Getting Started with pyRevit

Introduction

pyRevit is a free, open-source plugin for Autodesk Revit that acts as a powerful automation toolkit (PyRevit 101: A Beginner's Guide to Automating Revit Tasks | Drafting Blog). Originally created by Ehsan Iran-Nejad and now community-driven, pyRevit extends Revit’s capabilities by allowing BIM managers, architects, and engineers to script custom tools in Python (20 pyRevit Features to Save Insane Amounts of Time | BIM Pure Blog). In simple terms, pyRevit is like having a Swiss-army knife for Revit – it comes packed with time-saving tools out-of-the-box and gives you the flexibility to build your own. If you’ve ever found yourself doing repetitive tasks in Revit and wishing **“there must be a better way,”** pyRevit is that better way. It enables you to automate those tedious workflows so you can focus on design and coordination instead of mindless clicking.

Why use pyRevit? Consider the daily grind of BIM production: renaming dozens of views, checking sheets for missing annotations, printing sets in order, creating fill patterns, and so on. PyRevit tackles these pain points head-on. From a Revit user’s perspective, it provides ready-made tools (like a Pattern Maker or a batch sheet creator) that save you heaps of time on modeling and documentation tasks (Introduction to pyRevit - BIMicon). From a design technologist’s perspective, pyRevit is a dream because it lets you tap into the Revit API using the Python language – no compiling C# add-ins required. You can write a script and run it on the fly; if you build a new custom tool, a quick reload will pop it into Revit’s ribbon instantly (Introduction to pyRevit - BIMicon). In short, pyRevit makes Revit automation accessible to everyone, not just programmers, and it’s completely free to use.

Installation & Setup

Getting up and running with pyRevit is straightforward. The development team provides an installer that configures everything for you. Follow these steps to install pyRevit:

Download the pyRevit installer: Head to the official pyRevit release page and download the latest version (pyRevit is compatible with all recent Revit versions). The file is typically an .exe installer (Introduction to pyRevit - BIMicon).

Run the installer: Close Revit if it’s open, then run the pyRevit installer. You’ll be guided through a setup wizard. During installation, you can choose which Revit versions to attach pyRevit to (for example, you might enable it for Revit 2023 and 2024 if you have both installed).

Finish and launch Revit: Once the installation completes, open Revit. You should see a new pyRevit tab on the Revit ribbon interface (PyRevit 101: A Beginner's Guide to Automating Revit Tasks | Drafting Blog). pyRevit is now loaded and ready to use! You might notice it adds a whole toolbar of tools and might prompt to check for updates occasionally – this means it’s working.

That’s it – no complicated setup or coding needed just to install. Under the hood, pyRevit also includes a command-line utility (pyrevit CLI) for advanced management (like attaching/detaching to different Revit versions or creating your own extension clones), but as a beginner you can accomplish everything through the standard GUI installation. If you ever need to update pyRevit, simply download the latest installer and run it again – it will update your existing setup.

Pro tip: After installing, take a second to explore the pyRevit tab in Revit. You’ll see drop-down menus and buttons for a variety of tools. Clicking the pyRevit logo button will open a menu where you can access Settings, check for updates, and see the extension manager. Now that pyRevit is installed, let’s look at what it can do for you.

Core Features & Benefits

One reason pyRevit has become a must-have for BIM teams is the rich set of built-in tools that come with it. These tools address common Revit frustrations and significantly speed up your workflow. Here are some of pyRevit’s core features and benefits:

Time-Saving Tools Out of the Box: pyRevit delivers a collection of insanely useful tools right on installation (20 pyRevit Features to Save Insane Amounts of Time | BIM Pure Blog). For example, Make Pattern lets you create fill patterns directly from drawn lines (no more fiddling with PAT files), Batch Sheet Maker allows you to create multiple sheets in one go (saving you from the one-by-one sheet creation slog (20 pyRevit Features to Save Insane Amounts of Time | BIM Pure Blog), and Print Ordered Sheet Index can batch-print your sheets in a specified order. There’s also Set Revisions on Sheets for managing revisions across many sheets at once, and Wipe to purge those stubborn elements standard Purge can’t remove. These are just a few – the pyRevit tab includes dozens of such helpers for modeling, documentation, and project management. Each tool might seem small, but together they can eliminate countless hours of tedious work (Introduction to pyRevit - BIMicon).

