AfterPilot (Beta)

Create and refine editable After Effects motion graphics through GitHub Copilot in VS Code. AfterPilot works with native compositions, text, shapes and supported animation properties, rather than returning only a flattened video.

Beta software for Apple Silicon Macs. Start with a backed-up test project and review every result. This is an independent extension, not an Adobe, Microsoft or GitHub-endorsed product.

Requirements

• VS Code desktop 1.102 or newer, running natively on macOS Apple Silicon.
• Adobe After Effects already running with a saved local AEP open.
• GitHub Copilot with Agent mode and MCP tools permitted by your account and organization. Copilot and After Effects require their own accounts/licenses.
• macOS Automation permission and After Effects' Allow Scripts to Write Files and Access Network preference, when prompted. AfterPilot does not change these settings.

The Node runtime and MCP server are bundled. No npm installation, repository clone, runtime download or MCP JSON editing is needed. Windows, Intel Macs, web and remote extension hosts are not qualified. Earlier native evidence used AE 26.5 on macOS 26.6.2; this is not a claim that every AE/macOS combination has been tested.

Install and Connect

1. In VS Code Extensions, find AfterPilot (Beta) from the publisher on this listing and choose Install Pre-Release Version. Existing internal-preview users should follow the migration section below first.
2. Open a trusted workspace. In After Effects, open a backed-up local project and save it once.
3. Run AfterPilot: Get Started, choose Connect a Project, and select the same AEP already open in AE. Review and accept the project-connection disclosure.
4. In Copilot Agent mode, enable AfterPilot's MCP tools and respond to VS Code's tool-permission prompts under your organization's policy. Broad Allow All permission is not required by AfterPilot.
5. Ask Copilot to inspect first, then make and verify a scoped change. For example:

Use AfterPilot to inspect the connected project. Add a new 640 by 360, three-second composition with editable text reading "Hello" and animate its opacity from 0 to 100 over one second. Leave existing compositions unchanged. Inspect the new layers, preview the start, midpoint and end, and save the result.

The connection has no authorization countdown or per-edit AfterPilot approval dialog. Use AfterPilot: Disconnect or Stop to end it. Restarting/reloading VS Code, changing the build, losing workspace trust or detecting a changed project on the next native request requires reconnecting. There is no background AE project polling.

Capabilities and Limits

• Create editable compositions, text and rectangles; set supported text alignment.
• Animate supported properties, retime keys, precompose groups, and apply supported masks, effects and fixed expression presets.
• Inspect projects, measure text, render up to nine preview frames and compare images. Native previews are limited to compositions up to 1920 by 1080.
• Stage selected PNG assets for import. Native PNG import has not yet been qualified across real projects.
• Read back edits and create local pre-edit checkpoints. Checkpoints are not automatic rollback or a replacement for your own backups.

AfterPilot exposes a finite tool catalog, not every AE feature or arbitrary script execution. It does not include Figma/HTML/Lottie conversion, hosted media generation or Higgsfield skills. Font availability, complex existing rigs and creative consistency need human review. Built-in guidance is lightweight, not a guarantee of design quality.

Disconnected tools operate only on synthetic fixtures, never on AE. Fixture images are schematic, not Adobe renders. Native pilot tests on earlier versions and the user-reported connected-workflow smoke test/demo are distinct from broad production qualification.

Saving and Recovery

Before each mutation, AfterPilot saves the connected project, including unsaved manual edits, then copies a checkpoint before changing it. Post-edit changes are not automatically saved unless a save action is requested. The connection itself does not save the project.

Stop prevents future actions but cannot abort an AE script already running. If a request times out or completion is uncertain, do not retry it. Inspect AE manually, preserve wanted work, quit AE, stop the AfterPilot MCP server through MCP: List Servers, then use AfterPilot: Review Interrupted Operation. Confirm AE IS CLOSED only when it is true. Never delete locks to bypass recovery. Opening a checkpoint is a separate manual decision and may discard newer work.

Migrating from AE Local Copilot

AfterPilot has a new extension identity, so the old VSIX installation does not automatically become AfterPilot.

1. In the old extension, finish or stop work, resolve any interrupted operation, save wanted AE changes, and run AE Local: Disconnect.
2. Stop the old MCP server. Disable or uninstall AE Local Copilot, then reload VS Code before installing AfterPilot. Do not run both extensions or another AE automation controller concurrently.
3. Install AfterPilot's pre-release from Marketplace, reload if requested, and use AfterPilot: Get Started to reconnect.

For compatibility, internal command IDs (aeLocal.*), tool names (ae_*), the MCP provider and local data location remain unchanged. The existing ~/Library/Application Support/AE Local Copilot folder retains checkpoints, receipts and recovery evidence. Do not delete or rename it during migration. Uninstalling does not purge it.

Beta Updates

Stay on Pre-Release Version and enable automatic updates for AfterPilot in Extensions. VS Code handles update distribution; organization policy and user settings may delay or disable it. Apply updates while idle. An extension-host restart or new build requires a fresh project connection, not a new approval for every edit.

VSIX installations have automatic updates disabled by default. Install from the Marketplace channel for ongoing beta updates; a shared VSIX download link is not an update feed.

Privacy and Support

AfterPilot performs automation locally and implements no content telemetry, background diagnostic upload, external generation or runtime download. Copilot is an online service: project inspection results and requested preview images go to Copilot. Local live execution does not isolate Node, AppleScript, AE, expressions, plugins or Adobe helpers from the network. Synthetic execution alone is network-denied. AE's scripting preference permits networking; it does not restrict it.

Use normal, locally owned writable AEPs. Symlinked and shared-write files are refused; network locations are unsupported. Cloud-sync folders are not qualified. Checkpoints, staged assets and previews remain locally until explicitly removed. Retain recovery data and follow your organization's data policy.

Report bugs and feature requests on AfterPilot Support, or email aaryaghodke@microsoft.com. Include the AfterPilot, VS Code, macOS and AE versions, exact error and minimal reproduction. GitHub issues are public. AfterPilot: Diagnostics is available, but review output before sharing: project paths and request details may be present. Never send credentials, client projects or screenshots containing private content without authorization.

The installed package includes LICENSE, THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md, runtime/LICENSE and the third_party dependency notices. Third-party licenses retain their original terms.