Pirros works alongside Guardian (by Iconic BIM) to deliver content that's clean and design-ready. This article covers the Guardian settings recommended by Guardian's product team for firms using both tools, what to expect from the integration, and how to fine-tune the experience.
How to Configure Guardian for Pirros
The settings below are configured inside Guardian, not Pirros. Each one is independent — you can apply some or all depending on your firm's workflow.
1. Confirm Pirros monitored transactions are enabled
In Guardian, open Project Config
Go to the Transactions tab
Confirm Pirros-related transactions are present and configured to your preferred mode (Silent by default)
2. Disable automatic sync property relationships
In Guardian, go to the Sync Properties tab
Uncheck the settings that automatically establish sync relationships on content insertion
3. (Optional) Add a Loading Family Rule for the Pirros temp folder
In Guardian, navigate to Loading Family Rules
Add a rule that points to the temporary folder Pirros uses when loading families into Revit
Set the rule to ignore content loaded from that location
What to Expect
Cleanup runs at insertion: Guardian scans content as it's loaded from Pirros and applies its cleanup pass, the same way it handles content from any other source
Slight overhead at load time: Because Guardian is doing real work as content comes in, loading from Pirros may feel slightly slower than it would without Guardian installed. This is expected behavior, not a defect
Silent by default: Pirros-related transactions in Guardian are set to Silent mode out of the box, so cleanup happens in the background without prompting users mid-workflow
Best Practices
Leave the default monitored transactions in place unless you have a specific reason to change them — they're tuned to catch the Pirros commands that matter
Keep "automatically set sync relationships" unchecked. Sync relationships that get created on every insertion and never cleaned up compound over time and slow Revit down, especially in projects that pull a lot of content from Pirros
Only use Loading Family Rules to skip Pirros content if your library is already vetted. If your team cleans content before it's uploaded to Pirros, this rule removes redundant work. If your library includes content that hasn't been audited, leave Guardian's cleanup pass in place — it's doing useful work
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why does loading content from Pirros feel slower when Guardian is installed?
A: Guardian runs its cleanup pass on content as it's inserted into Revit. That work takes time. The trade-off is that content arrives cleaner than it would otherwise. If your library is already clean before upload, the Loading Family Rule above removes that overhead.
Q: Will the Loading Family Rule affect content from other tools too?
A: Likely yes. Pirros, Avail, and Revit's Content Catalog all use the same Revit temp folder when loading families. A rule pointing at that folder will apply to anything loaded through it. You can refine the rule to be more specific if needed.
Q: Should we disable Guardian's monitored transactions for Pirros to speed things up?
A: Guardian recommends keeping them enabled. They're what allow Guardian to clean up Pirros content as it enters projects — turning them off defeats the reason to have both tools running together.
Q: Who do I contact if Guardian and Pirros aren't behaving as expected?
A: Reach out to Pirros support ([email protected]) and we'll coordinate with the Guardian team as needed.