- 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
.jsxscripts 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.