3D Models with Meshy

Ask CoWork for a 3D model and it makes one with Meshy, then shows it in the chat as an interactive 3D card you can orbit, zoom and animate. "Make a low-poly treasure chest for my Godot game", "turn ~/photos/mug.jpg into a model I can print at 10 cm" or "rig this knight and make it wave" all work the same way: CoWork names the credit cost, waits for your yes, starts the Meshy job, and the card tracks it until the model is ready.

CoWork runs Meshy's own MCP server, pinned to a reviewed version, and adds the parts around it: a cost line on every approval card, a per-task spend limit, the 3D viewer, a gallery of everything you made, and a bundled meshy-3d skill that carries Meshy's workflow rules.

What you can do

• Text or image to 3D: a model from a prompt, from one photo, or from up to four views of the same object.
• Finish it: texture a preview, retexture, remesh to a triangle budget, resize to real-world units, unwrap UVs, convert between formats.
• Characters: auto-rig a humanoid (walking and running clips included), add animations from Meshy's library, or generate a motion clip from text.
• 3D printing: check printability, repair a mesh, make a multicolor 3MF for your slicer, split a model into printable parts, and hand it to an installed slicer.
• Concept images: draw a design first, approve it, then turn it into a model.
• Look at any glTF model: the same 3D card shows any .glb or self-contained .gltf in your workspace, made with Meshy or not.

Set up

1. Open Settings → Connectors, find Meshy and click Install.
2. Paste your Meshy API key (msy_…, from meshy.ai → Settings → API; Meshy API keys need a Pro plan or above) and save.
3. Ask for a model. Node.js 18 or newer with npx must be on your PATH. On first use, the pinned @meshy-ai/meshy-mcp-server package is downloaded into npm's cache.

The key is stored with the rest of your connector settings, encrypted with the system keychain. It is passed only to the Meshy server process and used by CoWork only for requests to api.meshy.ai. Never paste it into the chat.

Making a model

A typical request goes like this:

1. Cost first. The agent picks the route (text, image, concept image first, rig and animate, print) and the detail level for what the asset is for, then tells you which tool it will call and what it costs. For example: "Smart Topology at 1,500 triangles for a game prop, 5 credits for the untextured preview".
2. Approval card. Every call that can spend credits asks first. The card leads with the estimate and what this task has spent on Meshy so far, then shows the exact arguments.
3. Progress card. Right after the job starts, the reply shows a card with Meshy's progress ("Meshy is texturing", 38%) over the task's thumbnail, so the agent doesn't have to wait.
4. Model card. When the job finishes, the card turns into the 3D view. Models the agent saves into your project also appear as created files in the step that saved them.

Example prompts:

Make a low-poly treasure chest for my Godot game. Keep it under 2,000 triangles.

Turn ~/photos/mug.jpg into a 3D model I can print at 10 cm tall, and check it for printing.

Make a stylised knight character, rig it, and add a wave and a walk animation. Save the GLB in models/.

The 3D card

The model fills a rounded frame on a studio backdrop. The title and the model's stats (triangles, size and animation count) sit in the top-left corner.

• Orbit and zoom by dragging and scrolling on the model.
• Toolbar (appears on hover): animation clips as chips, play and pause, auto-rotate, wireframe, grid and reset view.
• Next: what you can do with this Meshy task next, with each step's credit cost (texture it, remesh, retexture, rig, animate, resize, check printability). Picking one sends a chat message that names the tool and the cost, after a confirmation dialog. The agent then makes the call, and its approval card still asks.
• Download: every file type Meshy already made for the task (GLB, FBX, OBJ with its material file, STL, USDZ, animation clips). Saving one costs no credits; it goes next to the model and opens in Finder. A tick marks formats already saved.
• Open: opens the model in the 3D gallery.

A reply can hold several cards. At most four hold a live 3D view at once, chosen by what's on screen and what you used last. The others show a View in 3D poster until you scroll back to them.

