# Musa CAD Wiki > The official documentation for Musa CAD, a free, open-source (LGPL-3.0-or-later) 2D CAD program for Windows and Linux, with a macOS preview. It works like AutoCAD: the same commands, aliases, prompts, ribbon and keyboard shortcuts. The current release is 0.8.0. Key facts: - Current release: Musa CAD 0.8.0. Download: https://github.com/MusaCAD/MusaCAD/releases/tag/v0.8.0. Linux users can also install it from Flathub as org.musacad.MusaCAD. - Platforms: Windows 10/11 64-bit (installer), Linux (Flathub, AppImage, Flatpak file), macOS on Apple silicon as a preview (command line only; the drawing area needs OpenGL 4.5, which macOS lacks). - It needs a graphics driver with OpenGL 4.5. It is free, needs no account and has no licence key. - Dynamic Input is on by default: commands, prompts, options and exact lengths are typed at the cursor. F12 switches to a classic command line. - It is built to be automated: drawings are plain-text .musa files any program can write; `musacad --check` validates a drawing (text overlaps, text outside the border, missing glyphs, exit code 4) and `musacad --plot` prints to PDF with no display. AI agents can produce complete drawing sets this way (see the fabrication pipeline). - Files: .musa (native), DXF (read/write, built in), DWG (read/write through the free ODA File Converter, downloaded from DWG Setup), PDF output. - Not supported: 3D modelling; AutoLISP, VBA, .NET or plug-ins inside the program; parametric constraints; sheet sets; dynamic blocks; annotative objects; SHX font files (substituted). - The wiki documents 290 commands and 104 system variables, generated from the program itself. - Main website: https://musacad.org. Source: https://github.com/MusaCAD/MusaCAD. Command data as JSON: https://wiki.musacad.org/data/commands.json ## Get started - [Get started](https://wiki.musacad.org/get-started/): Get Musa CAD running and make your first real drawing. Install it, learn the parts of the window, and see what carries over from AutoCAD. - [What Musa CAD is](https://wiki.musacad.org/get-started/what-is-musa-cad/): Musa CAD is a free, open-source 2D CAD program that works like AutoCAD. Here is what it can do, what makes it different, what it runs on, and what it does not do yet. - [Install on Windows](https://wiki.musacad.org/get-started/install-windows/): How to install Musa CAD on Windows, what the security warnings mean, how updates work, and how to use it from a script. - [Install on Linux](https://wiki.musacad.org/get-started/install-linux/): Install Musa CAD on Linux from Flathub, as an AppImage, or from a Flatpak file, and learn what each one means for files, DWG and scripts. - [Install on macOS (preview)](https://wiki.musacad.org/get-started/install-macos/): The Mac version of Musa CAD is a preview. The command line works, but the drawing area cannot open yet because macOS does not support OpenGL 4.5. Here is what you can do with it today. - [Build from source](https://wiki.musacad.org/get-started/build-from-source/): Build Musa CAD yourself from its source code on Linux in three commands. What you need to install first, and where the program ends up. - [Your first drawing](https://wiki.musacad.org/get-started/first-drawing/): Step by step, draw a 120 × 80 plate with two holes, add two dimensions, save it and print it to PDF. Takes about ten minutes. The finished drawing is free to download. - [A tour of the interface](https://wiki.musacad.org/get-started/interface-tour/): The parts of the Musa CAD window and what they are called. The ribbon, the application menu, drawing tabs, Dynamic Input, the command line, the status bar and the Properties palette. - [Coming from AutoCAD](https://wiki.musacad.org/get-started/coming-from-autocad/): Switching from AutoCAD? Most of your habits work in Musa CAD as they are. Here is what carries over, where Musa CAD goes further, what is different, what is missing, and how to bring your work across. ## User manual - [User manual](https://wiki.musacad.org/user-manual/): How to draft with Musa CAD, organised by what you are