programmatically manipulate some illustrator file via API?

[NadavM]

I want to create a service, let's say on AWS for example, that will automate common Illustrator tasks that i need to perform.
I want to programmatically manipulate some illustrator file, and export the result to some other format.
For example:
Given an illustrator file "template1.ai" and variables values that i get in runtime, I want to fill the variables in the file with the given values, and export the result as PNG.
This task will be performed on a remote machine in the cloud, where i don't have Illustrator installed.
Is it possible to do that? do you have some illustrator-as-service API or something like that which i can use?
Alternatively, is it possible to install illustrator on a machine in my cloud account and use some script to do that?
please provide some guidance
(and i have similar needs for video files as well, so will be happy to get an answer for after effects as well)

[The Original Don Piff]

Sure you can!! Do you want a general action sequence, or with variables? 

[NadavM]

Hi, yes, with variables.
Please guide me to where I can find information and commands on how to make what I need.

[erinferinferinf]

This task will be performed on a remote machine in the cloud, where i don't have Illustrator installed.
Is it possible to do that? do you have some illustrator-as-service API or something like that which i can use?

I've heard that installing Illustrator on a server might violate the terms of service... but I think you can install it on a cloud machine.

There is no Illustrator-as-service API that I'm aware of, however, Photoshop has one: https://developer.adobe.com/photoshop/api/

InDesign also offers InDesign Server for similar tasks (a "headless" version of InDesign).

This is a request I've heard before for Illustrator. I can pass it on to an Illustrator Product Manager, who will likely ask you to "detail your use case" a bit more.

It's worth noting that the Illustrator team is busy bringing Illustrator to the web at the moment (browser-based Illustrator), which is still in early beta.

[NadavM]

I wish to do it with Illustrator because this will suit me best. After changing the template with the new variable, I want to export a vector file (pdf + Png).
What about InDesign?
Please do contact the product manager to guide me too .

How long do you think they will finalize the Illustrator web engine? A year or so ?

Thanks!

[NadavM]

also about the cloud machine. I will be happy to read more about it.