Spotlight: AEC Data Model, and a door query that is not the file
Autodesk’s 12 November FAQ meters AEC Data Model API Data Out. Query doors, not the file, and check the team allowance.
Yesterday’s leftover SketchUp plugin was SketchUp Importer for Revit. The unused Autodesk leftover is not another Dynamo graph: Autodesk posted a customer FAQ on AEC Data Model API pricing on 12 November 2026.
That is not a new authoring kernel. Firms already host a Revit model in Forma, then a script or a dashboard pulls every door because opening the file is slower than asking for the schedule. Autodesk’s claim is narrower. The API is a query, not a download. The meter is the size of what comes back, not the size of the .rvt.
What the notes actually say
Theo Agelopoulos and Sasha Crotty’s 12 November note is a customer FAQ, not a 12 November rate change. AEC Data Model API pricing took effect on 6 October 2026. Autodesk’s line is that customers own the content they create or upload. The charge is for a service that structures, queries and delivers granular project information to tools outside Autodesk.
Data Out is the megabytes your query returns, not the size of the model it came from. You are not charged per query. Data In, administration, and data that moves between Autodesk products are free. Opening Revit, downloading through Forma Data Management, and exporting IFC stay unmetered. Forma Construction dashboards and other pipelines that do not call those APIs are unchanged for now.
The useful number is still Snowdon Towers. The sample Revit model is about 90 MB. Retrieving everything about its doors is 1.55 MB. Windows are 1.12 MB. APS guidance names the included slice as 50 MB a month on an AEC Collection seat and 25 MB on Navisworks Manage, pooled at team level. Multiple qualifying seats add up. The APS app has to live on the same Autodesk team as those seats, at manage.autodesk.com. Split the developer hub onto a different team and the allowance does not follow.
Go past the included amount and Autodesk says you are billed monthly or Flex tokens leave the pool. The October APS note is blunter: an active paid offering, Prepay with Flex or Pay as You Go, is what avoids interruptions. Read the current APS table for your seats.
APS Usage Insights in Autodesk Assistant, dated 27 October, is the planning seat named in the FAQ. Ask what an application used in the last 30 days and which API drove it. It is historical consumption, not a live token balance. Actual charges stay on manage.autodesk.com.
The 8 October GraphQL note is the BIM method. Filter to property.name.category==Doors. Ask for Mark, Level and Fire Rating, not the full property set. If you only need how many doors are 60 min versus 90 min, use the distinct-property query. If the model already extracted a new version, listen for that event and, where the workflow allows it, diffElementGroupByVersionWithLatest instead of polling the whole dataset every five minutes.
What a BIM lead should do
If the office already pulls a door schedule, a fire-rating check or a dashboard feed from hosted Revit, this is a morning on a non-sensitive copy. Ask four questions: does the door query return the same marks and ratings as the schedule you already issue, at a Data Out size in the Snowdon range rather than the file size; are the APS apps on the same Autodesk team as the AEC Collection seats; does Assistant’s 30-day usage match what manage.autodesk.com will bill, or only the units consumed; and does a five-minute refresh still run when the model has not changed.
Do not point a personal script at the issued central file. Do not assume IFC export is now metered. Keep the issued schedule in the tool the BEP already names until those four checks close.
Start at Autodesk’s 12 November FAQ and the APS included-usage note.
Frequently asked questions
What did Autodesk announce?
On 12 November 2026 Autodesk published a customer FAQ on AEC Data Model API pricing. The meter itself took effect on 6 October 2026. Data Out is the megabytes a query returns for use outside Autodesk. Qualifying subscriptions include a monthly allowance. You pay more only when you go past it.
Does this meter opening Revit or exporting IFC?
No. Autodesk says opening a model in Revit, downloading files through Forma Data Management, and exporting IFC do not use the AEC Data Model APIs, so this pricing does not apply. Forma Construction dashboards and other pipelines that do not call those APIs are unchanged for now.
What is included, and what happens if we go over?
APS names 50 MB a month on an AEC Collection seat and 25 MB on Navisworks Manage, pooled at team level. The APS app has to live on the same Autodesk team as those seats. Go past the included amount and Autodesk says you are billed monthly or Flex tokens leave the pool. The October APS note says an active paid offering, Prepay with Flex or Pay as You Go, is what avoids interruptions. Read the current APS table for your seats.
How should a BIM lead keep a door report inside the allowance?
Filter the query to doors and request only the properties the schedule needs, such as Mark, Level and Fire Rating. If you only need counts by fire rating, use the distinct-property query. If the model already extracted a new version, listen for that event and diff from the last version instead of polling the whole dataset every five minutes.