Versions, Milestones and Lifecycle States

Overview#

Every save in Fusion is recorded in the cloud. What those records are called depends on your hub, and this is the most common source of confusion:

Autodesk's wording: "What used to be called milestones in Fusion are now versions, and what used to be called versions are now changes." This page uses change and version in the collaborative-editing sense and calls out the milestone model where it differs. (Fusion Manage's key-concepts page still describes a version per save for hubs without collaborative editing, so check the icon next to your hub name before you rely on either vocabulary.)

A lifecycle state and a revision are a further layer, and they belong to the Fusion Manage extension (a separately licensed product): a managed status such as Unreleased, Pre-Production, Production or Obsolete that says what a version means to the business. Fusion Manage revisions are not the same thing as education milestones. In plain Fusion the core tools are changes, versions (or milestones) and references; you can imitate parts of a release process with conventions, and this page shows how.

Where to find it#

• History dialog: in the Data Panel, expand the design details (arrow at the lower right of the thumbnail) and click History; or right-click a component in the Browser and choose History. It lists model saves, versions, revisions, property edits and more, and you can filter which types of entry you see. History is only available for Fusion designs and drawings.
• Create a version: File > Create version, or right-click a component in the Browser and choose Create version, or Create version inside the History dialog. In the web client, open the design, click ... at top right, and choose Create Version. Configured designs cannot be versioned, but you can version one of their configurations.
• Education: the Save dialog has a Milestone check box (not on the first save); the Data Panel version drop-down and right-click menu have Create Milestone; the web client has Create Milestone in the right-click menu, the pull-down list and the Overview page.
• Revision, lifecycle and State: the State field in the Properties panel and the revision icons, when Fusion Manage is in use.
• Uses, Used In and Drawings tabs in the expanded design details show a design's references, its parents and its drawings.

What a version actually is#

Autodesk's documentation describes the following, and no more:

• Every save of a modified design is recorded automatically as a time-stamped change in History. When you decide a state is a significant iteration, you create a version.
• Versions and history are available only for Fusion designs and drawings.
• Components and references. Versions let several people work on one project. One person can change a subcomponent while the parent keeps referencing the subcomponent's most recent version; when someone versions the subcomponent, the upper component references the new version. Regular saves are not reflected in the parent, only versions are. (In the education model, the same applies to milestones.)
• Historical versions. If you save changes to a versioned component without creating a new version, the existing versions are treated as historical versions. Versions also have priority on insertion: a versioned component is inserted even if there are more recent unversioned changes.
• Opening an older entry from History opens it in a separate tab with an Out-of-Date icon in the Application bar and a warning icon on the default component, because newer changes exist.

Note: not confirmed in Autodesk's documentation: that a version is an "immutable snapshot", the exact numbering scheme (V1, V2...) in collaborative-editing hubs, whether a version records the exact reference versions it used, and whether a single version can be deleted. Verify these in a test project rather than relying on them.

Save descriptions as a habit#

The Create Version dialog takes a description (the education Save dialog also takes a Version Description and optional Milestone name). Write it every time: "Increased wall to 3 mm for strength test", not "update". A team convention such as [type] summary makes the list scannable. (General guidance.)

Open an old version, Save As Latest and compare#

• Open an older entry: in the History dialog, hover the entry, click More, then Open. In the education model you open it from the version drop-down on the Data Panel thumbnail.
• Make an old state the latest again: Save As Latest. If you change an out-of-date design you cannot use Save; use File > Save As Latest instead. Open the older entry, then File > Save As Latest and confirm the warning. The saved design will not include changes made in the newer updates, and any quantity overrides in the bill of materials are removed and reset to design values. (In the education model this opens a Save As Latest dialog with a Version Description and a Milestone check box.) This is the documented replacement for what older material called "promote".
• Compare: the documentation describes Compare BOM to model for bills of materials; it does not describe a visual diff of two design versions. Compare through the timeline and parameters tables by opening both entries in separate tabs.
• Upload a new version of a file: for non-native files, use Upload New Version (or drag a file with the same name into the project). Fusion refuses an upload that contains no change.

Milestones: marked release points#

In the education model, a milestone is a version you flag with a name and description. In a collaborative editing hub, the equivalent idea is simply a version. Fusion Manage adds a third meaning: revision milestones mark the points where a design or drawing is assigned an item number or released to Pre-Production or Production, and are indicated with a special icon.

Facts from the documentation (education model):

• Milestones are not available for the first save of a design, and not for single-user personal storage accounts.
• You can edit a milestone's name and description (Data Panel version drop-down > More > Edit Milestone, or the web client ellipsis menu).
• When you insert a part that has a milestone, the parent only updates when that part gets a new milestone; normal saves do not trigger updates. Components using a milestone version show a flag icon.
• Older milestones become historical milestones (grey icon) when newer ones exist.
• In an assembly you can Choose Version (right-click the linked design in the Browser) and tick Milestones Only to pick a different milestone.

Note: not confirmed in Autodesk's documentation: that milestones are protected from deletion or retained longer than other versions, or any retention policy for old versions. Do not treat a milestone as a backup; see the backup page.

Whichever model you use, marking a version on a part does not version the assembly: versions are per file, so version the top-level assembly as well.

