AutoMaya MCP

Control Autodesk Maya 2024 from Claude (Desktop, Code, Cursor, any MCP client) with 258 typed tools, an in-Maya console, free asset libraries, AI 3D generation, and a real time change stream built for driving an external viewport such as Unreal.

Claude  <-- MCP stdio -->  automaya_mcp (Python)  <-- framed TCP 9877 -->  AutoMaya bridge inside Maya
                                                                              |-- dockable console (PySide2)
                                                                              |-- OpenMaya change bus
                                                                              '-- NDJSON broadcast 9878 -> Unreal

What makes it different from the other Maya MCPs

Related MCP server: Maya MCP

Install

pip install -e ".[dev]"          # from this repo (or: pip install automaya-mcp once published)
automaya-mcp install-plugin      # writes automaya.mod into ~/Documents/maya/2024/modules

Restart Maya 2024. An AutoMaya menu appears and the console docks next to the Attribute Editor. The bridge starts on port 9877 automatically (change it from the gear button in the console header).

Add the server to your MCP client:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "automaya": { "command": "automaya-mcp", "env": { "AUTOMAYA_PORT": "9877" } }
  }
}

No Python 3.10 on the box (common on studio Windows images)? Run the server with Maya's own interpreter: see the header of scripts/mayapy_launch.py for the one line pip install, then use "command": "C:\\Program Files\\Autodesk\\Maya2024\\bin\\mayapy.exe", "args": ["C:\\Users\\you\\.automaya\\launch.py"]. Pin mcp==1.27.0 there.

Headless Maya (mayapy, render farm, CI): cmds misbehaves off the main thread, so start the bridge and hand the main thread to it: automaya_bridge.start(); automaya_bridge.serve_forever() (or call automaya_bridge.pump() from your own loop).

Claude Desktop: claude_desktop_config.json. Claude Code: .mcp.json in your project or claude mcp add automaya -- automaya-mcp.

Ask Claude: "check the Maya status, then build a 35mm shot camera on a crane rig and block a rough street with primitives."

Environment variables

Keys can also be pasted into the Settings dialog (gear button in the console header, AI 3D APIs page, each provider has a Test button); they are stored in <MAYA_APP_DIR>/automaya/prefs.json with 0600 permissions and never sent anywhere except the provider they belong to.

Tool families

core, scene, modeling, materials, rigging_animation, previs, sim_vfx, arnold, assets, generation, intelligence, livelink, introspect, omniverse (NVIDIA Omniverse connector detection, live sessions, USD export), extensions (drop-in scripts, see below), plus the Craft layer: craft_procgen (parametric buildings, streets, rooms, furniture, terrain, scatter at real scale), craft_light (solar position, HDRI, three point and studio rigs, practicals in lumens and Kelvin, exposure in EV), craft_lookdev (measured PBR library, wear, variation, ACES, render presets), craft_critique (render analysis and reference comparison with concrete fixes), craft_photo (camera match, photo to block, depth relief), craft_plan (scene plan, quality gate). See docs/CRAFT.md. The full list with parameters is in docs/TOOLS.md. Prompts shipped with the server: asset_creation_strategy, previs_shot_workflow, unreal_realtime_viewport, astra_loop, lighting_science, photo_to_scene.

Extensions: drop a script, get tools

Any .py file in <MAYA_APP_DIR>/automaya/tools/ (created on first start), in maya_plugin/extensions/ or in a folder listed in AUTOMAYA_EXT_PATH is imported by the plugin. Every public function becomes a bridge command ext.<module>.<func> and, when Maya is running at server start, an MCP tool maya_ext_<module>_<func> whose description is the docstring and whose input schema comes from the type hints. The format is the same one PatrickPalmer/MayaMCP uses, so those scripts work as they are:

from typing import List, Optional

def extrude_faces(mesh: str, faces: Optional[List[int]] = None, thickness: float = 1.0) -> dict:
    """Extrude polygon faces on a mesh.

    Args:
        mesh: Transform or shape name.
        faces: Face indices, None for all.
        thickness: Distance along the normal.
    """
    from maya import cmds   # Maya imports stay inside the function
    if not cmds.objExists(mesh):
        return "Error: mesh %r does not exist" % mesh   # "Error:" strings become proper tool errors
    ...
    return {"mesh": mesh, "faces": len(faces or [])}

Rules: JSON types in and out, Maya imports inside the function, names starting with _ are skipped. Functions named get_*, find_*, list_*, query_*, read_*, is_* or has_* are read only; everything else runs in an undo chunk that rolls back on failure. maya_ext_list shows what loaded (and which files failed to import), maya_ext_source shows the code, maya_ext_call runs any command by name even if the typed tool does not exist yet, and maya_ext_reload rescans after you edit a script. Two example scripts ship in maya_plugin/extensions/ (modeling_tools.py, rigging_tools.py).

Real time viewport in Unreal

1. maya_livelink_start opens the broadcast port and enables change tracking.

2. In Unreal's Output Log: py unreal/automaya_subscriber.py then automaya_subscriber.start(); sync() pulls the scene graph and spawns placeholder actors; transform edits in Maya move them live.

3. Geometry arrives through maya_livelink_export_usd (stage reload) or maya_livelink_mesh_buffers.

The schema, coordinate conversion, and the outline for turning the subscriber into a C++ ILiveLinkSource are in docs/UNREAL_BRIDGE.md.

Omniverse

NVIDIA's Omniverse Maya Native Connector (Maya 2024.2 on Windows, needs mayaUsd, discontinued for Maya 2025+) gives a quick two way RTX viewport through USD Composer live sessions. maya_omni_status detects it at runtime (its scripting API is undocumented) and says whether you are on the connector or usd_only path; maya_omni_list_commands and maya_omni_run_menu_item drive its menu and shelf; maya_omni_live_session creates, joins, leaves, ends, merges or shares a session; maya_omni_export_usd writes USD locally through mayaUsd; maya_omni_nucleus_hint covers Nucleus URLs and the viewport steps. The USD plus Unreal subscriber path above is the one that survives Maya upgrades. Details in vault/Omniverse.md.

Development

python3 -m pytest -q             # 524 tests: protocol, registry, every domain over a real socket against a maya stub
ruff check src maya_plugin tests unreal
mayapy tests/maya_integration/run_in_mayapy.py   # integration pattern inside a real Maya
python3 scripts/gen_tool_catalogue.py            # refresh docs/TOOLS.md

Architecture, orchestration diagrams and the module contract live in docs/. The vault/ folder is an Obsidian ready knowledge base about the project for humans and for Claude.

Security notes

The bridge binds to localhost only. maya_execute_python is on by default because that is what makes an agent useful in a DCC; turn on safe mode (console or env) to restrict it. Nothing phones home: there is no telemetry.

License

MIT