Assembly Hole Series for Fusion 360 — User Guide

Platform: Windows and macOS.

Assembly Hole Series makes the holes of bolted joints through several parts, from the assembled context in Autodesk Fusion. Choose the screw, how its head sits and how the joint ends; every size fills itself in from the mechanical standards. From a Hybrid parent design, select local components or supported directly linked source files. The linked workflow applies features to the part files, saves their changes and updates the parent references, so you do not have to recreate the same connection separately in each file. Fusion's own Insert Fastener places the screws, washers and nuts in the holes; the bolt list counts what to buy. Local connection recipes and shared Cut/Intersect operations complete the workflow.

New in 1.0.1

• Holes for the joint you choose. Pick the screw (socket head, low head, hex head or countersunk), whether its head sits on the surface or is sunk, and how the joint ends: a nut, a sunk nut, a captive nut, a tapped hole or nothing. See Bolted joints and standard sizes.
• Sizes from the standards: clearance holes to ISO 273, counterbores to DIN 974-1 and DIN 974-2, countersinks to DIN 74, tap drills to ISO 2306, and the depth of a tapped hole from the part's material (VDI 2230) with the drill overhang of DIN 76-1. They fill themselves in; open Standard sizes only to change one.
• Sunk nut: a DIN 974-2 counterbore at the far face takes the nut and its washer below the surface, with room for a socket wrench, and deep enough that the bolt's end stays inside the face.
• Export Bolt List: the screws at their standard lengths, the washers and nuts, with quantities, as CSV, a printable page or a PDF. See Export Bolt List.
• Fusion's Insert Fastener places the hardware: Auto-detect never drills a Fusion fastener, and a size change edits the holes where they are and re-sizes those fasteners.
• Mount to the holes a part already has. Pick the flat face of a motor, bearing block or rail as the hole centers: every round hole on it becomes a center, the size is read from its thread or diameter, the part keeps its holes and the screws go into its threads or through its holes. See Mount to existing holes.
• Adjustment slots through one part or the whole stack. See Adjustment slots.
• Hole chart per part: every hole in each part with its position in the part's own coordinates, drill, thread, tap drill, recess and depth, as CSV, a printable page or a PDF. See Hole chart per part.

Replace hole centers in Edit Assembly Feature lets you revise the complete position selection while retaining the managed connection. Linked edits preserve the existing source-file set and the original references of retained axes. Saved and replacement counts and coordinates help review the selection before OK.

Linked Hole Series creation and rebuilds check every hole before changing source files. Size and joint edits use the same standard sizes as Create, while preserving explicit clearance and nut-pocket settings when only the head changes.

Update All keeps unchanged managed features' revision records consistent when later managed operations update the same linked source body, avoiding false Changed audit results after reopening. A completed update with warnings reports success and keeps the warnings visible for review.

Batch change can filter connections by their current thread size, select the matching records together, and clear the selection. Connection labels show the size, treatments and local or linked-file scope so you can review a larger assembly before changing it. The Connection Library and Batch Change command and the Export Bolt List command now have distinct icons so they are easier to find. Local edits and updates reduce repeated rebuilding of later features in the timeline.

Quick start

1. Open a Hybrid Fusion Design with Capture Design History enabled.
2. In the Design workspace, open the Solid tab and find the Hole Series panel beside Assemble. Hole Series and Assembly Cut appear directly on the ribbon. Open the panel dropdown for Edit Assembly Feature, Update All, Connection Library and Batch Change, Audit Assembly, Export Bolt List, and About Assembly Hole Series.
3. To reopen this guide from Fusion, choose About Assembly Hole Series, then Open Help.
4. Create a Hole Series, place the screws with Fusion's Insert Fastener if you want them in the model, and use Fusion's Get Latest or update-reference command when linked source definitions changed before running Update All.
5. Run Audit before releasing a drawing or manufacturing package.

Audit conservatively marks a changed source revision as Changed. Fusion can also change that revision after Compute All or display changes; the notice does not prove that the shape changed. Run Update All to recheck the stored inputs and rebuild the managed objects. During its own source updates, Assembly Hole Series keeps unchanged managed features' revision records consistent with subsequent managed operations on the same part. This does not dismiss actual geometry changes or unresolved references. External file changes still require Fusion's Get Latest before Update All.

