bim-cli

bim-cli Claude Code Plugin

Claude Code plugin manifest for bim-cli -- headless Revit export, PDF batch export, flood/site data lookup, and offline AEC tasks. Runs from your AI assistant without Revit or any desktop app open.

Windows-only. bim-cli is a Windows-only CLI. This plugin requires a Windows machine with bim-cli installed.

What this plugin does

Exposes all installed bim-cli verbs as MCP tools in Claude Code. Each tool maps to a bim <format> <verb> command running locally on your machine. Example tools:

• bim_pdf_text -- extract text from a PDF without opening it
• bim_pdf_stamp -- apply a Bates stamp or watermark to PDF pages
• bim_pdf_split, bim_pdf_merge -- split or combine PDF files
• bim_site_flood_lookup -- flood zone lookup by address or coordinates
• bim_blender_convert -- convert IFC/FBX/glTF headlessly

The tool list is generated dynamically from bim describe --json -- adding a new bim-cli driver or verb makes it available automatically.

About this plugin repo

This repository contains only manifest files (JSON and Markdown), plus one stdlib Python maintenance script (scripts/check_skills.py) that the plugin never runs. It contains:

• No executable code in the plugin itself
• No telemetry of its own
• No secrets or credentials
• No network calls

All execution is local: the plugin simply tells Claude Code how to launch the already-installed bim binary as a local stdio MCP server (bim mcp). Nothing runs in the cloud.

Setup

1. Install bim-cli (Windows, run in PowerShell):

    iwr -useb https://bimcli.com/install.ps1 -OutFile $env:TEMP\bim-install.ps1; powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File $env:TEMP\bim-install.ps1

   Verify: bim describe --json should list installed drivers.

2. Add this plugin to Claude Code via the Claude Code plugin directory, or manually add the following to your .mcp.json in your project root (or via Claude Code settings):

    {
      "mcpServers": {
        "bim": {
          "type": "stdio",
          "command": "bim",
          "args": ["mcp"]
        }
      }
    }

3. Restart Claude Code. Verify with bim doctor that installed drivers are healthy.

Agent skill (Hermes, Claude Code, and other Agent Skills hosts)

skills/bim-cli/ is an Agent Skills skill that teaches an agent how to drive bim from the terminal: discovery with bim describe, output and error conventions, and working notes for the PDF and Revit drivers. Claude Code loads it automatically with this plugin.

Hermes Agent:

hermes skills tap add HelloHowAreYouHaveANiceDay/bim-cli-plugin
hermes skills install HelloHowAreYouHaveANiceDay/bim-cli-plugin/skills/bim-cli

The skill is Windows-only (platforms: [windows]) and expects bim-cli on PATH. It never runs the installer itself; it hands the PowerShell one-liner to the user.

It is also served from bimcli.com as an Agent Skills well-known endpoint: https://bimcli.com/.well-known/skills/index.json (proxied live from skills/ on main).

hermes skills install well-known:https://bimcli.com/.well-known/skills/bim-cli

Changing a skill

1. Edit skills/<name>/, bump version: in its frontmatter.
2. python scripts/check_skills.py regenerates skills/index.json (the well-known index).
3. python scripts/check_skills.py --check --scan <hermes-agent checkout> must pass: Hermes only installs community skills that its scanner rates SAFE. Never put curl ... | bash (or any pipe-to-shell) in a skill; that is a hard block.
4. Merge to main. The tap and bimcli.com pick it up immediately; Hermes users get it with hermes skills update.

Privacy Policy

bim-cli runs entirely on your local machine. The MCP server (bim mcp) does not make network calls beyond what the individual bim-cli verbs themselves make (e.g. a flood lookup calls a public FEMA/NFHL endpoint; a PDF operation makes no network calls at all).

What leaves your machine:

• Optional anonymous telemetry: verb shape, bim version, OS, success/error kind, latency. No file paths, addresses, document content, or user identity are ever sent. Set DO_NOT_TRACK=1 or BIM_TELEMETRY=0 to opt out entirely.
• Verb-specific network calls declared in bim describe --json under each verb's requires field (e.g. network:host for flood lookups).

What never leaves your machine:

• Document content (PDF pages, IFC geometry, Revit models).
• File paths or filenames.
• User identity or any personal data.
• MCP argument values.

Full privacy policy: https://bimcli.com/privacy

License

The files in this repository (the plugin manifest and MCP server declaration) are released under the MIT License. See LICENSE.

The MIT License covers only the manifest files in this repo. The bim-cli binary itself is proprietary software; its license is separate and can be found at https://bimcli.com.

More

• bim-cli docs: https://bimcli.com
• MCP listing home: https://mcp.bimcli.com
• Capability schema: bim describe --json
• Issues: https://github.com/HelloHowAreYouHaveANiceDay/bim-cli-plugin/issues