Inventory with sha256
Each .jsx, .vbs, .scpt, JSXBin and CEP panel, with versions that differ between workstations, hard-coded paths, dependencies and encoding.
Deliverable: inventario_scripts.csv for the team to decideOcto for JSX and UXP scripts in Illustrator
A hundred and twenty scripts on six workstations, no inventory. Octo surveys, your team decides.
Illustrator runs scripts in JavaScript (ExtendScript), AppleScript and VBScript, and Adobe has put UXP plugins and the end of CEP panels on its roadmap. Octo inventories what exists, writes scripts that are read-only by default, simulate before changing and never save over the original, and delivers a report to whoever approves the artwork, the copy and the proof.
Scripting languages3JavaScript, AppleScript and VBScript, according to Adobe
UXP plugins in GAQ4 2027Adobe's roadmap for Illustrator
CEP off by defaultDec 2028CEP panels, according to the same roadmap
Sources13listed at the end of the page
01
What Octo does with your team's scripts.
Six possible deliverables, taken from the survey. All of them log what they did, none writes over the original, and the decision on each script stays with whoever owns the automation.
Risk signals
External JSX warning turned off, passwords in the code, unguarded save() and dialogs silenced and never restored.
Reviewed installation
Only what is approved goes to the scripts folder; identical files are not copied, different ones become a conflict, and everything is logged.
Deliverable: instalar_scripts.sh and instalacao.csvRead-only audit
Color mode, artboards, fonts, missing links and spot colors of each .ai, closed without saving.
Deliverable: auditoria_documento.jsx and auditoria.csvCopy by language
Simulation first, a report of longer text and missing translations, and one copy per language only when it is complete.
Deliverable: trocar_textos.jsx and relatorio_textos.csvCEP migration map
Each panel's evalScript, window.cep and CSInterface calls, against the dates on Adobe's roadmap.
02
Eight arms, one reviewed script.
The same Octo cycle, applied to Illustrator scripts and panels. Each arm has a narrow role; the people approve the artwork, the copy and the delivery.
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Discovery
Maps what exists
Scripts, panels, Illustrator versions, workstations and who wrote each thing.
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Data
Writes the inventory and tables
Inventory with sha256, translation tables and audit summaries in versioned files.
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Security
Points out the risk
JSX warning turned off, credentials in the code, a script that saves over the original, a forgotten Startup Script.
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Architecture
Chooses the path
Action, script, variables or plugin, and what depends on the UXP roadmap dates.
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Development
Writes scripts that are read-only by default
Simulation before changing, a copy instead of saving over, dialogs restored at the end.
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Review
Checks by content
sha256 before and after, a line-by-line report, a file count. "It ran without errors" is not a check.
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Release
Installs only what is approved
In each workstation's scripts folder, with simulation, a log and no overwriting.
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Documentation
Records what holds in your environment
What each script does, the minimum Illustrator version, who approved it and what changes with UXP.
Octo does not turn off the external script warning and does not save over the original. It does not approve artwork, translate legal copy without human review or decide what your team keeps.
03
Each task, its own path.
The criteria Octo uses to choose between action, script and plugin, with each one's documented limit.
| Task | Path | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Repeat commands on a folder | Action and Batch | No code; see the actions and batch page |
| Read many files and log | JSX script | An action does not write a report |
| Decide by condition | JSX script | An action has no "if" |
| Replace copy from a spreadsheet | JSX script or variables | A script uses frame names; variables need a template |
| Drive Illustrator from outside | AppleScript or VBScript | macOS and Windows, respectively |
| Run something when the program opens | Startup Scripts (.jsx) | Also runs on every JavaScript run from the menu |
| Panel with buttons for the team | CEP today; UXP on the roadmap | UXP plugins in GA in Q4 2027 |
04
From the loose script to the planned plugin.
Three steps. Each one only makes sense after the previous one has shown results on your team.
A proposal, not a promise
Inventory and risk
Octo surveys what exists and points out what needs attention, without changing anything.
- Versions that differ between workstations
- Passwords and warning turned off
- CEP panels mapped
Reviewed scripts
Read-only audit and copy replacement with simulation, installed with a log.
- Nothing saved over
- Report for the designer
- Same version on every workstation
UXP plugin
When the public beta comes out, Octo checks the Illustrator API against the panel map.
- What migrates directly
- What has no equivalent
- Cutoff date for each panel
05
Confirmed in a source.
Each point below has a source published by the vendor, the project or the responsible body. The sources are in the next section.
4
points with a published source, each with its reference shown alongside.
- ConfirmedThree languages and the menu
- Visual Basic, AppleScript, JavaScript and ExtendScript, via File > Scripts; outside the Scripting folder, via "Other Script".Source: Adobe Help, Install and run scripts (Oct 27, 2025)
- ConfirmedExternal JSX warning
- It can be suppressed in preferences, but the Help says this is neither recommended nor safe.Source: Adobe Help, Install and run scripts (Oct 27, 2025)
- ConfirmedIllustrator UXP roadmap
- Plugins in private beta until MAX 2026, public beta in Q2 2027, GA in Q4 2027; CEP off by default in Dec 2028.Source: Adobe, UXP Migration Center (read on Oct 31, 2026)
- ConfirmedStartup Scripts
- .jsx files in the Startup Scripts folder run when the program opens and on every JavaScript run from the menu.Source: scripting guide that reproduces Adobe's reference, Executing Scripts
06
What Octo does and what stays with you.
Octo prepares everything, but it does not sign. The document of record stays with whoever is accountable for it.
Octo prepares
Surveys, calculates, organizes and generates the documents: files, artboards, proofs and reports.
Deliverable: material ready to checkYour team checks
The client or the art director checks what Octo delivered before approving. If something doesn't add up, it goes back to Octo with the correction.
Step: review by the approverWho approves
Octo does not approve the artwork. Artwork carries no legal signature: approval of the artwork and the proof stays with the client or the art director.
Approval: client or art director
07
Sources.
Adobe Help and developer pages and the scripting reference in the community guide that reproduces Adobe's content, consulted on Oct 31, 2026.
- Install and run scriptsHelp; menu, Scripting folder, warning
- What's new in IllustratorHelp; 30.8, August 2026
- Technical requirementsHelp; version 30.0 and later
- Illustrator on Adobe DeveloperScripts, C++ plugins, panels
- UXP Migration CenterRoadmap by program, CEP cutoff
- UXP Comes to Our Flagship ApplicationsAdobe blog, September 2026: ExtendScript outside the CEP transition
- ExtendScript DebuggerAdobe extension for VS Code
- Executing ScriptsCommunity guide; Startup Scripts
- Scripting language supportCommunity guide; extensions
- Launching IllustratorCommunity guide; AppleScript, VBScript
- ApplicationCommunity guide; the program object
- TextFrameItemCommunity guide; text frame
- ExtendScript overviewCommunity guide; the language
Your team's scripts in Illustrator, inventoried before the platform change.
The assessment starts with an inventory of the script folders and panels that already exist. You get what differs, what carries risk, what depends on Adobe's roadmap and the questions only your team can answer, and you decide with that in hand.