Create and edit holes across linked Fusion files

Creation, Edit, Update and batch changes require a Hybrid parent. A direct command in a Part or Assembly design stops before changing geometry. Open or create a Hybrid parent and place your parts there; a directly linked Part source can participate in a supported Hole Series or Assembly Cut job. No design intent is converted automatically. Audit and Export Bolt List are read-only.

1. Use a saved Hybrid parent with Capture Design History. Finish open commands and use Fusion's Get Latest or update-reference command for every affected reference. Unsaved changes in the parent are fine: the dialog notes them and OK saves them first, as a new version. A linked part changed in its own tab or with Edit In Place must be saved first; the dialog names it.
2. Run Hole Series in the parent. Select the centers, direction and target bodies, then choose the thread size and the joint.
3. Review the selected targets and apply the command. The linked job checks the supported file context before writing sources, then processes each unique affected source sequentially.
4. When the job has updated the parent references, use Edit Assembly Feature to change supported settings on that managed connection. The saved linked source-file set remains fixed; adding or removing a source requires Delete and Create.
5. If geometry or component placement changes, make external references current first, then use Update All and review Audit Assembly. Update All does not fetch external updates automatically.

Linked parts inside linked subassemblies

A target body can sit in a part that is linked inside a linked subassembly, up to 2 link levels below the parent: a part linked straight into a linked subassembly. Select it in the parent as usual. The dialog's note lists each linked subassembly with the nested files under it. The job then saves the files bottom-up: first the deepest file with the new feature, then each linked subassembly with its link updated to that new version, and last the parent. The parent assembly stays open; the subassembly and the part are opened and saved in the background, without tabs. A target three or more link levels down is refused before any file is edited: in tests Fusion refused to save a file of such a chain.

• A nested file must be reached through one linked subassembly only. If the same part is also linked directly in the parent or inside another subassembly, the job is refused, because that copy would stay on the old version. Copies inside the same subassembly follow All instances.
• Close every linked subassembly that will be saved before you run the command; Assembly Hole Series must save a new version of it. The part that holds the target may stay open when it has no unsaved changes. Close any other open design that also uses the nested part.
• Every linked subassembly that is saved must be a Hybrid design. Read-only, still processing, configured or derived subassemblies and nested parts are refused.
• Every link on the way must use the latest version. If a subassembly uses an older version of its part, open the subassembly, update its references and save it, then update the parent and try again.
• Edit keeps the nested file set fixed. Moving targets into or out of a nested part requires Delete and Create.

Source saves are real Autodesk cloud versions. A later failure cannot roll them all back as one transaction: the job retains committed checkpoints and reports the partial result. Review that report before retrying; see Edit, Update All, and Audit and Current limitations.

Hole Series

1. Select one or more centers: circular edges, cylindrical faces, vertices, sketch points, construction points, or the flat face of a part that already has round holes (see Mount to existing holes).
2. For point centers, optionally select a planar face, linear edge, or construction axis to define direction.
3. Select solid target bodies, or use automatic target detection.
4. Choose Thread size (metric or UNC/UNF), the Clearance fit, the Screw, where its Head sits and the End of the joint.

The hole sizes fill themselves in from the standards for these choices (see Bolted joints and standard sizes). The Standard sizes group shows them and stays closed unless a size has to be changed. The add-in measures actual axis/body intersections, so oblique parts use material thickness at the hole rather than a bounding-box estimate.

A Tapped end in a part deeper than its thread is a blind tapped hole. The shortest standard screw that reaches the minimum engagement for the Tapped part material sets the thread depth, and the hole is drilled the DIN 76-1 overhang deeper: M6 under a 10 mm part in S235 takes an M6 × 20 screw, 10 mm of thread, drilled 15.1 mm. A thinner part is tapped through, with a warning when it holds less thread than the minimum engagement. A Dowel H7 end in a deep part is a blind reamed hole 2 d + 4 mm deep. With Auto-detect on, a tapped or dowel joint ends in the first part after the head part that is deep enough for that hole: a cover lying on an end plate is not drilled through the plate. To run a joint through such a part, turn Auto-detect off and select the bodies. The hole chart lists the thread and drill depths of blind holes.

