SolidWorks CAD Assistant & MCP Server

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Python MCP server for SolidWorks automation with 109 tools, plus an optional agent/prompt-testing layer for AI-assisted workflows.

Overview

⚠️ Project Status: This project is under active construction. Features, APIs, documentation, and setup steps may change as the Python and UI implementation is finalized. This is a hobby/research product, please feel free to make an issue if you have questions or feedback! ⚠️

This project focuses on practical SolidWorks automation with an AI-friendly loop:

1. describe intent
2. generate a plan
3. execute MCP tools
4. inspect results
5. iterate

It includes:

• core MCP runtime for SolidWorks tool execution
• COM/VBA routing and adapter safety wrappers
• tool coverage across modeling, sketching, drawing, analysis, export, automation, templates, and macros
• optional agent orchestration/testing utilities under src/solidworks_mcp/agents/

Supported Today

• Windows + SolidWorks COM automation for the main CAD lifecycle.
• Modeling, sketching, drawing, analysis, export, automation, templates, and macro tools.
• Prefab UI preview sync from the active viewport as PNG.

Not Yet / Simulated

• Mock adapter output is simulated and should not be treated as engineering truth.
• Live 3D viewport streaming in the UI.
• Checkpoint-level interference validation in the UI runner.

What Works (Verified Windows Setup)

This is the setup path validated end-to-end:

1. Install Python from python.org (Windows installer).
2. Enable Add python.exe to PATH during install.
3. Install this project into a local .venv.
4. Launch MCP from .venv\Scripts\python.exe (not from WSL).

When this is correct, startup logs show:

• Platform: Windows
• SolidWorks COM interface is available
• Registered ... SolidWorks tools (count varies as tools evolve)
• Connected to SolidWorks

Requirements

• Windows 10/11 for real SolidWorks COM automation.
• Python 3.13+ from python.org.
• Git.
• SolidWorks installed and launched at least once.

Linux/WSL is useful for docs/tests/mock mode, but not for direct COM automation.

Quick Start (Windows, python.org)

git clone https://github.com/andrewbartels1/SolidworksMCP-python.git
cd SolidworksMCP-python

python -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel
.\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pip install -e .

Start server manually:

.\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m solidworks_mcp.server

Or use the helper script (open SolidWorks first):

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\run-mcp.ps1 --real --year 2026

Mock mode warning — running run-mcp.ps1 without --real starts the server in mock mode. All tool responses are simulated; nothing touches SolidWorks. Always pass --real --year for live automation.

Development Commands

Use the helper script for common workflows:

.\dev-commands.ps1

Common commands:

• dev-install - install/update local dev environment
• dev-test - run standard test suite (CI-safe subset)
• dev-test-full - run full test suite (includes smoke/integration paths)
• dev-lint - lint checks
• dev-format - format code
• dev-docs-build - build docs site once
• dev-docs-strict - strict docs build (fails on warnings)
• dev-docs-audit - generate docs audit report in .generated/docs

Local CI Replica (Docker)

To mirror GitHub Actions CI locally (Ubuntu + conda env from solidworks_mcp.yml + make test), run:

.\run-ci-local.ps1

The first run builds the image. Re-run without rebuild when only executing tests:

.\run-ci-local.ps1 -NoBuild

VS Code MCP Configuration (Windows)

Set your user MCP config (%APPDATA%\Code\User\mcp.json) to:

{
  "servers": {
    "solidworks-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "powershell",
      "args": [
        "-NoProfile",
        "-ExecutionPolicy",
        "Bypass",
        "-File",
        "C:\\path\\to\\SolidworksMCP-python\\run-mcp.ps1",
        "--real",
        "--year",
        "2026"
      ]
  },
  "inputs": []
}

Replace the script path with your local repository path. The --real --year 2026 flags start the server in live COM automation mode (requires SolidWorks open). Omit them for mock mode.

LM Studio MCP Configuration (Windows)

Set your LM Studio MCP config file to include this server (LM Studio expects mcpServers):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "solidworks-mcp-server": {
      "command": "powershell",
      "args": [
        "-NoProfile",
        "-ExecutionPolicy",
        "Bypass",
        "-File",
        "C:\\path\\to\\SolidworksMCP-python\\run-mcp.ps1"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Alternative direct-python entry:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "solidworks-mcp-server": {
      "command": "C:\\path\\to\\SolidworksMCP-python\\.venv\\Scripts\\python.exe",
      "args": ["-m", "solidworks_mcp.server"]
    }
  }
}

After saving, restart LM Studio so it reloads MCP servers.

Common Windows Fixes

If python is not found:

python --version

If this opens Microsoft Store or fails, reinstall Python from python.org and enable PATH.

If startup fails with ModuleNotFoundError: solidworks_mcp:

.\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pip install -e .

If startup fails with ModuleNotFoundError: fastmcp:

.\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pip install -e .

Docs

• Main docs site:
• Home/overview: docs/index.md

Key docs sections:

• Getting Started: docs/getting-started
• MCP Server Guide: docs/user-guide
• Tool Catalog: docs/user-guide/tool-catalog
• Agents and Skills: docs/agents
• Planning/Roadmap: docs/planning

Direct links:

• Installation
• Quick Start
• Tutorial: U-Joint Assembly Build
• Tutorial Tracks
• Prefab UI Dashboard
• VS Code MCP Setup
• Architecture
• Agents and Prompt Testing
• PydanticAI and Schemas

License

MIT License. See LICENSE.