Colored Tabs for Multi-Tasking: Ever get lost when multiple Revit files are open? pyRevit’s Colored Tabs feature assigns colors to Revit’s view tabs based on the project or family file, making it immediately clear which windows belong to which file. For instance, your architectural model tabs could be blue and your MEP link tabs green. This visual cue prevents mistakes (like editing the wrong file) and is a huge quality-of-life improvement for anyone juggling many Revit files at once. You can even customize the colors to match your preferences or company standards in the pyRevit settings. It’s a simple idea that, after using, you’ll wonder how you lived without – many users refuse to use Revit without colored tabs active! (20 pyRevit Features to Save Insane Amounts of Time | BIM Pure Blog)

Model Health and QA Tools: Keeping a Revit model clean is tough as projects grow. pyRevit’s Preflight Check tool generates a model health report to catch issues early. With one click, it runs a series of checks (like a “Model Checker”) and flags bad practices or potential problems – for example, it can list views not on sheets, find overly detailed families, or identify unusually large file sizes for certain elements. This gives BIM managers a quick dashboard of model health, helping maintain standards. Other QA tools include Who Did That? (which helps identify who last modified an element – great for tracking down culprits of changes) and Sync Views (to synchronize view templates/settings across multiple views). These features ensure better collaboration and model hygiene with minimal effort.

Extensibility with Community Extensions: Aside from the default set of tools, pyRevit supports extensions – essentially plugins for this plugin. The community of pyRevit users has created many free extension packs that you can download and add to pyRevit for even more functionality. For example, there are extensions for enhanced drawing revision management, specialized tools for structural modeling, or batch-loading of families. If the default tools don’t cover a need, chances are someone in the community has shared a script or extension that does. Managing extensions is easy through the pyRevit extension manager; you can load or unload them as needed. This community-driven ecosystem means pyRevit’s capabilities keep growing, and you benefit from others’ innovations at no cost.

Customize with Python (Rapid Prototyping): Perhaps the biggest benefit of pyRevit is the ability to build your own tools using Python. pyRevit provides a rapid application development environment right inside Revit. You can create custom buttons and scripts that do exactly what you need – whether that’s a tool to batch-edit parameters, automate an export process, or integrate with an external database. The learning curve is gentle if you have basic scripting knowledge, and pyRevit abstracts away much of the complexity of the Revit API. Unlike developing a full Revit add-in in C#, you don’t need Visual Studio or to compile DLLs. With pyRevit, you can write a Python script, hit “Reload,” and immediately test it in Revit’s UI (Introduction to pyRevit - BIMicon). This lowers the barrier to entry for automation. Even if you’re not a programmer, you can start with small tweaks (maybe modifying an existing script) and gradually build up your skills. Many BIM professionals have taught themselves the Revit API using pyRevit as a sandbox because it’s so convenient to experiment with. In short, pyRevit empowers you to tailor Revit to your firm’s needs in a way that was previously only possible for dedicated developers.

To sum up, pyRevit’s core features address both quick wins (one-click tools that save time) and long-term customization (an open platform for creating what you need). It’s this combination of immediate productivity gains and limitless flexibility that makes pyRevit such a game-changer in the AEC industry.

Getting Hands-On: Practical Examples of Automation

The best way to understand pyRevit is to see it in action. Let’s walk through a couple of common scenarios where pyRevit can simplify your Revit life. These examples will give you a feel for how to use pyRevit and even peek at a bit of code, without getting too deep into programming.

