FreeCAD MCP server

FreeCAD MCP is a server that enables seamless control of FreeCAD directly from Claude Desktop. This integration allows for powerful CAD modeling through natural language commands, letting you design 3D models by simply describing what you want to create.

Installation

Installing the FreeCAD Addon

First, you need to install the FreeCAD MCP addon to your FreeCAD installation:

1. Clone the repository and copy the addon files to your FreeCAD Mod directory:

git clone https://github.com/neka-nat/freecad-mcp.git
cd freecad-mcp

2. Copy the addon files to the appropriate directory based on your operating system:

• Windows: Copy to %APPDATA%\FreeCAD\Mod\
• Mac: Copy to ~/Library/Application Support/FreeCAD/Mod/
• Linux:
  • Ubuntu: Copy to ~/.FreeCAD/Mod/ or ~/snap/freecad/common/Mod/ (if installed via snap)
  • Debian: Copy to ~/.local/share/FreeCAD/Mod

For example, on Linux (Ubuntu):

cp -r addon/FreeCADMCP ~/.FreeCAD/Mod/

3. Restart FreeCAD after installing the addon.

4. Select "MCP Addon" from the Workbench list to use it.

5. Start the RPC server by clicking on "Start RPC Server" in the "FreeCAD MCP" toolbar.

Setting Up Claude Desktop

Edit your claude_desktop_config.json file to include the FreeCAD MCP server configuration:

Standard Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "freecad": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "freecad-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Text-Only Feedback (Saves Token Usage)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "freecad": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "freecad-mcp",
        "--only-text-feedback"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Developer Configuration

If you're developing the MCP server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "freecad": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/path/to/freecad-mcp/",
        "run",
        "freecad-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Usage

Once installed and configured, you can use Claude Desktop to control FreeCAD using the following tools:

Available Tools

• create_document: Create a new document in FreeCAD
• create_object: Create a new object in FreeCAD
• edit_object: Edit an object in FreeCAD
• delete_object: Delete an object in FreeCAD
• execute_code: Execute arbitrary Python code in FreeCAD
• insert_part_from_library: Insert a part from the parts library
• get_view: Get a screenshot of the active view
• get_objects: Get all objects in a document
• get_object: Get an object in a document
• get_parts_list: Get the list of parts in the parts library

Example Workflows

You can use Claude Desktop to:

1. Design 3D models by describing them in natural language
2. Create and modify objects with precise specifications
3. Generate parts from 2D drawings
4. Insert and customize parts from the FreeCAD library
5. Execute Python code for complex operations

Simply start a conversation with Claude and describe what you want to design or modify in FreeCAD. Claude will use the appropriate tools to execute your requests in the FreeCAD application.

How to add this MCP server to Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > MCP and click "Add new global MCP server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "cursor-rules-mcp": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "cursor-rules-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explictly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.