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  • Audience: Python beginners, AI-assisted coding beginners, common
  • SDK: midas-nx (check your installed version with python -c "import midas_nx; print(midas_nx.__version__)")
  • Product: Gen NX or Civil NX
  • Risk level: 1 — read-only (see Risk levels)
  • Time: under a minute
  • Precondition: Gen NX or Civil NX running, a project open, a valid MAPI-Key
  • Changes the model?: no
  • Live verification: Node/Element are live-verified at write level on both Gen NX and Civil NX (docs/coverage.json); verify_connection() is /mapikey/verify, used throughout this SDK's own live sessions but not itemized in docs/coverage.json (it's a cross-cutting health check, not a per-chapter endpoint)

What you get

A one-screen answer to "is this thing even connected, and what's in the model" — the first thing worth checking before writing anything more involved, and a template for any script that needs to fail fast if the connection is bad.

Before you run this

  • [ ] Gen NX or Civil NX is open with a project loaded (even an empty one)
  • [ ] You have a MAPI-Key from that session (see Getting started, step 3)
  • [ ] You're not pasting the key into a shared chat or committing it to git

Inputs

  • mapi_key — from the running product
  • product — Product.GEN or Product.CIVIL, matching what's actually open

Full code

from midas_nx import MidasClient, Product
from midas_nx.db.node_element import Node, Element

client = MidasClient(mapi_key="paste-your-mapi-key-here", product=Product.GEN)

status = client.verify_connection()
print(f"Connection: {status['status']} (key verified: {status['keyVerified']})")

nodes = Node.items(client=client)
elements = Element.items(client=client)
print(f"Model: {len(nodes)} node(s), {len(elements)} element(s).")

What the code does

  • verify_connection() hits /mapikey/verify — confirms the product process is alive and this key is valid for it, without touching model data.
  • Node.items() / Element.items() each do one GET against /db/NODE and /db/ELEM and return every row as a dict keyed by ID.
  • Nothing here can create, modify, or delete data — the whole script is reads.

Expected output

Connection: connected (key verified: True)
Model: 3 node(s), 2 element(s).

Numbers depend on what's actually open — 0 for both on a blank project is a normal result, not an error.

Verify the result

There's nothing to verify beyond "did it print the numbers you expect for the model you have open" — this recipe doesn't change anything, so there's no before/after state to compare.

Common errors

  • MidasConnectionError — the product isn't running, or Open API isn't connected. The exception message ends with (Hint: ...).
  • MidasAuthError — the MAPI-Key is wrong or stale (it resets each time the product restarts).
  • status: "disconnected" with no exception — verify_connection() returns this as a normal result rather than raising, since it's a valid response shape. Re-check the product before calling anything else.

Timeout and retry

All three calls here are reads. If one times out, it's safe to just run the script again — nothing was written, so there's no risk of double application.

Recovery

Not applicable — this recipe cannot modify the model.

Ask an AI to adapt this

Using this exact script as a starting point, add a read-only check for
[material / section / load case] counts too. Keep it strictly read-only —
no create, update, delete, or analyze calls.