Bring AI directly into your Houdini workflow.
NodeArchitect is a Houdini plugin that gives you an AI agent which actually understands your scene. Select nodes, ask a question, and get answers grounded in your real node graph — not generic advice from a chatbot that’s never seen your file.
What It Does
Scene Understanding — Select any nodes and ask “what does this do?” NodeArchitect reads your parameters, connections, and data flow, then explains it in plain english. Leave all nodes unselected to analyse your entire scene at once.
Debugging — Paste an error or just ask “why is this broken?” and the agent traces the problem through your node graph to the root cause, with exact fixes.
Code Generation — Need VEX or Python? Describe what you want and get working code that references your actual nodes and parameters.
Documentation — Generate structured technical documentation for any network, ready for handoff to other artists or future you.
HDA Building — Describe a tool in plain english and get a Python build script that creates it. “Make me a procedural staircase HDA with step count, height, and width parameters” — done.
There are no mode selectors or extra buttons to manage. NodeArchitect reads your prompt and figures out whether you need an explanation, a bug fix, generated code, documentation, or a node build script. To build something in your scene, just describe what you want — code is generated and presented for your review before anything runs.
Key Features
- Works with your scene — Context is collected automatically from your selection. Every response is grounded in your actual nodes, not generic examples.
- Multi-provider LLM support — Use OpenRouter (100+ models, free tier available), OpenAI, Anthropic, GitHub Copilot, Ollama, or any custom endpoint. Bring your own API key — no vendor lock-in.
- GitHub Copilot sign-in — Connect with your existing Copilot subscription (including Copilot Free) via OAuth.
- Built-in MCP server — NodeArchitect runs on its own bundled MCP server, no extra setup required. External clients like Claude Desktop and Cursor can also connect to your live Houdini session.
- Per-tool consent — The agent pauses and asks before anything mutates your scene.
- Persistent chat sessions — Conversations are saved with AI-generated titles. Pick up where you left off.
- 4K / HiDPI support — UI scales automatically, with appearance settings for font, font size, and display scaling.
What You Need
- Houdini 20.0+ (Python 3.10+, PySide2 or PySide6)
- An API key from any supported provider (OpenRouter’s free tier is enough to get started), or a GitHub Copilot subscription
Installation
Copy three things into your Houdini user preferences folder and restart. Full instructions included. Takes about 2 minutes.
Licensing
Free tier Free for non-commercial and personal use — learn, experiment, and use it on personal projects at no cost.
Commercial license Required if you’re using NodeArchitect in a production environment, studio pipeline, paid tutorials, or any revenue-generating work. Licenses are billed annually. If you choose not to renew, you retain permanent access to the last version available at the time your subscription ends — you’ll never lose access to software you’ve paid for.
Educational use Individual students and researchers using NodeArchitect for non-commercial academic work are covered under the free tier. Institutional or departmental deployment — such as a university integrating NodeArchitect into a course or shared pipeline — requires a commercial license.
Source code access Available at additional cost for studios and individuals. A source code licence permits modification and integration into your own internal pipelines. It does not grant rights to redistribute, sublicense, or incorporate NodeArchitect into a product sold to third parties. Contact for details.
Refunds Refunds are not offered as standard. Requests are considered on a case-by-case basis.
Contact for any further commercial licensing enquiries.
Data & Privacy NodeArchitect reads node graph, parameter, and connection data from your Houdini session and sends it to your chosen LLM provider for processing. This data is not stored or retained by Joseph Bishop. You are responsible for reviewing the privacy policy of your chosen LLM provider before use.
Third-Party Services You are solely responsible for your own API provider accounts and compliance with those providers’ terms of service. GitHub Copilot integration requires an active, valid Copilot subscription and must comply with GitHub’s terms of service.
MCP Server & Network Security NodeArchitect’s built-in MCP server allows external clients such as Claude Desktop and Cursor to connect to your live Houdini session. Only enable external MCP connections on trusted private networks. You assume all risk associated with enabling this feature.
Disclaimer NodeArchitect is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, express or implied. Joseph Bishop is not liable for any damages arising from its use, including scene corruption, data loss, pipeline disruption, or outputs generated by connected LLM providers. All AI-generated code and suggestions should be reviewed before being applied to your scene.
Changelog
2.0
- Brand new web UI — rebuilt for improved text rendering and legibility, with syntax-highlighted code and appearance settings for font, font size, and display scaling
- Improved agent loop — smarter orchestration with better tool routing and more reliable, grounded responses
- Bundled MCP server — NodeArchitect now runs on its own built-in MCP server, no separate install or configuration. External clients like Claude Desktop and Cursor can also connect to your live Houdini session
- GitHub Copilot sign-in — use your existing Copilot subscription (including Copilot Free) with no API key
- Secure credential storage — keys stored in your OS keychain, not a plaintext file
- Per-tool consent — the agent pauses and asks before anything touches your scene
1.1
- Support for Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers via HTTP and stdio
- Use MCP for scene control — disables built-in context and scene management, letting you connect your own MCP instead
- Filter chat history by current filename
1.0 — Initial release
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