene; Blender's exporter is basic today; SketchUp exports the element map with Collada geometry (not yet viewer-ready); Vectorworks scene export is deferred. Unreal Engine exports the open level as a glTF scene. Archicad, AutoCAD and QGIS have no scene export in this release, so there is no direct export from Archicad to Unreal Engine. The Dynamic Bridge has no scene export in this release.
• The Dynamic Bridge has no Read only mode. Its code runs in Allow changes only, and nothing is undone, committed or saved for you. See Dynamic Bridge.
• The Dynamic Bridge works with applications that have a .NET Framework API, 64-bit. It was tested with Tekla Structures 2026.
• Unreal Engine: tested with Unreal Engine 5.8, in the Unreal Editor only (the plugin adds nothing to packaged projects). Never delete elements does not apply there: a write task can remove actors, so choose Read only or Preview changes when nothing may change. Imports create assets on disk and cannot be undone or previewed. A preview leaves the level marked as changed, although nothing in it changed. The assistant works in the open level and does not save, open or switch levels. SketchUp scene exports (Collada) cannot be imported. See Unreal Engine.
• Never delete elements is enforced in Archicad, Forma and Grasshopper only. In the other applications, code the AI writes can still delete.
• QGIS site context is built entirely from the layers already loaded in your QGIS project — it adds terrain, and it makes no internet connections.
• Cross-program work is orchestrated by the AI in the conversation — there is no automatic background sync between applications.
• openBIM is file-based: you work on the in-memory model (or federation) and save. The assistant can render still snapshots and export glTF, but there is no live, continuous 3D viewport like the desktop hosts.
• Geometry-dependent tools (snapshots, clash detection, quantity take-off, carbon, glTF) need a model that carries geometry; a data-only IFC returns a clear message instead.
• Federated models must share a common world origin — federation does not re-georeference them.
• Embodied-carbon figures are estimates with an honest coverage report, not a certified LCA; EPD-grade results use the live Ökobaudat source (online), with graceful fallback offline.
• openBIM file-writing tools (saving IFC, COBie/glTF export, and all BCF writes) are not previewable and require Allow-changes mode; openBIM model edits do support an exact dry-run.
• AI image models that work from a reference image keep geometry by instruction, not by construction: the assistant states what must stay and checks the result, and geometry locking from depth and line passes is available on fal.ai and still being tuned.
• Cloud rendering is billed by each provider to your own account; Archi Automate quotes before it spends and records the metered cost, but does not cap provider-side spending.
• Black Forest Labs' service terms allow the provider to use submitted images for training; the confidential-projects policy excludes it. AI-generated images carry the providers' content credentials (C2PA, SynthID) where the provider applies them.
• AI-generated operation quality depends on the model tier — Claude Opus 4.8 (High) and GPT-5.5 (High) are the recommended minimums.

Related links

• Archi Automate — AI for AEC
• Download page
• Silent Installer Guide
• Archi Automate Forum

Tekla and Tekla Structures are trademarks of Trimble. Archi Automate is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Trimble.

Unreal and Unreal Engine are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of America and elsewhere. Archi Automate is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Epic Games.