Example 1: Listing All Sheets in the Model
Imagine you need an overview of all sheets in your project – maybe to check naming conventions or to export a list. You could manually comb through the Project Browser, but with pyRevit you can retrieve this information in seconds using a simple script. In fact, pyRevit’s architecture makes it easy to query the Revit model data using the Revit API. Here’s a basic example script that lists every sheet name in the active model:

1from pyrevit import revit, DB
2
3doc = revit.doc  # Current Revit document
4# Collect all ViewSheet elements in the model
5sheets_collector = DB.FilteredElementCollector(doc).OfClass(DB.ViewSheet)
6sheets = sheets_collector.ToElements()
7
8# Print each sheet number and name to the pyRevit output
9for sheet in sheets:
10    number = sheet.SheetNumber
11    name = sheet.Name
12    print(f"{number} - {name}")
Copy

Let’s break down what this does. First, we import revit and DB from pyRevit – these modules give us access to the active Revit document and the Revit API database classes. We then get revit.doc, which is the current open model. Using Revit’s API (FilteredElementCollector), we gather all elements of type ViewSheet (i.e. sheets). Finally, we loop through each sheet and print its number and name. When this script is run via pyRevit (for example, as a new button you add), an output panel will pop up in Revit showing the list of sheets. This is a quick illustration of how pyRevit scripts can read model data.

Even if you’re not familiar with the Revit API, you can see the pattern: pyRevit allows you to use Python to tap into Revit’s internals. With a few lines, you extracted valuable info. You could just as easily filter for only certain sheets (e.g., all “IFC” sheets), or export the data to a CSV file using Python’s file handling. Many built-in pyRevit tools (like the sheet manager or annotation checker) use this same principle – they are essentially Python scripts querying the model and performing actions much faster than you could by hand.

Example 2: Automating a Tedious Task (Tagging UnTagged Doors)
For a more interactive example, consider a task: ensuring all doors in your plan views are tagged. Doing this manually is error-prone – it’s easy to miss a door. PyRevit can help automate the process of finding untagged elements and tagging them. While a full script for this would be a bit longer, here’s a simplified illustration of the approach:

Use the Revit API to collect all door elements in the active view.

For each door, check if it already has a tag (Revit represents tags as separate elements, so you’d cross-check door IDs).

For doors without tags, create a new tag element at the door’s location.

PyRevit provides a scripting environment to do all of the above. In practice, you might write a Python script that uses classes like DB.FilteredElementCollector (to get doors) and DB.IndependentTag.Create (to place a tag). The result? One click and pyRevit could auto-tag every door, saving you from hunting them down one by one. This type of task showcases pyRevit’s strength in practical automation – taking something that normally requires dozens of repetitive user actions and handling it with a smart script. In fact, some built-in pyRevit tools already address similar needs: the Tag All Not Tagged command, or the earlier-mentioned annotation checker that highlights elements without tags (PyRevit 101: A Beginner's Guide to Automating Revit Tasks | Drafting Blog). By either using those tools or scripting your own variation, you ensure nothing important in your drawings is left untagged or overlooked.

These examples scratch the surface of what you can do. PyRevit’s scripting API lets you modify elements, create new ones (like placing families or views), perform calculations, or integrate with external systems. Virtually anything the Revit API allows is possible through pyRevit – meaning you’re only limited by your imagination. For instance, with a bit of coding you could generate standard sheet sets for a project or enforce naming conventions programmatically (Automate Sheet Creation and View Creation in Autodesk Revit). The key takeaway for getting hands-on: start small, experiment with existing scripts or examples, and build up. PyRevit’s official documentation and community forums are excellent resources when you’re writing your first custom tool. You don’t need to become a software developer to leverage it; even simple macros can yield huge time savings in your day-to-day work.

