Connect your AI assistant

CADshift AI for AutoCAD gives an AI assistant tools inside the AutoCAD on your PC: it can read your drawing, draw and change geometry, and check your drafting standard. The thinking is done by the assistant you already use. This guide shows how to connect the two.

Two ways to connect

	On this PC	Through Microsoft 365 Copilot
How it works	The AI app on your PC talks straight to the CADshift plugin in AutoCAD. Nothing goes over the internet to CADshift.	Copilot talks to the CADshift relay at cadshift.com, and the relay passes each request to the AutoCAD on your PC.
Which assistants	Claude Desktop, LM Studio, AnythingLLM and Jan, plus developer tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code and Devin Desktop (Windsurf)	Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Chat
What you need	CADshift installed, AutoCAD 2025, 2026 or 2027, and one of these apps on the same PC	CADshift installed, a work Microsoft account, your IT adding the CADshift app to Microsoft 365, and a sign-in from the AutoCAD ribbon
Set it up	Automatic, one command, or by hand	Microsoft 365 Copilot

Either way, AutoCAD must be open on your PC while the assistant works, because the work happens in your AutoCAD.

Which page do I need?

I want to…	Go to
Let the installer connect my apps	Automatic set-up
Connect one app later, with one command	One command per app
Connect Claude Desktop, LM Studio, AnythingLLM or Jan myself	Set up by hand
Connect Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code or Devin Desktop (Windsurf)	Developer tools
Use CADshift from Microsoft 365 Copilot	Microsoft 365 Copilot
Fix “the assistant can’t see CADshift” and other problems	Troubleshooting

Before you start

Install CADshift. Download the installer from the CADshift AI for AutoCAD page (sign in to cadshift.com first), close AutoCAD, and run it. It installs for your Windows account only and does not need administrator rights. IT departments deploying it to many PCs can download the MSI at cadshift.com/downloads/autocad-mcp/msi, also after signing in.
Start AutoCAD 2025, 2026 or 2027. A CADshift tab appears on the ribbon. Your 14-day trial starts the first time.
Connect your assistant with one of the pages above.

ChatGPT

The ChatGPT desktop app cannot run tools on your PC: it connects to tools only over the internet. A ChatGPT connection through the CADshift relay is planned, but it is not available yet.

Getting help

Email [email protected] and we’ll get back to you the same business day. It helps to attach the log files listed in Troubleshooting.