Octo for Design Automation
Design Automation, part of Autodesk Platform Services (APS), runs AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor and 3ds Max on Autodesk's servers, with no interface and no installation, called through a REST API (web requests). Octo can build the calls: upload the file, trigger the run, track the status and bring back the result. You approve the plan and the spending cap; it prepares the code, the result and a report of what failed for human review.
Six concrete deliverables, drawn from the research. In all of them, Octo proposes the approach, writes the calls and tests with one file before the batch.
Uses the ready-made activity documented by Autodesk, AutoCAD.PlotToPDF+prod: uploads the DWG to a bucket (storage area), sends the WorkItem (run request), tracks the status and downloads the PDF. It plots with the settings saved in the drawing itself; for scale, layout or title block, it proposes a custom activity.
Packages the script or plugin into an AppBundle (.zip with PackageContents.xml), creates the Activity with the command line and the inputs and outputs, and points a prod alias to it. A new version goes live by switching the alias, without changing the caller.
Extract data from Revit models (RVT), generate parametric parts in Inventor, export 3ds Max scenes to FBX. A .NET plugin for Revit and Inventor, which must be compiled on Windows; MAXScript or Python for 3ds Max, which can be written and packaged on Linux.
Deliverable: AppBundle per product + ActivityReads the status of each run and separates the cause: inaccessible input, error inside the engine, destination that refused, timeout. Keeps the engine report, which is valid for 24 hours, and in production receives the completion notice by callback instead of polling the status repeatedly.
Deliverable: onComplete callback + report per runSets the maximum time for each run and calculates usage from the times each run returns, to budget based on real usage.
Deliverable: maximum time per run + usage measurementThe AutoCAD engine in the cloud is the same Core Console; the question is who hosts it. Octo weighs volume, task duration, dependencies such as fonts and plotters, whether the files can leave the company, and licensing, and proposes one of the two for your decision.
Deliverable: study of where to run itThe same Octo cycle, applied to Design Automation. Each arm has a narrow role; the decisions are made by a person at your company.
Which products and versions your files require, and which engines are live today: checks the live list before pinning a version, and checks when each one will be deprecated.
Each parameter with a name, direction (download or upload) and local file. Where they live: in Autodesk storage, at a signed S3, Azure or GCS URL, inline when small, or in Autodesk Docs with the drawing's references.
Credentials outside the code, only the necessary scopes, the run token never in the browser nor in full in a log. Points out that the file is downloaded and processed on Autodesk's servers, so you can decide whether it may leave.
A ready-made activity when it's enough; a custom AppBundle when control is needed; a Windows server when volume is high and steady, the task runs over an hour or the files can't leave.
curl and jq, or Python with requests, since Autodesk doesn't offer a Design Automation SDK for Python. Stays within 100 calls per minute and makes long processes print progress, because a minute of silence kills the run.
A sample run, checked by the file that came back and by the engine report, not just the status. The returned times become the batch's hour estimate.
With your OK and the spending cap set, moves the prod alias to the approved version and runs the batch, with multiple runs of the same activity in a single call.
Engines and versions, aliases, configured limits, actual usage seen in the Autodesk dashboard and what was confirmed on your account. The next activity starts ready.
Nothing runs in batch before your OK. Nothing is spent without a cap.
The criteria Octo uses to choose. A ready-made activity first; custom code only when that's not enough; your own server when the cloud doesn't pay off.
| Task | Recommended path | Alternative |
|---|---|---|
| Occasional DWG to PDF | Ready-made activity AutoCAD.PlotToPDF+prod | Custom Activity with .scr (scale, layout, title block) |
| Custom logic in AutoCAD | AppBundle (.NET, ObjectARX, LISP or .scr) + Activity | Windows server with Core Console |
| Revit, Inventor or 3ds Max on a server | Design Automation with an AppBundle | — |
| Several product versions side by side | Design Automation (engines from 2024 to 2027) | — |
| Low or irregular volume | Design Automation, pay per use | — |
| High, steady volume | Your own Windows server with Core Console | Design Automation with measured usage |
| AutoCAD tasks over 1 hour, or with third-party fonts, plotters, CTB/STB or ARX | Your own Windows server | — |
| Files that can't leave your infrastructure | Your own Windows server | — |
| Many files with the same activity | POST /workitems/batch | One POST /workitems per file |
| Know when it's done | onComplete callback | Periodic status polling; WebSocket |
| Call from a Linux server | curl + jq, or Python with requests | Node.js with fetch + @aps_sdk; .NET |
Three steps. Each one only makes sense after the previous one has shown results in your operation.
A proposal, not a promise
From a Linux server, with no Windows or AutoCAD at the company, you request the conversion and get the finished file.
Runs stop being requested one by one and go out in batch, with a maximum time per run and a completion notice.
Your code running on Autodesk's engines, called by other company systems over REST.
Each point below has a source published by the vendor, the project or the responsible agency. The sources are in the next section.
4
points with a published source, each with its reference alongside.
accoreconsole.exe. In the cloud, the engine license is built into the billing; on your own server, you need AutoCAD installed and licensed.Source: Design Automation v3 Field guideOcto prepares everything, but doesn't sign. The document of record stays with whoever is accountable for it.
Surveys, calculates, organizes and generates the documents: spreadsheets, reports, drawings and drafts.
Deliverable: material ready to checkThe licensed professional checks what Octo delivered before signing. If something doesn't add up, it goes back to Octo with the correction.
Step: review by the signerOcto does not sign. Designs, technical reports, ART/RRT (Brazil's professional responsibility records), accountability reports and any official document are still signed by the company's or agency's licensed professional: here, the designer or the engineer responsible for the project.
Sign-off: designer or responsible engineerAutodesk documentation used on this page, accessed on October 28, 2026.
The assessment starts with what you need to convert or extract, and at what volume, without triggering any paid run. You get the comparison between the cloud and your own server and decide with it in hand.