Bolt Cep

A lightning-fast boilerplate for building Adobe CEP Extensions in Svelte, React, or Vue built on Vite + TypeScript + Sass

Features

• Lightning Fast Hot Module Replacement (HMR)
• Write Modern ES6 in both the JavaScript and ExtendScript layers
• Choose Svelte, React, or Vue for your frontend framework
• Type-safe ExtendScript with Types-for-Adobe
• End-to-End Type Safety with evalTS()
• Easily configure in cep.config.ts
• Setup for single or multi-panel extensions
• Comes with multi-host-app configuration
• Optimized Build Size
• Easy Publish to ZXP for Distribution
• Easy Package to ZIP archive with sidecar assets
• GitHub Actions ready-to-go for ZXP Releases

Full Blog Post: https://hyperbrew.co/blog/bolt-cep-build-extensions-faster/

Compatibility

• Adobe CC Apps version 2024 or later
• Windows & Mac Intel
• Mac Arm64 (M1-M4) require special setup (more details)

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Backers

Huge thanks to our backers who have helped make this project even better!

If you're interested in supporting this open-source project, please see our sponsor page.

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Tools Built with Bolt CEP

Tools like Rubberhose 3, Klutz GPT, Brevity, and more are powered by Bolt CEP! Check out the full library of tools built with Bolt CEP:

Built with Bolt CEP

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Support

Free Support 🙌

If you have questions with getting started using Bolt CEP, feel free to ask and discuss in our free Discord community Discord Community.

Paid Priority Support 🥇

If your team is interested in paid consulting or development with Bolt CEP, please contact the Hyper Brew team. More info on our Adobe Plugin Development & Consulting Services

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Can I use Bolt CEP in my free or commercial project?

Yes! Bolt CEP is 100% free and open source, being released under the MIT license with no attribution required. This means you are free to use it in your free or commercial projects.

We would greatly appreciate it if you could provide a link back to this tool's info page in your product's site or about page:

Bolt CEP Info Page Link: https://hyperbrew.co/resources/bolt-cep

Built with Bolt CEP button graphics:

PNG Files

SVG Files

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or later
• Package manager either
  • NPM (comes with Node.js)
  • Yarn ( ensure by running yarn set version classic )
  • PNPM ( ensure by running pnpm --version )

Quick Start

Create your new Bolt CEP project (follow CLI prompts)

• yarn - yarn create bolt-cep
• npm - npx create-bolt-cep
• pnpm - pnpm create-bolt-cep

Change directory to the new project

• cd project

Install Dependencies (if not already done by create command)

• yarn - yarn
• npm - npm i
• pnpm - pnpm i

⚠️ Enable PlayerDebugMode

• Adobe CEP's PlayerDebugMode must be enabled on your machine to test yarn build or yarn dev builds. Only an installed ZXP with yarn zxp will work without PlayerDebugMode enabled.
  • Enable this easily with the aescripts ZXP Installer > Settings > Debug > Enable Debugging
  • Or enable manually per OS by following the CEP Cookbook Instructions: Adobe CEP 12 Cookbook

Build the extension (must run before dev, can also run after for panel to work statically without the process) Symlink is created to extensions folder.

• yarn yarn build
• npm npm run build
• pnpm pnpm build

Run the extension in HMR Hot-reload mode for rapid development. Both JS and ExtendScript folders re-build on changes. Viewable in browser via localhost:3000/panel/ (see Panel Structure to set up multiple panels)

• yarn yarn dev
• npm npm run dev
• pnpm pnpm dev

Build & Package the extension as a ZXP for delivery to the dist/zxp folder (install with aescripts ZXP Installer or another ZXP installer)

• yarn yarn zxp
• npm npm run zxp
• pnpm pnpm zxp

Bundles your packaged zxp file and specified assets from copyZipAssets to a zip archive in the ./zip folder

• yarn yarn zip
• npm npm run zip
• pnpm pnpm zip

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Config

Update your CEP build and package settings in cep.config.ts safely typed

Start building your app per framework in:

• src/js/main/main.tsx
• src/js/main/main.vue
• src/js/main/main.svelte

Write ExtendScript code in src/jsx/main.ts

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CEP Panel Structure

Each panel is treated as it's own page, with shared code for efficiency. The Boilerplate currently comes with 2 panels, main and settings. These are configured in the cep.config.ts.

Each panel can be edited in their respective folders:

src
 └─ js
    ├─ main
    │   ├─ index.html
    |   └─ index.tsx
    └─ settings
        ├─ index.html
        └─ index.tsx

To add panels, add an item to the panels object in cep.config.ts, and duplicate the folder structure and adjust as needed.

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ExtendScript

ExtendScript can be written in ES6 and will be compiled down to a single ES3 file for compatibility.

