StructuPath Lab #001 — AI vs Mill Test Report
Episode #001 — an AI assistant connected to the StructuPath MCP server screens a sample A992 cert's mechanicals against the spec, and catches the nonconforming one. With the human verification step shown.
StructuPath Lab is a simple format: give a machine a real piece of steel work, show its reasoning, show the result, and have a person verify it. The verification step is not a footnote — it is the point of the format.
The task
Can an AI assistant connected to the StructuPath MCP server screen a mill cert's mechanicals against the ASTM spec — and catch a nonconforming one?
The setup
A mill test report (MTR) is the certificate that travels with heat-numbered steel: chemistry, yield, tensile and elongation as tested at the mill. Fabricators check MTRs because the quality system requires it — an AISC-certified shop has to verify that the material on the floor matches what the job specified, and a cert with out-of-spec mechanicals is a problem you want to catch at receiving, not after fit-up.
"Connected over MCP" means the assistant can call StructuPath's live steel tools directly, the same server described on the MCP page.
What the agent did
We gave the assistant two sets of sample A992 cert values. To be clear about the inputs: these are sample numbers made up for this test, not a customer's document.
- Sample cert 1 — yield 55 ksi, tensile 71 ksi
- Sample cert 2 — yield 48 ksi, tensile 62 ksi
For each one, the assistant read the values off the cert, recognized a spec-screening question, and called the steel_mtr_check tool with the grade, yield and tensile. The division of labor is worth stating plainly: the tool does the spec math against the published ASTM window; the agent does the reading and the routing. Neither one is guessing at limits from memory.
The result
Run 1 — grade A992, yield 55 ksi, tensile 71 ksi:
Yield 55 ksi and tensile 71 ksi are within the specified mechanical limits.
ASTM A992 spec window: yield 50-65 ksi, tensile 65+ ksi.
Screening only — chemistry, elongation and the full standard also apply; acceptance belongs to the quality system and the engineer of record. Detail: https://www.structupath.ai/tools/mill-test-report
Run 2 — grade A992, yield 48 ksi, tensile 62 ksi:
Yield 48 ksi is below the ASTM A992 minimum of 50 ksi. Tensile 62 ksi is below the ASTM A992 minimum of 65 ksi.
ASTM A992 spec window: yield 50-65 ksi, tensile 65+ ksi.
Screening only — chemistry, elongation and the full standard also apply; acceptance belongs to the quality system and the engineer of record. Detail: https://www.structupath.ai/tools/mill-test-report
Run 2 is the one that matters. A cert claiming 48 ksi yield on A992 material gets flagged instantly, with the exact limits it failed against — not a vague "looks wrong," but the number and the minimum it missed.
Human verification
A person checked both results against the A992 window the tool itself prints: yield 50–65 ksi, tensile 65 ksi minimum. Cert 1's 55 and 71 sit inside that window; cert 2's 48 and 62 sit below it. The math holds.
The tool's own boundary, stated in its own output, is worth repeating: this screens mechanicals only. Chemistry, elongation and the rest of the standard still apply, and acceptance of material belongs to the quality system and the engineer of record — not to a screening tool, and not to an AI assistant.
What this shows — and what it doesn't
What it shows: an assistant wired to the right tool can screen an MTR's mechanicals in seconds and flag a nonconforming cert with the specific limits it failed. What it doesn't show: reading a scanned PDF cert (the values were typed in), checking chemistry or elongation, or accepting material. That part stays human.
To run this yourself, connect your own assistant per the MCP page, or use the mill test report checker directly in a browser.
That's episode #001.