Tapped holes use Fusion's native thread data and the selected metric or Unified thread designation. Fine metric pitches (M8x1 to M24x2) are listed after their coarse size and tap with that exact pitch. Enable modeled hole threads only when the detailed geometry is needed. Metric countersinks are 90°; inch countersinks are 82° at the flat head's theoretical sharp diameter, so an ASME B18.3 flat head sits flush.

Dowel H7 in Clearance fit makes reamed holes at the pin's nominal diameter for ISO 8734 dowel pins (2 to 20 mm). It takes the head on the surface and Clearance only; the bolt list counts a pin across the joint at each hole. Shoulder drills the parts before the last at the nominal shoulder diameter of an ISO 7379 shoulder screw and taps the last part; choose the hole tolerance for the fit you need.

Mount to existing holes

To bolt a bought part (a motor flange, a bearing block, a linear rail) to your parts, pick the face of that part which touches them as the hole centers. Every round hole on the face becomes a center. The dialog reads the size from a Fusion thread on the hole, or else from its diameter, sets Thread size to it and says how it read it.

• Keep mounting part (on by default) leaves that part as it is. Only the other parts are drilled, and only those beyond the picked face: a rail lying between a base and a carriage is bolted to the base, never through to the carriage.
• A threaded part (a motor with M5 threads) gets the screws from the other side: the other parts receive clearance holes, the end of the joint is Clearance only and the screws end in the part's own threads; the bolt list counts them.
• A part with clearance holes (a bearing block) takes the screw heads in its own counterbores or countersinks: the drilled parts get plain clearance holes on that side, and you choose how the joint ends in them (Tapped, or a Nut). The screws start on the floor of the part's counterbores (a countersunk head at its far face), so a tapped end is threaded and the bolt list's screws are sized with that part's thickness.

Holes in that part starts with how the holes were read, Threads or Clearance holes. Correct it when the reading is wrong, for example a rail whose 6 mm holes for M5 screws read as M6 threads, and choose the size. The kept part stays out of the series on Edit and Update All as well. When no size matches the hole diameter, choose the size yourself.

Adjustment slots

Set Slot travel above zero to make slots instead of round holes: the travel is how far the screw can move, centre to centre, and the slot is as wide as the hole diameter. Slot in chooses the first part (under the screw head), the last part or all parts; the others keep round holes. The slot runs along the X axis unless you pick a straight edge, sketch line or construction axis as Slot direction. Put a washer on each slotted side: turn on Washer under head or Washer under nut so the bolt list counts it.

A slotted part takes the head on the surface and no thread or nut recess, so a part that is tapped or holds a sunk or captive nut keeps a round hole. Edit can change the travel and which parts are slotted. Slots are made in local components; a linked-file series cannot have slots yet.

A target the hole enters on a curved or steeply tilted face, such as the wall of a round tube or bar, has no flat face square to the hole axis for Fusion's Hole feature. Assembly Hole Series drills it with a plain cut of the hole diameter along the axis, through that whole target. Such a target takes the head on the surface and a Nut or Clearance only end: a sunk or countersunk head, a Tapped end, a sunk or captive nut, or a tail insert there is refused before any file is changed. The same applies when the only flat face is on the far side, such as a half-round rail drilled through its round side: a sunk head or an insert needs a flat face where the hole enters the target, and a sunk or captive nut needs one where the hole leaves the last target.

Targets may belong to the current assembly or to directly linked Fusion source files. For linked targets, make every affected reference current first; unsaved changes in the parent are saved first, as a new version, when you press OK. One command then preflights every affected CAD file, edits and saves each unique source once, updates the exact parent references and, on success, saves one final parent version. You do not have to open each part and recreate its hole manually.

Bolted joints and standard sizes

Hole Series makes the holes; Fusion's Insert Fastener places the screws, washers and nuts in them, and Export Bolt List counts what to buy. The joint choices set every size below; the Standard sizes group shows them and keeps a size you change.

The standards behind the sizes

For M8: a sunk socket head takes a counterbore 15 mm wide and 8.6 mm deep; a sunk hex head with its washer 24 × 7.3 mm; a sunk nut with its washer 24 mm wide and at least 8.8 mm deep. A tapped M8 end needs 10.5 mm of thread in S235 and 13.7 mm in aluminium.

