cadcraft/docs/roadmap.md

CADCraft roadmap detail

Last reviewed: 2026-10-10 · Last updated: 2026-10-11 · Change: minor (alpha-gate evidence refreshed: xrefs, plot dialog, preview, PUBLISH, plotter devices, DXF round trip) · Target: Autodesk AutoCAD 2027

Forward-looking plan: milestones with status, the current focus, and what comes next with estimates. The summary is ROADMAP.md; the work items behind every line are in gaps.md; numbers come from target-app-parity.md. Hours are Opus 5.5 agent-hours.

Current focus

1. Gate and land. (cargo fmt on main is fixed.) Add a PR workflow that runs cargo xtask ci, then review and land the 47 open PRs, most of them community bug fixes (S1–S3). ≈ 15–25 h.
2. Stop losing data on save (FF1, FF2, FF7) and save DWG/DXF at a chosen version (FF3). ≈ 30–45 h.
3. A real-file corpus and a check of our output in AutoCAD (FF5, needs the owner).
4. Precision input: object snap tracking, extension/parallel snaps, FROM/M2P/TK, typed snap overrides, editable dynamic input (U1–U4). ≈ 25–35 h.
5. Unstub the prompt options of the most-used commands (F1). ≈ 15–25 h.
6. Autosave, recovery, AUDIT, RECOVER (F4). ≈ 10–15 h.
7. The rest of the alpha gate: block editor and REFEDIT, xref attach (F2, F3), and plot styles with a plot dialog and preview (F14). ≈ 50–80 h.

Items 2–5 and 7 are the alpha gate rows.

Alpha gate

The core workflows a typical AutoCAD professional does every day (craftrules progress-docs standard). CADCraft is pre-alpha because four of the five fail the gate; the failing rows are the alpha checklist. Main platform: macOS.

Core workflow	Works end to end?	Evidence	Hours to pass
Draw and modify precisely with object snaps and tracking	partial, blocking	Running snaps, polar, ortho and coordinate entry work; object snap tracking, extension and parallel snaps are toggles with no behaviour; no FROM/M2P/TK or typed snap overrides; TRIM/EXTEND standard mode, OFFSET Erase/Layer/Multiple, ROTATE Reference print "not available yet"; ellipse/spline intersections approximate (ui-parity.md, gaps.md U1, U3, U4, F1)	35–50
Dimension and annotate	partial, not blocking	All core DIM types, associativity, DIMSTYLE variables (43 of ~80), TEXT/MTEXT, MLEADER, tables work; no DIMSTYLE dialog, MTEXT editor not in place, MLEADER thin (F7, F9, F10). A drafter can dimension a sheet end to end	0 for the gate (beta work)
Use blocks (insert library blocks, edit them, attributes, xrefs)	partial, blocking	Static BLOCK/INSERT/attributes, ATTSYNC, BATTMAN editing and xrefs (#525) work; no block editor (BEDIT) or REFEDIT, so a block can't be edited in place; no XCLIP; dynamic blocks from other drawings lose their behaviour (F2, F3)	35–55
Layers, layouts and plotting a sheet	partial, blocking	Layers, layouts, viewports, page setups, PDF output, plot styles (CTB/STB, #410), the Plot dialog (#160), Plot Preview and PUBLISH (#186) and plotter devices (#564) work; printers only via PDF/PNG/SVG files (F14, H3)	15–25
Save DWG that AutoCAD opens without loss, and reopen others' DWGs	no	DXF keeps what we don't model (#528) and writes native MULTILEADERs (#459, not yet tested through DWG); through DWG, acadrust drops custom-class entities and objects and some foreign data; never checked in AutoCAD; no real-file tests; a 10 MB DWG failed after ~2 min (#57) (FF1–FF6)	40–60 + owner (real-file corpus, AutoCAD check)
To alpha			≈ 125–190

Ready for real work is ≈ 38%, also under the ~40% alpha bar; closing the gate rows lifts it past 40%.

Beta checklist

Beta means: close to feature complete for mainstream 2D work, opens and saves DWG reliably, remaining gaps are known bugs and edge features (≈ 75% ready for real work).