Advanced Use Cases and Strategies

Once you’re comfortable with pyRevit’s basics, you can start integrating it into a broader BIM automation strategy for your team or firm. PyRevit isn’t just a one-off utility – it can become a central part of how you manage Revit efficiency at scale. Here are some advanced use cases and tips for making the most of pyRevit:

Company-Wide Toolsets: Many BIM managers use pyRevit to curate a set of custom tools that address their firm’s specific workflows. For example, you might develop a company extension that includes tools for setting up projects (creating standard views, sheets, and levels with one click), performing quality control checks, or exporting data to other systems. This extension can be shared with the team so everyone has the same one-click utilities available. PyRevit makes it easy to distribute updates to these tools – since it’s all Python script-based, updates can be as simple as replacing a script file. In a large firm, this means you can deploy new productivity tools or fixes to all users quickly, without having to reinstall anything on each machine. It’s a lightweight alternative to deploying compiled add-ins.

Integration with Other Automation Tools: PyRevit plays nicely alongside other Revit automation approaches. For instance, you might use Dynamo (Revit’s visual programming tool) for geometric or generative tasks and use pyRevit for tasks that are better suited to scripting (like text processing, complex logic, or file operations). Each tool has its strengths: Dynamo is great for visual thinkers and one-off graphs, whereas pyRevit is ideal for repetitive tasks that you want to package into a button for anyone to use. In some cases, pyRevit can even call external scripts or interact with Excel/CSV, making it a bridge between Revit and other software. Advanced users set up automated routines where, say, pyRevit scripts run nightly to clean models or generate reports. Think of pyRevit as one component in your automation toolkit – it fills the gap between what Revit can’t do out-of-the-box and what would require heavy development. And because it uses a more accessible language (Python), it lowers the expertise needed to maintain those automations (Automate Sheet Creation and View Creation in Autodesk Revit).

Extending Revit’s API for Power Users: For those who are technically inclined, pyRevit is effectively a gateway to the full Revit API. Anything you might accomplish with a C# add-in, you could also do with a pyRevit script (Automate Sheet Creation and View Creation in Autodesk Revit). This opens up advanced possibilities: generating complex geometry via code, creating interactive forms for user input within Revit, or even building integrations (e.g., connecting your Revit model data to a database or web service). Some power users employ pyRevit to prototype an idea quickly before investing time in a formal add-in. In many cases, the prototype is good enough to use in production for a long time. With IronPython (the engine pyRevit traditionally uses) and newer CPython support, you can also leverage a lot of Python’s ecosystem. For example, you could use the Python requests library to call a web API from a pyRevit script, or use a math library to perform advanced calculations on model data. The ability to import Python libraries (with some limitations, due to IronPython) means your Revit automation can extend beyond Revit itself. This is an advanced area, but it shows how pyRevit fits into a larger context of AEC tech – it’s a glue that can connect Revit with other technologies through code.

Version Control and Collaboration: If multiple people in your firm are developing pyRevit scripts, consider using version control (like Git) for your extension scripts. PyRevit doesn’t require this, but treating your script collection like a little software project can be very beneficial. It ensures you have backups of all your tools and can track changes. Some teams host their pyRevit extensions on GitHub or a private repo and then use the pyRevit CLI to pull updates. This way, everyone’s tools stay in sync. It’s an advanced practice, but one that can elevate your BIM automation environment to be more robust and reliable.

In essence, advanced use of pyRevit means thinking of it as a platform, not just a plugin. It can scale from helping you automate your tasks to helping your entire team work smarter. And as you’ll see next, pyRevit is part of a continuum of automation solutions – with new AI-powered tools like ArchiLabs pushing the boundaries even further.

How ArchiLabs Enhances Automation

While pyRevit empowers you to automate through scripting, a new generation of tools is emerging that leverage artificial intelligence to make automation even more accessible. ArchiLabs is one such tool – an AI-powered automation co-pilot for Revit that’s designed to handle tedious tasks like sheet creation, tagging, and dimensioning through a friendly interface (Learn How You Can Automate Tagging in Autodesk Revit). Let’s introduce ArchiLabs and see how it complements the automation story alongside pyRevit.

