The ObjectARX Wizard is the go-to starting point for AutoCAD C++ plug-in development — but it only works with Visual Studio 2022. When we tried to bring it forward to VS 2026, we hit a wall: VS 2026 dropped the VsWizardEngine the wizard depends on (MS Developer Community #11071541). Rather than working around the broken engine, we took it as an opportunity to try a different approach — meet acad-arx-wizard, an agentic skill for scaffolding ObjectARX C++ projects.
How It Works
You describe what you need in plain language. The agent asks only for what is missing, then runs a PowerShell script that generates your project files — same structure, property sheets, and boilerplate as the old wizard. The skill covers new ARX / DBX / CRX projects and add-on classes: Jig, Reactor, Custom Object, MFC dialogs, .NET Wrapper, COM Wrapper, and Dynamic Property.
Quick Start
Install the skill globally:
npx skills add autodesk-platform-services/skills --global --skill acad-arx-wizardThen open GitHub Copilot Chat or Claude Code and type something like:
Create an ObjectARX ARX application called MyPlugin with MFC shared support in C:\DevThe agent scaffolds the project, confirms the generated files, and tells you how to open it in Visual Studio 2026. Set ARXSDK to your ObjectARX 2027 SDK path, build for x64 / Debug, and you are ready to go.
For the full list of wizard types, example prompts, and troubleshooting, visit the autodesk-platform-services/skills repository on GitHub.
A Living Knowledge Bank: The Learnings Wiki
Beyond scaffolding, acad-arx-wizard is designed to be an AI companion throughout your entire ObjectARX development journey. As the skill encounters new discoveries — build quirks, SDK gotchas, workarounds — it captures them in a Learnings wiki, keeping it evergreen with every session.
Think of it as a living knowledge bank, shaped by real developer experiences rather than static documentation. And it is open to everyone — you can contribute your own findings directly via the GitHub API or by submitting a pull request to the public repository. Your AI assistant can even handle the PR for you.
Feedback
- General feedback: acadskillsfeedback@autodesk.com
- Bug reports: Open an issue at github.com/autodesk-platform-services/skills/issues with title starting [arxwizard] — e.g. “[arxwizard] – MFC shared scaffold fails on first build”.
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