Aide — AI Assistant for Adobe InDesign

Aide is a CEP panel that lives inside Adobe InDesign and acts as your AI scripting assistant and script manager. Describe what you want in plain English — Aide generates the ExtendScript code, previews it, and lets you execute it with one click. Save your scripts, organize them into sets, star your favorites, and easily run them from a compact library.

Works with local AI models (via Ollama), or cloud providers like Google Gemini, OpenAI, Anthropic, and any OpenAI-compatible endpoint.

✨ Features

Core

• Natural Language → ExtendScript: Describe your task, get working code instantly.
• Multi-Provider Support: Ollama (local/private), Google Gemini, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Custom endpoints.
• Code Preview & Safety: All generated code is shown before execution; nothing runs without your approval.
• Conversation Memory: Context-aware follow-up prompts build on what was already created.
• Auto-Fix on Error: If a script errors, Aide can send the error message back to the AI to generate a fix.
• Adaptive UI: The panel follows InDesign's brightness theme (Light/Dark) automatically.

Scripts Library

• Aide tab: Scripts saved from chat; search, star, and run.
• Sets tab: Organize your scripts into logical groups.
• Favorites: One-click access to your most-used automations.
• Compact View: Optimized for high-density script management.

📸 Screenshots

The Chat interface allows for natural language prompting and live ExtendScript generation with code preview.

The Scripts tab features a high-performance, IDE-like file tree for navigating local ExtendScript files and folders.	Real-time filtering and search enable quick access to specific scripts within complex directory structures.
Script Sets provide a way to organize frequently used scripts into logical collections for improved efficiency.	The Settings tab offers comprehensive control over LLM providers, model selection, and script folder indexing.

🚀 Getting Started

Requirements

• Adobe InDesign CC 2021 (v16.0) or later — (CEP 10, Chromium 88)
• Recommended: Adobe InDesign CC 2023+ (v18.0)
• macOS 10.15+ or Windows 10+
• For local AI: Ollama installed and running
• For cloud AI: An API key from your chosen provider

Installation (macOS)

Option A: Quick Install (Recommended)

1. Download this repository.
2. Double-click enable_debug_mode.command to allow unsigned extensions.
3. Double-click install_extension.command (enter your password when prompted).

Option B: Manual Install If you prefer not to use the .command scripts:

1. Enable Debug Mode: Open Terminal and run:

   defaults write com.adobe.CSXS.9 PlayerDebugMode 1
   defaults write com.adobe.CSXS.10 PlayerDebugMode 1
   defaults write com.adobe.CSXS.11 PlayerDebugMode 1
   defaults write com.adobe.CSXS.12 PlayerDebugMode 1

2. Create Extension Folder:

   sudo mkdir -p "/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CEP/extensions/com.aide.indesign"

3. Copy Files: Copy CSXS, css, js, jsx, and index.html from this repo into the folder created above.

4. Fix Permissions:

   sudo xattr -cr "/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CEP/extensions/com.aide.indesign"
   sudo chmod -R 755 "/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CEP/extensions/com.aide.indesign"

5. Restart InDesign and go to Window → Extensions → Aide.

Installation (Windows)

1. Enable Debug Mode: Run regedit, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\CSXS.10 (or your version), and set PlayerDebugMode to 1.
2. Copy the folder to: C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\CEP\extensions\com.aide.indesign
3. Restart InDesign and find it under Window → Extensions.

🛠 Project Structure

Aide/
├── CSXS/
│   └── manifest.xml         # CEP extension registration
├── css/
│   └── style.css            # Adaptive theme & layout
├── js/
│   ├── CSInterface.js       # Adobe CEP library (Internal)
│   ├── app.js               # App logic, theme, & UI wiring
│   ├── chat.js              # Conversation engine
│   ├── models.js            # AI Provider management
│   ├── scripts.js           # Library management (Aide, Sets, Favs)
│   ├── system-prompt.js     # InDesign DOM reference for the AI
│   └── utils.js             # Code formatting & helpers
├── jsx/
│   └── host.jsx             # ExtendScript executor bridge
├── index.html               # Main UI shell
├── install_extension.command # macOS installer
├── enable_debug_mode.command # macOS debug enabler
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

🔒 Privacy & Security

• Local-first: When using Ollama, all processing stays on your machine.
• API Security: Keys are stored locally in your browser's localStorage and are never sent to third parties (only to the provider's API).
• No Telemetry: Aide does not collect data or "phone home."

📜 License

MIT — see LICENSE for details.

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🙏 Acknowledgements

• Ollama — Local AI model runtime
• Adobe CEP Resources — CEP framework and CSInterface.js

Built with the help of AI coding assistants. Designed and directed by a graphic designer who got tired of doing repetitive InDesign tasks by hand.