Surehand MCP › Setup guide
Use ChatGPT and Codex with Adobe® After Effects®.
Surehand MCP connects the ChatGPT desktop app and Codex to After Effects directly, and ChatGPT on the web through a secure link. ChatGPT works on your project, by your rules, and every edit comes back with an exact list of what changed.
Works with ChatGPT desktop app, Codex, ChatGPT on the web · Tested on After Effects 2025 and 2026, macOS and Windows 11 · Free and MIT licensed
Set it up
Four steps.
No administrator rights and no account. Node.js comes with the installer.
Install Surehand MCP
Run the Mac
.pkgor the WindowsSetup.exefrom the download page and keep ChatGPT / Codex ticked. Both apps read~/.codex/config.toml, which the installer fills in.Restart After Effects once
The Surehand bridge starts with After Effects from then on.
Restart ChatGPT or Codex
In the ChatGPT desktop app, open Settings › Plugins › Servers and turn surehand-ae on.
Check the connection
Ask: "Check After Effects is connected." The Surehand panel shows Ready · ChatGPT.
ChatGPT on the web runs on OpenAI's servers and can't start programs on your computer, so it needs a secure link: install the free cloudflared tool once, then in the Surehand panel open ☰ › Connect an AI app… › ChatGPT (web) › Start, and paste the connector address into ChatGPT. The link stays up until you stop it.
What to ask
Ask in your own words.
ChatGPT picks the tool; the tool does the measuring.
"Check Endcard against our broadcast spec before I send it."
"Stress-test the lower third with long German names and Arabic."
"Un-precompose Logo_Lockup and prove nothing changed."
"I inherited this project. What does the render queue actually pull in?"
With ChatGPT
What you get.
In-chat views
ChatGPT shows Preflight, proven edits, X-ray and stress-test results as views in the chat, with Show in AE and Ask the AI to fix this.
Agent Skills
The four Surehand skills are installed for ChatGPT desktop and Codex in ~/.agents/skills/.
Chat inside After Effects
The Surehand panel can chat through Codex on your own sign-in, under the same Full / Ask / Read-only setting.
Questions
ChatGPT and After Effects.
Can ChatGPT control After Effects?
Yes, through Surehand MCP. The ChatGPT desktop app and Codex start the local Surehand server and call its tools, which run inside the open After Effects. Every edit is one undo step and returns an exact list of what changed.
Does it work with ChatGPT in a browser?
Yes, with a secure link made by the free cloudflared tool, started from the Surehand panel. The desktop app and Codex don't need it.
Does my project go to OpenAI?
Your project files stay on your computer. What ChatGPT sends to OpenAI (your messages, tool results and frames the AI renders to look at) follows OpenAI's terms.