ahujasid/mcp-for-blender

formerly blender-mcp — the PyPI package is now mcp-for-blender. Existing setups keep working; no config change is required. Read more

Disclaimer: This is a third-party integration and not made by Blender

Prompt-assisted 3D modeling, scene creation, and manipulation — driven by AI.

Supporters

CodeRabbit Guillermo Rauch

All supporters: Support this project

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Quickstart

Note: the PyPI package blender-mcp is now mcp-for-blender. Existing setups

keep working — uvx blender-mcp still runs the server and no config change is

required. New installs should use mcp-for-blender.

What changed and why

One command sets up your AI apps and the Blender addon:

macOS / Linux

curl -LsSf https://www.mcp-for-blender.com/install.sh | sh

Windows (PowerShell)

irm https://www.mcp-for-blender.com/install.ps1 | iex

From Command Prompt instead: powershell -c "irm https://www.mcp-for-blender.com/install.ps1 | iex"

Prefer not to run a script, or Windows Defender blocked it? Install uv with winget, open a new terminal, then run setup:

winget install --id=astral-sh.uv -e
uvx mcp-for-blender setup

Already have uv? Run uvx mcp-for-blender setup instead.

It installs uv if needed, finds the MCP clients on your machine (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Devin Desktop/Windsurf, OpenCode, Antigravity), and lets you pick which to set up. Then it installs the Blender addon and enables it. Your existing config is kept: it only adds a blender entry and saves a .bak of each file it changes.

Then fully quit and reopen your AI app (on Windows, quit it from the system tray), open Blender, and ask it to build something. The addon starts its server when Blender opens.

# macOS
brew install uv
Linux
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
Windows
winget install --id=astral-sh.uv -e
or, with uv's installer
powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "blender": {
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": ["mcp-for-blender"]
        }
    }
}

claude mcp add blender uvx mcp-for-blender

codex mcp add blender -- uvx mcp-for-blender

uvx mcp-for-blender install-addon

Note: Only run one instance of the MCP server (either Cursor or Claude Desktop), not both.

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Table of Contents

• Quickstart
• Features
• Premium
• Components
• Installation
• Automatic setup
• Prerequisites
• Make your client find uvx
• Pin the Python version
• Install without uv
• Run with Docker
• Environment Variables
• MCP Client Setup
• Claude for Desktop
• Codex
• Cursor
• Visual Studio Code
• OpenCode
• Antigravity
• Installing the Blender Addon
• Upgrading (existing users)
• Usage
• Starting the Connection
• Using with Claude
• Capabilities
• Example Commands
• Persistent API Credentials
• Troubleshooting
• Technical Details
• Limitations & Security Considerations
• Telemetry Control
• Feedback
• Contributing
• Disclaimer
• Star History

Features

| | | |---|---| | Two-way communication | Connect Claude AI to Blender through a socket-based server | | Object manipulation | Create, modify, and delete 3D objects in Blender | | Material control | Apply and modify materials and colors | | Visual verification | Multi-angle, camera, wireframe, X-ray and animation-strip views, plus renders, so the AI checks its own work | | Code execution | The AI writes Blender Python directly | | Asset & model generation | Poly Haven assets, Sketchfab models, Poly Pizza low-poly models, and AI-generated 3D models via Meshy, Tripo, Hyper3D Rodin and Hunyuan3D |

Premium

Generate AI 3D models (Meshy, Hunyuan3D, Tripo, Hyper3D Rodin) straight into Blender without bringing your own API keys. More details

Components

The system consists of two main components:

1. Blender Addon (addon.py) — a Blender addon that creates a socket server within Blender to receive and execute commands 2. MCP Server (src/blender_mcp/server.py) — a Python server that implements the Model Context Protocol and connects to the Blender addon

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Installation

Automatic setup

The quickest way is the one-line installer. It installs uv, configures your MCP clients, and installs and enables the Blender addon:

# macOS / Linux
curl -LsSf https://www.mcp-for-blender.com/install.sh | sh

# Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://www.mcp-for-blender.com/install.ps1 | iex

Already have uv? Run uvx mcp-for-blender setup instead. On Windows, winget install --id=astral-sh.uv -e installs uv without running a script. See Quickstart for what it changes. The rest of this section covers manual setup.

Prerequisites

• Blender 3.0 or newer
• Python 3.10 or newer
• uv package manager

brew install uv

winget install --id=astral-sh.uv -e

powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

$localBin = "$env:USERPROFILE\.local\bin"
$userPath = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "User")
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "$userPath;$localBin", "User")

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Warning: Do not proceed before installing uv.

Make your client find uvx

MCP clients started from a GUI (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code from the Dock/Start menu) do not inherit your terminal's PATH, so a bare "command": "uvx" can fail with spawn uvx ENOENT even though uvx works in your terminal. If that happens:

• Find uvx's full path — which uvx (macOS/Linux) or where uvx (Windows) — and use it as "command", e.g. /opt/homebrew/bin/uvx or C:\Users\\.local\bin\uvx.exe.
• On Windows you can instead wrap it: "command": "cmd", "args": ["/c", "uvx", "mcp-for-blender"].
• After any PATH or config change, fully quit and relaunch the client (Windows: quit from the system tray, not just the window; macOS: Cmd+Q).

