AI Connect — What It Can and Cannot Do
AI Connect shows your open Revit model to an AI and lets it touch only what you allow. There are 20 tools in total, and anything not on that list cannot be done, no matter how you ask.
When answers get cut short
- The AI is told to keep answers short. The Short / Detailed button above the chat swaps that instruction out. On Detailed it explains as much as the question needs.
- One answer is capped at 4,096 tokens. Detailed doubles it to 8,192.
- The AI may look at the model 12 times per question. Once used up, it answers from what it already found.
- Lists stop at 200 items. "Show me all of them" still returns 200. Counting questions aren't affected — the AI just counts.
Always available
No permission needed, and nothing in the model changes.
| What it can do | Per call |
|---|---|
| File name, path, worksharing, active view, project info, levels, view/sheet/link/warning counts | All |
| Element count per category (model and annotation separately) | All |
| Which parameters a category has, with sample values | All |
| Find elements by condition — equals, not equals, contains, empty, greater, less | 200 (max 2,000) |
| Count only, or group counts by value (per level, per type…) | No limit |
| Narrow the search to the whole model / active view / current selection | — |
| Every parameter of the chosen elements, as displayed in Revit | 2,000 |
| Warnings, grouped by message, with element ids | 50 per message |
| View and sheet list (view type, template, placed on a sheet) | All |
| Read the current selection / select and zoom to what it found | All |
| Type list, element locations and bounding boxes (mm) | 2,000 |
| Find the PPAPPURI feature for the job you described — where it is and how to use it | Out of 41 |
That last one is the useful one. Ask "I want to paste these parameter values onto those elements" and it points you at Plus Schedule; ask for filters on a view and it points at Auto Filter.
Needs turning on
PPAPPURI ▸ AI Connect ▸ Model editing. Everything here is off by default.
| What it can do | Default |
|---|---|
| Allow model editing — the master switch for everything below | Off |
| Change parameter values, change types | Blocked while the master switch is off |
| Move / copy / rotate (mm; rotation about a vertical axis) | Off |
| Delete — Revit may also remove dependent tags, doors and windows | Off |
| Create a straight wall, place a family instance | Off |
| Confirm every change — Revit asks yes/no before anything is written | On |
Edits are capped at 5,000 items per call, and one call is one undo step — Ctrl+Z once puts it all back.
The confirmation dialog lists up to 15 lines and folds the rest into "and N more". Answering no changes nothing.
Not possible
There is no tool for these. Turning options on does not help.
| Cannot be done | Instead |
|---|---|
| Create views or sheets, switch views | It can only list them |
| Create or edit schedules | Plus Schedule |
| Place dimensions, tags or text | Tag Align |
| Create filters or view templates | Auto Filter, Plus Filter |
| Read or edit elements inside a linked file | It only reports link names |
| Open, save or export files (IFC, DWG, PDF) | — |
| Edit family files (.rfa) | — |
| Curved walls, floors, roofs, stairs | Straight walls and family placement only |
| Work across several files at once | Only the document open at that moment |
The numbers
If something stopped, it is almost certainly one of these.
| Item | Value | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Answer length (Short / Detailed) | 4,096 / 8,192 tokens | Cut off mid-sentence |
| Model lookups per question | 12 | Answers from what it has |
| Find results | 200, max 2,000 | Marked as truncated |
| Parameter reads, element locations | 2,000 | Only the first 2,000 |
| Warnings | 50 per message | Lists 50 then stops |
| Elements edited per call | 5,000 | The rest is dropped |
| Lines in the confirmation dialog | 15 | Folded into "and N more" |
| Read tool wait | 90 s | Stops and asks you to retry |
| Edit tool wait | 170 s | Includes time to answer the dialog |
| Whole API request | 120 s | Reports it took too long |
| One command-line tool run | 300 s | Asks you to narrow the question |
| Claude Desktop bridge | 180 s | — |
Two routes
Either way, you pay — never PPAPPURI.
| Command-line tool | Your own API key | |
|---|---|---|
| What | Claude Code · Gemini CLI · Codex | Anthropic |
| Billing | Your subscription | Your account |
| Answer cap | Set by that tool | 4,096 / 8,192 tokens |
| Wait | 300 s | 120 s |
| Needs | The tool installed | An API key |
If a command-line tool is installed, that route is used first. The API key route is the fallback. The key is stored on this PC only.
Safety
- The AI can only connect from this PC (
127.0.0.1). - The address carries a random string; without it, requests are refused.
- Requests probing in from a browser are blocked.