[Back to Blog](/blog) # ODA MCP Servers: FAQ

Open Design Alliance August 17, 2026 [\#MCP](/blog/tag/mcp) [\#AI](/blog/tag/ai) [\#News](/blog/tag/news) [\#.dwg](/blog/tag/dwg) [\#STEP](/blog/tag/step) [\#ifc](/blog/tag/ifc)

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##### The short version, for people deciding whether this fits.  

###### ODA MCP Servers launch in *September 2026* — here is what they will do and how access works. For why it matters, see the announcement; for what they secure when your data can't leave, see the sovereignty piece.

### The basics

- **What are ODA MCP Servers?**  
    A connection between an AI agent and your engineering files. An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server lets any MCP-capable AI agent **read and reason about a CAD or BIM model directly**, asking it for a quantity, a property, a comparison, instead of being handed the raw file.
- **Does this replace my CAD software?**  
    No. It is an access layer, not an application. It sits under your tools and lets an agent work with the model; you keep authoring where you author now. This is how AI reaches that data.
- **What will they do at launch?**  
    Read and analyse models across all three formats: pull quantities, check properties, compare revisions, answer technical questions. They will also write back, and this varies by format: DWG goes furthest (create and edit entities, boolean operations, save to native .dwg), with lighter authoring in STEP and IFC. The **strongest early results are in mechanical and drawing work**.
- **Which file formats will they read?**  
    **DWG, STEP and IFC** at launch. DGN, Revit and Navisworks are planned to follow.

### Using it

- **Do I need to be a developer to use this?**  
    To ask questions, no: you put them to the agent in **plain language**. To stand a server up and run it in-house, yes, self-hosting takes technical hands and hardware.
- **Does it work with Claude, ChatGPT, or my IDE?**  
    Yes. It speaks the open Model Context Protocol, so **any MCP-capable client works**: Claude Desktop, Claude Code, VS Code, Cursor, ChatGPT-based agents, or your own. It is model-agnostic: run it against whichever language model you choose, local or hosted.
- **Can the agent actually see the model?**  
    Yes. It can take a snapshot of the 3D view at any resolution and set the camera, angle, direction and render mode, before it looks. You can also **mark up the model by hand**, circle a part or drop a pin, and ask about exactly what you marked; your markup is baked into the image the agent sees.
- **What engineering numbers can it work out on its own?**  
    Volume, surface area, centre of mass, mass and bounding box come built in, as single calls on the model's geometry. The math runs in fixed, tested code, so the **numbers are reproducible** rather than the model's best guess.
- **Can it work with several models at once?**  
    Yes. Load STEP, IFC and DWG together, or run a server per format side by side, and the agent treats them as **one surface**. It can match a part across models, for example checking that the part defined in STEP sits where the IFC model says it should.
- **How is this different from just giving the file to ChatGPT?**  
    A raw CAD file can't be read directly by a language model, and a text export is too large to parse reliably. The server works on the model through the same compiled engine that ships inside commercial CAD products, so the **same model returns the same number every time** and your tokens go to reasoning, not decoding.

### Keeping your data in your control

- **Where does it run — does my data leave my network?**  
    You host it yourself, on your own infrastructure. The agent works against your models **inside your own network**, and the data does not leave it. In local mode there is no network path out at all, the setup ITAR, TISAX and MDR environments call for.
- **Can the agent change my files, or only read them?**  
    You decide. Every tool is marked for whether it only reads or can write, file access is whitelisted, and every call is logged, so there is a record of exactly what the agent looked at and touched.

### Building on it

- **Can we build on it, or add our own formats?**  
    Yes: it ships as an **SDK as well as a product**. You can stand up a server for your own format, write your own toolsets on top of the built-in ones, and drop in your own Python analysis scripts for the agent to call. A software vendor can embed it inside their own product.

### Cost, timing, getting started

- **How much do they cost?**  
    **Royalty-free**, and licensed per company rather than per seat: unlimited seats inside the company, with no per-query fee. They come with the Core Package+, included from the Sustaining membership tier up (Sustaining, Founding, Corporate); Commercial-tier members upgrade to reach it. The Extension formats are separate: Revit (BimRv) and Navisworks (BimNv) also need that Extension bought, while DWG, STEP, IFC and DGN need no add-on.
- **When do they launch?**  
    September 2026.
- **Is there a demo I can look at?**  
    At launch, the servers ship embedded inside ODA's reference viewers, Open IFC Viewer and Open STEP Viewer, where you can **open a model and ask questions about what's on screen**. Their source doubles as a working example for embedding the server in your own app.
- **How can I follow the launch?**  
    Access comes with ODA membership at the Sustaining tier or above. Before launch, you can follow updates or talk to us.  

    New to the product? Start with the [announcement](https://www.opendesign.com/blog/2026/august/ask-your-cad-models) and the piece on [keeping your data in your network](https://www.opendesign.com/blog/2026/august/when-your-data-cant-leave-building).

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