ANSYS Icepak MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables AI assistants to interact with ANSYS Icepak through natural language commands, powered by PyAEDT over gRPC.

Import geometry, assign materials and thermal loads, build meshes, run natural/forced convection simulations, and retrieve results — all by chatting with Claude.

Status: work in progress. Core geometry/material/mesh/solve workflow is functional; expect rough edges (see Known Issues).

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Compatible Clients

Client	Supported
Claude Desktop	✅
Cursor	✅
Windsurf	✅
VS Code (Copilot)	✅
Any MCP-compatible client	✅

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Capabilities

Connection Management

Tool	Description
connect_to_icepak	Connect to a running AEDT/Icepak session via gRPC port
check_connection	Check current connection status
disconnect	Release the Icepak connection without closing the project

Geometry

Tool	Description
create_box	Create a rectangular box primitive
create_cylinder	Create a cylinder primitive
create_sphere	Create a sphere primitive
create_region	Create the domain Region object (percentage/absolute offset or position padding)

Materials

Tool	Description
list_materials	List all materials in the active project
assign_material	Assign a material to an existing geometry object

Thermal & Flow Boundaries

Tool	Description
assign_source_power	Assign a fixed heat-source power (W) to an object
assign_opening	Assign an opening boundary on all faces of an object (e.g. the Region)
assign_grille	Assign a grille (perforated) boundary with free-area ratio / loss coefficient
create_fan	Create a fan object (circular or other cross-section)

Solution Setup

Tool	Description
create_solution_setup	Create a steady-state temperature-and-flow solution setup (iterations, convergence, flow regime)

Solve & Results

Tool	Description
solve	Launch the Icepak solver for one or all setups
get_solve_status	Check solved/unsolved status of all setups
export_field_summary	Export a field summary report (e.g. max/min Temperature over a volume or object)

Scripting

Tool	Description
run_icepak_script	Execute arbitrary PyAEDT/Python code against the live Icepak session (runs in background, returns a job ID)
get_script_result	Poll the output of a background script job

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Requirements

• ANSYS Electronics Desktop (AEDT) 2023 R1 or later with Icepak
• Python 3.10+
• PyAEDT (ansys-aedt-core or pyaedt)

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Installation

git clone https://github.com/NedaEmami123/icepak-mcp.git
cd icepak-mcp
python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate       # Windows
pip install ansys-aedt-core mcp

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Configuration

Find your client's config file and add the icepak-mcp server entry:

Client	Config file location
Claude Desktop	%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Cursor	%APPDATA%\Roaming\Cursor\User\globalStorage\cursor.mcp\mcp.json
Windsurf	%APPDATA%\Windsurf\User\globalStorage\codeium.windsurf\mcp_config.json
VS Code	.vscode/mcp.json in your workspace

Add this block:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "icepak-mcp": {
      "command": "C:/path/to/icepak-mcp/venv/Scripts/python.exe",
      "args": ["C:/path/to/icepak-mcp/icepak_mcp_server.py"],
      "env": {
        "ANSYSEM_ROOT261": "C:/Program Files/ANSYS Inc/v261/AnsysEM"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace v261 with your installed AEDT version (e.g. v232, v241, v251).

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Usage

1. Start Icepak and get the gRPC port

Open ANSYS Electronics Desktop with an Icepak design. In the Message Manager, look for:

gRPC server started on port 50051

2. Connect Claude to Icepak

In your chat with Claude:

"Connect to Icepak"

3. Build and solve a thermal model

"Import this STEP file, assign materials, create a natural convection region, add source power to the chips, mesh, and solve."

Claude will typically:

• Import CAD geometry (via run_icepak_script + PyAEDT's import_3d_cad)
• Assign materials per object
• Create a properly-sized air Region (natural or forced convection padding rules)
• Assign source power / opening / grille boundaries
• Create a solution setup and mesh regions
• Solve and pull back field summaries or plots

4. Poll for results (long jobs)

Long workflows (imports, scripted geometry edits, mesh generation) run in the background. Claude will give you a job_id and poll automatically:

"Get script result for job_1"

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Known Issues

• The AEDT gRPC bridge can intermittently lock up on certain calls (e.g. GetObjectsInGroup, GetSetups) after heavy geometry/mesh-region churn or a stuck dialog in the AEDT GUI. Disconnecting/reconnecting (disconnect + connect_to_icepak) usually recovers it; a full AEDT restart is sometimes required.
• solve blocks synchronously and can time out the MCP client on long solves even though AEDT keeps solving in the background — poll get_solve_status afterward rather than re-triggering solve.
• No dedicated tools yet for field plots, mesh regions, or design duplication — use run_icepak_script with raw PyAEDT calls for these.

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License

Apache 2.0 — see LICENSE