Adobe Illustrator MCP server

This MCP server enables communication between AI assistants and Adobe Illustrator, allowing bots to execute JavaScript scripts directly in Illustrator and receive the results. Since it relies on AppleScript, it only works on macOS and has been tested specifically with Claude Desktop.

Installation

Prerequisites

• macOS operating system
• Adobe Illustrator installed
• Python environment with uv package manager

Setup Instructions

1. Clone or download the Illustrator MCP server repository to your local machine

2. Configure Claude Desktop to use the MCP server by editing the configuration file:

nano ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

3. Add the following configuration to the file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "illustrator": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": [
                "--directory",
                "/Users/you/code/mcp/illustrator-mcp-server",
                "run",
                "illustrator"
            ]
        }
    }
}

4. Make sure to replace /Users/you/code/mcp/illustrator-mcp-server with the actual path where you placed the server files.

Usage

Basic Usage

Once configured, you can instruct Claude to send JavaScript commands to Illustrator. For example:

1. Make sure Adobe Illustrator is open
2. In Claude Desktop, you can ask Claude to execute Illustrator scripts

Example Commands

You can ask Claude to perform various Illustrator operations. Here are some examples:

• Create new documents
• Generate shapes and artwork
• Modify existing elements
• Export files in different formats

JavaScript Format

When asking Claude to interact with Illustrator, make sure the JavaScript is properly formatted. Illustrator uses the ExtendScript variant of JavaScript.

Limitations

• The server only works on macOS due to AppleScript dependencies
• Only tested with Claude Desktop, may not work with other assistants
• Illustrator must be open when executing commands

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.