The Snaptrude Agent is the AI assistant built into the canvas. Describe a project in plain language, or attach a brief or drawing, and the agent can analyze the site, work out the buildable envelope, propose massing options, build a program, stack departments, lay out rooms and take the design to BIM. What it creates lands in your model, where you can review and edit it.
Before you start
Each prompt uses AI credits. Your balance shows below the chat box. For details, see AI Credits, Boosts and Usage Limits.
Some tasks need a paid plan. For example, BIM Mode needs a Pro, Organization or Enterprise plan. If you ask for something your plan doesn't include, the chat shows an Upgrade button.
Open the Snaptrude Agent
Open a project.
Click the Agent button at the top of the far-left rail. The AI chat panel opens on the left side of the screen.
Type what you want in the Ask anything box and click Send, or click one of the suggested prompts in an empty chat.
There is one prompt box and no agent to choose. The Snaptrude Agent decides which specialist steps a request needs, such as site analysis, massing or programming, and runs them in order, passing each result to the next step.
Tip: Click Attach files to add an image, PDF or text file, or drop files straight onto the chat. Closing the panel with X doesn't stop the agent; it keeps working.
Note: Program Mode keeps its own agent dropdown, which defaults to Auto, for spreadsheet tasks such as Interpret and Assign Stories. See AI Agents in Program Mode.
Describe your project
The more context you give, the fewer questions the agent needs to ask. A useful first prompt names:
The building type and scale, for example "a 6-story mixed-use building with ground-floor retail and 80 apartments".
The site, if you have one.
Any brief, RFP or area schedule. Attach it rather than pasting it in.
What you want back first, for example "three massing options" or "a program grouped by department".
Before it starts, the agent researches the building type and asks only the key decisions, shown as options you can tap. It also states the assumptions it is making. Answer the questions, or correct an assumption in your next message.
What the agent can do
Site analysis: Researches zoning and site conditions, cites its sources and flags gaps in the information it found. Results are saved to the site analysis sheet in Program Mode.
Buildable envelope: Works out the buildable envelope for the site.
Massing options: Asks what you are aiming for, for example maximum FAR, a balanced scheme or a slender tower. It then generates several options, scores them and recommends one.
Program from an RFP: Turns a brief or RFP into a program, using the client's own naming.
Stacking: Assigns departments to stories.
Room layouts: Lays out rooms from templates.
BIM: Converts the design to BIM, the same way Sketch to BIM does in BIM Mode.
Solar analysis: Colors the model by solar exposure.
Parametric components: Builds furniture, building and MEP components, such as facade modules, windows, stairs and conference tables, with adjustable parameters. It can research real vendor products as a starting point. In team projects on the Organization or Enterprise plan, components the agent creates are added to the team library automatically.
Geometry: Builds and edits curved forms and surfaces as well as standard spaces and BIM elements.
Apps: Runs Snaptrude Apps that support agent actions.
You can also ask the agent to edit what is already on the canvas, for example "make the east wing two stories taller" or "add a stair core to each building".
Check the agent's work
After the agent changes the model, a model linter reviews the result. It looks for problems such as:
Open rooms and gaps between walls.
Floating or sunken elements, and elements left at the project origin.
Elements outside the site, and duplicate elements.
A missing floor slab or roof.
Rooms without doors, and missing stairs.
Review any issues the linter finds. You can ask the agent to fix them, or fix them yourself with the usual editing tools.
Tip: After a turn that changed the canvas, the chat may ask you to rate the result. A quick rating helps improve the agent.
Speed up long runs with Boosts
Click Boosts under the chat box to turn on either option:
Fast mode: Runs the agent up to 5x faster, but uses 2x credits.
Cloud processing: Runs the task in the cloud instead of on your computer, so it keeps running in the background.
If you lose your connection during a run, the run carries on and picks up again when you return. Snaptrude also sends you a notification when the agent finishes or needs an answer from you.
Work across modes
The agent can update the site analysis sheet, and read your Program Mode data, without Program Mode being open.
The agent chat works in Design, BIM and Present Mode. Use Redline this view to mark up what you're looking at.
In Present Mode, the agent can help with sheets, for example placing a floor plan and a 3D view on a sheet, adding an area table or making program diagrams.
The agent keeps a task list for multi-step requests and works through it without needing you to type "continue".
Note: The Snaptrude Agent replaces the earlier AI tools: the AI Stack and the Canvas Agent Panel with its agent cards. If you used those, describe the same task to the Snaptrude Agent in the AI chat panel.
Tips
Ask for one stage at a time on large projects, for example site and envelope first, then massing, then program. That way you can review each result before moving on.
To point at something on the canvas, use Redline this view instead of describing its location in words.
To start fresh on a different task, click + (Start a new session) in the chat header.
Related articles
Working in the Agent Chat: Attachments, Redline, Sessions, Rewind and Memory
AI Credits, Boosts and Usage Limits
AI Agents in Program Mode
Sketch to BIM
Parametric Components and Families
Snaptrude Apps: Explore, Run and Favorite
Site Analysis Sheet