What is ArchiLabs? ArchiLabs is a Revit add-in that brings AI assistance to BIM workflows. Think of it as having a smart assistant who understands Revit. Instead of manually coding a script or setting up a Dynamo graph, with ArchiLabs you can simply tell the software what you want to do (in plain English) or use a drag-and-drop visual workflow. The AI interprets your intent and generates the Revit actions under the hood (Learn How You Can Automate Tagging in Autodesk Revit) (Learn How You Can Automate Tagging in Autodesk Revit). For example, you could say, “Create sheets for all floors and add room tags and dimensions,” and ArchiLabs will carry out those steps – creating each sheet, placing the corresponding floor plan view, tagging all the rooms, and adding dimension strings, all automatically. It’s like having an experienced BIM specialist working at superhuman speed, following your instructions precisely.

Key Features of ArchiLabs: ArchiLabs shines in the documentation phase of projects, which is where a lot of repetitive work happens. Some standout capabilities include:

Automated Sheet and View Creation: ArchiLabs can generate dozens (or hundreds) of sheets with proper naming and associated views in a single operation. It understands how to paginate a set of drawings. For instance, if your project needs a floor plan sheet for each level, ArchiLabs will create each sheet, name it per your standards, duplicate the floor plan view for that level if needed, and place it on the sheet in the right location. This is a task that normally might take an afternoon of mind-numbing clicks, reduced to one command. Under the hood, it’s doing what a pyRevit or Dynamo script could do, but you don’t have to write or run any script – the AI handles it.

Intelligent Tagging & Dimensioning: Tagging every door or room, or adding dimensions throughout a set of drawings, is exactly the kind of busywork that frustrates experienced architects and engineers. ArchiLabs was built to tackle these tasks (Learn How You Can Automate Tagging in Autodesk Revit). It doesn’t just do a blanket “Tag All” like native Revit; it uses AI rules to decide how to tag or dimension in a sensible way. For example, ArchiLabs can tag every door across dozens of views according to your standards – ensuring nothing is missed and maintaining consistency (Learn How You Can Automate Tagging in Autodesk Revit). It can add dimension strings to multiple plans with a command as simple as “dimension all the room layouts.” The benefit here is not only speed (tagging or dimensioning hundreds of elements in seconds) but also intelligence – the AI can follow company standards or logical rules about what gets tagged/dimensioned and where. This dramatically reduces the QA effort since the tool is less likely to overlook something or do it incorrectly (a common issue when rushing through tagging late in a project).

User-Friendly Automation Interface: One of ArchiLabs’ goals is to lower the barrier to automation. It features a drag-and-drop interface where you can build automation routines by assembling nodes (similar to Dynamo, but more focused and AI-assisted) (Learn How You Can Automate Tagging in Autodesk Revit). If you’re not comfortable writing code, this is a big win – you can visually create an “automation recipe” for tasks, and ArchiLabs will execute it. Furthermore, it has a chat-like command interface: you type an instruction in everyday language, and ArchiLabs translates that into action (Learn How You Can Automate Tagging in Autodesk Revit). This natural language approach is cutting-edge in BIM. For example, if you type “Renumber all the doors on each floor sequentially” or “Purge unused views and place view titles on all sheets,” the AI parses that and performs the tasks. It’s as if you’re explaining the task to a junior team member, except it gets done almost instantly and without error.

ArchiLabs + pyRevit: A Powerful Combo: Rather than thinking of ArchiLabs as a replacement for pyRevit, consider how they complement each other. PyRevit gives you fine-grained control and the ability to create any tool you want with code. ArchiLabs provides a high-level, out-of-the-box intelligence that handles common tasks without any code. As a BIM manager or tech-savvy architect, you might use pyRevit to develop custom tools unique to your firm’s workflow, and also deploy ArchiLabs for more general automated documentation tasks. In fact, ArchiLabs can be a great solution for those on your team who don’t code at all – they can still reap the benefits of automation just by using its AI features. Meanwhile, your “power users” continue to build up the pyRevit toolkit for specialized needs. Both tools aim to save time and reduce drudgery, but they approach it from different angles: one through scripting flexibility and the other through AI-driven convenience.

