Troubleshooting

1. Confirm the .zxp installation completed successfully.
2. Close After Effects fully, reopen it, and check Window → Extensions → Operator.
3. Check the supported platforms and After Effects version in Installation.
4. If needed, reinstall the official .zxp for your platform.

If it is still missing, contact support with your OS, After Effects version and the installer error. Do not change system security settings or enable extension debugging as a routine workaround.

Open Settings → AI and check both the provider and connection method.

• For Claude Code or Codex, complete the browser sign-in and return to Operator. Use Recheck if the status has not refreshed.
• If the browser did not open, use the copy-link option if Operator offers it. Keep authorization links private.
• For an API key, confirm that it belongs to the selected provider and has access to the chosen model. Press Enter or leave the field after editing it.
• For a work account, ask your administrator whether the required AI access is enabled.

Operator includes its required AI components. If it reports that a bundled component is missing, reinstall the official Operator package or contact support. Installing another global command-line tool is not the standard fix.

Your provider may have a usage limit, exhausted API credits, a model-access restriction or a temporary outage. Read the error, then check that provider's account dashboard.

An Operator purchase does not add AI credits. An API account and a consumer AI subscription may have different billing and access. Models, effort and usage

Open the intended composition in After Effects, click its timeline or viewer, then return to Operator. Check the pill again before sending.

If Operator reports that it could not read the project, let the current task finish and try refocusing the panel. If the problem remains, reopen the panel and report the exact message. Do not assume a stale label represents fresh project context.

Stop adding requests and inspect the timeline. For a small correction, name the affected layers and explain what should change. If you need to restore a checkpoint, remember that Revert restores the project state, including undoing manual changes made afterward.

Checkpoints and undo

Larger projects and more complex requests can take longer. Wait for the current task to settle rather than sending the same edit repeatedly. If you choose Stop, changes already made are not automatically undone.

After an interruption, inspect the project and read the latest result. Continue with a targeted request only once you know what happened. If the panel remains stuck, save your work and contact support with the message shown.

A usable checkpoint may not exist — for example, if the project was never saved, the checkpoint could not be written, or an older checkpoint is no longer available. Chat history is not a guarantee that its original project checkpoint is still on disk.

Save the project in a writable location for future checkpoints. Use your own project backups when the required checkpoint is unavailable.

Use your Operator license key, not an AI API key. Check Settings → Account for the status and message.

• Device limit: use Manage devices to deactivate a computer you no longer use, then activate this one.
• This computer was deactivated: choose Activate this computer to activate it again, if a slot is available.
• Temporary connection problem: keep the message and try again once the service or connection is available. Initial activation needs internet access.

An already activated paid installation can keep its verified license during a temporary outage. Do not deactivate or delete its settings to troubleshoot an outage; a new activation would need an online check.

Support may ask for the short device code shown in Account. Do not send your full license key.

Check the type, size and number of files. PDF support differs by connection: it is available with Claude API, Claude Code and Gemini API, but not currently with OpenAI API or Codex in Operator.

Use a supported text file or selected images of the relevant pages when a PDF is not supported. Do not just rename a file extension.

Attachment limits

Keep After Effects and the Operator panel open. In profile menu → Operator Connect, check that Connection is on and that the Operator extension is enabled in Claude Desktop.

If reads work but edits are refused, check Allow connected apps to edit and the license status in Settings → Account. A temporary device-verification message means wait for verification, not buy another license.

After the problem clears, submit a fresh request. A refused edit is not automatically replayed.

Set up Operator Connect

Use profile menu → Give feedback, or email support@boriklabs.com.

Include:

• Operator version, After Effects version and operating system.
• The provider and connection method you selected.
• What you asked for, what happened, and the exact error text.
• Whether the project changed before the error appeared.
• A cropped screenshot or disposable example project, if it helps and is safe to share.

Do not include passwords, API keys, license keys, sign-in links or confidential client material.