HuskyBIM for OpenBridge

HuskyBIM for OpenBridge connects Claude Desktop to Bentley OpenBridge Designer 2026 (OpenBridge Modeler) through a native add-in — 435 tools that model, read and document bridges in plain language: bridges and bridge units on a road alignment, support lines, decks and wearing surfaces, barriers, beams and beam corridors, steel details, tendons, bearings, piers and abutments with piles, excavations, quantities and reports — plus the civil layer (alignments, profiles, terrains, corridors) and the complete MicroStation layer underneath.

Requirements

• Bentley OpenBridge Designer 2026 (OpenBridge Modeler 26.0) for Windows — earlier versions are not supported yet
• Windows 10 or Windows 11 (64-bit)
• Claude Desktop — download at claude.ai/download
• Free HuskyBIM account — sign up

Installation

What you can do

HuskyBIM for OpenBridge covers 435 tools: 114 bridge tools on Bentley's ObmNET SDK (the same objects the ribbon commands create), the civil layer on CifNET (alignments, profiles, corridors, terrains, superelevation) and the complete MicroStation layer underneath. Everything below was measured live in OpenBridge Modeler 2026 on 8–9 September 2026.

• Bridge model — bridges and bridge units in the file, the road alignment a bridge follows, support lines (single or a whole row at stations with skew and length), approach reference lines and approach slabs, the active bridge, standards and units in use.
• Deck and roadway — decks from a deck template with constraints, wearing surfaces, barriers on a deck guideline, superelevation assigned from the road (absolute stations, lane clipping, the same checks OpenBridge's own dialog makes), deck quantities.
• Beams and steel — beam corridors with a chosen number of beam lines (the tool finds a spacing OpenBridge's own validator accepts), beam groups from the LEAP or custom template libraries, tub girders, stiffeners, cross frames and diaphragms (steel, concrete and tub), field splices, shear connectors placed by OpenBridge's own layout calculation, tendons, segmental construction, accessories, bearings on a support line with beam seats.
• Substructure — piers and abutments from a template (cap, columns, footing, piles), everything about one pier (components with dimensions, elevations, materials, unit prices, its rule and wing walls), wing walls, every placed pile with position and elevations, excavation volumes cut from a terrain with side/bottom slopes and working space, honest reasons when OpenBridge refuses.
• Quantities, reports, checks — quantities per object, per unit and per bridge, integrity checks, model update, OpenBridge's own reports, the complete key-in catalogue (134 commands) and any key-in.
• The whole ObmNET API — list the members of any bridge object, read any property or method chain, call any method, construct any API object: for the parts the typed tools do not reach, with handles that can be passed back.
• The civil layer — alignments from PIs with curve radii, profiles from PVIs with vertical curves, terrain models from points/breaklines/XYZ/LandXML with elevations and volumes, corridors and template drops, superelevation, feature definitions and standards (the same tools as HuskyBIM for OpenRoads).
• The MicroStation layer — every HuskyBIM for MicroStation tool is included: read and draw elements, levels, references (IFC from Revit 2024–2027, DWG), cells, text and dimensions, views and screenshots, drawings, sheets and PDF, DWG/DXF export, audit and quantities, the complete MicroStation help and tool catalogue, any key-in, the COM object model, Bentley's Python API and .NET reflection into the SDKs.

Known limits in v0.1.0 (measured, not guessed). The LEAP pile-pattern library cannot be listed (reading it terminates OpenBridge Modeler; the pier tools still report each pier's pattern name, pile count and every placed pile). Beam lines must fall inside the deck edges — the tool returns OpenBridge's own validation report when they do not. Field splices need steel beams; cross frames and intermediate stiffeners need more than one beam line. Excavation volumes are OpenBridge's heaviest command: a pier with many piles can take several minutes (the call waits up to 15 minutes). Approach reference lines need room on the bridge alignment beyond the bridge. Tools that create objects return names and counts only — details come from a separate read (OpenBridge's objects are not safe to read inside the transaction that created them). The file must be opened from a WorkSet for templates, libraries and standards to be available.

Example workflows

• "Can you see OpenBridge? Which bridges, units and support lines are in the file?"
• "Create a 120 m alignment, a bridge 'Bro 1' on it with support lines at 0, 60 and 120 m, and a deck from the 'Slab with constraints - 2 Lanes' template."
• "Place a Hammer_Head1 pier on support line SL2 and a 32 inch F-shape barrier on the left guideline."
• "Build a beam corridor with four beam lines and a WF66G beam group, then bearings on every support line."
• "What are the quantities of the deck and the piers, per unit and in total?"
• "Assign the road's superelevation to the deck and tell me which stations were clipped."
• "Cut an excavation for pier P2 against terrain 'Existing Ground' with a 2:1 side slope and 0.5 m working space, then read the volume back."
• "Run the integrity check and OpenBridge's quantity report, and give me the warnings in plain language."
• "Which members does the Deck class expose? Read Deck1.Volume and call GetBridgeUnit('BridgeUnit1') on the bridge."
• "Set view 1 to isometric, smooth shade, fit, and show me a screenshot of the bridge."

Troubleshooting

Ensure OpenBridge Designer 2026 is running with a design file open and that Claude Desktop has been restarted after installation. Check Claude Desktop → Settings → Extensions to confirm HuskyBIM for OpenBridge is enabled.

HuskyBIM for OpenBridge talks to the add-in inside OpenBridge Designer over local port 14279. The add-in loads when a design file opens — if OpenBridge Designer is sitting on the start screen, open a DGN first, then send your prompt. If the Message Center never shows "HuskyBIM for OpenBridge ready", check that C:\ProgramData\Bentley\OpenBridge Designer 2026\Configuration\Organization\HuskyBIM.cfg exists (the installer writes it) and that %LOCALAPPDATA%\HuskyBIM\microstation\HuskyBIM.MicroStation.dll is present. The add-in writes a log to %LOCALAPPDATA%\HuskyBIM\microstation\addin.log. If your organisation relocates MicroStation's configuration (a custom _USTN_ORGANIZATION on a network share), copy HuskyBIM.cfg into that Organization folder — MicroStation only reads the cfg files there.

Claude's calls run on OpenBridge Modeler's main thread, one at a time. A modal dialog (a file picker, a "save changes?" prompt) blocks them: close it, or ask Claude to read and dismiss it (it can list dialogs and press their buttons).

If activation fails, a message will appear at the end of installation. Your files are still installed — re-run the installer with the correct email. Contact [email protected] if the issue persists.