Installing

Installing

There are four ways to install. Pick one. All of them end the same way: restart After Effects once, then restart your AI app.

Way	File on the release page	Best for
Mac installer	Surehand-MCP-<version>.pkg	Mac users, any AI app
Windows installer	Surehand-MCP-Setup-<version>.exe	Windows users, any AI app
Zip with launchers	Surehand-MCP-<version>.zip	Mac or Windows, any AI app; also has the test, ChatGPT and uninstall launchers
Claude Desktop extension	Surehand-MCP.mcpb	Only Claude Desktop

Download from conformlabs.co/get or the latest release.

Use either the .mcpb or one of the installers for Claude Desktop, not both.

Requirements

• After Effects on macOS or Windows, in any language. 2025 and 2026 are tested release by release; the extension loads in CC 2019 (16.0) and newer, and versions before 2025 are best effort.
• Nothing else. The .mcpb uses Claude Desktop's built-in Node.js. The .pkg and the Setup .exe bring their own Node.js. The zip launchers use the Node.js on your computer, or download a private Node.js 22 (checksum-verified) if there is none.
• .pkg: macOS 13.5 or later (Apple silicon or Intel).
• Setup .exe: Windows 10 or later, 64-bit.
• No administrator password or admin rights. Everything goes into your own user account.

Mac: the .pkg installer

1. Double-click Surehand-MCP-<version>.pkg.
2. Click through the installer. It installs for your user only. To choose which AI apps to connect, click Customize on the Installation Type step: apps found on this Mac are ticked, the others are greyed out. ChatGPT on the web (optional) also downloads cloudflared.
3. Restart After Effects if it is open.
4. Restart your AI apps. If Claude Desktop was open, quit it fully (Cmd+Q) and open it again.

The package is signed and notarized by Apple. A log of the install is written to ~/.surehand/ae/install.log. If an AI app did not connect, the log says which one and why.

Windows: the Setup .exe

1. Double-click Surehand-MCP-Setup-<version>.exe.
2. If Claude Desktop is open, Setup asks you to quit it first (tray icon › Quit), then click OK. An open Claude Desktop can overwrite its settings and drop the new connection.
3. On Choose AI apps, tick the apps to connect (the ones found on this PC are listed). You can change this later in the panel.
4. Click Install. Show details lists every step.
5. Restart After Effects if it is open, and restart your AI apps.

Setup is signed. It adds Surehand MCP to Settings › Apps (Add/Remove Programs) for your account.

Mac or Windows: the zip with launchers

1. Unzip Surehand-MCP-<version>.zip. On Windows: right-click › Extract All first; don't run the files from inside the zip.

2. Open START HERE.txt, or go straight to the folder for your system:

   Surehand-MCP/
     START HERE.txt
     1. Claude Desktop (easiest)/   Surehand-MCP.mcpb
     2. Mac/                        1. Install, 2. Test Installation, 3. Connect ChatGPT, 4. Uninstall (.command)
     3. Windows/                    1. Install, 2. Test Installation, 3. Connect ChatGPT, 4. Uninstall (.bat)
     Support files/                 used by the launchers; you don't need to open it
   

3. Double-click 1. Install in 2. Mac or 3. Windows. A terminal window shows each step.

4. If Claude Desktop is open, the installer offers to restart it. Say yes.

5. Restart After Effects.

6. Optional: with After Effects open, double-click 2. Test Installation. Every line should show a check mark.

The launchers are not notarized. If macOS or Windows blocks them, see Troubleshooting.

Claude Desktop only: the .mcpb

1. Double-click Surehand-MCP.mcpb. Claude Desktop opens and asks to install it. Click Install.
2. Restart After Effects once. On its first start the server installs the After Effects extension by itself.
3. Ask Claude: "Check After Effects is connected."

To load every tool up front instead of the core set, turn on Enable all tools in the extension's settings in Claude Desktop. See What the AI can do.

The .mcpb has one limit: the panel's ☰ screens that run the server (Connect an AI app, Connection test, Updates, saving checkpoints from the panel) need the server installed by one of the installers. With only the .mcpb they say so. Updates come as a new .mcpb from the release page.

Check the installation

• In After Effects: Window › Extensions › Surehand MCP. The status line says Ready once an AI app has connected, or No AI app connected before that. See The Surehand panel.
• In the panel: ☰ › Test the connection.
• From the zip: 2. Test Installation.
• From a terminal: node ~/.surehand/ae/server/surehand-ae.mjs selftest (add --full to run every major tool against temporary comps; see For developers).

The bridge inside After Effects starts automatically with After Effects. You don't need to open the panel for the AI to work.

What gets installed where

~ is your home folder (%USERPROFILE% on Windows).

What	Where
The server (one file)	~/.surehand/ae/server/surehand-ae.mjs
Settings and access token	~/.surehand/ae/config.json (readable only by you)
Private Node.js, if needed	~/.surehand/node (shared by future Surehand apps)
After Effects extension	macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CEP/extensions/com.aemcp Windows: %APPDATA%\Adobe\CEP\extensions\com.aemcp
A connection entry named surehand-ae	in each AI app found (or chosen): Claude Desktop, Claude Code, ChatGPT desktop / Codex (~/.codex/config.toml, created if the ChatGPT or Codex app is installed), Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf / Devin Desktop, LM Studio. See Connecting AI apps.
The Surehand skills	~/.claude/skills/ and ~/.agents/skills/ for the apps that read them, and zips for Claude Desktop in ~/.surehand/ae/skills. See Skills.
Windows Setup only: uninstaller and icon	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Surehand MCP

AI app settings files are changed only when they can be read. Before each change a backup is made: the very first original stays as <file>.surehand.bak, and every change also gets a timestamped <file>.surehand-<time>.bak (the newest three are kept). The rest of each file is left as it is.

The extension is signed, so it loads without enabling unsigned extensions (PlayerDebugMode).

For the full folder layout see Settings and files.

Uninstalling

Installed with	Uninstall with
Windows Setup .exe	Settings › Apps › Surehand MCP › Uninstall
Zip launchers	4. Uninstall in 2. Mac or 3. Windows
Mac .pkg	~/.surehand/node/bin/node ~/.surehand/ae/server/surehand-ae.mjs uninstall, or 4. Uninstall from the zip
.mcpb	Claude Desktop › Settings › Extensions › remove Surehand MCP

Then restart After Effects and your AI apps.

Removed: the server, the After Effects extension, the surehand-ae entries in your AI apps (and the entry an earlier version wrote for this server), the files Surehand itself writes (runtime and status files, the activity log, temporary files, background render logs, compatibility reports, the install log), and the private Node.js unless another Surehand app still uses it.

Kept: your checkpoints, project history, proofs and any other files you put in ~/.surehand/ae, and the ffmpeg copy in ~/.surehand/ffmpeg. The uninstaller lists what it kept. Delete them by hand, or run uninstall --all from a terminal to remove everything including ffmpeg.

The Windows uninstaller also keeps config.json (your settings and token). The zip's 4. Uninstall and surehand-ae uninstall remove it unless you add --keep-config.

PlayerDebugMode is never changed by the uninstaller (an earlier version may have enabled it; other extensions may rely on it).