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Getting Started

Here's a couple of things you want to do before building your first Forge application.

Create an account​

If you don't have a Forge account yet, sign up for one on https://forge.autodesk.com by clicking on the SIGN UP TO TRY FORGE button.

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You can take advantage of a trial subscription that is valid for 3 months.

Sign Up

Create app credentials​

In order to authenticate ourselves to the Forge platform, we will need to generate app credentials (specifically, a client ID and client secret) for our application. After logging into the Forge developer portal, go to your profile menu in the top-right corner, and click on Applications:

My Apps

Next, click on the Create application button:

Create App

Enter the name of your application, and click the Create button:

App Name

And your application is now ready. Let's store your Client ID and Client Secret credentials as we will need these soon!

App Overview

Finally, set the Callback URL under General Settings to http://localhost:8080/api/auth/callback, and enable the APIs you want your application to have access to. Unless you have any specific reason for limiting your application's access to the different services, enable everything.

Update App

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Pay close attention to the Callback URL. This is the address your application's users will be redirected to after logging in with their Autodesk credentials. It can be any arbitrary URL but it has to match exactly the URL your server application expects. In our tutorials we will always use the same address: http://localhost:8080/api/auth/callback.

Finally, update the application by clicking on the Save changes button, and you're all set!

Save Changes

Provision access in other products​

In certain cases it is possible for your application to integrate with other Forge-based products such as Autodesk Construction Cloud, or Autodesk BIM 360. We leverage this capability in the Hubs Browser tutorial where you can learn about accessing designs from Autodesk Docs, BIM 360 Docs, or Fusion Teams.

However, some of these products must provision access for a specific Forge application based on its client ID. Follow the steps below for any specific product you would like to integrate your application with.

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If you are not planning to integrate your application with other products for now, you can skip the rest of this page and come back to it later when needed.

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Make sure you have admin access to an Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC for short) account

  1. Log into your ACC account, and navigate to Account Administration
  • From the overview of projects

Project list

  • From the user interface of a specific project
Project detail
  1. On the Account Admin page, go to BIM 360 Admin > Settings, and navigate to the Custom Integrations tab

Account admin

  1. Use the Add Custom Integration button on the left side to start a simple wizard that will guide you through the process

  2. On the Select Access page, keep both the BIM 360 Account Administration and the Document Management options checked, and hit the Next button

Select access

  1. On the next page of the wizard, choose the I'm the developer option, and hit the Next button

Select role

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Here we assume that the account admin is also the owner of the Forge application. If that is not the case, the account administrator can use the Invite a developer option instead, and the invited developer will input the Forge application details later.

  1. On the next and final page, make note of the BIM 360 Account ID, check the checkbox next to it, and fill out the Forge Client ID and the App Name fields exactly as they appear in your application's page on https://forge.autodesk.com/myapps

BIM 360 info

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Consider storing your Forge application client ID somewhere in App Description. The client ID will not appear in the custom integration after it has been created, and if the number of integrations in your account starts to grow, this will help you quickly identify the Forge application each custom integration is associated with.

  1. When ready, scroll down and hit the Save button

After completing the process, your application will be able to use different Forge services such as Data Management API or ACC API to access information from all projects under this ACC account.