AI Designer Connector

Enable AI-powered solution configuration through Model Context Protocol integration.

Documentation pages: AI Integration  | MCP for Designer In Action | AI MCP for Designer Connector

Integration Architecture

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Structured Methods

Overview

The AI Designer connector enables AI models to interact with FrameworX Designer, providing intelligent assistance for solution configuration. Describe what you need in natural language, AI generates the configuration.

Two MCP servers are available:

• DesignerMCP — Live AI Designer. Claude connects to the running Designer and builds solutions with real-time visual feedback. Tools covering the full solution lifecycle.
• ConsoleMCP — File-based engineering via Claude Code. Generates JSON configuration files without a running Designer. Workspace-based equivalents of most tools, plus build. The engineer imports files into Designer for validation and deployment.

Both share the same schema, documentation, and core object tools. ConsoleMCP simply operates on files instead of a live IDE, and excludes the Designer UI control tools.

Note: This connector is for configuration-time operations (building solutions in Designer.exe). For querying live data from running solutions, see AI Runtime Connector

Visual Indicator

When AI is connected to Designer (DesignerMCP mode), you'll see:

• "AI Designer" badge — Orange label in the toolbar area
• Orange border — Glowing border around the main working area

This provides clear visual feedback that AI is actively controlling the Designer. ConsoleMCP has no visual indicator — it operates on files without a running Designer.

Configuration

For installation and connection setup (DesignerMCP, ConsoleMCP, HTTP/SSE mode, Claude Skill), see Claude Skill and MCP Setup.

Enable/Disable AI Designer

AI Designer is Enabled by default. To disable:

1. Open FrameworX Designer
2. Navigate to Uns → DataServers
3. Uncheck Allow MCP For Designer

This setting is per-solution.

Available Tools

All tools are available in DesignerMCP. ConsoleMCP provides workspace-oriented equivalents — see ConsoleMCP: Claude Code below for what's different.

From FrameworX 10.1.6, this page lists the main tools without a tool count. The tool list in your AI client is the complete list for the installed version.

Tools marked ? are DesignerMCP-only — they require a running Designer IDE.

Solution Management (5 tools)

The solutions visible to AI Designer are only the ones in folders defined as Allow Remote Access, by the Solution Center tool. By default the solutions in the sub-folder ..\Documents\FrameworXSolutions are visible.

→ See Solution Center — Server Information

MCP Authorization

The first open_solution, create_solution, or inspect_external_solution call in a conversation triggers an MCP authorization prompt. Approve it once — subsequent calls need no further authorization.

Context Package on Repeat Calls

From FrameworX 10.1.6, the bootstrap tools accept a context parameter: list_solutions, open_solution, create_solution and get_solution_export_files in DesignerMCP, and list_workspaces, open_workspace, create_workspace and get_solution_export_files in ConsoleMCP.

Pass summary or none only on a repeat call, when the conversation already holds the full package. The first bootstrap call of an MCP server process always returns the full package, whatever the value. Unknown values fall back to full.

Object Operations (5 tools)

Singleton Tables: SolutionSettings, AlarmsGlobalSettings, RuntimeStartup, and RuntimeExecutionProfiles have a single configuration row — no Name column needed. Use get_objects to read, write_objects(solution_id=<id>, mode='upsert') to modify.

Schema & Discovery (4 tools)

Protocol search examples:

• list_protocols(search='siemens') → S7, S7Plus
• list_protocols(search='allen') → EtherNet/IP, DF1, ControlLogix
• list_protocols(search='modbus') → Modbus TCP, Modbus RTU

Display element queries:

• list_elements() — List all element types by category
• list_elements('Canvas') — Canvas display structure
• list_elements('Dashboard') — Dashboard grid and cell structure
• list_elements('WizardSymbol') — Industrial symbols: BLOWER, MOTOR, PUMP, TANK, VALVE

Dynamic behavior queries:

• list_dynamics() — Overview of all dynamics grouped by category
• list_dynamics('color') — FillColor, LineColor, TextColor dynamics
• list_dynamics('action') — ActionDynamic for click handlers
• list_dynamics('animation') — Rotate, Move, Scale, Skew dynamics
• list_dynamics('FillColorDynamic') — Full schema with property definitions

Designer UI & Control (3 tools)

designer_action available actions:

Note: get_objects and write_objects auto-navigate the Designer UI to the relevant context. Use navigate only for pages without configuration objects (DataExplorer tools, AlarmsMonitor, etc.).

