aftr

programmatic After Effects control for agents and scripts

TLDR

Start the controller (WebSocket, REST, UI, MCP endpoint)

$ npx aftr-studio controller```

Start the **stdio MCP** adapter (controller must already be running)

npx aftr-studio mcp```Run the headless simulator (no After Effects)

$ aftr sim

aftr (packages aftr-studio on npm/PyPI) is a bridge that drives Adobe After Effects from code and AI agents. A Node controller hosts WebSocket and REST APIs; a CEP panel inside After Effects executes ExtendScript commands and streams render progress. Agents and UIs connect to the controller instead of scripting AE directly.Typical setup: install the CEP panel once from a clone (npm run deploy:panel), open Window → Extensions → aftr in After Effects, run aftr controller, then attach Claude Code or another MCP client to http://127.0.0.1:8787/mcp (or the stdio MCP via aftr mcp). Commands cover comps, layers, keyframes, effects, text animators, VFX presets, and non-blocking aerender jobs. A headless simulator exercises the same protocol without AE.

PARAMETERS

controller

Start the bridge server (default 127.0.0.1:8787)

mcp

Stdio MCP server that forwards tools to a running controller

sim

Headless AE panel simulator for tests and demos

CONFIGURATION

Root config.json sets host, port, paths, and timeouts. Environment overrides include AE_BRIDGE_HOST, AE_BRIDGE_PORT, AE_BRIDGE_TOKEN (auth when exposing beyond loopback), AE_BRIDGE_AERENDER, AE_BRIDGE_FFMPEG, and AE_BRIDGE_ALLOW_DEV. Requires After Effects 2024–2026, Node 18+, and ffmpeg on PATH for pipeline features.

CAVEATS

Full creative control needs a licensed After Effects install and a deployed, signed CEP panel. Exposing the controller beyond localhost without AE_BRIDGE_TOKEN is unsafe. macOS and Windows only for real AE; Docker image serves controller without the panel.

RESOURCES

Source code · Homepage