Step by step: cut a release version#

1. Open the top-level assembly and bring every out-of-date reference up to date with Get Latest (right-click the assembly node in the Browser; for sub-assemblies, open the sub-assembly, Get Latest, save, then return to the parent and Get Latest again).
2. Check interference, parameters and manufacturing outputs.
3. Save, then choose File > Create version and enter a description such as "Rev B release candidate". (Education: tick Milestone in the Save dialog and enter a milestone name.)
4. Export the deliverables (STEP, PDF drawing, BOM) from this exact state, and note the version in the file names.
5. Upload the deliverables to the 06_Release folder.
6. Notify stakeholders. Note that a Share Link follows the latest version, so send the exported files rather than relying on a link to freeze the state.
7. Keep going; the next saves are the working draft.

Revisions versus versions#

Engineers often conflate these.

In plain Fusion you can imitate revisions with version descriptions such as Rev A, Rev B. This works for small teams, but it has no enforced workflow, no required approval and no protection against two people both claiming "Rev C".

Lifecycle states#

Fusion Manage tracks the lifecycle of design and drawing items. The documented lifecycle states are:

Separately, the State field of a revision shows Working, Pending release (under review in a change order), Released (change order approved) or Superseded (a newer revision exists; the previous release is replaced and references are updated to the new revision once it is released). The State is determined by the product, not set by hand. In Fusion Manage, a design or drawing item must be attached to a change order to be revised and moved to Production or Obsolete; as the change order progresses through its approval workflow, its attached items move through the lifecycle. A set of change-management processes surrounds this: change requests, change orders, problem reports and change tasks. The sample state names used in older material ("In Work, In Review, Approved, Released") are not Fusion Manage's documented states.

Features of a proper lifecycle in general PDM terms (general guidance): transition rules by role, locking of released data, auditability, and where-used impact. In Fusion Manage the documented controls are the change-order workflow and its role-based approvals.

Warning: If you edit an item while it is in a change order at the Open or Work state, set a version (milestone in the Manage documentation) on the latest design before continuing the workflow. Autodesk notes that the latest version of the design open in Fusion is what is sent to the change order.

Imitating lifecycle in plain Fusion#

If you do not have Fusion Manage, adopt a convention (general guidance, not a Fusion feature):

1. Use version descriptions with a status prefix (REVIEW-3, REL-B).
2. Keep a 06_Release folder where only a "Release" group has Editor access.
3. Maintain a one-page release log (a spreadsheet or a document) listing item, revision, version, date, approver.
4. Use comments with @mention to request approval on the version and record the approval as a comment.
5. Treat the exported STEP/PDF set in 06_Release as the controlled copy, and name it with the revision.

It is weaker than a PLM (humans enforce it, not the system), but it is auditable if you stick to it.

Versions and references together#

References are what make versioning tricky in assemblies.

• A parent design references a subcomponent's most recent version. New saves of the subcomponent do not change the parent; a new version does.
• The parent shows an Out of date indicator when it contains historical versions of components, and you choose Get Latest (Browser context menu).
• Updating the assembly and saving creates a new change of the assembly pointing at newer components.
• The Uses tab lists the external components a design uses; Used In lists the designs that use it; Drawings lists drawings that reference it.
• Edit-in-place on an external component writes changes to that component, and Design Reservation (a team admin setting, not available for Personal use or single-member teams) reserves a design while someone has savable changes. Editing a Timeless reference does not reserve the root assembly; a Timeline-based context reference does.

Note: not confirmed in Autodesk's documentation: that opening an old assembly change loads the exact component versions it recorded. Test in a scratch project before you rely on it for a release rollback.

Tip: Before cutting the release version, check the Uses tab and Browser for any component flagged out of date, and decide each on purpose.

Versions, storage and retention#

The documentation mirrored for this guide does not state a version limit or retention period. As general guidance, every saved state uses storage, and an account whose license term expires keeps Basic Access (view projects and files including design history, comment, download if permitted). Combine versions with exports (see the backup page) rather than treating them as an archive.

Options reference#

Tips and pitfalls#

Tip: Use two description prefixes, REVIEW-n for discussions and REL-X for releases, so you can tell at a glance whether a version was ever official. (General convention.)

Warning: Save As Latest on an old state of a heavily referenced component changes what everyone gets on Get Latest. Announce it.

Warning: Do not version parts while forgetting the assembly. A part version does not version the assembly.

Warning: The documentation does not describe retention of old versions or deleting a single version. Do not rely on either.

Practice exercise#

Create a two-part assembly with the parts as external references. Save it, create a version of each part, then edit part A twice and save each time without creating a version. Observe whether the assembly shows an out-of-date marker (it should only react to new versions, not plain saves). Create a new version of part A, Get Latest in the assembly, save, and Create version on the assembly with the description "Rev A candidate". Export a STEP. Then open an older entry from History, change it, and try Save; observe that you must use Save As Latest. Expected result: you can explain which states a version marks, when a parent updates, and what Save As Latest keeps and drops.

Related#

• Branching and Merging (this section)
• Fusion Manage and PDM Concepts (this section)
• Reviews, Markups and Comments (this section)
• Getting started: Versioning and Milestones