3ds Max MCP Server

Fit and risk

Setup

Check that it works

After running the installer and restarting 3ds Max plus your AI client (Claude Desktop, Codex, or Cursor), confirm tools like get_bridge_status and get_session_context appear in the client's tool list, then ask it to ping the bridge — a successful get_bridge_status call confirms the native connection.

Troubleshooting

1. Use get_bridge_status to ping the bridge when diagnosing connection errors
2. Make sure 3ds Max and the AI clients were fully closed and restarted (especially after an update)
3. Confirm the 3ds Max version is within 2023–2027 and that your MCP client was selected during install
4. Use get_plugin_capabilities to check the Max version, renderers and installed plugins
5. For source installs, confirm Python 3.12+, uv and Git are available, then run uv run python install.py again
6. Check the safe mode setting before calling execute_python

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Things to try

Once connected, you can ask your AI assistant things like:

• Check the bridge status and give me an overview of the current 3ds Max scene.Copy
• Build a PBR material from the texture files in my project folder and assign it to the selected objects.Copy
• Rename all the objects in the current layer to a batch naming scheme and group them.Copy
• Inspect the material network on this object and list any texture maps that are missing or unhealthy.Copy

Tools 100

Show 92 more tools

get_instances read-only

All instances sharing the same base object

get_dependencies read-only

Reference graph via dependents / dependent nodes

create_object writes

Create geometry with spatial placement feedback

delete_objects destructive

Delete objects by name

get_object_properties read-only

Compact properties for one object

set_object_property writes

Set a single object property

transform_object writes

Move, rotate, and/or scale by offset

analyze_node_orientation read-only

Pivot, bbox, local axes, and world matrix for rigging and placement

clone_objects writes

Copy, instance, or reference clones

set_parent writes

Parent or unparent objects

select_objects writes

Change the current selection

set_visibility writes

Show, hide, freeze, or unfreeze

batch_rename_objects writes

Rename many objects in one call

add_modifier writes

Add a modifier to an object

remove_modifier destructive

Remove a modifier by name

set_modifier_state writes

Enable/disable with viewport/render granularity

set_modifier_property writes

Set a modifier parameter on one or many objects

collapse_modifier_stack destructive

Collapse the stack

make_modifier_unique writes

De-instance a shared modifier

inspect_modifier_properties read-only

Compatibility alias for inspect_properties(target="modifier")

curve_model writes

Named curves, rounded profiles, sweeps and quad lofts with controls saved in the scene

inspect_curve read-only

Inspect, visually target and edit spline knots and handles with stale-token protection

edit_curve writes

Inspect, visually target and edit spline knots and handles with stale-token protection

create_mesh writes

Build editable polygon cages from explicit vertices and faces

inspect_mesh read-only

Read cage geometry, label components and map image positions to edit targets

pick_component read-only

Read cage geometry, label components and map image positions to edit targets

mesh_edit writes

Undoable vertex, edge and face edits that preserve the modifier stack

loft_mesh writes

Matched-section quad lofts with persistent numeric parameters

geometry_qa read-only

Check mesh boundaries, winding, degeneracy and connected components

boolean_operation writes

Apply, inspect, retune, rename, or extract Boolean modifier operands; supports inline repeated cutters

draw_spline writes

Create, read, and edit spline shapes from explicit world-space points and knots

edit_vertices writes

Read, move, set, or conform Editable Poly vertices in world space

get_materials read-only

List materials assigned in the scene

get_material_library read-only

Inspect currentMaterialLibrary and Material Editor scratch slots

backup_material_library writes

Save temporary/scratch material libraries to .mat files

get_material_slots read-only

Compact slot/property readback for a material

inspect_material_network read-only

Semantic material graph, wired slots, texture manifest, health checks

replicate_material writes

Preview/apply structure-preserving material clone and texture remap

assign_material writes

Create a material and assign it to objects

set_material_property writes

Set one property on an object's material

set_material_properties writes

Set multiple material properties at once

set_sub_material writes

Create or assign a Multi/Sub-Object slot

create_texture_map writes

Create a texture map (stored as a MAXScript global)

set_texture_map_properties writes

Edit a texture map global

create_material_from_textures writes

Build a fully wired PBR material from texture files

create_shell_material writes

Wrap any render + export materials in Shell Material (dual pipeline)

write_osl_shader writes

Write OSL to disk and compile an OSLMap

replace_material writes

Swap one material for another on all users

batch_replace_materials writes

Batch material replacement

palette_laydown writes

Fill Material Editor palette slots from a texture folder

smart_import writes

Batch-import meshes from a folder with auto PBR assignment

cosmos_search read-only

Find compatible Cosmos models, materials and HDRIs

cosmos_download writes

Download a Cosmos asset without importing it

cosmos_import writes

Import a Cosmos asset through Corona or V-Ray

inspect_object read-only

Deep exploratory object summary

inspect_properties read-only

Deep property dump (target="object"|"modifier"|"baseobject"|"material")

introspect_osl read-only

API surface for OSLMap and shader classes

walk_references read-only

Full reference dependency walk

learn_scene_patterns read-only

Analyze class usage patterns in the live scene

map_class_relationships read-only

ParamBlock2 reference relationships between classes

watch_scene read-only

Live event watcher for interactive sessions

isolate_and_capture_selected read-only

Per-selection isolated viewport captures

main_thread read-only

Inspect or clean up callbacks and timers running on Max's main/UI thread

discover_plugin_surface read-only

Find plugin-related classes and entry points

discover_plugin_classes read-only

Enumerate registered SDK classes

list_plugin_classes read-only

List classes for a plugin or superclass family

inspect_plugin_class read-only

SDK schema v2: bounded metadata, exact bindings and enum sources; legacy reflection retained

inspect_plugin_constructor read-only

Creation notes for a plugin class

inspect_plugin_instance read-only

SDK schema v2: live values, linked maps and guarded edit tokens

plugin_patch writes

Atomic typed PB2 edits with readback and stale/shared/animation guards

get_plugin_manifest read-only

Structured manifest (classes, workflows, gotchas)

refresh_plugin_manifest writes

Rebuild manifest from live runtime

introspect_class read-only

SDK parameter descriptors and published interface metadata

introspect_instance read-only

Deep SDK introspection with live values

lighting_capabilities read-only

Installed renderer routes, emitter shapes, units and color policy

create_lights writes

Semantic lights and environment graphs in one verified native transaction

inspect_lights read-only

Decode actual light settings and linked emission maps

edit_lights writes

Guarded color, output, size, enable and shadow edits

assign_controller writes

Create and assign a controller to a sub-anim track

inspect_controller read-only

Inspect one controller track

inspect_track_view read-only

Track View-style controller hierarchy

set_controller_props writes

Edit script text or controller properties

add_controller_target writes

Add a target to script/expression/constraint controllers

keyframe_tracks writes

Timeline control; bounded delete/move/scale, bake/resample, tangent normalization, pose matching, and loops

list_wireable_params read-only

Discover wireable sub-anims on an object

wire_params writes

Connect parameters with a wire expression

get_wired_params read-only

List existing wire connections

unwire_params writes

Remove a wire

manage_layers writes

Create, delete, list, and configure layers; move/select objects

manage_groups writes

Create, ungroup, open, close, attach, detach groups

manage_selection_sets writes

Named selection sets

manage_scene writes

Hold, fetch, reset, save, scene info

Use cases

Supported clients

Listed from the project's documentation, not tested by this site.

Overview

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