ifckit

Framework-agnostic IFC builder library for architecture and infrastructure.

Build valid IFC files in pure Python — no CAD host required. Works standalone, from Grasshopper, or via the JSON/CLI interface.

Files created can be viewed in its companion IfcViewer

Live: maucworks.github.io/web-ifc-viewer

Install

pip install ifckit[ifc]    # with ifcopenshell (full functionality)
pip install ifckit         # without ifcopenshell (JSON/schema tools only)

Requires Python 3.9+ (Rhino 8 ships CPython 3.9; needs ifcopenshell==0.8.4.post1, see below).

Quick start: building

from ifckit import IfcModel, IfcSchema, PendingWall, Vec, Plane

model = IfcModel(name="My Project", schema=IfcSchema.IFC4, author="you")
floor = model.add_site("Site A").add_building("Building 1").add_storey("Ground Floor", elevation=0.0)

wall = PendingWall(
    footprint=[Vec(0, 0, 0), Vec(10, 0, 0), Vec(10, 0.3, 0), Vec(0, 0.3, 0)],
    plane=Plane.world_xy(),
    height=3.0,
    name="North Facade",
)
floor.add(wall)
model.save("project.ifc")

See examples/quickstart.py and examples/simple_building.py for fuller examples.

Quick start: bridge

from ifckit import IfcModel, IfcSchema, LengthUnit, PendingBeam, Vec, Line, BridgePartType, IBeamProfile

model = IfcModel(name="Bridge", schema=IfcSchema.IFC4X3, author="you", unit=LengthUnit.MILLIMETRE)
deck = model.add_site("Site A").add_bridge("Main Bridge").add_bridge_part("Deck", BridgePartType.DECK.value)

profile = IBeamProfile(height=600, width=300, web_thickness=10, flange_thickness=10)
beam = PendingBeam(axis=Line(Vec(0, 0, 0), Vec(3000, 0, 0)), profile=profile, name="Main Girder")
deck.add(beam)

model.save("bridge.ifc")

See examples/quickstart_bridge.py and examples/simple_bridge.py for fuller examples including alignments.

Supported schemas and element types

Profiles: IBeamProfile, LBeamProfile, SteelProfile, and arbitrary polygon profiles.

JSON build

Build an IFC file from a JSON description — useful for CLI pipelines and REST APIs:

from ifckit.json_build import build

build("model.json", "output.ifc")

Or from the command line:

python -m ifckit model.json output.ifc

The JSON schema mirrors the Python API. See examples/example_building.json for a full example.

Grasshopper

Grasshopper Script components are in grasshopper/src/. Each component is a standalone Python file with @component / @input / @output annotations.

To regenerate the .gh file from source, run grasshopper/script/build_gh.py inside the Rhino ScriptEditor with Grasshopper open.

Installing ifckit in Rhino 8

Rhino 8 ships with its own CPython 3.9 environment. That pins the ifcopenshell line: 0.8.4.post1 is the last release with Python 3.9 wheels, so install it explicitly — the [ifc] extra would pull 0.9.0, which requires Python 3.10+. From the Rhino ScriptEditor (EditPythonScript) or a Script component:

import subprocess, sys
subprocess.run(
    [sys.executable, "-m", "pip", "install",
     "ifckit", "ifcopenshell==0.8.4.post1"],
    check=True,
)

ifckit detects the 0.8 serializer API automatically (see ifckit.geom_backend); all build/save/export paths work on both lines.

To install a local development checkout instead:

import subprocess, sys
subprocess.run(
    [sys.executable, "-m", "pip", "install", "-e", r"C:\path\to\ifckit"],
    check=True,
)

After installing, restart Rhino once to make the package available in all Script components.

Development

pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest tests/          # run tests
ruff check ifckit/     # lint