Before you use the beta

Open Design is an engineering beta for evaluation. It supports design exploration; it is not a compliance certificate or a replacement for professional engineering judgment.

Compatibility

The current ZIP requires Windows, Revit, and pyRevit. pyRevit 7 is the intended setup. The current package has not completed release-level acceptance testing across Revit versions. Confirm your exact setup before use and begin with a project copy.

Engineering checks

Some encoded rules are known to be incorrect, incomplete, or applied outside their intended scope. Do not use automatic placement or a passing check as proof of compliance. Verify quantities, calculations, and design decisions against the requirements applicable to your project.

Examples requiring particular care include receptacle spacing, dwelling versus non-dwelling GFCI requirements, lighting criteria, and fire-alarm spacing. Corrections are ongoing; the full rule set has not been revalidated.

Electrical workflows

Electrical workflows have limited historical project testing, not comprehensive validation of the current release. Known issues include:

• Missing doors or wall references in some linked models.
• Circuit tags showing a question mark when panels are missing.
• Incorrect text orientation on some walls.
• Slow view and sheet generation on some projects.

Check linked-model information, placement, circuits, tags, and schedules before relying on the output.

Other disciplines

Mechanical, plumbing, and fire-protection workflows have not been validated in live Revit projects. Treat their output as experimental and independently verify it. Automated 3D conduit and cable-tray routing is not available in the current beta.

Required families

Revit families are not bundled. Load the appropriate families into your project or configure a suitable library. Missing families can prevent the corresponding placement task from completing.

AI access and project information

Conversational AI requires internet access and a separately billed Anthropic API key. AI requests may transmit prompts and selected model context to that provider. Check your organization’s data-sharing policy before connecting a project.

AI responses can be incorrect. Review proposed operations and verify the result in Revit. Do not rely on a fallback mode as a substitute for a failed AI request.

Installation and recovery

The public download is an unsigned ZIP package with a script-based installer. It is not a signed Windows Setup application. Keep a project copy and any preserved installation backup while evaluating an update. Installation, removal, and restoration steps are on the Getting Started page.

Visual demonstrations

The website’s interactive building and workflow illustrations are concept demonstrations, not evidence of completed automation on a customer project.

Report a problem

Contact support with the steps you took, expected result, actual result, and your Revit and pyRevit versions. Remove credentials and confidential project information from screenshots and reports.