Built-in AI Assistant (with an API Key)

Figure 1 – AI Console: 1 chat, 2 message box and send, 3 service + API Key Settings (key) + Fetch Models (green arrow) + Use Model (tick), 4 file and voice, 5 model list, 6 active model, 7 details panel

1. About this article

StatiCAD Ultimate and Hybrid include an AI Assistant (AI Console). You write to it in everyday language, and it turns your request into program commands: it draws walls, columns, beams, slabs and foundations; adds storeys; enters the code and earthquake parameters; starts the analysis; reads the results; produces reports. It also draws grid lines, doors, windows and bond beams, opens the 3D view, performs IFC import and export (IFC export is disabled in demo installations) and saves the project.

The assistant's language: If the program interface is in Turkish, the assistant starts in Turkish; if the interface is in another language, it starts in English. After that, it always replies in the language you write in.

The assistant sends your request to the server of the AI company you have chosen, through the API. For this, you need to get an API key from that company and load credit into your account. This article explains, step by step, how to get a key from Claude, OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT) and Google Gemini, how to enter the key in the program, and the first requests.

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A subscription is not the API: Even if you have a ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro subscription, you need to buy API credit separately on the developer site for the built-in assistant. The way that works with a subscription is Claude Code and Codex (Claude Code article).

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Editions and requirements: Available in the Ultimate and Hybrid editions. An internet connection is required. In demo installations the assistant works, but report, DXF and IFC export are disabled and the project is saved as .sdm.

2. How does it work?

1. You write your request in the AI Console: “Draw a 5×4 m room on the ground storey, walls 30 cm”.
2. StatiCAD sends this request to the service you have selected, together with the program's command guide (YARDIM_AI_KOMUTLAR.md) and your last few messages.
3. The AI decides which program commands will run and in which order.
4. StatiCAD runs the commands; the result is written in the chat and the changes appear in the plan.

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What can the assistant not see? The assistant cannot see your screen or read the files on your computer; it only knows what you write, the files you send and the results returned by the commands. It remembers only the last few questions and answers: for long jobs, write the request in a single message, together with its dimensions.

3. Which service should I choose?

Service	Why	Where to get the key	Payment
Claude (Anthropic)	Recommended. Strong at clear explanations and at using the program commands in the correct order.	platform.claude.com	Prepaid credit, minimum about USD 5
OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT)	Widely used. Also required for voice commands (Push-to-Talk).	platform.openai.com	Prepaid credit, minimum USD 5
Gemini (Google)	Has a free trial tier (limited per minute and per day).	aistudio.google.com	Free tier; billing is enabled for more
Grok, Mistral, DeepSeek	Available in the list; the keys are obtained from their own sites.	The provider's site	Depends on the provider
Ollama, llama.cpp	Local models running on your computer (advanced). They need a powerful computer; their command use may not be as good as that of the large services.	No key needed	Free

Starting with one service is enough. Below are the steps for the three most widely used ones; follow one of them and then go on to section 7.

4. Getting a Claude API key

1. Open platform.claude.com in your browser (the old address console.anthropic.com leads to the same place).
2. Open an account with Sign up: with your email address or with Continue with Google. Verify the account with the link sent to your email; phone verification may also be required. If you are asked for the account type, choose individual use (Individual).
3. In the settings, open the Billing page, add your credit card and buy credit with Buy credits. USD 5–10 is enough to start with. You can leave the automatic reload option (auto-reload) turned off.
4. On the API Keys page, click Create Key, give the key a name (e.g. StatiCAD) and create it.
5. Copy the key immediately: it starts with sk-ant- and it is not shown again. If you lose it, you create a new one.
6. Optional: set a monthly spending limit on the Limits page.

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When the credit runs out: When the credit runs out, the assistant gives an error such as “insufficient credit”. Add credit on the Billing page; you do not need to enter the key again. Credit that you load must be used within one year.

