nodes

nodes

MCP tool wrappers for Houdini node operations.

Each tool delegates to the corresponding handler running inside Houdini via the HTTP bridge.

Functions:

Name	Description
connect_nodes	Connect two nodes together.
connect_nodes_batch	Connect multiple node pairs in a single call.
copy_node	Copy a node, optionally into a different parent network.
create_node	Create a node inside a parent network.
delete_node	Delete a node.
disconnect_node	Disconnect one or all inputs of a node.
find_nodes	Search for nodes by name pattern, type, or context.
get_node_info	Get type, connections, flags, errors, cook time, and non-default parameters for a node.
layout_children	Auto-layout children of a network node.
list_children	List children of a network node.
list_node_types	List available node types for a context category.
move_node	Move a node to a different parent network.
rename_node	Rename a node.
reorder_inputs	Reorder the input connections of a node.
set_node_color	Set a node's color in the network editor.
set_node_flags	Set flags on a node.
set_node_position	Set a node's position in the network editor.

Functions

connect_nodes async

connect_nodes(
    ctx: Context,
    source_path: str,
    dest_path: str,
    output_index: int = 0,
    input_index: int = 0,
) -> dict

Connect two nodes together.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
ctx	Context	MCP context.	required
source_path	str	Upstream node path.	required
dest_path	str	Downstream node path.	required
output_index	int	Source output index.	0
input_index	int	Destination input index.	0

connect_nodes_batch async

connect_nodes_batch(ctx: Context, connections: list[dict[str, Any]]) -> dict

Connect multiple node pairs in a single call.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
connections	list[dict[str, Any]]	List of connections. Each dict has keys: source_path (str), dest_path (str), output_index (int, default 0), input_index (int, default 0).	required

copy_node async

copy_node(
    ctx: Context,
    node_path: str,
    dest_parent: Optional[str] = None,
    new_name: Optional[str] = None,
) -> dict

Copy a node, optionally into a different parent network.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
ctx	Context	MCP context.	required
node_path	str	Source node path.	required
dest_parent	Optional[str]	Destination parent path.	None
new_name	Optional[str]	Name for the copy.	None

create_node async

create_node(
    ctx: Context,
    parent_path: str,
    node_type: str,
    name: Optional[str] = None,
    position: Optional[list] = None,
) -> dict

Create a node inside a parent network.

Before using this, call list_node_types(context='', filter='') to verify a dedicated node exists for the operation. Houdini has thousands of nodes — many common operations (boolean, scatter, copy to points, fracture, ocean, hair, vellum, pyro, etc.) have dedicated nodes that are better than writing VEX or Python.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
ctx	Context	MCP context.	required
parent_path	str	Parent network path.	required
node_type	str	Node type (e.g. 'geo', 'box', 'grid').	required
name	Optional[str]	Node name.	None
position	Optional[list]	[x, y] network editor position.	None

delete_node async

delete_node(ctx: Context, node_path: str) -> dict

Delete a node.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
ctx	Context	MCP context.	required
node_path	str	Node path.	required

disconnect_node async

disconnect_node(
    ctx: Context,
    node_path: str,
    input_index: Optional[int] = None,
    disconnect_all: bool = False,
) -> dict

Disconnect one or all inputs of a node.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
ctx	Context	MCP context.	required
node_path	str	Node path.	required
input_index	Optional[int]	Input index to disconnect.	None
disconnect_all	bool	Disconnect all inputs.	False

find_nodes async

find_nodes(
    ctx: Context,
    pattern: Optional[str] = None,
    node_type: Optional[str] = None,
    context: Optional[str] = None,
    inside: str = "/",
) -> dict

Search for nodes by name pattern, type, or context.

Narrow the search: use inside to limit to a specific sub-network and supply at least one of pattern, node_type, or context. Searching from inside="/" with no filters scans the entire scene and can return hundreds of nodes.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
ctx	Context	MCP context.	required
pattern	Optional[str]	Glob pattern for node names (e.g. 'box*').	None
node_type	Optional[str]	Node type filter (e.g. 'box', 'null').	None
context	Optional[str]	Category filter (e.g. 'Sop', 'Object').	None
inside	str	Root path to search within (default '/').	'/'

get_node_info async

get_node_info(ctx: Context, node_path: str) -> dict

Get type, connections, flags, errors, cook time, and non-default parameters for a node.

