MotionAmigo

Setup & Troubleshooting

MotionAmigo drives After Effects through an AI assistant that runs on your own computer. Install one, sign in with a subscription you already have, and the panel connects automatically. Here's how to set it up — and how to fix the handful of things that trip people up.

Before you start — what you need

  • After Effects 2024 or newer. Earlier versions aren't supported.
  • A supported computer. On Mac: Apple Silicon (M1 or later) running macOS 13 (Ventura) or newer (Intel Macs aren't supported). On Windows: Windows 10 or 11.
  • One AI assistant with a paid subscription — either Claude Code (a Claude Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise plan) or Codex (a paid ChatGPT plan). Free accounts won't work.

Don't have a subscription yet? Ten of MotionAmigo's components work without one. See what works without an AI subscription.

Installed or signed in while After Effects was open? Re-check, don't restart. When MotionAmigo isn't connected, its setup overlay shows a Re-check button that rescans for your assistant, so it usually picks up a fresh install or sign-in without a restart. If anything still isn't detected, restarting After Effects resolves most problems.

How MotionAmigo connects

MotionAmigo's AI features rely on three things, which the panel's guided setup overlay checks and walks you through:

  1. Your chosen assistant is installed and signed in.
  2. Your MotionAmigo license or trial is active.
  3. After Effects has scripting permission enabled, which some panel actions rely on to read and write files.

The panel still loads and some components can work in After Effects without an assistant connected; it's the AI-driven features that need the steps above. This page is the deeper reference for when a step doesn't go cleanly.

Show steps for your platform:

Set up the Claude assistant

macOS macOS

  1. Open Terminal (press Cmd+Space, type Terminal, press Enter).

  2. Install Claude Code:

    curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

    (Or, with npm: npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code.)

  3. Sign in: run claude and choose the Claude account with subscription option — sign in via your browser using your Claude subscription (Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise). Once you're signed in, press Ctrl+C to exit the CLI, then close Terminal.

  4. Start (or restart) After Effects and open the MotionAmigo panel. It should find Claude automatically; if not, click Re-check.

Windows Windows

  1. Open PowerShell (press the Windows key, type PowerShell, press Enter).

  2. Install Claude Code:

    irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

    (Or, with npm: npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code.)

  3. Sign in: run claude, complete the browser sign-in with your Claude subscription, then press Ctrl+C to exit and close PowerShell.

  4. Start (or restart) After Effects, open the panel, and click Re-check if needed.

If the Windows installer says it needs Git for Windows or PowerShell 7: install Git for Windows (accept the defaults), reopen PowerShell, and run the install command again. Claude Code needs it to run.

Set up the Codex assistant

Codex is installed with npm, which comes with Node.js.

macOS macOS

  1. If you don't already have Node.js, install it from nodejs.org (the LTS version) or via Homebrew (brew install node).

  2. Open Terminal and install Codex:

    npm install -g @openai/codex

  3. Sign in: run codex, choose Sign in with ChatGPT, and complete it in your browser. Once signed in, press Ctrl+C to exit and close Terminal.

  4. Start (or restart) After Effects, open the panel, switch the backend toggle to Codex, and click Re-check if needed.

Windows Windows

  1. If you don't already have Node.js, open PowerShell and run:

    winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS

    then close and reopen PowerShell.

  2. Install Codex:

    npm install -g @openai/codex

  3. Sign in: run codex, and choose your ChatGPT subscription in the browser.

  4. Start (or restart) After Effects, open the panel, switch the backend toggle to Codex, and click Re-check if needed.

Quick reference

macOS macOS

AssistantInstallSign inAlso needs
Claudecurl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bashrun claude, pick "account with subscription"Paid Claude plan
Codexnpm install -g @openai/codexcodex, "Sign in with ChatGPT"Node.js; paid ChatGPT plan

Windows Windows

AssistantInstallSign inAlso needs
Claudeirm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iexrun claude, sign in via browserGit for Windows (or PowerShell 7); paid Claude plan
Codexnpm install -g @openai/codexcodexNode.js; paid ChatGPT plan; Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser RemoteSigned

Everyone also needs: After Effects 2024+, an active MotionAmigo license or trial, and After Effects' "Allow Scripts to Write Files and Access Network" preference enabled (Settings/Preferences → Scripting & Expressions).

Common issues & fixes

Try the guided setup first. The panel's setup overlay re-checks install → sign-in → scripting permission with steps worded for your operating system — it works on both macOS and Windows and re-appears automatically until setup is complete. If you're stuck, open it from the ⋯ menu ("Set up MotionAmigo") or the Open setup button in the Not-Connected popover before working through the fixes below.

