# Using AI agents Connect your own AI agent to Rack Maker's device modeler over MCP - what it can do, privacy, sign-in, permissions, limits and setup per client. Source: https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/agents ## What an agent can do Your own AI agent (Claude Code, Claude Desktop or claude.ai, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, or any other MCP client) can drive the [device modeler](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/modeler) for you. It is most useful for a device with lots of ports: it reads your photos, drawings and datasheets and places every opening for you. It can: - list your drafts, start a new device or part, or start a new revision (or a credited copy) of a published one; - set the body and its shape (box, rounded, round, tapered, stacked, or an extruded outline), feet, weight, finishes, and where each number comes from; - make parts (shelves, trays, brackets, panels, plates) with how they mount on rack rails and the decks devices stand on; - trace a face on a photo or drawing by numbers, and place ports, zones, LEDs and buttons; - draw each face so it can check its work against your photos; - keep a datasheet with the device, from a public URL or a PDF on your computer; - save the draft, and publish it or submit it for review. Everything it does shows live in the modeler if you have the draft open. See [Live sync](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/modeler/live-sync). > **Your photos never reach Rack Maker:** > > The agent looks at your photos on your computer and sends the modeler numbers only: sizes, the corners of a face on > a photo, the positions of ports. The server has no way to receive a photo. The one file an agent can send is a > datasheet PDF, by a one-time link. See [Datasheet uploads](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/agents/datasheet-uploads). ## The server - **URL:** `https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/mcp` - **Transport:** Streamable HTTP - **Sign-in:** OAuth, in your browser The modeler also shows this under **Faces and ports** → **Use with your AI agent**. ![The Use with your AI agent panel in the modeler: the MCP server's URL, and how to connect each client](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/shots/agents/agent-panel-light.webp) *How to connect, in the modeler.* ## Signing in The first time your agent connects, it opens Rack Maker in your browser: 1. If you aren't signed in to Rack Maker in that browser, choose **Open Rack Maker to sign in**, sign in, then come back to the tab and choose **Continue**. 2. The page asks whether to allow your agent to model devices as you (`@your-handle`). Choose **Allow**. ![The page an agent's sign-in opens: Allow Claude to model devices as @ana, what it may do, and the Allow and Cancel buttons](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/shots/agents/consent-light.webp) *Allow your agent to model devices as you.* Your agent then works as you, with no password of its own. Its sign-in renews itself while you use it, and expires after 30 days without use; then the agent asks you to sign in again. To sign an agent out, remove the Rack Maker server from your client (or use the client's own sign-out for MCP servers). ## Permissions The agent has exactly your permissions, no more: - It sees and changes only your own drafts. Someone else's draft looks like it doesn't exist. - Publishing works as it does for you in the browser. With contributor access, the device is published with its model file, built on the server. Without it, publishing submits the device for review. See [Publishing](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/modeler/publishing) and [Contributing](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/catalog/contributing). - You must have agreed to share your contributions under CC BY-SA 4.0 on the site before your agent can submit or publish. The browser asks the first time you publish anything. A good agent asks you before it publishes; the server tells it to. ## Limits On top of your account's usual limits: | What | Limit | | ------------------------- | -------------------------------------- | | Tool calls | 600 per user per 10 minutes | | Changes to working copies | 600 per user per 10 minutes | | Datasheets kept | 30 per user per hour, up to 15 MB each | | Datasheet upload links | 30 per user per hour | | Upload attempts | 30 per address per 10 minutes | Past a limit, the tool answers "too many calls: wait a few minutes" (or similar), and works again shortly after. ## Connecting your client ### Claude Code Run this, then /mcp to sign in: ```bash claude mcp add --transport http rack-maker https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/mcp ``` ### Claude Desktop, claude.ai Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, with `https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/mcp`. It opens Rack Maker to sign in. ### Codex Run: ```bash codex mcp add rack-maker --url https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/mcp codex mcp login rack-maker ``` ### Cursor In \~/.cursor/mcp.json: ```json { "mcpServers": { "rack-maker": { "url": "https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/mcp" } } } ``` ### VS Code In .vscode/mcp.json: ```json { "servers": { "rack-maker": { "type": "http", "url": "https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/mcp" } } } ``` ## Try it Once connected, ask, for example: > Model my router from the photos in \~/Pictures/router: the front, the rear and the datasheet PDF. Mark what you measured. The draft appears in your drafts and opens in the modeler at `/catalog/model///`. Ask for changes, or make them yourself in the browser. ![A DGX Spark an agent modelled, open in the modeler: the rear face with its ports, notes and the measurement form beside the 3D model](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/shots/agents/agent-draft-light.webp) *What your agent made, open in the modeler.* For a full example, see [Walkthrough: a DGX Spark](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/agents/walkthrough). To see how the agent turns photos into millimetres, see [How an agent measures](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/agents/measuring), and for every tool, [Agent tools](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/agents/tools).