Returns only parameters that differ from their defaults (non_default_parameters) plus a total_param_count. Use get_parameter_schema to inspect the full parameter list.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
ctx	Context	MCP context.	required
node_path	str	Node path.	required

layout_children async

layout_children(
    ctx: Context, parent_path: str, spacing: Optional[float] = None
) -> dict

Auto-layout children of a network node.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
ctx	Context	MCP context.	required
parent_path	str	Parent network path.	required
spacing	Optional[float]	Spacing multiplier between nodes.	None

list_children async

list_children(
    ctx: Context,
    parent_path: str,
    recursive: bool = False,
    filter_type: Optional[str] = None,
) -> dict

List children of a network node.

Avoid recursive=True on large networks — it can return hundreds or thousands of nodes. Prefer find_nodes with a specific pattern instead.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
ctx	Context	MCP context.	required
parent_path	str	Parent network path.	required
recursive	bool	Include all descendants (use sparingly on large scenes).	False
filter_type	Optional[str]	Node type filter (e.g. 'box', 'merge').	None

list_node_types async

list_node_types(
    ctx: Context, context: str, filter: str | None = None, limit: int = 200
) -> dict

List available node types for a context category.

IMPORTANT: Any context can have hundreds of node types (SOPs alone can exceed 800 in a production install). Always pass a filter keyword (e.g. 'mountain', 'scatter', 'boolean') instead of dumping the full list — the unfiltered response is capped at limit and may still be large.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
ctx	Context	MCP context.	required
context	str	Category name (e.g. 'Sop', 'Lop', 'Dop', 'Top', 'Cop2').	required
filter	str | None	Substring to filter type name or label (case-insensitive).	None
limit	int	Max entries to return (default 200, max recommended 200).	200

move_node async

move_node(ctx: Context, node_path: str, dest_parent: str) -> dict

Move a node to a different parent network.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
ctx	Context	MCP context.	required
node_path	str	Node path.	required
dest_parent	str	Destination parent path.	required

rename_node async

rename_node(ctx: Context, node_path: str, new_name: str) -> dict

Rename a node.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
ctx	Context	MCP context.	required
node_path	str	Node path.	required
new_name	str	New node name.	required

reorder_inputs async

reorder_inputs(ctx: Context, node_path: str, new_order: list) -> dict

Reorder the input connections of a node.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
ctx	Context	MCP context.	required
node_path	str	Node path.	required
new_order	list	New input ordering (e.g. [1, 0] swaps first two).	required

set_node_color async

set_node_color(
    ctx: Context, node_path: str, r: float, g: float, b: float
) -> dict

Set a node's color in the network editor.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
ctx	Context	MCP context.	required
node_path	str	Node path.	required
r	float	Red (0.0-1.0).	required
g	float	Green (0.0-1.0).	required
b	float	Blue (0.0-1.0).	required

set_node_flags async

set_node_flags(
    ctx: Context,
    node_path: str,
    display: Optional[bool] = None,
    render: Optional[bool] = None,
    bypass: Optional[bool] = None,
    template: Optional[bool] = None,
    lock: Optional[bool] = None,
) -> dict

Set flags on a node.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
ctx	Context	MCP context.	required
node_path	str	Node path.	required
display	Optional[bool]	Display flag.	None
render	Optional[bool]	Render flag.	None
bypass	Optional[bool]	Bypass flag.	None
template	Optional[bool]	Template flag.	None
lock	Optional[bool]	Lock flag.	None

set_node_position async

set_node_position(ctx: Context, node_path: str, x: float, y: float) -> dict

Set a node's position in the network editor.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
ctx	Context	MCP context.	required
node_path	str	Node path.	required
x	float	Horizontal position.	required
y	float	Vertical position.	required