Sidekick for InDesign MCP Server

Claude meets InDesign*

A little AI sidekick to help you get stuff done.

Try free for 30 days. $9.95/month after that.

* Sidekick uses the Model Context Protocol (MCP), so it also works with other AI assistants like Cursor, Windsurf, and more.

Get Started in 3 Steps

Setting up Sidekick is quick and straightforward.

You'll need an AI assistant such as Claude Desktop (free), Cursor, or Windsurf.

1

Install the InDesign plugin

Get the Sidekick plugin from Adobe Exchange. It adds a small panel to InDesign that connects to your AI assistant.

Adobe Exchange

2

Connect to your AI assistant

Download the extension for Claude Desktop (or set up manually for Cursor, Windsurf, and others). Now your AI can talk to InDesign.

Install Extension

3

Ask your AI for help

Open your AI assistant and InDesign, then just ask: "Help me fix the spacing on page 3" or "Make all my headings blue."

What can it do?

Anything you can do in InDesign, you can ask Claude to help with.

Create layouts

Describe what you want and Claude builds it—text frames, image boxes, grids, and more.

Format text

Apply styles, adjust typography, fix formatting issues—just tell Claude what you need.

Automate tasks

Batch operations, repetitive edits, data-driven layouts—let Claude handle the tedious work.

How it works

Claude

Id

InDesign

Sidekick connects Claude to InDesign, allowing Claude to talk directly to InDesign instead of about InDesign.

Loved by designers

Rated 5.0 from 6 reviews on Adobe Exchange.

Fantastic

As an engineer, I like using InDesign for construction specifications booklets, final reports, proposals, etc. Between Claude handling the tedious repetitive items and the quality control reviews, it's like having an expert on my shoulder every step of the way and making the updates/changes for me. It's not perfect, but it makes mistakes about as often as I do… it's a great tool!

Mark McGuire · May 30, 2026

Works Amazing

This works way better than I could have imagined. As with any AI, once you get the hang of describing what you're needing, it feels like an in-house proofer and intern you can hand off grunt work to. After 6 weeks, it's saved me countless hours and taken over much of the mind numbing tedious tasks to free me up for what I'm good at — the creative side. Also, the errors and revisions are down by around 50% as it catches things 4+ proof readers miss on technical documents.

Chuck Moser · May 11, 2026

Way better than I expected!

If you use InDesign and use Claude, this is a total no-brainer. My first several designs were pretty mediocre, but then I realized that, like with all LLMs, you have to tell it what you want. If you manage Sidekick like you would manage your in-house or external designer, you'll get much better results. Tell it what you want, give it screenshots, give it directions on layout and margins, and poof, it's there. Really wonderful.

Jeff Shuck · March 10, 2026

Questions

Does this only work with Claude?

Sidekick works with any app that supports MCP (Model Context Protocol). This includes Claude Desktop, Cursor, Continue, and many others. Learn more about MCP.

Is my data sent to the cloud?

Sidekick runs entirely on your machine. Your documents never leave your computer—the plugin just lets Claude see and edit what's in InDesign.

Which versions of InDesign are supported?

Sidekick requires InDesign 2024 or later, as it uses Adobe's UXP plugin architecture.

How much does it cost?

The Sidekick plugin is a paid product available on Adobe Exchange. You'll also need a Claude subscription (or access to another MCP-compatible AI). Learn more about billing. Need to cancel? Here's how.

Just Published

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June 7, 2026

Your client revises the scope, the spreadsheet changes, and now you're re-typing a pricing table by hand. Sidekick lets Claude update it from the Excel file—new prices, new rows, same branding.

Read more →