Drive a running SketchUp session from the command line. Execute Ruby against the live model, open and export .skp files, and control the application without touching the UI. Same pattern as the Revit and Rhino drivers — your AI assistant can script all three in the same pipeline.
SketchUp automation via a Ruby extension. Every command is a JSON request over localhost — no keyboard, no mouse, no SketchUp window in focus required.
Requires: SketchUp running with the bim_bridge extension loaded. bim sketchup setup downloads and installs SketchUp Make 2017 (free, no account), then bim sketchup install writes the extension. SketchUp Pro / 2026 works too via --year or --url, but needs a Trimble subscription.
bim sketchup install writes a Ruby extension (bim_bridge.rb) into SketchUp's Plugins directory. On the next launch, the extension starts a TCP server on port 15700 inside the SketchUp process. bim-sketchup sends JSON-RPC requests to that port and the extension evaluates them against the live model on SketchUp's main thread.
Cold start is roughly 13 seconds. bim sketchup launch starts SketchUp (opening a .skp if you pass --path) and waits for the bridge to answer before returning.
bim sketchup exec evaluates a Ruby snippet in the extension and returns the inspected result as JSON. There are no pre-injected locals — reach the model through the SketchUp Ruby API:
bim sketchup exec --code "Sketchup.active_model.name"
bim sketchup exec --code "Sketchup.active_model.entities.length"
| Verb | What it does |
|---|---|
bim sketchup close | Quit SketchUp gracefully (Sketchup.quit), falling back to process kill. |
bim sketchup launch [--path FILE] [--timeout N] [--year N] | Start SketchUp and wait for bim_bridge to be ready. No-ops if already running. |
bim sketchup exec [--code CODE] [--file FILE] | Execute Ruby code against the active SketchUp model via the bim_bridge extension. |
bim sketchup open --path FILE | Open a .skp file in the active SketchUp instance. |
bim sketchup export --output FILE [--path FILE] | Export the active model (or a specified .skp) to a target format. |
bim sketchup status | Report SketchUp version, active model, and extension state. |
bim sketchup doctor | Check that SketchUp is installed and bim_bridge is loaded. |
bim sketchup install [--year N] | Install the bim_bridge.rb Ruby extension into the SketchUp Plugins directory. |
bim sketchup setup [--url URL] | Download and silently install SketchUp on this machine. No-ops if already installed. |
bim sketchup snapshot --out FILE [--eye EYE] [--target TARGET] [--up UP] [--fov FOV] [--width N] [--height N] [--preset PRESET] [--zoom-extents] | Point the active view's camera and write a PNG in one call. Coordinates are in the model's length unit. |
For agent use: /sketchup/llms.txt