A sunk nut is there so that nothing stands out of the far face. Its counterbore is made deeper than the DIN 974-2 depth when that keeps the bolt's end inside the face: the bolt is the longest standard length that does not stand out and still reaches two pitches past the nut. M8 through 12 + 20 mm: M8 × 30 and a counterbore 12.9 mm deep, instead of M8 × 35 standing 3 mm out. The last part keeps at least half the thread diameter of material over the counterbore; a thinner part keeps the DIN depth, and the result says how far the bolt's end stands out.

Refused before OK: a counterbore deeper than the part the head sits in, which Fusion cannot make; a sunk nut or a sunk hex head in a size the DIN 974-2 table does not list (M2 to M3, M14, M18 and the inch sizes); and a countersunk screw in a size ISO 10642 does not make (M2, M2.5, M18, M24 and the fine pitches), which the bolt list could not name. Named in the result: a countersink or a sunk nut as deep as its part, and a part tapped through that holds less thread than the minimum engagement.

Inch holes follow the ASME tables: clearance holes ASME B18.2.8, socket heads sunk in the ASME B18.3 counterbores (1/4 inch: 7/16 inch wide, as deep as the head is high). M2 and M2.5 socket heads, which have no free DIN 974-1 row, keep the add-in's envelope: the head diameter plus 1 mm, 0.5 mm deeper than the head. The tables and their sources are in Hole dimensions and sources.

Export Bolt List

Open the Hole Series panel dropdown and choose Export Bolt List, keep Report on Bolt list, select CSV (spreadsheet), the default, HTML (printable A4) or PDF (A4, ready to print), then choose a local filename with the matching extension. The list comes from the Hole Series records: for each hole, the screw its joint takes at the shortest standard length for the parts it measured, its washers and its nut, added up across the design. A through bolt is long enough for the parts, the nut washer, the nut and two pitches past it; a sunk nut's bolt ends inside the far face when the part allows (see above). A tapped screw reaches the minimum engagement. Dowel H7 holes list ISO 8734 pins and Shoulder holes ISO 7379 shoulder screws. A series with Clearance only lists nothing and is named in a note.

Each row names the part to order: the standard, thread and length of a screw (ISO 4762 M6 × 25), the nominal size of a washer (ISO 7089 6) and the thread of a nut (ISO 4032 M6), with a link that searches the web for it. A linked-file Hole Series counts once, in the assembly that made it. The designation never includes a grade, material or finish; your company catalog can add one per kind of hardware, and point the links at your supplier's search (see Local data).

CSV keeps the established 14 columns in their order and adds designation and search_url after them. The self-contained HTML report opens offline and presents numbered items, quantities, designations, supplier and mapping status, project name and export date. Use your browser's Print command with A4 portrait paper to print it. The PDF is the same report laid out on A4 pages, ready to print or send: the table head repeats on each page, the pages are numbered and the search links can be clicked. The report does not invent material, grade, price or supplier information.

Every format rechecks the current design after the Save dialog and replace only the chosen file after a complete write. Canceling creates no file, and a failed write preserves the previous output. Supplier fields come from the optional parts section of your company catalog, keyed by the list's part number; verify every supplier mapping and specification. See Bolt list and company catalog for the format.

Hole chart per part

In Export Bolt List, set Report to Hole chart per part and choose CSV, HTML or PDF. The chart lists, for every part a Hole Series drilled, each hole's entry point in that part's own component coordinates (X, Y, Z in mm) and its axis, the feature (diameter, thread, slot, Dowel H7), the tap drill, a counterbore or countersink, a nut pocket and the depth. A part used several times is charted once, because its holes belong to its definition. Holes made by other features are not included, and a series whose parts cannot be read is listed as a note to rebuild.

Assembly Cut / Intersect

Select one solid body as the tool and one or more target bodies. The source tool remains unchanged. Each unique native target definition receives correctly transformed snapshot geometry and one native Combine feature; repeated occurrences share that definition.

Directly linked targets use the same one-action source-file handoff as Hole Series. Assembly Hole Series snapshots the parent cutter in assembly-world coordinates, applies the correctly transformed cut inside each source while the parent stays open, then updates the parent. Create, Edit, Update All, and Delete preserve the source/coordinator relationship.

