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Surehand MCP › Setup guide

Use VS Code and GitHub Copilot with Adobe® After Effects®.

Surehand MCP connects VS Code to After Effects, for GitHub Copilot Chat in Agent mode. Copilot works on your project through Surehand's tools, and every edit comes back with an exact list of what changed.

Download Surehand MCP VS Code in the docs

Works with VS Code with GitHub Copilot · 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.

  1. Install Surehand MCP

    Run the Mac .pkg or the Windows Setup.exe from the download page and keep VS Code ticked.

  2. Restart After Effects once

    The Surehand bridge starts with After Effects from then on.

  3. Restart VS Code

    Or run MCP: List Servers. Use Copilot Chat in Agent mode.

  4. Check the connection

    Ask: "Check After Effects is connected." The Surehand panel shows Ready · VS Code.

VS Code user mcp.json
{ "servers": { "surehand-ae": { "type": "stdio", "command": "/path/to/node", "args": ["/Users/<you>/.surehand/ae/server/surehand-ae.mjs"] } } }

The file is in ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/ on a Mac and %APPDATA%\Code\User\ on Windows.

What to ask

Ask in your own words.

VS Code 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 VS Code

What you get.

In-chat views

VS Code shows Preflight, proven edits, X-ray and stress-test results in the chat.

Agent Skills

The four Surehand skills are installed where VS Code reads them.

Any language of After Effects

Property, effect and menu names are mapped to match names, which are the same in every language.

Everything Surehand MCP does · Its limits

Questions

VS Code and After Effects.

Can GitHub Copilot control After Effects?

Yes, in VS Code's Copilot Chat Agent mode with Surehand MCP connected. Copilot calls Surehand's tools, which run inside the open After Effects, and each edit returns a change report.

Which Copilot mode do I use?

Agent mode in Copilot Chat. That is the mode that calls MCP tools.

Where does VS Code keep the setting?

In your user mcp.json, under servers, with "type": "stdio". The installer writes it for you.

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