The agent writes the card as a line of its own in the reply:

::model{path="/Users/you/Projects/game/models/treasure-chest.glb" task="0199a1b2-…" title="Treasure chest"}

path is a .glb or .gltf file (absolute, or relative to the workspace). task is a Meshy task id. With only a task, the card shows the job's progress and downloads the model (free) into Meshy's folder when you first open it. title is optional. In Slack, Telegram, Discord and other channels, and in the CLI, the line becomes plain text with the model's name and path.

The 3D gallery

Click Open on a card to see everything in one place. The sidebar shows:

• your Meshy credit balance;
• Recent from Meshy: your latest generations, with thumbnails and the credits each cost;
• On this machine: models Meshy saved, in your projects or in its own folder;
• a search box that filters by prompt.

The selected model fills the rest of the window, with Copy prompt, Copy task ID, Show in Finder, Download and Next above it. Picking a recent generation that isn't on this machine yet downloads its GLB first (free), so it stays viewable after Meshy's links expire.

Credits and the spend limit

Meshy bills in credits. CoWork knows each tool's published price and puts it on the approval card:

Balance, task status, lists, the animation library, downloads, slicer detection and the printability check are free. They run without asking.

• Per-task limit: each task may spend up to 200 credits on Meshy. A call that would take it past the limit asks again, even when you chose Always allow for that tool. The tally counts the top of each tool's range for every call that ran, not Meshy's actual bill.
• New tools ask: a Meshy tool with no listed price (one a later server version adds) always asks.
• Unattended runs can't spend: scheduled tasks and other runs without anyone to approve are refused instead.

Where files go

• The agent saves downloads into your project (for example models/treasure-chest.glb) unless you name another folder.
• Without a folder, Meshy saves into its own folder: mcp-data/meshy/meshy_output/ in CoWork's data folder (on macOS, ~/Library/Application Support/cowork-os/).
• CoWork keeps a small index of the models Meshy saved, under meshy/ in the same data folder. It holds paths, sizes, task ids and prompts only, never URLs or keys.
• Meshy's download links expire 3 days after a task finishes. Saved files are permanent.

Privacy and security

• Prompts, and the images or models you point it at, go to Meshy's API under your key. The Meshy server sends no analytics of its own.
• The 3D viewer reads only .glb and .gltf files, and only inside a workspace CoWork knows or files Meshy saved. A model path the agent writes cannot make the app read other files.
• CoWork fetches thumbnails and downloads only from https://assets.meshy.ai and refuses redirects. A download never overwrites an existing file.
• Only a path the agent asked Meshy to save to, or one inside the workspace or Meshy's folder, is recorded as a model. Anything else the server reports is ignored.

Limits

• Models compressed with Draco or meshopt, or using Basis textures, can't be shown in the viewer; Meshy's own models don't use them. A .gltf that loads separate .bin or texture files can't be shown either; open the .glb instead.
• The spend tally is kept in memory, so it starts over when CoWork restarts. Routines that call an MCP tool directly, and outside clients using CoWork's MCP host, are not counted.
• Replies in chat channels show the model as a line of text. CoWork doesn't render a preview video for channels.

Troubleshooting

Verification

• Connector install defaults (pinned package, own folder, approval mode, timeout): src/electron/mcp/__tests__/MCPRegistryManager.test.ts.

• Costs, the spend limit and the approval card's cost line: src/electron/mcp/__tests__/tool-costs.test.ts, src/electron/agent/tools/__tests__/mcp-approval-preview.test.ts.

• Meshy API mapping, the model index, downloads and result handling: src/electron/meshy/__tests__/.

• File access for the viewer and the Download menu: src/electron/ipc/__tests__/meshy-handlers.test.ts.

• The ::model line, its plain-text form and glTF checks: src/renderer/components/__tests__/assistant-message-content.test.ts, src/shared/__tests__/rich-embeds.test.ts, src/renderer/components/Model3D/__tests__/model-stage.test.ts.

• Checked live in the desktop app (PRs #763 and #764):

  • the real Meshy server installs and connects with 28 tools;
  • the approval card names the cost and the limit;
  • cards render a rigged, animated model and a textured one;
  • the toolbar, menus and gallery work in both themes.

  That check ran without a Meshy key, so a real generation was not part of it.

See also: Features, Connector Inventory, Enterprise Connectors.