adobe-desktop-mcp

Local MCP server enabling AI agents to automate Adobe Creative Cloud desktop apps. Works with Claude Desktop, Claude Code, and any MCP-compatible agent.

App	Status	Tools
Photoshop	Full automation (UXP plugin)	34 tools + arbitrary script execution
Illustrator	Full automation (macOS only)	7 tools (AppleScript + ExtendScript)
InDesign	Discovery only	2 tools (status + capability reporting)
Acrobat	Discovery only	2 tools (status + capability reporting)
After Effects	Discovery only	2 tools (status + capability reporting)
Premiere Pro	Discovery only	2 tools (status + capability reporting)

Plus 4 core tools for health checks, app status, and capability discovery across all apps.

Prerequisites

• Node.js v20.11.0 or later
• Photoshop 25.0+ (for Photoshop automation)
• macOS (for Illustrator automation — Windows not yet supported)

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/digibranders/adobe-mcp.git
cd adobe-mcp
npm install && npm run build

MCP Client Configuration

Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop config file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "adobe-desktop-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/adobe-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "ADOBE_MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

Add to your Claude Code settings (.claude/settings.json or global config):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "adobe-desktop-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/adobe-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "ADOBE_MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace /absolute/path/to/adobe-mcp with the actual path where you cloned the repo.

Photoshop Setup (One-Time)

Requires Photoshop 25.0+.

1. Install the UXP Plugin

# macOS
chmod +x scripts/install-photoshop-plugin.sh
./scripts/install-photoshop-plugin.sh

# Windows — double-click or run from Command Prompt
scripts\install-photoshop-plugin.bat

2. Open the Plugin Panel

1. Restart Photoshop (if it was already running)
2. Go to Plugins > Adobe MCP to open the panel
3. The panel auto-connects to the MCP server and auto-reconnects on disconnection

Fallback: Manual Plugin Load

If the plugin doesn't appear in the Plugins menu after installation:

1. Download and open UXP Developer Tool
2. Click Add Plugin and select the plugins/photoshop-uxp directory
3. Click Load to activate it in Photoshop
4. After the first load, it persists across restarts

How It Works

AI Agent (Claude)  ←→  MCP Server (Node.js, stdio)  ←→  HTTP Bridge (localhost:47123)  ←→  UXP Plugin (inside Photoshop)

1. The MCP server runs as a Node.js process and communicates with the AI agent over stdio
2. For Photoshop, a local HTTP bridge listens on localhost:47123
3. The UXP plugin (running inside Photoshop) polls the bridge for pending commands
4. Commands execute via Photoshop's batchPlay API, and results flow back to the agent
5. For Illustrator, the bridge uses macOS AppleScript to run ExtendScript inside Illustrator

The Photoshop plugin must have its panel open for the bridge to work. It auto-reconnects with exponential backoff if the connection drops.

Tool Reference

Core Tools (4)

Tool	Description
adobe_desktop_health	Get MCP server health info (version, config)
adobe_desktop_get_app_status	Get runtime status for a specific Adobe app
adobe_desktop_list_apps	List all Adobe apps with their current status
adobe_desktop_get_capability_matrix	Full capability matrix for all apps (bridge strategies, feasibility scores)

Photoshop Tools (34)

Category	Tools
Status	get_status, list_supported_operations, bridge_status
Documents	create_document, open_document, save_document, close_document, list_documents, inspect_active_document, set_active_document, export_active_document, canvas_snapshot
Layers	add_text_layer, add_shape_layer, duplicate_layer, delete_layer, get_layer_info, set_layer_properties, transform_layer (move/scale/rotate), copy_layer_to_document, flatten_image, merge_visible
Editing	resize_image, crop_document, fill_color, apply_adjustment (brightness/contrast, hue/sat, curves, levels), apply_filter (gaussian blur, motion blur, sharpen, unsharp mask, noise)
Selections	select_all, deselect, select_color_range
History	undo (multi-step), redo (multi-step)
Automation	run_action (run Photoshop Actions), run_script (arbitrary UXP JavaScript)

All tool names are prefixed with photoshop_ (e.g. photoshop_create_document).

photoshop_run_script accepts arbitrary UXP JavaScript, giving access to the full Photoshop API beyond the built-in tools.

photoshop_canvas_snapshot exports a scaled PNG so the AI can visually inspect the current canvas state.

Illustrator Tools (7)

Tool	Description
illustrator_get_status	Check availability, version, and bridge config
illustrator_list_supported_operations	List all supported operations
illustrator_create_document	Create new document (dimensions, artboards, color space)
illustrator_open_document	Open document from file path
illustrator_inspect_document	Get metadata (dimensions, artboards, layers, page items)
illustrator_export_document	Export to PNG, JPEG, SVG, PDF, AI, EPS
illustrator_run_script	Execute custom ExtendScript with full Illustrator DOM access

Illustrator bridge is macOS only (uses AppleScript + ExtendScript).

