Auto link text layer with the vector layer below it

@Zipser31550168t845 

Try the following script on a few different files, it doesn't batch process it just works on the open document:

/*
Link Layers in 2 Specified Layer Groups By Name.jsx
v1.0 - 12th September 2024, Stephen Marsh
https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/auto-link-text-layer-with-the-vector-layer-below-it/td-p/14852001
*/

#target photoshop

try {

    if (app.documents.length) {

        app.activeDocument.suspendHistory("Link Layers in 2 Specified Layer Groups By Name.jsx", "main()");

        function main() {

            // Get the "TEXT" and "ANIMAL SHAPE" groups
            var textGroup = getGroupByName("TEXT");
            var animalGroup = getGroupByName("ANIMAL SHAPE");

            // Conditional check for the nominated groups
            if (textGroup.layers.length == animalGroup.layers.length) {

                // Loop over the "TEXT" group layers
                for (var i = 0; i < textGroup.layers.length; i++) {

                    // Set the "TEXT" group layer variables
                    var textLayer = textGroup.layers[i];
                    var textLayerFirstWord = getLayerFirstWord(textLayer.name);
                    var textLayerVisibility = textLayer.visible;

                    // Conditional check for the "TEXT" group layer name
                    if (textLayerFirstWord) {

                        // Loop over the "ANIMAL SHAPE" group layers
                        for (var j = 0; j < animalGroup.layers.length; j++) {
                            // Set the "ANIMAL SHAPE" group layer variables
                            var animalLayer = animalGroup.layers[j];
                            var animalLayerFirstWord = getLayerFirstWord(animalLayer.name);
                            var animalLayerVisibility = animalLayer.visible;

                            // Conditional match for each group's layer name
                            if (textLayerFirstWord === animalLayerFirstWord) {
                                // Link the matching layers in each group
                                textLayer.link(animalLayer);
                                // Set the layer visibility
                                textLayer.visible = textLayerVisibility;
                                animalLayer.visible = animalLayerVisibility;
                                break;
                            }

                            // End of script notification
                            //app.beep();
                            //alert("All matching layers have been linked!");
                        }
                    }
                }
            } else {
                alert("The number of layers in the nominated groups don't match!")
            }


            ///// FUNCTIONS /////

            // Get the group by name
            function getGroupByName(groupName) {
                return app.activeDocument.layerSets.getByName(groupName);
            }

            // Case insensitive regex to get the first word of the layer name
            function getLayerFirstWord(layerName) {
                // Basic regex
                //var firstWord = layerName.match(/^\w+/i);
                // Robust regex
                var firstWord = layerName.match(/^[^\s]+/i);
                return firstWord ? firstWord[0].toLowerCase() : null;
            }
        }

    } else {
        alert("A document must be open to run this script!");
    }

} catch (err) {
    alert("Error!" + "\r" + err + "\r" + 'Line: ' + err.line);
}

If this works as expected, you can record the script into an Action. You can then use the File > Automate > Batch command to run the script via the action over multiple files. Alternatively, the script can be modified for batch processing.

https://prepression.blogspot.com/2017/11/downloading-and-installing-adobe-scripts.html

Does each file consistently only have two groups: TEXT and ANIMAL SHAPE? If not, do the groups always have the same names? If not, are they always in the same relative layer stack position?

Does each group consistently only have 3 layers? Or does this vary?

Does the layer stacking order position of the first text layer in the TEXT group always match the same layer stacking order position in the ANIMAL SHAPE group and layer?

Are the text layer names/content consistently the same name as the animal shape name? Such as APE and Ape 1? Forgetting the case differences and the space and digit at the end of the shape layer name.