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README.md
# adobe-mcp

MCP servers for Adobe applications. Install one application's server on its
own, or the suite: one server for every application, with tools that work
across them.

The InDesign server was published as `indesign-mcp-server` up to 2.3.0. It is
now `adobe-mcp-indesign`, with the same tools; replace the package name in your
client configuration.

| Package | What it drives | npm |
|---|---|---|
| [adobe-mcp-indesign](packages/indesign) | Adobe InDesign: documents, pages, text, styles, tables, books, PDF and EPUB export (423 tools) | [`adobe-mcp-indesign`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/adobe-mcp-indesign) |
| [adobe-mcp-illustrator](packages/illustrator) | Adobe Illustrator: documents, artboards, layers, shapes and paths, typography, colour and swatches, effects and 3D, symbols, patterns, Image Trace, images and links, variables and data sets, actions, export, prepress and printing (308 tools) | `adobe-mcp-illustrator` |
| [adobe-mcp-photoshop](packages/photoshop) | Adobe Photoshop: documents and formats, image and canvas, layers, masks, smart objects and layer styles, selections and channels, adjustments and fill layers, filters, painting and retouching, type and paths, video timeline, actions and batch, artboards, export, printing and preferences (205 tools) | `adobe-mcp-photoshop` |
| [adobe-mcp-aftereffects](packages/aftereffects) | Adobe After Effects: projects and footage, compositions, layers and time, keyframes and expressions, every effect and its controls, text animators, masks and shape layers, paint and roto, 3D, tracking, colour, render queue and Essential Graphics (164 tools) | `adobe-mcp-aftereffects` |
| [adobe-mcp-premiere](packages/premiere) | Adobe Premiere Pro: projects and bins, sequences, timeline edits, markers, effects, keyframes and transitions, transcripts, metadata and export, through a UXP plugin (96 tools; not yet tested against Premiere Pro) | `adobe-mcp-premiere` |
| [adobe-mcp-suite](packages/suite) | InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects and Premiere Pro in one server, plus cross-application tools: Illustrator artwork into InDesign layouts, swatches with exact values | `adobe-mcp-suite` |
| [adobe-mcp-core](packages/core) | The shared foundation: script escaping, the script runner, the server shell and the static script audit | `adobe-mcp-core` |

Each server runs on the machine where the Adobe application is installed and
talks to it through ExtendScript, the scripting interface the applications ship
with. Premiere Pro has no outside scripting route, so its server talks to a
UXP plugin inside Premiere Pro instead. macOS and Windows are supported.

## Install one application

Claude Code:

```bash
claude mcp add indesign -- npx -y adobe-mcp-indesign
```

```bash
claude mcp add illustrator -- npx -y adobe-mcp-illustrator
```

Any client that reads an `mcpServers` block:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "indesign": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "adobe-mcp-indesign"] },
    "illustrator": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "adobe-mcp-illustrator"] }
  }
}
```

## Install everything

```bash
claude mcp add adobe -- npx -y adobe-mcp-suite
```

The suite offers every application's tools, prefixed with the application
(`indesign_…`, `illustrator_…`), and the cross-application tools. Load only some
applications with `--apps indesign` or `ADOBE_MCP_APPS`.

Each package's README covers its tools, conventions and configuration.

## How the repository is organised

```
packages/
  core/          adobe-mcp-core           shared by every server
  indesign/      adobe-mcp-indesign
  illustrator/   adobe-mcp-illustrator
  photoshop/     adobe-mcp-photoshop
  aftereffects/  adobe-mcp-aftereffects
  premiere/      adobe-mcp-premiere       with its UXP plugin in uxp/plugin
  suite/         adobe-mcp-suite          every application in one server
```

The servers share their infrastructure through `adobe-mcp-core`, so a fix to
escaping, path checks, result handling or the script runner reaches every
server. What differs between applications stays in each package: its tools,
its instructions, and how the application is told to run a script. Each
application package exports a module (its tools, handlers, instructions and
script runner); its own server and the suite are both built from it, so a tool
is written once.

## Development

```bash
npm install      # installs every package and links them together
npm run check    # syntax check, every package
npm test         # every package's tests, including each server's static script audit
```

Run one package's tests with `npm test -w packages/illustrator`. The static
audits run every tool against a stubbed application and check each generated
script against the application's scripting object model; they do not need
the applications installed.

See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for releasing and for each package's guide,
and [docs/handbook/](docs/handbook/README.md) for the full handbook: architecture, per-application
rules for writing tools, how work is planned from the capability atlas and landed,
current status, and lessons learned.

## Licence

MIT. See each package's LICENSE.

TDQS

C2.9/5.0

Scored across 135 tools

Disambiguation4/5

Most tools have distinct purposes targeting different objects (e.g., create_rectangle vs create_text_frame), but there is some overlap like 'resize_page' and 'reframe_page' which both resize pages, and 'adjust_page_layout' vs 'set_document_layout_preferences' which adjust layout. Overall, descriptions help differentiate, but a few tools are ambiguous.

Naming Consistency5/5

All tool names use consistent snake_case with a verb_noun or verb_prep_noun pattern (e.g., 'create_document', 'place_file_on_page', 'remove_item_from_group'). No mixed conventions, making the pattern predictable.

Tool Count2/5

With 135 tools, the server is overly granular. Many tools could be combined (e.g., multiple get/list tools per entity, many specific operations). This large count may overwhelm agents and suggests insufficient abstraction. A well-scoped server for InDesign might have 20-40 tools.

Completeness4/5

The tool surface covers a wide range: document, pages, items, styles, books, export, preflight, etc. However, there are gaps like missing layer deletion, direct text content insertion, or image editing capabilities. Overall, it's surprisingly comprehensive for the domain.

Maintenance

ActivityMaintained
ResponsivenessResponsive