Adobe Studio MCP

One free, open-source MCP server that lets Claude (or any MCP client) drive After Effects, Premiere Pro, Photoshop and Illustrator — together.

• 182 native tools — full Filmit-style motion-graphics & editing toolset (same tool names, ae_ / pr_ prefix), plus advanced extras: 3D cameras & lights, camera moves, text animators, expression rigs, markers, time-remap, MOGRT / Essential Graphics, render queue & Adobe Media Encoder, Premiere auto-reframe, scene-edit detection, speed, captions, XML/AAF export…

• +501 community tools from the 5 best Adobe MCPs on GitHub, bundled and served through the same connection (searchable catalog, or flat).

• Cross-app workflows — Dynamic Link (AE comps → Premiere, live), Premiere → AE, PSD → layered AE comp, Illustrator → AE shape layers, frames → Photoshop, PS/AI → Premiere, AE → MOGRT → Premiere, BridgeTalk messaging between apps.

• Launch / open / quit apps by command — no computer-use or clicking.

• Plugins & extensions — discover every installed effect plugin, CEP panel, UXP plugin, script, preset, MOGRT and action; use them (any third-party effect, any script, any menu command), read/edit their files, enable/disable, install new ones, and talk to open CEP panels live.

• Media — download from YouTube (and 1000+ sites) with yt-dlp as MP4 (edit-friendly H.264), MOV, MKV, WebM, MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC…; search & download Pixabay photos, illustrations, vectors and videos with the official API — and drop them straight into any app.

• Nothing is out of reach — raw ExtendScript (adobe_runScript), AE menu commands, Photoshop Action Manager (batchPlay-style JSON → every PS command and plugin filter), Illustrator menu commands & Live Effects, Premiere QE DOM.

Not affiliated with Adobe. Windows first-class, macOS supported.

Install (Windows)

Requirements: Node.js 18+, Git, Adobe apps (2022 or newer recommended).

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/UXxArunjay/adobe-studio-mcp.git
cd adobe-studio-mcp
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts\install-windows.ps1

The installer builds the server and the 5 bundled MCPs, installs the Adobe Studio MCP Hub (one hidden CEP extension that loads in all four apps), enables unsigned CEP extensions, turns on After Effects Allow Scripts to Write Files and Access Network, and adds adobe-studio to Claude Desktop (backup kept). Restart the Adobe apps and Claude Desktop, then ask: "adobe_status".

macOS: bash scripts/install-macos.sh.

Other MCP clients

{ "mcpServers": { "adobe-studio": { "command": "node", "args": ["C:/path/to/adobe-studio-mcp/dist/index.js"] } } }

Claude Code: claude mcp add adobe-studio -- node C:/path/to/adobe-studio-mcp/dist/index.js

Related MCP server: AfterEffectsMCP

How it connects

Every call is serialized per app, wrapped in an undo group (AE), Unicode-safe (Hindi etc.), and returns JSON or an image (*_exportFrame, ps_preview, xapp_preview) so the model can check its own work.

Configuration (env vars)

Tools

Full list with descriptions: docs/TOOLS.md. Highlights:

• Studio: adobe_status, adobe_launchApp, adobe_openFile, adobe_quitApp, adobe_runScript, adobe_batch, adobe_setup, adobe_config

• Plugins: adobe_listPlugins, adobe_pluginFile, adobe_togglePlugin, adobe_installPlugin, adobe_extensions, ae_listEffects, pr_findEffects, ae_applyPreset, ae_runScriptFile, ps_runAction, ai_runAction

• After Effects (72): comps, text/shape/solid/null/adjustment/camera/light layers, masks, effects, keyframes & easing, expressions & templates, track mattes, parenting, precompose, 3D, camera moves, markers, time remap, render queue, AME, MOGRT…

• Premiere Pro (39): project/sequence state, place/insert, razor, ripple range removal, trim, move, speed, Motion/Opacity/Volume keyframes, effects & transitions, MOGRT titles, captions, markers, tracks, export via AME, XML, auto-reframe, scene detection, pr_applyEditPlan

• Photoshop (22) / Illustrator (16): documents, layers, text, shapes, filters, adjustment layers, selections (Select Subject/Sky), Remove Background, content-aware fill, layer styles, smart objects, artboards, image trace, exports, Action Manager / menu commands

• Cross-app (16): xapp_aeCompToPremiere, xapp_premiereToAE, xapp_photoshopToAE, xapp_illustratorToAE, xapp_frameToPhotoshop, xapp_toPremiere, xapp_mogrtToPremiere, xapp_renderAEToPremiere, xapp_bridgeTalk, xapp_preview, media_youtubeDownload, media_info, media_tools, media_import, pixabay_search, pixabay_download

• Catalog: adobe_catalog_search → adobe_catalog_describe → adobe_catalog_call over ae1 / ae2 / pr1 / ps1 / ai1

Bundled community MCPs

All MIT — see THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md. Update them with node scripts/setup-upstream.mjs --pull.

Troubleshooting

• Run adobe_status first — it tells you, per app, whether it is installed, running and connected, and what to do next.

• Launch apps with adobe_launchApp. On Windows it starts them through the Windows shell, so their CEP engine (and the hub) loads even when the MCP runs inside a sandboxed agent.

• Photoshop 2026 without the Creative Cloud desktop service may not start CEP at all (PlugPlugSetup error in %TEMP%\CEP12-PHXS.log). Nothing to do — Photoshop is driven through COM automatically.

• After Effects frame export uses saveFrameToPng and falls back to a one-frame Render Queue render (needs ffmpeg, auto-installed). AE renders only while its window is not minimised and the PC is unlocked.

• Premiere built-in titles (Basic Title…) keep their text in a binary format that scripting can't edit in Premiere 2026. For editable text use an After Effects MOGRT (xapp_mogrtToPremiere) or pr_addCaptions.

• Premiere effect parameter names differ between versions (e.g. 2026 Gaussian Blur uses Amount); a wrong name returns the list of available parameters.

• YouTube errors: media_tools {"action":"update"} updates yt-dlp, which fixes most extraction problems.

Development

npm install && npm run build
npm test          # ES3 syntax check of all 150+ generated ExtendScript programs + MCP smoke test
npm run docs      # regenerate docs/TOOLS.md

Add a tool: jsxTool({ name, toolset, app, description, input: { …zod… }, jsx: String.raw\…ExtendScript body…` })insrc/tools/*.ts. Helpers available inside every script are in src/jsx/prelude.ts`.

Responsible use

Download only media you own or are licensed to use (your own uploads, Creative Commons, permission from the owner). Respect YouTube's Terms of Service and creators' copyright. Pixabay content is free under the Pixabay Content License; credit is appreciated.

License

MIT © 2026 Arunjay Patel.