data-slots=heading, text

data-variant=centered

data-textColor=white

data-background=linear-gradient(135deg, #30186E 0%, #6432C8 100%)

CEP to UXP Migration Center

Planning to move a CEP extension to UXP? Start here for cross-host guidance on packaging, APIs, and manifests.

Creative Cloud CEP to UXP plugin transition

For FAQs related to how the transition affects Creative Cloud plugins and their users, see Creative Cloud CEP to UXP plugin transition.

CEP to UXP migration milestones

This timeline combines UXP plugin availability with the planned Marketplace and end-user milestones for transitioning existing CEP panels in each application. Yellow marks milestones affecting third-party developers; pink marks changes affecting end users. GA means generally available.

CEP to UXP migration roadmap showing UXP availability and CEP panel milestones for Photoshop, InDesign, Premiere, After Effects, Illustrator, and Media Encoder from MAX 2026 through December 2029.

Milestones by application

Across products, CEP Panels are scheduled for removal in December 2029; the roadmap notes they remain available in N-1 and N-2. Assuming N means the product release in which removal occurs, N-1 is the immediately preceding release and N-2 is the release before that. The roadmap does not map these labels to calendar dates or specific host-app versions. Treat the dates as high-level targets.

How to approach it

There's no single fixed recipe, since every CEP plugin is different, but here's a sample approach that works for most:

  1. Inventory what your CEP extension actually depends on. Go through your manifest.xml and code, and sort what you find into categories: ExtendScript/evalScript calls, native CEP functions (window.cep.fs, window.cep.process, window.cep.encoding, window.cep.util), CEP JavaScript libraries (CSInterface, Vulcan), and any Node.js modules you're relying on through CEP's unrestricted access. This inventory becomes your migration checklist, separate from the code that implements it.

  2. Check what's already built in. Some features that once required a CEP extension are now native in the latest version of the host application. Confirm before you rebuild anything; you may be able to drop a feature entirely.

  3. Map each remaining item in your checklist to its UXP equivalent. A few of the most common ones:

    • window.cep.fs → UXP's storage module, which requires user consent (a file picker) for most file access instead of CEP's unrestricted access.
    • window.cep.process → UXP has no comprehensive process API; the closest options are shell.openPath() and shell.openExternal() for launching files and URIs, gated by the launchProcess permission in the manifest.
    • ExtendScript/evalScript → the host application's UXP DOM API directly. In Photoshop, batchPlay can cover operations that the Photoshop DOM API does not expose. batchPlay is Photoshop-specific; use your host's UXP API reference to assess DOM coverage in Premiere, InDesign, and Media Encoder.
    • CSInterface → direct calls to host UXP APIs, plus UXP's own lifecycle events (uxpcreateplugin, uxpshowpanel, and similar) for things CSInterface used events for.
    • Vulcan (cross-plugin messaging) → invokeCommand and showPanel (UXP 6.0.2+, manifest v5), currently limited to plugins within the same host application.

    See Migrating Native CEP Functions (common across host apps), Migrating CEP JavaScript Libraries (Photoshop), and Migrating ExtendScript/EvalScript to the Photoshop DOM API in the Technical Migration Guide for the full API-by-API breakdown, including limitations and permission requirements for each.

  4. Rebuild feature by feature. Start with manifest.json and your entrypoints.setup() handlers, then work through the UI and each mapped feature using the manifest, entry point, and packaging guidance in the guides below.

  5. If a feature still isn't covered, for example something that depends on native code, an external process, or a performance-intensive operation, look into building a Hybrid Plugin instead of waiting for a UXP API to catch up. A Hybrid Plugin combines a UXP plugin with C++ native libraries, so you can keep that logic and call it from UXP. See the Hybrid Plugins guide for details.

Where to Start

data-slots=image, heading, text, links

data-repeat=3

data-width=100%
CEP to UXP Technical Migration Guide

CEP to UXP Technical Migration Guide

What's different between CEP and UXP, and how to migrate each part of your extension, API by API. Uses Photoshop as its example host application; the common APIs (file I/O, network, shell) apply to any host.
Read the technical migration guide
UXP for ExtendScript Developers

UXP for ExtendScript Developers

What changes when you move from ExtendScript and the ExtendScript Toolkit to UXP.
Read the ExtendScript guide
UXP in Photoshop vs Other Host Applications

UXP in Photoshop vs Other Host Applications

The main differences to expect when moving a UXP plugin from one host application to another.
Read the cross-host differences

What changes at a glance