PowerTools is an Autodesk Fusion all-in-one Add-In that offers a suite of productivity tools for assembly management, document, and data tools, part-modeling, exports, related-data templates, and document sharing. It is deployed as a single installable Add-In. It adds commands to the Design workspace toolbar, the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT), and the Drawing workspace that reduce the steps required for design, data, and collaboration tasks.
The add-in includes a dedicated preferences command which allows customization of commands, as well as enable/disable each command. The tools are separated into functional categories:
- Assembly Management
- Document and Data Tools
- Part Modeling Helpers
- Exports
- Related-Data Templates
- Document Sharing
Before you install and run this add-in, confirm that you have the following:
- Autodesk Fusion (any current subscription tier) with Python add-in support enabled
- Windows 11 or macOS
- An Autodesk Team Hub (required for commands that access cloud document references, related data, and sharing)
- Download or clone this repository to your local machine.
- In Autodesk Fusion, open the Add-Ins dialog by selecting Utilities > Add-Ins, or press Shift+S.
- On the Add-Ins tab, click the green + icon.
- Navigate to the folder where you placed the add-in files and select the
PowerToolsfolder. - Click Open.
- Select PowerTools in the list, then click Run.
To have the add-in load automatically each time Fusion starts, select Run on Startup before clicking Run.
Most commands appear in Design › Tools › Power Tools. Some appear in other locations as noted below. Click a command for its detailed guide.
| Command | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Assembly Builder | Design › Tools › Power Tools | Build and manage multi-component assemblies from a guided palette. Allows fast creation of assembly structures at the start of the design. |
| Assembly Palette | Design › Solid | Quick-start palette for populating a new assembly: create components in place, or insert from open and recent documents. asses assembly builder, global parameters a fastener shortcuts. |
| Insert Step | Design › Solid | Insert a STEP file as a referenced component. |
| Assembly Statistics | Design › Tools › Power Tools | Report component, occurrence, and reference counts for the active design. |
| Get and Update | Design › Tools › Power Tools | Fetch and update referenced documents in one step. Often more reliable than Fusion's own update process. |
| Bottom-Up Update | Design › Tools › Power Tools | Propagate changes from sub-components up through the assembly. |
| Externalize | Design › Tools › Power Tools | Externalize internal components into documents replacing them in the active assembly keeping positions intact. Great for converting imported assemblies to distributed designs. |
| Global Parameters | Design › Tools › Power Tools | View and manage project-wide global parameters. |
| Link Global Parameters | Design › Tools › Power Tools | Link the active design to project global parameters. |
| Refresh Global Parameters Cache | File › PowerTools Settings | Rebuild the cached global-parameters folder and document index. |
| Infer Constraints | Design › Tools › Power Tools | Infer assembly joints/constraints from component geometry. Great for creating joints/constraints on imported assemblies. |
| Component Warning | File › PowerTools Settings | Toggle warnings about creating features outside a component. |
| Change Cycle Color | Design › Right-click menu | Set the per-component color used by Fusion's Color Cycling Toggle on selected components. Better than selecting fusions random colors. |
| Reference Manager | Design › Tools › Power Tools | Inspect and manage all external references of the active design. |
| Document References | Design › Tools › Power Tools | List all documents related to the active design. Shows, parents, drawings, Top level (root) assemblies, fasteners, child components, and any Related Data. |
| Document Refresh | Design › Tools › Power Tools | Refresh out-of-date active document to latest version on cloud. Great when working in a team and others have update a document you have open. |
| Command | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Document Information | Design › Tools › Power Tools | Display cloud data identifiers and metadata for the active document. |
| Document History | Quick Access Toolbar | Show the active document's version history as a palette of day rows: a track per author, saves on a clock axis, and the elapsed time between days. |
| Version Diff | Design › Tools › Power Tools | Compare versions of the active document. |
| Assign Part Numbers | Design › Tools › Power Tools | Assign part numbers across the active design. |
| Assign Drawing Number | Drawing › Power Tools | Assign a drawing number inside the Drawing workspace. |
| Sync Item to Part Number | Design › Manage › Power Tools | Copy the Fusion Manage Item Number into the Part Number (Manage Extension). |
| Default Folders | Design › Tools › Power Tools | Create default project folders in a new project using one of several configured folder schemes. |
| Favorites | Design › Tools › Power Tools | Manage favorite documents and folders. Also allows quickly navigating to favorites in the data panel. |