JSON 2 is included by default, and any external JS libraries added with the include directive will be bundled as well:

// @include './lib/library.js'

App-specific code is split into modules for type-safe development by the application's name as seen in the index.ts.

aftereffects >> aeft/aeft.ts
illustrator >> ilst/ilst.ts
animate >> anim/anim.ts

Write your app-specific functions in each of these separate modules, and they will be required per each application.

To add support for additional host apps:

• Add additional app module files (aeft.ts, anim.ts, etc).
• Extend the main switch() in scr/jsx/index.ts with your additional.
• Add the host to your cep.config.ts file.

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Calling ExtendScript from CEP JavaScript

All ExtendScript function are appended to your panel's namespace in the background to avoid namespace clashes when using evalTS() and evalES().

We have now introduced a new and improved end-to-end type-safe way to interact with ExtendScript from CEP using evalTS(). This function dynamically infers types from ExtendScript functions and handles both stringifying and parsing of the results so your developer interaction can be as simple as possible.

As demonstrated in main.tsx, your ExtendScript functions can be called with evalTS() by passing the name of the function, followed by the arguments.

CEP

evalTS("myFunc", "test").then((res) => {
  console.log(res);
});

evalTS("myFuncObj", { height: 90, width: 100 }).then((res) => {
  console.log(res.x);
  console.log(res.y);
});

ExtendScript

export const myFunc = (str: string) => {
  return str;
};

export const myFuncObj = (obj: { height: number, width: number }) => {
  return {
    y: obj.height,
    x: obj.width,
  };
};

For any existing Bolt CEP projects, rest assured that the legacy evalES() function remains in place as usual as demonstrated in main.tsx.

evalES(`helloWorld("${csi.getApplicationID()}")`);

You will also want to use this function for calling ExtendScript functions in the global scope directly, by passing true to the second parameter:

evalES(
  `alert("Hello from ExtendScript :: " + app.appName + " " + app.version)`,
  true,
);

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Calling CEP JavaScript from ExtendScript

For certain situations such as hooking into event listeners or sending updates during long functions, it makes sense to trigger events from the ExtendScript environment to the JavaScript environment. This can be done with listenTS() and dispatchTS().

Using this method accounts for:

• Setting up a scoped listener on the JS side for the CSEvent
• Setting up PlugPlug CSEvent event on ExtendScript side
• Ensuring End-to-End Type-Safety for the event

1. Declare the Event Type in EventTS in shared/universals.ts

export type EventTS = {
  myCustomEvent: {
    oneValue: string,
    anotherValue: number,
  },
  // [... other events]
};

2. Listen in CEP JavaScript

import { listenTS } from "../lib/utils/bolt";

listenTS("myCustomEvent", (data) => {
  console.log("oneValue is", data.oneValue);
  console.log("anotherValue is", data.anotherValue);
});

3. Dispatch in ExtendScript

import { dispatchTS } from "../utils/utils";

dispatchTS("myCustomEvent", { oneValue: "name", anotherValue: 20 });

Alternatively, dispatchTS() can also be used in the same way from the CEP side to trigger events within or between CEP panels, just ensure you're importing the dispatchTS() function from the correct file within the js folder.

import { dispatchTS } from "../lib/utils/bolt";

dispatchTS("myCustomEvent", { oneValue: "name", anotherValue: 20 });

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GitHub Actions ZXP Releases

This repo comes with a configured GitHub Action workflow to build a ZXP and add to the releases each time a git tag is added.

git tag 1.0.0
git push origin --tags

Then your new build will be available under GitHub Releases. For more info, see the YML config

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Copy Assets

If you have assets that you would like copied without being affected by the bundler, you can add the optional copyAssets:[] array inside your cep.config.ts to include files or entire folders.

  copyAssets: ["public", "custom/my.jsx"],

Example:

Files placed in src/public will be copied to dist/public with config set to copyAssets: ["public"].

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Copy Zip Assets

If you have assets that you would like copied with your zxp into a zip archive for delivery, you can add the optional copyZipAssets:[] array inside your cep.config.ts to include files or entire folders. A folder ending in "/*" will copy the contents without the folder structure into the zip destination.

  copyZipAssets: ["instructions/*", "icons"],

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Custom Ponyfills

Unlike Polyfills which modify the global prototype, Ponyfills replace functionality with custom methods. Built-in Ponyfills include:

• Object.freeze()
• Array.isArray()

You can add your own Ponyfils by passing them into the jsxPonyfill() function in vite.es.config.ts:

jsxPonyfill([
  {
    find: "Array.isArray",
    replace: "__isArray",
    inject: `function __isArray(arr) { try { return arr instanceof Array; } catch (e) { return false; } };`,
  },
]);

If you have a common Ponyfill you feel should be built-in, create a ticket and we'll look into it.

