AIBIMTool CLI
Design a building from a brief and download its IFC from your terminal, scripts or CI. One command, signed in through your browser.
| npx -y aibimtool-mcp auth login |
| aibimtool build "7-storey office, lobby, café, central core" --wait --yes --ifc office.ifc |
Overview
aibimtool is a thin client over the AIBIMTool API: everything it does is one HTTPS request away. It adds the parts a terminal wants, a browser sign-in, waiting for a run with progress, writing the IFC and pictures to disk, and exit codes a script can branch on.
A message is charged for the AI it uses: 1 credit per $0.02, at most 150 credits per 8-minute segment, and a run that fails on our side is refunded in full.
Install
Install it globally, or run it with npx and skip the install.
| npm install -g aibimtool-mcp |
| npx -y aibimtool-mcp --help |
Sign in
Opens your browser, signs you in to AIBIMTool and hands a key back over loopback, stored in ~/.aibimtool/config.json. Nothing to copy or paste.
| aibimtool auth login |
| aibimtool whoami |
Commands
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| aibimtool auth login | Sign in through your browser. A key is made from your session and handed back over loopback, so there is nothing to copy or paste. |
| aibimtool whoami | Which account the stored key belongs to, its plan and credits, verified against the server. |
| aibimtool build "<brief>" [options] | Start a new building. --wait follows it to the end, --yes approves its plan, --ifc writes the model when it is ready, --level picks easy, medium or high. |
| aibimtool send <id> "<message>" | Answer the agent's questions, or ask for a change. Add --wait to follow it. |
| aibimtool approve <id> | The go-ahead for the agent's plan. |
| aibimtool status <id> | State, the agent's reply, its questions and plan. --wait holds while it runs. |
| aibimtool ifc <id> -o <file> | Download the IFC4 model. Free. |
| aibimtool image <id> --storey 1 | Save a picture of the model: the plan of one storey (0 is the ground floor), or a 3D view without --storey. Free. |
| aibimtool projects | List the account's projects. |
| aibimtool stop <id> | Stop the running agent after its current step. |
- aibimtool auth login
Sign in through your browser. A key is made from your session and handed back over loopback, so there is nothing to copy or paste.
- aibimtool whoami
Which account the stored key belongs to, its plan and credits, verified against the server.
- aibimtool build "<brief>" [options]
Start a new building. --wait follows it to the end, --yes approves its plan, --ifc writes the model when it is ready, --level picks easy, medium or high.
- aibimtool send <id> "<message>"
Answer the agent's questions, or ask for a change. Add --wait to follow it.
- aibimtool approve <id>
The go-ahead for the agent's plan.
- aibimtool status <id>
State, the agent's reply, its questions and plan. --wait holds while it runs.
- aibimtool ifc <id> -o <file>
Download the IFC4 model. Free.
- aibimtool image <id> --storey 1
Save a picture of the model: the plan of one storey (0 is the ground floor), or a 3D view without --storey. Free.
- aibimtool projects
List the account's projects.
- aibimtool stop <id>
Stop the running agent after its current step.
Exit codes
0 done, 1 an error, 2 out of credits or a plan is needed, 3 the agent is waiting for your answer or approval, so a script can stop and ask.
Examples
Compare massing options in one loop. --level easy is the cheapest way to try three before you develop one.
| 1 | aibimtool auth login |
| 2 | |
| 3 | # Three early massing options at the cheapest level, side by side |
| 4 | for form in "L-shaped" "courtyard" "linear bar"; do |
| 5 | aibimtool build "Office building, 2,400 m², 4 storeys, $form plan" \ |
| 6 | --level easy --title "Option: $form" --wait --yes --ifc "option-$form.ifc" |
| 7 | done |
| 1 | # Answer the agent, then follow it to the end |
| 2 | aibimtool send <id> "Offices plus a top-floor amenity, about 800 m²" --wait |
| 3 | aibimtool approve <id> |
| 4 | aibimtool ifc <id> -o office.ifc |
| 5 | aibimtool image <id> --storey 1 -o level-2.png |
Configuration
| Variable | Purpose |
|---|---|
| AIBIMTOOL_API_KEY | An API key; overrides the one stored by auth login. Use it in CI. |
| ~/.aibimtool/config.json | Where auth login keeps the key. Delete it to sign out. |
As an MCP server
Run with no arguments, the same package is a local MCP server for Claude Code, Cursor or Windsurf, writing IFC files to disk. For Claude and ChatGPT in the browser, use the hosted server instead: AIBIMTool MCP.
| 1 | { |
| 2 | "mcpServers": { |
| 3 | "aibimtool": { |
| 4 | "command": "npx", |
| 5 | "args": ["-y", "aibimtool-mcp"], |
| 6 | "env": { "AIBIMTOOL_API_KEY": "aibim_sk_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" } |
| 7 | } |
| 8 | } |
| 9 | } |
FAQ
What is the AIBIMTool CLI?
A command, aibimtool, from the npm package aibimtool-mcp. It calls the AIBIMTool API: start a building from a brief, answer the agent, approve its plan and write the IFC4 model to a file, without opening a browser.
Do I need to install anything?
Only Node.js 18 or newer. Run it with npx -y aibimtool-mcp and nothing is installed globally, or npm install -g aibimtool-mcp to get the aibimtool command on your path.
Where is my key stored?
aibimtool auth login signs you in through your browser and writes the key to ~/.aibimtool/config.json, so it never passes through your shell history. In CI, set AIBIMTOOL_API_KEY instead.
Can I use it in CI or a script?
Yes. --wait follows a run to the end, --yes approves the agent's plan, and the exit code tells a script what happened: 3 means the agent is waiting for an answer, so a pipeline can stop and ask a person.
Which plan do I need?
The CLI, the API and the MCP server are part of Studio (€289 a month, or €189 a month billed yearly). Runs spend the same credits as the app.