Dsrupt After Effects MCP

A local MCP server that connects an AI agent to Adobe After Effects, with the agent's working knowledge served by the same server as skills.

Desktop agent / MCP client (Codex, Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, ...)
        |  stdio
Dsrupt After Effects MCP  (Node)
        |  file mailbox + OS scripting (AppleScript / AfterFX.exe -r)
Adobe After Effects

Two surfaces, one process:

• Tools: inspect the project, comps and layers; discover the 197 catalogued operations and run them; render a frame to check the result; save.

• Skills: ae_get_skill serves an index, then one skill, then one reference, so the agent loads only what the current task needs instead of carrying every guide in context.

The runtime derives from the MIT-licensed kumoproductions/mcp-aftereffects; see UPSTREAM.md. Windows and macOS, After Effects 2024 to 2026, Node 24+. No panel or plugin is installed in After Effects.

This tool edits the open After Effects project. Anything the agent reads (comp names, expressions, footage paths) may be sent to the AI service behind your client. Try it on a copy first, and keep AE_MCP_READONLY=1 for inspection-only sessions.

Install

git clone https://github.com/Dsrupt-Technologies/dsrupt-after-effects-mcp.git
cd dsrupt-after-effects-mcp
npm ci --ignore-scripts
npm run build
node dist/cli/index.js doctor

doctor checks Node and npm, the built server, the skill bundle, the mailbox directory, and where After Effects is installed. It does not launch After Effects. Then register the server with your client:

node dist/cli/index.js install-codex          # Codex CLI
node dist/cli/index.js install-claude-code    # Claude Code
node dist/cli/index.js config                 # JSON block for Claude Desktop, Cursor, others
node dist/cli/index.js install-skill          # entry skill for Codex/Claude Code sessions

install-skill copies a small dsrupt-after-effects skill into ~/.agents/skills and ~/.claude/skills, so an agent that has not been told about the server can still find it (in Codex or ChatGPT desktop: /dsrupt-after-effects). Every real instruction stays on the server behind ae_get_skill.

Platform notes: Windows, macOS, and MCP clients.

Related MCP server: aftr

Verify the connection

Installation and a working After Effects link are different facts, so they are checked separately:

node dist/cli/index.js doctor      # 1. Node/npm, files, skills, AE location
node dist/cli/index.js check-ae    # 2. server starts, 3. tools advertised, 4. skills served,
                                   # 5. After Effects answers ae_project_info (read-only)

check-ae only talks to an After Effects that is already running, so it never boots one by surprise; pass --allow-launch to change that. The sixth state, whether your agent's current conversation can call the tools, is only visible from inside the client: ask it to run ae_get_skill({}) and then ae_project_info({}).

First calls from the agent

1. ae_get_skill({}): the skill index.

2. ae_get_skill({ name: "ae-clean-rig" }): the entry skill. It routes to references such as references/sliders.md and to companion skills.

3. ae_project_info({}): what is open. This is the live connection test.

4. ae_catalog({}), then ae_catalog({ category: "layer" }): exact operations and parameters.

5. ae_do({ operation: "layer.create_text", args: { comp: "Main", text: "Hello", name: "Title" } }).

6. ae_render_frame({ compNameOrId: "Main", time: 1, outPath: "/tmp/check.png" }), then look at it.

7. ae_save_project({}).

The twelve tools are listed in docs/TOOLS.md. Operations are not tools; the agent discovers them through ae_catalog at runtime.

Skills

Skills live in skills/, are described by skills/manifest.json, and are verified by hash before being served. See docs/SKILLS.md to edit or add one.

Safety

• Every ae_do call is one undo group. batch.run is one undo group too, but not a transaction: earlier steps stay applied if a later one fails.

• A TIMEOUT may mean the change already applied. The skills tell the agent to inspect before retrying a mutation.

• AE_MCP_READONLY=1 withholds saving and importing and limits ae_do to read operations. AE_MCP_ALLOW_CATEGORIES narrows the catalog. Arbitrary ExtendScript (eval.run) is off unless AE_MCP_ENABLE_EVAL=1.

• Operations that change After Effects application settings (not the project) require confirm: true.

• The connection test and the doctor never mutate the project. The live smoke test (npm run smoke) refuses to run in anything but a fresh, empty, unsaved project.

Environment

Without an override, After Effects is found in this order: a running After Effects process, then installed copies under Program Files, the Windows registry, Start Menu shortcuts, /Applications, ~/Applications, a Spotlight bundle-id query, and DSRUPT_AE_SEARCH_DIRS. Newest year wins; locate-ae shows every candidate and what was probed.

Development

npm run check          # skills check, typecheck, lint, format, JSX ES3 lint, docs drift
npm run test:offline   # 300+ tests, no After Effects needed
npm test               # adds the e2e suites, which self-skip without a running AE
npm run smoke          # live demo in a fresh empty project; writes runtime/dsrupt-smoke/
npm run test:package   # pack, install to a temp prefix, start the server from there

Internals, error codes and how to add an operation are in CONTRIBUTING.md. The comparison with the upstream project and the reference fork is in docs/COMPARISON.md; what has actually been verified, and where, is in docs/VALIDATION.md.

License

MIT. Copyright (c) 2026 kumo.productions, Inc. (upstream runtime) and Dsrupt Technologies (modifications). Adobe and Adobe After Effects are trademarks of Adobe Inc.; this project is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Adobe.