Adobe Creative Suite MCP server

adb-mcp is a tool that allows AI agents like Claude to control Adobe applications (currently Photoshop and Premiere) via the MCP protocol. This integration enables conversational control of Adobe tools, letting you create designs, edit photos, or manage video projects through natural language instructions.

Requirements

To use adb-mcp, you'll need:

• An AI LLM with MCP Protocol support (tested with Claude desktop on Mac & Windows)
• Python 3
• NodeJS
• Adobe UXP Developer tool (available via Creative Cloud)
• Adobe Photoshop (26.0 or greater) or Adobe Premiere Beta (25.3 Build 46 or greater)

Installation

Step 1: Download the Project

Download the adb-mcp project and extract it to your preferred location.

Step 2: Install Claude Desktop

Download and install Claude Desktop and launch it to verify it works correctly.

Step 3: Set Up the MCP Server

Ensure Python 3 is installed and in your system PATH. This guide assumes you're using uv for package management.

For Photoshop integration:

cd mcp
uv run mcp dev ps-mcp.py

For Premiere integration:

cd mcp
uv run mcp dev pr-mcp.py

Load the dev interface at http://localhost:5173, click "connect", and under "Resources" click "config://get_instructions" to verify it's working.

Now install the MCP server into Claude:

For Photoshop:

uv run mcp install --with fonttools --with python-socketio --with mcp --with requests --with websocket-client ps-mcp.py

For Premiere:

uv run mcp install --with fonttools --with python-socketio --with mcp --with requests --with websocket-client pr-mcp.py

Close and restart Claude Desktop to complete the integration.

Step 4: Set Up the Command Proxy Server

Ensure NodeJS is installed and in your system PATH.

cd adb-proxy-socket
npm install
node proxy.js

You should see a message indicating the proxy server is running on ws://localhost:3001.

Step 5: Install the Adobe App Plugins

For Photoshop:

1. Launch Photoshop (26.0 or greater)
2. Go to Settings > Plugins and check "Enable Developer Mode"
3. Restart Photoshop
4. Install and launch "UXP Developer Tools" from Creative Cloud Desktop
5. Select File > Add Plugin
6. Navigate to the uxp/ps directory and select the manifest.json file
7. Once the plugin is listed, click the "Load" button

For Premiere:

1. Launch Premiere Pro Beta (25.3)
2. Install and launch "UXP Developer Tools" from Creative Cloud Desktop
3. Select File > Add Plugin
4. Navigate to the uxp/pr directory and select the manifest.json file
5. Once the plugin is listed, click the "Load" button

Using Claude with Adobe Apps

1. Launch Claude Desktop
2. Start the adb-proxy-socket node server
3. Launch Photoshop and/or Premiere

For Photoshop:

4. Launch UXP Developer Tool and click Load for "Photoshop MCP Agent"
5. In Photoshop, open Plugins > Photoshop MCP Agent > Photoshop MCP Agent
6. Click connect in the agent panel

For Premiere:

4. Launch UXP Developer Tool and click Load for "Premiere MCP Agent"
5. In Premiere, open Window > UXP Plugins > Premiere MCP Agent > Premiere MCP Agent
6. Click connect in the agent panel

Setting Up a Session

1. In Claude's chat input field, click the "Attach from MCP" button (looks like two sockets)
2. Click "Choose an integration"
3. Select either "Adobe Photoshop" or "Adobe Premiere"
4. Choose "config://get_instructions"
5. Submit that to Claude to load the instructions

Creating Prompts

You can ask Claude about available APIs and functions:

Can you list what apis / functions are available for working with Photoshop / Premiere?

Use natural language to give instructions, such as:

Create a new Photoshop file with a blue background, that is 1080 width by 720 height at 300 dpi

Create a double exposure image in Photoshop of a woman and a forest

Add cross fade transitions between all of the clips on the timeline in Premiere

Tips for Better Results

General Tips:

• Ask the AI to think about and check its work
• Guide it with specific suggestions (e.g., "consider using clipping masks")
• Don't make changes in Adobe apps while the AI is working
• If you make changes, inform the AI about them

Photoshop Tips:

• Copy and paste images from Photoshop into Claude for better context
• Provide guidelines on font sizes and text alignment
• Specify fonts using their PostScript names
• Ask the AI for suggestions on your design

Premiere Tips:

• The plugin currently works best with a single sequence

Troubleshooting

MCP Won't Run in Claude

• You may need to edit your Claude config file to use an absolute path for the UV command

Plugin Won't Install or Connect

• Make sure the app is running before loading the plugin
• Check for errors using the debug button in UXP developer tool
• Verify the node/proxy server is running
• If the connect button remains unchanged after clicking, it may indicate connection issues

Errors Within AI Client

• Check error messages in the command/code box
• Ensure the plugin is connected and the proxy server is running
• If responses are slow, check if AI servers are under load
• Consider starting a new chat if performance degrades

For persistent issues, post on the GitHub Issues page or join the Discord.

How to add this MCP server to Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > MCP and click "Add new global MCP server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "cursor-rules-mcp": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "cursor-rules-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explictly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.