HOOPS AI MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that bridges Claude Desktop to the HOOPS AI WebAPI.
With this server registered in Claude Desktop, users can perform 3D CAD analysis through natural language — no code required.
See the root README for an overview of the full platform.

Prerequisites

• uv installed on the Claude Desktop machine (Claude Desktop uses uv to launch the MCP server process)

• The WebAPI server running and accessible (default: http://127.0.0.1:8000)
  → See webapi/README.md for setup instructions

Related MCP server: Cinema4D MCP Server

Setup

Register the MCP server in Claude Desktop

1. Open Claude Desktop

2. Go to Settings → Developer → Edit Config

3. This opens claude_desktop_config.json. Add the following entry under mcpServers:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hoops-ai": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--directory",
        "C:\\path\\to\\HOOPS_AI-MCP\\mcp_server",
        "server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Replace C:\\path\\to\\HOOPS_AI-MCP with the actual path where you cloned this repository.

Troubleshooting — uv not found: Claude Desktop launches with a limited PATH and may fail to find uv even if it works in your terminal.
If the MCP server does not appear in Claude Desktop, use the full path to uv.exe instead of "uv":

where.exe uv   # find the full path, e.g. C:\Users\<you>\.local\bin\uv.exe

Then update "command" in the config:

"command": "C:\\Users\\<you>\\.local\\bin\\uv.exe"

Same machine (default):

No additional configuration is needed.
The MCP server defaults to http://127.0.0.1:8000, so if the WebAPI server is running on the same machine, the basic config above works as-is.

When the WebAPI server is on a different machine (client-server setup):

Add "env": {"HOOPS_WEBAPI_URL": "..."} to the config — no system environment variable is needed.
Claude Desktop passes this value to the MCP server process automatically:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hoops-ai": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--directory",
        "C:\\path\\to\\HOOPS_AI-MCP\\mcp_server",
        "server.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "HOOPS_WEBAPI_URL": "http://192.168.0.6:8000"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace 192.168.0.6 with the actual IP address of the machine running the WebAPI server.
This is the only configuration change needed on the client machine.

4. Save the file and restart Claude Desktop.

Available MCP Tools

Claude Desktop can call these 12 tools using natural language:

Example Usage in Claude Desktop

Once the MCP server is registered and the WebAPI server is running, you can chat with Claude:

What HOOPS AI tools are available?

"C:\temp\helloworld.stp" — please display this 3D CAD file.

"C:\temp\Flange287.stp" — show this model and give me its B-Rep information.

Tell me about the manufacturing feature recognition dataset.

"C:\temp\nist_ftc_06_asme1_rd_sw1802.SLDPRT" — run manufacturing feature recognition and colorize by feature type.

"C:\temp\idler_sprocket.step" — search for similar parts to this component.