# Mechanical AI Skill > AI-powered Mechanical Engineering Review Skill for CAD, FEA, DFM, DFA and Assembly Analysis. - **Type:** MCP server - **Install:** `agentstack add mcp-almightyshui-mechanical-ai-skill` - **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior - **Seller:** [almightyshui](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/almightyshui) - **Installs:** 0 - **Category:** [Integrations](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/integrations) - **Latest version:** 0.1.0 - **License:** MIT - **Upstream author:** [almightyshui](https://github.com/almightyshui) - **Source:** https://github.com/almightyshui/Mechanical-AI-Skill ## Install ```sh agentstack add mcp-almightyshui-mechanical-ai-skill ``` Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent. ## About AI Mechanical Engineering Review Skill Upload a STEP assembly. Understand the design. Review engineering risks. Generate reports. > **Not another CAD copilot.** Mechanical AI Skill focuses on engineering **understanding and review** — not geometry generation. It's a structured engineering-review layer that lets an AI agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor) reason about a mechanical assembly. > > Put differently: it's the **first AI-native engineering review layer for mechanical assemblies** — not a CAD tool, not a simulation tool, not a DFM tool, but the reasoning layer that sits between an AI agent and all of those. ``` Upload assembly → Understand assembly → Engineering review → Engineering report ``` ## Why Mechanical assemblies are hard for AI agents to reason about. A large STEP assembly can contain: - Hundreds of components - Complex mating relationships - Hidden mechanisms - Manufacturing risks - Assembly complexity **Mechanical AI Skill provides a structured engineering review layer** so an AI agent can go from a raw CAD file to an understanding of the design and a real engineering review — with the honest assumptions and caveats an engineer would attach. This is the open **Community Edition**, fully functional on its own. ## What it is — and is not **Mechanical AI Skill is _not_:** - ❌ A CAD modeling copilot - ❌ A generative / geometry-creation tool - ❌ A drawing or feature-modeling assistant **Mechanical AI Skill _is_:** - ✅ Assembly understanding (structure, BOM, mechanisms) - ✅ Engineering review (interference, DFM/DFA, risk) - ✅ Mechanical diagnostics (clashes, clearances, complexity) - ✅ Engineering reporting (PDF / HTML) ## Example — one STEP in, a full review out **Input:** a real 39 MB SolidWorks-exported STEP of a dual-station robotic welding cell. No SolidWorks, no geometry kernel — just the Community Edition reading the STEP. **Every figure is the actual output; nothing is invented.** **Output** *(`review_summary`, written to `mech_review/review_summary.md` next to the STEP)* ``` EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 142 unique parts · 357 instances · assembly depth 4 COMPLEXITY High — 357 instances, 142 unique parts, depth 4, 2 mechanism subsystems MANUFACTURING MIX Custom (in-house) 78% · Commercial / classified 22% MECHANISMS Robot Arm (95%) · Pneumatic Cylinder (76%) VENDORS FANUC (7) · Nook (4) · SCHUNK (3) · Bimba (3) · Banner (1) · Lincoln Electric (1) CATEGORIES Robot/Arm 7 · Grippers 5 · Linear Motion 4 · Pneumatic 3 · Sensors 1 · Welding 1 Custom Machined: 301065 (44) · 301066 (19) · 307070 (6) · 301060 (5) · 330001 (5) RISK 88 / 100 (higher = lower risk) FINDINGS 1. High part variety (Medium) Evidence: 142 unique parts across 357 instances Impact: Higher inventory, sourcing, and assembly complexity Recommendation: (Professional) 2. High custom-part ratio (Medium) Evidence: 78% of classified instances are custom (in-house) Impact: Manufacturing cost and lead time driven by in-house parts Recommendation: (Professional) 3. High instance count (Medium) · 357 instances · Recommendation: (Professional) 4. Deep assembly structure (Low) · depth 4 · Recommendation: (Professional) ``` A plain STEP viewer shows you the geometry. None of them tell you, from the file alone, that this is a **dual-station FANUC M-16iB welding cell, 78% in-house parts, six vendors, high complexity, with four findings worth a closer look**. That's the difference between *viewing* a model and *understanding* an assembly. Full write-up: **[Robotic Welding Cell](examples/robot_welding_cell/review.md)** — real 39 MB STEP, every number verbatim. It can also emit the structure as a diagram that renders right here on GitHub: ```mermaid graph TD n1["Welding Cell"] --> n2["Station 1"] n1["Welding Cell"] --> n3["Station 2"] n2["Station 1"] --> n4["M-16iB Robot"] n2["Station 1"] --> n5["Pneumatic Fixtures"] n3["Station 2"] --> n6["M-16iB Robot"] n3["Station 2"] --> n7["Pneumatic Fixtures"] ``` ## What the Community Edition already does No license. Runs standalone. On a STEP file alone (no SolidWorks), it reads structure and runs approximate geometry checks; with SolidWorks it runs the production checks. **Assembly understanding** - **Executive Review** — one command (`review_summary`) reads the STEP and returns an engineer-facing verdict: assembly scale, detected mechanisms, vendors, categories, a name-level BOM, and a risk score — you don't pre-run