🚀 Aras Innovator Claude Agent

Connect Claude Desktop to Aras Innovator PLM through the Model Context Protocol (MCP)

This MCP server lets Claude Desktop securely interact with Aras Innovator using either Aras InnovatorEdge or Configurable Web Services (CWS). It exposes a set of structured tools that allow Claude to query PLM data, explore metadata, create items, call methods, and more—all through natural language.

✨ What can you do?

• 🔐 Authenticate securely using API key–based access
• 📊 Query PLM data over REST/OData
• 🧠 Explore your schema via $metadata discovery
• ✍️ Create Items (Part, Document, custom ItemTypes, etc.)
• 🔧 Call Aras server methods
• 🔄 Automatically resolve ItemTypes using fuzzy matching
• 🛡️ Edge-first design with full compatibility for CWS

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📋 Prerequisites

🐍 Python 3.8+

• Windows/macOS/Linux supported

🤖 Claude Desktop

• Download from https://claude.ai/download
• No subscription required

🏢 Aras Innovator (CWS or Edge)

This agent supports:

• Aras InnovatorEdge (API-key access)
• Aras Innovator REST via CWS (standard /Server/OData endpoint)

Both backends use the same config pattern.

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🎯 Quick start

1️⃣ Clone & install

git clone https://github.com/ArasLabs/aras-claude-agent.git
cd aras-claude-agent
pip install -r requirements.txt

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2️⃣ Configure your connection

Create a .env file in the project root.

Option A — InnovatorEdge backend

API_BACKEND=EDGE
AUTH_MODE=API_KEY
EDGE_API_KEY=your_edge_api_key
API_URL=https://yourserver.com/InnovatorServer

# Optional
ITEMTYPE_ALIASES=Problem:PR;Doc:Document;Part:Part

Option B — Configurable Web Services (CWS) backend

Uses the same API-key auth pattern for compatibility.

API_BACKEND=ARAS
AUTH_MODE=API_KEY
EDGE_API_KEY=your_cws_api_key      # Works for CWS even though named EDGE_API_KEY
API_URL=https://yourserver.com/InnovatorServer

ITEMTYPE_ALIASES=Problem:PR;Doc:Document;Part:Part

Notes:

• You do not need to manually append /Server/Odata; this is handled internally.
• The server normalizes URLs and applies the correct request pattern for Edge or CWS automatically.

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3️⃣ Add to Claude Desktop

Edit:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aras-api": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "src.server"],
      "cwd": "/absolute/path/to/aras-claude-agent"
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop.

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4️⃣ Verify the server

python -m src.server

If it starts and waits silently, your environment is correct. Claude will launch it automatically when needed.

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🛠️ Available tools

Tool	Description	Example prompt
test_api_connection	Confirm connectivity + auth	“Test my API connection.”
api_get_items	Query any ItemType via OData	“Get all Parts.”
api_create_item	Create a new Aras item	“Create a new Document named TestDoc.”
api_call_method	Invoke Aras server methods	“Call GetItemsInBOM.”
api_get_list	Fetch list values	“Show Part classifications.”
api_get_metadata	Download and inspect $metadata	“Show me all ItemTypes.”
api_resolve_itemtype	Map friendly names → real ItemTypes	“What ItemType is ‘Doc’?”
api_list_itemtypes	List ItemTypes discovered from CSDL	“List available ItemTypes.”

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🔧 Authentication details

This project uses a simple API-key model compatible with:

Aras InnovatorEdge

• Direct API key header

CWS (standard Aras REST)

• Same API key header style
• Server automatically adapts request format to CWS/Innovator REST

No OAuth 2.0 configuration is required for the CWS or Edge flows described above.

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💬 Example conversations

You: "Test my API connection."
Claude: ✓ Successfully authenticated. Ready for API calls.

You: "Create 10 Parts numbered ROBOT-001 to ROBOT-010."
Claude: Created 10 Part items.

You: "Get all Problem Reports assigned to me."
Claude: Retrieved 12 PR items.

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🏗️ Architecture

Claude Desktop
      ↓ JSON-RPC MCP
Python MCP Server
      ↓ Edge or CWS REST API
Aras Innovator
      ↓ OData / metadata / methods
PLM Database

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🔍 CWS & Edge Support (Summary)

Feature	InnovatorEdge	CWS
API key auth	✔	✔
OData metadata discovery	✔	✔
Item creation	✔	✔
Method calls	✔	✔
Automatic URL normalization	✔	✔
Name → ItemType resolution	✔	✔
Schema-aware test data creation	✔	✔

Both backends provide the same toolset to Claude—no prompt changes required.

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🛠️ Troubleshooting

• Authentication errors → check API_BACKEND, API_URL, and EDGE_API_KEY
• Claude not seeing tools → restart Claude Desktop
• Metadata not loading → confirm /Server/OData is reachable (CWS) or API-key access is enabled (Edge)

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🤝 Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome!

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📄 License

MIT License — see LICENSE.