doing. Drawing, modifying, precise input, annotation, layers and blocks, layouts and plotting, files, settings and customising. - [Drawing](https://wiki.musacad.org/user-manual/drawing/): How drawing works in Musa CAD. Starting commands, answering prompts and options, and the tools for lines, polylines, circles, arcs, rectangles, curves, hatches, construction lines and points. - [Modifying](https://wiki.musacad.org/user-manual/modifying/): How to select objects and change them in Musa CAD. Clicking, windows, crossings and lasso, grips, moving and copying, trimming and filleting, the Properties palette, and undo. - [Precision and drafting aids](https://wiki.musacad.org/user-manual/precision/): How to place every point exactly in Musa CAD. Typed coordinates, object snaps and their keywords, FROM and midpoint input, ortho, polar and object snap tracking, grid and snap, and measuring what you drew. - [Dynamic Input](https://wiki.musacad.org/user-manual/dynamic-input/): Dynamic Input lets you type commands, answer prompts, pick options and enter exact lengths, angles and coordinates right next to the cursor in Musa CAD. How it works, every key, and every setting. - [Annotation](https://wiki.musacad.org/user-manual/annotation/): Adding words and sizes to a Musa CAD drawing. Single-line and multiline text, text styles and symbols, every kind of dimension and dimension styles, leaders and multileaders, tables, fields, and GD&T frames. - [Organising a drawing](https://wiki.musacad.org/user-manual/organising/): Keeping a Musa CAD drawing tidy and easy to change. Layers and their settings, colours, linetypes and lineweights, blocks and attributes, external references, groups, and cleaning up unused items. - [Layouts, viewports and plotting](https://wiki.musacad.org/user-manual/layouts-and-plotting/): Turning a Musa CAD drawing into sheets. Model space and layouts, viewports at a scale, per-viewport layers, page setups, the Plot window, PDF output, batch plotting to one PDF, and plotting from the command line. - [Working with files](https://wiki.musacad.org/user-manual/files/): Opening, saving and closing drawings in Musa CAD, working with several drawings in tabs, copying between drawings, and exchanging files with AutoCAD and other programs through DXF, DWG and PDF. - [Settings and system variables](https://wiki.musacad.org/user-manual/settings/): How Musa CAD is set up and how to change it. The Options window, drafting settings, drawing units, system variables typed by name, which settings travel with a drawing, and where your own settings are kept. - [Customising](https://wiki.musacad.org/user-manual/customising/): Making Musa CAD work your way. Keyboard shortcuts of your own, command aliases including your AutoCAD acad.pgp, workspaces, tool palettes, and automating drawings with scripts. ## Command reference - [Command reference](https://wiki.musacad.org/reference/): Every Musa CAD command in one table, with its aliases, what it does, where it is on the ribbon and the release it arrived in. Filter by name, alias or words. - [System variables](https://wiki.musacad.org/reference/system-variables/): Every Musa CAD system variable, with what it controls and the value it starts with on a fresh install. Change one by typing its name, or with SETVAR. - [Keyboard shortcuts](https://wiki.musacad.org/reference/keyboard-shortcuts/): Every keyboard shortcut in Musa CAD, from F3 (object snap) to Ctrl+P (plot), plus the keys the drawing area reads and the Shift keys that change snapping for a moment. - [The ribbon, tab by tab](https://wiki.musacad.org/reference/ribbon/): Every tab, panel and button on Musa CAD's ribbon, with the command each one runs, and the tools that are shown but not built yet. - [Command status table](https://wiki.musacad.org/reference/command-status/): The developers' table of every AutoCAD command Musa CAD implements or plans, with the details of what each one does and what is still missing. - [AutoCAD settings status](https://wiki.musacad.org/reference/autocad-settings-status/): Every AutoCAD setting relevant to 