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The most powerful MCP server for Rhinoceros 3D — 105 tools giving AI agents full read/write access to Rhino 8

Project description

GOLEM-3DMCP

GOLEM-3DMCP

"Shaped from clay, brought to life by words"

The most powerful MCP server for Rhinoceros 3D — 105 tools giving AI full read/write access to Rhino 8.

PyPI Status License: MIT Rhino 8 Python 3.10+ MCP


GOLEM-3DMCP implements the Model Context Protocol to give AI agents direct, programmatic control of Rhino 8 — create geometry, run booleans, drive Grasshopper, capture viewports, and execute arbitrary Python scripts, all through natural language.

Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, and any MCP-compatible host.


Demo — A City Built Entirely by AI

An entire city generated in Rhino 8 through GOLEM-3DMCP — roads, skyscrapers, houses, trees, people, vehicles, a stadium, bridge, ferris wheel, harbor, wind turbines, and a floating GOLEM hologram. All created by Claude Code using natural language commands.

Watch the demo

Watch the full demo on YouTube

GOLEM City — Wide Overview

Full city overview — ground, roads, buildings, park, harbor, sky

GOLEM City — Skyline

Skyline view — skyscrapers, bridge, wind turbines, floating GOLEM hologram

GOLEM City — Monument

Close-up — GOLEM monument plaza, residential buildings, fountain

GOLEM City — Street Level

Street level — vehicles, people, street lamps, stadium, harbor with boats


Install

pip install golem-3dmcp

That's it. Three commands to go from zero to AI-powered Rhino:

# 1. Install
pip install golem-3dmcp

# 2. Deploy the Rhino plugin (one-time)
golem install-rhino

# 3. Verify everything works
golem doctor

Connect to Your AI Agent

Add to your MCP configuration (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "golem-3dmcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["golem-3dmcp"]
    }
  }
}

Start talking to Rhino through AI.


105 Tools Across 9 Categories

Category Tools Highlights
Scene Intelligence 10 Document info, layers, objects, groups, blocks — full pagination
Geometry Creation 38 Points, curves, NURBS, solids, mesh, SubD, text, dimensions, hatches
Geometry Operations 19 Boolean union/difference/intersection, trim, split, offset, fillet, chamfer
Surface Operations 12 Loft, sweep1/2, revolve, extrude, network surface, patch, edge surface, unroll
Object Manipulation 21 Move, copy, rotate, scale, mirror, array, join, explode, group, properties
Grasshopper 9 Open definitions, set/get parameters, recompute, bake, inspect components
Viewport & Visualization 13 Capture screenshots (base64 PNG), camera control, named views, display modes
File Operations 9 Save, open, import, export (STL, OBJ, STEP, IGES, FBX, 3MF, DWG, PDF...)
Script Execution 4 Execute arbitrary Python with full RhinoCommon access, run Rhino commands

See Tool Reference for the complete API with parameters and examples.


Architecture

 AI Agent (Claude Code / Cursor / Windsurf)
      |
      |  MCP (stdio, JSON-RPC)
      v
+---------------------------+
|     GOLEM MCP Server      |
|     Python 3.10+          |
|     FastMCP + 9 tool      |
|     modules               |
+---------------------------+
      |
      |  TCP 127.0.0.1:9876
      |  Length-prefixed JSON
      v
+---------------------------+
|     Rhino Plugin          |
|     Python 3.9 (embedded) |
|     TCP Server            |
|     9 handler modules     |
+---------------------------+
      |
      |  RhinoCommon + rhinoscriptsyntax
      v
+---------------------------+       +-------------------------+
|     Rhinoceros 3D         | <---> |   Grasshopper           |
|     Document, Geometry,   |       |   Sub-server :9877      |
|     Layers, Views         |       |   Definitions, Params   |
+---------------------------+       +-------------------------+

Quick Start Examples

Create and combine geometry:

Create a 100 x 50 x 30 box on a layer called 'Structure',
then boolean-union it with a sphere of radius 20 centred at [50, 25, 30].

Query the scene:

List all objects on the 'Walls' layer and tell me their volumes.

