Quickstart
From zero to your AI reading your composition in five minutes — install the panel, connect your client, ask.
The short version
Start a plan, then copy your license key from the License Portal.
Install the Prism panel in After Effects and activate it with your key.
In the MCP tab, click Connect, then copy your personal Prism MCP URL.
Add that URL to your AI client and ask it to read your current composition.
Set up Prism
1
Start a plan and copy your license key
Pick a plan at checkout — Free works to start. Then copy your license key from your License Portal. It has the form
PRISM-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX, never changes, and covers two devices per plan.2
Install the panel
Download the Prism panel — the
.zxp — from your License Portal and install it. Full steps are in install the panel.3
Activate with your key
Open the panel under Window → Extensions → AE Prism, paste your license key, and activate. The panel remembers this device.
4
Click Connect and copy your Prism MCP URL
In the MCP tab, click Connect, then copy the URL the panel shows — your personal Prism MCP URL, unique to your device and permanent. The three-tab panel is covered in the MCP panel guide.
5
Add the URL to your AI client
Paste that URL into your AI client as a custom MCP server. The per-client config blocks for Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT, and Windsurf are in connect your AI client.
6
Confirm it works
Open a composition in After Effects — Prism works on the active comp — then prompt your AI: "Tell me about my current composition." When it reads your comp back to you, you are connected. From there, the first-prompts gallery keeps you going.
If a step fails, check four things in order: the panel is open in After Effects, a comp is active, the license key is activated, and you copied the URL from the panel after clicking Connect. More fixes are in troubleshooting.
Related
- Connect your AI client — per-client config blocks
- Your first prompts — what to ask once you are connected
- License and activation — one key, paste once, covers every extension
- How Prism works — the read, reason, write loop behind the round-trip