2D drafting, option by option, and whether Musa CAD has it yet: dimension styles, options, drafting settings and more. ## Scripting and automation - [Scripting and automation](https://wiki.musacad.org/scripting/): Musa CAD drawings can be made, checked and printed entirely by programs, scripts and AI agents. How it works, what you can automate, and where to start. - [The command line](https://wiki.musacad.org/scripting/command-line/): Use the musacad command to check drawings and print them to PDF without opening a window, in scripts, on servers and in CI. Every option, the exit codes, and ready-to-use recipes. - [Drawings from code](https://wiki.musacad.org/scripting/drawings-from-code/): Write a Musa CAD drawing from a short Python program, check it and print it to PDF. The picture on this page is made by exactly the code shown. - [AI workflows](https://wiki.musacad.org/scripting/ai-workflows/): How an AI agent can produce complete, checked drawing sets with Musa CAD, shown through the open-source fabrication pipeline that turns FreeCAD 3D models into vendor-ready A4 drawings. And how to set up your own. ## File formats - [File formats and other CAD programs](https://wiki.musacad.org/file-formats/): The file types Musa CAD reads and writes. Its own .musa format, DXF built in, DWG through the free ODA File Converter, PDF output, images and fonts, and moving projects from AutoCAD. - [The .musa format](https://wiki.musacad.org/file-formats/musa-format/): Musa CAD's own drawing format is plain text. Which versions open in which release, what each format version added, and how to write one from a program. - [DXF files](https://wiki.musacad.org/file-formats/dxf/): How Musa CAD reads and writes DXF, the exchange format most CAD programs understand. Which objects come in, which are skipped and reported, the AutoCAD R2000 files it writes, and what changes on the way out. - [DWG files](https://wiki.musacad.org/file-formats/dwg/): How to open and save AutoCAD DWG files in Musa CAD. Set up the free ODA File Converter in one click, or use LibreDWG; how the conversion works, the AutoCAD 2018 files it saves, and the Flatpak on Wayland. - [Images and fonts](https://wiki.musacad.org/file-formats/images-and-fonts/): Attaching pictures to a Musa CAD drawing, embedded or kept beside it, and the 8 MB limit. Which fonts Musa CAD can draw, and what happens to AutoCAD SHX fonts and TrueType fonts that are not installed. - [Moving projects from AutoCAD](https://wiki.musacad.org/file-formats/from-autocad/): A step-by-step guide to bringing AutoCAD drawings, blocks, external references, fonts, plot settings and command aliases into Musa CAD, and checking that everything came across. ## Troubleshooting - [Troubleshooting](https://wiki.musacad.org/troubleshooting/): Fix common Musa CAD problems, sorted by what you see. The app will not start, the drawing area is black or slow, DWG files do nothing, plots or text look wrong, or a file will not open. - [Musa CAD will not start](https://wiki.musacad.org/troubleshooting/app-will-not-start/): Musa CAD closes at start with a message that it needs OpenGL 4.5, or does not open at all. How to fix it with a graphics driver update, 3D acceleration in a virtual machine, or the AppImage's FUSE fallback. - [The drawing area is black, blank or slow](https://wiki.musacad.org/troubleshooting/drawing-area/): The Musa CAD window opens, but the drawing area is black, empty, or slow to respond. How to find which graphics driver it uses, switch to the faster graphics card, and get a drawing back into view. - [DWG files do nothing or fail](https://wiki.musacad.org/troubleshooting/dwg-files/): Musa CAD says No DWG converter found, the converter times out or exits with an error, or a DWG opens with parts missing. How DWG support works and how to fix each case, including the Flatpak on Wayland. - [A plot or PDF looks wrong](https://wiki.musacad.org/troubleshooting/plot-looks-wrong/): The plotted page is empty or shows the wrong area, every line has the same thickness, colours should be black, dashed lines look solid, or