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othmanqw12
othmanqw12
Participating Frequently
November 11, 2025
Question

Why doesn't UXP expose a direct evalScript-like API to run existing ExtendScript (.jsx) files?

  • November 11, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 130 views

I am reaching out to understand why UXP (the new plugin framework) does not expose a direct API to trigger and run existing ExtendScript (.jsx) files. In CEP (Common Extensibility Platform), we had the ability to use evalScript to run ExtendScript code within the same workflow. This offered immense flexibility and allowed us to leverage the full power of Photoshop scripting alongside UXP’s new features. However, with UXP, this functionality seems to be completely missing, and I am left wondering:

  1. Why doesn't UXP allow us to run legacy .jsx scripts directly from the plugin?

  2. Why isn’t there an official way to trigger scripts that are already installed in Photoshop (e.g., in the Scripts folder) via UXP?

  3. Is there a specific limitation or future roadmap that prevents UXP from including a function like evalScript?

  4. The ability to run scripts and control Photoshop deeply was one of the core strengths of CEP. By removing this functionality, we’ve lost a lot of power in terms of automation, scripting, and control. Why has this shift happened?

It feels like UXP is limiting creative professionals and developers by restricting this functionality. I strongly believe that reintroducing a similar flexible, scriptable interface would greatly benefit all developers building in the Photoshop ecosystem.

2 replies

J
jamesVoodooMotion
Known Participant
March 13, 2026

I’ve spent years developing tools in extendscript, recently began porting them to CEP as a step towards UXP and also discovered the same issue.  It seems Adobe want, for security reasons, to avoid anyone running arbitrary code via eval() or csInterface.evalScript().  Very frustrating. They might offer a sandboxed interpreter, but it depends whether it will acknowledge your custom function libs.  With CEP and Extendscript, you can make a code editor that allows the user to run arbitrary code utilising custom functions defined by the editor.  This is really handy when you want to edit and run short scripts.  There are possible hacks/workarounds but it really shouldn’t be necessary.

    E
    ExUSA
    Legend
    November 11, 2025

    So far, the change in scripting is a mess. Adobe should just upgrade the JavaScript engine and continue to support ExtendScript as well as make it easier to use. They should make a Github with hundreds of sample scripts that are actually usable.

    :sigh:

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