Bentley MCP Servers
AI-Powered Engineering Workflows
Connect AI agents directly and securely to your Bentley applications
Your Engineering Software, AI-Ready
Bentley’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers connect AI agents, including Claude and GitHub CoPilot directly to Bentley applications. Engineers can query design data, automate complex workflows, and drive structural analysis and CAD modeling tasks using plain language. No coding experience required. MCP makes Bentley the AI extension layer for infrastructure engineering.
Natural Language, Integrated API Capabilities
MCP enables AI applications to interpret natural language, to programmatically construct and control the Bentley Python API. This facilitates diverse data operations, with AI coding from engineer intent, ensuring user approval and security.
Bring Your Own AI Agent
Not locked into a single AI platform. Bentley MCP servers implement the open MCP standard, compatible with Claude, GitHub Copilot, and other agentic AI platforms your firm already uses or evaluates.
Reduced Learning Curve and Coding.
MCP Server offers a reduced learning curve for new hires. Operate via natural language, automating workflows with one prompt. No Python scripting or interface knowledge is needed.
Claude + STAAD.Pro
AI-native structural engineering.
Natural Language, Integrated API Capabilities
MCP enables AI applications to interpret natural language, to programmatically construct and control the Bentley Python API. This facilitates diverse data operations, with AI coding from engineer intent, ensuring user approval and security.
Bring Your Own AI Agent
Not locked into a single AI platform. Bentley MCP servers implement the open MCP standard, compatible with Claude, GitHub Copilot, and other agentic AI platforms your firm already uses or evaluates.
Reduced Learning Curve and Coding.
MCP Server offers a reduced learning curve for new hires. Operate via natural language, automating workflows with one prompt. No Python scripting or interface knowledge is needed.
STAAD.PRO MCP SERVER - TECH PREVIEW
Drive Structural Analysis Through Conversation
The STAAD.Pro MCP server connects AI agents such as Claude directly to the world’s leading structural analysis software. Engineers can automate complex load applications, model revisions, and analysis workflows using plain language, without manual interface interaction or scripting knowledge.
Example: Tell the AI to ‘Apply vertical and horizontal hydrostatic loads to the tank compartments assuming each is full of water’ and STAAD.Pro applies the correct surface loads automatically, preparing the model for stress analysis.
Key capabilities: Natural language model creation and revision | Automated load application | Multi-step structural analysis workflows | Compatible with Claude, GitHub Copilot, Gemini | Secure sandbox – no file system or OS access outside STAAD.Pro.
MICROSTATION MCP SERVER – EARLY ACCESS*
Query, Modify, and Automate Your CAD Design Files with AI
The MicroStation MCP server connects AI agents directly to your design files, letting infrastructure designers analyze data, automate modeling tasks, and build workflows using plain language. With full access to MicroStation’s Python API, every element, level, reference, and view in your DGN file is accessible to the AI.
Engineers ask natural language questions and the AI connects to MicroStation to extract data or create and modify elements as required. No Python experience needed – prompting skill, not programming skill, is the key competency.
Key capabilities: Full read, write, modify, and create access via Python API | Natural language queries across all DGN file data | Automate repetitive modeling and documentation tasks | Compatible with Claude and GitHub Copilot | Secure environment blocks all file and network access outside the active design.
*Early Access: MicroStation MCP Server is released to a restricted set of users, rather than being generally available to all users.
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Frequently Asked Questions
MCP stands for Model Context Protocol, an open standard that allows AI agents to connect to and interact with software applications. Bentley’s MCP servers expose the full Python APIs of Bentley applications so that AI agents can query, create, and modify engineering data in real time. This means AI agents like Claude can drive complex structural analysis or CAD workflows on behalf of the engineer, using plain language instructions.
No. MCP servers translate plain-language instructions into Python API calls automatically. Engineers need no programming or scripting knowledge. The more specific and contextual the prompt, the better the output, so familiarity with effective AI prompting (describing intended outcomes, referencing specific elements or standards) improves results. Bentley will provide guidance on effective prompting practices.
Bentley’s MCP servers implement the open MCP standard and are compatible with any MCP-compatible AI agent, including Anthropic’s Claude, GitHub Copilot, and Google Gemini. Users are not locked into a single AI platform. They can choose the AI agent their organization already uses or evaluates, and connect it to Bentley applications through the same MCP interface.
Yes, your data is secure, with important distinctions in how different Bentley MCP server environments manage access, particularly concerning filesystem and network operations.
The STAAD.Pro MCP server runs in a secure sandbox. It has no access to the file system or operating system outside of STAAD.Pro, and its scope is intentionally limited to STAAD.Pro operations.
For the MicroStation MCP server, the Python Code Execution environment is secure, in that it blocks access to the internet and filesystem. However, it’s important to understand that it may be possible for one of MicroStation’s ‘key-ins’ (commands) executed via MCP to access the file system. For example, a key-in such as “File Fence” with a specified path and filename could perform its expected work and create a .dgn file. This means that while the direct scripting capabilities of the Python environment itself are sandboxed from the filesystem and network, these environments can trigger existing functionalities within the host application (MicroStation) that inherently possess such access.
Bentley Copilot, the in-application AI assistant, uses the MCP server as its primary interface to interact with Bentley application APIs. By publishing this as an open MCP server rather than a private integration, Bentley gives users the choice: use Bentley Copilot inside the application, or connect your own AI agent (Claude, GitHub Copilot) to the same capabilities through the open standard.
MicroStation and STAAD.Pro are the first in a planned rollout of MCP servers across the full Bentley portfolio. As more products add MCP servers, users will be able to orchestrate end-to-end workflows across multiple Bentley products, and even combine Bentley MCP servers with those of other vendors. All driven by a single AI agent.
