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Octo × BIM in Revit PT Request an assessment

Octo for BIM in Revit

The model already has the information. Octo helps get it out.

In construction, Revit stores the design as an information model. The Revit API lets you write your own commands, called add-ins, that export, check and organize that model. Octo can propose and write these add-ins and the routines that use them, always for your team to review.

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A Revit model with views and sheets goes into Octo, which returns the IFC export and the drawing sheets in PDF and DWG. INPUT .RVT MODEL VIEWS SHEETS IFC EXPORT PDF · DWG SHEETS Document.Export(folder, name, IFCExportOptions) OCTO × CONSTRUCTION BIM IN REVIT CC-01
Manifest.addinregisters the add-in in Revit
Export through the APIIFC, PDF, DWGmethods in the 2026 API reference
In the cloudRVT, RFARevit Automation API, no Revit installed
Sources12listed at the end of the page
01

What Octo does with Revit.

Six possible deliverables. All of them start from your team's model and rules and go to review before they count.

Batch IFC export

It can write a command that exports the document to IFC with Document.Export and the IFCExportOptions settings, always with the same configuration for the whole team.

Deliverable: export command with the options on record

Sheets in PDF and DWG

It can set up the export of a selection of views to PDF (PDFExportOptions) and to DWG (DWGExportOptions), from a list defined by the project.

Deliverable: sheet set generated by the same rule

Reports from the model

It can read model data through the API and generate check spreadsheets, a use Autodesk itself cites for Revit automation: analyzing model data and extracting reports.

Deliverable: report for the team to review

Routines that don't stall on a dialog

It can handle Revit dialog boxes through the DialogBoxShowing event, with the answer decided beforehand by the team, and chain steps through the Idling event.

Deliverable: routine with each automatic answer noted

Cloud processing

When you don't want to depend on a computer with Revit, the Revit Automation API runs add-ins on the Revit engine in Autodesk's cloud to process or create RVT, RTE and RFA files.

Deliverable: proposed cloud workflow, for evaluation

Open IFC exporter

Revit's IFC exporter is open-source code from Autodesk, licensed under LGPL v2. When an export rule needs to be understood, the published code can be consulted.

Deliverable: answer quoting the relevant code
02

Eight arms, one model.

The same Octo cycle, applied to this workstream. Each arm has a narrow role; the people who approve and sign are on your team.

  1. Discovery

    Identifies version and usage

    Which Revit version, which add-ins are already installed, which exports the team does today and with which settings.

  2. Data

    Maps what comes out of the model

    Parameters, views, sheets and categories each deliverable uses. Without this map, a batch export repeats the same error in every file.

  3. Security

    Respects the client's model

    The model belongs to the client. Octo works on a copy or in the environment the team gives it access to, and reads only what the task requires.

  4. Architecture

    Picks the path

    An add-in in the team's Revit when the routine runs in the office; the Revit Automation API when processing can move to Autodesk's cloud.

  5. Development

    Writes the add-in

    External command (IExternalCommand) with a .addin manifest and its own AddInId, with the export options written in the code.

  6. Review

    Checks on a known project

    Runs first on a model whose output the team already knows and compares file by file.

  7. Release

    Installs with your OK

    The manifest goes into the add-ins folder for that Revit version, only on the machines the team specifies.

  8. Documentation

    Records the rule

    Which options each export uses and why. The next project starts from this record.

Octo does not sign designs. Technical responsibility for the model and the sheets stays with the licensed professional on your team.

03

Each task, its own path.

The criteria Octo uses to choose. The tool your team already uses remains the reference.

TaskPathNote
Export IFC from the modelAdd-in with Document.Export and IFCExportOptionsRevit's IFC exporter is open source (LGPL v2)
Generate PDF and DWG from a list of viewsAdd-in with PDFExportOptions and DWGExportOptionsList of views defined by the project
Long routine inside the Revit sessionIdling and DialogBoxShowing eventsDialog answers decided beforehand by the team
Process RVT or RFA without Revit installedRevit Automation API, on APS (Autodesk Platform Services)Runs in Autodesk's cloud
Register the add-in.addin manifest with a unique AddInIdRevit refuses two add-ins with the same id
04

From request to routine.

Three steps. Each one only makes sense after the previous one has shown results on your team.

A proposal, not a promise

1 Today

On-demand exports

You describe the deliverable and Octo proposes the add-in or the routine.

  • “Export the IFC for this model with the contract settings”
  • PDF of a list of sheets
  • Parameter report for checking
Benefit: the same export, with the same settings, every time
2 Next

Office batches

Exports of several models can start running in batch, in the team's Revit.

  • List of models and deliverables per project
  • Log of every file generated
  • Files checked before they are sent
Benefit: the team reviews the result instead of repeating clicks
3 Later

Cloud processing

When it makes sense, part of the batch can move to the Revit Automation API.

  • Workflow evaluated with your team
  • The same add-in, in another environment
  • Log of version and input for each run
Benefit: the batch no longer depends on a free machine
05

Confirmed by sources.

Every point below has a source published by the vendor, the project or the responsible agency. The sources are in the next section.

7

points with a published source, each with its reference alongside.

ConfirmedAdd-in registered through a manifest
External commands and applications must be registered to show up in Revit; the .addin files in the add-ins folders are read at startup. The manifest points to the class that implements IExternalCommand or IExternalApplication.Source: Revit API Developers Guide 2024, Add-in Registration
ConfirmedExternal command
An external command is a class that implements IExternalCommand. The entry point is the Execute method, and the returned result (Succeeded, Failed or Cancelled) decides whether Revit keeps or rolls back the changes.Source: Revit API Developers Guide, External Commands
ConfirmedAdd-in folder and id
The manifest lives in C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\<year>, and Revit refuses to load two add-ins with the same id.Source: Revit API Developers Guide 2025, add-in manifest
ConfirmedExport to IFC, PDF and DWG
The 2026 API reference documents exporting the document to IFC (Document.Export with IFCExportOptions) and exporting a selection of views to PDF and to DWG.Source: Revit API 2026, reference
ConfirmedDialogs and idle time
The DialogBoxShowing event fires when Revit is about to show a dialog box, and OverrideResult closes it with the given value. The Idling event fires when Revit is not in a tool or an active transaction.Source: Revit API 2026, reference
ConfirmedRevit in the cloud
The Revit Automation API is the Revit engine running in the cloud, with access to the full Revit DB API without Revit installed, to run add-ins that process or create RVT, RTE and RFA data. The APS Automation API also covers AutoCAD, 3ds Max, Inventor and Fusion, for batch processing.Source: Autodesk Platform Services, Automation APIs
ConfirmedOpen IFC exporter
The .NET code Revit and Revit LT use for IFC, from version 2019 onward, is published by Autodesk on GitHub under the LGPL v2 license.Source: GitHub, Autodesk/revit-ifc
06

What Octo does and what stays with you.

Octo prepares everything, but does not sign. The document of record stays with whoever is accountable for it.

Octo prepares

Surveys, calculates, organizes and produces the documents: spreadsheets, reports, drawing sheets and drafts.

Deliverable: material ready to check

Your team checks

The 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 signer

Who signs

Octo 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 responsible engineer or architect, with an ART or RRT.

Sign-off: engineer or architect, with ART/RRT
07

Sources.

Autodesk documentation and the official repository used in the research. Accessed on October 28, 2026.

Which model deliverable eats up your team's time?

The assessment starts with a model and a deliverable you already know, without touching your project. You get a proposal for what can be automated and decide with it in hand.

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