Coming from AutoCAD

The short answer: most of what your hands already know works in Musa CAD. Type L and you draw a line. Press F8 and ortho turns on. Every edit command starts with Select objects:. This page goes through the details: what carries over, where Musa CAD goes further, what is different, and what is not there yet.

Every written page in the command reference also ends with its own Compared with AutoCAD section, so you can check any command in detail.

What works the same

Your habit	In Musa CAD
Typing commands and aliases	The same names and aliases: L, C, PL, A, REC, E, M, CO, RO, SC, MI, O, TR, EX, F, CHA, H, DLI, MT, B, I, X, LA, Z, U and the rest. Capital or small letters both work, and a list of matches appears as you type.
The prompts	Specify next point or [Close/Undo]: and so on, with the same options. Options are in square brackets, the default is in angle brackets. Enter repeats the last command, Esc cancels.
Selecting objects	Click to pick. Click two corners for a box: left to right for a window, right to left for a crossing. Press and drag for a lasso. Shift+click removes an object. Ctrl+A selects everything. At Select objects: you can type Window, Crossing, Fence, WPolygon, CPolygon, ALL, Last, Previous, Add, Remove, Undo and the other keywords. Selecting first and then running a command also works.
Coordinates	10,20, @30,0 (relative), @30<45 (polar), and # for absolute inside Dynamic Input. Feet, inches and fractions work at every prompt.
The ribbon	Home, Insert, Annotate, Parametric, View, Manage and Output, with AutoCAD’s panels in AutoCAD’s places.
Function keys	F3 object snap, F7 grid, F8 ortho, F9 snap, F10 polar, F11 object snap tracking, F12 Dynamic Input. Ctrl+Z undoes. Redo is Ctrl+Y on Windows and Ctrl+Shift+Z on Linux.
Object snaps	Running snaps, and one-off snaps typed at a prompt: END, MID, CEN, INT, TAN, PER, EXT, NEA, QUA, NOD, INS, APP, PAR, GCEN, NON. Also FROM, M2P, TT, TK, the Shift+right-click snap menu, and the Shift override keys.
Grips	Every object has grips. Drag them to stretch or move; dimensions have a grip on their text.
Layers and properties	The Layer Properties Manager with layer states and filters; -LAYER at the command line; LAYISO, LAYOFF, LAYFRZ and the other layer tools; ByLayer and ByBlock.
Blocks	BLOCK, WBLOCK, INSERT, the Block Editor (BEDIT), attributes (ATTDEF, EATTEDIT, BATTMAN, ATTSYNC), REFEDIT, external references (XREF) and images.
Dimensions	Linear, aligned, angular, radius, diameter, jogged, ordinate and arc length; DIMCONTINUE, DIMBASELINE and QDIM; DIMEDIT, DIMTEDIT, DIMSPACE and DIMBREAK; dimensions that follow the objects they measure; the Dimension Style Manager and the DIM variables.
Text, leaders and tables	TEXT with all fifteen justifications, MTEXT and text styles; LEADER, QLEADER and MLEADER with styles; TABLE with styles and links to CSV and Excel files.
Layouts and plotting	Layouts, viewports, MSPACE and PSPACE, page setups, PLOT to PDF or a printer, PREVIEW, PUBLISH and EXPORTPDF. Plot styles are colour-based (CTB): none, monochrome or grayscale.
Measuring	DIST, ID, AREA, LIST, MEASUREGEOM, MASSPROP, TIME, STATUS, CAL and QUICKCALC.
Your aliases	ALIASEDIT can load your acad.pgp file.
Your shortcuts	CUI lets you give any command a key, and warns you if the key is already taken.
Express Tools	Many of them: TEXTMASK, TXTEXP, TCOUNT, TEXTFIT, BURST, GATTE, EXTRIM, NCOPY, MOCORO, FLATTEN, VPSYNC, VPSCALE, XLIST, ATTOUT, ATTIN, MPEDIT, DIMEX, DIMIM, TFRAMES.

