Build from source

You can build Musa CAD from its source code with a few standard tools. It does not depend on any other CAD library. This page is the quick version for a Linux desktop. Building in the developer guide covers Windows and macOS, the debug and sanitizer builds, and more.

What you need

Tool	Version
A C++23 compiler	GCC 13, Clang 17, or Visual Studio 2022 (17.8)
CMake	3.25 or newer
Ninja	1.10 or newer
Qt 6 (Core, Gui, Widgets)	6.4 or newer
Vulkan loader and headers	1.3 or newer (needed to configure; the program itself draws with OpenGL)

On Debian or Ubuntu, one command installs them:

sudo apt-get install -y build-essential cmake ninja-build qt6-base-dev libvulkan-dev

Everything else (such as the test framework) is downloaded by the build itself.

Build it

git clone https://github.com/MusaCAD/MusaCAD.git
cd MusaCAD
cmake --preset release
cmake --build --preset release

The program is then at build/release/bin/musacad_app. Check it:

./build/release/bin/musacad_app --version

For development, the dev preset builds a debug version with memory checks and the unit tests. Run the tests with ctest --preset dev.

DWG support

DWG support is not compiled in, and needs nothing at build time. Musa CAD runs a separate converter program (the ODA File Converter, or LibreDWG’s dwg2dxf) when you open or save a DWG file. A fresh build handles DXF straight away. For DWG, open DWG Setup… in the application menu and let it download the converter. See DWG files.

Windows and macOS

Both are built by the project’s GitHub workflows. Building explains how to set up Visual Studio and Qt for a Windows build on your own PC. A Mac build gives you a working command line, but the drawing area cannot open yet (see Install on macOS).

Next

Draw something: Your first drawing takes about ten minutes.