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Tools

fxhoudinimcp exposes 215 tools across 24 categories. The Technical section documents each one.

Category Tools Description
Graph Intelligence 6 Atomic validated network building, network verification, node doc cards, cook profiling, frame-range cooking with per-frame evidence, cook status
Documentation 3 Full-text search + page retrieval over Houdini's own shipped manual (version-exact)
Scene Management 10 Open, save, import/export, scene info, connection status, undo/redo
Sessions 3 Switch between open Houdini sessions, start a headless or GUI Houdini of the server's own, stop it
Node Operations 22 Create, delete, copy, connect, layout, flags, network boxes, sticky notes, object transforms
Parameters 14 Get/set values in bulk, expressions, keyframes, spare parameters
Geometry (SOPs) 16 Points, prims, attributes, attribute statistics, volume statistics and sampling, groups, sampling, nearest-point search
LOPs/USD 21 Stage inspection, prims, world transforms over frames, layers, composition, variants, lighting
DOPs 8 Simulation info, DOP objects, step/reset, memory usage
PDG/TOPs 12 Cook, work items, failed items and logs, schedulers, dependency graphs
COPs (Copernicus) 7 Image nodes, layers, VDB data
HDAs 13 Create, install, manage Digital Assets, their versions and sections
Animation 9 Keyframes, playbar control, frame range
Rendering 10 Viewport capture, contact sheets of a frame range without a viewport, render nodes, settings, render launch
VEX 5 Create/edit wrangles, validate VEX code
Code Execution 7 Python, HScript, expressions, env variables, file references, update mode
Viewport/UI 14 Pane management, viewer context, verified camera and renderer state, screenshots, error detection
Scene Context 8 Network overview, cook chain, selection, scene summary, error analysis
Workflows 8 One-call Pyro/RBD/FLIP/Vellum setup, SOP chains, render config
Materials 4 List, inspect, create materials and shader networks
CHOPs 4 Channel data, CHOP nodes, export channels to parameters
Cache 4 List, inspect, clear, write file caches
Takes 4 List, create, switch takes with parameter overrides
Shelf Tools 3 Find, read and run Houdini's own shelf tools (setups build_network cannot produce)

Worth knowing

  • Build in one call. build_network validates every node type, parameter and input against the running Houdini, then builds the whole network or nothing. dry_run=True checks a plan and suggests corrections. It is also about ten times faster than creating nodes one by one, since each call waits for a Houdini main-thread tick.
  • One undo step per call, however many nodes it touched.
  • Look it up, don't guess. get_node_card gives a node type's real parameters and connectors for this Houdini build. search_help and get_help_page read the manual Houdini ships, workflow guides included, offline.
  • Verify, then claim. verify_network reports every node's errors and cooked geometry. capture_screenshot and render_sheet show the result: render_sheet tiles a frame range into one image and needs no viewport.
  • Sessions. get_houdini_connection_status lists every Houdini serving the plugin. connect_houdini switches between them, and start_houdini / stop_houdini run one of the server's own, windowless or not. A started Houdini holds a license seat.
  • Code as a last resort. execute_python and execute_hscript exist, but the server instructions steer assistants to nodes first.