Pin the Python version

Avoid conda / pyenv / version conflicts.

uv chooses which Python runs the server. On machines with conda (auto-activated base), pyenv, or asdf — or with a newer CPython release that some dependencies do not have wheels for yet — uv can grab an interpreter that makes installation fail. Pin Python 3.11 and prefer uv-managed interpreters to avoid using whatever is on your PATH:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "blender": {
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": ["--python", "3.11", "mcp-for-blender"],
            "env": { "UV_PYTHON_PREFERENCE": "only-managed" }
        }
    }
}

--python 3.11 still satisfies this package's requires-python >=3.10, and UV_PYTHON_PREFERENCE=only-managed keeps uv from selecting conda, pyenv, asdf, or system Python first. (The repo's .python-version is only a hint for contributors and does not affect uvx.)

If a previous failed attempt keeps replaying after a fix, clear the cache:

uv cache clean mcp-for-blender blender-mcp && uvx --refresh mcp-for-blender

Install without uv

On locked-down machines you can skip uvx entirely with pipx, then point your client at the installed command:

pipx install mcp-for-blender
pipx ensurepath          # then restart your shell / client

Use the resulting absolute path as "command" (find it with which mcp-for-blender / where mcp-for-blender) and omit args.

Run with Docker

You can run the MCP server in a container instead of installing it. Blender itself still runs on your machine — the container only hosts the MCP server, which connects out to the Blender addon.

Build the image from the repo root:

docker build -t mcp-for-blender .

Then point your MCP client at it (the -i flag is required — the server talks to the client over stdin/stdout):

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "blender": {
            "command": "docker",
            "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "mcp-for-blender"]
        }
    }
}

The image defaults to BLENDER_HOST=host.docker.internal, which reaches the host's Blender out of the box with Docker Desktop on macOS and Windows.

On Linux, host.docker.internal doesn't exist and the addon only listens on localhost, so use host networking instead:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "blender": {
            "command": "docker",
            "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "--network=host", "-e", "BLENDER_HOST=localhost", "mcp-for-blender"]
        }
    }
}

To enable safe mode in the container, add "-e", "BLENDER_MCP_SAFE_MODE=1" to args.

Environment Variables

The following environment variables can be used to configure the Blender connection:

| Variable | Default | Description | |---|---|---| | BLENDER_HOST | localhost | Host address for Blender socket server | | BLENDER_PORT | 9876 | Port number for Blender socket server | | BLENDER_MCP_SAFE_MODE | off | Set to 1 to validate scripts before they run in Blender (see below) | | BLENDER_MCP_APPS | auto | Set to 1 to force the inline viewport app on for clients that support MCP Apps without advertising it (the Codex plugin sets this) | | BLENDER_MCP_OPENAI_FORMS | auto | Set to 1 to force the thumbnail asset pickers on (the Codex plugin sets this) |

Example:

export BLENDER_HOST='host.docker.internal'
export BLENDER_PORT=9876

You can also pass the connection as CLI flags, which take precedence over the environment variables. This is handy for running several Blender instances side by side, since each MCP client entry can point at a different port with plain arguments instead of env vars:

uvx mcp-for-blender --port 9877

In an MCP client config that means a second entry differing only in args:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "blender": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["mcp-for-blender"] },
    "blender-b": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["mcp-for-blender", "--port", "9877"] }
  }
}

Each instance needs its own port set in the Blender addon panel to match.

Note: the addon's socket server has no authentication or encryption, so

anyone who can reach that port can run Python inside Blender. Keep it on

localhost unless you are on a trusted network, and prefer an SSH tunnel over

pointing --host/BLENDER_HOST at a remote machine directly.

Safe mode

By default, the AI can run any Python code in Blender. Set BLENDER_MCP_SAFE_MODE=1 to check every script before it runs and block risky code — things like reading or writing files directly, running other programs, accessing the network, or installing code that keeps running after the script ends. Normal Blender work (modeling, materials, rendering, saving, import/export) still works. Blocked scripts are sent back to the AI with the reason, so it can try again with a corrected version.

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MCP Client Setup

Claude for Desktop

Watch the setup instruction video (assuming you have already installed uv)

Go to Claude → Settings → Developer → Edit Config → claude_desktop_config.json and include the following:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "blender": {
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-for-blender"
            ]
        }
    }
}

claude mcp add blender uvx mcp-for-blender

Codex

The Codex CLI, desktop app, and IDE extension all share the same config file (~/.codex/config.toml), so setting the server up once covers all three.

