Sidekick for Claude Code (switch assistant)

One command adds Sidekick to Claude Code, for every project.

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

Open the downloaded file and follow the prompts. A Mac asks for your password, Windows for administrator permission.

Another computer?
Step 3
Add Sidekick to Claude Code

In a terminal (on Windows, a new one, opened after installing):
```
claude mcp add --scope user --transport stdio indesign-sidekick -- indesign-sidekick start
```
Then claude mcp list should show indesign-sidekick with ✔ Connected.
Check it

Start a new Claude Code session (/clear isn't enough) with a document open in InDesign, and ask: how many pages does my document have?
No answer from InDesign? Ask sidekick health and send us the reply.
Claude Code walks you through the setup and asks before every change it makes.

Paste this into Claude Code

In Claude Code, paste this and approve the steps it proposes:

Install Sidekick for InDesign by following https://sidekick.eastpole.nl/install/claude-code.md

No installer and no password, for people who already use Node.js 20 or later.
Step 2
Check Node.js

In a terminal, this should print 20 or higher:
```
node --version
```
Step 3
Add Sidekick to Claude Code
```
claude mcp add --scope user --transport stdio indesign-sidekick -- npx -y indesign-sidekick start
```
Then claude mcp list should show ✔ Connected. The first check can fail while npx downloads Sidekick; run it again after a moment.
Check it

Start a new Claude Code session (/clear isn't enough) with a document open in InDesign, and ask: how many pages does my document have?
No answer from InDesign? Ask sidekick health and send us the reply.

Other ways

Not working?

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-sidekick on macOS, or on Windows run where indesign-sidekick and take the path ending in .cmd.
Slow start on a company network?: If your network blocks the npm registry, add --offline to the npx arguments (npx -y --offline indesign-sidekick start). Sidekick then stops picking up new versions until you remove it.
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.