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AutoCAD 2027 MCP Server: fix and setup for AI agents (Claude, Cursor)

A developer documented three fixes needed to make the MCP server bundled with AutoCAD 2027 (build 26.0.460.2523) work with AI agent clients such as Claude and Cursor. The server fails out of the box because ModelContextProtocol.AspNetCore.dll is missing from the plugin folder, the HTTP server is disabled by default, and the plugin is not loaded at startup, leaving MCPCONFIG and MCPHTTPSTART unrecognized until NETLOAD is run. After copying the matching NuGet package DLL into the plugin's Contents folder and setting the ACMCP_TOOLS_CONFIG_FILE environment variable with a nested toolsConfiguration file enabling the HTTP server, the server listens on http://localhost:5001/mcp over Streamable HTTP.

by read4 min views26 publishedOct 8, 2026

TL;DR. The MCP server bundled with AutoCAD 2027 (offered by the installer as "Autodesk AutoCAD MCP Server") does not work out of the box in build 26.0.460.2523:

  1. ModelContextProtocol.AspNetCore.dll is missing from the plugin folder →MCPHTTPSTART throwsFileNotFoundException .
  2. The HTTP server is disabled by default (enableHttpServer: false ).
  3. The plugin is not loaded at startup → commands MCPCONFIG /MCPHTTPSTART are "unknown" until youNETLOAD it.

After the fixes below, the server listens on http://localhost:5001/mcp (Streamable HTTP) and works with any MCP client.

Tested on Windows 11, AutoCAD 2027 (26.0.460.2523), Russian UI.

  • The server is a .NET plugin running inside acad.exe ; it only works while AutoCAD is open.
  • Plugin folder: C:\Program Files\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\AutoCAD-MCP-Server-2027.bundle\Contents\
  • AutoCAD commands: MCPCONFIG (Show / Modify / Write / Load / Reset),MCPHTTPSTART ,MCPHTTPSTOP .
  • Endpoint: http://localhost:<port>/mcp , the first free port in a range (usually5001 ).
  • Server name autodesk-autocad-mcp-server . Tools includequeryAutoCADObjects ,discoverAutoCADTypes ,aggregateAutoCADObjects ,checkAutoCADObjects ,manipulateDrawingCanvas .

Symptom when running MCPHTTPSTART:

System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly
'ModelContextProtocol.AspNetCore, Version=0.4.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=cc7b13ffcd2ddd51'
   at Autodesk.AutoCAD.Mcp.Http.HttpMcpServer.StartServer()

ASP.NET Core 10 itself is already referenced by AutoCAD (acdbmgd.runtimeconfig.json lists Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 10.0.0); only the MCP SDK's ASP.NET Core package is missing.

  1. Find the exact SDK version shipped with the plugin (2027: 0.4.0-preview.3 ):
(Get-Item "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\AutoCAD-MCP-Server-2027.bundle\Contents\ModelContextProtocol.Core.dll").VersionInfo.ProductVersion
  1. Download the same version of the official package from NuGet (ModelContextProtocol.AspNetCore 0.4.0-preview.3 ) into an empty folder and unzip it:
Invoke-WebRequest https://www.nuget.org/api/v2/package/ModelContextProtocol.AspNetCore/0.4.0-preview.3 -OutFile pkg.zip
Expand-Archive pkg.zip x
  1. Verify x\lib\net10.0\ModelContextProtocol.AspNetCore.dll :[Reflection.AssemblyName]::GetAssemblyName("<path>").FullName must showVersion=0.4.0.0, PublicKeyToken=cc7b13ffcd2ddd51 , and its ProductVersion must have the same commit hash asModelContextProtocol.Core.dll . (The NuGet DLL has no Authenticode signature; Autodesk re-signs its copies. This is expected.)
  2. Copy it into the plugin's Contents folder (requires admin):
Copy-Item x\lib\net10.0\ModelContextProtocol.AspNetCore.dll "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\AutoCAD-MCP-Server-2027.bundle\Contents\"

An AutoCAD update may remove the file or change the SDK version; repeat this step if the error comes back.

The config file path comes from the environment variable ACMCP_TOOLS_CONFIG_FILE. Without it, MCPCONFIG Write/Load refuse to work.

