Launch the AI Assistant (beta) panel by selecting the AI Assistant (beta) icon in the header bar.
Last updated on
Oct 16, 2026
Learn how to create a custom skill from the template and use it with the Assistant to work your way in Adobe After Effects.
Use new beta features
After Effects AI Assistant is now available for testing and feedback. Try it now in After Effects (beta).
Custom skills let you instruct After Effects AI Assistant (beta) how you want it to work. You can describe your preferences, standards, and workflows in plain language, giving the AI Assistant more context for different parts of your workflow. A skill might describe how you organize projects, approach common tasks, solve problems, or follow a particular creative process. This makes it easier to capture ways of working that you want the Assistant to follow consistently.
Each skill focuses on a specific type of task. When you call a skill by typing /skill-name in the Assistant prompt box, the AI Assistant uses the instructions in that skill to guide how it responds and works. This gives you control over its behavior, so you don’t have to explain your preferences each time.
Each skill is stored as a SKILL.md file in its own folder and when a skill includes preferences that differ from the Assistant’s default behavior, the instructions in the skill take priority.
Create a skill
The Skills folder doesn’t include sample skills or templates. Before you start, download the starter files and manually add them to the Skills folder. The zipped folder contains the following files:
- README.md: The guide that explains what skills are, the required folder layout, how name and description work, how to customize a skill, and how to create one.
- SKILL-TEMPLATE.md: A blank starter for writing a new skill. You copy it into your new skill folder as SKILL.md and replace the contents.
- spellcheck.md: A skill for the After Effects Assistant, invoked with /spellcheck. It proofreads text layers, catching spelling, grammar, typos and inconsistent capitalization while leaving names, brands, slang, and stylized text alone and will ask for corrections before fixing them.
- preflight.md: A skill invoked with/preflight. It audits a whole project before rendering or handoff. It checks comp settings (frame rate, duration, dimensions), missing media and fonts, broken expressions, soloed or odd layers, and missing audio.
Read README.md first if you’re new to skills.
Select the More options icon > Skills in the AI Assistant (beta) panel.
Select Open Skills folder to open the After Effects Skills folder.
Create a folder for your skill. Give it a short name, such as spell-check or loop-animation, that indicates what the skill does.
Copy SKILL-TEMPLATE.md into your new folder, and rename it SKILL.md.
Open SKILL.md in a text editor. Set name to match the skill folder name, add a description, and enter your preferences under Customize this skill here. Then save the file.
Note
The description you write appears when you hover over the skill in the Skills list, so describe what the skill does and when to use it.
Select the More options icon > Skills again. Your skill appears under Custom skills. Select OK.
Use your skill
After you add a skill, you can call it from the prompt box in the After Effects AI Assistant chat.
Open the Assistant by selecting the AI Assistant (beta) icon in the header bar, or select Window > Assistant.
Select the slash button in the prompt box, or type /, to open the Skills list.
Hover over a skill to read its description, and then select your skill.
Describe what you want the skill to do, and then send your request.
Review the Assistant’s response and changes in the project.
The AI Assistant runs the skill and follows your preferences. To change how the skill works, update the preferences in SKILL.md and save the file.
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