Fusion 360 Assembly / Component / Organization

Control Fusion 360's assembly structure via tools/fusion-assembly. All dimensions are mm. Output is JSON.

Orient yourself first

Before organizing, understand the current assembly:

tools/fusion-assembly context                   # full assembly snapshot: components, positions, joints
tools/fusion-assembly list                      # component tree with body/sketch counts
tools/fusion-assembly info --component Carcass  # detailed info for one component
tools/fusion-assembly bodies --component Carcass  # all bodies in a component (deep)

Component lifecycle

Create components

Create components to organize your design into logical groups (subassemblies, individual parts, etc.):

# Create a top-level component
tools/fusion-assembly create --name Carcass

# Create a nested component (child of Carcass)
tools/fusion-assembly create --name Shelf --parent Carcass

# Typical furniture hierarchy:
tools/fusion-assembly create --name Frame
tools/fusion-assembly create --name Legs --parent Frame
tools/fusion-assembly create --name Aprons --parent Frame
tools/fusion-assembly create --name Top

Rename, duplicate, delete

# Rename a component
tools/fusion-assembly rename --component Component1 --new-name Carcass

# Duplicate a component (creates a linked copy — same definition)
tools/fusion-assembly duplicate --component Leg --new-name Leg_Copy

# Delete a component (removes the occurrence and all contents)
tools/fusion-assembly delete --component TempComponent

Body organization

After creating bodies (via fusion-solid or fusion-sketch + extrude), move them into the right components:

# Rename bodies for clarity
tools/fusion-assembly rename-body --body Body1 --new-name TopPanel
tools/fusion-assembly rename-body --body Body2 --new-name SidePanel

# Move a body from root into a component
tools/fusion-assembly move-body --body TopPanel --to Carcass

# Move from a specific source component
tools/fusion-assembly move-body --body Shelf1 --to Shelves --source Carcass

# Copy a body into another component (keeps original)
tools/fusion-assembly copy-body --body TopPanel --to Reference --name TopPanel_Ref

Typical workflow: build then organize

# 1. Build all bodies in root (simpler coordinate system)
tools/fusion-solid box --c1 0,0,0 --c2 600,400,19 --name TopPanel
tools/fusion-solid box --c1 0,0,-500 --c2 19,400,0 --name LeftSide
tools/fusion-solid box --c1 581,0,-500 --c2 600,400,0 --name RightSide

# 2. Create component structure
tools/fusion-assembly create --name Carcass

# 3. Move bodies into components
tools/fusion-assembly move-body --body TopPanel --to Carcass
tools/fusion-assembly move-body --body LeftSide --to Carcass
tools/fusion-assembly move-body --body RightSide --to Carcass

Visibility control

Toggle visibility of components and individual bodies:

# Hide/show entire components (hides all bodies + children)
tools/fusion-assembly hide --component Hardware
tools/fusion-assembly show --component Hardware

# Hide/show individual bodies
tools/fusion-assembly hide-body --body ConstructionHelper
tools/fusion-assembly show-body --body TopPanel
tools/fusion-assembly show-body --body Shelf1 --component Carcass

Occurrence transforms

Move component instances (occurrences) in the assembly:

# Translate a component
tools/fusion-assembly move --component Leg --translate 100,0,0

# Rotate a component
tools/fusion-assembly move --component Door --rotate-axis 0,0,1 --rotate-angle 90

# Rotate around a specific point
tools/fusion-assembly move --component Door --rotate-axis 0,0,1 --rotate-angle 90 --rotate-origin 0,400,0

# Ground a component (lock it in place)
tools/fusion-assembly ground --component Base

# Unground (allow movement)
tools/fusion-assembly unground --component Leg

Joints

Define how components relate to each other mechanically:

As-built joints (simplest — preserves current positions)

# Rigid joint: components stay exactly where they are
tools/fusion-assembly as-built-joint --comp1 Base --comp2 Leg --type rigid

# Revolute joint: allows rotation (hinge)
tools/fusion-assembly as-built-joint --comp1 Frame --comp2 Door --type revolute --name DoorHinge

# Slider joint: allows linear motion
tools/fusion-assembly as-built-joint --comp1 Frame --comp2 Drawer --type slider

Geometry-based joints (more control)

# Joint at component origins
tools/fusion-assembly joint \
  --geo1-type origin --geo1-component Base \
  --geo2-type origin --geo2-component Leg \
  --type rigid

# Joint at specific points
tools/fusion-assembly joint \
  --geo1-type point --geo1-component Frame --geo1-point 0,0,0 \
  --geo2-type point --geo2-component Leg --geo2-point 50,0,0 \
  --type revolute --name HingeJoint

Query and manage joints

# List all joints
tools/fusion-assembly joints

# Delete a joint
tools/fusion-assembly delete-joint --name Joint1

Assembly query

# Full assembly context (all components + positions + joints)
tools/fusion-assembly context

# Get a component's transform (position + rotation matrix)
tools/fusion-assembly transform --component Leg

# List all bodies in a component (including children)
tools/fusion-assembly bodies --component Carcass

# Exclude child component bodies
tools/fusion-assembly bodies --component Carcass --no-children

Joint types reference

Type	Degrees of freedom	Use case
rigid	0	Fixed connections, glue joints
revolute	1 rotation	Hinges, pivots, doors
slider	1 translation	Drawer slides, linear motion
cylindrical	1 rotation + 1 translation	Pistons, telescoping
pin_slot	1 rotation + 1 translation (diff. axes)	Cam followers
planar	2 translation + 1 rotation	Flat sliding surfaces
ball	3 rotation	Ball joints, universal joints

Common patterns

Furniture with removable components

# Create component per part
tools/fusion-assembly create --name Top
tools/fusion-assembly create --name Legs
tools/fusion-assembly create --name Aprons

# Build bodies and move into components
tools/fusion-solid box --c1 0,0,0 --c2 800,400,25 --name TopSlab
tools/fusion-assembly move-body --body TopSlab --to Top

# Create as-built joints (parts stay in position)
tools/fusion-assembly as-built-joint --comp1 Top --comp2 Legs --type rigid
tools/fusion-assembly as-built-joint --comp1 Legs --comp2 Aprons --type rigid

Symmetric parts (duplicate + mirror)

# Build one leg
tools/fusion-assembly create --name FrontLeftLeg
tools/fusion-solid box --c1 0,0,0 --c2 38,38,700 --name Leg
tools/fusion-assembly move-body --body Leg --to FrontLeftLeg

# Duplicate for other legs
tools/fusion-assembly duplicate --component FrontLeftLeg --new-name FrontRightLeg
tools/fusion-assembly move --component FrontRightLeg --translate 762,0,0

Hide construction helpers

# Hide temporary geometry used during construction
tools/fusion-assembly hide-body --body _temp_construction
tools/fusion-assembly hide --component ConstructionHelpers

Decision guide

I want to...	Command
See the full assembly	context
Create a new part group	create --name X
Put a body in a component	move-body --body B --to C
Give a body a better name	rename-body --body B --new-name N
Hide clutter	hide --component C or hide-body --body B
Lock a part in place	ground --component C
Connect parts with a hinge	as-built-joint --comp1 A --comp2 B --type revolute
Fix parts together	as-built-joint --comp1 A --comp2 B --type rigid
Position a component	move --component C --translate x,y,z
Make a copy of a part	duplicate --component C