Rrun a .exe file from a UXP or CEP extension in Illustrator 2025?

[Delresto]

Hi everyone,
I’m developing an extension for Adobe Illustrator that should execute a local .exe file on Windows, passing a few folder paths as arguments.

What I currently do manually in the Windows command prompt (cmd) is:

programname.exe "C:\FolderA\..." "C:\FolderB\..."

where:

• the executable name is fixed,

• both folder paths (A and B) are predefined and always related to the currently opened Illustrator file.

I’d like to automate this inside an extension panel — so that with a single click, the panel retrieves the correct paths and launches the .exe with those arguments.

I know that with CEP extensions (with Node.js enabled) it used to be possible to call external programs using child_process.exec().
However, it seems that Illustrator 2025 no longer supports CEP, and UXP extensions are sandboxed and can’t execute external processes.

Could someone please confirm:

• Is there any current way to run a .exe file from an Illustrator 2025 extension (CEP or UXP)?

• If not, does Adobe plan to provide any official workaround or API (e.g. via local bridge, socket, or other integration) to achieve this functionality?

Thanks a lot for any technical clarification.

[sttk3]

Since Illustrator does not yet support UXP, we will use CEP. Therefore, the method you indicated should be available as-is.

If CEP is unavailable in Illustrator 2025, you may need to configure PlayerDebugMode. This reference may be helpful.

• CEP Panels won't load in Illustrator 29.5