Isaac Sim Connector (EXPERIMENTAL)

The VAMS Connector for Isaac Sim is an Omniverse Kit extension that integrates NVIDIA Isaac Sim with VAMS for 3D asset management. It enables robotics and simulation engineers to browse, download, upload, and manage assets directly from within Isaac Sim.

Experimental

This integration is in experimental status and may still have issues. Verify with your organization before deploying to any production environment.

Features

• Database and Asset Browsing -- Navigate VAMS databases, assets, and files in a dockable UI panel
• Asset Download and Import -- Download individual files or full assets; USD, URDF, and MJCF files can be imported directly into the Isaac Sim stage from the file list UI. USD files can be opened as new stages or added as prim references. URDF and MJCF files are converted to USD on import using Isaac Sim's built-in asset importers.
• General File Download -- Other files can be downloaded to a local temporary directory
• Scene Export and Upload -- Export the current Isaac Sim USD stage and upload it to VAMS as a new or existing asset
• Workflow Execution -- List available processing workflows, view execution history, and trigger new workflow runs on assets
• Dual Authentication -- Cognito username/password login and token override authentication (IDP JWT tokens and VAMS API keys)

Prerequisites

• NVIDIA Isaac Sim 5.1+
• Python 3.10+ (included with Isaac Sim)
• VAMS CLI installed and configured

VAMS CLI setup

Install the VAMS CLI on the machine running Isaac Sim:

pip install -e /path/to/vams/tools/VamsCLI

Configure a profile with your VAMS API Gateway URL:

vamscli setup https://your-api-gateway-url.amazonaws.com

Verify the CLI is working:

vamscli auth login -u your-email@example.com
vamscli database list --json-output

Installation

Option A: Extension search path (recommended)

In Isaac Sim, go to Window > Extensions, click the gear icon, and add the path to the extension directory as a search path:

/path/to/tools/ExternalIntegrations/isaacsim_vams_integration

Then search for "VAMS" and enable vams.connector.isaacsim.

Option B: Command line

isaac-sim --ext-folder /path/to/tools/ExternalIntegrations/isaacsim_vams_integration --enable vams.connector.isaacsim

Option C: App .kit file

[dependencies]
"vams.connector.isaacsim" = {}

[settings.app.exts]
folders = ["/path/to/tools/ExternalIntegrations/isaacsim_vams_integration"]

Ubuntu / EC2 Setup

When running Isaac Sim on Ubuntu (e.g., on an Amazon EC2 instance), the VAMS CLI should be installed in an isolated Python virtual environment to avoid conflicts with Isaac Sim's bundled Python.

Virtual environment installation

python3 -m venv ~/vamscli-venv
~/vamscli-venv/bin/pip install vamscli
~/vamscli-venv/bin/vamscli setup https://your-api-gateway-url.amazonaws.com

Then set the explicit CLI path in config/extension.toml:

[settings]
exts."vams.connector.isaacsim".vamscli_path = "/home/ubuntu/vamscli-venv/bin/vamscli"

SSL certificate bundle

Isaac Sim may override the SSL_CERT_FILE environment variable with its own certificate bundle that does not include Amazon's CA certificates, causing S3 download failures. The extension handles this automatically if an Amazon CA certificate bundle is placed in the certs/ directory.

To set up the certificate bundle:

1. Download the Amazon root CA certificates from https://www.amazontrust.com/repository/
2. Concatenate the PEM files into a single file named amazon-ca-bundle.pem
3. Place it at isaacsim_vams_integration/certs/amazon-ca-bundle.pem

If the certificate bundle is present, the extension merges it with the system CA bundle (at /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt on Ubuntu) and configures the CLI subprocess accordingly. If the file is absent, the extension uses the system's default SSL configuration.

Authentication

The connector supports two authentication methods:

Cognito authentication

For VAMS deployments using AWS Cognito as the identity provider:

connector.login("user@example.com", "password")

CLI equivalent:

vamscli auth login -u user@example.com -p yourpassword

Token override authentication

For external identity providers or VAMS API keys (prefixed vams_):

connector.login_with_token("user@example.com", "vams_your-api-key")
connector.login_with_token("user@example.com", "eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIs...")