Edit, Update All, and Audit

A part moved with Move and Capture Position gets its new place at the end of the timeline. Update All rebuilds a Hole Series that reads a moved part after the move, so its holes follow the part. Hole centers follow a part when they belong to it: its own hole edges or vertices, or sketch points in a sketch inside that part's component. A sketch in the assembly stays where it was drawn.

Edit can change supported treatments, dimensions, operations, and the Assembly Cut cutter. Hole Series also offers the complete position-selection replacement described below. A distributed object's linked source-file set is fixed; delete and recreate the object when parts must be added or removed.

Replace hole centers during Edit

1. Open Edit Assembly Feature and select the managed Hole Series.
2. Leave Replace hole centers off to keep its saved positions, or turn it on to select a replacement set.
3. Select the complete desired set, including positions you want to retain. This replaces the set; it does not merely append new holes. Use the same supported point, circular-edge or cylindrical-face references as Create. Local connections can be moved or have positions added or removed this way.
4. For applicable point selections, use the direction reference and flip controls as needed. Review the saved and replacement counts and coordinates. This is selection feedback; the dialog does not build temporary cut solids. Geometry stays unchanged until OK.
5. Click OK after checking the complete set. Linked edits validate their source relationships before any source changes are written.

Checks before linked source changes

Linked Hole Series Create and rebuild check every hole a target cannot take before handing off to source-file edits, and stop before source changes or cloud saves. A later failure is still a partial linked job with retained cloud checkpoints; these checks do not create an all-file rollback.

The linked Hole Series editor exposes the hole size, fit, the joint and its standard sizes. Size and joint changes use Create's standard sizes; changing only the head retains explicit clearance and nut-pocket dimensions. An inch countersink is 82°.

Local rebuild is transactional: if replacement geometry fails, Assembly Hole Series attempts to restore the previous local specification and geometry. Linked-file work is journaled rather than falsely presented as one atomic cloud transaction. Every affected CAD file is preflighted before the first source-model or cloud write. If a later file fails, Assembly Hole Series does not erase or automatically compensate a source version already saved to Autodesk cloud. It stops, preserves all committed checkpoints, and reports the partial job for diagnosis instead of applying a saved source version twice.

A linked job that stops before it saves any file ends there: the message says No file was changed, the parent assembly is open as before and you can run the command again once the reported problem is fixed. When a job stopped after saving some files and cannot be resumed, Assembly Hole Series blocks further changes and Update All lists each file the job saved (with its version) and each file it did not. Check those files, then tick Release the lock and click Release Lock: the job is archived as released by you. Releasing never resumes the job and never changes a file.

Update All processes distributed objects sequentially. Each successful distributed object creates one new version of every unique affected source and one new parent version; a later local rebuild stage can save one additional parent version. Update All does not run Get Latest or pull external source-file changes automatically: first make every affected parent reference current with Fusion's Get Latest or update-reference command. Unsaved changes in the parent, such as positions Fusion asks to capture when the command starts, are saved first as a new version; the final message names that save.

Each command shows one message: its result. A linked-file job asks nothing before it runs; the dialog lists the files OK edits and saves, and the final message names every file it saved.

Licensing and activation

The Autodesk Marketplace build checks the signed-in Autodesk account for an entitlement. If no Marketplace entitlement is present, the same background check can recognize a VanThanBK activation code or manual grant. The free trial lasts 3 days and begins only when you first use a protected Assembly Hole Series command while signed in and online. Merely starting Fusion or opening About Assembly Hole Series does not consume the trial. Open that command to see status, enter a code, or request a refresh. Network checks never run on Fusion's modeling thread.

A signed offline cache is scoped to this product, App ID, and Autodesk user. It is stored under the current user's VanThanBK application-data folder. The unlocked Autodesk review build performs no identity, cache, or licensing network access.

Connection recipes and selected size changes

In Hole Series, choose a Connection recipe, then select fresh centers and target bodies. Twelve supplied recipes cover metric fixtures, through bolts, a captive nut, a flush panel, UNC/UNF examples and a PEM mounting hole; a recipe fills in the joint and its sizes. Recipe dimensions remain editable design starting points, not load-rated joints.

