Design Automation Commands

Run automated design tasks using the APS☁️APSAutodesk Platform Services - cloud APIs for CAD/BIM automation.View in glossary Design Automation🤖Design AutomationRun Autodesk desktop apps in the cloud.View in glossary v3 API🔌APIInterface for software components to communicate.View in glossary. Create app bundles with custom plugins, define activities, and submit work items for processing.

Note: Design Automation🤖AutomationReplacing manual processes with software.View in glossary commands require 2-legged OAuth🤖2-legged authServer-to-server authentication without user context.View in glossary. Run raps auth test to verify credentials.

Commands Overview

raps da engines

List available Design Automation engines (e.g., AutoCAD✏️AutoCADIndustry-standard 2D/3D CAD software.View in glossary, Revit🏠RevitAutodesk's BIM software for architecture and construction.View in glossary, Inventor, 3ds Max).

raps da engines [--output FORMAT]

Example:

$ raps da engines
$ raps da engines --output json

raps da appbundles

List all registered app bundles.

raps da appbundles [--output FORMAT]

raps da appbundle-create

Create a new app bundle. A “default” alias is automatically created after successful creation.

raps da appbundle-create [OPTIONS]

Options:

• -i, --id <ID> — App bundle ID (CamelCase, no hyphens)
• -e, --engine <ENGINE> — Engine ID (e.g., Autodesk.Revit+2025)
• -d, --description <DESCRIPTION> — Description

Example:

$ raps da appbundle-create -i ExtractData -e "Autodesk.Revit+2025"
$ raps da appbundle-create -i MyPlugin -e "Autodesk.AutoCAD+24" -d "Custom extraction plugin"

New in v4.6: Bare bundle names are automatically qualified with your DA nickname. A “default” alias is auto-created after bundle creation.

raps da appbundle-delete

Delete an app bundle and its aliases.

raps da appbundle-delete <BUNDLE_ID>

Example:

$ raps da appbundle-delete ExtractData

raps da activities

List all registered activities.

raps da activities [--output FORMAT]

raps da activity-create

Create a new activity from CLI💻CLIText-based interface for running commands.View in glossary flags or a JSON📋JSONStandard data interchange format.View in glossary/YAML📝YAMLHuman-readable configuration format.View in glossary definition file. A “default” alias is automatically created after successful creation.

raps da activity-create [OPTIONS]

Options:

• --id <ID> — Activity ID (CamelCase, no hyphens)
• --engine <ENGINE> — Engine ID (e.g., Autodesk.Revit+2025)
• --appbundle <APPBUNDLE> — App bundle ID to use
• --command <COMMAND> — Command line to execute
• --description <DESCRIPTION> — Description
• -f, --file <FILE> — Path to JSON or YAML activity definition file

From CLI flags:

$ raps da activity-create --id ExtractAct --engine "Autodesk.Revit+2025" --appbundle ExtractData --command "..."

From definition file:

$ raps da activity-create -f activity.json

New in v4.6: Bare activity and bundle names are automatically qualified. A “default” alias is auto-created.

raps da activity-delete

Delete an activity and its aliases.

raps da activity-delete <ACTIVITY_ID>

raps da run

Submit a work item to run an activity.

raps da run [OPTIONS] <ACTIVITY>

Arguments:

• <ACTIVITY> — Activity ID (fully qualified, e.g., owner.activity+alias)

Options:

• -i, --input <INPUT> — Input arguments as key=value pairs (use @file.dwg for file inputs)
• -o, --out-arg <OUT_ARG> — Output arguments as key=value pairs
• -w, --wait — Wait for completion and download results

Example:

$ raps da run MyNickname.ExtractAct+default -i "inputFile=@model.rvt" -o "result=output.json" -w

raps da workitems

List recent work items.

raps da workitems [--output FORMAT]

raps da status

Check the status of a work item.

raps da status [OPTIONS] <WORKITEM_ID>

Options:

• -w, --wait — Wait for completion
• -d, --download — Download outputs on completion
• --output-dir <DIR> — Output directory for downloads

Example:

$ raps da status abc123-workitem-id
$ raps da status abc123-workitem-id --wait --download --output-dir ./results

Typical Workflow

# 1. Check available engines
raps da engines

# 2. Create an app bundle with your plugin
raps da appbundle-create -i MyPlugin -e "Autodesk.Revit+2025"

# 3. Upload your plugin binary (via signed URL)
raps object upload my-bucket plugin.zip

# 4. Create an activity that uses the bundle
raps da activity-create --id MyActivity --engine "Autodesk.Revit+2025" --appbundle MyPlugin --command "..."

# 5. Submit a work item
raps da run owner.MyActivity+default -i "inputFile=@model.rvt" -w

# 6. Clean up
raps da activity-delete MyActivity
raps da appbundle-delete MyPlugin

Next Steps

• Bucket Commands — Store plugin binaries and input files
• Object Commands — Upload and download files
• Translation — Convert models to viewable🖥️ViewableTranslated model output for web viewing.View in glossary formats