MCP After Effects

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that lets Claude (or any MCP client) control Adobe After Effects via natural language.

How It Works

Claude ──MCP──► mcp-after-effects ──ExtendScript──► Adobe After Effects

The server bridges Claude to AE using one of three mechanisms (selected automatically based on your OS):

Related MCP server: after-effects-mcp

Prerequisites

• Node.js ≥ 18

• Adobe After Effects (any recent version — CC 2019+)

• After Effects must be open for applescript/com modes, or aerender must be on your PATH for aerender mode

Installation

npm install
npm run build

Configuration

Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "after-effects": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-ae/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "AE_BRIDGE_MODE": "auto"
      }
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables

aerender Paths (defaults)

• macOS: /Applications/Adobe After Effects 2024/aerender

• Windows: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2024\Support Files\aerender.exe

Available MCP Tools

Project & Composition

Layers

Animation

Render & Save

Advanced

Example Prompts

Once connected to Claude, you can say things like:

• "List all compositions in my After Effects project"

• "Create a 1920×1080 composition called 'Intro' at 24fps, 5 seconds long"

• "Add a white text layer saying 'Hello World' at 72px font size, centered"

• "Set the opacity of layer 'Title' to 0 at t=0 and 100 at t=1 second"

• "Apply a Gaussian Blur to the background layer"

• "Add the 'Main' composition to the render queue and save to /tmp/output.mp4"

• "Run this ExtendScript: app.project.activeItem.name"

Property Paths

Use dot notation for nested properties with ae_set_layer_property and ae_add_keyframe:

Transform.Position       → [x, y]
Transform.Scale          → [x, y] (percentage, e.g. [100, 100])
Transform.Rotation       → degrees
Transform.Opacity        → 0-100
Transform.Anchor Point   → [x, y]

Common Effect Match Names

Find all match names by running: ae_run_script with:

var e = app.effects;
var r = [];
for (var i=0; i<e.length; i++) r.push(e[i].matchName);
return r.join("\n");

Development

npm run dev    # Run with tsx (no build step)
npm run build  # Compile TypeScript → dist/
npm run watch  # Watch mode

Architecture

src/
├── index.ts              # MCP server, tool definitions
├── ae-bridge.ts          # OS-level AE communication
└── scripts/
    └── common-effects.ts # Effect names & property path constants