AutoCAD Pilot: a free Claude Code skill that drives AutoCAD

Fixed

• A blockers.txt rule for a specific window kind (for example ^Drawing Recovery :: dialog :: report) now also keeps Drawing Recovery open when run, query or ui checks for it before attaching. Before, only any rules were honoured there.
• WinForms tooltips and other small WinForms windows are no longer counted as dialogs.

Changed

• The guard, esc, cancel, ui and the trial watcher now share one window helper, so they agree on what AutoCAD's main window is and what counts as a dialog.
• The window checks that run often (before every command, the ui dialog polling, the trial watcher) now look only at AutoCAD's visible windows, so they cost less.
• references/com-recipes.md: the status line also reads SECURELOAD and TRUSTEDPATHS.

New

• Blocker guard: acad-dev.sh blockers (or blockers.ps1) lists what stands in AutoCAD's way: its dialogs and message boxes (Win32, WinForms, WPF, modal or not) with title, class, texts and buttons, Autodesk licensing windows, other windows covering AutoCAD, the command line state (CMDACTIVE, CMDNAMES), and a screenshot. Exit 0 nothing blocks, 6 BLOCKED BY: ....
• run, wait and ui print that report themselves, with exit 6, when a command stalls, a wait times out or AutoCAD still rejects a call after the retry window. No more silent hangs, no Esc pressed into a dialog.
• run also notices a command that has been waiting at a prompt for 30 seconds (--stall s, 0 = off): it stops there, prints STUCK and exits 4; --esc also presses Esc.
• Allowlist (blockers.txt in the work folder, sample in samples/blockers.sample.txt): <title regex> :: <kind> :: close | press <button> | report. Windows you name are closed automatically (the stalled command carries on, wait waits again, a rejected SendCommand is sent once more) and the report says what was done. ACAD_DEV_BLOCKER_ACTIONS=0 turns the automatic part off.
• Never touched, whatever the allowlist says: AutoCAD security prompts (unsigned or untrusted files), licence, sign-in and trial screens, "save changes?" prompts, and other programs' windows.

Changed

• AutoCAD's "Drawing Recovery" window is now a built-in rule of the guard (it replaces clear-blockers.ps1, which is gone): closed automatically, nothing saved or deleted, and a blockers.txt line can keep it open. A Windows Update "restart to install" prompt is listed in the report and never touched.

Fixed

• Every wait now has a limit. A script run directly in an interactive session could wait for ever on a call stuck in AutoCAD; it is now ended at its timeout. wait with 0 seconds means the default (240), and ssh/scp calls give up on a dead connection.

New

• ui driver (acad-dev.sh ui 'step' 'step' ... or ui.ps1): for commands that open dialogs or alerts, which run can't get past. Steps such as command MYCMD, ribbon Insert/Create Block, dialog <title>, read, set Name=Test, press OK, alert, expect <regex>, closed, idle; each prints ok or FAIL with what it saw.
• samples/kit-dialog.lsp: a sample LISP command with a DCL dialog and an alert, to try the driver on.

New

• SDI mode (SDI 1, or 2/3 forced by an app): AutoCAD keeps exactly one drawing. q-newdoc replaces it with a blank one (and refuses if it has unsaved changes instead of hanging on a "Save changes?" dialog); q-closeall and q-discardall leave one blank drawing instead of closing the last one, which quits AutoCAD. MDI behaviour is unchanged. q-ents prints SDI.
• ACAD_DEV_COM_RETRY_SEC: how long to keep retrying a busy AutoCAD (default 30, 0 turns it off).

Fixed

• In SDI mode q-newdoc failed ("Method not available in SDI mode") and q-closeall / q-discardall quit AutoCAD.
• AutoCAD (AutoCAD Electrical especially) rejects COM calls while it is merely busy: partway through long batches and right after closing drawings. run, query and start -Trust now retry such calls for up to 30 seconds. Closing several drawings in one query and stop -DiscardChanges no longer fail on AutoCAD Electrical.

New

• Start AutoCAD verticals on purpose: acad-dev.sh start --product ACADE --profile '<<ACADE>>' starts AutoCAD Electrical (also --exe, or ACAD_DEV_PRODUCT / ACAD_DEV_PROFILE / ACAD_DEV_EXE). In remote mode these are now read where Claude Code runs and passed to the Windows box.
• Drawing Recovery windows left after a crash are closed before a run attaches to AutoCAD, and a failed attach is retried and explained in words ("AutoCAD is not running", or what is blocking it).
• harden-automation-vm.ps1 (opt-in, for a VM you own): turns off automatic Windows Update installs and restarts so they don't interrupt unattended runs. It records the previous values so you can undo it.

Fixed

• ACAD_DEV_PRODUCT / ACAD_DEV_EXE set beside Claude Code were ignored in remote mode.
• Exit codes were lost when the Windows box's SSH shell is PowerShell (e.g. stop refusing because of unsaved drawings reported success).
• esc couldn't find the AutoCAD window under AutoCAD Electrical, and counted a floating palette as AutoCAD being in front.
• The optional trial watcher could close a vertical's (e.g. AutoCAD Electrical's) main window.
• With several drawings open, run showed another drawing's command log.