--- title: "CLI & configuration" description: "The creative-mcp installer: setup, doctor, update, add and remove. Plus launch commands, Suite app selection and configuration for each server." url: https://creativemcp.com/docs/cli.html author: Zach Shallbetter (https://creativemcp.com/about.html) modified: 2026-11-03T19:18:21-08:00 site: Creative MCP (https://creativemcp.com/, index: https://creativemcp.com/llms.txt) copyright: © 2026 Zach Shallbetter (https://github.com/zachshallbetter/creative-mcp/blob/main/NOTICE.md) --- [Docs](https://creativemcp.com/docs/) / CLI & configuration Installer · launch commands · environment # CLI & configuration One command, `creative-mcp`, installs the servers, registers them with your MCP clients and keeps them healthy. The servers themselves are MCP processes your client launches, not command-line utilities. [Docs home](https://creativemcp.com/docs/)[Getting started](https://creativemcp.com/docs/getting-started.html)[Content](https://creativemcp.com/docs/content.html)[MCP API](https://creativemcp.com/docs/api.html)[CLI & config](https://creativemcp.com/docs/cli.html)[Architecture](https://creativemcp.com/docs/architecture.html)[InDesign](https://creativemcp.com/docs/implementations/indesign.html)[Illustrator](https://creativemcp.com/docs/implementations/illustrator.html)[Photoshop](https://creativemcp.com/docs/implementations/photoshop.html)[After Effects](https://creativemcp.com/docs/implementations/aftereffects.html)[Premiere Pro](https://creativemcp.com/docs/implementations/premiere.html)[Suite](https://creativemcp.com/docs/implementations/suite.html)[Shared core](https://creativemcp.com/docs/implementations/core.html)[Blender MCP](https://creativemcp.com/docs/implementations/blender.html)[Contribute](https://creativemcp.com/docs/contributing.html) ## The creative-mcp installer Install it with Homebrew, then let it find your apps and clients: ``` brew tap zachshallbetter/tap brew trust zachshallbetter/tap brew install zachshallbetter/tap/creative-mcp creative-mcp setup ``` Nothing to drag into an app or copy into a config file: `setup` shows its plan, asks once, installs, registers and checks. It ends by telling you which clients to restart and a few requests to try. Run it again at any time; when everything is in place it says so and changes nothing. | Command | What it does | `creative-mcp setup` | Detects your creative apps and MCP clients, suggests the matching tools, installs them and registers only what is missing or out of date. | `creative-mcp doctor` | Checks every server answers, asks each running app whether it is reachable (it never starts an app), runs the Blender add-on check and shows which clients have which servers. Every problem ends with the command that fixes it. | `creative-mcp update` | Runs `brew update`, upgrades the installed tools and creative-mcp itself, reinstalls the Blender add-on and fixes registrations that point at an old command. | `creative-mcp add blender` | Sets up named tools even when no matching app was detected. | `creative-mcp remove blender` | Removes the tool from every client, then uninstalls it. Add `--no-install` to keep it installed. | `creative-mcp detect`, `list` | What was found on this machine; every tool in the catalogue and whether it is installed. Options: `--dry-run` prints the plan and changes nothing; `--yes` accepts the suggestions without prompting; `--tools adobe,blender` and `--clients claude-code,codex,cursor` narrow the choice; `--no-install` only registers; `--json` gives machine-readable output for `detect`, `list` and `doctor`. ### How it registers servers - Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI: through their own `mcp add` commands at user scope. When `claude` isn't on your `PATH`, it uses the Claude Code CLI that ships with Claude Desktop. - Claude Desktop, Cursor: by adding `mcpServers` entries to their JSON config. The file is backed up once before the first change, and every other setting is kept. - Anything else: it prints the exact entry to add. Detection reads app bundles, `PATH` and client config files on your machine and sends nothing anywhere. Status: Implemented and tested (v0.2.3). fully supported on macOS. Source and changes: [creative-mcp/cli](https://github.com/zachshallbetter/creative-mcp/tree/main/cli). ## Install and launch a server by hand ### One published app server ``` claude mcp add illustrator -- npx -y adobe-mcp-illustrator ``` Substitute the desired package name. For another MCP client, configure the command and arguments instead of running it as a one-shot shell command. ### Suite coordinator ``` claude mcp add adobe -- npx -y adobe-mcp-suite ``` Optional global install is documented for the suite package: ``` npm install -g adobe-mcp-suite ``` ### Homebrew The Creative MCP tap installs the Suite coordinator and links every app server, including the InDesign UXP bridge, onto your `PATH`. Homebrew 7 and later asks you to trust a third-party tap once. ``` brew tap zachshallbetter/tap brew trust zachshallbetter/tap brew install zachshallbetter/tap/adobe-mcp ``` Installed commands: `adobe-mcp-suite`, `adobe-mcp-indesign`, `adobe-mcp-indesign-uxp-bridge`, `adobe-mcp-illustrator`, `adobe-mcp-photoshop`, `adobe-mcp-premiere` and `adobe-mcp-aftereffects`. Point your client at the command name instead of `npx`. ## Suite app selection The coordinator accepts `--apps ids`, `--apps=ids`, or `ADOBE_MCP_APPS`. If none is supplied, it loads InDesign and Illustrator, the current workflow dependencies. Use `all` to load all five app servers. ``` npx -y adobe-mcp-suite --apps indesign,illustrator npx -y adobe-mcp-suite --apps=photoshop,aftereffects ADOBE_MCP_APPS=premiere npx -y adobe-mcp-suite npx -y adobe-mcp-suite --apps all ``` Valid IDs: `indesign`, `illustrator`, `photoshop`, `aftereffects`, `premiere`. Unknown IDs fail startup. Loading an app does not add coordinator workflows for it. ## Run from a source checkout ``` git clone https://github.com/zachshallbetter/adobe-mcp.git cd adobe-mcp npm install # Suite coordinator node packages/suite/src/index.js --apps indesign,illustrator # Standalone MCP server node packages/illustrator/src/index.js ``` These entrypoints stay open and speak MCP over stdio, so a client should launch them. The repository’s root scripts are for development checks, not a separate product CLI: ``` npm run check npm test ``` ## No generic CLI command surface For the app servers, the documented interface is the MCP protocol, not shell flags like `--help`, `status` or `export`. To inspect tools, connect the server and use `tools/list` or the server’s MCP `help` tool. To smoke-check startup, use an MCP client or send MCP initialization and tool-list requests over stdio; tests use stubs and do not require Adobe apps. ## Configuration variables | Variable | Scope | Use | `ADOBE_MCP_APPS` | Suite | Comma-separated app IDs; suite-only. | `*_ALLOWED_DIRS` | App-specific | Additional file directories. Use colon-separated paths on macOS and semicolons on Windows. | `*_APP_NAME` | Where package supports it | Select or identify the local Adobe app; see that package guide. | `*_SCRIPT_TIMEOUT_MS` | App-specific | Script/operation wait limit; defaults vary by package. | `*_BACKEND`, `*_TARGET` | Supported packages only | Select documented backend or compatible local ArtCraft target. | `PREMIERE_WS_PORT` | Premiere | Loopback bridge port; configure the same value in the plugin panel. | `BRIDGE_TOKEN`, `PREMIERE_BRIDGE_TOKEN` | Premiere | Optional shared secret for local bridge authentication; keep private. These patterns are not universal aliases: check the app README for exact accepted names, defaults, precedence and whether the Suite coordinator forwards them. Configure variables inside the MCP client’s server entry and restart the process after changes.