the drawing is the wrong size. The Plot window setting behind each one. - [Text looks different from the original](https://wiki.musacad.org/troubleshooting/text-looks-wrong/): Text from an AutoCAD drawing uses a different font, shows boxes or missing characters, or has lost its formatting. How Musa CAD replaces SHX and missing TrueType fonts, and how to find characters a font cannot draw. - [A file will not open](https://wiki.musacad.org/troubleshooting/file-will-not-open/): Musa CAD says Unsupported file format version or expected MUSACAD header, or a drawing opens without its external references and images. What each message means, and what to do about it. - [How to report a bug](https://wiki.musacad.org/troubleshooting/bug-reports/): What to do when Musa CAD crashes or misbehaves. The crash report it saves, Save Bug Report in the application menu, where the reports are kept on each system, and what a good issue includes. ## Releases - [Releases](https://wiki.musacad.org/releases/): Every Musa CAD release with its date, file format and release notes, which files open in which version, and how to upgrade safely. - [Musa CAD 0.8.0](https://wiki.musacad.org/releases/v0-8-0/): The release notes for Musa CAD 0.8.0 (2026-10-22): Draw order, transparency and ByBlock; multilines; splines that keep fit points; associative hatches and dimensions; multileader styles; the Block Editor; data links and fields; plot preview and PUBLISH; Express Tools. - [Musa CAD 0.7.0](https://wiki.musacad.org/releases/v0-7-0/): The release notes for Musa CAD 0.7.0 (2026-10-11): TRIM and EXTEND with AutoCAD's modes and by a path; FILLET, LENGTHEN, JOIN and PEDIT options; OVERKILL to BLEND; DIM, QDIM and dimension editing; layers at the command line; the system clipboard; crash reports. - [Musa CAD 0.6.0](https://wiki.musacad.org/releases/v0-6-0/): The release notes for Musa CAD 0.6.0 (2026-10-02): TEXT with fifteen justifications; the Dimension Style Manager; dimension text that moves with its line; polylines with widths; object snaps for one pick; polar and object snap tracking; the update check; Flathub. - [Musa CAD 0.5.0](https://wiki.musacad.org/releases/v0-5-0/): The release notes for Musa CAD 0.5.0 (2026-09-26): The ribbon laid out as AutoCAD's; Select objects everywhere with the full keyword set; inquiry commands; drawing units and purge dialogs; one-click DWG converter download; draw and modify prompts option for option. - [Musa CAD 0.4.0](https://wiki.musacad.org/releases/v0-4-0/): The release notes for Musa CAD 0.4.0 (2026-09-12): Layouts and viewports, block authoring, attributes, XREF, raster images. - [Musa CAD 0.3.0](https://wiki.musacad.org/releases/v0-3-0/): The release notes for Musa CAD 0.3.0 (2026-09-04): STRETCH; DIST, AREA, ID and LIST; DIMCONTINUE and DIMBASELINE. - [Musa CAD 0.2.0](https://wiki.musacad.org/releases/v0-2-0/): The release notes for Musa CAD 0.2.0 (2026-09-04): Tolerances, GD&T, tables, dimension text control, the command line. - [Musa CAD 0.1.0](https://wiki.musacad.org/releases/v0-1-0/): The release notes for Musa CAD 0.1.0 (2026-06-23): First public release: draw, modify, annotate, layers, blocks, DXF and DWG, PDF plot. ## Developer guide - [Developer guide](https://wiki.musacad.org/developer/): For people who build, change or package Musa CAD. Building it on each platform, how the code is organised, writing a command, the tests, contributing, releasing and packaging. - [Building Musa CAD](https://wiki.musacad.org/developer/building/): Build Musa CAD from source on Linux, Windows and macOS. Prerequisites, the CMake presets, where the programs land, DWG support, sanitizer builds and the headless smoke test. - [Architecture](https://wiki.musacad.org/developer/architecture/): How Musa CAD is built: its modules, its three threads, the geometry store and kernel, the snapshot the renderer draws, and the decisions behind each phase. The developers' own design record. - [A tour of the code](https://wiki.musacad.org/developer/codebase-tour/): How the Musa CAD source is organised. The five CMake targets, the