VectorCraft

Vector illustration; an open-source, clean-room reimplementation of Adobe Illustrator, rebuilt in pure Rust.

A fast, open-source, clean-room take on the Adobe Illustrator workflow. It runs natively on macOS, Windows and Linux, and in the browser via WebAssembly. Built by the ArtCraft team.

VectorCraft on getartcraft.com · ArtCraft · All Crafting Apps

VectorCraft editing the Neon Drive poster: the title is selected, the Appearance panel shows its live Outer Glow, and the Properties panel shows its character settings
_{Neon Drive: a Pathfinder-cut sun, live Outer Glow on the type and grid, and clipping masks · examples/neon-drive.vectorcraft}

> [!NOTE] > **ArtCraft is a community of artists from all walks of life.** Digital, generative, music, > games — if you make things, you're one of us. **[Come say hi on Discord](https://discord.gg/artcraft).**

A look around · Made in VectorCraft · Why VectorCraft · Quick start · Status · The Crafting Apps · License

## A look around

_{Live Blends: editable key paths and smooth colour, clipped to the artboard}	_{Pen and Direct Selection: real Bézier anchors and handles, plus a contextual task bar}
_{Multiple artboards, light theme: Pathfinder · Gradient Mesh · live radial Repeat · Envelope Distort · examples/feature-sheet.vectorcraft}

## Made in VectorCraft Every piece below was built entirely through VectorCraft's command API, the same one the MCP server exposes to agents, and exported by VectorCraft's own renderer. The source files are in [`examples/`](examples).

_{Neon Drive: synthwave poster with glowing type and grid}	_{Dusk: gradient sky, glowing sun, layered mountains}
_{Live Blends: 70 steps, smooth colour, editable spines}
_{Radial Repeat: a live mandala}	_{Envelope Distort: striped type warped into a flag}
_{Gradient Mesh: shaded spheres}	_{Pathfinder: a crescent and stars from exact booleans}

## Why VectorCraft - **Familiar.** Illustrator's layout, tools, menus, panels and shortcuts: the Pen, Direct Selection, Pathfinder, Smart Guides, Appearance, Swatches, Layers and more. You already know how to use it. - **Fast.** Multithreaded SIMD rendering off the UI thread. 20,000 shapes render in about 27 ms at full retina resolution while the interface stays at 120 fps. - **Robust.** Exact curve booleans (no "cannot perform operation"), unlimited undo via structural sharing, and property-tested file round trips. - **Open.** A documented native format (`.vectorcraft`, JSON), first-class SVG, PDF (and PDF-compatible `.ai`) import and export, PNG/JPEG/WebP export, Export for Screens, and SVGZ, templates, GIF, TIFF and BMP on open. - **Agent-native.** Every menu item, tool gesture, panel and dialog can be driven over a JSON control channel and an **MCP server**, so Claude and other agents can draw, edit and export the way a person does. - **Everywhere.** One codebase for the desktop apps and the same UI in the browser. ## Quick start ```sh cargo run --release -p vectorcraft # desktop app cargo run --release -p vectorcraft -- examples/dusk-poster.vectorcraft cargo run --release -p vectorcraft -- --control 7979 # + JSON control channel cargo run --release -p vectorcraft-cli -- mcp # MCP server (stdio) cargo run --release -p vectorcraft-cli -- run --in examples/ribbons.vectorcraft --export out.pdf # headless batch cargo run --release -p vectorcraft-cli -- bench examples/neon-drive.vectorcraft # render timing cargo xtask bundle # dist/VectorCraft.app (macOS) cd apps/vectorcraft-web && trunk build --release # web build → dist/web cargo xtask ci # fmt, clippy, tests, layering, wasm, vendor names ``` ### Use it from Claude Code and other agents Register the MCP server with Claude Code: ```sh claude mcp add vectorcraft -- /path/to/vectorcraft-cli mcp ``` The details are in [`docs/mcp.md`](docs/mcp.md) and [`docs/control-protocol.md`](docs/control-protocol.md). ## Status VectorCraft is under active development. [**ROADMAP.md**](ROADMAP.md) covers what ships today, the milestones, and honest time-to-parity estimates. **Where we are (2026-10-05):** roughly 68–74% of Illustrator's features exist and work, and about 40–55% of "a power user can't tell the difference". Everyday vector illustration is close to usable: drawing and path tools, Pathfinder and Shape Builder, paint, gradients, appearance and transparency, type with styles and threading, and files (SVG, PDF and PDF-compatible `.ai` with PDF/X, EPS, DXF, EMF/WMF, raster formats and PSD, Print, Package). The scores are self-assessed, so the [honest assessment](ROADMAP.md#honest-assessment-2026-10-05) explains how far to trust them. **What's missing:** - 3D and Materials; - the Photoshop-style raster effects (Effect Gallery); - vertical and CJK type; - Variables and scripting; - an interaction-fidelity pass covering every tool's modifiers and small behaviours; - packaging for Windows and Linux. **Where we're going:** next is the interaction-fidelity pass alongside the raster-effects package, then 3D and advanced type, then hardening and packaging for 1.0. The prioritized list is in [Where we're lacking](ROADMAP.md#where-were-lacking-in-priority-order). **Workspace:** `crates/{geom, color, doc, pathops, text, effects, trace, brush, render, svg, pdf, eps, cad, metafile, format, tools, engine, ui-egui, mcp, testkit}` and `apps/{vectorcraft, vectorcraft-cli, vectorcraft-web}`. The egui frontend is its own crate, so the UI can be swapped without touching the engine. Agent and contributor rules (clean-room, the asset policy, no panics in shipped code, quality gates) are in [`AGENTS.md`](AGENTS.md); [`docs/development.md`](docs/development.md#robustness-vectorcraft-never-crashes) explains how VectorCraft avoids crashing. Every bundled asset is listed with its licence in [`ASSETS.md`](ASSETS.md). ## The Crafting Apps VectorCraft is one of the **Crafting Apps**: free, open-source creative tools from the [ArtCraft](https://getartcraft.com/) team, each written from scratch in Rust and each able to stand on its own. | | App | What it's for | Code | Learn more | |:-:|---|---|---|---| |

