MCP SERVER · ADOBE INDESIGN · WINDOWS

InDesign, driven by your AI apps.
No panel, no network.

Adobe InDesign for Claude Code and Codex.

One native Windows engine, NexusInDesign.exe (C#, self-contained), drives InDesign 2024 to 2026 through its COM automation only: UXP scripts run by DoScript, with no interaction at all. No panel, no Adobe UXP plugin, no Node.js, no network listener, no Computer Use. Every change is checked against the document’s revision, every open document is backed up first, and every exported file is verified.

Install Explore the code

Every document backed up first
Undone in one step
Nothing leaves the PC

Works with

NexusInDesign icon: a laid-out page in the Nexus medallion — The path the nexus-indesign skill gives the agent: open, change by script, check, export.

MCPC# .NET 10COMUXPINDESIGN 2024–2026MIT

01 / WHAT IT DOES

32 tools.
One pass per change.

The nexus-indesign skill guides the agent; run_layout_script makes every coherent change in one tracked InDesign pass.

run_layout_script
Checks revision and state token, backs up every open document, runs the UXP script, saves if asked, renders a verified PNG preview and returns the new revision, so calls chain without re-inspection.
open_document, create_document
Open or create a document; each returns documentId, revision and stateToken.
preflight_document, finalize_layout
The preflight, then a PDF only if the layout contract and Adobe’s preflight pass.
export_pdf, export_png, export_idml
The exports, each verified structurally; also package_document, save_document and save_as.
analyze_layout, compare_layout_snapshot
Geometry, resources, styles, a typographic audit and a stable layout fingerprint.
preview_layout
A preview, annotated on request (margins, column gutters, each item’s outline and #id, overset text in red), without touching the source document.
silent_restore_backup
Restore a backup; the current state is backed up first.
silent_operation_status
What is known after a timeout or a crash, before any new command.
indesign_doctor, search_official_dom
Local checks without starting InDesign; an offline index of Adobe’s official DOM reference, pinned by SHA-256.

01 / HOW IT WORKS

Open. Change.
Check. Export.

1. Status and opening

silent_status, silent_list_documents, puis open_document or create_document: each returns documentId, revision and stateToken.

2. One script per change

run_layout_script for every coherent change; a failing script is a known outcome, with its backup.

3. Check and export

preflight_document, puis finalize_layout or export_pdf, export_png, export_idml, package_document.

4. Closing

silent_close_document for the documents the task opened.

One-step undo: a single undo() removes the changes of a script’s synchronous part (everything before its first await), a failed script’s partial changes included.

02 / INSTALLATION

One message.
InDesign linked to your AI apps.

Requirements
- Windows x64 or Arm64, no administrator rights
- Adobe InDesign 2024 to 2026, installed (it registers its COM server)
- Claude Code and/or Codex
Ask your AI
Paste this message into Claude Code or Codex: it follows the NexusSystem guide and installs NexusInDesign.
Install NexusInDesign by following https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pironjulien/NexusSystem/main/INSTALL-AI.md
Or the NexusSystem app
Free on the Microsoft Store, no account: it runs NexusInDesign’s get.ps1 and adds the nexus-indesign plugin to Claude Code and Codex from the Nexus catalog.
Restart Claude Code and Codex
Quit them completely so they load the new MCP server and its skill.
Try it
In Claude Code or Codex, ask for example: “Open this InDesign document and run its preflight.” The engine starts InDesign when needed.

Or by hand, from the release

In PowerShell, without administrator rights: download get.ps1 and the checksum list, check the SHA-256 hash, then run the file. It installs %USERPROFILE%\.nexus\nexus-indesign\NexusInDesign.exe, the path both plugins start.

