/adobe-illustrator-integrations

name: adobe-illustrator-integrations
description: 'Build, debug, package, and document Adobe Illustrator integrations: CEP extension panels, C++ SDK plug-ins (.aip), the coming UXP plugins, MCP servers that drive Illustrator, computer-use automation, and OS scripts (batch, PowerShell, bash, AppleScript) that run ExtendScript in Illustrator. Use when creating or fixing an Illustrator extension or plug-in, choosing between a script, extension, or plug-in, connecting an AI tool to Illustrator, automating Illustrator from the command line, or writing install and usage docs for an Illustrator tool someone will publish. Pairs with adobe-illustrator-scripting for the ExtendScript DOM.'

Adobe Illustrator Integrations

Guidance for everything that sits around an Illustrator script: the panel a user clicks, the native plug-in that adds a tool, the command line or AI agent that starts Illustrator work from outside, and the documentation that ships with it. For the Illustrator DOM itself (documents, layers, paths, colors, exports), use the **adobe-illustrator-scripting** skill.

When to Use This Skill

• Choosing how to deliver an Illustrator feature: a script, a CEP extension, a C++ plug-in, a UXP plugin, an MCP server, or an OS automation script
• Building or fixing a CEP extension panel (HTML, JavaScript, and an ExtendScript host)
• Building or fixing a C++ plug-in (`.aip`) with the Illustrator SDK
• Running `.jsx` scripts from batch, PowerShell, bash, Python, or AppleScript, including passing parameters and reading results
• Building or reviewing an MCP server that lets an AI tool drive Illustrator
• Working in Illustrator through a computer-use tool when no scripting route exists
• Writing step-by-step instructions people follow by hand, or install and usage docs for an asset, script, extension, or plug-in someone will publish
• Organizing the files of an Illustrator project (sources, linked assets, exports, docs) so automation can find them

Script, Extension, or Plug-in

Adobe's own terms:

• A **script** is ExtendScript (`.jsx`), AppleScript, or VBScript run against Illustrator's scripting object model. It has no persistent UI beyond ScriptUI dialogs.
• An **extension** is a CEP panel: an HTML and JavaScript UI hosted in Illustrator that calls ExtendScript through `CSInterface.evalScript`.
• A **plug-in** is native code built with the Illustrator C++ SDK (`.aip`). In apps that already run UXP (Photoshop, InDesign, Premiere Pro), "plugin" also means a UXP plugin; Illustrator UXP plugins are not public yet.

| Option | What it is | UI | Installs to | Ships as | Pick it when | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Manual instructions | Steps a person follows | Illustrator's own | Nothing | A document | The task is rare, or needs judgment at every step | | ExtendScript script | `.jsx` run in Illustrator | Optional ScriptUI dialog | `Presets/<locale>/Scripts` or anywhere (File > Scripts > Other Script) | `.jsx` file | One action, batch work, or a step another tool calls | | CEP extension | HTML panel plus ExtendScript host | Dockable panel | CEP `extensions` folder | Signed `.zxp` | Users need a persistent panel with controls and previews | | C++ plug-in | Native `.aip` from the Illustrator SDK | Tools, menus, notifiers, native dialogs | Plug-ins folder or the Additional Plug-ins Folder | `.aip` per OS and major version | You need a custom tool, live effects, speed, or events scripts cannot reach | | UXP plugin | Modern JavaScript plugin model | Panels and dialogs | Through Creative Cloud | `.ccx` | Plan for it; Illustrator's public beta is due by Spring 2027 | | MCP server | A process an AI tool calls, which runs scripts in Illustrator | The AI tool's chat | The AI tool's MCP config | A package or repo | An agent should create or inspect artwork through tools | | OS automation | Batch, PowerShell, bash, or AppleScript that starts scripts | None | Anywhere | Script files | Illustrator work is one step of a larger pipeline |

Start with the lowest tier that meets the need. A script that works is the core of every higher tier: a CEP panel, an MCP tool, and an OS script all end up calling ExtendScript.

Extensibility Timeline

From Adobe's announcement "Investing in the future of Creative Cloud extensibility" (blog.developer.adobe.com, September 2026):

• Illustrator UXP plugins: public beta by Spring 2027.
• CEP in Illustrator, After Effects, and Media Encoder: the Adobe Marketplace stops accepting new CEP submissions in December 2028, and CEP is disabled by default from December 2028.
• CEP leaves these apps from December 2029, with at least two years between each app's UXP public beta and CEP's removal from new versions.
• ExtendScript is not affected by the transition.

So a CEP extension built today has a working life of a few years. Keep its logic in plain ExtendScript files the panel calls, which carry over to a UXP plugin or an MCP server unchanged.

Workflow

1. **Scope**: what the user does, which Illustrator versions and OSes it must run on, and who installs it. 2. **Pick the tier** from the table above. 3. **Write the ExtendScript core first** with the adobe-illustrator-scripting skill, as functions that take a plain settings object and return a result string, so any front end can call them. 4. **Add the front end**:

• CEP panel: [references/cep-extensions.md](references/cep-extensions.md) (folder layout, manifest, `CSInterface`, debug mode, signing, install)
• C++ plug-in: [references/cpp-plugins.md](references/cpp-plugins.md) (SDK, build, PiPL, suites, notifiers, debugging)
• Command line, MCP server, or computer use: [references/automation-and-mcp.md](references/automation-and-mcp.md) (COM, AppleScript, parameters, results, MCP design, safety)

5. **Test inside Illustrator** on a copy of a real document: run every option, export a PNG of the result, and compare it with the expected output. 6. **Package**: a signed ZXP for CEP, a per-OS `.aip` for plug-