For manufacturers running Aras Innovator PLM
An Aras Innovator MCP server gives Claude, ChatGPT or Copilot named tools for parts, BOMs, change items and documents, built on the public OData API with OAuth from Innovator 14. Aras ships no MCP server as of 21 September 2026; two community servers exist. Pexon builds a governed one against your data model.
What we build
Built on what Aras Corporation documents: any ItemType (Part, Document, CAD), relationships such as Part BOM, files and vault files, server methods, lifecycle and permissions, classification and extended properties. Backends named below are documented resources; "confirmed in blueprint" means the vendor documentation sits behind a login and the resource is checked against your release first.
# aras-innovator-mcp-server: tool manifest, draft for blueprint week 1
# Every tool runs as the person asking. Nothing is written without a person confirming.
tools:
describe_itemtypes: # -> available ItemTypes and properties in this installation
backend: GET /server/odata/$metadata
mode: read
search_parts: # number, name, state -> parts
backend: GET /server/odata/Part with $filter and $select
mode: read
get_bom: # part id -> child parts with quantities
backend: GET /server/odata/Part('id')/Part BOM with $expand=related_id (relationship name confirmed in blueprint)
mode: read
get_change_items: # part or state -> change items with workflow status
backend: OData query on your change ItemType, confirmed in blueprint
mode: read
get_documents: # part id -> related documents and files
backend: OData relationship expand, confirmed in blueprint
mode: read
propose_change_request: # part, description -> draft change item held for a person to submit
backend: POST /server/odata/<change ItemType> after confirmation
mode: propose
audit: every call logged with user, tool, arguments and the Aras Innovator responseThe manifest is the contract. A question that needs an operation not on it gets a new line and a review, not a wider permission.
Checked 21 September 2026
| What we found | |
|---|---|
| Interfaces | RESTful API (OData) (OData, docs public): base /server/odata, every ItemType is an entity set; $filter, $select, $expand and $count supported, server methods as OData actions; requests are translated to AML · AML and .NET IOM (SOAP-style XML, .NET, docs public): the native Aras Markup Language over HTTP and the .NET IOM library, for what OData does not cover · InnovatorEdge API Manager (REST/JSON, docs behind customer or partner login): cloud service for governed REST APIs over Innovator data with policies, keys, rate limits and audit; announced February 2026, separate subscription |
| Authentication | From Innovator 14, OAuth 2.0 bearer tokens from the built-in OAuth server (discovery at /Server/OAuthServerDiscovery.aspx); the documentation shows Authorization Code with PKCE. Version 12 and below use a different token flow. |
| Vendor MCP server | No vendor server. Aras ships no MCP server; an Aras blog post from August 2026 discusses MCP only as one possible way to expose InnovatorEdge business actions. |
| Vendor AI assistant | InnovatorEdge AI, announced February 2026, with first agents for analytics, knowledge analysis, requirements ingestion and variant and BOM work, used through the Aras AI Assistant console. |
| Other connectors | Two community MCP servers under MIT licence exist on GitHub: Erryb95/aras-plm-mcp with about 70 read and write tools over OData and AML, and DaanTheoden/aras-claude-agent, a small server for Claude Desktop on Innovator 14 and later. |
Aras Corporation (US). Discrete manufacturers with complex products, in aerospace, automotive, industrial equipment and electronics, that need a configurable PLM data model, run as SaaS or on their own infrastructure.
Why Aras Innovator is hard for agents
01 · Data model
Aras data models are heavily customised per customer. ItemType and property names are read from $metadata at runtime instead of being hard-coded, or the tools break on the first customised change ItemType.
02 · OData
The RESTful API translates OData into AML, and some OData features such as $all, $crossjoin and delta responses are not supported. Complex queries and some methods still need AML, so the connector uses both.
03 · Methods
An OData action like method.X can run arbitrary server code written for your installation. The connector exposes only vetted methods by name, never a generic call-any-method tool.
04 · Versions
Authentication differs between Innovator 12 and 14 and later. Rate limits and audit at the API layer are sold separately as InnovatorEdge API Manager, so the blueprint decides whether the connector logs itself or sits behind Edge.
Aras Innovator holds the records. An assistant without a governed way in answers from whatever someone pasted into the chat. The connector is the governed way in: named operations, the person's own permissions, every call logged.
When this is the wrong page
If you already subscribe to InnovatorEdge, its AI agents and API Manager keep the work inside Aras, and Aras maintains them. For a quick test on a sandbox, one of the community MCP servers is enough; a governed connector is right when production users in Claude, ChatGPT or Copilot need their own permissions, a fixed tool list and an audit log.
Two weeks, €4,900 fixed price. Week one agrees the tool list with your Aras Innovator owners and checks every backend against your release and licence. Week two tests whether a person's own Aras Innovator permissions reach through the connector. You keep the manifest and a costed build plan, whoever builds it. All prices are net and exclude VAT.
What we need from you: a named Aras Innovator administrator, a test or sandbox system we may call, and one business owner who can say which questions the assistant should answer first. The first production connector is usually a use-case pilot from €15,000; it runs in your environment, and the code is yours.
Not as of 21 September 2026. Aras has InnovatorEdge AI agents and the InnovatorEdge API Manager, and an August 2026 blog post names MCP as one possible way to expose business actions. Two community MCP servers exist on GitHub, but none from Aras.
Aras lists REST, OData and the .NET IOM as open APIs of Innovator. Governance at the API layer, with rate limits and audit, is sold separately as InnovatorEdge API Manager. Check the licence terms for API users with Aras; the blueprint decides whether you need Edge at all.
No. From Innovator 14 each call carries the asking person's own OAuth token, so Aras permissions decide every answer. Two users asking the same question can get two different answers, and that is tested before go-live.
The two-week Readiness Blueprint is fixed at €4,900: agreed tool list, backends checked against your release, identity tested end to end, costed build plan. The production connector is usually a use-case pilot from €15,000. Prices are net, excluding VAT.
Next step
Thirty minutes with the engineer who would build the connector, with your Aras Innovator administrator in the room if you like.