NavisworksCLI

Command-Line Automation Tool for Autodesk Navisworks

NavisworksCLI is a lightweight, script-friendly command-line automation tool for Autodesk Navisworks Simulate and Manage. It enables fully automated model processing, batch transformations, and headless execution for CI/CD pipelines, data preparation workflows, and enterprise BIM integrations.

The tool supports both interactive and headless execution modes:

• GUI Mode — Runs Navisworks with visible UI
• Headless Mode — Runs silently without UI (recommended for automation)

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✨ Key Features

📂 File Operations

• Open Navisworks-supported formats (.nwd, .nwf, .nwc, .rvm, .step, and more)
• Append multiple models in a single run
• Export processed models as .nwd

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🔧 Model Transformations

Apply transformations globally to the active document:

• Rotation (X / Y / Z axis)
• Scaling (uniform or per-axis)
• Translation (position offset)
• Colour override (RGB)
• Transparency override (0–1 range)

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⚙ Execution Pipeline (Deterministic Order)

Operations are always executed in a fixed and predictable sequence:

1. Open file
2. Append files
3. Apply orientation
4. Apply scale
5. Apply position
6. Apply colour
7. Apply transparency
8. Save output NWD

Any missing argument is automatically skipped without error.

This guarantees reproducible results across automation runs.

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📦 Installation

Prerequisites

• Autodesk Navisworks Simulate or Manage (installed locally) e.g. Repository built using Simulate 2026
• Windows OS
• .NET Runtime (as required by build target)

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Installation Steps

1. Build or download NavisworksCLI.exe

2. Place the executable in:

   • Any folder included in your system PATH OR
   • Use absolute path while executing

No additional configuration is required.

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🧭 Usage

Basic Example

NavisworksCLI.exe ^
  --isgui=false ^
  --open="C:\Models\main.nwd" ^
  --append="C:\Models\part1.nwc;C:\Models\part2.rvm;\\Server\data\plant.nwd" ^
  --position=(10,0,5) ^
  --orientation=(45,0,35) ^
  --scale=(1,1,0.5) ^
  --transparency=0.5 ^
  --colour=(0,255,0) ^
  --save="C:\Output\FinalModel.nwd"

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Headless Automation Example

Recommended for servers and batch pipelines:

NavisworksCLI.exe --isgui=false --open=input.nwd --save=output.nwd

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📝 Command-Line Arguments

Argument	Description	Example
--isgui=true or false	Enable or disable Navisworks UI	--isgui=false
--open=<file>	Open Navisworks file	--open=model.nwd
--append=<file1;file2>	Append multiple models	--append="a.nwc;b.rvm"
--orientation=(x,y,z)	Rotation in radians	--orientation=(3.14,0,0)
--scale=(x,y,z)	Scale factors	--scale=(1,1,0.5)
--position=(x,y,z)	Translation offset	--position=(10,0,5)
--colour=(r,g,b)	RGB override (0–255)	--colour=(0,255,0)
--transparency=<value>	Transparency (0.0–1.0)	--transparency=0.5
--save=<file>	Save output NWD	--save=final.nwd

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🧩 Internal Execution Workflow

Internally, the CLI parses arguments and executes API calls in a controlled sequence:

cli.OpenNavisworks(...)
cli.AppendFile(...)
cli.SetOrientation(...)
cli.SetScale(...)
cli.SetPosition(...)
cli.SetColour(...)
cli.SetTransparency(...)
cli.SaveNWD(...)

Each step is optional and executed only when the corresponding argument is supplied.

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🏗 Architecture Overview

NavisworksCLI is built on top of:

• Autodesk Navisworks Automation API
• Autodesk Navisworks Integrated API

Design goals:

• Minimal memory footprint
• Deterministic execution order
• Script-friendly interface
• Automation-safe (headless capable)
• Extensible internal structure

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🔮 Roadmap / Future Enhancements

🎨 Attribute-Based Colour Rules

Planned support for rule-based visual automation:

Example:

• Material = Steel → Gray
• Status = Delayed → Red

Benefits:

• Automated QA visualization
• Model classification
• Metadata-driven reporting
• BIM data analytics workflows

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📁 Batch Processing Mode

Execute multiple jobs from a single configuration:

NavisworksCLI.exe --batch="jobs.json"

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📄 Configuration File Support

Replace long CLI commands with structured configs:

NavisworksCLI.exe --config="settings.json"

Supports:

• JSON
• YAML

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⚠ Important Notes

• NavisworksCLI requires a licensed installation of Autodesk Navisworks.
• This tool acts as an automation wrapper and does not bypass Autodesk licensing.
• Headless mode still requires Navisworks components to be present.

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📄 License

• MIT License

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🤝 Contributions

Contributions are welcome.