Abaqus MCP Plugin v4.0

Thisproject is based on abaqus-mcp modified
Follwing MIT License realease
Main changes is fit abaqus 2022 especially A plugin that enables communication between Abaqus/CAE and external AI assistants (or any MCP client) via file-based IPC.

What's New in v4.0

Job management — list and submit Abaqus jobs remotely
ODB inspection — open ODB files read-only and query steps, frames, instances
Viewport capture — screenshot any Abaqus viewport as base64 image
Richer model info — now includes loads, BCs, interactions, and assembly instances
MCP resource — abaqus://status resource for real-time plugin status
Stale command cleanup — automatically removes commands older than 2 minutes
Logging — all operations logged to ~/.abaqus-mcp/mcp.log
Version tracking — status.json and ping responses include plugin version
GUI Status button — check plugin state from the Plug-ins menu

Architecture

┌─────────────┐  MCP protocol   ┌───────────────┐  file IPC   ┌──────────────┐
│  MCP Client  │ ──────────────> │  mcp_server.py │ ─────────> │ Abaqus/CAE   │
│  (Cursor AI) │ <────────────── │  (FastMCP)     │ <───────── │ (plugin.py)  │
└─────────────┘                  └───────────────┘             └──────────────┘
                                        │
                                   commands/*.json ──>  (plugin reads & deletes)
                                   results/*.json  <──  (plugin writes)
                                   status.json     <──  (heartbeat every 2s)

Features

Execute Python scripts in Abaqus remotely
Query model information (parts, materials, steps, loads, BCs, interactions)
List and submit analysis jobs
Inspect ODB result files
Capture viewport screenshots
Simple file-based communication (no sockets required)
Non-blocking background mode (GUI stays responsive)
GUI menu entries for start / stop / status control
Works with any MCP-compatible client (Cursor, Claude Desktop, etc.)

Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/Cai-aa/abaqus-mcp.git ~/.abaqus-mcp

2. Install Python dependencies (for the MCP server)

pip install mcp

3. (Optional) Auto-load plugin on Abaqus startup

# Windows
copy "$env:USERPROFILE\.abaqus-mcp\abaqus_v6.env.example" "$env:USERPROFILE\abaqus_v6.env"

# Linux/Mac
cp ~/.abaqus-mcp/abaqus_v6.env.example ~/abaqus_v6.env

4. (Optional) Install GUI plugin menu

# Windows
Copy-Item -Recurse "$env:USERPROFILE\.abaqus-mcp\abaqus_plugins\mcp_control" "$env:USERPROFILE\abaqus_plugins\mcp_control"

# Linux/Mac
cp -r ~/.abaqus-mcp/abaqus_plugins/mcp_control ~/abaqus_plugins/mcp_control

5. Configure your MCP client

Add to your Cursor / Claude Desktop MCP settings (.mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "abaqus-mcp-server": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["C:/Users/YourUsername/.abaqus-mcp/mcp_server.py"]
    }
  }
}

Usage

Start MCP (in Abaqus)

Experimental — non-blocking background thread (may be unstable on some Abaqus builds):

mcp_start()  # GUI remains responsive if background worker is supported

Menu: Plug-ins → MCP → Start MCP (Background)

Alternative — cooperative loop (mostly responsive):

mcp_coop_loop()

Menu: Plug-ins → MCP → Start MCP (Cooperative)

Alternative — blocking mode:

mcp_loop()  # blocks console

Menu: Plug-ins → MCP → Start MCP (Blocking)

| Mode | GUI Responsive | Stop Method | | ------------------------------- | ------------------ | --------------------------- | | Background (mcp_start()) | Yes (if supported) | mcp_stop() or menu | | Cooperative (mcp_coop_loop()) | Mostly yes | mcp_stop() or stop.flag | | Blocking (mcp_loop()) | No | stop.flag / interrupt |

For maximum reliability, use mcp_loop() in production sessions.

Check Status

mcp_status()  # prints status to console

Menu: Plug-ins → MCP → MCP Status

Stop MCP

Option 1 — GUI menu: Plug-ins → MCP → Stop MCP

Option 2 — Abaqus console:

mcp_stop()

Option 3 — PowerShell:

echo $null > "$env:USERPROFILE\.abaqus-mcp\stop.flag"

Option 4 — Run stop_mcp.py from any Python environment.

MCP Tools

These tools are exposed to MCP clients via mcp_server.py:

| Tool | Description | | ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | check_abaqus_connection | Verify Abaqus is running and plugin is responding | | execute_script | Execute a Python script inside Abaqus/CAE | | get_model_info | Get model details (parts, materials, steps, loads, BCs, etc.) | | list_jobs | List all analysis jobs in the session | | submit_job | Submit a job by name and wait for completion | | get_odb_info | Open an ODB file read-only and return metadata | | get_viewport_image | Capture a viewport screenshot as base64 | | ping | Test connection (returns version info) |

MCP Resources

| URI | Description | | ----------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | abaqus://status | Real-time plugin status (running/stopped, version, uptime) |

File-Based IPC Protocol

Write a JSON command file into ~/.abaqus-mcp/commands/:

import json, os, time

command = {
    'id': 'my_command',
    'type': 'execute_script',
    'script': 'print("Hello from Abaqus!")',
    'timestamp': time.time(),
}

cmd_path = os.path.expanduser('~/.abaqus-mcp/commands/cmd_my_command.json')
with open(cmd_path, 'w') as f:
    json.dump(command, f)

Result will appear at ~/.abaqus-mcp/results/my_command.json.

Command Types

| Type | Parameters | Description | | -------------------- | ------------------------- | ------------------------------- | | execute_script | script (str) | Execute Python script in Abaqus | | get_model_info | — | Get current model information | | list_jobs | — | List all defined jobs | | submit_job | job_name (str) | Submit and wait for a job | | get_odb_info | odb_path (str) | Read ODB metadata | | get_viewport_image | viewport_name, format | Capture viewport screenshot | | ping | — | Test connection | | stop | — | Request loop stop |

Directory Structure

~/.abaqus-mcp/
├── abaqus_mcp_plugin.py      # Abaqus-side plugin (runs inside CAE)
├── mcp_server.py              # MCP server (runs externally)
├── stop_mcp.py                # Helper to send stop signal
├── abaqus_v6.env.example      # Auto-load config template
├── .mcp.json                  # MCP client config example
├── abaqus_plugins/
│   └── mcp_control/
│       ├── __init__.py
│       └── mcp_control_plugin.py
├── commands/                  # Incoming command files
├── results/                   # Outgoing result files
├── scripts/                   # Temporary script files
├── screenshots/               # Temporary viewport captures
├── status.json                # Heartbeat status (updated every 2s)
├── mcp.log                    # Operation log
└── stop.flag                  # Stop signal file

Troubleshooting

Plugin says "running" but no commands are consumed:
1. Run mcp_stop() then mcp_start() again
2. Check ~/.abaqus-mcp/status.json — timestamp should update every ~2s
3. Check ~/.abaqus-mcp/mcp.log for errors

Abaqus uses a different home directory:

import os; os.environ['ABAQUS_MCP_HOME'] = r'C:\Users\YourName\.abaqus-mcp'

Set this before loading the plugin.

Commands timing out:
- Stale commands (>2 min) are auto-cleaned
- Ensure the plugin is in running state via mcp_status()
GUI plugin not showing:
- Verify ~/abaqus_plugins/mcp_control/ exists and contains mcp_control_plugin.py
- Restart Abaqus/CAE

License

MIT License

MCP Servers