Drive Onshape CAD from an AI assistant. 87 tools for documents, part studios, sketching, solid features, assemblies, drawings, measurement and export — and no setup beyond installing it: the first tool call that needs Onshape opens a browser and asks you to connect.

"Make a 60 × 40 × 10 mm bracket with 4 mm mounting holes and 2 mm fillets, then show me a render"

The assistant sketches it, extrudes it, fillets the edges, measures the result, renders it back into the conversation, and exports an STL you can print.

Install

Claude Code

claude mcp add onshape -- npx -y @gpambrozio/onshape-mcp

Claude Desktop — download onshape-mcp-<version>.mcpb from the latest release and double-click it. Nothing else to install.

Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Zed and other MCP clients — add the server to the client's MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "onshape": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@gpambrozio/onshape-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

The file differs per client: ~/.cursor/mcp.json (Cursor), .vscode/mcp.json (VS Code), ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json (Windsurf), ~/.config/zed/settings.json under context_servers (Zed).

Node 20 or newer is required. npx fetches the package on first run.

Signing in

Nothing to configure. The first tool call that needs Onshape starts a sign-in and asks your client to show you the link; clients that support MCP's URL elicitation render it as a prompt, and the rest get the URL in the reply. The page that opens links straight to the key page for your Onshape stack and takes the pasted pair; tick Read, Write and Delete when you create the key so every tool here works. Keys are verified against Onshape, then stored in your OS keychain.

Your credentials never pass through the assistant, the model or this project's authors — the exchange happens between your browser and a server bound to 127.0.0.1 in this process, which is exactly why MCP has URL elicitation.

Other ways in, if you prefer:

onshape_login — start the same flow deliberately.
onshape_set_api_key — paste a key pair you already have.
OAuth 2.0 — onshape_login with method: "oauth", for an app you registered at the Onshape developer portal with redirect URL http://localhost:8471/oauth/callback. Tokens refresh automatically.
Environment variables — set ONSHAPE_ACCESS_KEY and ONSHAPE_SECRET_KEY for unattended installs, and ONSHAPE_MCP_AUTO_LOGIN=0 to stop the server ever opening a browser.

An existing onshape-cli credential at ~/.onshape/credentials.json is picked up automatically.

onshape_auth_status shows what is in use (redacted); onshape_logout forgets it.

Tools

Area	Tools
Sign-in	`login`, `login_status`, `set_api_key`, `auth_status`, `logout`
Documents	`list_documents`, `search_documents`, `get_document`, `get_document_summary`, `create_document`, `update_document`, `delete_document`, `get_workspaces`, `get_elements`, `find_part_studios`, `list_versions`, `create_version`, `delete_element`
Part studios	`create_part_studio`, `get_features`, `get_feature_specs`, `get_sketch_info`, `get_body_details`, `get_parts`, `mass_properties`, `measure`, `validate_part_studio`, `add_feature`, `update_feature`, `delete_feature`, `rollback`, `eval_featurescript`
Sketching	`sketch_rectangle`, `sketch_circle`, `sketch_line`, `sketch_circle_axis`, `create_sketch`, `sketch_candy_cane_path`
Solids	`extrude`, `hole`, `thicken`, `revolve`, `sweep`, `fillet`, `chamfer`, `shell`, `draft`, `boolean`, `boolean_union`, `mirror`, `linear_pattern`, `circular_pattern`, `offset_plane`
Geometry	`get_edges`, `find_circular_edges`, `find_edges_by_feature`
Variables	`get_variables`, `set_variable`, `get_configuration`, `encode_configuration`
Export	`export_stl`, `export`, `shaded_view`, `get_thumbnail`, `thumbnail_info`
Assemblies	`create_assembly`, `get_assembly`, `insert_instance`, `delete_instance`, `transform_instance`, `get_assembly_features`, `assembly_mate_connector`, `assembly_mate`, `assembly_group`, `assembly_add_feature`, `get_bom`, `assembly_mass_properties`
Drawings	`create_drawing`, `get_drawing_views`, `export_drawing`
Feature studios	`create_feature_studio`, `get_feature_studio`, `set_feature_studio`, `get_feature_studio_specs`
Metadata	`get_metadata`, `set_metadata`
Escape hatch	`request`

All names are prefixed onshape_, and every tool returns {"ok": true, "result": …} or {"ok": false, "error": …, "detail": …}.

Worth knowing:

Units are inches and degrees throughout.
Feature tools validate by default. Onshape answers 200 for a feature that fails to regenerate, so each tool re-reads the feature state and fails loudly instead. Pass validate: false to skip it.
Renders come back as images. shaded_view and get_thumbnail return the PNG inline as well as writing it, so the model can see the part.
Big reads spill to disk. Anything over ONSHAPE_MCP_MAX_RESPONSE_BYTES (default 200 kB) is written to a file and summarised, keeping a feature tree from swallowing the context window.
onshape_request reaches any REST endpoint the dedicated tools miss.

Configuration

Every setting is optional.

Variable	Effect
`ONSHAPE_ACCESS_KEY`, `ONSHAPE_SECRET_KEY`	Use this key pair instead of signing in
`ONSHAPE_BASE_URL`	Onshape API host (default `https://cad.onshape.com`)
`ONSHAPE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID`, `ONSHAPE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET`	OAuth app to sign in with, instead of an API key
`ONSHAPE_MCP_AUTO_LOGIN`	`0` stops tool calls from starting a browser sign-in
`ONSHAPE_MCP_NO_BROWSER`	`1` never launches a browser; the URL is reported instead
`ONSHAPE_MCP_SIGNIN_WAIT_MS`	How long a call waits for sign-in (default 120000)
`ONSHAPE_DOC`, `ONSHAPE_WS`, `ONSHAPE_ELEM`	Default target; these arguments become optional when set
`ONSHAPE_MCP_OUTPUT_DIR`	Where relative export paths land (default: working directory)
`ONSHAPE_MCP_MAX_RESPONSE_BYTES`	Response size before spilling to a file (default 200000)
`ONSHAPE_MCP_CONFIG`	Credential file path (default `~/.onshape-mcp/credentials.json`)
`ONSHAPE_TIMEOUT_MS`	Per-request timeout (default 120000)

Secrets go to the OS keychain (service onshape-mcp) when one is available, and the config file then holds only non-secret metadata. Without a keychain the file holds the secret and is written 0600 inside a 0700 directory.

Onshape account limits

These come from Onshape, not from this server:

Free accounts can only create public documents — pass public: true to onshape_create_document.
Deleting needs a key with delete permission. Without it Onshape answers 403 Invalid API key state; re-create the key at cad.onshape.com/user/developer/apiKeys with Delete ticked.
The variable-table endpoint 404s on some accounts. onshape_set_variable and onshape_get_variables fall back to assignVariable features, which work everywhere; result.route / result.source says which path was taken.

Development

npm install
npm run check     # type-check
npm test          # unit tests, no network and no browser
npm run build
npm run bundle    # build the Claude Desktop .mcpb

node scripts/smoke.mjs           # live read-only check against your account
node scripts/smoke.mjs --write   # also builds a throwaway part

Layout: src/auth (credential store, keychain, login flows, OAuth, elicitation), src/api (REST wrappers), src/builders (Onshape BTM feature payloads), src/tools (the MCP surface), src/server.ts (registration and the auth gate).

Contributions welcome — see CONTRIBUTING.md. Security reports: SECURITY.md.