MCP Connector for AutoCAD Documentation

MCP Connector for AutoCAD connects AI assistants to a live Autodesk AutoCAD session on your machine. Once connected, your AI can read and author the drawing: query entities, create and modify geometry, manage layers, blocks, external references, annotation, layouts and 3D solids. Two parts ship together and talk over a local connection: an MCP server your AI client launches, and a plug-in that loads inside AutoCAD. Nothing needs to be configured between them.

Supported AutoCAD Versions

• AutoCAD 2022
• AutoCAD 2023
• AutoCAD 2024
• AutoCAD 2025
• AutoCAD 2026
• AutoCAD 2027

Full AutoCAD is required. AutoCAD LT is not supported. LT does not run add-ins, and the connector works as a plug-in inside AutoCAD. Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.

AI Applications

• Claude Desktop
• ChatGPT Desktop
• Cursor
• Claude Code

Installation

Enabling MCP Connector for AutoCAD

After installation, click the MCP Connector button in the Add-ins tab to open the connector dialog, then toggle Enable MCP to start the connection. No licence key is needed for the free tools - the key only unlocks the Pro set.

The dialog shows the status of detected AI applications:

• Ready (Running) - The AI application is configured to reach AutoCAD and is currently open
• Ready - Configured, but the application is not running right now
• Detected - The application is installed but not yet configured; toggle Enable MCP to configure it
• Not Detected - The AI application is not installed on this machine

The indicator at the top of the dialog reads Disabled, Waiting, or Active. Toggling Enable MCP off again removes the connector from every detected client's configuration.

Configuration

MCP Connector for AutoCAD includes one-click auto-configuration for supported AI applications. Toggling Enable MCP in the connector dialog writes the configuration for every detected application at once. The installer also registers the server on install, so in most cases there is nothing to do by hand.

Claude Desktop

The config file is located at:

ChatGPT Desktop

ChatGPT appears in the dialog when it is installed on your machine. The config file is located at:

This file is shared with the Codex CLI, so configuring ChatGPT Desktop makes the AutoCAD tools available in Codex CLI as well. After configuring, fully quit ChatGPT and reopen it. With AutoCAD open and a drawing loaded, a quick test is to ask ChatGPT to "ping AutoCAD".

Use Work, not Chat. ChatGPT Desktop loads MCP servers from this config file in its Work area only - regular Chat conversations cannot see the AutoCAD tools. If ChatGPT replies that the AutoCAD MCP is not connected, check you are in Work first, then start a fresh conversation - the MCP connection is per-conversation and drops after sitting idle.

Cursor

The config file is located at:

Claude Code & other MCP clients

MCP Connector for AutoCAD exposes a standard MCP stdio server, so it also works with Claude Code, VS Code, and any other MCP-compatible client. The server is a single executable installed with the plug-in bundle:

Register it in Claude Code from a terminal:

Manual configuration (any MCP client)

Add this to your client's MCP server configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "AUTOM8LABS_AutoCAD": {
      "command": "C:\\Program Files\\Autodesk\\ApplicationPlugins\\AUTOM8LABS.MCPConnectorAutoCAD.bundle\\Contents\\Bridge\\MCPConnectorAutoCAD.Bridge.exe"
    }
  }
}

VS Code

VS Code uses a slightly different shape. Add the server to your MCP configuration (for example .vscode/mcp.json in a workspace):

{
  "servers": {
    "AUTOM8LABS_AutoCAD": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "C:\\Program Files\\Autodesk\\ApplicationPlugins\\AUTOM8LABS.MCPConnectorAutoCAD.bundle\\Contents\\Bridge\\MCPConnectorAutoCAD.Bridge.exe"
    }
  }
}

Optional: raw command execution

The execute_command tool runs a raw AutoCAD command string as if typed at the command line. Because it can drive any AutoCAD command, it is disabled by default: it is neither listed nor callable until you opt in on that machine by setting MCP_CONNECTOR_ENABLE_COMMAND_EXEC=1 in the MCP client configuration. Even when enabled, code-loading and shell verbs (NETLOAD, APPLOAD, SCRIPT, SHELL, AutoLISP load) are blocked.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "AUTOM8LABS_AutoCAD": {
      "command": "C:\\Program Files\\Autodesk\\ApplicationPlugins\\AUTOM8LABS.MCPConnectorAutoCAD.bundle\\Contents\\Bridge\\MCPConnectorAutoCAD.Bridge.exe",
      "env": {
        "MCP_CONNECTOR_ENABLE_COMMAND_EXEC": "1"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop Settings

MCP Connector for AutoCAD exposes 130 tools. In Claude Desktop, enable Load tools when needed so tools are loaded on demand rather than all at once.

Use Chat, not Cowork

Claude Desktop has a mode selector at the bottom of the message box: Chat and Cowork. MCP connectors run in Chat conversations. In Cowork, your AutoCAD requests will not reach the connector and Claude behaves as if AutoCAD is not connected - even though the connector is configured correctly. Before you start, check the selector is set to Chat.

