bim-cli — windows · offline · agent-first

One CLI for AEC formats your AI agent can install in one line.

PDF, Revit, and Excel under a single agent-first dispatcher. Self-installing, self-describing, no accounts, no telemetry, no network calls after install.

Install + use

paste into claude code · codex · cline · etc. 
Install bim-cli on this Windows machine and then use it.

Step 1 — install. Run this exactly:

  powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "iwr -useb https://bimcli.com/install.ps1 | iex"

The installer is per-user (no admin), idempotent, and prints `BIM_INSTALLED_OK <version> <path>` as its final line on success. If you don't see that line, stop and show me the output.

Step 2 — refresh PATH in your current session so you can call `bim` without restarting the shell:
  bash:  export PATH="$PATH:$LOCALAPPDATA/bim-cli"
  pwsh:  $env:Path += ";$env:LOCALAPPDATA\bim-cli"
  cmd:   set PATH=%PATH%;%LOCALAPPDATA%\bim-cli

Step 3 — learn the tool. In order:
  bim --version
  bim doctor --json
  bim describe --json

`describe --json` is the source of truth for every driver, verb, and arg schema — read it before guessing a command. `doctor --json` reports environment health; each failed check has a `fix` field with the exact remediation command.

Calling convention: `bim <format> <verb> [args]`. stdout is JSON, stderr is human. Errors return `{"ok":false,"error":{"kind","message","hint","retriable"}}`. Exit codes: 0 ok, 1 generic, 2 usage, 3 not-found, 4 permission, 5 conflict. Tool is fully offline after install.

After describe + doctor, summarize what's installed and what you can do, then wait for my task.
No agent? Install it yourself.
powershell · windows 10/11 
iwr -useb https://bimcli.com/install.ps1 | iex

Per-user. No admin. Idempotent — re-run to upgrade. Then run bim for a quick tour.

What is this?

bim-cli is a single Windows command, bim, that wraps existing AEC tooling (the Revit add-in via revit-cli, PDF analysis via pdf-cli) under one self-describing handshake an AI agent can install and use in two commands. Excel ships next.

It exists because the AEC stack is broken in ways agents can finally fix — Revit's PDF export pain, the headless-automation gap Autodesk explicitly punts to paid cloud services, the bulk-edit tax that costs $895/seat for what is effectively parameter editing, and the Bluebeam-alternative search that has gone unanswered for years. None of those need a new application — they need primitives an agent can chain.

Designed for AI agents first; usable by humans. Per-user install, no admin, no telemetry.

Once installed, try