Drive Grasshopper:

Open parametric_facade.gh, set the 'PanelCount' slider to 24,
recompute, and bake the result to a 'Facade' layer.

Capture a viewport:

Set perspective view to shaded mode, zoom to extents, and capture a screenshot.

Execute arbitrary Python:

import Rhino.Geometry as rg
pts = [rg.Point3d(i*10, 0, i**2) for i in range(20)]
crv = rg.Curve.CreateInterpolatedCurve(pts, 3)
sc.doc.Objects.AddCurve(crv)
__result__ = {"point_count": len(pts), "length": crv.GetLength()}

Loading the Rhino Plugin

  1. Open Rhino 8
  2. Open Script Editor: Tools > Python Script > Edit
  3. Open startup.py (deployed by golem install-rhino) and click Run
GOLEM-3DMCP: Starting server on 127.0.0.1:9876...
GOLEM-3DMCP: Server started successfully!
GOLEM-3DMCP: 135 handler methods registered.

Auto-start on every Rhino launch: Tools > Options > RhinoScript > Startup Scripts > Add startup.py


Configuration

Variable Default Description
GOLEM_RHINO_HOST 127.0.0.1 Rhino plugin host
GOLEM_RHINO_PORT 9876 Rhino plugin TCP port
GOLEM_GH_PORT 9877 Grasshopper sub-server port
GOLEM_TIMEOUT 30 Command timeout (seconds)
GOLEM_HEAVY_TIMEOUT 120 Heavy operation timeout (seconds)

Requirements

Requirement Version
Rhinoceros 3D 8.x (macOS)
Python 3.10+
macOS 12 Monterey or newer

The Rhino plugin runs inside Rhino's embedded Python 3.9 with zero external dependencies.


Troubleshooting

Problem Quick Fix
Connection refused Start Rhino + run startup.py
Port already in use lsof -i :9876 then kill the process
MCP server not in Claude Check your MCP config JSON
Grasshopper tools fail Open Grasshopper in Rhino first
Python version error Need Python 3.10+ for MCP server

Run golem doctor to diagnose issues automatically.

See Troubleshooting Guide for detailed solutions.


Documentation


Testing

# Unit tests (no Rhino needed)
pytest tests/ -v --ignore=tests/test_integration.py

# Full suite (integration tests auto-skip if Rhino not running)
pytest tests/ -v

# Integration tests only (requires Rhino + plugin running)
pytest tests/test_integration.py -v -m integration

Branch Strategy

This repository uses two branches:

Branch Purpose
main GOLEM-3DMCP source development — features, bug fixes, docs
claude/pypi-package-setup-PMCI5 PyPI packaging & releases — build config, versioning, publish scripts
  • Develop on main — all tool modules, Rhino plugin, tests, and documentation live here.
  • Release from the PyPI branch — packaging structure (pyproject.toml, src/ layout, publish scripts) is managed separately so releases don't pollute the development history.
main                          ← development
  └── claude/pypi-package-setup-PMCI5  ← PyPI releases (pip install golem-3dmcp)

Project Structure

golem-3dmcp/
├── src/golem_3dmcp/           # MCP Server (pip install golem-3dmcp)
│   ├── cli.py                 #   CLI entry point (golem command)
│   ├── server.py              #   FastMCP server
│   ├── connection.py          #   TCP client (singleton, thread-safe)
│   ├── protocol.py            #   Wire format: 4-byte length prefix + JSON
│   ├── config.py              #   Environment variable configuration
│   ├── models/                #   Pydantic data models
│   ├── tools/                 #   9 MCP tool modules
│   └── _rhino_plugin/         #   Bundled Rhino plugin (deployed via CLI)
├── tests/                     # 226 tests (pytest)
├── docs/                      # Architecture, protocol spec, tool reference
└── pyproject.toml             # Package definition

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.


Credits

King Hippopotamus

Created by King Hippopotamus
Built by NEXUS AI — 195 autonomous agents | 20 departments | 11 tiers

CEO CTO CPO COO CFO CISO

CMO CRO CHRO CLO CAIO


Built with: FastMCP · RhinoCommon · rhinoscriptsyntax · Grasshopper SDK


"From formless clay, through the power of words, form emerges."

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