Inter Plugin Communication

UXP allows communication between plugins that are installed in the same application.

This is particularly handy when you know a certain task is already automated by another plugin and you would like to invoke it instead of duplicating the effort. But make sure the user is not caught by surprise. Your plugin should call out such dependencies to ensure flawless functioning of your plugin.

The Plugin Manager module provides APIs that will help establish the connection. But before we take a look at an example, be sure to be well-versed in these topics

Additionally, you will need

A basic knowledge of the plugin you are going to communicate with. This includes:
- the plugin id
- available entrypoints
- the structure of arguments to be passed (if applicable)
enablePluginCommunication permission for your plugin

System requirements

Please make sure your local environment uses the following application versions before proceeding.

InDesign v18.5 or higher
UDT v1.9.0 or higher
Manifest version v5 or higher

Example

Caller Plugin

manifest

JavaScript

{
    "requiredPermissions": {
        "ipc": {
            "enablePluginCommunication": true
        }
    }
}
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{
    "requiredPermissions": {
        "ipc": {
            "enablePluginCommunication": true
        }
    }
}

const { pluginManager } = require("uxp");
function communicateWithAnotherPlugin() {
    try {
        const allPlugins = pluginManager.plugins;
        const plugin = Array.from(allPlugins).find(plugin => plugin.id === "com.adobe.example.coolPlugin");
        if (plugin && plugin.enabled) {
            console.log('All commands:', plugin.manifest.commands);
            console.log('All panels:', plugin.manifest.panels);
    
            /* Show the plugin panel; Note that panels can only be made visible -- you can't ask to hide the panel */
            plugin.showPanel("simplePanel");
    
            plugin.invokeCommand("simpleCommand");
            
            /* Send an argument to the command  */
            const name = {
                firstName: "John",
                lastName: "Doe"
            };
            plugin.invokeCommand("commandWithInput", name);
        } else {
            // prompt the user to install or enable the plugin before trying again
        }
    } catch (e) {
        console.error(e);
    }
} 
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const { pluginManager } = require("uxp");
function communicateWithAnotherPlugin() {
    try {
        const allPlugins = pluginManager.plugins;
        const plugin = Array.from(allPlugins).find(plugin => plugin.id === "com.adobe.example.coolPlugin");
        if (plugin && plugin.enabled) {
            console.log('All commands:', plugin.manifest.commands);
            console.log('All panels:', plugin.manifest.panels);
    
            /* Show the plugin panel; Note that panels can only be made visible -- you can't ask to hide the panel */
            plugin.showPanel("simplePanel");
    
            plugin.invokeCommand("simpleCommand");
            
            /* Send an argument to the command  */
            const name = {
                firstName: "John",
                lastName: "Doe"
            };
            plugin.invokeCommand("commandWithInput", name);
        } else {
            // prompt the user to install or enable the plugin before trying again
        }
    } catch (e) {
        console.error(e);
    }
}

Callee Plugin

manifest

JavaScript

{
    "id": "com.adobe.example.coolPlugin",
    "name": "The cool plugin",
    "main": "index.html",
    "entrypoints": [
        {
            "type": "command",
            "id": "simpleCommand",
            "label": "Do your thing"
        },
        {
            "type": "command",
            "id": "commandWithInput",
            "label": "Do you thing with inputs"
        },
        {
            "type": "panel",
            "id": "simplePanel",
            "label": {"default": "Do your thing with UI"},
            // ...
        }
    ],
}
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{
    "id": "com.adobe.example.coolPlugin",
    "name": "The cool plugin",
    "main": "index.html",
    "entrypoints": [
        {
            "type": "command",
            "id": "simpleCommand",
            "label": "Do your thing"
        },
        {
            "type": "command",
            "id": "commandWithInput",
            "label": "Do you thing with inputs"
        },
        {
            "type": "panel",
            "id": "simplePanel",
            "label": {"default": "Do your thing with UI"},
            // ...
        }
    ],
}

const { entrypoints } = require("uxp");
entrypoints.setup({
  commands: {
    simpleCommand: () => doThing(),
    commandWithInput: (args) => doThing(args)
  },
  panels: {
    simplePanel: {
      show({node} = {}) { /* ... */}
    }
  }
});

function doThing(args) {
  console.log('Executed a command to do something cool', args && args.data[0]);
}
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const { entrypoints } = require("uxp");
entrypoints.setup({
  commands: {
    simpleCommand: () => doThing(),
    commandWithInput: (args) => doThing(args)
  },
  panels: {
    simplePanel: {
      show({node} = {}) { /* ... */}
    }
  }
});

function doThing(args) {
  console.log('Executed a command to do something cool', args && args.data[0]);
}

Additional notes

You may not see any error if the entrypoint is not found. Therefore, we advise you to use plugin.manifest.commands and plugin.manifest.panels to select from the complete list of entrypoints.
Invoking a plugin installed/running on a different application is not possible
Passing methods in the argument object is also not possible
There is a possibility that the user might have disabled a particular plugin via Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop App. Check the plugin's availability by using plugin.enabled before invoking.

Reference docs

Plugin Manager

Lifecycle hooks

Modularizing code

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Inter Plugin Communication

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Example

Additional notes

Reference docs

System requirements