flue

Flue is a local automation layer designed to enable coding agents to directly operate real desktop software applications. It addresses a core limitation of CLI-based and file-level automation tools: while agents can modify files and execute shell commands, they typically cannot interact with the internal state of complex desktop applications such as Photoshop, Blender, or Unity. Flue bridges this gap by providing a structured way for agents to execute controlled scripts inside these applications and receive structured responses.

At its core, Flue works as a lightweight shell-to-application bridge. It allows agents to send small, app-specific scripts through stdin into a bridge command, which then forwards the script into the target application's native automation runtime. These runtimes may include technologies such as ExtendScript, bpy, COM, AppleScript, Unity Editor APIs, or other application-specific scripting interfaces. The result of execution is returned to the agent as structured JSON, ensuring a consistent and machine-readable contract across different software environments.

Flue is designed for bounded, deterministic automation tasks such as inspecting document state, performing controlled edits, and running small scripts inside professional creative tools. It supports a range of desktop applications including Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Premiere, InDesign, Microsoft Office applications, Blender, Unity, Houdini, and 3ds Max. Its primary users are coding agents and automation workflows that need reliable access to live application environments, particularly in creative production, 3D design, and office productivity contexts.