$r = 'https://github.com/pironjulien/NexusInDesign/releases/latest/download'
Invoke-WebRequest "$r/get.ps1" -OutFile get.ps1
Invoke-WebRequest "$r/SHA256SUMS.txt" -OutFile SHA256SUMS.txt
$h = (Select-String SHA256SUMS.txt -Pattern '^([0-9a-f]{64})\s+get\.ps1$').Matches[0].Groups[1].Value
if ((Get-FileHash get.ps1 -Algorithm SHA256).Hash -ne $h) { throw 'get.ps1 does not match SHA256SUMS.txt' }
powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\get.ps1

Every release file is attested (gh attestation verify get.ps1 --repo pironjulien/NexusInDesign). Run get.ps1 again to update; -Remove removes the program and keeps backups and the audit journal. Details: repository README.

Or the whole Nexus pack, at once

Paste this message into your AI: it follows the NexusSystem guide, suggests the Nexus products that fit your PC, installs each one with its official installer, then checks the result. Or the NexusSystem, free on the Microsoft Store.

Install Nexus for me by following https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pironjulien/NexusSystem/main/INSTALL-AI.md

Code, documentation and installer: NexusInDesign GitHub repository.

Independent project, not affiliated with Adobe, Anthropic or OpenAI.

Version: 4.1.2
Licence: MIT
System: Windows x64 or Arm64, no administrator rights
Software: Adobe InDesign 2024 to 2026
Clients: Claude Code, Codex
Checks: test.ps1: xUnit suite against an emulated InDesign, no InDesign needed

03 / NEXUS ECOSYSTEM

On its own, it works.
Together, it does more.

NexusInDesign installs on its own, or with the other Nexus bricks, each one à la carte.

NexusSystem

WithNexusSystem runs its get.ps1 and adds the nexus-indesign plugin to Claude Code and Codex from the Nexus catalog.

Withoutget.ps1, from the release, installs the engine; the plugin is added from the Nexus catalog.

Discover NexusSystem

The other Nexus bricks

Each one installs on its own, à la carte, with its own installer.

04 / SECURITY

Local.
And under control.

The safeguards live in the engine, not only in the instructions given to the agents.

No network listener

Claude Code or Codex starts NexusInDesign.exe --mcp and talks to it over stdio. The engine opens no port, exposes no HTTP API and sends nothing over the network.

Only your agents

Start-up is refused unless a parent process is an allowed agent: claude.exe signed by Anthropic or codex.exe signed by OpenAI, with a valid Authenticode signature, in an allowed folder.

Bounded paths

Every path a structured tool reads or writes is resolved through junctions and links, then must stay inside the allowed roots (by default the user profile), outside the denied roots: private storage, ~\.nexus, .ssh, .gnupg, AppData. An existing file is replaced only with overwrite=true, after a private copy.

A backup before every change

Every open document is backed up before any change, with its INDD signature and SHA-256 recorded; a restore checks that provenance and backs up the current state first.

Revision and state token

Every change checks the document’s revision and stateToken before and after; any difference refuses or flags the outcome. After a timeout or a crash, every InDesign command is refused until reconciliation.

Verified exports

Produced PDF, PNG, IDML and INDD files are verified structurally, never trusted from InDesign’s report alone.

Private storage

Backups, the audit journal and the runtime stay in %USERPROFILE%\.nexus\nexus-indesign\private, readable by the current user only. The journal never records a document’s text, a path, code or a secret.

05 / GOOD TO KNOW

Honest.
Limits included.

Free code has full rights

run_layout_script and execute_uxp_silent have the full rights of Adobe scripts, files and network included: it is not a sandbox, and agents run there only code decided for the task.

InDesign must be installed

It registers its COM server. The engine starts it when needed and closes it again if it started it hidden and nothing stays open.

Folders you can set

By default, documents are read from and written to the user profile; to change the folders, use %USERPROFILE%\.nexus\nexus-indesign\settings.json (readRoots, writeRoots, deniedRoots).

06 / LINKS

Read the code.
Lay out pages with your AI apps.

The engine, the plugins, the skill, the tests and the documentation are on GitHub, under the MIT licence.

Open the GitHub repository

InDesign, driven by your AI apps.No panel, no network.

32 tools.One pass per change.

Open. Change.Check. Export.