the other checks, it orchestrates them - **BOM generation** + part count + standard-part identification — works on a plain STEP with **no SolidWorks and no geometry kernel**: a real name-level BOM with true quantities (from assembly instance counts), honestly flagged as name-level (no volume/mass/material) - **Assembly Structure Summary** — components, mates, grouping (*what is there*) - **Assembly tree** — a clean structure tree to confirm the model parsed - **Mechanism Detection (Experimental)** — gear train, timing belt, chain drive, lead screw, robot arm, linear slide, pneumatic cylinder, rotary table - **Vendor summary** — detects component brands from names (FANUC, SCHUNK, SMC, THK, Banner …) - **Assembly statistics** — top-level subassemblies and their instance counts - **Component category summary** — counts by kind (motors, sensors, cylinders, robots …) — statistics, not a procurement list - **Exploded structure graph** — a Mermaid diagram of the assembly tree (renders right in the README) - **Adjacency graph** — which parts touch / are neighbours (geometric, from a STEP); without a geometry kernel it returns a clearly-labelled *hierarchy* graph (belongs-to, not touches) — never the two confused. The *force-flow* and *constraint* graphs are Professional **Engineering review & diagnostics** - **Interference detection** + **clearance check** (SolidWorks, or approximate from STEP) - **Rule-based DFM** — deep holes, thin walls, sharp corners (on supplied feature measurements) - **Basic DFA** — part/fastener counts, assembly-depth complexity, tool-clearance checks - **Fastener checks** — thread-engagement (n×D rule) and missing-washer / missing-nut stack screens - **Risk score** — 0–100 with a transparent breakdown (interference · DFM · DFA complexity · tool accessibility · assembly depth) — not a black-box number **Simulation (real, analytical)** - **Static analysis** (single load case) — stress, deflection, safety factor - **Modal analysis** (first 3 modes) — natural frequencies + resonance check **Reporting** - **Engineering report** — any result → clean PDF / HTML with status, tables, assumptions, caveats > **The Professional Edition is the Engineering Intelligence Layer.** Where the > Community Edition answers *what is this assembly* (structure, mechanisms, vendors, > first-pass review), Professional answers the questions an experienced engineer asks > next: > - **Why does this design exist?** — design-intent recognition, function identification > - **How does force flow through it?** — automatic load-path and power-flow reasoning > - **Where will it fail in real life?** — failure-mode prediction, FMEA, fatigue/thermal/CFD > - **How should it be manufactured at scale?** — advanced DFM/DFA, cost, procurement > > Concretely that means fatigue, thermal, CFD, multibody dynamics, topology > optimization, automatic load/constraint identification, advanced DFM/DFA, advanced > risk scoring, automated design review, and procurement intelligence. Those commands > ship here but return `enterprise_required` until the licensed core is installed. > Full split in [Editions](#editions). ## How it compares It isn't competing with CAD or CAE tools — it sits in a different layer (the AI agent's reasoning layer) and *hands off* to them where they're authoritative. | | What it's for | Runs without a CAD/CAE seat? | Driven by an AI agent? | |---|---|---|---| | SolidWorks / CAD | model & assemble geometry | no | no | | ANSYS / Abaqus (CAE) | high-fidelity simulation | no | no | | DFM checkers | manufacturability rules | usually needs the CAD seat | no | | **Mechanical AI Skill** | **understand & review an assembly, then route to the right tool** | **yes (STEP-only fallback)** | **yes (Claude Code / Codex / Cursor)** | The skill answers "what is this, is it sane, where should I look" in plain language from a STEP file, then points you to SolidWorks for the authoritative interference check, or to the Professional core for full FE / design review. It's the layer that was missing — not a replacement for the tools underneath it. See [benchmarks](docs/BENCHMARKS.md). ## Architecture The skill sits between your AI agent and the real CAD/CAE tools, exposing one stable JSON contract. Free capabilities compute locally; Professional capabilities delegate to the licensed core (or return `enterprise_required`). ## Install **Claude Code** (recommended — plugin, auto-updates via marketplace): ``` /plugin marketplace add almightyshui/Mechanical-AI-Skill /plugin install mechanical-ai-skill ``` **Codex, Cursor, or any Agent Skills host:** ```bash git clone https://github.com/almightyshui/Mechanical-AI-Skill bash mechanical-ai-skill/install.sh all # Claude Code + Codex (+ Cursor in a repo) ``` Per agent: `install.sh claude | codex | cursor`. Manual paths in [`INSTALL.md`](INSTALL.md). **Zero config — works on a STEP file alone, however you point at it.