| **PhotoCraft** | Image editing: layers, masks, type and real PSD files | [GitHub](https://github.com/storytold/photocraft) | [Website](https://getartcraft.com/apps/photocraft) | |

| **DesignCraft** | Page layout and publishing | [GitHub](https://github.com/storytold/designcraft) | [Website](https://getartcraft.com/apps/designcraft) | And [**ArtCraft**](https://getartcraft.com/) itself, our AI image and video studio for artists who want real control.

Come make things with us

Our Discord is where artists of every kind hang out: people who paint, shoot, draw, cut film, set type, and people still figuring out what they like to make. Share what you're working on, ask for help, tell us what's broken, or tell us what you wish these tools could do. Whatever your medium and however long you've been at it, you're welcome here.

discord.gg/artcraft · getartcraft.com · The Crafting Apps · VectorCraft

## License and credits VectorCraft is dual-licensed under [MIT](LICENSE-MIT) or [Apache-2.0](LICENSE-APACHE), at your option. Copyright (c) 2026 ArtCraft Team and the VectorCraft contributors. Required notices are in [NOTICE](NOTICE). Bundled fonts, icons, images and other assets keep their own open licenses; each one is listed with its author, source and license in [ASSETS.md](ASSETS.md). The app icon (an engraved dragon on VectorCraft red, `#e8573f`) is the owner's original artwork; its palette and files are in [`assets/app-icon/`](assets/app-icon/README.md). The ArtCraft name, wordmark and logos in [`docs/brand/`](docs/brand/) are trademarks of the ArtCraft Team and are not covered by this license. They may be used only unmodified, and only as part of this repository and VectorCraft, under [`docs/brand/LICENSE-brand.txt`](docs/brand/LICENSE-brand.txt). Forks and modified versions must remove them. _{Adobe, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Lightroom, Acrobat, After Effects and InDesign are trademarks or registered trademarks of Adobe Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. VectorCraft is an independent, open-source project and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Adobe Inc.; these names are used only to describe the workflows it is compatible with.}

_{Made by the ArtCraft team and community.}