CLI equivalent:

vamscli auth login --user-id user@example.com --token-override "vams_your-api-key"

Usage

Extension UI

Once enabled, the extension opens a VAMS Connector window with:

1. Authentication -- Enter credentials and click the appropriate login button
2. Databases -- List and select databases
3. Assets -- List assets in the selected database
4. Files -- List files in the selected asset with context-aware actions:
   • USD files (.usd, .usda, .usdc, .usdz): Click the play button to download and open as a new stage, or click Add Ref to add as a reference under /World/<filename>
   • URDF files (.urdf): Click the play button to download and import the robot description into the current stage
   • MJCF files (.mjcf, .xml): Click the play button to download and import the MuJoCo model into the current stage
   • Other files: Click the download button to save to a local temporary directory
5. Workflows -- List and execute available workflows

tip

After loading a USD asset, if the viewport appears empty, add a light (Create > Light > Dome Light) and press F to frame the camera on the root prim.

Scripting API

The connector can be used programmatically from the Isaac Sim Python console:

from vams.connector.isaacsim import IsaacVAMSConnector

connector = IsaacVAMSConnector()
connector.login("user@example.com", "password")

# Browse
databases = connector.list_databases()
assets = connector.list_assets(databases[0].database_id)
files = connector.list_files(databases[0].database_id, assets[0].asset_id)

# Download
connector.download_file("my-db", "my-asset", "/model.usd", "/tmp/downloads")
result = connector.download_asset("my-db", "my-asset", "/tmp/full_asset")

# Upload
connector.upload_file("my-db", "my-asset", "/local/model.usd")
connector.create_and_upload("my-db", "new-asset", "/local/model.usd")

# Workflows
workflows = connector.list_workflows()
connector.execute_workflow("my-db", "my-asset", "wf-id", "wf-db-id")

# Isaac Sim stage operations
connector.export_and_upload_scene("my-db", "scene_v1")
connector.download_and_import_asset("my-db", "my-asset", "/scene.usd")
connector.download_and_add_reference("my-db", "my-asset", "/robot.usd", "/World/Robot")

# URDF import (requires isaacsim.asset.importer.urdf extension)
prim_path = connector.download_and_import_urdf("my-db", "my-asset", "/robot.urdf")

# MJCF import (requires isaacsim.asset.importer.mjcf extension)
connector.download_and_import_mjcf("my-db", "my-asset", "/ant.xml")

note

The download_and_import_asset and download_and_add_reference methods validate that the file has a USD extension (.usd, .usda, .usdc, .usdz) before attempting to open or reference it. The URDF and MJCF import methods similarly validate their expected file extensions (.urdf for URDF; .mjcf or .xml for MJCF). The URDF and MJCF importers are optional -- if the corresponding Isaac Sim importer extension is not enabled, the import will fail with an import error.

Configuration

Extension settings can be configured in config/extension.toml or overridden at runtime:

Setting	Default	Description
exts."vams.connector.isaacsim".profile	"default"	VAMS CLI profile name
exts."vams.connector.isaacsim".vamscli_path	""	Explicit path to vamscli executable (empty uses PATH)

Multiple VAMS deployments

Use VAMS CLI profiles to connect to different deployments:

vamscli --profile dev setup https://dev-api.example.com
vamscli --profile prod setup https://prod-api.example.com

dev_connector = IsaacVAMSConnector(profile="dev")
prod_connector = IsaacVAMSConnector(profile="prod")

Architecture

isaacsim_vams_integration/
├── certs/
│   └── amazon-ca-bundle.pem           # Optional: Amazon CA certs for SSL (see Ubuntu setup)
├── config/
│   └── extension.toml                 # Extension metadata, dependencies, settings
├── vams/
│   └── connector/
│       └── isaacsim/
│           ├── __init__.py            # Package exports
│           ├── extension.py           # VamsConnectorExtension(omni.ext.IExt)
│           ├── connector.py           # IsaacVAMSConnector
│           └── vams_cli_service.py    # VamsCliService (CLI subprocess wrapper)
├── README.md
├── LICENSE
└── requirements.txt

Component	File	Purpose
Extension	extension.py	omni.ext.IExt subclass with on_startup/on_shutdown lifecycle and UI
Connector	connector.py	High-level API for all VAMS operations and Isaac Sim stage integration
CLI Service	vams_cli_service.py	Subprocess wrapper around vamscli with JSON output parsing

UI button handlers are deferred via omni.kit.app's update event stream to avoid blocking the Omniverse Kit draw pass, which can cause deadlocks or crashes when performing blocking I/O during rendering.

Source Location

tools/ExternalIntegrations/isaacsim_vams_integration/

Related Pages

• External Tool Integrations Overview -- All available integrations
• CLI Installation -- Installing the VAMS CLI
• Workflows -- Workflow API reference