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What is aftr?

arman-luthra/aftr — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

★ 10JavaScriptAudience · vibe coderLicense

In one sentence

A tool that lets an AI coding assistant control Adobe After Effects to build and render finished videos automatically.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((aftr))
    What it does
      Controls After Effects
      AI driven video editing
      Self correcting pipeline
    Tech stack
      Node.js
      WebSocket
      MCP server
    Use cases
      Automated title sequences
      One call VFX presets
      Headless testing
    Audience
      Vibe coders
      Video creators

Code map

Detail Auto

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Ask an AI assistant in plain language to build and render a titled video clip in After Effects.

USE CASE 2

Automatically apply ready-made effects like fire, smoke, or a cinematic color grade to a video.

USE CASE 3

Let an automated pipeline render, review, and fix a video clip on its own before finishing.

USE CASE 4

Test After Effects automation commands using a headless simulator with no software installed.

What is it built with?

JavaScriptNode.jsWebSocketExtendScriptDockerMCP

How does it compare?

arman-luthra/aftragi-ruby/ai-gpt_image2-seedance_2.0-video-skillsgaearon/react-aux
Stars101010
LanguageJavaScriptJavaScriptJavaScript
Last pushed——2017-11-29
Maintenance——Dormant
Setup difficulty—easyeasy
Complexity—1/51/5
Audiencevibe codervibe coderdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

So what is it?

Aftr is a tool that lets an AI coding assistant like Claude Code control Adobe After Effects and build finished videos automatically, without a person doing any manual editing. It works by running a small controller program that talks over a network connection to a panel installed inside After Effects, which then carries out the requested actions, such as creating a video composition, adding a text title, applying a fire or smoke effect, animating text, and rendering the final video to a file. Setting it up involves starting the controller with a single command using npm, pip, or Docker, connecting it to Claude Code with another short command, and installing a companion panel inside After Effects itself. Once connected, you can describe what you want in plain language, such as asking for a five second title clip with a fire effect behind the text, and the assistant carries out the individual steps needed to build it. The tool includes roughly one hundred individual commands covering things like layers, keyframes, effects, masks, and text animation presets, plus ready-made effects such as fire, smoke, glitch, neon glow, and color grading that can be applied with a single call. It can also discover what fonts, effects, and plugins are already installed on your system rather than requiring you to guess their exact names. An automated pipeline can build a video clip, render it, review how it looks, and make corrections on its own before moving on. It requires After Effects versions from 2024 through 2026, Node.js version 18 or newer, and the ffmpeg video tool available on your system. There is also a headless simulator that lets developers test the tool's commands without having After Effects installed at all, along with an automated test suite. It supports both Windows and macOS and is released under the MIT license. The full README is longer than what was shown.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Walk me through connecting aftr to Claude Code so I can control After Effects with it.
Prompt 2
Create a 1080p five second comp with a title and a fire effect, then render it to mp4.
Prompt 3
Explain how the autonomous pipeline reviews and corrects a rendered video clip.
Prompt 4
Show me how to test aftr's commands using the headless simulator without After Effects.

Frequently asked questions

What is aftr?

A tool that lets an AI coding assistant control Adobe After Effects to build and render finished videos automatically.

What language is aftr written in?

Mainly JavaScript. The stack also includes JavaScript, Node.js, WebSocket.

Who is aftr for?

Mainly vibe coder.

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