Page-specific actions: Some Designer pages expose additional context-specific actions (e.g., expand_all, collapse_all on table views). These appear in get_state responses as tabActions and can be passed directly to designer_action.

Display Clipboard (2 tools)

Available in FrameworX 10.1.5 and later.

Cross-solution copy/paste in one session: open the source solution → navigate to the source Display → display_clipboard_export → open the target solution → navigate to a target Display → display_clipboard_import. No second Designer instance and no Windows clipboard involved.

Product and Build Information (2 tools)

Busy replies. From FrameworX 10.1.6, a DESIGNER_BUSY reply names the internal request the Designer is running and how long it has run, so you tell a long action from a stuck one. The request name is an internal name, not an MCP tool name.

Tag Importers (2 tools)

From FrameworX 10.1.6. DesignerMCP only.

Script Debugger (1 tool)

From FrameworX 10.1.6. DesignerMCP only. script_debug drives the Designer's script debugger. Select the operation with action:

Every response carries the session state: attached, stopped, location and callStack. A continue or step reply says whether the debugger took the command (commandConsumed) and where the target stopped, or returns timedOut=true when no stop came within wait_ms. While the tool waits, other calls to the same Designer return DESIGNER_BUSY, so keep wait_ms short. While a step runs, the tool refuses a continue or another step with DEBUGGER_COMMAND_PENDING.

Order of operations. Breakpoints need debug information, and the build produces it only while a debugger is attached. Use this sequence: script_debug('attach'), build the solution, restart the runtime with designer_action('stop_runtime') and designer_action('start_runtime'), run script_debug('attach') again, then set breakpoints.

When set_breakpoint fails, it returns BREAKPOINT_FAILED with breakpointFailureCode: -1 name not found, -2 no debug information (never built), -3 source newer than the build, -4 the object has build errors.

A breakpoint set through the tool stays armed after a hit. When the script is open in an editor tab, the breakpoint appears in the margin at the editor's next breakpoint refresh. The tool reads values and does not change them. Windows (.NET 4.8) solutions are supported. Multiplatform (.NET 10) solutions are supported on Windows x64 only. On a Multiplatform (.NET 10) solution, server debugging returns DEBUGGER_PLATFORM_UNSUPPORTED when this Designer cannot debug the .NET 10 runtime, and the message gives the reason.

Documentation & Knowledge (2 tools)

search_docs modes:

• Search mode: search_docs('alarm configuration') — returns titles and snippets
• Fetch mode: search_docs(fetch_url='<url from results>') — returns full page content with code examples

Documentation labels: concept, tutorial, how-to, example, reference, connector, code, control, use-case, skill

AI Skills: Use search_docs('', labels='skill') to discover available step-by-step implementation guides. Skills are multi-module playbooks that prevent common mistakes in complex configurations.

inspect_external_solution workflow:

1. search_docs(query, labels='example') — find documented solution examples
2. get_solution_export_files(solution_path) — list available JSON files
3. get_solution_export_files(solution_path, file_name='Tags.json') — read specific configuration

Local copy of a documentation example:

Available in FrameworX 10.1.6 and later.

When you pass the dbslnUrl of an example from search_docs(labels='example'), the file-list response (the call without file_name) also returns these fields:

To use the copy, AI Designer opens it with open_solution(<localDbslnPath>). AI Console runs it with run_workspace(name=<localDbslnPath>).

• The tool never overwrites or refreshes the copy. To get a newer published version, delete the copy, any file whose name starts with the example's name, and the example's exportFolder, then call the tool again.
• The copy is the file as published. Designer upgrades it when it opens it.
• The path refers to the computer where the MCP server runs.

inspect_application workflow:

1. get_solution_export_files() — exports current solution to Exchange/<AppName>/ folder
2. AI uses the filesystem MCP server to list and read exported JSON files
3. Useful for solution analysis, documentation, comparison, and migration

ConsoleMCP: Claude Code

ConsoleMCP is the file-based companion for Claude Code. It provides workspace-oriented equivalents of most DesignerMCP tools, plus create_solution_file. They share the same schemas, documentation, and object operations, and write to JSON files instead of a live Designer.

