Sidekick for ChatGPT (switch assistant)
For the ChatGPT desktop app. It shares its settings with Codex CLI, so adding Sidekick here adds it there too.
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Get the InDesign plugin
From Adobe Exchange. 30 days to try, then $9.95 a month, cancel any time.
Get it on Adobe Exchange -
Install Sidekick
Download for Mac Download for Intel Mac Download for Windows Download for Windows on ARM Download for 32-bit WindowsOpen the downloaded file and follow the prompts. A Mac asks for your password, Windows for administrator permission.
Another computer?
Windows may say it “protected your PC”: our installer isn’t signed yet. Click More info, then Run anyway.
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Add Sidekick to ChatGPT
In ChatGPT, open Settings → MCP servers → Add server. Name it
indesign-sidekick, choose STDIO, and under Command to launch enter:indesign-sidekickUnder Arguments, click Add argument and enter
start. Click Save, then Restart. -
Tell ChatGPT to use Sidekick
Without this, ChatGPT may try to operate InDesign by taking over your screen. Open Settings → Personalization → Codex instructions, paste this line, and save:
For anything in Adobe InDesign, use the indesign-sidekick MCP tools rather than Computer Use, unless I explicitly ask for Computer Use. -
Check it
Give ChatGPT a few seconds after the restart, then start a new chat with a document open in InDesign, and ask:
Use Sidekick to tell me how many pages my InDesign document has.No answer from InDesign? Ask
sidekick healthand send us the reply. -
ChatGPT walks you through the setup and asks before every change it makes.
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Paste this into ChatGPT
In ChatGPT, in Work or Codex mode, paste this and approve the steps it proposes:
Install Sidekick for InDesign by following https://sidekick.eastpole.nl/install/chatgpt.md -
No installer and no password, for people who already use Node.js 20 or later.
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Check Node.js
In a terminal, this should print 20 or higher:
node --version -
Add Sidekick to ChatGPT
Settings → MCP servers → Add server: name
indesign-sidekick, type STDIO, and under Command to launch:npxUnder Arguments, add
-y,indesign-sidekickandstart, one at a time. Click Save, then Restart. -
Tell ChatGPT to use Sidekick
Open Settings → Personalization → Codex instructions, paste this line, and save:
For anything in Adobe InDesign, use the indesign-sidekick MCP tools rather than Computer Use, unless I explicitly ask for Computer Use. -
Check it
Restart ChatGPT, start a new chat with a document open in InDesign, and ask:
Use Sidekick to tell me how many pages my InDesign document has.No answer from InDesign? Ask
sidekick healthand send us the reply.
Other ways
Not working?
- ChatGPT asks to control InDesign instead?
- Don't allow it. Check that Settings → Personalization → Codex instructions holds the Sidekick line, then start a new chat.
- ChatGPT doesn't seem to know Sidekick?
- Right after a restart Sidekick needs a moment to start. Wait a few seconds and start a new chat. Still nothing? Check that Sidekick is listed under Settings → MCP servers.
- Your assistant can't find
indesign-sidekick? - Restart the assistant after installing, so it sees the updated PATH. Still nothing? Use the full path:
/usr/local/bin/indesign-sidekickon macOS, or on Windows runwhere indesign-sidekickand take the path ending in.cmd. - Using Sidekick in more than one assistant?
- Install it once for the whole computer, then add it to each assistant, and only once per assistant: two entries in one assistant start two copies. See Using multiple AI assistants.