Photoshop MCP Server

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A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables AI assistants to control Adobe Photoshop via Windows COM automation. Built with .NET 10 and C# 14 using the official MCP C# SDK.

Overview

This MCP server exposes Photoshop automation as a set of tools that any MCP-compatible AI client (Claude Desktop, GitHub Copilot, etc.) can invoke. The primary tool is ExecuteJavaScript, which gives the AI full access to Photoshop's scripting engine — allowing it to flexibly decide what to do at runtime.

Requirements

• Windows (COM automation is Windows-only)
• Adobe Photoshop (any version supporting COM automation and DoJavaScript)
• .NET 10 SDK or later

Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/airtaxi/PhotoshopMcpServer.git
cd PhotoshopMcpServer

2. Build

dotnet build

3. (Optional) Publish as a self-contained executable

dotnet publish PhotoshopMcpServer/PhotoshopMcpServer.csproj -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained

The executable will be in PhotoshopMcpServer/bin/Release/net10.0-windows/win-x64/publish/.

MCP Server Configuration

Claude Desktop

Add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Option A: Run from source (requires .NET SDK)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "photoshop": {
      "command": "dotnet",
      "args": ["run", "--project", "C:\\path\\to\\PhotoshopMcpServer\\PhotoshopMcpServer"]
    }
  }
}

Option B: Run published executable

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "photoshop": {
      "command": "C:\\path\\to\\PhotoshopMcpServer.exe"
    }
  }
}

GitHub Copilot (VS Code)

Add to your .vscode/mcp.json or VS Code settings:

{
  "servers": {
    "photoshop": {
      "command": "dotnet",
      "args": ["run", "--project", "C:\\path\\to\\PhotoshopMcpServer\\PhotoshopMcpServer"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add to your Cursor MCP settings (~/.cursor/mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "photoshop": {
      "command": "dotnet",
      "args": ["run", "--project", "C:\\path\\to\\PhotoshopMcpServer\\PhotoshopMcpServer"]
    }
  }
}

Note: Replace C:\path\to\PhotoshopMcpServer with the actual path where you cloned the repository.

Available Tools

Tool	Description
ExecuteJavaScript	Primary tool — execute arbitrary JavaScript in Photoshop's scripting engine
IsPhotoshopRunning	Check if Photoshop is running and accessible
LaunchPhotoshop	Launch Photoshop or connect to a running instance
GetPhotoshopVersion	Get the Photoshop version string
GetActiveDocumentInfo	Get info about the active document (name, size, color mode, resolution)
GetOpenDocuments	List all open document names
OpenDocument	Open an image file by path
SaveActiveDocument	Save the current document
CreateNewDocument	Create a new document with specified dimensions
ExportAsPng	Export the active document as PNG
ExportAsJpeg	Export the active document as JPEG with quality setting
GetLayerInfo	Get a summary of all layers in the active document

ExecuteJavaScript — The Power Tool

The ExecuteJavaScript tool is intentionally flexible. It allows the AI to construct and execute any valid Photoshop JavaScript, giving it full control over Photoshop. Example scripts:

// Get document name
app.activeDocument.name

// Create a new document
app.documents.add(1920, 1080, 72, "My Canvas")

// Resize the active document
app.activeDocument.resizeImage(800, 600)

// Flatten all layers
app.activeDocument.flatten()

// Apply Gaussian blur to the active layer
app.activeDocument.activeLayer.applyGaussianBlur(5.0)

// Get all layer names
var names = [];
for (var i = 0; i < app.activeDocument.layers.length; i++)
    names.push(app.activeDocument.layers[i].name);
names.join(", ");

Project Structure

PhotoshopMcpServer/
├── .github/
│   └── copilot-instructions.md          # C# code style rules for Copilot
├── PhotoshopMcpServer/
│   ├── Program.cs                       # MCP server entry point (stdio transport)
│   ├── Models/
│   │   └── PhotoshopModels.cs           # Record types for results and document info
│   ├── Services/
│   │   ├── IPhotoshopService.cs         # Photoshop COM service interface
│   │   └── PhotoshopService.cs          # COM automation implementation
│   └── Tools/
│       └── PhotoshopTools.cs            # MCP tool definitions (13 tools)
├── PhotoshopMcpServer.Tests/
│   ├── PhotoshopToolsTests.cs           # Tool unit tests (28 tests)
│   └── PhotoshopServiceTests.cs         # Model tests (7 tests)
├── PhotoshopMcpServer.slnx
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

Running Tests

dotnet test

How It Works

1. The MCP server starts and communicates over stdio (standard input/output)
2. An AI client connects and discovers the available tools
3. When the AI invokes a tool, the server uses Windows COM automation to send commands to Photoshop
4. Photoshop executes the command (typically via DoJavaScript) and returns the result
5. The result is sent back to the AI client

AI Client ←→ MCP (stdio) ←→ PhotoshopMcpServer ←→ COM ←→ Adobe Photoshop

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Acknowledgements

• Model Context Protocol C# SDK — Official MCP SDK for .NET
• GitHub Copilot — AI-assisted development of this project

Author

Howon Lee (@airtaxi)