License
Activate your license
Purchase a plan, get your key by email, add it to your MCP config, and you're live in under 2 minutes.
Your license key and activation status are always available at synthetic.com.ar/dashboard/licenses. Bookmark it — you'll need it if you ever reinstall or switch machines.
Step-by-step activation
1
Purchase a plan on Lemon Squeezy
Go to synthetic.com.ar/pricing and choose Monthly or Annual. Payment is processed securely by Lemon Squeezy — we never store your card details.
2
Get your license key from email
After purchase, Lemon Squeezy sends a receipt email containing your license key. It looks like:Keys are UUIDs — groups of characters separated by hyphens. If you don't see the email within a few minutes, check your spam folder or find it in your dashboard.
XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX
3
Add AE_MCP_LICENSE to your MCP client config
Open your MCP client's configuration file and add the Replace
AE_MCP_LICENSE environment variable:claude_desktop_config.json
{
"mcpServers": {
"after-effects": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@synthetic-ai/ae-mcp"],
"env": {
"AE_MCP_LICENSE": "XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX"
}
}
}
}XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX with your actual key — copy-paste it directly from the email or dashboard to avoid typos.4
Restart your MCP client
Close and reopen Claude Desktop (or Cursor / Windsurf / your MCP client). The server validates your license on startup — once connected, the After Effects tools will appear in the tools panel.
Config file locations
Not sure where your config file is? Here are the default paths:
| Claude Desktop (Windows) | %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json |
| Claude Desktop (macOS) | ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json |
| Cursor | .cursor/mcp.json (project root) |
| Windsurf | ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json |
Verifying activation
After restarting your client, ask Claude: "Are the After Effects tools available?" — Claude will confirm whether the MCP is connected. You can also check your dashboard at synthetic.com.ar/dashboard/licenses to see active devices.
If you see "license invalid", make sure there are no leading/trailing spaces in the key and that it matches the UUID format
XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX. See the Troubleshooting page for more help.