Interest in expanding InDesign MCP for automated catalog translation

[AlxGars]

Hi Mike!
I recently discovered your adb-mcp project and was impressed by the possibilities of integrating Adobe applications with AI. I'm particularly interested in the InDesign support.
I work with catalog and brochure layout, and I frequently face the task of translating finished catalogs into different languages while preserving the layout. Currently, this is a very labor-intensive process: manually extracting text, translating it, then carefully replacing it in InDesign while adjusting text frame sizes.
I saw in your article that InDesign currently only has basic document creation functionality implemented, although UXP support there is extensive. I'm curious about your plans:

Are you planning to expand InDesign MCP by adding text manipulation functions?
Is there interest in implementing document localization/translation tasks?
Do you accept contributions in this direction? I'm ready to help with testing and feedback.

I think such functionality would be highly demanded in the publishing industry - automatic translation with formatting preservation and layout adaptation.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!
Best regards, Alexander

[mikechambers]

Yeah, I don't know InDesign much, so have been focusing on Photoshop and Premiere Pro. InDesign has a pretty robust API though, so there is a lot of functionality to ad. I will probably get around to it at some point, but its just a matter of when I have some time and in the mood to tackle it.

In the mean time, if you know a little coding, it shouldnt be too difficult to start adding functionality. Just look at the Indesign UXP and MCP files. For each function, there in an entry in each.

Docs are here:
https://developer.adobe.com/indesign/uxp/

I am open to taking contributions. If you want to try, I would suggest adding a simple API first to make sure you can get it work. Just ping me here or on Discord if you have any questions.

[AlxGars]

Hi Mike!

Thanks for the quick response! I really appreciate your openness to contributions.

I should clarify upfront — I have very limited programming experience

Quick question about your suggestion to "look at the InDesign UXP and MCP files" - I couldn't find any InDesign-specific files in the current repository (only ps-mcp.py, pr-mcp.py, uxp/ps/, uxp/pr/).

Are you referring to:

1. Some InDesign files that already exist somewhere in the project that I missed?
2. Or do you mean I should use the Photoshop files (ps-mcp.py, uxp/ps/) as a template/reference for creating InDesign equivalents?

[mikechambers]

InDesign UXP plugin is here:
https://github.com/mikechambers/adb-mcp/tree/main/uxp/id

MCP is here:
https://github.com/mikechambers/adb-mcp/blob/main/mcp/id-mcp.py

To add functionality, first expose the api / feature in the MCP:

@mcp.tool()
def create_document(
    width:int, height:int, pages:int = 0,
    pages_facing:bool = False,
    columns:dict = {"count":1, "gutter":12},
    margins:dict = {"top":36, "bottom":36, "left":36, "right":36}):

   """
   Creates a new InDesign document with specified dimensions and layout settings.
   
   Args:
       width (int): Document width in points (1 point = 1/72 inch)
       height (int): Document height in points
       pages (int, optional): Number of pages in the document. Defaults to 0.
       pages_facing (bool, optional): Whether to create facing pages (spread layout). 
           Defaults to False.
       columns (dict, optional): Column layout configuration with keys:
           - count (int): Number of columns per page
           - gutter (int): Space between columns in points
           Defaults to {"count": 1, "gutter": 12}.
       margins (dict, optional): Page margin settings in points with keys:
           - top (int): Top margin
           - bottom (int): Bottom margin  
           - left (int): Left margin
           - right (int): Right margin
           Defaults to {"top": 36, "bottom": 36, "left": 36, "right": 36}.
   
   Returns:
       dict: Result of the command execution from the InDesign UXP plugin
   """

    command = createCommand("createDocument", {
        "intent":"WEB_INTENT",
        "pageWidth":width,
        "pageHeight":height,
        "margins":margins,
        "columns":columns,
        "pagesPerDocument":pages,
        "pagesFacing":pages_facing
    })

    return sendCommand(command)

Note the inline docs are used by the AI to understand the tool call.

and then add the equivalent in the UXP / Plugin:

const createDocument = async (command) => {
    console.log("createDocument")

    const options = command.options

    let documents = app.documents
    let margins = options.margins

    let unit = getUnitForIntent(DocumentIntentOptions.WEB_INTENT)

    app.marginPreferences.bottom = `${margins.bottom}${unit}`
    app.marginPreferences.top = `${margins.top}${unit}`
    app.marginPreferences.left = `${margins.left}${unit}`
    app.marginPreferences.right = `${margins.right}${unit}`

    app.marginPreferences.columnCount = options.columns.count
    app.marginPreferences.columnGutter = `${options.columns.gutter}${unit}`
    

    let documentPreferences = {
        pageWidth: `${options.pageWidth}${unit}`,
        pageHeight: `${options.pageHeight}${unit}`,
        pagesPerDocument: options.pagesPerDocument,
        facingPages: options.facingPages,
        intent: DocumentIntentOptions.WEB_INTENT
    }

    const showingWindow = true
    //Boolean showingWindow, DocumentPreset documentPreset, Object withProperties 
    documents.add({showingWindow, documentPreferences})
}

Make sure to add the new API to the commandHandlers:

const commandHandlers = {
    createDocument
};

The UXP plugin code goes in this file:
https://github.com/mikechambers/adb-mcp/blob/main/uxp/id/commands/index.js

When developing, you have to release Claude Desktop every time you change the MCP, but that code is usually pretty straightforward. Once that is working, then use UXP Developer Tools (in CC to load and debug the plugin in InDesign), and then just reload the plugin when to make changes.

Any console.log() commands will be written to the debug panel for the plugin in the UXP Developer Tools.

You can find the UXP API docs for InDesign here:
https://developer.adobe.com/indesign/uxp/

Post here or in the Discord if you have any questions.

Here is a session with Claude where I give it everything in the post, and it adds a feature for me (I haven't tested it, but it might give you some code to start to test / figure out):

https://claude.ai/share/2eaeeeb6-3441-4742-b7fe-5a68b6d81f9f