Connecting an agent

GoatCAD does not ship a model. It works with the coding agent you already use, Claude Code or Codex, on your own subscription. The agent talks to the open design through a local MCP server that GoatCAD runs while it is open.

Inside GoatCAD

Install the agent’s CLI: Claude Code or Codex.
In Settings ▸ AI integrations ▸ Agent, choose Claude Code or Codex.
Click the agent button in the activity bar.

The agent opens in a tab, already connected to GoatCAD; there is nothing to configure. The button resumes the folder’s last session when there is one, and each window has one agent tab.

If the CLI is not installed, the tab says so, links the install page, and works as a plain shell. Install the CLI, then close the tab and open it again.

From a terminal outside GoatCAD

Settings ▸ AI integrations ▸ MCP server shows the server’s address, by default http://127.0.0.1:8788/mcp, and a line to copy for each agent:

Claude Code: a claude mcp add command to run once in a terminal.
Codex: a table to add to ~/.codex/config.toml.

Both carry a token. Replace token issues a new one, after which the old lines stop working and need copying again. The server only listens on your own machine, and only while GoatCAD is open.

What the agent can do

The same panel lists the server’s tools and prompts. They cover reading and editing schematics, updating the board from the schematic, symbol and footprint libraries, the BOM, schematic checks, reading datasheets, and searching parts at DigiKey and Mouser (see Part search). In Claude Code they appear as mcp__goatcad__*. Type a prompt as /mcp__goatcad__<name>, such as /mcp__goatcad__init; the / menu lists it as /goatcad:<name> (MCP).

Edits the agent makes land in the open editor, not straight on disk. Each is undoable, and nothing is saved until you save.