  1. Set the variable, then restart AutoCAD :
setx ACMCP_TOOLS_CONFIG_FILE "%APPDATA%\Autodesk\acmcp-config.json"
  1. Write the file in exactly this format (nested toolsConfiguration , camelCase). A flat or PascalCase file is silently ignored byLoad :
{
  "toolsConfiguration": {
    "enabledTools": [],
    "disabledTools": [],
    "enableAllToolsByDefault": true,
    "enableExperimentalFeatures": false,
    "enableDebugLogging": false,
    "enableHttpServer": true,
    "jsonCompression": {
      "enableObjectDeduplication": false,
      "maxPropertyCountForObjectDeduplication": 4,
      "minOccurrenceForObjectDeduplication": 2,
      "enableStringDeduplication": false,
      "enableArrayCompression": true,
      "enabled": true,
      "arrayCompressionMinSize": 3,
      "arrayCompressionMaxSparsity": 0.5,
      "arrayCompressionMinSimilarity": 0.7
    }
  }
}

MCPCONFIG → Show prints the current JSON; Write saves it to the file. Use either as the reference format.

In the AutoCAD command line (not PowerShell):

  1. NETLOAD →C:\Program Files\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\AutoCAD-MCP-Server-2027.bundle\Contents\acmcp.dll
  2. MCPCONFIG →Load →Configuration imported successfully from: ...
  3. MCPHTTPSTART →AutoCAD MCP Server is ... running on http://localhost:5001/mcp

Automated via COM. Run it in Windows PowerShell 5.1 (powershell.exe), because PowerShell 7 has no Marshal.GetActiveObject. Pass all prompt answers in a single SendCommand string, otherwise the COM call blocks at the first prompt.

function Retry([scriptblock]$b) {
    for ($k = 0; $k -lt 60; $k++) { try { return & $b } catch { Start-Sleep 1 } }
    throw "AutoCAD not ready"
}
$ac = Retry { [Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::GetActiveObject("AutoCAD.Application") }
if ((Retry { $ac.Documents.Count }) -eq 0) { [void](Retry { $ac.Documents.Add() }); Start-Sleep 3 }
$d = Retry { $ac.ActiveDocument }
$dll = "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\AutoCAD-MCP-Server-2027.bundle\Contents\acmcp.dll"
Retry { $d.SendCommand("(setvar `"FILEDIA`" 0)` n_NETLOAD`n`"$dll`"` n(setvar `"FILEDIA`" 1)` n_MCPCONFIG`n_Load` n_MCPHTTPSTART`n") }

Check that the port is open: Get-NetTCPConnection -State Listen -OwningProcess (Get-Process acad).Id.

Claude Code (.mcp.json in the project root). Any client that supports Streamable HTTP can use the same URL:

{ "mcpServers": { "autocad": { "type": "http", "url": "http://localhost:5001/mcp" } } }

Smoke test without a client. The response must contain "name":"autodesk-autocad-mcp-server":

Invoke-WebRequest http://localhost:5001/mcp -Method Post -ContentType application/json `
  -Headers @{Accept='application/json, text/event-stream'} `
  -Body '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2025-06-18","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"probe","version":"1"}}}'
Symptom Cause Fix
MCPCONFIG: The term ... is not recognized Typed in PowerShell Type it in the AutoCAD command line
Unknown command "MCPCONFIG" Plugin not loaded NETLOAD acmcp.dll (step 3)
NETLOAD succeeds silently but commands are still unknown AutoCAD already loaded the DLL itself (built-in assistant) without registering commands Restart AutoCAD and NETLOAD right away
FileNotFoundException ... ModelContextProtocol.AspNetCore Missing DLL Step 1
MCPHTTPSTART prints nothing, no port opens enableHttpServer isfalse Step 2, then MCPCONFIG →Load
Load succeeded butShow still saysfalse Flat or PascalCase JSON Use the format from step 2
(getenv "ACMCP_TOOLS_CONFIG_FILE") returnsnil AutoCAD was started before setx Restart AutoCAD
COM: Documents.Count = 0 ,ActiveDocument is null Only the Start tab is open Documents.Add() , wait 2–3 s
COM: RPC_E_CALL_REJECTED AutoCAD is busy or waiting at a prompt Retry; cancel the stuck prompt with Esc
SendKeys types Cyrillic letters Non-English keyboard layout Use COM SendCommand instead
Command line not visible Hidden Ctrl+9
Error returns after an AutoCAD update DLL removed or SDK version changed Repeat step 1 with the new version

Keywords: AutoCAD 2027 MCP, Model Context Protocol, acmcp.dll, MCPHTTPSTART, MCPCONFIG, ACMCP_TOOLS_CONFIG_FILE, ModelContextProtocol.AspNetCore FileNotFoundException, Claude Code AutoCAD.

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