MCP Pro for Painter

Texture in Painter with AI superpowers

MCP Pro for Painter is an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server with 179 tools that connects AI assistants like Claude and Cursor directly to Adobe Substance 3D Painter. Drive Painter in plain language — build layer stacks, apply smart materials, bake mesh maps, manage channels and UDIM tiles, validate projects, and export game-ready textures for Unreal, Unity, and Godot — all from a single conversation.

"Open my project, apply a worn-metal smart material to every weapon texture set, add edge wear with a curvature mask, then export everything for Unreal at 2K." → done in one prompt.

What's inside — 179 tools across 33 modules

• Layer stack — fill / paint / group layers, reorder, opacity, blending, visibility, layer effects, anchor points, layer instances
• Masks — black / white / generator masks, geometry masks, UDIM tile masking
• Materials — apply smart materials, build new smart materials from layers, per-set variations, sources
• Channels & properties — add/remove channels, visibility, content curves, generic property bridge
• Baking & mesh maps — AO / curvature / normal / position / thickness, baking status, baked-map listing, external mesh-map import
• Engine export — one-call presets for Unreal, Unity URP/HDRP, Godot, PBR metal-rough / spec-gloss, custom presets, async export with status polling
• Texture sets & UV — list/info, resolution, selection, UDIM & UV-set switching
• Project & search — open/create/save, metadata, project-wide layer search
• Color, shader & display — color profiles, shader switch, environment, exposure/tonemap, renderer, MSAA
• Symmetry & selection, Validation / QA (naming, budget, unused-resource, full audit), Batch & workflow (apply across all sets, record/replay)
• Events, History (undo/redo, scoped for clean Ctrl+Z)
• Introspection / self-test — get_painter_environment, dump_painter_api, probe_api_path, snapshot_project + diff_project_snapshots, run_smoke_tests, verify_undo_works. Lets the AI verify your Painter build before doing real work — catches version mismatches early.

Four modes, one binary

Right-size the tool count to your AI client's context budget — no separate installs:

Mode	Tools	When to use
--minimal	25	Local LLMs / very tight tool-count clients
--lite	74	~100-tool clients (Windsurf, JetBrains Junie, Gemini CLI)
default	134	Balanced everyday set
--full	179	Everything, incl. self-test (Claude Code, Cursor)

Plus a companion painter-cli that drives Painter straight from the terminal (no MCP needed) — ideal for tool-count-limited clients and scripted one-offs.

How it works

1. pip install mcp-pro-for-painter
2. painter-mcp-setup configure (auto-detects Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.)
3. Launch Adobe Substance 3D Painter with --enable-remote-scripting

No plugin to install inside Painter — the Python server talks to Painter over its built-in scripting bridge. Every layer mutation is wrapped for a clean, single-step Ctrl+Z.

Compatibility

• Adobe Substance 3D Painter 11.0+ (verified on 12.0.3 / Python API 0.3.5)
• Python 3.10+ on the machine running the server
• Windows, macOS, Linux
• MCP clients: Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline, Windsurf, JetBrains Junie, Gemini CLI, and any MCP 1.0+ client

What you get

• The full server/ package, runnable via pip + venv (or pipx)
• INSTALL.md with OS-by-OS commands, client config samples, and troubleshooting
• examples/ with one-prompt demo workflows
• Lifetime updates — every fix and new tool ships to all licensees
• Discord support

What it is NOT

• Not a Painter plugin — Painter itself is unchanged
• Not affiliated with Adobe — independent third-party tool; "for … Painter" is used descriptively (nominative fair use)
• You do launch Painter with one extra flag (--enable-remote-scripting) — INSTALL.md covers it in 30 seconds

Pricing

$15 USD — one-time. Lifetime updates. No subscription. No telemetry.

Refunds

Per itch.io's standard policy. If it doesn't work on your setup, reach out on Discord — no hassle.

Support & community

Questions, bug reports, and feature requests are welcome on Discord: discord.gg/m7SVcdNfT3. Full docs and setup guide: painter-mcp.abyo.net.

Trademark

Adobe and Substance are trademarks of Adobe Inc. MCP Pro for Painter is an independent third-party tool, not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Adobe.