codesign
CoDesign gives AI agents like Claude Code, Codex and PI a real design engine for genuine, editable designs, not flat images. Bring in what you have: InDesign, Photoshop, PowerPoint and PDF files stay editable. Exports print PDFs (CMYK, bleed) and videos.
Install / Use
claude mcp add imgly -- npx -y github:imgly/codesignIf the server publishes to npm under a different name, use that package instead — check the repo README.
MCP Server
Model Context Protocol server
Quality Score
Category
AutomationSupported Platforms
Our assessment of codesign
codesign scores 85/100 on our quality scale, 1952nd of 2,887 Automation skills we index.
Its MCP Server is 7.5 KB long, well organised into 14 sections with 11 code examples: a thorough specification that gives an agent plenty to work with.
It has 42 GitHub stars, so there is little community track record yet; judge it on its content.
Maintenance, license and trust
- The repository was last updated today, so codesign is actively maintained.
- It is released under the MIT license, a permissive license that allows use, modification and commercial use with attribution.
- Its trust signals score 97/100, with no cautions. These come from repository metadata, not a code audit — read the skill file before letting an agent act on it.
codesign compared with similar skills
All 4 of these similar skills score higher than codesign; compare them before choosing.
| Skill | Score | Stars | Updated | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| codesign (this skill)by imgly | 85 | 42 | today | MCP Server |
| Agent-Reachby Panniantong | 100 | 100.2k | today | CLAUDE.md |
| taste-skillby Leonxlnx | 100 | 99.8k | today | CLAUDE.md |
| headroomby headroomlabs-ai | 100 | 76.7k | today | CLAUDE.md |
| CowAgentby zhayujie | 100 | 47.5k | today | CLAUDE.md |
Frequently asked questions
- How do I install codesign?
- Run
claude mcp add imgly -- npx -y github:imgly/codesign. The install tabs above show the steps for each supported agent. - Which AI agents does codesign work with?
- It is written for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Gemini CLI and OpenAI Codex, as a MCP Server file. Other agents that read the same format can often use it too.
- Is codesign safe to use?
- It is MIT-licensed and scores 97/100 on trust signals. Skills are instructions an agent will follow, so read the file before installing it and do not approve commands you do not understand.
- Is codesign still maintained?
- The repository was last updated today, so codesign is actively maintained.
Skill content
View source on GitHubCoDesign
The design layer for the agent era.
CoDesign gives your coding agent a real design engine. Generate, edit, and automate fully editable designs — print, social, and video — straight from the chat, then export print-ready PDFs, images, mp4 video, and more. You steer, the agent edits the same scene, and you keep control of the outcome.
It ships as an MCP server (plus a Claude Code plugin) that hands your agent
IMG.LY's CE.SDK CreativeEngine — the same production engine behind IMG.LY's
commercial SDKs. Every recipe below spawns the published npm package
@imgly/codesign-mcp over stdio; no separate install step — npx fetches it on first
use.
What you can make
Ask your agent, in plain language:
- Resize for every channel — "Take this Instagram post and make the Story, LinkedIn and X versions."
- Make an image editable (needs the free IMG.LY sign-in) — "Split this flat product photo into layers, put the product on our brand background and make it editable."
- Restyle an existing PDF — "Import this datasheet.pdf as an editable design, restyle it with our brand kit, and export A4 and web versions."
- Generate many from a CSV — "One speaker card per row in speakers.csv, same template, all editable."
- Prepare for print — "Turn this flyer into an A4 print PDF with 3 mm bleed and CMYK."
- Update an existing design — "Open last year's flyer.psd, swap the date and venue, export again."
- Localize a design — "Translate this poster into German and re-fit the layout so nothing overflows."
- Make a short video (generated music and voiceover need the free IMG.LY sign-in) — "Turn this poster into a 15-second vertical reel: animate the headline in, cut between the three product shots, and put a music bed and a voiceover under it."
- Create a launch graphic — "Make the v2.0 launch graphic with our logo and brand colors, in X, LinkedIn and OG-image sizes."
- Create App Store graphics — "Make the App Store screenshots and the Play Store feature graphic from these five screen captures, on-brand, all sizes."
How it works
Three layers, one product:
- The plugin — skills, slash commands, and an embedded design handbook your agent draws on to design well (brand, localize, resize, and quality-check its own output). This is the piece you install.
