Sidekick for any MCP client (switch assistant)

Any assistant that can run a local (stdio) MCP server works with Sidekick.

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?

Add Sidekick to your assistant

Add a local (stdio) MCP server named indesign-sidekick that runs:

indesign-sidekick start

Many clients take this mcpServers format:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "indesign-sidekick": {
      "command": "indesign-sidekick",
      "args": ["start"]
    }
  }
}

Check it

With a document open in InDesign, ask: how many pages does my document have?
No answer from InDesign? Ask sidekick health and send us the reply.
Your assistant walks you through the setup and asks before every change it makes.
Step 2
Paste this into your assistant

In your assistant, paste this and approve the steps it proposes:
```
Install Sidekick for InDesign by following https://sidekick.eastpole.nl/install/other.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 your assistant

Add a local (stdio) MCP server that runs:
```
npx -y indesign-sidekick start
```
Check it

With a document open in InDesign, 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.
On Windows, Sidekick doesn't start (spawn ... ENOENT)?: Some apps can't start a Windows command script directly. Let cmd start it: set "command": "cmd" and put the rest in the arguments, ["/c", "indesign-sidekick", "start"] (npx: ["/c", "npx", "-y", "indesign-sidekick", "start"]).
"npx: command not found" or "spawn npx ENOENT"?: Apps started from the Dock or Start menu don't always see your terminal's PATH, common with nvm or fnm. Use the full path to npx instead: run which npx (Windows: where npx, and take the path ending in .cmd) and put that in as the command.
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.