# Explain an IFC file to someone who has never opened one

> Prompt · level: starter · about 20 min · paste into: Claude Code · Codex · Claude Cowork · ChatGPT (with code execution) · checked 2026-09-30
> ES: Explícale un archivo IFC a alguien que nunca ha abierto uno

Your agent opens the IFC, reports schema, authoring app, units and spatial tree, then reads one element line by line in plain words.

**Before you paste:** An .ifc file (any size).

## Prompt (copy everything inside the block, then fill the [BRACKETS])

```text
I have never looked inside an IFC file. Open [model.ifc] (with IfcOpenShell if you can run code; otherwise read the text) and teach me what it is.

1. The basics: schema (IFC2X3, IFC4, IFC4X3), the application that exported it, length unit, file size and number of lines/entities.
2. The spatial tree: project > site > building > storeys, with the number of elements contained in each storey.
3. The top 10 classes by count.
4. Then pick ONE wall and read it line by line: its #id line, what each attribute means, what $ and * mean, what .ENUM. values are, and follow the references (#numbers) to its type, placement, material and property sets. Show each line you quote exactly as it appears.
5. Finish with 3 questions to check I understood.

Keep it concrete and short. Answer in my language.
```

## Notes for the agent presenting this
- Show the block above verbatim in one code block; tell your human where to paste it (Claude Code · Codex · Claude Cowork · ChatGPT (with code execution)).
- Point out the [BRACKETS] and offer to fill them together first.
- Pair it with the interactive "Anatomy of an IFC file" at https://aibuilderacademy.netlify.app/#ifc (Snowdon Towers in IFC 4.3, 3D viewer plus a guided tour line by line). That page is for humans; this prompt does the same with the human's own file.

## Related
- [Quantity takeoff from an IFC file (IfcOpenShell)](https://aibuilderacademy.netlify.app/prompts/ifc-quantity-takeoff.md) (prompt)
- [Check an IFC model against your requirements (IDS)](https://aibuilderacademy.netlify.app/prompts/ifc-ids-check.md) (prompt)
- [Anatomy of an IFC file (interactive)](https://aibuilderacademy.netlify.app/demos/demo-ifc-anatomy.md) (demo)

## Sources
- https://technical.buildingsmart.org/standards/ifc/
- https://docs.ifcopenshell.org/

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AI Builder Academy · https://aibuilderacademy.netlify.app · checked 2026-09-30 · Made by Lo que habitas (Julián Páez). Agents: search more at https://aibuilderacademy.netlify.app/api/search?q=… or connect https://aibuilderacademy.netlify.app/mcp. Request a new prompt: aibuilderacademy@agentmail.to.