Open Connection Library and Batch Change from the Hole Series panel menu. Choose Save connection recipe, select one managed Hole Series, and enter a unique name. Save/apply retains the hole and joint settings without storing model references. Import recipes and Export recipes exchange a validated JSON library.

For Batch change size, use Current size to show all sizes or one size used in the design. The Managed connections list identifies each connection by its ID, name, size, treatments and local or linked-file scope. Check individual rows or use Select matching to select the displayed records; Clear selection unchecks them. Changing the current-size filter or action clears the previous selection, so hidden records are never changed. Choose New size and review the selected, applicable and skipped counts with each skip reason. Changing the new size keeps the selection and refreshes the preview. Geometry changes only after you press OK.

Standard dimensions follow the size; custom dimensions remain explicit overrides. Incompatible overrides and distributed connections are skipped with a reason. Linked-file changes continue to use Edit Assembly Feature.

A failed dependent update restores the previous connection. If restoration fails, the batch stops and keeps a snapshot in the design; choose Recover interrupted change. Other modeling commands block while recovery is pending. Save/recovery of the Fusion document controls persistence of unsaved work. Downstream user-created face references can still require repair after replacement geometry.

UNC/UNF holes and supplier data

Fourteen UNC/UNF combinations cover #6, #8, #10, 1/4, 5/16, 3/8 and 1/2 inch. Tapped holes use the exact native Fusion thread designation and internal 2B class. Inch clearance holes are the close, normal and loose holes of ASME B18.2.8, and tapped holes are drilled with the usual 75 % thread drills. Verify the purchased thread, dimensions, grade, finish and load requirements.

Use Map supplier SKU with a part number from the bolt list (CSV) to add purchasing metadata. Import company catalogue validates before replacing your personal override file; Export company catalogue saves the effective file with its mappings.

Tail insert makes the hole in the last local target the mounting hole of a supplier insert: PEM self-clinching nuts (types S/SS steel and CLS/CLSS stainless, M2.5 to M8, every shank code) and Böllhoff RIVKLE blind rivet nuts (steel, flat head, plain round body, open end, M3 to M14, one entry per grip range, for example RIVKLE-M4-0.5-2) and PEM IUTB heat-set inserts for plastics (straight wall, M2 to M6, short and long; IUTA aluminium and IUTC stainless take the same hole). Choosing one sets its thread size, the head on the surface and the end of the joint to Clearance only. The hole is made at the supplier's diameter; the sheet thickness (for a rivet nut, its grip range) and a drilling direction normal to the sheet are checked. The note under the list gives the hole tolerance and, where the supplier prints them, the edge distance and sheet hardness: verify those and the supplier's installation process. A heat-set insert's hole is blind, at the supplier's minimum depth, in a part at least that thick; the clearance hole in the parts before it must stay smaller than the insert (PEM: the insert, not the plastic, carries the load), and PEM recommends a boss of twice the insert diameter. Insert deformation, retention strength and insert BOM quantities are not modeled.

See Connection library and supplier sources for detailed scope, provenance and JSON workflow. Manufacturer references: the PEM self-clinching nut catalogue (each part's page), the Böllhoff RIVKLE catalogue, page 22, and the PEM SI bulletin (pages 6, 25 and 26).

For the hole sizes and their sources, see Hole dimensions and sources.

Local data, privacy, and support

Object definitions are stored in the Fusion document as versioned attributes. Personal settings and the optional company catalog are stored under VanThanBK/AssemblyHoleSeries in the current user's application-data folder. Linked workflows save CAD versions through Autodesk Fusion cloud data. No CAD geometry is sent to VanThanBK or its licensing service.

On Windows, the folder is %APPDATA%\VanThanBK\AssemblyHoleSeries; on macOS, ~/Library/Application Support/VanThanBK/AssemblyHoleSeries. Edit metric_fasteners.json there to add supplier mappings and the keys below. Include only the keys you want to set; the file is read again on the next export.

Two optional keys shape the bolt list. grades adds a grade to the designations of one kind of hardware, for example {"socket": "12.9", "hex": "8.8", "nut": "8", "washer": "200 HV"} (kinds: socket, low, hex, countersunk, shoulder, washer, nut, pin). search_url is an https address with one {query} where the designation goes, so the links search your supplier's site instead of the web.

