maya-geometry

name	maya-geometry
description	Interchange stage — FBX / OBJ geometry interchange. Round-trip geometry through FBX or OBJ; scene save is owned by maya-scene. The FBX export tool drives every FBXExport* option through the FBX plugin's MEL globals, bakes animation by default, and verifies the output file. Use for cross-DCC handoff. Not for primitive creation (maya-primitives) or shot packaging (maya-shot-export).
license	MIT
allowed-tools	Bash Read
metadata	{"dcc-mcp":{"dcc":"maya","layer":"domain","stage":"interchange","version":"2.0.0","tags":["maya","geometry","interchange","fbx","obj","export","import"],"search-hint":"export FBX, import FBX, export OBJ, file_exists, geometry round trip,\nscene interchange, FBXExport options, bake animation FBX. Use\nmaya-scene save_scene for .ma/.mb scene saves.","tools":"tools.yaml","groups":"groups.yaml","recipes":"references/IO_CHECKLIST.md"}}

maya-geometry (Interchange stage)

Geometry interchange. Despite the legacy name maya-geometry, the responsibility is interchange, not modelling or native scene-file persistence. Search hints include maya-interchange, maya-io, and maya-fbx for legacy discovery paths.

Why this stage exists

Once an Authoring-stage skill has produced geometry / animation, you need a reliable way to hand geometry off to other DCCs or downstream pipelines. That is what the Interchange stage handles. Native .ma / .mb scene saves are intentionally routed through maya_scene__save_scene. Every export tool here:

• pushes its full option surface through the official MEL globals (no silent reliance on plugin defaults);
• bakes animation by default for FBX so downstream apps see the same motion the artist sees;
• verifies the destination file (existence + non-zero bytes) and surfaces the size in the result envelope.

Cross-Maya FBX contract (P0)

When handing FBX to another Maya year or a different DCC, treat these fields as mandatory knobs—not plugin defaults:

Parameter	Guidance
fbx_version	Pin a concrete enum value (e.g. FBX202000) so source and target agree on file format.
bake_animation	Keep true whenever motion comes from IK, constraints, expressions, or simulation; otherwise downstream may see static meshes.
start_frame / end_frame	Set explicitly to the bake window you need for production; do not rely on UI playback range alone.
up_axis	Set y or z explicitly when your pipeline requires a fixed world orientation.

The export_fbx script resets the FBX plugin option store (FBXResetExport) before export and returns applied_options plus size_bytes in the success envelope for audit and regression triage.

Bulk and multi-file export (agents)

For N separate FBX paths (e.g. one file per root transform), prefer one execute_python payload that loops in Maya, applies the Cross-Maya FBX contract fields each iteration, and returns e.g. context.written_files. Invoking the export_fbx tool N times over MCP is possible when each call must be individually validated, but it costs N round-trips — collapse to a single script when the user only needs throughput and deterministic naming.

Groups

• core (default_active: true) — file_exists. Pure filesystem, no Maya state.
• geometry (default_active: true) — main-thread FBX/OBJ import / export.

Scripts

• file_exists — Check whether a file exists on disk (no Maya state)
• export_fbx — Export the scene or current selection to FBX with full FBXExport* control
• import_file — Import generic Maya-recognised scene / geometry files
• import_fbx — Import an FBX into the current scene; returns new node names
• export_obj — Export the scene to OBJ