| Open Recent | File › Open Recent | Reopen a recently used document from a File-menu flyout, with location and thumbnail tooltips. |
| Show In Location | File › PowerTools Settings | Open the active document's location in the data panel. Can be set to open on document open and document tab switch. |
| Close All Documents | File | Close every open document, saving or discarding unsaved changes as a group. |
| Toggle Data Pane | Navigation bar | Toggle the visibility of the data panel. |
| Recovery Save | Design › Tools › Power Tools | Direct access to creating a recovery auto-save for the active document. |
| Command | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Export BOM | Design › Tools › Power Tools | Export the bill of materials to CSV. |
| Export Mermaid | Design › Tools › Power Tools | Export the assembly structure as a Mermaid diagram. |
| Command | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sketch Repair | Sketch › Modify | Repair common sketch profile issues automatically. |
| Round Sketch Dimensions | Sketch › Modify | Round the active sketch's dimensions to an adjustable increment. Especialy useful for updating a sketch after auto-constrain. |
| Under-Constrained Sketch | Sketch | Highlight under-constrained sketch geometry. |
| Radial Hole Circle | Sketch | Add center points for a radial pattern of holes. |
| Mirror Derive | Design › Solid | Create a mirrored derived component. |
| Hide Objects | Design › Tools | Quickly hide objects from a list of options. |
| Timeline Compute Times | Design › Solid | Measure per-feature timeline compute times and display a relative report. |
| Measure Path | Design › Inspect | Total the length of a chain of edges and sketch curves. |
| Flatten Surface | Design › Tools | Flatten curved faces to a sketch pattern, with a stretch/gather strain map. |
| Command | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Save Named View | Animation › Power Tools | Save the Animation viewport camera as a named view on the design, named from the active storyboard. Very handy for saving the view in which you create an exploded view in the animation workspace. |
| Command | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Create Related Data | Design › Solid | Create a new document referencing the active document from a folder in team of pre-created start documents. |
| Select Related Data Folder | File › PowerTools Settings | Configure the hub/project/folder used for related data start documents. |
Share add-ins across a team through one hub folder — Assets / Shared Addins in the active hub. Drop an add-in .zip in; everyone else picks it up shortly after Fusion starts, with no restart and nothing to publish. Dormant until the folder exists, and silent unless something changed.
| Command | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Team Add-ins | Design › Tools › Power Tools | Check the shared folder now and show what the last check did. |
| Set Up Shared Add-ins Folder | File › PowerTools Preferences | Find or create the shared folder in the hub's Assets project. |
| Command | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scripts and Add-ins | QAT › File menu | Open Fusion's built-in Scripts and Add-Ins Manager from the File menu. When using home tab, this allows access to the scripts and Add-Ins Manager when no document is open. |
| Command | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Get a Share Link | QAT › Share Menu | Create and copy a public share link for the active document. |
| Change Share Settings | QAT › Share Menu | Manage download and password protection for the share link. |
| Get Open on Desktop Link | QAT › Share Menu | Get a link that opens the document in the Fusion desktop client. |
| Get Open in Team Link | QAT › Share Menu | Get a link that opens the document in Autodesk Fusion Team web client. |
| Invite to Project | QAT › Share Menu | Invite a collaborator to the active project. |
| Document Project Members | QAT › Share Menu | List the members of the active project. |
For developer-oriented documentation — system context, C4 diagrams, the add-in lifecycle, the shared-access-point model, and the command-module pattern — see docs/arch/architecture.md.
For local development setup, tooling, and how to debug the add-in in VS Code or Zed, see the developer guide.
AI coding agents start at AGENTS.md, which links the codebase map and the lessons ledger.
This add-in is developed and maintained by IMA LLC.
Copyright (C) Industrial Machine Arts LLC WA, USA — All Rights Reserved.
This software is proprietary and confidential. It is protected under international copyright law; all rights are reserved by the copyright holders. It is only available to authorized individuals with the permission of the copyright holders. See LICENSE for the full notice.
The three Autodesk-sample-derived modules in lib/ptAddInUtils — general_utils.py, event_utils.py, and attributes_utils.py — remain under Autodesk, Inc.'s original, permissive license terms (see each file's header), which require that their copyright notice be retained in all copies. The proprietary terms above do not apply to those Autodesk-derived portions.
Copyright © Industrial Machine Arts LLC WA, USA. All rights reserved.