The Definitive Guide to Autodesk Fusion on CachyOS (KDE Plasma 6 + Wayland)

Getting professional CAD software running on a Linux machine is a rite of passage. If you are reading this, you probably already know that installing Autodesk Fusion on rolling-release Linux distributions usually ends in disaster.

This is the final, definitive blueprint. It takes everything we’ve battled through—from the black screens to the Wayland window quirks—and packages it into a clean, start-to-finish guide. All personal directory names have been stripped and replaced with standard Linux ~/ (Home) paths so this works universally for anyone following along.

Credit & Inspiration: This guide builds upon the foundational work of the cryinkfly project and the community troubleshooting found in this Reddit discussion on r/cachyos.

The Core Problem: Why Standard Installations Fail

Running standard system Wine packages (like wine-staging) frequently breaks Fusion’s embedded Qt6 web browser. This results in either a black screen at the login prompt or instant int3 memory crashes. Furthermore, running heavy X11 Windows applications through XWayland on KDE Plasma 6 introduces severe "mouse stealing" and window focus bugs that make modeling impossible.

The Solution: We are going to bypass system Wine entirely. Instead, we will use the community-maintained cryinkfly installer script paired with a contained, gaming-optimized Proton-GE build.

Phase 1: Preparation & Proton

First, we need to install the Secure Boot utility the setup script expects to see, alongside a GUI tool to manage our custom Proton builds.

1. Install System Dependencies

Open your terminal and run the following pacman command to pull the required utilities:

sudo pacman -Syu mokutil protonup-qt

2. Download GE-Proton

Fusion relies heavily on specific media foundation codecs and Qt6 patches that are only found in GloriousEggroll's custom Proton builds.

• Launch ProtonUp-Qt from your application menu.
• Click the Add version button.
• Select GE-Proton from the dropdown and choose version GE-Proton10-32 (or the latest stable 10.x release).
• Click Install and close the application when the progress bar finishes.

Phase 2: The Clean Installation

To prevent the installer from losing its directory mapping and throwing terminal "Permission Denied" errors at the root of your drive, always run it from a dedicated setup folder in your home directory.

1. Create the Setup Workspace

mkdir -p ~/fusion-setup
cd ~/fusion-setup

2. Run the Cryinkfly Installer

This single string of commands downloads the latest setup script directly from Codeberg, makes it executable, and forces it to use the GE-Proton build we just downloaded.

curl -L https://codeberg.org/cryinkfly/Autodesk-Fusion-360-on-Linux/raw/branch/main/files/setup/autodesk_fusion_installer_x86-64.sh -o "autodesk_fusion_installer_x86-64.sh" && \
chmod +x autodesk_fusion_installer_x86-64.sh && \
./autodesk_fusion_installer_x86-64.sh --proton=GE-Proton10-32 --default

Let the script run. Depending on your hardware, this will take some time. It will download the Fusion client and set up a completely clean Proton prefix at ~/.autodesk_fusion.

Phase 3: The Login Redirect Fix

Fusion uses a custom URL protocol (adskidmgr://) to pass the authentication token from your web browser back to the local application. KDE Wayland will almost always block this hand-off natively.

1. Register the Link Handler

Run these commands to explicitly tell KDE how to route the Autodesk login link:

update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications
xdg-settings set default-url-scheme-handler adskidmgr adskidmgr-opener.desktop

Now, log in via your web browser and click "Go to product". If prompted by your browser, allow it to open xdg-open or adskidmgr-opener.

2. The Manual Fallback (If the browser refuses)

If absolutely nothing happens when you click "Go to product", the token is being blocked. Here is how to manually inject it:

1. Press F12 in your browser to open Developer Tools and navigate to the Network tab.
2. Click the "Go to product" button on the webpage again.
3. Look for a blocked network request starting with adskidmgr://. Right-click it and copy the full URL.
4. Open your terminal and manually inject the token using the script provided in your prefix:

bash ~/.autodesk_fusion/bin/adskidmgr-opener.sh "PASTE_YOUR_COPIED_URL_HERE"

Phase 4: Fixing Wayland Window & Mouse Bugs

Because Fusion is an X11 application being translated through XWayland, pop-up dialogs (like Save or Upload) can become entirely invisible or unclickable. Worse, the 3D rendering engine may "steal" your mouse cursor, trapping it inside the window.

1. Add Wayland Environment Variables

We need to tweak how XWayland handles input and rendering priority for this specific application.

Edit the launcher script using your preferred text editor (like Kate):

kate ~/.autodesk_fusion/bin/autodesk_fusion_launcher.sh

Add the variables near the top of the file, directly under the other export commands:

export WINE_X11_NO_DIRECT_INPUT=1
export WINE_RT_PRIO=1
export GDK_BACKEND=x11

Save and close the file.

2. Apply KDE Window Rules

We must force KDE to treat Fusion's pop-ups as normal windows so they can receive mouse clicks.

1. Open KDE System Settings -> Window Management -> Window Rules.
2. Click + Add New...
3. Description: Fusion 360 Fix
4. Window class: Exact Match fusion360.exe
5. Window types: Select Normal Window, Dialog Window, and Utility Window.
6. Click + Add Property and configure the following overrides:
   • Accept focus: Force -> Yes
   • Focus stealing prevention: Force -> None
7. Click Apply.

Phase 5: Known Limitations & Workarounds

Even with an optimal environment, XWayland on KDE Plasma 6 has a few quirks you need to commit to muscle memory.

• The "Untabbable" Save Button: Occasionally, the "Save" or "Upload" dialogs will open, but your mouse clicks will pass right through them, and the Tab key will not cycle to the correct buttons.
  • Workaround: Use the Windows keyboard shortcut Alt + S to trigger the Save action without needing the mouse.
• The "Mouse Stealing" Bug: Fusion tries to globally grab the mouse for 3D navigation. This can result in Fusion intercepting your clicks even when you are trying to use a browser on a second monitor. (Note: Manually dragging the Fusion window with Meta+Click does not resolve this specific grab state).
  • Workaround: Add a secondary KDE Window Rule specifically for Fusion 360 to "Keep Below Other Windows." This ensures you can interact with other applications on your screen. If you have a multi-monitor setup, you may need to drag Fusion's sub-windows to your second monitor to maintain a clean workflow.