** Hand the skill a `.STEP`, a non-standard extension (e.g. a `.snapshot.1`), a `.zip`, or the unzipped folder — it resolves all of them and picks the right STEP. With no SolidWorks and no geometry kernel, BOM, part count, assembly tree, mechanisms, vendors, categories, the executive review, and **approximate** interference/clearance all run directly from the STEP (geometry-dependent checks are flagged approximate; production sign-off still uses the SolidWorks check). Every result carries a one-line `headline` and a `status` (`ok` / `deck_only` / `needs_input` / `enterprise_required` / `failed`) so an agent never misreads a graceful degradation as a failure — and never fabricates data the skill didn't compute. Verify in 30 seconds: ```bash git clone https://github.com/almightyshui/Mechanical-AI-Skill cd mechanical-ai-skill bash examples/demo.sh # full review pass, no SolidWorks needed ``` It ends with a machine-readable summary an agent would report: ```json { "status": "ok", "bom_unique_parts": 27, "interference_count": 2, "dfm_findings": {"blocker": 0, "risk": 2}, "static_safety_factor": 5.67, "risk_score": 71 } ``` ## What you do with it ### Make a BOM / understand a model > **"Generate a BOM and summarize this assembly's structure."** Walks the SolidWorks tree → bill of materials (item, part, quantity), unique-part and total counts, standard-part flags (screws, bearings, washers). For the **structure summary**, it returns the component + mate structure and a plain inventory — *what is there*. Interpreting *why it's designed that way* (working principle, power flow, design intent) is the Professional Edition. ### Check an assembly > **"Check this assembly for interference."** Runs SolidWorks Interference Detection → each clashing pair with its overlap volume, plus mate errors, over/under-defined mates, dangling references, and clearance violations. Distinguishes a likely press-fit from a real clash. No SolidWorks on this machine? You get a macro to run, not a fake "all clear." ### Get a report > **"Put that in a PDF."** Any result — BOM or diagnostics — renders to a clean PDF (or HTML, zero-dependency fallback) with status, tables, assumptions, and caveats. Drop it into a design review. ## Editions | Capability | Community (free) | Professional | |---|:--:|:--:| | BOM · part count · standard-part ID · assembly **structure summary** | ✅ | ✅ | | Interference · mate · clearance diagnostics | ✅ | ✅ | | STEP export · basic PDF/HTML report | ✅ | ✅ | | **Static analysis** | single load case | multi-load, contact, nonlinear, auto-faces | | **Modal analysis** | first 3 modes | unlimited modes, prestressed | | **DFM** | rule-based (supplied features) | advanced rule library | | **DFA** | basic (complexity, tool clearance) | sequence, path, time, automation | | **Mechanism / vendor detection** | type & brand ID | design intent, sourcing, alternates | | **Risk score** | simple roll-up | criticality-weighted, code-aware | | Fatigue · thermal · CFD · multibody dynamics | — | ✅ | | Topology optimization / lightweighting | — | ✅ | | Automatic load / constraint / mesh identification | — | ✅ | | Automated design review · procurement · advanced report | — | ✅ | Community commands for Professional capabilities exist and validate your task, but return `enterprise_required` with an upgrade note — they never crash and never fabricate output. Installing the licensed `mechanical_ai_core` package lights them up through the **same commands** (the skill auto-detects and delegates; see [`sdk/CONTRACT.md`](sdk/CONTRACT.md)). ## How it answers, and why you can trust it | Status | Meaning | |--------|---------| | `ok` | ran, valid results | | `needs_input` | required data missing — agent asks you, nothing ran | | `deck_only` | SolidWorks not installed — macro generated + run command | | `failed` | ran but errored — never reported as valid | | `enterprise_required` | needs the Professional core — `upgrade` note, graceful | Every default and auto-choice is in `assumptions`; every limit in `caveats`. Standard-part flags are name heuristics, marked for confirmation. ## For builders Open, stable JSON contract — identical across agents. See [`AGENT_README.md`](AGENT_README.md) and [`sdk/CONTRACT.md`](sdk/CONTRACT.md). Open connectors in [`connectors/`](connectors); task templates in [`examples/`](examples). Minimal example: ```bash cat > task.json Skills run with your agent's permissions. Read [`SKILL.md`](SKILL.md) first; install only from sources you trust. This skill drives licensed CAD tools through their own APIs. ## Source & license This open-source MCP server is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code. - **Author:** [almightyshui](https://github.com/almightyshui) - **Source:** [almightyshui/Mechanical-AI-Skill](https://github.com/almightyshui/Mechanical-AI-Skill) - **License:** MIT Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above. ## Pricing - **Free** — Free ## Security capabilities Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access: - **Network access:** no - **Filesystem access:** no - **Shell / process execution:** no - **Environment & secrets:** no - **Dynamic code execution:** no *"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.* ## Versions - **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source. ## Links - Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/mcp-almightyshui-mechanical-ai-skill - Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/almightyshui - Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse --- Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.