For installation and configuration, see Claude Skill and MCP Setup &mdash; Option C.

What's Different

Tools that require a running Designer IDE and are not available in ConsoleMCP:

Behavioral differences in shared tools:

ConsoleMCP Tool Naming and Build

ConsoleMCP uses workspace vocabulary for its solution-management commands: list_workspaces, open_workspace, create_workspace, get_workspace_info. DesignerMCP keeps its *_solution names unchanged. ConsoleMCP also ships a dedicated create_solution_file tool:

Typical ConsoleMCP workflow: open_workspace (or create_workspace) → write_objects to generate JSON files → create_solution_file(solution_name, workspace=...) to produce the deployable .dbsln.

ExportFormat 1.2 File Structure

Each JSON file generated by ConsoleMCP follows this envelope:

{
  "ObjectIdentification": {
    "TableType": "UnsTags",
    "SolutionName": "MySolution"
  },
  "ExportMetadata": {
    "ExportDate": "2026-02-21T14:30:00Z",
    "ExportUser": "ConsoleMCP",
    "ExportProduct": "FrameworX",
    "ExportFormat": "1.2"
  },
  "Data": [
    { "Name": "Tank1/Level", "Type": "Analog", "EngUnits": "%" },
    { "Name": "Tank1/Pump", "Type": "Digital" }
  ]
}

When to Use ConsoleMCP vs DesignerMCP

Both servers can be installed side by side. They register as separate MCP servers and do not conflict.

Exchange Folder

Several AI Designer tools use the Exchange folder to share files between the Designer and AI, rather than embedding large data in MCP responses. The filesystem MCP server (configured during setup) gives AI direct read access to these files.

This file-based approach keeps MCP responses lightweight and avoids large base64-encoded data in the conversation context.

Security

MCP Category and Update Protection

Objects created by AI receive Category = "MCP" (via SolutionCategories) to track AI-created vs manually-created.

How it works:

1. AI creates object → Category set to "MCP"
2. AI updates → Limited to Description field
3. To re-enable → Manually add "MCP" to Category

Note: MCP Category protection applies to DesignerMCP only. ConsoleMCP writes plain JSON files — ownership is managed when the engineer imports into Designer.

Solution Authentication

Solutions can have security enabled with user accounts and edit permissions.

How authentication works with AI (DesignerMCP):

1. AI opens solution → response includes current username (Guest by default) and edit permissions
2. If permissions are not Unrestricted, AI informs the user that some operations may be restricted
3. User provides credentials → AI calls designer_action('logon', 'username:password')
4. Successful login → permissions expand to match the user's role
5. designer_action('logoff') returns to Guest

AI can browse and read the solution even as Guest. Permission restrictions only affect write operations.

Security: AI never echoes, logs, or repeats passwords in its responses.

Note: ConsoleMCP does not have authentication — it operates on JSON files in the Exchange folder. Security is enforced when the engineer imports files into a secured solution in Designer.

Table Types Quick Reference

Syntax Quick Reference

Path Syntax

• Folder separator: / (slash) — only for Tags and Symbols: Tag.Area1/Line1/Tank1
• Namespace/member separator: . (dot) — for all other access: Server.DateTimeInfo.Second
• UDT members: Tag.Area1/Line1/Loop1.Setpoint (dot after tag path for member access)
• Built-in namespaces: dot only, never slash: Alarm.Group.Critical.TotalCount

Critical: Never use . for folders or / for members. Tag.Area1.Line1.Tank1 is WRONG. Tag.Area1/Line1/Loop1/Setpoint is WRONG.

