Get Claude working with FrameworX — from first install to productive AI sessions in minutes.

AI Integration | How-to Guide

How Skill and MCP Work Together

The FrameworX AI Designer experience has two components that work as a pair:

The Claude Skill is a lightweight file (SKILL.md) that loads into Claude at the start of every session. It gives Claude baseline FrameworX knowledge and trained instincts — build-don't-plan discipline, schema-then-write patterns, trust-tool-results rules. Without the skill, Claude works but starts every session without context. With it, Claude behaves like an experienced FrameworX engineer from the first message.

AI Designer connects Claude directly to the live Designer IDE. Every tool call produces immediate visual changes — tags, displays, alarms, and devices appear in real time while the engineer watches. 16 tools cover the full solution lifecycle from create_solution through start_runtime. Without MCP, Claude can only talk about FrameworX. With MCP, Claude can build.

Together, the skill conditions Claude's behavior before the first tool fires, and MCP gives Claude the tools to act on that knowledge. The result is an AI co-pilot that builds solutions correctly from the first response.

Note: AI Runtime is a separate integration that connects AI to running solutions for live data queries, dashboards, and troubleshooting. This page covers the Designer integration — the build-time experience. See [AI Runtime Connector](AI Runtime Connector) for runtime setup.

What You Need

Requires a Claude Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise plan.

Step 1: Install the Claude Skill

The Claude Skill is a portable SKILL.md file that follows the Agent Skills open standard. Install it once — it activates automatically whenever you mention FrameworX, SCADA, HMI, or related topics.

On Claude.ai or Claude Desktop App

1. Download the skill file: frameworx-industrial-platform.skill
2. Open Claude → Settings → Capabilities
3. Scroll to Skills and click Upload skill
4. Select the downloaded zip file
5. Confirm it is toggled on

On Claude Code

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/FrameworX-skill
cp SKILL.md ~/.claude/skills/FrameworX-skill/SKILL.md

Claude Code discovers skills automatically — no restart needed.

Other AI Agents

The same SKILL.md works with any compatible agent:

Step 2: Connect AI Designer

Two connection modes depending on your setup. Pick the one that matches.

Option A: Stdio (Claude Code — same Windows machine)

Use this when Claude Code and FrameworX Designer run on the same Windows machine. This is the simplest setup — Claude Code launches DesignerMCP directly as a subprocess.

Prerequisites:

• FrameworX Designer v10.13+ installed
• Claude Code installed

Configuration:

Add to your Claude Code MCP settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "FrameworX-Designer": {
      "command": "<ProductPath>\\DesignerMCP.exe",
      "transport": "stdio"
    }
  }
}

Replace <ProductPath> with your FrameworX installation directory. Example:

C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Tatsoft\\FrameworX\\fx-10\\MCP\\DesignerMCP.exe

Use double backslashes in the path.

Option B: HTTP/SSE (Claude Desktop or Claude.ai — any machine)

Use this when Claude runs on a different machine than Designer, or when using Claude Desktop App or Claude.ai (the web chat interface). This mode uses HTTP with Server-Sent Events (SSE), which works across machines, across operating systems, and even across VMs.

How it works: DesignerMCPHttp runs as a lightweight HTTP server on the Windows machine alongside Designer. Claude connects to it over the network using mcp-remote, an open-source MCP-to-HTTP bridge.

Prerequisites:

• FrameworX Designer v10.13+ installed on the Windows machine
• .NET 8.0 Runtime installed on the Windows machine
• Node.js installed on the machine running Claude (for the mcp-remote bridge)

Step 1 — Start DesignerMCPHttp on the Windows machine

Open a command prompt and navigate to the MCP directory:

cd "<ProductPath>\DesignerMCPHttp"
dotnet DesignerMCPHttp.dll

This starts the HTTP/SSE server on port 4000. Leave this running — it must be started before Claude.

Important: The MCP server must be running before you launch Claude Desktop. If you restart the server, restart Claude Desktop as well.

Step 2 — Configure Claude

For Claude Desktop App, edit claude_desktop_config.json:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "DesignerMCPHttp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "http://127.0.0.1:4000/sse"
      ]
    }
  }
}

For Claude.ai (web interface with Claude in Chrome), the same HTTP endpoint works — configure http://127.0.0.1:4000/sse as the MCP server URL.

Step 3 — Restart Claude Desktop

Close Claude Desktop completely (use Task Manager to ensure it is fully closed) and relaunch.

Network Configuration for Remote Machines

If Designer runs on a different machine than Claude (including a Windows VM accessed from a Mac host):

• Replace 127.0.0.1 with the IP address of the Windows machine running Designer
• Open port 4000 in Windows Firewall on the Designer machine
• For Mac + Parallels/VMware: Configure port forwarding to route port 4000 from host to the Windows VM — then 127.0.0.1 works from the Mac side
• For other VM setups or remote machines: Use the VM's or remote machine's actual IP address

Example for a Designer running on 192.168.1.50:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "DesignerMCPHttp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "http://192.168.1.50:4000/sse"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Step 3: Set Tool Permissions (Claude Desktop)

Security Authorization

After restarting Claude Desktop with MCP installed:

1. Go to Settings → Connectors
2. Find FrameworX-Designer (or DesignerMCPHttp) in the list
3. Click Configure and set Tool Permissions to Always Allow

Without this, Claude will prompt for authorization on every tool call. Longer responses that use many tools may fail if permissions are not set to Always Allow.

Verify It Works

Start a new Claude conversation and try:

Without MCP (skill only): Ask "How do I set up FrameworX MCP tools?" — Claude should provide step-by-step instructions from the skill, not a web search.

With MCP connected: Ask "Create a new FrameworX solution with a bottling line" — Claude should immediately load the New Solution skill and start building, not spend a response outlining a plan.

If Claude is web-searching for basic FrameworX setup information, the skill may not be enabled. Check Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

If Claude says MCP tools are not connected, verify the server is running and check your config file for typos.

Troubleshooting

Quick Reference: Config Files

Claude Desktop (Windows): %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Claude Desktop (macOS): ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Claude Code skills: ~/.claude/skills/FrameworX-skill/SKILL.md

Next Steps

• See it in action: [AI Designer In Action](AI Designer In Action)
• Technical reference: [AI Designer Connector](AI Designer Connector)
• Download Designer: tatsoft.com/fx-101 (free evaluation, unlimited tags, all features)

Community

Questions or feedback:

• Discord: discord.gg/BYhbTfyRyh
• Forum: forum.tatsoft.com