Fusion Export

An add-in for Autodesk Fusion that exports many designs and drawings at once: a whole folder, a project, several projects or everything in your account. Fusion itself exports one document at a time.

Format	What you get
Fusion archive	Name.f3d, or Name.f3z for designs with external references: the full design with timeline, sketches and parameters
STEP	Name.step: the bodies, for other CAD software
Sketch DXF	Name - Sketches/<sketch>.dxf: every sketch of every component
Drawing PDF	Drawing.pdf: all sheets in one file
Drawing DWG	Drawing.dwg (uses a preview API of Fusion, see below)
Uploaded files	DXF, STEP, images and other files uploaded to Fusion, downloaded as they are

Files land in <target>/<hub>/<project>/<folders>/, the same tree as in the Data Panel, so partial exports add up to one tree; with Keep cloud folder path off they go straight into the target folder instead.

Install

1. Download FusionExport-X.Y.Z.zip from the latest release and unpack it. You get a folder FusionExport.
2. Move that folder into Fusion's add-in folder:
   • Windows: %APPDATA%\Autodesk\Autodesk Fusion 360\API\AddIns\
   • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Autodesk/Autodesk Fusion 360/API/AddIns/
3. In Fusion: Utilities > Add-Ins > Scripts and Add-Ins, tab Add-Ins, select FusionExport, click Run and tick Run on Startup.

The Fusion Export button then sits in Utilities > Add-Ins.

Once a day the add-in asks GitHub for a newer release and offers to install it (the download is checked against the release's SHA256SUMS, which catches broken downloads but is no proof of origin, see #13; settings are kept; restart Fusion afterwards). Skip this version stops asking for that version; Check for updates once a day in the dialog turns the check off.

To update by hand, replace the folder and restart Fusion. Stop and Run in Scripts and Add-Ins reloads the code too, but Fusion reads the version shown there only at start.

Use

Click Fusion Export and choose:

• Export
  • Active document: the open design or drawing, exported right away.
  • Folder open in the Data Panel: open the folder in the Data Panel first.
  • Project of the active document
  • Selected projects: tick them in the list below.
  • Everything: all hubs and projects.
• Include subfolders: off exports only the files directly in the chosen folder or project. Everything always includes them.
• Keep cloud folder path: on (default) puts files under <hub>/<project>/<folders>/ in the target, so exports of different folders add up to one tree. Off puts the chosen folder's or project's content straight into the target folder (with Selected projects, one folder per project); use it to hand a folder to someone. Everything always keeps the path.
• Content: what to write for each file.
  • Complete backup (default): Fusion archive, STEP and sketch DXF for designs, PDF for drawings, uploaded files as they are.
  • Fusion archives and uploaded files: everything needed to restore into Fusion.
  • STEP only: for other CAD software.
  • Drawings as PDF only
  • Custom ...: shows one checkbox per format, including drawing DWG.
• Re-export: write all ticked formats again, even when they are up to date.
• Scan only: list the files and count what is left to export, without exporting.

Then pick the target folder. The add-in remembers it and your choices.

What a run exports

A run exports a file only when needed:

• never exported, or a ticked format is missing (or its file was deleted): only the missing formats are written;
• the design changed in the cloud since the last export (a new version): all ticked formats are written again;
• otherwise the file is up to date and skipped.

So a cancelled run continues where it stopped, ticking another format later adds just that format, and running the same scope again refreshes changed designs: a simple backup.

Files in .fusion-export/

File	Purpose
export-state.json	cloud version and exported formats per file
scan-cache.json	file lists of earlier scans with their date. A run of the same scope asks: Yes = Resume uses the list and starts at once (for continuing a cancelled run), No = Fresh scan walks the cloud again. Only a fresh scan sees documents changed, added or renamed since: use it for backups.
export-log.txt	one line per file and run: OK, SKIP (up to date), UNTICKED (no ticked format applies to the file, nothing exported), OTHER (a native file the add-in cannot export, such as an electronics library) or FAIL with the error; SCAN lines with how long a scan took and where

All three live in .fusion-export/ inside the target folder (older exports that kept them in the target folder itself are moved there on the next run). Keep that folder with the export: moving the target folder moves the state with it.

Names

File and folder names are the cloud names with these changes: apostrophes are removed (Tom's Team becomes Toms Team), characters Windows forbids become _, names are cut to 80 characters, and a second file with the same name in one folder becomes Name_2.

Limits

• STEP holds bodies only. A design with sketches but no bodies gives an empty STEP; use the Fusion archive or sketch DXF for it.
• Electronics files (libraries, schematics, boards) are not exported yet; the log lists them as OTHER.
• Drawings cannot be saved as an editable file outside the cloud; PDF and DWG are what Fusion offers. They can be recreated from the design archive.
• DWG export uses createDWGExportOptions, a preview API that Autodesk may change. If your Fusion lacks it, the log shows FAIL for DWG and the run goes on.
• Each document is opened in Fusion to export it, so a large export takes hours. Fusion is busy meanwhile; the progress dialog can cancel it.

Development

The add-in is one Python file, FusionExport/FusionExport.py. The tests cover the logic that does not need Fusion (names, what to export) with a stub of the adsk modules:

python -m pip install ruff==0.17.3 pytest==9.2.0
ruff format --check . && ruff check . && pytest

See CONTRIBUTING.md for issues, pull requests and releases.

License

GPL-3.0-or-later, see LICENSE. Not affiliated with Autodesk.