SFKislev

InDesign

Control Adobe InDesign from the shell via Flue - ExtendScript bridges without an MCP server.

SFKislev 98 5 Updated 5mo ago

Resources

1
GitHub

Install

npx skillscat add sfkislev/flue/indesign

Install via the SkillsCat registry.

About this skill

This skill lets an agent control Adobe InDesign from a shell by piping ExtendScript through a Flue bridge script and receiving structured JSON back. It solves the problem of operating InDesign without an MCP server, enabling inspection and bounded edits to documents, spreads, frames, and styles. Use it when a task requires actions inside the running InDesign application.

SKILL.md

This skill lets a coding agent operate Adobe InDesign on the desktop through Flue, a local shell-to-application bridge. The agent pipes ExtendScript into indesign_bridge.py and gets structured JSON back.

agent shell -> indesign_bridge.py -> ExtendScript -> JSON result

When to use

The human requests work performed inside InDesign — inspect the open document, spreads, pages, frames, text flows, styles; make bounded edits; run small ExtendScript steps. A CLI agent cannot act inside InDesign without a bridge like Flue.

How to proceed

  1. Read FLUE.md in this directory first. It explains how Flue works, the bridge contract, a worked ExtendScript example, and safety expectations.
  2. If Flue is installed: also read C:\Users\fredd\.claude\skills\flue\SKILL.md and adapters/indesign_adapter/APP.md for the operational contract, then work from there.
  3. If Flue is not installed: tell the human. The install command is pip install flue && flue setup. Do not install without explicit approval in the current session.

Other apps

Flue also supports Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, After Effects, Audition, Blender, Houdini, 3ds Max, Unity, and Microsoft Office through the same stdin/stdout contract. One install covers all adapters.

Safety

Flue acts inside professional desktop software. Treat the human as the driver; prefer small, inspectable steps; avoid destructive actions unless explicitly requested. Flue is MIT-licensed and reviewable on GitHub / PyPI before use.