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ExtendScript Scope

This boilerplate is flavored for a single JSX object attached to helper object $ for all your panels to prevent pollution in the global namespace. If you prefer to include your own raw JSX, include it in the Copy Assets object (above), and add the optional scriptPath object to your cep.config.ts file.

  panels: [
    {
      name: "main",
      scriptPath: "custom/index.jsx",
      [...]
    },
    {
      name: "settings",
      scriptPath: "custom/settings.jsx",
      [...]
    },
  ],
  copyAssets: ["custom"],

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Troubleshooting Modules

Node.js Built-in modules can be imported from the src/js/lib/node.ts file.

import { os, path, fs } from "../lib/node";

To use 3rd party libraries, first attempt to use with the standard import syntax.

import { FaBolt } from "react-icons/fa";

If the import syntax fails (typically with modules that use the Node.js runtime) you can resort to the Node.js require() syntax,

const unzipper = require("unzipper");

The build system will detect any non-built-in Node.js modules using require() and copy them to the output node_modules folder, but if a package is missed, you can add it explicitly to the installModules:[] array inside your cep.config.ts file.

  installModules: ["unzipper"],

Also if they're Node.js-specific modules, it's best to place the requires inside functions so they are only required at runtime and don't break your panel when previewing in the browser.

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A Note on Routers

If you would like to set up a routing system like react-router, be aware that you'll have to make adjustments for CEP. React Router for instance bases the router path off of window.location.pathname which in the browser resolves to the page:

/main/index.html

yet in CEP context resolves to the full system path:

file:///C:/Users/Username/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/CEP/extensions/com.bolt.cep/main/index.html

To solve this, you'll need to adjust the router basename for each context, here is one way of accomplishing that with the panel named main:

const posix = (str: string) => str.replace(/\\/g, "/");

const cepBasename = window.cep_node
  ? `${posix(window.cep_node.global.__dirname)}/`
  : "/main/";

ReactDOM.render(
  <React.StrictMode>
    <Router basename={cepBasename}>[...]</Router>
  </React.StrictMode>,
  document.getElementById("app")
);

Misc Troubleshooting

React Spectrum won't allow certain UI items to be clicked on MacOS:

There is an ongoing bug with React Spectrum and other UI libraries on MacOS with clicking elements. To resolve this issue, run the helper function enableSpectrum() to resolve this issue on Mac.

main.ts

import { initBolt, enableSpectrum } from "../lib/utils/bolt";

enableSpectrum();
initBolt();

Additionally, some users have reported that adding the following CEF Flag will resolve the issue as well:

cep.config.ts

...
parameters: [
  ...
  '--disable-site-isolation-trials'
  ],
...

ZXPSignCmd Fails on Mac or Windows:

4/18/2025 ZXPSignCmd broke on Windows across the board and on MacOS for most TSA services. ( more info )

4/30/2025 Adobe fixed the issues for Windows and MacOS, and we have included the updated ZXPSignCmd for both OS's in the latest release of [email protected].

To use the latest in your existing Bolt CEP project, run yarn add vite-cep-plugin, and make sure your zxp.tsa settings in cep.config.ts match the latest format.

Build Issues on Mac Arm64 Apple Silicon Machines (M1/M2/M3)

5/13/2025 - jsxbin is now natively supported on Apple Silicon machines. More info here: Setup ExtendScript Dev for Apple Silicon Macs

Update a Bolt CEP Project To update an existing Bolt CEP project to the the latest version, create a new Bolt CEP project with the same framework (React, Vue, Svelte), then compare and update the following files:

1. package.json - Update all dependencies and scripts ( vite-cep-plugin - usually contains the most frequent updates ). Make sure to re-install dependencies after updating.
2. vite.config.ts - Unless you've modified the vite config yourself, you can just copy the contents of the latest into yours.
3. vite.es.config.ts - Like the previous config, unless you've modified it yourself, you can just copy the contents of the latest into yours.
4. cep.config.ts - Check if any new properties have been added that don't exist in your config.
5. src/js/lib - Update this entire folder.
6. src/js/main/index.html - Update the index HTML file
7. src/js/main/index-[framework].[ext] - Update the index file for your framework (React, Vue, Svelte)
8. src/jsx/index.ts - Check if any new properties have been added that don't exist in your config.
9. src/shared/universals.d.ts - Check if any new properties have been added that don't exist in your config.

ZXPSignCmd Permissions issues on Mac:

Previously, you would need to fix the permissions of ZXPSignCmd by running the following command in the terminal, however this is now automated since [email protected]. If you still experience problems other reasons you can manually fix the executable as follows:

If you're getting permissions errors running ZXPSignCmd on the latest Mac releases, try a fresh clone. If that does't work, reset permissions for ZXPSignCmd by opening the directory node_modules/vite-cep-plugin/lib/bin and running chmod 700 ./ZXPSignCmd.