jhonny-editor/bm/premiere-pro-mcp-main/docs/mogrt-authoring.md

Guarded After Effects MOGRT authoring

This repository can author and route bounded MOGRT workflows from After Effects into Premiere. It does not turn the MCP server into a general-purpose After Effects scripting endpoint, and it does not claim that a generated file has correct animation, editable controls, Premiere compatibility, visual quality, or completed-render output.

What is supported

The template library provides five deterministic recipes: lower_third, title_card, callout, quote_card, and social_end_card. Each creates one comp in the already open, saved After Effects project, adds bounded headline and optional subtitle text plus an accent Color Control, then attempts to expose those controls in Essential Graphics before requesting the MOGRT export.

An optional brand_kit can constrain template naming with a prefix, supply approved accent/text colors, request a font by name, position content within a safe margin, and add an approved, workspace-contained PNG/JPEG logo. Font availability is resolved by After Effects at creation time; the preview cannot prove it is installed.

The base path remains constrained:

1. verify_after_effects_connection is read-only and returns only connector, host-version, saved-project, and project-item-count state.
2. preview_mogrt_recipe validates a bounded recipe and an existing output directory within an operator-approved workspace. It issues a one-time token that expires after ten minutes.
3. create_mogrt_recipe consumes that token only when confirm_export is explicitly true. It requires edit, export, and filesystem authority.
4. verify_mogrt_artifact checks local file presence and the ZIP header only.

The studio tools extend this without widening authority:

• preview_mogrt_batch and create_mogrt_batch process up to 20 JSON/CSV rows serially. The batch stops at a host failure and cannot roll back earlier compositions or exports.
• validate_mogrt_brand_kit validates a declared local kit before its preview.
• inspect_after_effects_template_source returns source-comp dimensions, duration, fonts, layer kinds, and (on AE 16.1+) Essential Graphics controller names. Older hosts report this readback as unavailable.
• preview_mogrt_library_publish, publish_mogrt_to_library, and inspect_mogrt_library manage immutable v001, v002, … copies inside an existing local library root; publication fails instead of overwriting.
• inspect_after_effects_render_templates, preview_after_effects_render, and enqueue_after_effects_render read template names and enqueue one approved output. They never start the render queue or claim an output file.
• preview_mogrt_premiere_handoff and apply_mogrt_premiere_handoff require an explicit MOGRT Verify - … sequence name and empty track, then verify the import and returned control descriptors in Premiere.

Install and host preparation

Install the dedicated connector—not the Premiere connector—and fully restart After Effects:

premiere-pro-mcp --install-after-effects-cep

Open Window > Extensions > MCP for Adobe After Effects, then start the connector. It uses AFTER_EFFECTS_MCP_TEMP_DIR, defaulting to the OS temporary directory plus after-effects-mcp-bridge. That is intentionally distinct from PREMIERE_TEMP_DIR, so simultaneous Premiere and After Effects instances cannot claim each other's commands.

Before calling the create tool, the operator must open a saved .aep project that is itself inside approved_workspace_path; the planned output directory must already exist inside that same root. The tool rejects unsaved projects, projects outside the root, non-existent directories, outside paths, and an existing output filename. It never creates or switches projects, creates output directories, overwrites an existing MOGRT, or accepts arbitrary script text.

Verification boundary

After Effects reports that it accepted the export request, and the server then reports immediate local artifact status. A returned boolean or an existing ZIP file is not proof of controls, import behavior, rendering, or design. The Premiere handoff is stronger evidence—it rechecks the named empty sequence, observes inserted track items, and returns control descriptors—but it still is not a visual proof. The required completion evidence is:

1. Verify the .mogrt file locally.
2. Import it into a disposable Premiere sequence.
3. Inspect the exposed properties and capture a rendered review frame with the existing capture_frame tool or a separate approved export workflow.
4. Only then treat the template as usable for delivery.

Automated tests cover the bridge isolation, schema bounds, workspace containment, one-time approval, and artifact-check contracts. They do not substitute for a licensed After Effects and Premiere host run.