adobe-indesign-mcp

Say "Create an A4 document with 5 pages, add a red circle on page 3" — and it happens.
The most comprehensive MCP server for Adobe InDesign. 183 tools. 31 handlers. Full DOM coverage.

_{⚡ Click for a quick demo · v1.1.0 release}

🚀 Why This Exists

InDesign automation has been broken for 20 years. ExtendScript is ancient. CEP panels are over-engineered. UXP scripting requires a CS degree. You just want AI to do the layout.

This MCP server fixes that. One npm install and your AI agent controls InDesign like a puppeteer.

🆚 MCP vs The Old Ways

✨ What It Can Do

📝 Text & Typography (27 tools)

Create frames, set content, apply paragraph/character styles, control formatting, search with GREP, find/replace, apply fonts, set columns, insets, auto-size, vertical justification, drop caps, keep options, hyphenation, tabs, paragraph rules, text wrap, baseline, linking/unlinking.

🎨 Shapes & Objects (20 tools)

Rectangles, ellipses, polygons, lines, groups, anchored objects — create, modify, delete, list, arrange.

🖼️ Images (5 tools)

Place from disk, query metadata, fit/proportional, adjust brightness/contrast, relink.

🎭 Colors & Swatches (6 tools)

CMYK/RGB/LAB/spot swatches, ink list, gradients, apply to fill/stroke.

📄 Pages & Documents (15 tools)

Create, open, save, close, getInfo, listOpen — plus page add/delete/duplicate/move/getInfo/listAll/applyMaster, sections.

📊 Tables (20 tools)

Create, set cells, add/delete rows/columns, merge/split, alignment, fills, strokes, insets, header/footer, row/column sizing, table styles, cell styles.

🧬 Styles (10 tools)

Paragraph, character, object styles — create, list, duplicate, delete, apply.

🏗️ Masters & Books (10 tools)

Master spreads — create, duplicate, apply, delete, list, getPages. Books — list, open, getDocuments, synchronize.

📤 Export (9 tools)

PDF, EPUB, HTML, JPG, PNG, package — plus preflight, font/swatch/table lists, and script_run() for custom ExtendScript.

🔍 Find & Replace (5 tools)

GREP find/replace, format-aware find/replace.

🔄 Transform (5 tools)

Align, distribute, rotate, scale, flip.

🔗 Interactive (5 tools)

Hyperlinks, buttons, cross-reference anchors.

📚 References (10 tools)

Footnotes, endnotes, cross-references, index entries/topics/generation.

📋 Lists (6 tools)

Define, apply to paragraph/selection, remove, restart numbering.

🧩 XML & Data Merge (11 tools)

XML tags, import/export, data merge with CSV/TSV/XML sources.

🔧 Other

Layers, effects (drop shadow, feather, transparency), TOC, sections, undo/redo, undo groups.

🧠 Included AI Skills

Ten skills ship with the repo, auto-loaded by trigger keywords when you use any AI agent:

🏗️ Architecture

┌─────────────────────┐       STDIO        ┌──────────────────────┐     WebSocket     ┌──────────────────┐
│  Any AI Agent       │ ◄────────────────► │  indesign-nutria-mcp │ ◄───────────────► │  Adobe InDesign   │
│  (Claude, OpenCode, │                    │  (Node.js MCP Server) │     port 8120     │  + UXP Plugin     │
│   Cursor, etc.)     │                    │  31 handlers         │                    │  + ExtendScript    │
└─────────────────────┘                    │  183 tools           │                    └──────────────────┘
                                           │  10 AI skills        │
                                           └──────────────────────┘

Full Handler Catalog

MCP Resources

🎯 Use Cases

🏢 Agency Production

"Create a 200-page catalog from this CSV. Product name in 14pt Arial Bold, price in 12pt Arial Regular, description in 10pt. Add a red 'SALE' badge on page 1, 50, 100, 150. Export as PDF."

📚 Book Publishing

"Import this Word document. Map Heading 1 to 'Chapter Title' style, Normal to 'Body Text'. Add running headers with page numbers. Generate a TOC. Export to PDF with crop marks."

🎨 Creative Automation

"Take this InDesign template and generate 50 variations with different colors and text from this spreadsheet. Export each as a separate PDF."

🏭 Print Production

"Check all 200 files for missing fonts and broken links. Fix them. Export as PDF/X-1a."

🔄 Continuous Publishing

"Every morning at 8am, update the daily newspaper template with fresh content from our CMS, preflight, and upload to the web server."

⚡ Quick Start (30 seconds)

npm install -g indesign-nutria-mcp
indesign-nutria-mcp

Or from source:

git clone https://github.com/nutriandrea/adobe-indesign-mcp
cd adobe-indesign-mcp
npm install
npm run build
node dist/index.js

1️⃣ Load the plugin in InDesign

1. Open UXP Developer Tool
2. Load plugin/ directory
3. Click MCP Bridge → Connect

2️⃣ Connect your AI agent

OpenCode:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "indesign": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["dist/index.js", "opencode-indesign.json"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop:

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

3️⃣ Start creating

🤖 "Create a landscape A3 document with 3 pages."
🤖 "Add a blue rectangle covering the top half of page 1."
🤖 "In the rectangle, add text 'Hello World' in white, Arial Bold 72pt."
🤖 "Export page 1 as JPG."

🆕 What's New in v1.1.0

📦 Project Structure

├── src/
│   ├── server/          # MCP server (STDIO transport)
│   ├── bridge/          # WebSocket bridge + ScriptExecutor
│   ├── handlers/        # 31 handler modules (183 tools)
│   ├── schemas/         # Zod parameter schemas
│   ├── core/            # Session tracking
│   ├── types/           # TypeScript definitions
│   └── utils/           # Config, logger, security, JSON polyfill
├── plugin/              # UXP panel (index.html, index.js, manifest.json)
├── tests/               # 747+ tests (vitest)
├── .opencode/skills/    # 10 AI agent skills
├── media/               # Social preview, hero images
├── docs/                # Documentation
├── dist/                # Compiled output
└── opencode.json        # MCP configuration

📋 Requirements

🧪 Development

npm test           # Run 747 tests
npm run test:watch # Watch mode
npm run build      # TypeScript compile
npm run lint       # ESLint

🗺️ Roadmap

• Windows CEP support — bridge via CEP panel
• InDesign Server — headless server support for CI/CD pipelines
• Live preview — stream InDesign canvas to agent
• Template marketplace — share and discover InDesign templates
• Natural language → layout — describe a page, get a page
• Batch PDF processing — apply changes across hundreds of files
• VSCode extension — control InDesign from your editor

📚 Deep Dives

• Origin Story — how this project came to life
• Comparison docs — MCP vs CEP vs ExtendScript in depth
• Launch thread — social launch content

🤝 Contributing

PRs welcome! The handler pattern is designed to be simple:

1. Create src/handlers/YourHandler.ts
2. Define tools with Zod schemas
3. Register in IndesignMcpServer.ts
4. Add tests

Check CONTRIBUTING.md for details.

📄 License

MIT © Andrea Cacioppo

Made with ❤️ for designers who code and AI agents who design.
GitHub · npm · Issues