Project-level info: file path, dirty flag, all items with type/summary, active item. Start here.

Detailed comp info: size, fps, duration, work area, motion blur, layer summaries. Pass a comp name or item id — or an ARRAY of them to fetch several comps in one call.

Full layer info: transform, effects, masks, text, shape contents, keyframes. layerIndex accepts one index, an ARRAY of indices, or 'all' — auditing a whole comp is one call. Set includeProperties=false to skip the property tree walk.

Render a single frame to PNG. Use to visually verify edits. The agent's 'eyes' — pair with mutations for a visual feedback loop. Headless and deterministic. In color-managed projects (workingSpace != None) the capture applies AE's own display transform via a transient OCIO Display Transform adjustment layer, and the PNG comes back viewer-accurate and sRGB-tagged. Where that layer cannot be used — read-only mode, an AE without the OCIO effect, or a failed capture calibration — the result falls back to a pure-math ACES conversion or to raw values with an explicit colorWarning; check colorPipeline / colorWarning on the response.

Save the project. Pass path for Save As.

Serialize the entire project to JSON (folders, comps, layers, keyframes, effects, shapes, markers, time remap, solids, file refs). Write to outPath or return inline.

Rebuild the project from JSON (produced by ae_project_export_json). Supports clearFirst, dryRun (validate-only), skipValidation.

AE version, build, capabilities (saveFrameToPng, app.effects, Socket). Call at session start to know what APIs are available.

Discover available atomic operations for ae_do. Without args: all categories with their operation names. With a category: detailed params per operation. Only operations this server will actually execute are listed.

Execute an atomic operation by name (from ae_catalog). Arguments are validated against the operation's declared parameters before anything reaches AE. Have more than one operation to run? Wrap them in ONE batch.run instead of several ae_do calls — read/verify steps (comp.info, layer.info, render.frame) can ride in the same batch. Every call is automatically wrapped in ONE undo group: a single Ctrl+Z (or project.undo) reverts the entire call, and a batch.run counts as one call. Never call app.beginUndoGroup/endUndoGroup in eval.run code — the wrapper already did. The exception is undo/redo itself (project.undo, command.execute id 16/2035): those run outside the group and cannot ride inside a batch.run. Response includes ambient context (active comp, selected layers, project state) at zero extra round trips. Example: ae_do({ operation: 'keyframe.add', args: { comp: 'Main', layer: 1, property: ['Transform','Position'], time: 2, value: [960,540] } })

Ambient context: project state, active comp, selected layers, item list, AE.* helpers, ES3 rules, and the undo contract (every call = one auto undo group). Call at session start; then rely on ae_do response context.

List the modal dialogs After Effects is showing, or dismiss one by its cancel action (what Escape does: a warning is acknowledged, a 'save changes?' question is cancelled — never answered for the user). Use after a DIALOG_OPEN / TIMEOUT error, or before a step known to pop a dialog. Windows + macOS; on macOS reading the text and dismissing need Accessibility permission for the app that runs this server.

Object Matte (AE 26) on a layer through After Effects' UI — macOS only; no script can create a selection. Give lassos and points in the pixels of a frame you looked at (comp pixels of an ae_render_frame by default, or layer source pixels with space:"layer"). A LASSO takes the subjects inside the outline — AE snaps it to their silhouettes — so one lasso can take a whole group of people at once: outline them generously, heads and feet with a margin. A POINT takes the subject under it as AE segments it — often only a garment or a torso in a crowd, so use points only for a lone, clearly separated subject. mode:"subtract" removes (Option). The tool opens the layer in the Layer panel at time (the base frame), makes the Object Matte tool active (checked through the active-tool code — Option+W is the Roto Brush group's shortcut and cycles its members), acts with real mouse events, reads back the strokes the effect recorded (error_px = where each landed vs where it was meant to), optionally propagates by stepping the comp time (propagate_to), and then RENDERS A PREVIEW and returns it as images: top — the matte over black, bottom — the frame with the excluded parts in red, with markers: cyan boxes on gaps between kept pieces (where a hidden, lying or partly visible person is usually left out) and green/yellow rings on the people points you listed. A part of a person, someone behind another or lying on the ground is a subject too: add it with a lasso that overlaps the neighbouring kept matte so the pieces merge. The result is never verified by the tool: look at the images and check every person. With only preview_times (no points, lassos or propagate_to) it renders the preview without touching the UI — use it to check any frames. The Layer panel must be visible and large enough for the whole picture.