Discovery-Only Apps (2 tools each)

InDesign, Acrobat, After Effects, and Premiere Pro each expose:

• <app>_get_status — check if the app is running and its version
• <app>_list_supported_operations — list what operations the bridge supports

These apps have adapter stubs ready for future plugin development but do not yet support automation commands.

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
ADOBE_MCP_LOG_LEVEL	info	Log level (debug, info, warn, error)
ADOBE_MCP_TEMP_ROOT	~/.adobe-desktop-mcp	Temp directory for bridge IPC files
ADOBE_MCP_PROBE_CACHE_TTL_MS	15000	How long to cache app status probes (ms)
ADOBE_MCP_PHOTOSHOP_PLUGIN_PORT	47123	HTTP bridge port for Photoshop UXP plugin
ADOBE_MCP_PHOTOSHOP_PLUGIN_TOKEN	adobe-mcp-dev-token	Auth token for bridge communication
ADOBE_MCP_ILLUSTRATOR_PATH	auto-detect	Path to Illustrator.app (macOS)

Per-App Overrides

Each app supports ADOBE_MCP_<APP>_ENABLED, _PATH, _MIN_VERSION, _PLUGIN_PORT, and _PLUGIN_TOKEN where <APP> is one of: PHOTOSHOP, ILLUSTRATOR, INDESIGN, ACROBAT, AFTEREFFECTS, PREMIERE.

Example: ADOBE_MCP_PHOTOSHOP_ENABLED=false disables the Photoshop adapter entirely.

Do's and Don'ts

Do

• Do keep the Photoshop plugin panel open while using Photoshop tools — the bridge only works when the panel is active
• Do use photoshop_bridge_status to check the connection before running a batch of commands
• Do use photoshop_canvas_snapshot to visually verify the result after making changes
• Do use photoshop_run_script for complex operations not covered by built-in tools — it has full Photoshop API access
• Do use photoshop_inspect_active_document before manipulating layers to get accurate layer IDs
• Do use adobe_desktop_get_app_status to check if an app is running before sending commands
• Do save your document before running destructive operations (flatten, merge, crop)
• Do use photoshop_undo if a command produces unexpected results — it supports multi-step undo
• Do use illustrator_run_script for Illustrator operations beyond the built-in 7 tools

Don't

• Don't close the Photoshop plugin panel while automation is running — the bridge will disconnect
• Don't send commands to Photoshop while a modal dialog is open (e.g. Save As, Print) — commands will time out
• Don't assume layer IDs persist across sessions — always re-inspect the document to get current IDs
• Don't try to use Generative Fill/Expand via run_script — these are cloud-gated and have no API access
• Don't use Illustrator tools on Windows — the AppleScript bridge is macOS only
• Don't expect real-time canvas previews — canvas_snapshot captures a static PNG at the moment of the call
• Don't run multiple MCP server instances on the same port — they will conflict on port 47123
• Don't change the bridge token in the environment without also updating it in the plugin panel's Advanced settings
• Don't rely on discovery-only app tools (InDesign, Acrobat, etc.) for automation — they only report status

Troubleshooting

Plugin doesn't appear in Photoshop's Plugins menu

1. Make sure you ran the install script and restarted Photoshop afterward
2. Check that your Photoshop version is 25.0 or later (Help > About Photoshop)
3. Try loading manually via UXP Developer Tool → Add Plugin → select plugins/photoshop-uxp

Bridge shows "Disconnected" in the plugin panel

1. Make sure the MCP server is running (it starts the HTTP bridge automatically)
2. Check that nothing else is using port 47123 (lsof -i :47123 on macOS)
3. Verify the bridge URL in the plugin's Advanced section matches http://127.0.0.1:47123
4. Click Reconnect in the plugin panel

Commands time out (60s default)

1. Check that Photoshop doesn't have a modal dialog open (Save As, alerts, etc.)
2. Verify the plugin panel shows Connected status
3. For long operations, some tools accept an optional timeout parameter (up to 300,000ms)

Illustrator tools fail

1. Confirm you are on macOS — the Illustrator bridge uses AppleScript
2. Ensure Illustrator is running and has granted automation permissions (System Settings > Privacy & Security > Automation)
3. Check the ADOBE_MCP_ILLUSTRATOR_PATH env var if auto-detect fails

MCP server won't start

1. Verify Node.js version: node --version (must be v20.11.0+)
2. Ensure you ran npm install && npm run build first
3. Check the dist/index.js file exists

Known Limitations

• Generative Fill/Expand: Cloud-gated features with no API access
• 3D layers / Video timeline: Not exposed via batchPlay
• Canvas snapshots are static: Not real-time previews, captured at the moment of the call
• Photoshop panel must be open: The UXP plugin bridge only works when the panel is visible
• Illustrator is macOS-only: The AppleScript bridge does not work on Windows
• Discovery-only apps: InDesign, Acrobat, After Effects, and Premiere have status reporting only — automation plugins are not yet implemented

Development

npm run dev         # Run server locally with tsx (no build needed)
npm run typecheck   # Type check without emitting
npm test            # Run tests (vitest)
npm run build       # Production build to dist/

License

MIT