Privacy policy: vanthanbk.com/privacy
Product and purchase information: Assembly Hole Series
Offline guide: Assembly Hole Series Help
Support: support@vanthanbk.com (English or Vietnamese).

Current limitations

• Create, Edit, Update and batch changes require a Hybrid parent. Document types are not converted automatically.
• A feature in a shared component definition appears in every occurrence of that definition.
• Direct linked source files and parts linked inside linked subassemblies are supported, up to two link levels (a part linked straight into a linked subassembly). A nested part that is reached through more than one subassembly, or that is also linked directly in the parent, is refused. Linked subassemblies that are saved must be Hybrid designs, closed before the job, and use the latest version of every nested part.
• Derived, configured, read-only and stale source targets are unsupported. Make affected references current before a linked operation.
• Linked-file Edit keeps the affected source-file set fixed. Adding or removing a source requires Delete and Create. Recipes and selected batch size changes are limited to local managed connections.
• Replace hole centers uses a complete replacement selection. Retained linked axes keep their original point and direction references even if a different reference at that same axis is selected. The dialog reports selection counts and coordinates without temporary cut-solid geometry.
• Linked jobs save source files sequentially. Cloud versions already committed remain if a later stage fails; there is no all-file rollback. Review the retained checkpoint journal for a partial job.
• Run Assembly Hole Series mutation commands from only one Fusion process for the current user at a time. Its recovery journal is shared per user; Audit Assembly is read-only.
• Hole Series and Assembly Cut require Capture Design History.
• Entity tokens can change after a rebuild. Assembly Hole Series stores occurrence/component context as well, but a deleted source reference is rejected instead of rebuilding at an unsafe cached world coordinate. Linked sources must match the captured file, version and geometry; references are not recovered by guessing from body names.
• A size change (diameter, head size, depth, thread) and a move (new hole centres with the same number of holes, or Update All after a part moved) edit the hole features where they are, also in linked part files, so faces and edges that joints and later Fusion features use are kept and follow the holes. A change that makes the holes again (another head or tail type, Flip direction, slots, nut pockets, another number of holes, holes that now cross other parts) can need those faces or edges selected again; Edit and Update place replacement geometry near its previous timeline position. A change the parts cannot take (a counterbore deeper than its part) is refused before anything changes. In linked part files a moved centre must clear the old hole: by more than half the counterbore, countersink or sunk-nut recess diameter, otherwise by more than the hole radius. The assembly reads the parts through the hole the series made there, so a smaller move is refused.
• Fusion's own fasteners (Insert Fastener) can sit in the holes; Auto Targets never takes them for parts to drill. After a size change they keep their place and are re-sized to the new holes, as Fusion's Auto Update Size does; Fusion fetches each new size from its library, up to about 15 seconds per fastener. When the holes move they move with them. In one design, when the holes of several parts move at once, Fusion can show a warning on the joint of a fastener placed on a hole of the second or a later part (a nut under the stack); the fastener is moved with its hole, and the result names it so its joint's hole edge can be picked again. When the holes are made again the fasteners lose the hole edges they were placed on: Fusion keeps them where they were, at the old size, and the result names them so they can be placed again.
• Slots are made in local components only. Their direction is kept in assembly coordinates; pick it again after rotating the slotted part.
• A mounting face reads round holes only. A size read from a diameter is a best match to the clearance, tap drill or nominal sizes; check it before OK.
• No sourced data: a sunk nut or a sunk hex head in M2 to M3, M14, M18 or an inch size (no DIN 974-2 row), a countersunk screw in M2, M2.5, M18, M24 or a fine pitch (no ISO 10642 screw), DIN 7984 low heads in inch sizes, dowel pins above 20 mm. These are refused instead of guessed; M2 and M2.5 socket counterbores keep the add-in's envelope.
• The bolt list counts the hardware the Hole Series are made for, not the fasteners placed with Insert Fastener, and never a grade or material the model does not know.

Development roadmap

The next work focuses on editing connections across linked files. These items are planned or under development; they are not available-feature claims or release-date commitments.

• Recipes and batch changes for linked connections: extend reusable recipes and selected size changes to distributed connections while preserving source coordination and recovery information.
• Configured and derived parts: investigate configured and derived targets, including shared definitions and update order. (Parts in linked subassemblies are already supported; see Linked parts inside linked subassemblies.)