5. Getting an OpenAI API key

1. Open platform.openai.com in your browser and sign in (you can sign in with your ChatGPT account; the developer account is opened separately).
2. Under Settings (gear icon) › Billing, add your card and load credit with Add to credit balance (minimum USD 5).
3. On the API keys page, click Create new secret key, give it a name (e.g. StatiCAD) and create it.
4. Copy the key, which starts with sk-, immediately; it is not shown again.
5. Optional: set a monthly budget limit in the Limits section.

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Voice commands: The Push-to-Talk (speech-to-text) feature in the AI Console always uses the OpenAI key. Even if you choose Claude for the chat, also enter an OpenAI key if you want to use voice commands.

6. Getting a Gemini API key (free trial)

1. Open aistudio.google.com/apikey in your browser and sign in with your Google account; accept the terms of use.
2. Click Create API key. If you are asked for a Google Cloud project, choose the suggested (or a new) project.
3. Copy the key, which starts with AIza.

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Limits of the free tier: The free tier has per-minute and per-day request limits; on long jobs you may get a “too many requests” error. On the free tier, the content you send may be used by Google to improve its services; for confidential projects, switch to the paid tier by enabling billing in AI Studio.

7. Entering the key in StatiCAD

1. Open StatiCAD and go to the main screen (the Main Screen icon in the bottom row of the start screen).
2. Click the Yapay Zeka (Artificial Intelligence) button at the right end of the bottom toolbar (Overview, Figure 1). The AI Console opens at the bottom right corner of the screen (Figure 1).
3. Click the orange key icon (API Key Settings).
4. In the window that opens, paste your key (Ctrl+V) into the provider's box: the Claude key into the Claude box, the OpenAI key into the OpenAI box, the Gemini key into the Gemini box. The key is hidden by asterisks.
5. Press Save.

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Where is the key stored? The program encrypts the key for this computer and your Windows user and stores it in the program folder (AI\Keys); the file does not work if it is copied to another computer. A program update deletes this file: enter your key again after an update. For this reason, keep the key in a secure password manager, or create a new one when needed.

8. Choosing the service and model

1. From the Service list, choose the service whose key you have entered (e.g. Claude).
2. Click the Fetch Models button with the green arrow. The models are listed in the box below (Figure 1, 5).
3. Choose a model from the list and click the green tick icon (Use Model). The service and model appear in the Active line (e.g. Active: Claude / claude-sonnet-…).

Service	Balanced (recommended)	Economical, fast	Most powerful, expensive
Claude	The newest model with sonnet in its name	With haiku in its name	With opus in its name
OpenAI	The newest gpt model	With mini in its name	With pro in its name
Gemini	The newest model with flash in its name	With flash-lite in its name	With pro in its name

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The program selects OpenAI every time it starts: In this version, the service and model selection is not saved: when StatiCAD is reopened, the AI Console starts with the OpenAI service. If you use Claude or Gemini, first choose your own service from the Service list in every session and confirm it with Use Model. Otherwise you get the “API key not found for selected service” warning.

9. First chat

1. Type in the message box and click the blue arrow on the right (Enter does not send the message):

Hello. Briefly introduce yourself and describe in three points what you can do in StatiCAD.

If an answer comes back, the connection is working. Now give it a small job:

Draw a 5×4 m room on the ground storey: bottom-left corner (0,0), wall thickness 30 cm. Then draw a slab on the same corners.

The assistant draws the walls and the slab and writes what it has done. Check the result on the plan screen. To see which commands ran, open the right panel with the Details button (Figure 2): the Commands list shows the commands the assistant called, and the Results list shows the program's responses.

Figure 2 – Details panel: Commands, Results and Files

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Unwanted change: If the assistant has drawn something wrong, undo it with Undo (Ctrl+Z) or tell the assistant “delete the last wall you drew”. Save the project before important jobs.

10. Example requests

Purpose	Example request
Project settings	“Set the code to TBDY 2018; soil class ZC, SS=1.2, S1=0.35.”
Storey	“Add a 3 m high storey on top of the building and tell me the number of storeys.”
Modelling	“On storey 1, draw a 25 cm wall between (0,0) and (500,0).” · “Place a 30×30 column at point (0,0).”
Foundation	“Draw an 80×40 continuous foundation under the exterior walls.”
Analysis	“Run the analysis; when it finishes, summarize the warnings in the project check list.”
Results	“Give me the earthquake summary: periods, base shear force, relative storey drifts.”
Report	“Select and create all reports; export them as C:\Projeler\bina1.pdf.”
Save	“Save the project as C:\Projeler\bina1.sy4; if the file exists, ask me before overwriting it.”

