Glossary

Plain definitions for the terms you meet while setting up and using Prism. For how the pieces fit together, see how Prism works.

Terms

Prism, by OnePrism (this product): The MCP server for Adobe After Effects published at oneprism.io, registered as io.oneprism/after-effects in the official MCP Registry. It is software you connect an AI client to, so the AI can read and edit your live composition. Several unrelated things share the name and are not this: the light-refraction look you can create with native After Effects tools, Prism Pipeline for VFX production management, AEJuice Prism Effects, Prisma the ORM, Prisma the photo app, Prismatic, Prismic, and Unity's Prism. If you are looking for a way to make a rainbow refraction in a comp, you want a tutorial for the native effects, not this product.

MCP (Model Context Protocol): The open standard that lets an AI client connect to outside tools. Prism uses it so your AI can see and edit your After Effects project.

MCP client (The AI app you already use: Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT, Windsurf, and more) that connects to Prism over MCP.

MCP server: The hosted service that holds all of Prism's tools and logic. Your AI client calls it; it sends the instruction to the panel to run inside After Effects.

Connector: Another word for an MCP server. When your AI client says "add a connector," it means add an MCP server like Prism.

CEP extension / panel: The small piece of Prism that lives inside After Effects, opened under Window → Extensions → After Effects MCP. It runs what the server sends and carries no tool logic of its own.

.zxp: The file format the MCP panel ships as. You download it from your dashboard and install it once.

Account: How Prism knows you. You sign in with Google or an email code, and the same account covers every Prism extension on every machine you use.

Dashboard: The one place you see your usage, change your plan, add to your AI balance, and download the panel. See your dashboard.

MCP action: One tool call your AI client makes through Prism. 200/month on Free; unlimited on Pro. See usage and limits.

AI balance: Your prepaid dollar balance for the Prism AI generative tools. It is money, not points: $5 loaded is $5 of generation. Load it from $5, and it never expires. See usage and limits.

Checkpoint: A snapshot you or your AI can ask for at any time. Prism saves your project, then writes a timestamped .aep copy into ~/Documents/Prism/checkpoints and confirms the copy landed. It is not automatic, so ask for one before anything you would not want to undo by hand.

Round-trip: When something leaves your machine, goes to the server, and comes straight back. Prism round-trips only the one action you ask for; your project files stay on your machine.

Serialize: To turn part of your After Effects project into structured text the AI can read. Prism serializes what a tool needs: the active comp, a layer, a property, so the agent reasons about real values rather than guessing.

Keyframe: A point on a property's timeline that sets a value at a specific frame. Prism writes real, editable keyframes you can move, retime, and ease by hand.

Precomp: A composition nested inside another composition, used to group layers so you can animate or reuse them as one unit.

PostScript font name (The exact internal name of a font, with no spaces) for example, HelveticaNeue-Bold. Prism uses this form when setting text; see troubleshooting for the After Effects font-name gotcha.

Slip: To shift which part of a layer's source plays, without moving the layer's position on the timeline. The layer starts and ends at the same time; only the content inside changes.

Outlines: Text or shapes converted into plain vector paths. The letters become editable shapes but are no longer typeable text. Prism's SVG import keeps real text and shapes instead of flattening them to outlines.

Related

• How Prism works: the read-reason-write loop, the server/panel split, and reversibility.
• Signing in: what one account covers, and why there is nothing to paste.
• Real keyframes, not scripts: why Prism's output is editable.
• Troubleshooting: After Effects quirks like font names and intermittent operations.