In summary, ArchiLabs enhances Revit automation by making sophisticated tasks accessible with minimal user effort. It’s an exciting development in the BIM world – one that shows how far we can push automation (sheet creation, tagging, dimensioning, etc.) when we infuse tools with AI. If pyRevit unlocked the ability for you to customize Revit, ArchiLabs takes it a step further by understanding your goals and doing the work for you. Together, they signify a future where tedious BIM tasks are increasingly offloaded to smart assistants, allowing professionals to focus on higher-value aspects of projects.

Conclusion & Next Steps

Getting started with pyRevit opens up a world of possibilities for improving your Revit workflow. We’ve seen how pyRevit provides an array of built-in tools to save time and how it empowers you to create custom automation with Python, all within the familiar Revit environment. By now, you should have a clear idea of what pyRevit is, why it’s useful, and how to begin using it effectively – from installation to practical scripting examples. For BIM managers, architects, and engineers, mastering pyRevit is a step toward working smarter, not harder, in Revit.

As you venture into using pyRevit, here are some next steps and resources to guide your journey:

Explore the Documentation: The official pyRevit documentation and wiki (available on the [pyRevitlabs Notion site] or via the GitHub README) is packed with tutorials, examples, and reference info. You can find guides on creating your first command, using the pyRevit CLI for advanced tasks, and tips for writing effective scripts. This should be your go-to reference as you start building custom tools. The documentation also covers troubleshooting and advanced configuration if you need it (Introduction to pyRevit - BIMicon).

Leverage the Community: PyRevit has an active user community. Check out the pyRevit forums and communities on platforms like Reddit or the Dynamo forums (which often discuss pyRevit as well). If you run into a roadblock or want to bounce ideas, chances are someone else has asked a similar question. There are also numerous blog posts and YouTube tutorials showcasing pyRevit use cases – from beginner walkthroughs to complex tool development. Learning from real examples will accelerate your understanding. Don’t hesitate to download community-made extensions and study their code; it’s one of the best ways to learn by example.

Practice with Small Scripts: Pick a few annoying tasks in your daily work and try to automate them with pyRevit. Start simple: maybe a script to rename all views to Title Case, or one to toggle certain view parameters on/off. Each small success will build your confidence. Over time, you might move on to more ambitious projects like generating entire project setup templates or cross-checking model data against an Excel spreadsheet. Remember, pyRevit can automate almost anything you can do via the Revit API (Automate Sheet Creation and View Creation in Autodesk Revit), so the sky’s the limit. The more you practice, the more ideas you’ll get for what’s possible.

Keep an Eye on AI Tools: As discussed, tools like ArchiLabs are emerging, and they’re worth watching (or even trying out alongside pyRevit). They represent the next evolution of BIM automation. You might visit the ArchiLabs website or blog to see demos of AI-driven Revit tasks. Even if you don’t adopt these tools immediately, being aware of them will inform how you develop your automation strategy. It’s conceivable to use ArchiLabs for quick wins and pyRevit for custom solutions in tandem. The field of AEC automation is rapidly evolving – staying informed will ensure you and your team remain at the cutting edge.

In closing, pyRevit is one of the most impactful additions you can make to your BIM toolkit. It stands out for its versatility – serving both as a Swiss-army knife of handy tools and as a platform for deep customization. By investing time in learning pyRevit, you’re investing in reclaiming hundreds of hours that would have been spent on mindless tasks. You’re also joining a forward-thinking community that is collectively pushing the boundaries of what Revit can do. So install pyRevit, explore its features, and start experimenting. You’ll soon wonder how you managed without it. And as you streamline your workflows, you can look further into advanced automation with AI solutions like ArchiLabs to continue leveling up your BIM game (Learn How You Can Automate Tagging in Autodesk Revit). Happy automating, and welcome to the pyRevit community!