CorelDRAW Live MCP

Control the exact document already open in CorelDRAW through the Model Context Protocol. Version 0.2.2 focuses on safe live editing, predictable coordinates, atomic undo, and cross-model reliability.

Windows-only: CorelDRAW automation uses the local COM API. The MCP server must run on the same Windows computer as CorelDRAW.

Supported usage scope: This project is intended only for desktop applications and local CLI agents that support user-configured/custom MCP servers—for example Claude Desktop and compatible desktop/CLI clients such as Antigravity. It is not designed for browser-only AI websites that cannot start or connect to a local custom MCP server. A desktop ChatGPT client is supported only when that specific app/version provides custom local MCP configuration.

What changed in 0.2.2

• Attaches to an existing CorelDRAW process by default; it will not silently launch a second instance.
• Binds every edit to an explicit document session.
• Uses one public coordinate system: page top-left, Y downward, millimetres.
• Applies related changes atomically as one CorelDRAW Undo command.
• Detects both stale agent revisions and external document changes before editing.
• Prevents preview/export from overwriting files unless overwrite=true.
• Keeps hidden and non-printable layers unchanged during preview and export.
• Lazily reconnects when CorelDRAW starts after the MCP server.
• Separates live edit, create, save, Save As, preview, and export.
• Exposes a compact 14-tool MCP catalog instead of 70+ overlapping tools.
• Fixes nested COM-thread deadlocks and double Y-coordinate conversion.

See the phased implementation document for completed and planned phases. Use the manual Windows/CorelDRAW test plan before production use.

Requirements

• Windows 10/11
• CorelDRAW X6 or newer; certify your exact version before production use
• 64-bit Python 3.11–3.13 recommended
• Python bitness matching CorelDRAW

Install

py -3.12 -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -r requirements.txt

Optional features are separate so MCP-only users do not install heavy agent and data-processing packages:

pip install ".[agent]"       # Streamlit + bundled LLM agent
pip install ".[datamerge]"   # Excel, barcode and image helpers
pip install ".[https]"       # Optional local HTTPS wrapper
pip install ".[all]"         # Everything

Start CorelDRAW and open the document you want to edit before starting the server.

$env:COREL_ATTACH_POLICY = "existing_only"
python server\server.py --transport stdio

MCP client configuration

Replace the two example paths with paths on the user's computer.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "coreldraw-live": {
      "command": "C:\\path\\to\\coreldraw-mcp\\.venv\\Scripts\\python.exe",
      "args": [
        "C:\\path\\to\\coreldraw-mcp\\server\\server.py",
        "--transport",
        "stdio"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PYTHONUNBUFFERED": "1",
        "COREL_ATTACH_POLICY": "existing_only",
        "COREL_TOOL_PROFILE": "compact"
      }
    }
  }
}

This local stdio configuration is intended for desktop applications and local CLI agents that support custom MCP servers, including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Antigravity-compatible CLI environments, Gemini CLI, Cursor, and VS Code.

A desktop ChatGPT app should be treated as compatible only if its installed version supports adding and running a custom local MCP server. Browser-only ChatGPT and other web-only AI interfaces are outside the supported scope because they cannot directly run this local stdio process.

Safe live-edit workflow

1. corel_status
2. list_open_documents
3. attach_active_document or attach_open_document
4. inspect_document
5. apply_operations using the returned revision
6. render_preview when visual verification is needed
7. save_current_document only when explicitly requested
8. detach_document

attach_active_document never creates or opens a document. save_current_document never invents another filename.

Coordinate contract

All public geometry is expressed as:

{
  "coordinate_space": "page_top_left",
  "unit": "mm",
  "bounds": {"x": 10, "y": 20, "width": 80, "height": 30}
}

• (0,0) is the page top-left.
• X increases right.
• Y increases down.
• The driver converts coordinates to CorelDRAW exactly once.

Atomic operation example

{
  "session_id": "sess_example",
  "expected_revision": 4,
  "label": "Update sale heading",
  "operations": [
    {
      "op": "text.set_content",
      "shape_id": "128",
      "value": "SUMMER SALE"
    },
    {
      "op": "text.set_style",
      "shape_id": "128",
      "font_family": "Montserrat",
      "font_size_pt": 30,
      "bold": true
    },
    {
      "op": "shape.move",
      "shape_id": "128",
      "x": 20,
      "y": 15
    }
  ]
}

Supported operation names in 0.2.2:

• text.set_content
• text.set_style
• text.create_frame
• shape.set_bounds
• shape.move
• shape.resize
• shape.create_rectangle
• shape.rotate
• shape.rename
• shape.delete
• fill.set_cmyk
• fill.set_rgb

Tool profiles

Production default:

$env:COREL_TOOL_PROFILE = "compact"

Temporary migration profile exposing the original tools:

$env:COREL_TOOL_PROFILE = "legacy"

The legacy profile is not recommended for general AI clients because the large catalog reduces tool-selection reliability.

Tests

Platform-independent unit tests:

python -m unittest discover -s tests -v
python -m compileall -q server tests

Windows/CorelDRAW end-to-end test:

python server\test_e2e.py

The final release gate must be run on Windows with each supported CorelDRAW version. Linux tests cannot validate COM behaviour.

Reference-image reconstruction

The project retains a reconstruction foundation, but a flattened image cannot guarantee a perfect editable clone. Production reconstruction requires OCR, font matching, asset detection, vector tracing, and a render-and-compare loop. See Phase 3 in the implementation plan.

Security

• Never commit .env files, API keys, logs, generated customer designs, or crash dumps.
• Keep the local server on stdio or loopback-only networking.
• Do not expose CorelDRAW COM automation directly to the public internet.
• Require explicit confirmation before overwrite, destructive edits, or remote execution.
• Set COREL_OUTPUT_ROOT to restrict Save As, preview, and export destinations to one approved directory.
• Preview/export defaults to overwrite=false and rejects an existing destination.

License

Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE and NOTICE.