ansys PyMAPDL CLI
The pymapdl CLI lets you manage MAPDL instances and execute APDL commands
directly from the terminal. It is installed automatically with the
ansys-mapdl-core Python package and requires the click dependency (included
by default).
A typical session looks like this:
pymapdl start # launch a solver instance
pymapdl exec -c /prep7 -c "K,1,0,0,0" # send commands to it
pymapdl exec --file model.inp # or send a whole script
pymapdl stop # shut it down
All commands print human-readable output to stdout and errors to stderr. Exit code is 0 on success, 1 on failure.
Commands at a glance
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
pymapdl start |
Launch a new local MAPDL instance |
pymapdl stop |
Kill one or all running instances |
pymapdl list |
Show running MAPDL processes |
pymapdl exec |
Send APDL commands to a running instance |
pymapdl convert |
Translate an APDL script to Python |
pymapdl start
Launch a new MAPDL gRPC server. Prints the IP, port, and PID on success.
pymapdl start [OPTIONS]
Key options
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
--port |
50052 (or PYMAPDL_PORT) |
gRPC port; first available port at or after this value |
--exec_file |
auto-detected | Path to the MAPDL executable |
--run_location |
temp dir | Working directory for the MAPDL process |
--jobname |
file |
MAPDL jobname |
--nproc |
2 | Number of processors |
--ram |
all available | Fixed memory in MB |
--override |
off | Delete stale lock files before starting |
--additional_switches |
none | Extra MAPDL command-line switches (e.g. aa_r for academic license) |
--start_timeout |
45 | Seconds to wait for the server to become ready |
--license_type |
none | License name (e.g. meba, ansys) or description (e.g. enterprise) |
--version |
latest | MAPDL version to launch (e.g. 241, 24.1) |
Example — start on a custom port with 4 CPUs:
pymapdl start --port 50055 --nproc 4
# Success: Launched an MAPDL instance (PID=12345) at 127.0.0.1:50055
pymapdl stop
Stop running MAPDL instances. By default targets port 50052.
pymapdl stop [OPTIONS]
Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
--port PORT |
Stop instances listening on this port |
--pid PID |
Stop the process (and its children) with this PID |
--all |
Stop every MAPDL instance on the machine |
Examples:
pymapdl stop # stop instance on default port 50052
pymapdl stop --port 50055 # stop instance on port 50055
pymapdl stop --pid 12345 # stop a specific process tree
pymapdl stop --all # stop all MAPDL processes
pymapdl list
List MAPDL processes currently running on the machine.
pymapdl list [OPTIONS]
Options
| Option | Short | Description |
|---|---|---|
--instances |
-i |
Show only parent instances (hide child processes) |
--long |
-l |
Show all columns (command line + working directory) |
--cmd |
-c |
Include the command-line column |
--location |
-cwd |
Include the working-directory column |
Example:
pymapdl list -i
# Name Status gRPC port PID
# ANSYS241.exe running 50052 41644
pymapdl exec
Send APDL commands to an already running MAPDL instance and print the
solver output. This command never starts a new instance — use pymapdl start
first.
pymapdl exec [OPTIONS] [-]
Three input modes (mutually exclusive)
Repeated
-c/--command(recommended for scripting and LLM use):pymapdl exec -c /prep7 -c "BLOCK,0,1,0,1,0,1" -c SAVEEach
-cvalue is one APDL command. They are joined with newlines and sent as a singleinput_strings()block for maximum performance.File with
--file/-f:pymapdl exec --file model.inpStdin by passing
-as a positional argument:# Linux / macOS cat model.inp | pymapdl exec - # Windows PowerShell Get-Content model.inp | pymapdl exec -
Options
| Option | Short | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
--command |
-c |
— | APDL command (repeatable) |
--file |
-f |
— | Path to an APDL script file |
--port |
— | 50052 (or PYMAPDL_PORT) |
gRPC port of the target instance |
--ip |
— | 127.0.0.1 (or PYMAPDL_IP) |
IP of the target instance |
--timeout |
— | 10 | Connection timeout in seconds |
--clear-on-connect |
— | off | Clear MAPDL database before sending commands |
Behavior notes
- Successive calls share state. Because
--clear-on-connectis off by default, you can split a workflow across multiplepymapdl execinvocations and the model/mesh/results persist between them. - Output goes to stdout, errors to stderr — ideal for piping, logging, or LLM consumption.
- Windows paths are safe. Backslash sequences like
C:\new\fileare preserved verbatim; no mangling occurs.
pymapdl convert
Convert an APDL script to a PyMAPDL Python script.
pymapdl convert [OPTIONS]
Key options
| Option | Short | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
--file |
-f |
stdin | APDL input file |
--output |
-o |
stdout | Output Python file |
--macros_as_functions |
-mf |
True | Convert macros to Python functions |
--use_function_names |
-fn |
True | Use method names (mapdl.k) instead of mapdl.run('K') |
--only_commands |
-oc |
off | Emit only MAPDL calls (no imports/header/exit) |
--add_imports |
-ai |
True | Add launch_mapdl() boilerplate |
--comment_solve |
-cs |
off | Comment out SOLVE / /EOF lines |
Example:
pymapdl convert -f model.inp -o model.py
Environment variables
| Variable | Used by | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
PYMAPDL_PORT |
start, exec |
Default gRPC port when --port is omitted |
PYMAPDL_IP |
exec |
Default IP when --ip is omitted |
PYMAPDL_MAPDL_EXEC |
start |
Path to MAPDL executable |
Common workflows
Interactive modeling session
pymapdl start --port 50055
pymapdl exec --port 50055 -c /prep7
pymapdl exec --port 50055 -c "ET,1,186" -c "BLOCK,0,1,0,1,0,1" -c "VMESH,ALL"
pymapdl exec --port 50055 --file boundary_conditions.inp
pymapdl exec --port 50055 -c /solu -c SOLVE
pymapdl stop --port 50055
Run a full script in one shot
pymapdl start
pymapdl exec --file full_model.inp
pymapdl stop
Pipe commands from another tool
# Generate APDL dynamically and pipe it in
python generate_mesh.py | pymapdl exec -
Fresh database each time
pymapdl exec --clear-on-connect -c /prep7 -c "K,1,0,0,0"