I installed MotionAmigo but can't find the panel

The panel lives under Window → Extensions → MotionAmigo in After Effects. If it's not there:

  • Make sure you're on After Effects 2024 or newer; earlier versions aren't supported.
  • Fully quit and reopen After Effects after installing.
  • If you installed through the aescripts + aeplugins manager, confirm the install finished without errors and that MotionAmigo shows as installed there.

"command not found" / "not recognized" right after installing the assistant

Your Terminal (macOS) or PowerShell (Windows) is still using its old search path. Close it and open a new one, then run the command again. If you just installed Node.js on Windows, the same applies before npm will work.

"CLI not found" / "No compatible model" — but you already installed it

You most likely installed the assistant (or Node.js) while After Effects was already open. Click Re-check in the panel to rescan; it should detect the tool without a restart. If it still doesn't, restarting After Effects resolves most cases.

To confirm the tool itself is healthy, run claude --version or codex --version in Terminal (macOS) or PowerShell (Windows).

You've signed in, but MotionAmigo still says it needs you to sign in

Installing the tool and signing into it are separate steps. First, make sure you actually ran claude (and finished the browser sign-in) or codex, then click Re-check in the panel. If it still doesn't pick up your sign-in, restarting After Effects resolves most cases.

If you're certain you signed in and the panel still disagrees, it may be reading a stale state. Sign-in is detected from a credential file (or the macOS Keychain):

  • Claude (macOS): stored in the macOS Keychain (item "Claude Code-credentials"), with ~/.claude/.credentials.json as a fallback.
  • Claude (Windows): the file %USERPROFILE%\.claude\.credentials.json — present and non-empty means signed in.
  • Codex: ~/.codex/auth.json on macOS, %USERPROFILE%\.codex\auth.json on Windows.

If the file is there but the panel still disagrees after a Re-check, fully quit After Effects (not just the panel) and relaunch to force a fresh read. If you've set a custom CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR, MotionAmigo may not find your sign-in. Clear it and sign in with Claude's default location.

"No compatible model" even though you're signed in

This has two causes:

  1. Your assistant is out of date. Update it and re-check:

    • Claude: npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code (or re-run the native installer above).
    • Codex: npm install -g @openai/codex.

    The panel's setup overlay shows the exact minimum version it needs.

  2. Your subscription tier doesn't include the required model. MotionAmigo uses recent Claude and Codex models. If updating doesn't help, check that your plan includes model access — a lower ChatGPT or Claude tier may not — and contact support if you believe it should.

Some actions seem to silently do nothing

After Effects' scripting permission is off. Enable it:

  • macOS: After Effects → Settings → Scripting & Expressions → "Allow Scripts to Write Files and Access Network."
  • Windows: Edit → Preferences → Scripting & Expressions → "Allow Scripts to Write Files and Access Network."

Then click Re-check, or close and reopen the MotionAmigo panel. Most tool calls still work with this off, but some interactions will silently drop until it's enabled.

The status dot won't turn blue

The assistant is installed but MotionAmigo can't reach its service. Work through these in order:

  1. Click Retry in the Not-Connected popover — it re-attempts the connection and shows Reconnecting… while it works. Use Open setup in the same popover to re-run the guided checks.
  2. Check your internet connection. MotionAmigo connects to its cloud service over the internet. A corporate firewall, proxy, or VPN that blocks outbound connections to mcp.motionamigo.com will keep the dot from turning blue — try another network, or ask your IT team to allow it.

Windows: PowerShell says "running scripts is disabled on this system"

Windows is blocking the tool's script. Run this once (no administrator needed), press Y to confirm, then retry the install:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser RemoteSigned

Windows: the Codex installer at chatgpt.com/codex/install.ps1 errors out

Use the npm method above instead — it's the reliable path on Windows. (The native installer trips a known architecture-detection bug on some PowerShell setups.)

Windows: your antivirus flags or removes MotionAmigo's helper

MotionAmigo's local helper is a small unsigned program, so some antivirus tools may quarantine it on first run. If the panel installs but never connects on Windows, check your antivirus quarantine and allow MotionAmigo (the motionamigo-relay helper), then restart After Effects.

macOS: "This Mac isn't supported" / relay never connects on an Intel Mac

MotionAmigo's local helper is an Apple Silicon (arm64) build and requires macOS 13 (Ventura) or later. It can't run on Intel Macs or older macOS versions. Intel Mac support is a planned follow-up — there's a signup on the unsupported-platform screen to be notified.

Helpful links

Still stuck?

You can also ask your AI assistant for help. Claude Code or Codex is already installed on your machine, so describe what's happening and paste any error messages, and it can often help you work through a fix.

If the panel still won't connect, reach out to support with: