{"slug": "reverse-engineered-onshape-for-mcp-server", "title": "Reverse Engineered Onshape for MCP Server", "summary": "An unofficial, reverse-engineered MCP server for Onshape CAD exposes the platform's native editor commands and browser-authenticated REST calls to AI clients such as Codex and Claude Code through a local stdio API, requiring no Onshape API keys. The server is installed via a single command — `uv run --python 3.12 https://raw.githubusercontent.com/godbrigero/onshape-native/main/install.py --client codex` — which downloads the server, creates its Python environment, generates private pairing data on the device and registers the selected client, after which users must manually load an unpacked browser extension and sign in to Onshape. The project's author states complete Onshape API/UI parity is not guaranteed and native commands can change with Onshape releases, and notes the AI client, server and Chromium browser must run on the same computer, with full browser setup tested on macOS only.", "body_md": "An MCP server for AI-assisted CAD in Onshape. It exposes Onshape's native editor commands and browser-authenticated REST calls through a local API, using a small extension connected to your signed-in browser. No Onshape API keys required.\n\nUse it with **Codex, Claude Code, or another client supporting local stdio MCP servers**. Give your agent an Onshape URL or ask it to use the current Onshape tab.\n\nInstall [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/) and your AI client first. Then run this command in Terminal or PowerShell:\n\n```\nuv run --python 3.12 https://raw.githubusercontent.com/godbrigero/onshape-native/main/install.py --client codex\n```\n\nReplace `codex` with `claude`, `both`, or `generic`. Add `--directory \"PATH\"` to choose where the source and extension live. For a local checkout, run `uv run --python 3.12 install.py --client codex` instead.\n\nThe installer downloads the server, creates its Python environment, generates private pairing data on your device, and registers the selected client. `generic` generates a `.mcp.json` entry to import into your client's MCP settings.\n\n**Finish in your browser:** open its extensions page, enable Developer mode, choose **Load unpacked**, and select the extension folder printed by the installer. Sign in to Onshape, then restart your AI client. Browser approval cannot be automated by this installer.\n\nThe AI client, server and Chromium browser must run on the same computer. The installer handles macOS, Linux and Windows paths; full browser setup has been tested on macOS only. See [installation and updates](https://github.com/godbrigero/onshape-native/blob/main/docs/installation.md).\n\n- Discover commands, inspect geometry, and edit sketches, features and assemblies.\n- Traverse and edit tabs, folders and feature trees; inspect mass and materials.\n- Control visibility, camera views and mate motion; capture the viewport.\n- Return compact summaries, with complete saved details available through one tool: `artifact_page` .\n\nIt prefers backend commands and provides UI fallbacks where needed. This is an **unofficial, reverse-engineered integration**: complete Onshape API/UI parity is not guaranteed, and native commands can change with Onshape releases.\n\n```\nuv sync --frozen\nuv run pytest\nuv run python scripts/package.py\n```\n\nGenerated launchers, pairing tokens, caches and environments stay local and are excluded from source control and release ZIPs. [Response formats](https://github.com/godbrigero/onshape-native/blob/main/docs/response-compression.md) · [Measured token savings](https://github.com/godbrigero/onshape-native/blob/main/docs/token-audit/compression/README.md) · [Modeling skill](https://github.com/godbrigero/onshape-native/blob/main/skills/onshape-native-modeling/SKILL.md)", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/reverse-engineered-onshape-for-mcp-server", "canonical_source": "https://github.com/godbrigero/onshape-native", "published_at": "2026-10-23 01:58:15+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-10-23 02:10:43.490294+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-agents", "agent-protocols", "ai-tools", "developer-tools"], "entities": ["Onshape", "Codex", "Claude Code", "MCP", "uv", "godbrigero"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/reverse-engineered-onshape-for-mcp-server", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/reverse-engineered-onshape-for-mcp-server.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/reverse-engineered-onshape-for-mcp-server.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/reverse-engineered-onshape-for-mcp-server.jsonld"}}