viewport

viewport

MCP tool definitions for Houdini viewport and UI operations.

Provides tools for inspecting and controlling Houdini's viewport panes, display modes, camera assignment, screenshot capture, network editor navigation, and error node discovery.

Functions:

Name	Description
capture_network_editor	Capture a screenshot of the network editor.
capture_screenshot	Capture a screenshot of the viewport or a specific pane tab.
find_error_nodes	Find all nodes with errors or warnings in the scene.
frame_all	Frame all geometry in the viewport.
frame_selection	Frame the current selection in the viewport.
get_viewport_info	Get viewport settings for a pane tab.
list_panes	List all visible pane tabs in the Houdini UI.
log_status	Display a status message in Houdini's status bar.
set_current_network	Navigate the network editor to a specific network path.
set_viewport_camera	Set the viewport to look through a specific camera.
set_viewport_direction	Set the viewport to a standard viewing direction.
set_viewport_display	Set the viewport shading mode.
set_viewport_renderer	Set the viewport's Hydra rendering delegate for live preview.

Functions

capture_network_editor async

capture_network_editor(
    ctx: Context, output_path: str, node_path: str | None = None
) -> list[TextContent | ImageContent]

Capture a screenshot of the network editor.

Screenshots consume significant context tokens. Only take one when visual confirmation of wiring is genuinely needed — prefer get_node_info or list_children for inspecting node connections.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
output_path	str	Image file path.	required
node_path	str | None	Node path to navigate to before capture.	None

capture_screenshot async

capture_screenshot(
    ctx: Context, output_path: str, pane_name: str | None = None
) -> list[TextContent | ImageContent]

Capture a screenshot of the viewport or a specific pane tab.

Screenshots consume significant context tokens. Only take one when visual confirmation is genuinely needed — prefer get_geometry_info, get_node_info, or get_scene_summary for most inspection tasks.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
output_path	str	Image file path.	required
pane_name	str | None	Pane tab name.	None

find_error_nodes async

find_error_nodes(ctx: Context, root_path: str = '/') -> dict

Find all nodes with errors or warnings in the scene.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
root_path	str	Root node path to search from.	'/'

frame_all async

frame_all(ctx: Context, pane_name: str | None = None) -> dict

Frame all geometry in the viewport.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
pane_name	str | None	Pane tab name.	None

frame_selection async

frame_selection(ctx: Context, pane_name: str | None = None) -> dict

Frame the current selection in the viewport.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
pane_name	str | None	Pane tab name.	None

get_viewport_info async

get_viewport_info(ctx: Context, pane_name: str | None = None) -> dict

Get viewport settings for a pane tab.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
pane_name	str | None	Pane tab name.	None

list_panes async

list_panes(ctx: Context) -> dict

List all visible pane tabs in the Houdini UI.

log_status async

log_status(ctx: Context, message: str, severity: str = 'message') -> dict

Display a status message in Houdini's status bar.

Call this at the START of every major step so the user can follow along in real time without having to inspect tool call logs. Examples: "Creating base geometry...", "Wiring SOP chain...", "Setting up pyro simulation...", "Assigning materials...".

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
message	str	Status message to display (keep it short and human-readable).	required
severity	str	"message" (default), "important", "warning", or "error".	'message'

set_current_network async

set_current_network(ctx: Context, network_path: str) -> dict

Navigate the network editor to a specific network path.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
network_path	str	Network path to navigate to.	required

set_viewport_camera async

set_viewport_camera(
    ctx: Context, camera_path: str, pane_name: str | None = None
) -> dict

Set the viewport to look through a specific camera.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
camera_path	str	Camera node path.	required
pane_name	str | None	Pane tab name.	None

set_viewport_direction async

set_viewport_direction(
    ctx: Context, direction: str, pane_name: str | None = None
) -> dict

Set the viewport to a standard viewing direction.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
direction	str	"front", "back", "top", "bottom", "left", "right", or "perspective".	required
pane_name	str | None	Pane tab name.	None

set_viewport_display async

set_viewport_display(
    ctx: Context, display_mode: str, pane_name: str | None = None
) -> dict

Set the viewport shading mode.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
display_mode	str	One of 'wireframe', 'shaded', 'smooth', 'smooth_wire', 'hidden_line', 'flat', 'flat_wire', 'matcap', 'matcap_wire'.	required
pane_name	str | None	Pane tab name.	None

set_viewport_renderer async

set_viewport_renderer(
    ctx: Context, renderer: str, pane_name: str | None = None
) -> dict

Set the viewport's Hydra rendering delegate for live preview.

Use this during lookdev to preview materials and lighting directly in the viewport instead of writing full renders to disk.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
renderer	str	Renderer name — "GL", "Storm", "Karma CPU", "Karma XPU", etc. Case-insensitive partial match.	required
pane_name	str | None	Pane tab name.	None