NexusInDesign

✨ Why NexusInDesign

🚀 Quick start

Windows (x64 or ARM64), InDesign 2024 to 2026 installed (it registers its COM server), Claude Code and/or Codex.

Tip

Let your AI install it. Paste this sentence into Claude Code or Codex:

Install and set up NexusInDesign for me by following https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pironjulien/NexusSystem/main/INSTALL-AI.md

Or the NexusSystem app (Microsoft Store): it runs this product's get.ps1 and adds the nexus-indesign plugin to Claude Code and Codex from the Nexus catalog. Restart Claude Code and Codex afterwards.

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\get.ps1

The engine starts InDesign when needed and closes it again if it started it hidden and nothing stays open.

⚙️ How it works

flowchart LR
    A["Claude Code / Codex"] -->|"MCP over stdio"| E["NexusInDesign.exe<br/>(C#, self-contained)"]
    E -->|"COM: DoScript, NEVER_INTERACT"| I["Adobe InDesign 2024–2026"]
    E -.->|"backups, audit journal"| P[("~\.nexus\nexus-indesign\private")]

The nexus-indesign skill (in plugin/skills) guides the agent:

1. silent_status, silent_list_documents, then open_document or create_document: each returns documentId, revision and stateToken.
2. run_layout_script for every coherent change: in one tracked InDesign pass it checks revision and state token, backs up every open document (restorable with silent_restore_backup), runs the UXP script (app, indesign, doc, input), saves if asked, renders a verified PNG preview and optionally closes. It returns the new revision and token, so calls chain without re-inspection; a failing script is a known outcome with its backup.
3. preflight_document, then finalize_layout (PDF only if the layout contract and Adobe's preflight pass) or export_pdf, export_png, export_idml, package_document, save_document, save_as.
4. silent_close_document for the documents the task opened.

Other tools: analyze_layout and compare_layout_snapshot (geometry, resources, styles, lint and a stable layout fingerprint), preview_layout, create_working_copy, silent_audit_document and the get_* reads, execute_uxp_silent, indesign_doctor (local checks, never starts InDesign) and search_official_dom (offline index of Adobe's official DOM reference, pinned by SHA-256). 32 tools in all.

Important

After a timeout or a crash, silent_operation_status tells what is known; every InDesign command stays refused until silent_reconcile_unknown_operation has proven the documents stable and backed them up (it asks for a full InDesign restart when the interrupted script could still resume).

Warning

Code run through run_layout_script and execute_uxp_silent has Adobe's full scripting permissions (files and network included): it is not a sandbox.

🛠️ Settings

Defaults suit most users: documents are read from and written to the user profile; private storage, ~\.nexus, .ssh, .gnupg and AppData are denied.

{
  "readRoots": ["C:\\Dev", "%USERPROFILE%\\Documents"],
  "writeRoots": ["C:\\Dev", "%USERPROFILE%\\Documents"],
  "deniedRoots": ["%USERPROFILE%\\Documents\\Secrets"]
}

🔒 Privacy & security

Everything stays on the PC. The engine sends nothing over the network; backups, the audit journal (no document text, no path, no code) and the runtime stay in %USERPROFILE%\.nexus\nexus-indesign\private, readable by the current user only. See SECURITY.md for the trust boundary and the safeguards.

🧪 Build and test

.\test.ps1
pwsh -File tools/package.ps1 -Version 4.1.4

test.ps1 runs the xUnit suite against an emulated InDesign (no InDesign needed). The launcher is compiled with Native AOT, which needs the Visual C++ build tools (x64 and Arm64 for tools/package.ps1). Every push to main builds and attests the release files through NexusSystem's shared workflows; a new version is promoted to a stable release with the same files. See CONTRIBUTING.md and CHANGELOG.md.

Part of the Nexus ecosystem

Your AIs (Claude, Codex, Antigravity) at work on your Windows apps, real Chrome and Android phone — in the background.

NexusSystem	Windows	Browser	Android	Relay
Keypad	AGYmail	Free	InDesign	Wpp

Get them all with NexusSystem · Microsoft Store · julienpiron.fr · @julienpironfr

_{Built in France 🇫🇷 by Julien Piron}

MIT license (see LICENSE, NOTICE.md and THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md).