three threads and how they talk, the folders, and where to look first for each kind of change. - [Writing a command](https://wiki.musacad.org/developer/writing-a-command/): Add a command to Musa CAD. One row in the command table, one small state machine, a test, and a line in the docs. The ribbon tooltip, autocomplete and the wiki page follow by themselves. - [Tests](https://wiki.musacad.org/developer/tests/): How Musa CAD is tested. The Catch2 unit tests, the end-to-end command-line test, the header check, the self-test hooks, and the AddressSanitizer and ThreadSanitizer builds. - [Contributing](https://wiki.musacad.org/developer/contributing/): How to help with Musa CAD and this wiki. Reporting bugs and asking for features, sending changes, the licence header every file carries, commit style, and getting credited. - [Releasing](https://wiki.musacad.org/developer/releasing/): How a Musa CAD release is made. The version number, the checks before tagging, what the tag builds, verifying each package, publishing, Flathub, and the wiki's sync. - [Packaging](https://wiki.musacad.org/developer/packaging/): How each Musa CAD package is built. The Linux AppImage, the Flatpak and its Flathub listing, the Windows installer, and the macOS disk image, with what each one bundles and how to check it. ## About the project - [About the project](https://wiki.musacad.org/project/): Who makes Musa CAD, where it is going, and the rules it follows. The roadmap, the licence in plain words, privacy, trademarks, the third-party components, credits and how to support the work. - [Roadmap](https://wiki.musacad.org/project/roadmap/): What Musa CAD does not do yet, grouped by theme, with the AutoCAD behaviour each item is measured against, its priority and its GitHub issue. - [Licensing](https://wiki.musacad.org/project/licensing/): Musa CAD's licence, the LGPL-3.0-or-later, in plain words. Use it for any purpose including commercial work, your drawings are yours, what you must do if you share a changed version, and the licence of this wiki. - [Privacy](https://wiki.musacad.org/project/privacy/): Musa CAD has no telemetry, no analytics and no account. What the app sends over the network and how to turn it off, where crash reports stay, and what this wiki stores in your browser. No cookies, no tracking. - [Trademarks](https://wiki.musacad.org/project/trademarks/): How to use the Musa CAD name and logo, and the other product names this wiki mentions. Musa CAD is an independent project, not affiliated with Autodesk or any other CAD company. - [Third-party components](https://wiki.musacad.org/project/third-party-components/): Every library Musa CAD uses, how it uses it, its licence, and the evidence that no GPL or DWG library is linked into Musa CAD. - [Credits](https://wiki.musacad.org/project/credits/): The people who build and maintain Musa CAD, the open-source projects it stands on, and how to get your own name on the list. - [Support the project](https://wiki.musacad.org/project/donate/): Ways to help Musa CAD. Donate by UPI, PayPal or Ko-fi, report bugs, improve this wiki, contribute code, or tell other people about free 2D CAD. ## Blog - [Drawings without drafting: an AI pipeline on top of Musa CAD](https://wiki.musacad.org/blog/drawings-without-drafting/): How an open-source pipeline uses Musa CAD to turn FreeCAD 3D models into complete, checked A4 fabrication drawings, with a person approving the decisions that matter. - [Musa CAD 0.8.0 is out](https://wiki.musacad.org/blog/musa-cad-0-8-0/): Musa CAD 0.8.0 adds draw order and transparency, multilines, associative hatches and dimensions, multileader styles, the Block Editor, data links, plot preview and batch plotting, and many Express Tools. - [Welcome to the Musa CAD Wiki](https://wiki.musacad.org/blog/welcome/): Musa CAD now has a proper home for its documentation. What is in the wiki, how it stays accurate, and how you can help. ## Optional - [Full text of every page](https://wiki.musacad.org/llms-full.txt): every page, including every command and system variable, as plain Markdown.