Octo for Revit
Revit desktop has no headless mode: the batch runs in an open Revit, except no one clicks in it. Octo can write, test and run these batches through pyRevit, RevitBatchProcessor or a .NET add-in, or in the cloud, through Design Automation. You approve the plan and each batch; it prepares the script, the files and the report of what failed for your team to review.
Six possible deliverables, drawn from the research. In all of them, Revit actually opens on a Windows machine; Octo proposes the approach, writes the script and tests it on a sample before the batch.
Writes a C# add-in that reads the model list, opens each one without activating it on screen, detaches it from the central when it's workshared, exports IFC (an open BIM model exchange format), DWG of the sheets and a combined PDF, and closes without saving. Dialogs that would hang the batch are closed through the DialogBoxShowing event.
Writes a Python script for pyrevit run --models=list.txt: pyRevit opens the right Revit version and hands the model list to the script. With --purge, it deletes the temporary files at the end. Revit actually opens; no one just clicks in it.
Sets up RevitBatchProcessor on the command line for Windows Task Scheduler. It opens each model, runs the task, closes, records the closed dialogs in the log and can use one Revit session per file, so a crash doesn't take down the batch.
Deliverable: .py task + .json configurationRuns your .dyn as a RevitBatchProcessor task, model by model. For people who don't code, it organizes the graphs in Dynamo Player, which runs on the open model.
Opens in batch models from Autodesk Docs, in ACC (Autodesk Construction Cloud), or from BIM 360 by project and model identifiers, with a signed-in account that has access. For Revit Server, it creates local copies with the server's own command-line tool, on the same version.
Deliverable: add-in or script for ACC + local copiesThe only headless Revit Autodesk offers is Design Automation, in the cloud, called through a REST API from a Linux server. The add-in has to be rebuilt without interface dependencies. Octo compares the paths and proposes the migration when it pays off.
Deliverable: APS migration studyThe same Octo cycle, applied to Revit. Each arm has a narrow role; the decisions are made by a person at your company.
How many .rvt and .rfa files, which version each was saved in and whether it's workshared, read before opening. Which Revit versions are installed and where the centrals live: on the network, on Revit Server or in the cloud.
Which formats (IFC, DWG, PDF), which sheets are included, whether the PDF comes out combined, the name and folder of each file and where the error log goes.
Revit LT doesn't accept add-ins or Dynamo, so it won't work. Asks your company to read the current license agreement (EULA) before any server batch. Opens centrals detached, without touching the original.
pyRevit or RevitBatchProcessor for a local batch; a .NET add-in for an internal tool with a button; Design Automation when there's no Windows. Revit 2025 and later use .NET 8; older add-ins need to be recompiled.
Open, export, close without saving. Creates the output folder first, exports only printable sheets and answers every dialog, so Revit doesn't sit waiting for a click.
Runs on a few models and checks by the result: the IFC exists, there's a DWG per sheet, the PDF opens, the log has no errors. The PDF export warns when a view fails, and that warning is read, not ignored.
With your OK, it runs the whole list and checks model by model what came out and what failed, without taking a success message as proof.
Revit, pyRevit or RevitBatchProcessor versions, the dialogs that came up and how they were answered, and what was confirmed on your machine. The next batch starts from this record.
Nothing runs in batch before your OK. The export scripts don't save the model: they open, export, close.
The criteria Octo uses to choose. Apart from Design Automation, every path needs Revit open on a Windows machine.
| Task | Recommended path | Local Revit? |
|---|---|---|
| Export IFC, DWG or PDF from dozens of models on a Windows machine | pyrevit run --models=list.txt or RevitBatchProcessor | Yes |
| Recurring scheduled batch (Windows Task Scheduler) | RevitBatchProcessor on the command line or pyrevit run | Yes |
| Run a Dynamo graph across many models | RevitBatchProcessor with a .dyn task | Yes |
| Run a Dynamo graph on the open model, for people who don't code | Dynamo Player | Yes |
Run .dyn without Revit (pure geometry) | DynamoCLI.exe -o | No (Dynamo only) |
| Internal tool with a button, events and automatic dialogs | .NET add-in (IExternalApplication + DialogBoxShowing) | Yes |
| Process models from a Linux server or SaaS | Design Automation for Revit | No (cloud) |
| ACC or BIM 360 models in a local batch | Add-in or pyRevit with ConvertCloudGUIDsToCloudPath | Yes |
| Create local copies of Revit Server models | RevitServerTool createLocalRvt | Yes (Revit Server tool) |
Three steps. Each one only makes sense after the previous one has shown results in your operation.
A proposal, not a promise
On a Windows machine with Revit and pyRevit or RevitBatchProcessor, you ask in business terms and get the proposed batch, to approve before it runs.
The batch is no longer requested; it runs on schedule, through Windows Task Scheduler.
The same routines in Design Automation for Revit, called by API, with no local Windows or Revit.
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.
Revit.exe session, on Windows. The headless Revit Autodesk offers is Design Automation, in the cloud.Source: Revit API guide; Design Automation documentationOcto 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 engineerDocumentation published by Autodesk and by the pyRevit and RevitBatchProcessor projects, used on this page.
The assessment starts by reading your models and your Revit installation, without changing anything. You get a map of what can be automated and decide with it in hand.