MCP Connector for Navisworks Documentation

Supported Navisworks Versions

• Navisworks 2022
• Navisworks 2023
• Navisworks 2024
• Navisworks 2025
• Navisworks 2026
• Navisworks 2027

Navisworks Manage or Simulate is required. Navisworks Freedom (the free viewer) does not run add-ins. Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.

AI Applications

• Claude Desktop
• ChatGPT Desktop
• Cursor
• Claude Code
• VS Code (GitHub Copilot agent mode)
• Visual Studio 2022 17.14+ / 2026 (GitHub Copilot)
• GitHub Copilot CLI
• Grok Build (xAI CLI)

Installation

Enabling MCP Connector for Navisworks

After installation, click the MCP Connector button on the AUTOM8LABS 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 Navisworks 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

Toggling Enable MCP off again removes the connector from every detected client's configuration.

Configuration

MCP Connector for Navisworks 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 Navisworks tools available in Codex CLI as well. After configuring, fully quit ChatGPT and reopen it. With Navisworks open and a model loaded, a quick test is to ask ChatGPT to "ping Navisworks".

Use Work, not Chat. ChatGPT Desktop loads MCP servers from this config file in its Work area only - regular Chat conversations cannot see the Navisworks tools. If ChatGPT replies that the Navisworks 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:

GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot appears in the dialog when VS Code, Visual Studio, or the Copilot CLI is installed on your machine. The config files are located at:

Grok Build

Toggle Enable MCP and the connector writes its entry into xAI's Grok Build CLI configuration automatically. The config file is located at:

Grok Build also reads Claude Code's and Cursor's MCP config, so if you have already configured either of those the connector shows up in Grok Build with no extra step.

Claude Code & other MCP clients

MCP Connector for Navisworks 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_Navisworks": {
      "command": "C:\\ProgramData\\AUTOM8LABS\\MCPConnectorNavisworks\\Bridge\\MCPConnectorNavisworks.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_Navisworks": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "C:\\ProgramData\\AUTOM8LABS\\MCPConnectorNavisworks\\Bridge\\MCPConnectorNavisworks.Bridge.exe"
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop Settings

MCP Connector for Navisworks exposes 95 tools, including two Bridge recovery 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 Navisworks requests will not reach the connector and Claude behaves as if Navisworks 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 Navisworks tools are available in Work rather than regular Chat.

Local AI Setup

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "AUTOM8LABS_Navisworks": {
      "command": "C:\\ProgramData\\AUTOM8LABS\\MCPConnectorNavisworks\\Bridge\\MCPConnectorNavisworks.Bridge.exe"
    }
  }
}

Operator Skill

MCP Connector for Navisworks ships with a free operator skill - a plain text playbook Claude reads before touching your model. 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: navisworks-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 navisworks-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.

Quickstart

Power BI Dashboards

Free dashboards for clash coordination and tool-use records. MCP Connector Pro is required to export clash results or record audit logs.

Coordination dashboard

A ready-made Power BI report that turns Clash Detective results into a coordination dashboard: current clash counts, the trend from one coordination run to the next, clashes by test and status, a clash matrix, a clash list with both elements, and health checks. It reads the snapshots that export_clash_results writes, so it needs a Pro licence, version 1.1.0 or later, and Navisworks Manage.

Download: Coordination Analytics v1.0.0 (.zip)

The tests and counts in the picture are invented sample data.

What you need

• Power BI Desktop, September 2026 release or later. It is free from Microsoft.
• MCP Connector for Navisworks Pro, version 1.1.0 or later, on Navisworks Manage.
• Optional, for the 3D model: the Autodesk Data Connector for Power BI, version 3.0 or later, and a Revit Data Exchange you can view. The clash pages work without it.

Set it up

1. Run your clash tests in Navisworks, then ask your AI assistant: "Export the clash results to C:\AUTOM8LABS\ClashExports". The connector writes a new snapshot folder named after the time of the export.
2. Unzip the download to a short path, for example C:\AUTOM8LABS\Coordination. Power BI Desktop cannot open a file whose full path reaches 260 characters.
3. Open AUTOM8LABS Coordination Analytics.pbip in Power BI Desktop.
4. Select Transform data > Edit parameters.
5. Set ClashDataFolder to the folder you exported into. Use the parent folder, not a snapshot folder. Leave ExchangeUrl blank.
6. Select OK, then Apply changes, then Refresh.

Export again after every coordination run, then select Refresh. Each export adds a snapshot and nothing is overwritten. The newest snapshot becomes the current state and the earlier ones stay in the trend.

Pages

• Overview - current totals, the status breakdown and the clash trend, with filters for test, status, level and source file.
• By test - a test by status table in the Navisworks status colours, and open clashes per test.
• Clash matrix - one cell per pair of selections, side A down and side B across, with the open clashes in the cell. Select a cell to list its tests.
• Clash detail - every clash of the selected test with both elements, their Revit Element IDs, distance, assignee and grid location.
• Coordination health - elements that could not be matched to Revit, tests that are out of date or have not run recently, and the history of every snapshot.

For a readable matrix, build your clash tests from named selection or search sets, one set per discipline or system. A side picked by hand is named by what it selects.

Optional: the 3D model

The Overview, By test and Clash detail pages have a panel for the Autodesk viewer, which shows the model coloured by clash status and highlights the two elements of a selected clash. Until it is set up, the panel shows a message asking for the visual and the rest of the page works as normal.

1. Install the Autodesk Data Connector for Power BI from Autodesk.
2. Publish a Data Exchange from Revit, or open an existing one in Autodesk Docs, and copy its URL.
3. In Power BI Desktop select Transform data > Edit parameters, paste the URL into ExchangeUrl, select OK and then Refresh. Sign in with your Autodesk account when asked.
4. In the Visualizations pane select More options (...) > Import a visual from a file and choose Documents\Power BI Desktop\Custom Visuals\Autodesk Data Connector for Power BI.pbiviz. Save the report. This is needed once.

Elements from IFC, DWG or DGN models carry no Revit Element ID. They are still exported and counted, and appear as unmapped on the Coordination health page.

The download includes a README with the full detail. Want the dashboard in your own company branding? Contact us.

Tool Reference

MCP Connector for Navisworks adds its full tool set, grouped by category below, including a read-only free tier that works without a licence. 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 model.

Connectivity

Model and Document

Properties and Query

Selection

Selection and Search Sets

Clash Detection

Sectioning

Appearance and Visibility

Viewpoints

Viewpoint Animations

Navigation and Capture

Measurement

4D Construction Sequencing

Quantification

Review and Comments

Export and Publish

Troubleshooting

The AI says it is not connected to Navisworks

• Navisworks must be running. The connector talks to a live session; it cannot start Navisworks for you - although once Navisworks is open, the AI can open or append model files itself.
• In Navisworks, open the AUTOM8LABS ribbon tab and click MCP Connector to check the connection and configure your AI apps.
• 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 Navisworks starts. If the AUTOM8LABS tab is missing, restart Navisworks and check the startup log at %LOCALAPPDATA%\AUTOM8LABS\MCPConnectorNavisworks\Log\. The connector's commands also remain available under the Tool add-ins tab as a fallback.
• Confirm the bundle exists at C:\ProgramData\AUTOM8LABS\MCPConnectorNavisworks. If it is missing, re-run the installer.
• Check that your Navisworks 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 Navisworks 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.

FAQ

Changelog