When it goes wrong

Troubleshooting

Symptom, cause, fix. Not listed? Email support@aecpilot.com with your host application and version.

Installing and starting up

There is no AEC Pilot tab on the ribbon

Why

The release is outside the supported range, or the add-in was blocked on load.

Fix

Check your version: Revit 2023–2027; AutoCAD & Civil 3D 2021–2027; Advance Steel 2024–2027; Navisworks Manage & Simulate 2023–2027; Inventor 2027; 3ds Max & Robot 2024–2027. Then unblock it in the host’s add-in manager. Navisworks Freedom has no add-in API and can’t work.

It says the licence is not activated

Why

A seat activates one machine. The most common cause is a typo in the username, not the key — both are checked.

Fix

Click About on the AEC Pilot tab and re-enter both fields. Activating in one product activates all of them — if Revit works and AutoCAD doesn’t, it’s not the licence.

Connecting an AI client

The client lists the server but shows no tools

Why

The connector inside the host application is not running. The bridge is there; there is nothing on the other end of it.

Fix

Click Connector on the AEC Pilot tab until the ribbon reads Connected. Turn on autostart in Settings to skip this next time.

The client does not show the server at all

Why

MCP clients read their configuration at startup. The setup wrote the entry after yours had already started.

Fix

Fully restart the AI client — not just the conversation. Then check its MCP server list again.

The connector will not start, or starts on a different port

Why

Something else already holds the default port: 7823 Revit, 7900 AutoCAD & Civil 3D, 7950 Navisworks, 8000 Inventor, 8050 3ds Max, 8100 Robot.

Fix

Change the port in Settings, then re-run the Setup Guide so the client follows. Skipping the second step is why it usually seems not to work.

Tool calls reach the wrong window

Why

With several host windows open, calls go to the one you opened first.

Fix

Every reply names the window it acted on — check that first. To target windows separately, enable the multi-instance pool in Settings → Setup Guide.

A tool you expected is missing from the list

Why

It’s switched off, or it doesn’t apply to this host. Disabled tools are hidden completely.

Fix

Check Settings → Tools. Clash tools appear only in Navisworks Manage, Civil 3D tools only inside Civil 3D, steel tools only inside Advance Steel.

While you are working

It refuses to run something across the whole model

Why

Tools that modify things will not silently default to “everything”. A whole-model scope has to be asked for explicitly.

Fix

Name the scope in your request — see How to ask.

It reported success but nothing looks different

Why

It landed where you’re not looking: another view, another window, or elements hidden by filters.

Fix

Ask which elements it changed and where, then check one. If it’s wrong, Ctrl+Z undoes the whole operation in one step.

A long operation looks frozen

Why

Some work genuinely takes minutes — a large clash run, a bulk edit across thousands of elements.

Fix

Let it finish — progress is reported. Long operations return a job you can check on, so the chat isn’t blocked.