dcc-mcp-substance3d-designer

Agent workflow

AI agents should use the shared gateway through dcc-mcp-cli; IDE users may continue to use the MCP endpoint. Prefer typed skills and tools over raw scripts.

Install or update the CLI

dcc-mcp-cli is the preferred control path for every shell-capable agent. If it is missing, ask the user before installing the latest official release:

# Linux/macOS
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dcc-mcp/dcc-mcp-core/main/scripts/install-cli.sh | sh

# Windows PowerShell
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -c "irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dcc-mcp/dcc-mcp-core/main/scripts/install-cli.ps1 | iex"

Keep an official build current through the release manifest:

dcc-mcp-cli update check
dcc-mcp-cli update apply

update apply downloads and stages the latest CLI for the next launch. It does not update a running dcc-mcp-server; update that server in its own environment.

dcc-mcp-cli dcc-types
dcc-mcp-cli list
dcc-mcp-cli search --query "<task>" --dcc-type substance3d_designer
dcc-mcp-cli describe <tool-slug>
dcc-mcp-cli call <tool-slug> --json '{"key":"value"}'

dcc-types reports release-catalog support; list reports live sessions. If a tool belongs to an inactive progressive skill, call dcc-mcp-cli load-skill <skill-name> --dcc-type substance3d_designer before retrying. For post-task improvement, attach a stable session id with --meta-json, query dcc-mcp-cli stats --range 24h --session-id <task-id>, then pass the bounded evidence to the review_skill_improvement prompt from dcc-mcp-skills-creator.

Substance 3D Designer adapter for the DCC Model Context Protocol (MCP).

The package runs an embedded Streamable HTTP MCP server inside Designer, so tools execute through Designer's Qt main thread instead of a separate process.

Related MCP server: blender-ai-mcp

Install and load

Install this package with the Python environment used by Substance 3D Designer:

python -m pip install dcc-mcp-substance3d-designer

For unattended startup, append the installed package's dcc_mcp_substance3d_designer/designer/plugins directory to SBS_DESIGNER_PYTHON_PATH. Designer discovers the dedicated dcc_mcp_substance3d_designer_plugin module without scanning the adapter's implementation modules as plugins.

For an interactive installation, open Tools > Plugin Manager, browse to dcc_mcp_substance3d_designer/designer_plugin.py, then load the plugin. Each adapter instance uses an OS-assigned port and registers it for CLI discovery. Connect through the stable gateway at http://127.0.0.1:9765/mcp; set DCC_MCP_SUBSTANCE3D_DESIGNER_PORT only when a fixed direct endpoint is required. Standard DCC_MCP_GATEWAY_PORT and DCC_MCP_REGISTRY_DIR settings are also honoured.

For unattended launches, pass Designer a persistent configuration with --config-file <path-to-default_configuration.sbscfg>. This prevents a stale session-specific configuration reference from opening a blocking startup dialog.

Bundled skills

designer-session provides typed tools for inspecting the active Designer session and creating a rendered procedural PBR material package. Host APIs are imported only while a tool runs, so metadata discovery remains safe outside Designer.

Development

python -m pip install -e ".[dev]"
python -m pytest
ruff check src tests tools
python -m build

Releases use release-please. The release.yml workflow publishes through the pypi environment using PyPI Trusted Publishing.