Your everyday commands

These are the commands most drafters use every day. All of them are in Musa CAD, under the names you know, and each has a full page.

Command	Type	What it does
LINE	L	Create a series of straight-line segments (Close, Undo; Enter continues the last line or arc).
PLINE	PL	Draw a connected sequence of line and arc segments as one object (Arc, Close, Length, Undo).
CIRCLE	C	Draw a circle by centre and radius or diameter, two or three points, or tangent to objects.
ARC	A	Draw an arc by three points, or from a start, centre or end with an angle, chord, direction or radius.
RECTANG	REC, RECTANGLE	Draw a rectangle from two opposite corners.
POLYGON	POL	Draw a regular polygon by centre or by one edge.
ELLIPSE	EL	Draw an ellipse or an elliptical arc.
SPLINE	SPL	Draw a spline through fit points or by control vertices.
HATCH	H, BHATCH	Fill an enclosed area with a pattern or solid color.

Command	Type	What it does
ERASE	E	Delete selected objects from the drawing.
MOVE	M	Move selected objects a specified distance and direction.
COPY	CO, CP	Duplicate selected objects at a specified offset.
ROTATE	RO	Rotate selected objects around a base point.
SCALE	SC	Resize selected objects uniformly about a base point.
MIRROR	MI	Create a mirror-image copy of objects across an axis.
OFFSET	O	Create a parallel copy of a curve at a specified distance.
TRIM	TR	Trim objects to meet the edges of other objects.
EXTEND	EX	Extend objects to meet the edges of other objects.
FILLET	F	Round corners between two intersecting lines, arcs, or polylines.
CHAMFER	CHA	Bevel corners between two intersecting lines.
ARRAY	AR	Create a rectangular, path or polar pattern of copies.
STRETCH	S	Move the parts of objects inside a crossing window, keeping the rest anchored.
EXPLODE	X	Break compound objects into their components.
JOIN	J	Join collinear or connected objects into a single object.
BREAK	BR	Break a curve between two points.
LENGTHEN	LEN	Change the length of a line or arc.
PEDIT	PE	Edit a polyline, or several (Multiple): close/open, join, width, vertices, fit, spline, decurve, reverse.
MATCHPROP	MA, PAINTER	Copy properties from a source object to one or more target objects.
U	UNDO	Reverse the most recent action.

Command	Type	What it does
TEXT	DT, DTEXT	Create a single-line text object.
MTEXT	T, MT	Create a multiline (paragraph) text object.
TEXTEDIT	ED, DDEDIT	Edit the contents of an existing text object.
DIMLINEAR	DLI	Create a horizontal or vertical linear dimension.
DIMALIGNED	DAL	Create a dimension aligned with two points.
DIMRADIUS	DRA	Create a radius dimension for a circle or arc.
DIMDIAMETER	DDI	Create a diameter dimension for a circle or arc.
DIMANGULAR	DAN	Create an angular dimension between two lines.
DIMCONTINUE	DCO	Continue a dimension chain from the last dimension's second extension line.
MLEADER	MLD	Draw a multileader: an arrowhead, a leader line and a landing, and its text.
DIMSTYLE	D, DST, DDIM	Create and change dimension styles: text, arrows, units and colours, and the current style.

Command	Type	What it does
LAYER	LA	Open the Layer Properties Manager.
BLOCK	B, -BLOCK	Make the selection a block definition (replaced by an insert).
INSERT	I, -INSERT	Insert a block by name with scale and rotation.
PROPERTIES	PR, CH, PROPS	Open the Properties palette to view and edit object properties.
OSNAP	OS, DS, SE, RM, DDOSNAP, DDRMODES, DSETTINGS	Open the Drafting Settings: snap and grid, polar tracking, object snaps, dynamic input.
ZOOM	Z	Zoom in or out to change the view magnification.
DIST	DI	Measure the distance and angle between two points, or along several (Multiple points).
LIST	LI	List the selected objects: kind, layer, space, handle, properties, geometry, area and perimeter.
PLOT	PRINT	Plot or print the drawing to paper or PDF.
QSAVE	QSAVE	Save the drawing under its name (Save As the first time).

