Abaqus MCP Server

A local stdio MCP server that enables Claude Code to interact with Abaqus FEM software — model generation, job submission, log monitoring, and result extraction from ODB files.

🎓 Ideal for simulation automation, parametric studies, post-processing pipelines, and teaching FEM scripting through natural language.

✨ Features

• 11 MCP tools covering the full Abaqus workflow — from script generation to result extraction
• Workspace sandboxing — all file operations are scoped to a configurable directory
• ODB extraction via generated Abaqus Python scripts (no direct binary parsing — uses odbAccess)
• Security-first — no arbitrary shell execution, path traversal blocked, confirmation required for destructive operations
• Windows support — correctly handles Abaqus .bat file execution via cmd.exe /c call
• Output truncation — prevents token blowout in LLM context windows
• 85 tests across unit, mocked integration, and MCP protocol layers

📋 Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• Abaqus (tested with Abaqus 2025; the abaqus command must be available)
• The mcp Python SDK (≥1.28.0) is installed automatically as a dependency

🚀 Quick Start

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/abaqus-mcp-server.git
cd abaqus-mcp-server

# Install in editable mode with dev dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Copy and edit environment config (optional)
copy .env.example .env

# Run the server
abaqus-mcp serve

🔌 Claude Desktop Integration

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "abaqus": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "abaqus_mcp_server.cli", "serve"],
      "env": {
        "ABAQUS_COMMAND": "abaqus",
        "ABAQUS_MCP_WORKSPACE_DIR": "./abaqus_work"
      },
      "timeout": 600000
    }
  }
}

Or with Claude Code, add to your project's .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "abaqus": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "abaqus_mcp_server.cli", "serve"],
      "env": {
        "ABAQUS_COMMAND": "D:\\SIMULIA\\Commands\\abaqus.bat",
        "ABAQUS_MCP_WORKSPACE_DIR": "${CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR:-.}/abaqus_work"
      }
    }
  }
}

⚙️ Configuration

All settings via environment variables (prefix ABAQUS_MCP_):

Variable	Default	Description
ABAQUS_COMMAND	auto-detect	Path to Abaqus launcher (abaqus.bat)
ABAQUS_MCP_WORKSPACE_DIR	./abaqus_work	Workspace root directory
ABAQUS_MCP_MAX_CPUS	4	Maximum CPUs per job
ABAQUS_MCP_SCRIPT_TIMEOUT	300	Script execution timeout (seconds)
ABAQUS_MCP_JOB_TIMEOUT	3600	Job execution timeout (seconds)
ABAQUS_MCP_MAX_OUTPUT_CHARS	20000	Max chars in a single tool output
ABAQUS_MCP_ALLOW_OVERWRITE	false	Allow overwriting existing files
ABAQUS_MCP_LOG_LEVEL	WARNING	Server-side logging level

🛠️ Tools

Tool	Description	Confirm?
check_environment	Verify Abaqus installation, Python paths, and workspace status
validate_workspace	Create or validate workspace directory structure
generate_script	Generate Abaqus Python modeling scripts (cantilever, static, modal, contact)
run_script	Execute Python scripts via abaqus python with timeout control
submit_job	Submit an .inp file for FEM analysis	✓
job_status	Check job progress from .sta and .lck files
read_job_logs	Read .sta/.msg/.dat/.log with automatic error/warning extraction
extract_odb_summary	Extract ODB metadata — steps, frames, instances, field outputs
extract_field_output	Extract field output (S, U, E, PEEQ, RF, etc.) as CSV with statistics
extract_history_output	Extract history output (ALLIE, ALLSE, RF, etc.) as time-value CSV
clean_job	Remove intermediate files, preserving .odb/.inp/.cae	✓

🏗️ Architecture

src/abaqus_mcp_server/
├── app.py                  # FastMCP singleton — all tools register here
├── cli.py                  # argparse entry point
├── config.py               # pydantic Settings (ABAQUS_MCP_ prefix)
├── security.py             # Workspace sandboxing & path validation
├── abaqus_cli.py           # Abaqus subprocess abstraction (all calls go here)
├── log_parser.py           # .sta/.msg/.dat parsers
├── odb_script_templates.py # Generate Abaqus Python scripts for ODB extraction
├── constants.py            # Status strings, file extensions, error keywords
└── tools/                  # 11 MCP tool implementations (one per file)

Key Design Decisions

1. FastMCP — high-level MCP SDK with auto-generated JSON schemas from type annotations
2. ODB extraction via generated scripts — the server generates temporary Python scripts that run under abaqus python (which has odbAccess); system Python cannot import odbAccess
3. Windows subprocess — Abaqus .bat files require cmd.exe /c "call abaqus.bat ..." (no shell=True)
4. Workspace sandboxing — security.validate_path() enforces all file ops stay within the workspace
5. Confirmation gates — destructive tools require confirmed=True as an explicit user gate

🔒 Security

• All file paths are validated against the workspace directory
• Path traversal (../../) is blocked
• Dangerous shell characters (;, |, &, `, $, etc.) are rejected
• submit_job, run_script, and clean_job require explicit confirmed=True
• No arbitrary shell execution — all Abaqus calls use explicit argument lists
• Output is truncated to ABAQUS_MCP_MAX_OUTPUT_CHARS to prevent context overflow

🧪 Testing

# Run all tests
python -m pytest tests/ -v

# Run a specific area
python -m pytest tests/test_security.py -v

# Run with coverage
python -m pytest tests/ --cov=abaqus_mcp_server --cov-report=html

Test Layers

Layer	What	Requires Abaqus
Unit	security, config, log parsers	No
Mocked integration	AbaqusCLI, ODB extraction	No
MCP protocol	Server subprocess, tool listing	No
Live integration	Real Abaqus calls	Yes

📁 Example: Cantilever Beam

examples/simple_beam/ contains a complete cantilever beam analysis:

1. beam.inp — linear elastic beam with C3D8 elements
2. Ask Claude Code: "Submit the beam.inp and extract the maximum Mises stress"

The server will: validate the workspace → submit the job → check status → extract ODB summary → extract field output.

🐛 Troubleshooting

Abaqus not found

Set ABAQUS_COMMAND to the full path:

set ABAQUS_COMMAND=D:\SIMULIA\Commands\abaqus.bat

ODB extraction fails

• The .odb file may be locked (job still running) — check with job_status first
• Abaqus Python must be able to read the workspace directory
• The generated temp scripts run under abaqus python, not system Python

Path traversal errors

All file paths must be relative to ABAQUS_MCP_WORKSPACE_DIR.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup, project structure, and guidelines.

📄 License

MIT — see LICENSE for details.