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Contributing to Bimwright Inventor MCP

Thanks for your interest. Bimwright Inventor MCP is an open-source (Apache-2.0) MCP gateway for Autodesk Inventor 2022–2027. Open an issue before a large PR so we can agree on scope.

Dev setup

Prereqs

  • Windows 10/11 (Autodesk Inventor is Windows-only).
  • .NET 8 SDK — required for the server, tests, and the 2025/2026 add-ins.
  • .NET Framework 4.8 Developer Pack — required to compile the net48 add-ins (2022–2024).
  • .NET 10 SDK — required to compile the 2027 add-in (net10.0-windows7.0), even for a shape-only check.
  • Visual Studio 2022+ or JetBrains Rider.
  • One or more Autodesk Inventor installations (2022–2027) for add-in compile and runtime testing.

To compile and run the server + tests only, no Inventor installation is required — the server has no Inventor reference and compiles only the API-agnostic shared source.

Clone + build

git clone https://github.com/bimwright/ipt-mcp.git
cd ipt-mcp

# Server + tests (no Inventor required):
dotnet build src/IptMcp.sln -c Debug
dotnet test  tests/Bimwright.Ipt.Tests -c Debug

# Add-in project SHAPE check without Inventor installed:
dotnet build src/plugin-inv24 -c Debug /p:SkipInventorReferenceCheck=true
dotnet build src/plugin-inv27 -c Debug /p:SkipInventorReferenceCheck=true   # needs the .NET 10 SDK

Real add-in compile (on a box with Inventor + the matching SDK): drop SkipInventorReferenceCheck and pass /p:InventorInteropDir=... if the interop is not at the default path (C:\Program Files\Common Files\Autodesk Shared\Extensions <year>\Framework\Interop).

Close every running Inventor before deploying add-in DLLs — Inventor holds file locks on loaded add-ins. The per-user bundle deploys to %APPDATA%\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\Bimwright.Ipt.bundle\.

Autodesk Inventor binaries and SDK/interop DLLs are not redistributed by this repo. Building the add-ins requires a local Inventor installation, the matching interop assemblies, or explicit MSBuild reference-path properties.

Project layout

See ARCHITECTURE.md for the conceptual model. Quick reference:

Path What lives here
src/server/ MCP server, tool registration, stdio entry points; no Inventor reference
src/server/Tools/ [McpServerToolType] classes, one per toolset/domain
src/shared/Contracts/ API-agnostic envelope/result/error/descriptor + response guard
src/shared/Infrastructure/ CommandDispatcher, IInventorCommand, InventorCommandContext
src/shared/Transport/ ITransportServer, TCP + Named-Pipe NDJSON transports, descriptor writer
src/shared/Plugin/ InventorAddInServer, InventorStaDispatcher, partial command registry
src/shared/Handlers/ one file per wire command (the Inventor API implementation)
src/shared/Security/ SecretMasker, ErrorSanitizer
src/shared/ToolBaker/ Roslyn-based self-evolution engine + safety policy
src/plugin-inv22..24/ net48 add-in shells (TCP transport)
src/plugin-inv25..27/ net8 / net10 add-in shells (Named Pipe transport)
tests/Bimwright.Ipt.Tests/ xUnit tests (pure .NET 8, no Inventor API)

Adding a new MCP tool

  1. Write the handler in src/shared/Handlers/<Domain>/<Verb><Noun>Handler.cs implementing IInventorCommand (Name, IsReadOnly, Execute). Cast ctx.Application to Inventor.Application; never call the ROT / GetActiveObject. Return DTOs (anonymous objects or JObject) — never serialize Inventor API objects. Convert mm↔cm via src/shared/Handlers/UnitConvert.cs (Inventor's internal length unit is centimetres).
  2. Register it in the matching partial registrar src/shared/Plugin/InventorCommandRegistry.<Domain>.cs (add(new YourHandler());).
  3. Add an [McpServerTool(Name = "inventor_<wire>")] method on the owning toolset class under src/server/Tools/. The wire command sent to the add-in is the snake_case name minus the inventor_ prefix.
  4. Cover non-trivial logic with an xUnit test, including the registration/read-only snapshot.
  5. Smoke test in at least one Inventor version before the PR (see docs/testing/manual-smoke.md).

Coding style

  • Match the surrounding code; existing handlers are the authoritative reference.
  • DTOs are anonymous objects or JObjects with lowercase JSON property names.
  • Comments explain why, not what.
  • Server tool registration lives once in Program.cs; add-in handler registration uses the per-domain partial registrars so no shared Build() list is edited concurrently.

Commit + PR

  • One logical change per commit. Commit messages start with a short scope prefix (e.g. handlers:, transport:, docs:).
  • Open a PR against main. CI (server-only build + tests) must be green.
  • Include a "Tested with" line: which Inventor year(s) you smoke-tested, if any.

Code of Conduct

Be kind. Assume good faith. See CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md (Contributor Covenant v2.1).