Where Musa CAD goes further

• Dynamic Input is on from the start, and it does everything at the cursor. You type commands, read prompts, pick options with the down arrow and type exact lengths, all next to your cursor. Many AutoCAD users turn Dynamic Input off; in Musa CAD it is the main way to work, and the classic command line is one F12 away. See how it works.
• Drawings can be made entirely by programs. A .musa drawing is a plain text file that any script can write. The musacad command checks it and prints it to PDF with no window, so it runs in scripts, on servers and with AI agents. The fabrication pipeline uses this to turn 3D models into finished fabrication drawings with no hand drafting. See Scripting and automation.
• Drawings can be checked automatically. musacad --check finds text that overlaps other text, text that runs outside the sheet’s border, and characters the font cannot draw, before a drawing goes out.
• It runs on Linux, including from Flathub.
• No account, no licence and no tracking. The only thing it does online is a once-a-day check for a new version, which you can turn off, and downloading the DWG converter when you ask it to.

What is different

• The native format is .musa, not DWG. It is a readable text file. DXF is read and written directly. DWG goes through the free ODA File Converter, which Musa CAD downloads for you from DWG Setup. When a file is imported, Musa CAD tells you anything it could not bring across, rather than dropping it silently.
• The interface is dark, dialogs included.
• Fonts: text uses Musa CAD’s built-in line font or any TrueType or OpenType font on your computer. SHX font files are not read. A drawing that asks for one is drawn with Musa CAD’s own line font, and the Properties palette still shows the font it asked for. See Images and fonts.
• New releases change the file format. A file saved by a newer version needs that version or newer to open. Older files always open.
• Arrays are plain copies. ARRAY makes ordinary objects, not an associative array, so there is no ARRAYEDIT. Change one copy and the others stay as they are.
• Dimension variables change the style. Typing DIMTXT or another dimension variable changes the current dimension style itself, where AutoCAD would keep it as an override. To give one dimension a setting of its own, use DIMOVERRIDE or the Properties palette.
• Blocks hold the common objects. A block can contain lines, arcs, circles, polylines, text, multiline text, attributes and other blocks. Hatches, dimensions and other objects stay outside the block when you make it, and Musa CAD says how many.
• Plot styles are three built-in choices: in colour, monochrome or grayscale. CTB and STB files are not read.
• Musa CAD 0.8.0 does not save automatically. Save often with Ctrl+S.

What is not there yet

• 3D. Musa CAD is for 2D only.
• AutoLISP, VBA, .NET and ObjectARX. None of these run inside Musa CAD. Automation is done from outside, by programs that write drawings and call the musacad command. For many jobs this goes further than a LISP routine: it can build a whole drawing set. See Scripting and automation.
• Parametric constraints. The Parametric tab is there, but its buttons are greyed out, and each tooltip says the tool is not built yet.
• Sheet sets, dynamic blocks, annotative objects, named plot styles (STB) and real SHX fonts are not in version 0.8.0.
• Every last option. Most draw, modify and annotate commands follow AutoCAD option for option, but some settings are still to come. The command status table tracks every command, and the AutoCAD settings status tracks the dimension style and options settings one by one.

The roadmap lists what is still missing, theme by theme, with an issue for each.

Bring your work across

1. Your files. Choose Import ▸ DXF… from the application menu for DXF files. For DWG, open DWG Setup… once and let it download the converter, then choose Import ▸ DWG… to open a drawing. Read the import message: it lists anything that could not be brought across. Moving projects from AutoCAD goes through this in detail.

2. Your aliases. Type ALIASEDIT and load your acad.pgp.

3. Your keyboard shortcuts. Type CUI and set the keys you are used to.

4. Your habits. Nothing to do. Type L and draw a line.

Next

• Learn the tool that makes Musa CAD different: Dynamic Input.
• Read the User manual for how each kind of work is done.
• For a short side-by-side summary, see Musa CAD as an AutoCAD alternative on the main website.