Chat view

This is the main view for working with MATE. Chat with MATE as you would with a natural person—or the way you chat with ChatGPT, Claude, or other AI chatbots. You have multiple options to instruct MATE, as well as options for how MATE can help you produce your results.

For a quick start, use the first example (“Grid with rectangles”) shown here.

Header navigation

Use the back button on the left to return to your overview. The title is automatically generated by MATE based on the last few messages. Click the “Magic Title” button to generate a new one.

The options are:

1. Create a completely new chat

2. Keep this chat but delete all messages (no undo!)

3. Delete this chat entirely (No undo!)

4. Let MATE generate a title based on the last messages

Prompt Input

At the bottom, you’ll find the prompt input field. Enter your prompt there and click the send button or press Enter on your keyboard. Use Shift + Enter to add a new line to your prompt.

Prompting is an art form in itself

Which prompts work best and how to best talk to MATE is, like with all LLMs, an art form in itself.
Check our Prompt Guide to learn more.

Tip for beginners: don’t try to do everything at once. Instead of writing one huge prompt, start simple and break your task into smaller steps.

For example:

1. “Create 100 rectangles.”

2. “Now arrange the selected items in a grid with 3 columns.”

Chat options

In the prompt input box you will find several options to work with MATE.
Tip: you can configure the defaults under "Settings"

1. Model Switcher: pick from several possible AI models.
   Learn more: https://www.omata.io/mate/mate-model-switcher-adobe
   
   

2. Auto-run: MATE automatically executes generated scripts. With that MATE acts on your documents.
   Learn more: https://www.omata.io/mate/mate-auto-run-adobe
   
   

3. File access: allow MATE to access your file system. For security reasons the default is "no access". Learn more: https://www.omata.io/mate/mate-file-access-adobe
   
   

4. Auto-fix: if MATE discovers an error in a script, it will try to fix it automatically.
   Learn more: https://www.omata.io/mate/mate-auto-fix-adobe
   
   

5. Lib (Library): quick access to your saved prompts and scripts. It lets you add prompts or prompt templates that you use often.
   Learn more: https://www.omata.io/mate/mate-library-dropdown-adobe

Messages

User Messages

These are your prompts to MATE.

Note: CMD/CTRL + C is not working in Adobe extensions for regular text.
Workaround: Select text and right-click. In the menu click on "Copy".

1. Re-use: Often you need to adjust the same prompt. "Re-use" inserts your prompt in the input again.

2. Copy to clipboard: copy your message to the clipboard.

3. Save to prompt library: saves this prompt in your prompt library.

4. Delete: delete this message. Note: no undo!

Assistant Messages

MATE has two types of messages: code message and text message.

Code message

This is the typical response from MATE. It produced a script as a response to your prompt and if Auto-run is on, it will execute it right away.

1. Run: independent of "Auto-run" anytime you can trigger the script again. Once a script is generated, it's saved in MATE offline and you can re-run it. A roundtrip to the AI server is not needed. It acts as a regular ExtendScript. Re-run it as often as you need it.

2. Code editor: open the code editor to inspect the script and adjust values or rewrite parts of it manually. Yes, it's a real code editor. Type and change what you need.

3. "Insert in prompt": like "Re-use" for user messages this inserts the complete script in your prompt input. Note: you don't need to do this if you want MATE to change parts of your recent script. It knows past messages. So, you don't need to copy it every time you want something changed! Just ask MATE to change the current script.

4. Copy: copy script to clipboard.

5. Export: exports your script to your disk as a .jsx file

6. Save to Script Library: save your script to your library.

7. Delete: delete this message. Note: there is no undo!

Code Editor

Toggle "Show code" to see the generated script. You can edit the code, adjust values, copy/paste to and from other scripts.

Text message

MATE can answer more general questions about Illustrator or InDesign and also more broad questions about design work (e.g. tips for printing your designs - use CMYK, etc.)

Note "Switch to code"
In the past, MATE occasionally returned code responses as plain text. This button lets you convert such responses into runnable code. It’s only here for that reason and will be removed soon.