- The MCP server (
@imgly/codesign-mcp) — exposes the design tools (edit,preview,export,list,history, …) over MCP, driven by tool calls from any agent host. - The CE.SDK CreativeEngine — IMG.LY's real, headless design engine that does the actual layout, rendering, and export.
Licensing
This repository — the Claude Code and Codex plugins, marketplace manifests,
skills and documentation — is released under the MIT License.
The CoDesign engine itself, distributed as the npm package @imgly/codesign-mcp, is
proprietary software from IMG.LY and free to use locally. The full terms ship
inside the package as LICENSE.md.
Why a real engine matters
Every other design agent draws on a web canvas — a quick fix that breaks on the hard problems. CoDesign commands a production engine matured over years across print, video, and social:
- True print & color fidelity — CMYK, bleed, and ICC profiles, not just RGB screen output.
- Deterministic output — renders identically everywhere, independent of browser or config.
- Native performance — a purpose-built engine that stays fast at scale and under heavy assets.
- Full compatibility — imports InDesign, PSD, PowerPoint (PPTX), PDF, and Lottie; exports print-ready PDF, image, video, and HTML.
Requirements & known limitations
Read this first — the failure modes below are silent.
- Node.js ≥ 22.15 is required and is not provided. The server runs on your
system Node. With no Node (or Node < 22.15) on
PATH, the host reports the server as failed with no useful reason — typicallylocal: 0andMCP error -32000. Install Node 22.15+ first: https://nodejs.org. - Pin
@0.5.0— every recipe names that exact version on purpose. The plugin ships the skills that version was built with, and a bare or dist-taggednpxwould pair them with a different server. Each release republishes this repo with a new pin — update the plugin (or your recipe) to move forward. - Windows is not supported under bare
npx. Hosts that spawnnpxdirectly hitspawn npx ENOENT(anthropics/claude-code#58510). Use WSL for now; a native Windows launcher is coming.
Install
Claude Code
Install the plugin from the marketplace:
claude plugin marketplace add imgly/codesign
claude plugin install codesign@imgly-codesign
Or add the MCP server directly, without the plugin:
claude mcp add codesign -- npx -y @imgly/codesign-mcp@0.5.0 stdio
Codex
Install the plugin from the marketplace:
codex plugin marketplace add imgly/codesign
codex plugin add codesign@imgly-codesign
Or add the MCP server directly, without the plugin:
codex mcp add codesign -- npx -y @imgly/codesign-mcp@0.5.0 stdio
Antigravity CLI
Clone the repo and install the plugin folder:
git clone https://github.com/imgly/codesign
agy plugin install ./codesign/plugins/codesign
Or add the MCP server directly, without the plugin:
agy mcp add codesign -- npx -y @imgly/codesign-mcp@0.5.0 stdio
Gemini CLI
Gemini CLI now serves Gemini Code Assist Standard/Enterprise and API-key accounts; on a personal Google account, use Antigravity CLI above.
Install as an extension straight from the public repo:
gemini extensions install https://github.com/imgly/codesign
Or add the server manually to ~/.gemini/settings.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"codesign": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@imgly/codesign-mcp@0.5.0",
"stdio"
]
}
}
}
Other MCP hosts
Every other host spawns the same stdio server — only the config file and the top-level key differ. Add this block to the host’s MCP config:
{
"mcpServers": {
"codesign": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@imgly/codesign-mcp@0.5.0",
"stdio"
]
}
}
}
| Host | Config file | Note |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cursor | .cursor/mcp.json | as-is |
| Windsurf | ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json | as-is |
| VS Code | .vscode/mcp.json | use the key servers instead of mcpServers |
| Zed | settings.json | use the context_servers shape below |
VS Code (servers key):
{
"servers": {
"codesign": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@imgly/codesign-mcp@0.5.0",
"stdio"
]
}
}
}
Zed (context_servers):
{
"context_servers": {
"codesign": {
"command": {
"path": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@imgly/codesign-mcp@0.5.0",
"stdio"
]
}
}
}
}
Beyond your machine
CoDesign runs free on your machine today. When you need more — always-on hosting, your own infrastructure (VPC / on-prem), or a fully bundled design agent that lives in the canvas — the same building block graduates by changing config, not vendors. No lock-in. Talk to us: support@img.ly.
Support
Questions or issues: support@img.ly. This distribution is generated from IMG.LY's source repository.
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Languages
Trust signals
From repository metadata: license, adoption, age and documentation. Not a code audit — see the Safety scan above for what the skill file itself contains.