Common Workflows

• Creating Tags — "Create a Double tag called TankLevel in the Tanks folder with range 0-100"
• Device Communication — "Connect to a Siemens S7-1500 PLC at 192.168.1.10" AI will: Search protocols → Present options → Create Channel → Create Node → Help map Points
• Creating Displays — "Create a dashboard with 4 cells showing TankLevel, TankTemp, PumpStatus, and AlarmCount"
• Configuring Alarms — "Create high and low alarms for TankLevel: High at 90 (Critical), Low at 10 (Warning)"
• Finding Object Usage — "Where is tag Tank1Level used?" AI uses: designer_action('find_object', 'Tag.Tank1Level', solution_id=<id>) — opens Find Results panel in Designer showing all cross-references.
• Deleting Objects Safely — "Delete the old TestDisplay" AI uses: designer_action('find_object', 'Display.TestDisplay', solution_id=<id>) to check references first, then delete_objects if safe.
• Renaming with Safe Refactoring — "Rename Tag.OldName to Tag.NewName" AI uses: rename_objects — all cross-references update automatically (linked by ID, not name).
• Applying Changes Without Restart — "Apply my tag changes to the running system" AI uses: designer_action('hot_reload', solution_id=<id>)
• Logging In to Secured Solutions — "Log in as admin" AI prompts for password, then uses: designer_action('logon', 'admin:password', solution_id=<id>)
• Inspecting Solution Configuration — "Export and analyze the current solution" AI uses: get_solution_export_files() to export JSON files to the Exchange folder, then reads them via the filesystem server for analysis.

Best Practices

Be Specific

Instead of "Create some tags", say:

"Create these tags in the Production folder: MixerSpeed (Double, 0-1000 RPM), MixerRunning (Digital), BatchCount (Integer)"

Validate Before Bulk Operations

"Validate this configuration before creating 50 tags"

AI uses write_objects with dry_run=true to check for errors without committing.

Use Skills for Complex Tasks

"Search for a skill on Modbus TCP configuration"

AI searches for step-by-step guides that prevent common mistakes.

Review Changes

"Show me the recent changes" or "Navigate to the Tags tab"

Troubleshooting

AI Designer server not starting

• Verify .NET 8.0 runtime is installed
• Check that Designer is running
• Confirm MCP is enabled in Designer settings
• Check firewall settings

Claude doesn't see Designer tools

• Ensure claude_desktop_config.json path is correct (double backslashes)
• Restart Claude completely (close via Task Manager)
• Verify AI Designer shows "running" in Claude settings

Filesystem MCP server not connecting

• Verify Node.js is installed (node --version in command prompt)
• Check that the Exchange folder path in config matches your Windows username
• Verify "filesystem" shows "running" in Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer

"Update blocked" message

• Object doesn't have MCP in Category
• AI can only update Description field
• To enable: add "MCP" to Category in Designer

Changes not appearing in Designer

• Refresh Designer view (F5)
• For displays, close and reopen the display editor
• Verify operation completed in Claude's response

No visual indicator (orange border)

• Verify MCP connection is active in Claude Desktop
• Check Designer settings for MCP enabled
• Restart Designer if needed

Permission errors on write operations

• Solution may have security enabled
• Ask AI to check current permissions: look at the security field in the response
• Log in with appropriate credentials: tell AI "log in as [username]"
• After successful login, retry the operation

Connector process stopped or kept running unexpectedly

• From FrameworX 10.1.6, each AI Designer and AI Console connector process writes a small lifetime log, McpLifecycle_<Connector>_<pid>.log, in the product TraceLogs folder.
• The log records which launching process and grandparent the connector watches, a fallback to watching the launching process only, a watch it failed to start, and why it shut down after a watched process ended. A clean disconnect by the AI client records no exit reason.
• The connector writes each record at the moment of the decision, and the record survives a forced kill of the connector. Each file stops growing at 64 KB, and files older than 30 days are removed.
• The HTTP-hosted connectors do not watch a launching process.

ConsoleMCP: "No active workspace"

• Call open_workspace or create_workspace first

ConsoleMCP: "Control schemas not found"

• Ensure ControlSchemas.json is in the MCP folder alongside ConsoleMCP.exe

ConsoleMCP fails to launch

• Run dotnet --list-runtimes — install .NET 8.0 from dotnet.microsoft.com

Related Documentation

• AI Integration
• AI Designer In Action
• Claude Skill and MCP Setup — covers AI Designer, ConsoleMCP, and Claude Skill installation
• AI Runtime Connector
• AI ML Integration Connector

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