after-effects-versions

A Node.js library to detect installed Adobe After Effects versions on macOS and Windows.

Installation

npm install after-effects-versions

Usage

Get All Installed Versions

import { findAfterEffectsVersions } from 'after-effects-versions';

(async () => {
  const installs = await findAfterEffectsVersions();
  console.log(installs);
})();

Get Latest Version Only

import { findLatestAfterEffects } from 'after-effects-versions';

(async () => {
  const latest = await findLatestAfterEffects();
  
  if (latest) {
    console.log(`Latest: ${latest.name} v${latest.version}`);
    console.log(`Path: ${latest.path}`);
  } else {
    console.log('No After Effects installation found');
  }
})();

Example Output

macOS

[
  {
    "platform": "mac",
    "name": "Adobe After Effects 2025",
    "version": "24.5.0",
    "path": "/Applications/Adobe After Effects 2025.app"
  },
  {
    "platform": "mac",
    "name": "Adobe After Effects 2024",
    "version": "24.2.1",
    "path": "/Applications/Adobe After Effects 2024.app"
  }
]

Windows

[
  {
    "platform": "win",
    "name": "Adobe After Effects 2024",**all** `AfterEffectsInstall` objects.

```typescript
interface AfterEffectsInstall {
  platform: 'mac' | 'win';
  name: string;        // Human-readable app name
  version: string | null; // Semantic version if available, otherwise null
  path: string;        // Install root path (.app folder on macOS, install dir on Windows)
  exe?: string;        // Path to AfterFX.exe on Windows only
}

findLatestAfterEffects()

Returns a promise that resolves to the latest AfterEffectsInstall object (determined by semantic version comparison), or null if no installations are found.

Use this when you only need the latest version (e.g., for launching After Effects, checking compatibility, etc.). "exe": "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects CC 2019\Support Files\AfterFX.exe" } ]

## API

### `findAfterEffectsVersions()`

Returns a promise that resolves to an array of `AfterEffectsInstall` objects.

```typescript
interface AfterEffectsInstall {
  platform: 'mac' | 'win';
  name: string;        // Human-readable app name
  version: string | null; // Semantic version if available, otherwise null
  path: string;        // Install root path (.app folder on macOS, install dir on Windows)
  exe?: string;        // Path to AfterFX.exe on Windows only
}

Platform Support

• macOS (darwin): Searches /Applications/ for After Effects .app bundles and reads version information from Info.plist
• Windows (win32): Searches Program Files and Program Files (x86) for After Effects installations and validates by checking for AfterFX.exe
• Other platforms: Returns an empty array

How It Works

macOS Detection

1. Scans /Applications/ directory for folders matching "After Effects" and ending with .app
2. Reads Info.plist from each app bundle to extract version information (CFBundleShortVersionString or CFBundleVersion)
3. Returns the full path to each .app bundle

Windows Detection

1. Searches common Adobe installation directories:
   • C:\Program Files\Adobe
   • C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe
2. Looks for folders containing "After Effects" in the name
3. Validates each installation by checking for AfterFX.exe in the Support Files subdirectory
4. Attempts to extract version from directory name (e.g., "2024", "2025")

Error Handling

The library is designed to be robust:

• Returns an empty array on unsupported platforms
• Continues searching even if individual installations fail to read
• Handles permission errors gracefully
• Does not throw exceptions during normal operation

Requirements

• Node.js 16 or higher
• No runtime dependencies

Notes

• Version accuracy: On macOS, versions are read from the app bundle's Info.plist. On Windows, versions are extracted from directory names and may not always reflect the exact build number.
• Permissions: The library needs read access to /Applications on macOS and Program Files on Windows.
• Custom installations: Only detects installations in standard locations. Custom installation paths are not currently supported.

License

MIT

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.