Is it safe to connect an AI assistant to my CAD files?

It depends entirely on how the connection is built, not on whether AI is involved at all. The specific things to check are whether the tool provider allows third-party, community-submitted servers into the same session (a marketplace model), whether your CAD data is uploaded anywhere or read locally, whether calls are logged and attributable, and whether credentials are scoped per device or per workspace rather than shared broadly.

What data does ForgeMCP store?

For the desktop connectors, none of your CAD files — only the specific answers your AI assistant requested, which pass through and aren't retained as a copy. Session and account data is encrypted at rest with AES-256; credentials for cloud-connected platforms are stored as OAuth token references, never as raw vendor passwords.

Can I get an audit log of what an AI did in my CAD session?

Business and Enterprise plans get full audit logs — which tool was called, when, with what parameters, and what was returned — immutable and exportable. This is the record a compliance review or an incident investigation actually needs.

Does ForgeMCP see my CAD files?

For the desktop connectors (SolidWorks, Inventor), no — the local bridge reads your open document on your own machine and only the specific answer requested crosses the network. For cloud-connected platforms, ForgeMCP acts on your behalf through the vendor's own API under a scoped credential, and the same principle applies: only what a tool call actually needs is read or returned.

CAD AI Security — What to Check Before You Connect an Assistant to Your CAD Data

Guide · Security & trust

A support ticket, a marketing document, a spreadsheet — most data an AI assistant touches is disposable if it leaks. A parametric model, a toleranced drawing, or a bill of materials usually isn't: it can be design comprehension a competitor uses directly, not just "data." Evaluating AI-CAD security means asking sharper questions than "is it encrypted," and this is the checklist worth running before connecting anything to production CAD work.

Marketplace risk, specifically for CAD

Some AI tool ecosystems allow third-party, community-submitted servers into the same session as everything else you've connected. For generic tools that's already a risk; for a tool with read or write access to CAD data, it's worse, because the payoff for a malicious server is bigger and the tool descriptions that could hide an injected instruction are the same descriptions a CAD tool needs to be genuinely useful ("read the active assembly," "export the BOM").

Prompt injection via tool descriptions

A malicious community server can embed instructions inside its own tool descriptions that hijack the session the moment the assistant reads them — before any CAD tool is even called.

Credential or file exfiltration

A tool with CAD file access is a tool with export access. A malicious implementation doesn't need to break anything to leak a model — it just needs to be the thing your AI already trusts to touch it.

Supply-chain compromise

A community-built CAD server brings its own dependency tree into your session. A compromised package upstream of it becomes a compromise of whatever it can reach — including an open assembly.

No accountable owner

When a third-party server misbehaves, there's rarely a single accountable party to answer for it — which matters enormously once IP, not just uptime, is on the line.

What "least data leaves the machine" means here

For the desktop connectors, this isn't a policy statement — it's the architecture. See local bridge architecture for the full shape, but the security-relevant fact is short: the CAD application and the connector both run on hardware you control, and only the specific answer a tool call asked for crosses the network. There's no upload step to secure, because there's no upload.

What's encrypted, and how access is scoped

All data in transit uses TLS 1.3. Session and account data at rest is encrypted with AES-256, with backups under separate key material. Credentials for cloud-connected platforms are stored as OAuth token references — never a raw vendor password. Desktop connectors use per-device activation rather than a shared credential, so a lost or compromised machine is one revocable activation, not a workspace-wide exposure. See the full security page for the complete infrastructure detail, including authentication options (passkeys, SSO) and Enterprise VPC / BYO deployment.

A checklist before you connect anything

Whichever tool provider you're evaluating — this one included — these are the questions worth getting a specific answer to, not a general reassurance:

Can third-party or community servers run in the same session as your CAD tools?
Does your CAD data get uploaded anywhere, or is it read where it already lives?
Is every tool call logged, attributable, and exportable for review?
Are credentials scoped per device or per user, or shared broadly across a workspace?
Is data encrypted both in transit and at rest, with a stated standard, not just "encrypted"?
Who can you ask for a source or architecture review, and under what terms?

CAD AI security

Marketplace risk, specifically for CAD

What "least data leaves the machine" means here

What's encrypted, and how access is scoped

A checklist before you connect anything