Note this is the opposite way round to ChatGPT Desktop, where the AutoCAD tools are available in Work rather than regular Chat.

Operator Skill

MCP Connector for AutoCAD ships with a free operator skill - a plain text playbook Claude reads before touching your drawing. It teaches Claude to use the connector efficiently: read in bulk instead of one entity at a time, verify answers with counts, batch edits in one call, and say so instead of guessing when something cannot be done. The result is fewer calls, fewer dead chats, and far less of your usage allowance burned on a single question.

Install in Claude Desktop:

1. Download the skill: autocad-connector.zip
2. In Claude Desktop, go to Settings > Skills > Add > Upload a skill and select the zip.
3. That is it - Claude picks the skill up automatically in new chats. If you ever find it has not, mention it in your prompt, for example "Follow the autocad-connector skill".

Using Claude Code or Cursor instead? Install steps for both are in the mcp-connector-skills repository, which also hosts free skills for the rest of the MCP Connector family.

Free vs Pro

MCP Connector for AutoCAD adds 130 MCP tools - 28 free and 102 Pro. Two editions ship in one install:

• Free is read-only inspection: a connectivity check, plus tools that query and inspect the drawing, list its tables (layers, blocks, layouts, styles, external references, UCS), read entity and block properties, measure, and navigate the view with zoom. Nothing in the free edition creates, modifies, or maintains the drawing. No key is needed; it just works.
• Pro unlocks everything else: geometry creation, all modification, layer editing, 3D solids and booleans, annotation and dimensioning, layouts and plotting, styles and external reference authoring, text automation, drawing audit and purge, plus the Management Pack of folder-batch tools for whole-project jobs like batch plotting to PDF, title block updates from Excel, attribute extraction, external reference repathing and audits, layer remapping, and per-drawing health reports.

Pro is a per-seat subscription: £10 per seat per month or £100 per seat per year. See the product page for purchasing.

In the tool reference below, every tool is marked Free or Pro. On a free install, Pro tools are not listed to the AI client at all, and the AutoCAD plug-in refuses to execute them, so there is no way to run a paid tool without a valid licence.

Licence Activation and Management

Licensing lives entirely in the AutoCAD plug-in. There is no key to set in the AI client.

• One seat per machine. A seat covers every AI client on that machine: Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, and any other MCP client.
• Moving machines. Click Deactivate in the licence dialog to free the seat, then activate on the new PC.
• Working offline. A validated key is honoured offline for 14 days, so short offline stretches never block your work.

Quickstart

Tool Reference

MCP Connector for AutoCAD adds 130 MCP tools, grouped by category below, including the 28 free read-only tools. Every tool name shown is the exact identifier exposed to your AI client. The Edition column shows whether a tool is available in the free edition or needs a Pro licence. Under each description is an example prompt showing how to ask for it in natural language - click any prompt to copy it, paste it into your AI client, and adjust the names and numbers to suit your drawing.

Connectivity

Drawing and Document

Entities and Selection

Geometry Creation

3D Solids

Modification

Layers

Blocks

Annotation

Views and Navigation

Layouts and Plotting

Styles

External References

UCS

Search and Text

Utility and Measurement

Management Pack

Folder-batch tools for whole-project maintenance. Each one runs over every drawing in a folder using a side database, so your open drawing is never disturbed. Write operations are safe by default: a dry-run mode previews what would change without modifying any file.

Troubleshooting

The AI says it is not connected to AutoCAD

• AutoCAD must be running with a drawing open. The connector talks to a live session; it cannot open AutoCAD for you.
• In AutoCAD, run MCPCONNECTOR_STATUS to check the plug-in state. If it reports not running, run MCPCONNECTOR_START.
• Ask your AI to run the ping tool. It reports whether the link is up and, if not, why.

The plug-in did not load

• The plug-in auto-loads when AutoCAD starts. If the AUTOM8LABS ribbon is missing, restart AutoCAD, then run MCPCONNECTOR_START at the command line.
• Confirm the bundle exists at C:\Program Files\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\AUTOM8LABS.MCPConnectorAutoCAD.bundle. If it is missing, re-run the installer.
• Check that your AutoCAD release is between 2022 and 2027.

Pro tools are missing after activating

• The MCP server reads the edition once, when the AI client starts it. Restart the AI client after activating and the full tool list appears.
• Confirm the licence state in AutoCAD via Manage Licence on the AUTOM8LABS ribbon.

The AI client does not list the server

• Restart the client completely after installing; a window reload is not always enough.
• For clients other than Claude Desktop, ChatGPT Desktop, and Cursor, add the manual configuration yourself.

execute_command is not available

• Raw command execution is off by default. Opt in by setting MCP_CONNECTOR_ENABLE_COMMAND_EXEC=1 in the MCP client configuration, then restart the client. See Configuration.

FAQ