Scripts, LISP and AI agents

Everything in CADCraft is a command, so anything you can do by hand you can also script. Scripts and LISP routines run inside the app. The cadcraft-cli tool runs CADCraft without a window, and lets AI agents draw through MCP.

Run a script

A script (.scr) is a text file with what you would type at the command line, one line at a time. Choose Tools › Run Script… to run one.

Load LISP routines

CADCraft runs AutoLISP routines (.lsp). Choose Tools › Load Application…, or type (load "name") at the command line. Most routines that draw, edit and ask for points or objects work as they are.

To load routines every time, put them in the support folder inside CADCraft’s settings folder, and load them from an acad.lsp or acaddoc.lsp file there:

System	Support folder
Windows	%APPDATA%\CADCraft\support\
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/CADCraft/support/
Linux	~/.config/cadcraft/support/

A drawing’s own folder is never searched, so an acaddoc.lsp that came with a downloaded drawing doesn’t run.

Which startup file to use

File	When it loads
acad.lsp	Once per session, into the first drawing only. If you set the ACADLSPASDOC system variable to 1, into every drawing
acaddoc.lsp	Into every drawing you open or create, including a new drawing from QNEW

If your routines vanish after you close the first drawing or start a new one, move the (load ...) line from acad.lsp to acaddoc.lsp. A routine defined in acad.lsp belongs to the first drawing and goes away with it.

After both files, CADCraft runs S::STARTUP if you defined it. To load a file the first time you type one of its commands, add (autoload "file" '("CMD1" "CMD2")) to a startup file.

Note

Not supported yet: Visual LISP ActiveX functions (vlax-…, vla-…), DCL dialogs, reactors, compiled .fas and .vlx files, and C++ or .NET plug-ins.

Change command aliases

Choose Tools › Customize › Edit Command Aliases (PGP)… to add, change or remove aliases. Your aliases are kept after a restart.

Use cadcraft-cli

cadcraft-cli comes with the Windows, Linux and FreeBSD packages. On macOS it is a separate download: see Install and update. Its main subcommands are:

Subcommand	What it does
info	Describes a drawing: its layers, blocks, objects and more, as JSON
convert	Converts a drawing, for example DWG to DXF, or DXF to SVG, PNG or PDF
run	Opens a drawing, runs commands or a script, and saves or exports the result
commands	Lists every command and its parameters
mcp	Starts an MCP server for AI agents

For example:

cadcraft-cli info drawing.dxf
cadcraft-cli convert drawing.dwg drawing.pdf
cadcraft-cli run drawing.dxf --script-file setup.scr --save out.dxf

cadcraft-cli --help lists every option.

Launch options and environment variables

cadcraft --help lists these too. You can give CADCraft files to open, and two options:

Option	What it does
<file> ...	Opens these drawings
--sample	Opens the sample drawing
--control <port>	Starts the control port (see Let an AI agent draw)

Set these environment variables before you start CADCraft. A blank value counts as not set, except for CADCRAFT_CONFIG_DIR.

Variable	What it does
CADCRAFT_CONFIG_DIR	The settings folder (logs, autosave, workspace, plotters). Set it to nothing to run with no settings folder
CADCRAFT_LOCALE	The interface language, instead of your system’s
CADCRAFT_VSYNC	1 presents with vsync, 0 without. The default is without on Linux and BSD
CADCRAFT_WAYLAND	1 keeps the native Wayland backend instead of XWayland
CADCRAFT_NO_NATIVE_MENU	macOS: 1 keeps the menus inside the window
CADCRAFT_SYSTEM_CURSOR	1 uses the system cursor instead of the drawn crosshair
CADCRAFT_FONTALT	The font that replaces a missing one. See Fonts
CADCRAFT_FONTFALLBACK	The fonts tried, in order, for characters a font lacks

Let an AI agent draw

CADCraft has an MCP server, so an AI assistant that supports MCP can draw and edit with it. The agent can type at the command line like a person, run any command, read back what is in the drawing to check its work, and look at a picture of it.

To give an agent its own drawing, with no window, add this to your MCP client’s settings:

{ "mcpServers": { "cadcraft": { "command": "cadcraft-cli", "args": ["mcp"] } } }

To watch the agent work in the app instead:

1. Start CADCraft with a control port: cadcraft --control 7979.
2. Point your MCP client at it, with "args": ["mcp", "--connect", "127.0.0.1:7979"].

The control port only listens on your own computer. The agent can then also take screenshots and click in the app.