MCP Connector for AutoCAD

What it does

An AutoCAD add-in that lets your existing AI assistant read and edit the drawing that is open on the user's machine and, through its folder tools, other drawings on disk. You bring your own AI subscription. Supported on AutoCAD 2022 to 2027.

How edits are controlled

The connector carries out calls from programs running under the same Windows account, normally your AI client. Whether you approve each call is set in the AI client. The connector does not require a separate confirmation for every edit.

The free tier cannot add, change or delete drawing content. Its tools query and report on the drawing and can move the view. Measuring an area by picking a point switches layout and zoom briefly, then restores them, and dismisses any AutoCAD warning raised while it does so.

Tools that change the open drawing run as AutoCAD commands, so each tool call is a single step in the AutoCAD undo history and can be reversed with UNDO. A few drive a standard command such as FILLET, which runs just after the call returns and is undone the same way. A call that fails part-way can leave the changes it had already made. UNDO reverses the whole call, including a batch.

Folder tools are the exception. They work on drawing files on disk rather than on the open document, so they sit outside the undo history and outside AutoCAD's drawing lock. Folder tools that change drawings default to a dry run that reports what would change, and write only when told to. Without an output folder they save over the originals, and AutoCAD keeps a .bak copy. Copying entities into another named drawing saves that drawing straight away.

The connector never saves, closes or overwrites a drawing on its own. Drawings are written only by tools whose purpose is to save, copy into or process drawing files. Referenced drawings are never written: xref tools edit only the host drawing.

Command and script execution

Raw AutoCAD command and AutoLISP tools are disabled by default. Enabling them requires explicit configuration and Pro. They run with the capabilities of commands and scripts under the user's Windows account; they are not sandboxed.

Where model data goes

Tool results go to the AI application you connect. If it uses a cloud AI provider, project information is processed under your account settings and agreement with that provider. A local AI setup can keep inference on your own computer or server. Running the connector locally does not, by itself, make the AI processing local.

The add-in runs inside AutoCAD on the workstation. The component that talks to your AI client makes no outbound network connections of its own.

Project files and outputs

The connector does not send model content or tool results to AUTOM8LABS. Your AI application controls what it sends to its provider. Files, images and reports requested through tools can contain project information and can be written to locations available to your Windows account, including network shares.

What AUTOM8LABS receives

The machine identifier is a SHA-256 hash of hardware identifiers, or of the machine and account names where Windows cannot supply them. The underlying values never leave the machine.

What is stored

On the workstation

• No listening port. The add-in communicates with your AI client over a Windows named pipe, not a network socket.
• Access restricted to the same Windows user. The pipe is scoped to the account AutoCAD is running under, and no other account on the machine can open it. Any program running under that account can use it. A pipe that cannot be scoped that way is never created.
• No log file by default. Diagnostics are off unless a user sets an environment variable for troubleshooting and restarts AutoCAD. When enabled, the log records start-up, licence and AI app setup events, and tool warnings that can name layers or layouts. Files are kept for 30 days and never leave the machine.
• Stored credentials are encrypted. The licence cache is protected with Windows DPAPI at machine scope, so a copy taken to another computer cannot be read. A key placed by IT for pre-deployment stays unencrypted until it is first validated.
• Adds itself to AI apps. Setup adds the connector to the MCP settings of AI apps it finds on the machine. The Connect switch in AutoCAD adds or removes it for all supported apps, including Codex inside WSL, which it reaches by running wsl.exe. Each time AutoCAD starts, the add-in repairs its own entry if the connector has moved, and changes nothing else in those files.
• No elevated privileges are required at runtime. Installation needs administrator rights once.

Administrator controls

With Pro, an administrator can block tools by name or permit only an approved list. These restrictions apply when tools are listed and when a call is executed, including calls inside a batch. They restrict the licensed tools; they do not grant additional access. The controls are off unless configured.

Policies can be assigned by computer or by user through Group Policy or Intune using the supplied template. Where policies overlap, the stricter tool restrictions apply. An administrator can also force Read-Only Session; the user cannot turn that lock off in the connection dialog.

Read-Only Session restricts the connector to its free inspection and navigation tools, even when a Pro licence is active. It is enforced inside the host, as well as in the list shown to the AI.

Optional audit log

The optional Pro audit log is off by default. When an administrator enables it, the connector records tool calls, including refusals and batch steps. Records contain the Windows user and computer, host version, project name or path, AI app name, tool, outcome, duration and shortened arguments and error text. These fields can contain project information. Tool results are not copied into the audit log.

An administrator can also request a short reason from the AI for each call. This is the AI's account of the request, not a copy of the user's chat. Logs are written locally and can be copied to an administrator-selected folder or network share. Local audit files are retained for 90 days; retention and access at the destination are controlled by your organisation. AUTOM8LABS does not receive them.

Audit recording is best effort. A failed write or unavailable share does not block the tool, so the log is not a guaranteed or tamper-proof record.

Supply chain

All third-party .NET components are widely used libraries from the official NuGet ecosystem. Every component declares a licence. All are MIT except one, which is Apache-2.0. There are no copyleft licences in the shipped product.

The component that talks to your AI client is a self-contained executable built on a pinned Node.js runtime. Its own dependency set is MIT, ISC or BSD licensed, again with no copyleft.

Dependency inventories cover the plug-in and its AI connection component, including the bundled runtime. CycloneDX SBOMs are available on request for this release. Release package checks on 12 October 2026 reported no known vulnerabilities in the dependencies checked. This is a dated check, not a guarantee against vulnerabilities discovered later.

SBOMs are available on request from [email protected].

Assurance

Every AUTOM8LABS binary and the installer are code-signed as AUTOM8LABS LTD through Azure Trusted Signing. Third-party libraries ship as their publishers release them.

See the Trust Center for the full assurance position and the sub-processor list.