AutoCAD publisher guidelines

When you register as a publisher, you'll see the complete requirements in the Publisher Agreement. This guide summarizes the key points — the agreement takes precedence if anything differs.

When you submit your app, the form collects everything needed for your listing — including content for the quick-start page that's included with downloads and viewable online.

Compatibility 

Your product must be relevant to (and usable with) AutoCAD® 2027 or any of these AutoCAD 2027 vertical products:

AutoCAD® Architecture®, AutoCAD® Electrical®, AutoCAD® Mechanical®, AutoCAD® MEP®, Civil 3D® and must run on all Windows operating systems supported by the AutoCAD 2027 product.

If you indicate compatibility with one or more vertical products, you are responsible for testing your app with those products. You can also indicate compatibility with AutoCAD® 2026| 2025 |2024 | 2023 | 2022 (or its vertical listed above).

User privileges

Installers require elevated (admin) user privileges on Windows 10/11.

Product stability

Your product should be stable and not behave or alter the behavior of AutoCAD in a way that we deem unsuitable, for example, blocking standard AutoCAD functionality, blocking the functionality of another plug-in, causing data loss, etc.

Your product must include a partial CUIX file to add UI elements for your product to the AutoCAD Ribbon Bar. You can find more information about it in the next sections.

HTML help page

When you submit your app, the documentation form generates a help page that's included with your download. Make sure your instructions are clear and actionable — users should be able to get started quickly. You can link to additional resources hosted on your website.

Ready to run

Your app must work immediately after installation — no manual file copying, registration, or settings changes required. The new autoloader mechanism we describe later can help you avoid this.

If your app uses licensing:

• Activate automatically (e.g., online activation), or
• Include a fully functional trial period long enough to deliver activation to the customer.

Use the autoloader system

We strongly recommend using the autoloader mechanism to deploy your plug-in. Search the AutoCAD help files for "Install and Uninstall Plug-in Applications" or "appautoloader". The DevTV — Autoloader Format Explained video covers examples for .NET, ObjectARX, LISP, and CUIX plug-ins.

Tip: Download free plug-ins from the Marketplace to study their format (e.g., XrefStates).

Note: Starting from AutoCAD 2025, SeriesMax is required in the RuntimeRequirements attribute. See AutoCAD 2025: Update Your PackageContents.xml with RuntimeRequirements on the AutoCAD DevBlog.

Follow the interop guidelines

The ObjectARX Application Interoperability Guidelines (part of the ObjectARX SDK) describe how to ensure your plug-in works well alongside other plug-ins. These guidelines apply to all plug-in types and are worth reviewing when creating or updating projects.

Download ObjectARX SDK

Use demand loading

Design your plug-in to load only when needed — typically on command invocation. This minimizes the impact on AutoCAD startup performance. The autoloader system makes it easy to configure demand loading for your plug-in components.

Only load at startup if your plug-in absolutely requires it.

Use the ribbon bar

Every plug-in or block library must add a panel to the Plug-Ins tab using a partial CUIX file. At minimum, this panel must include a button that either:

• Invokes the main command, or
• Opens a help file explaining how to use the library

The DevTV — Creating a Partial CUI video shows how to set up a partial CUIX file.

Placement guidance:

• Single panel — add it to the Plug-Ins tab
• Multiple panels — create a dedicated tab named after your plug-in

You can add other UI elements (menubars, toolbars) to your partial CUIX, but you must still include a ribbon bar panel.

There are no additional requirements for products that are not integrated with AutoCAD. Such products might include eBooks, video tutorials, industry-specific calculators, and the like.

Questions? Email appsubmissions@autodesk.com for support.

For more resources, visit the API documentation and the Developer Community Blog.