Item	State	Est.
DWG/DXF: nothing lost on save; MULTILEADER native; version choice; code pages; real-file corpus green; verified in AutoCAD	not started	50–75
2D geometry exact for ellipses and splines; polyline offset correct; relative tolerances	not started	50–80
Precision input at AutoCAD level (tracking, dynamic input, overrides, point modifiers, grips, selection keywords, context menus)	partial	90–140
Every Draw/Modify prompt option works; associative arrays	partial	40–60
Annotation depth: DIMSTYLE manager and variables, missing DIM commands, in-place MTEXT, fields, MLEADER editing, annotative scaling, tables	partial	90–130
Xrefs, block editor, dynamic blocks, groups, attribute tools	not started	90–135
Plot styles, plot preview, PUBLISH, non-rectangular viewports	partial	30–45
Autosave, recovery, AUDIT/RECOVER, Options dialog, templates, SHX, user .lin/.pat	partial	40–60
AutoLISP core subset and SCRIPT	not started	40–70
Catalog plus AutoCAD for Mac's languages	not started	30–45
Stability: CI gate, issue backlog, command smoke sweep, geometry fuzzing	partial	30–50
Platforms: web open/save, Windows/Linux runtime checks; performance at 1M entities and large DWG	partial	20–35
Total to beta		≈ 600–930

About 70% of this parallelises across 4–6 agents (one per row), so elapsed time is roughly 150–250 hours.

Milestones

Status re-scored on 2026-10-10 by depth, not presence (the 2026-10-07 percentages, reported by the agents that built each milestone, are in the progress log of ROADMAP.md).

#	Milestone	Status	Remaining (h)
M0	Skeleton and vertical slice: workspace, AutoCAD-style UI, command line, draw/modify basics, DXF, CLI, MCP, web	done	—
M1	Drafting core: every 2D Draw command and option, dynamic input, object snap tracking, snap overrides	≈ 55% (Draw breadth strong; tracking, dynamic input, overrides missing)	35–55
M2	Modify: grips, PEDIT, SPLINEDIT, LENGTHEN, BLEND, ALIGN, associative arrays, trim/extend for all curves, MATCHPROP UI	≈ 50%	45–70
M3	Layers and properties	≈ 70% (open layer bugs #71–#75, #87)	10–15
M4	Annotation: DIM*, DIMSTYLE manager, MLEADER, in-place MTEXT, fields, tables, annotative scaling, SHX	≈ 40%	90–130
M5	Hatch and blocks: hatch depth, block editor, dynamic blocks, xrefs, groups, attributes	≈ 30%	105–160
M6	Layouts and plotting: viewports, page setups, plot styles, preview, PUBLISH	≈ 35%	35–50
M7	Files: DWG/DXF fidelity and versions, RECOVER/AUDIT, templates, autosave, ETRANSMIT, underlays	≈ 30%	170–280 (incl. other formats)
M8	Inquiry and utilities, OPTIONS, customisation	≈ 25%	45–70
M9	Parametric	≈ 50%	20–30
M10	Performance: 1M entities at 60 fps, large DWG loads	≈ 60% (internal numbers only)	20–40
M11	3D: UCS, orbit, visual styles, solids, surfaces, meshes, sections, rendering	≈ 2%	300–450
M12	Automation: AutoLISP, SCRIPT, action recorder, sheet sets, Express Tools	≈ 15% (MCP, CLI, control channel done)	130–220
M13	1.0 polish: preferences, workspaces, localisation, accessibility, signed packages, docs	≈ 15% (signed packages for every platform exist; themes done; string catalog with Ukrainian and German, live language switching, #36)	110–170
—	Geometry precision (cross-cutting, see geometry-parity.md)	≈ 40%	70–110
—	AI features	≈ 0% in-app	40–80
	Remaining to full parity		≈ 1,300–2,100

Milestone rows overlap a little with the cross-cutting rows; the total is the dimension sum in target-app-parity.md, not the column sum.

After beta

3D foundations (UCS, 3D views, orbit, then solids per plan/adr/0001), sheet sets, the full AutoLISP surface, AI features with openly licensed local models, and every remaining language.

Revision history

Date	Change	Summary
2026-10-11	minor	Alpha-gate evidence refreshed for merged work (#459, #525, #528, #160, #186, #564); statuses and hours unchanged
2026-10-10	minor	Merged main: fmt fixed, Ukrainian catalog noted in M13, ready for real work 38%
2026-10-10	minor	Alpha gate added (5 core workflows, 4 failing); stage pre-alpha
2026-10-10	major	Created from the old ROADMAP's milestone table and current focus; milestones re-scored by depth; beta checklist added