Connect an AI app to AutoCAD with one command

CADshift installs a small command-line helper, cadshift-autocad-setup-cli.exe, next to the server. One command connects an AI app, another disconnects it. It writes the same CADshift entry as the installer’s Connect your assistant page. One difference: if your IT department has chosen which apps the installer connects, the command still connects the apps you name.

Fully close the app first

Quit the AI app before you run the command. Claude Desktop rewrites its settings when it exits, so if it is still running it can remove CADshift again. Right-click its icon in the notification area (next to the clock) and choose Quit; closing the window is not enough.

Open PowerShell or Command Prompt

Press the Windows key, type PowerShell (or cmd), and press Enter. You don’t need to run it as administrator. Then copy one of the commands below, paste it with a right-click, and press Enter.

The command prints what it did, one line per app, in the same window.

Connect an app

Replace claude-desktop with the id of your app from the table below.

PowerShell

& "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\CADshift\AutoCAD MCP\cadshift-autocad-setup-cli.exe" --register claude-desktop

Command Prompt (cmd)

"%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\CADshift\AutoCAD MCP\cadshift-autocad-setup-cli.exe" --register claude-desktop

To connect several apps at once, separate the ids with commas, for example --register cursor,vscode. --register detected connects every app CADshift finds installed on the PC.

An app CADshift doesn’t find

From version 0.1.1, --register connects an app only when the app itself is installed, for your Windows account or for all users of the PC; otherwise its line says not found on this PC and nothing is written. If the app is installed where CADshift doesn’t look, such as a portable copy or a custom folder, add --force:

& "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\CADshift\AutoCAD MCP\cadshift-autocad-setup-cli.exe" --register cursor --force

--force needs the apps named, as in --register cursor --force; it doesn’t go with detected or all. Most apps must still have been started once, so that they have made their settings folder.

Disconnect an app

PowerShell

& "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\CADshift\AutoCAD MCP\cadshift-autocad-setup-cli.exe" --unregister claude-desktop

Command Prompt (cmd)

"%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\CADshift\AutoCAD MCP\cadshift-autocad-setup-cli.exe" --unregister claude-desktop

--unregister all disconnects every app. Only the CADshift entry is taken out. Your other tools and settings in the app stay as they were.

See which apps CADshift knows

PowerShell

& "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\CADshift\AutoCAD MCP\cadshift-autocad-setup-cli.exe" --list-clients

Command Prompt (cmd)

"%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\CADshift\AutoCAD MCP\cadshift-autocad-setup-cli.exe" --list-clients

It only reads; it changes nothing. One row per app:

id              found  connected  config
claude-desktop  yes    no         C:\Users\kim\AppData\Roaming\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
vscode          yes    yes        C:\Users\kim\.copilot\mcp-config.json

Column	Means
id	The app’s id, for `--register` and `--unregister`
found	`yes` when the app is installed on this PC, for your Windows account or for all users, and, for Claude Code, Cursor, Devin Desktop (Windsurf), LM Studio and AnythingLLM, has been started once for your account. (Version 0.1.0 also said `yes` when only a settings folder of the app was left.)
connected	`yes` when the app’s settings already start this CADshift
config	The settings file CADshift writes for that app (several are separated by `;`)

A row with ? in found and connected and (could not check: …) as its config means CADshift couldn’t look at that app; the other rows are still right.

App ids

App	Id	Then
Claude Desktop	`claude-desktop`	Quit it completely (notification area icon, Quit) and open it again
LM Studio	`lm-studio`	Reopen it; CADshift is in its MCP servers (Program tab)
AnythingLLM Desktop	`anythingllm`	On Agent Skills, press Refresh; CADshift is listed as an MCP server
Claude Code	`claude-code`	Start a new session; `/mcp` lists `cadshift-autocad`
Cursor	`cursor`	Reopen it; CADshift is in its MCP servers (Customize, in the sidebar)
VS Code (GitHub Copilot Chat, agent mode)	`vscode`	In Copilot Chat's agent mode, CADshift is in the tools (MCP: List Servers)
Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf)	`windsurf`	Reopen it to load CADshift (22 specialised tools are off for the legacy Cascade agent's 100-tool limit)

The command doesn’t connect these apps yet. Set them up by hand on their own pages: Jan.

Each app’s own page shows how to check that it worked.

If a command fails

You see	What it means
An app’s line says NOT connected and names its settings file	That file has a mistake in it, and CADshift left it alone: see invalid JSON
An app’s line says … not found on this PC …	CADshift didn’t find the app, so it wrote nothing for it. Install the app, start it once, and run the command again. From version 0.1.1, if the app is installed where CADshift doesn’t look, add `--force`
Claude Code: not set up for this Windows account	Claude Code hasn’t made its settings file yet. Start Claude Code once and run the command again, or run the `claude mcp add` command the line shows
An app’s line says … installed … but not started for this Windows account yet (0.1.1 and later)	The app is there but hasn’t made its settings folder yet. Start it once, then run the command again
CADshift AI for AutoCAD is not installed for this Windows account	The command found no CADshift install for the Windows account you are signed in with. Run the installer first, signed in as yourself
Unknown AI client ‘…’	An app id the command doesn’t know. Check the spelling against the app ids
Run with –help for the options	A typo in the command, such as an unknown option. Run it with `--help` to see the options
Setup failed unexpectedly	Something went wrong in CADshift itself. The details are in `setup.log` (where the logs are); send it to [email protected]

For scripts: the command exits with 0 when it ran, even when an app’s line says it wasn’t found or wasn’t connected, so read the lines. It exits with 1 when it failed, for example when CADshift is not installed for this Windows account (and --list-clients exits with 1 when any row is ?), and with 4 for wrong arguments: an unknown option or app id, or --force without the apps named.

Before every change, a backup

Before CADshift changes an app’s settings file, it saves a copy next to it ending in .cadshift-backup. The copy from before CADshift first touched the file is kept as .cadshift-original. Only the CADshift entry is changed: comments and the layout of a file that has them stay as they were. If a settings file has a mistake in it, CADshift leaves it alone and says so: see invalid JSON.