The open protocol that lets AI assistants use tools and data, and what MCP servers for Revit, Autodesk's cloud, IFC and other BIM software make possible, and risky.
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open protocol that lets an AI assistant connect to tools and data through small programs called MCP servers. An MCP server for Revit, for example, offers the assistant actions such as "list the doors on Level 2" or "set this parameter". You then ask in plain language, and the assistant chooses and calls those actions. MCP was published as an open standard in late 2024 and is now supported by many AI assistants and development tools.
A BIM manager connects an assistant to a Revit MCP server. She asks for all rooms with no department set: 37 rooms, listed by level. She checks a few in the model, then asks the assistant to set the department from the room number's prefix using a rule she describes. The assistant shows the 37 proposed values; she corrects two, then confirms. The same job by hand was about an hour of clicking; as a one-off script, it would have taken longer to write than to do.
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