Trimble SketchUp

Limits

• The "Read + Write" label overstates the reach, in a direction that favours the user. The write produces a new file offered as a download link. Trimble documents no SketchUp or Trimble Connect destination the connector deposits into, and states models are not stored in Claude between sessions.
• The connector cannot touch an existing model. Trimble states Claude can only create .skp files and cannot edit or render an existing one. This is the single most consequential line in its documentation.
• Work is lost if you do not download it. Trimble instructs you to download your .skp each time to keep it. An unsaved generation does not survive the session.
• The directory's build_model does not appear in Trimble's documentation. Trimble names three tools and the middle one is a Python execution tool, not build_model. Counts agree at three; vocabulary does not. We could not resolve it against a live handshake.
• We could not verify tool behaviour ourselves. An anonymous initialize returns HTTP 401, so no schemas and no readOnlyHint or destructiveHint annotations were readable. Every behavioural claim here is Trimble's own or Anthropic's.
• get_docs injects the SDK into the conversation. Trimble describes it as Claude loading the full SDK. The Python that follows is written against text the connector supplied, which is a different trust relationship from retrieving a record. Its size and exact content are undocumented and we did not observe them.
• The free ceiling is published; everything past it is not. Thirty models on a free entitlement, then a paid SketchUp subscription. No per-model price, quota or rate limit for paid subscribers appears in Trimble's documentation.
• The connector is outside the AI Credits system. SketchUp's credits page prices AI Render at 10 and Generate Object at 30 and does not price the connector. Do not budget connector usage against a monthly credit allowance; the two meters are separate.
• No version history, undo or rollback is documented — and none exists to document, because no server-side model store is modified. Iterations are new files sharing a name and a version number in your download folder.
• Version tracking stops at the thread boundary. Trimble states new threads start fresh with limited knowledge of previous work, and warns that generating across multiple threads may lead to less stable output.
• The preview is a static thumbnail, not a 3D view. Trimble states you must download and open the .skp in SketchUp to see the output properly.
• No scopes are advertised anywhere. Neither the resource descriptor nor the authorization-server metadata carries a scopes_supported key. Nothing in the token distinguishes building from saving.
• The output is scoped by Trimble as version 1. Basic shapes and curved surfaces, geometry rather than renderings, Imperial units by default. Trimble publishes no accuracy or fitness-for-purpose disclaimer on the connector page, and we assert none of our own.
• English only, Claude only. Trimble states its AI features support English at this time, and that Claude is currently the only supported AI provider.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• SketchUp Connector for Claude — https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup-claude-connector (fetched 2026-08-19; page shows last updated 15 July 2026; source of the three-tool sequence, the create-only limitation, the 30-model free allowance, iteration and session-storage behaviour) · retrieved 2026-08-19
• SketchUp AI FAQ — https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup-ai-faq (fetched 2026-08-19; subscription requirement for AI features, English-only support, credit non-refundability, the no-guarantee statement scoped to SketchUp AI generally) · retrieved 2026-08-19
• SketchUp AI Credits — https://help.sketchup.com/en/ai-credits (fetched 2026-08-19; per-feature credit costs and per-tier monthly allowances, and the absence of any connector entry) · retrieved 2026-08-19
• SketchUp AI Subscription — https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup-ai-subscription (fetched 2026-08-19; the 1,500-credit add-on and once-per-account purchase rule) · retrieved 2026-08-19
• SketchUp AI overview — https://help.sketchup.com/en/ai-features (fetched 2026-08-19; the connector listed as one feature under the SketchUp AI umbrella) · retrieved 2026-08-19
• Generate Object — https://help.sketchup.com/en/ai-generate (fetched 2026-08-19; the 30-credit in-app object generation feature, distinct from this connector) · retrieved 2026-08-19
• help.sketchup.com/robots.txt allows all paths except /api/ and publishes a sitemap; no Content-Signal header is present on the robots file or on the connector page. sketchup.trimble.com/robots.txt allows all except /_next/data/ (both fetched 2026-08-19). An llms.txt on the help host returns a 307 redirect rather than a machine index, and appending .md to the connector URL returns a 404 rendered as an HTML application shell · retrieved 2026-08-19
• Live RFC 9728 protected-resource descriptor — https://api.sketchup.com/mcp/v1/sketchup/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource (fetched 2026-08-19, HTTP 200; this is the URL the www-authenticate header names. Path-insert returns an identical body; path-append 404s; the root form returns 403) · retrieved 2026-08-19
• Live RFC 8414 authorization-server metadata — https://api.sketchup.com/mcp/v1/identity/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server (fetched 2026-08-19, HTTP 200; grants, PKCE method, registration endpoint, and the absence of scopes_supported) · retrieved 2026-08-19
• Live anonymous probe — 2026-08-19: an initialize request to the endpoint returns HTTP 401 with www-authenticate: Bearer resource_metadata="https://api.sketchup.com/mcp/v1/sketchup/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource" · retrieved 2026-08-19
• Anthropic connector directory — https://claude.ai/directory/b982ecd1-ee51-45f0-99d9-9330a0dd8b0c (snapshot 2026-08-16; tool names, empty prompt_names, the Read + Write permissions string, categories, transport, and the connector description) · retrieved 2026-08-16