More: Ready-to-use prompt examples.

11. Files, images and voice

• Plan image: Select the image with the file icon (Add File), then click Send File to AI. The image is examined and the dimensions that are read are written in the chat. Then say “draw the walls with these dimensions”. The assistant should have you confirm the dimensions before drawing; give any dimensions that could not be read yourself.
• For the best result, send the plan as a clear PNG or JPG image. If you have a PDF, take a screenshot of the page and send it as an image.
• Text file (.txt, .csv, .json, .md) contents are sent directly to the chat (up to 200 KB).
• DXF files cannot be sent to the built-in assistant: their content is not read, and architectural DXF files are usually larger than this limit. To have a model built from an architectural DXF plan, use the Structural project from an architectural DXF plan with Claude Code route.
• Voice: Hold down the microphone icon (Push-to-Talk) and speak; when you release it, your speech is converted to text and sent. This feature requires an OpenAI key.

12. How much does it cost?

With every message, the program also sends the assistant the command guide of about 30 KB. For this reason, the cost depends less on the length of your message and more on the number of messages and the selected model. To give a rough idea (at November 2026 prices):

• On a balanced model (Claude Sonnet, GPT), a simple request usually costs a few cents.
• A multi-step request that starts the analysis and reads the results can go up to about 10–30 cents because of the intermediate command calls.
• Economical models (Claude Haiku, GPT mini, Gemini Flash) are much cheaper; they are sufficient for trials and simple drawings.

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Keeping spending under control: Set a monthly spending limit on the provider's site; follow your daily spending on the usage page. Writing the request completely in a single message reduces the number of messages and the cost.

13. Limitations of the assistant

• It remembers only the last few questions and answers. When the topic changes or after a long break, have it query the state of the project again.
• Some operations, such as selecting, moving, rotating, undoing and the settings in dialog windows, cannot be done with the assistant; do them yourself or use Claude Code with computer use.
• While long jobs such as the analysis are running, do not use the program and do not close the console; the response arrives when the operation is finished.
• A warning window left open on the screen (e.g. “Save changes in the project?”) holds up the commands; close the window yourself.
• The assistant should not change section, material, code and earthquake values without your approval; always check the results yourself.

14. Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause and solution
“No API key” or “API key not found for selected service”	The key of the selected service has not been entered. In the service list, choose the service whose key you entered (the program selects OpenAI at start-up), or enter the key in API Key Settings. Enter the key again after an update.
“Could not retrieve model list: 401”	The key is wrong, was copied incompletely or has been revoked. Create a new key and enter it again.
Credit or balance error (e.g. 402, “credit balance”)	The credit has run out. Load credit on the provider's Billing page.
“429” or “too many requests”	Rate limit (especially the Gemini free tier). Wait a minute and try again.
“404” or model not found	The selected model is no longer offered. Refresh the list with Fetch Models and choose another model.
“LLM yanıt süresi doldu” (LLM response timed out)	The service did not respond or the internet connection was lost. Send the request again; if the problem persists, choose another model.
“licence not validated”	The program licence (hardware key) could not be validated. Plug in the hardware key and restart the program.
“Demo version can not export or print reports”	Export is disabled in the demo installation; the full version is required.
The assistant says “I can't do that”	There may be no program command for the job. Do the job yourself or use Claude Code + computer use.

15. Security

• An API key is like credit card details: do not share it with anyone and do not show it in screenshots.
• If you suspect that it has leaked, delete (revoke) the key on the provider's API Keys page and create a new one.
• The commands sent by the assistant change your project. Save the project under a different name before important jobs.

The plan, price and menu names of Anthropic, OpenAI and Google services may change over time; for up-to-date information, see the linked official pages. The model built and the results produced by the AI must be checked by the responsible engineer.