Codex plugin (recommended)

The plugin adds a live viewport inline in the chat (click an object to attach it to your next message), thumbnail pickers for Poly Haven, Sketchfab and Poly Pizza, and @-mentions for scene objects, materials and collections. It isn't in the Codex plugin directory yet, so add it from this repo:

git clone https://github.com/ahujasid/blender-mcp.git
codex plugin marketplace add ./blender-mcp/integrations/codex

Then restart Codex, install MCP for Blender from the plugins directory, and ask it to use MCP for Blender in chat. Once it's running, the viewport opens in a side panel next to the conversation:

Plain MCP server

Register the server with the Codex CLI:

codex mcp add blender -- uvx mcp-for-blender

Or add it by hand to ~/.codex/config.toml (or $CODEX_HOME/config.toml):

[mcp_servers.blender]
command = "uvx"
args = ["mcp-for-blender"]

Or in the Codex desktop app: Settings → MCP servers → Add server → name it blender, pick STDIO, enter uvx mcp-for-blender as the command, then Save and restart. If the app can't find uvx, use its full path instead — see Make your client find uvx.

Check it registered with codex mcp list — the blender server should show as enabled. The tools become available the next time you start Codex.

To set environment variables (e.g. a non-default Blender host/port), pass --env KEY=VALUE flags to codex mcp add, or add them in the config file:

[mcp_servers.blender]
command = "uvx"
args = ["mcp-for-blender"]
env = { BLENDER_HOST = "localhost", BLENDER_PORT = "9876" }

Cursor

macOS — go to Settings → MCP and paste the following:

• To use as a global server, use the "add new global MCP server" button and paste
• To use as a project-specific server, create .cursor/mcp.json in the root of the project and paste

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "blender": {
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-for-blender"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Windows — go to Settings → MCP → Add Server, add a new server with the following settings:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "blender": {
            "command": "cmd",
            "args": [
                "/c",
                "uvx",
                "mcp-for-blender"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Cursor setup video

Note: Only run one instance of the MCP server (either on Cursor or Claude Desktop), not both.

Visual Studio Code

Prerequisites: Make sure you have Visual Studio Code installed before proceeding.

OpenCode

{
  "mcp": {
    "blender-mcp": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["uvx", "mcp-for-blender"],
      "enabled": true,
      "environment": {
        "BLENDER_HOST": "localhost",
        "BLENDER_PORT": "9876"
      }
    }
  }
}

Antigravity

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "blender-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-for-blender"],
      "env": {
        "BLENDER_HOST": "localhost",
        "BLENDER_PORT": "9876"
      }
    }
  }
}

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Installing the Blender Addon

uvx mcp-for-blender setup (see Quickstart) does all of this, including enabling the addon. The steps below are for doing it by hand.

1. Recommended — from a terminal, run:

uvx mcp-for-blender install-addon

This copies the addon into your Blender addons folder as blender_mcp.py. It prints where it wrote to, and keeps a .bak of any file it replaces.

Optional: uvx mcp-for-blender addon-paths lists detected Blender addons folders. Override the destination with BLENDERMCP_ADDONS_DIR=/path/to/scripts/addons.

2. Open Blender

3. Go to Edit → Preferences → Add-ons

4. Enable Interface: MCP for Blender (search "MCP for Blender"). If it doesn't appear yet, click Install… and select the copied blender_mcp.py / addon.py, or restart Blender.

5. Manual alternative — if the command above can't find your Blender install, or you prefer doing it by hand: download addon.py from this repo → in Blender, Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Install… → select the downloaded addon.py → enable it.

Then open the MCP for Blender tab in Blender's sidebar (press N in the 3D viewport) and click Start MCP Server. See Starting the Connection below.

Upgrading (existing users)

For newcomers, go straight to Quickstart. For existing users, see below.

1. Run:

uvx mcp-for-blender@latest update

This updates the MCP server (refreshing uv's cached copy, or upgrading a uv tool install) and every installed copy of the Blender addon, keeping a .bak of each file it replaces. It never downgrades an addon that's newer than the release, and leaves alone a copy you've edited locally. Add --dry-run to see what it would change first.

Use @latest the first time: releases older than 2.1.7 don't have the update command, and uvx may still have one of those cached.

2. Restart your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, ...) so it starts the new server.

3. In Blender: restart it, or Preferences → Add-ons → disable and re-enable Interface: MCP for Blender, then click Start MCP Server again.

If a client is still set up with the old blender-mcp package name, update says so; uvx mcp-for-blender setup switches it over.

Note: the MCP server never modifies your Blender addon files on its own. When it starts, it checks whether the installed addon is behind the bundled copy and logs how to update; update and install-addon are what actually write. Trajectory capture still works on older loaded addons via an execute_code fallback.

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Usage

Starting the Connection

1. In Blender, go to the 3D View sidebar (press N if not visible) 2. Find the MCP for Blender tab 3. Turn on the checkboxes you'd like to use (see more under Capabilities below) 4. Click Connect to Claude 5. Make sure the MCP server is running in your terminal

Using with Claude

Once the config file has been set on Claude, and the addon is running on Blender, you will see a hammer icon with tools for MCP for Blender.

Capabilities

The AI writes Blender Python itself for modelling, layout, materials, animation, rigging and retopology. The MCP adds what Python can't do on its own, as nine tools:

| Tool | What it's for | |---|---| | execute_blender_code | Run Python in your live Blender | | look | See the result from the viewport, camera, angles (auto-framed multi-view sheet, any direction) or frames (animation strip), drawn `sol