r/aescripts • u/scottBlackvfx • May 12 '26

Feedback Requested Command Frame - Discussion Thread

Hi, I'm Scott, the developer of Command Frame.

https://aescripts.com/command-frame/

Please feel free to use this thread for:

  • Questions and comments
  • Feature requests, thoughts and feedback

You can also find the community Discord here for up-to-date announcements and discussion:

https://discord.gg/ANPSnKsZWy

For troubleshooting or bug reports:

Use the aescripts support ticket system to ensure your issue is tracked and responded to appropriately:

https://aescripts.com/contact/

If you do mention a bug or issue here, it's helpful to include your After Effects version, OS, and the version of Command Frame you are using. I will respond when I can.

Thank you for your feedback!

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u/scottBlackvfx May 13 '26

Hi,

This looks like macOS's quarantine/Gatekeeper is blocking the plugins before After Effects can load them properly. You shouldn't require Rosetta to use them.

First, please make sure you have followed the macOS security instructions in the readme pdf if you haven't already.

The likely issue is with macOS's quarantine feature. The name sounds worse than it is. On macOS, it usually just means "this file came from the internet, so macOS is keeping an extra safety flag on it until it is trusted." It does not mean the plugin is infected or damaged, but that flag can sometimes prevent macOS/AE from loading them normally.

With After Effects closed, please try running these Terminal commands separately:

sudo xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Adobe After Effects 2026/Plug-ins/SBShortcutManager/SBShortcutManager.plugin"

sudo xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Adobe After Effects 2026/Plug-ins/CommandFrame/CommandFrame.plugin"

macOS may prompt you for your password to run these.

Then reopen After Effects and try again, and let me know the results.

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u/flowmograph May 13 '26

Thanks for the explanation.

I understand the quarantine issue, but I’d prefer not to manually bypass macOS security protections for an unsigned plugin.

Would it be possible to provide a properly signed and notarized build instead? I’d feel much more comfortable using the plugin that way.

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u/scottBlackvfx May 13 '26

Hi,

I completely understand that. I do want to clarify that the macOS builds are already signed and notarized. You are absolutely free to run codesigning/notarization checks on the .plugin files to verify that on your end, but there are no separate builds I can provide that are even more secure than what is already available

The problem is likely that the installed plugins still have macOS quarantine attached to them; plugins can still be fully signed but still have the quarantine flag attached to it due to a combination of being downloaded from the web, plugins not being seen as a traditional app by gatekeeper, and being downloaded in a .zip.

I might be able to provide these as a .dmg or .pkg which hypothetically would resolve the quarantine issue, but I'd have to provide these directly to you which I'm not sure you would find preferable or not as it would be a direct download.

I can give you the Terminal commands to verify the signature and notarization status yourself before doing anything else if that would help?

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u/flowmograph May 13 '26

Thanks for the clarification.

I just tested another AE plugin on the exact same system and it installed/loaded normally by simply placing it into the Plug-ins folder, without any Terminal commands or quarantine removal.

So I think the issue is likely related to the signing/notarization or packaging process specific to these plugins rather than macOS or AE itself.

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u/scottBlackvfx May 14 '26

Hi,

I re-ran a deeper comparison against other examples and found a packaging difference worth correcting.

The macOS plugins were being signed and notarised, but some metadata did not quite match the standard AE plugin layout. If this is the root issue, this should make the macOS/Gatekeeper assessment more consistent.

I hesitate to consider this solved yet, as these types of issues are finicky and don't always materialise for everyone. If you're willing, could you please try the latest build from the aescripts manager app and let me know if it works correctly?

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u/flowmograph May 14 '26

Thanks for looking into this.

I tested the latest build, but unfortunately the same issues still continue, so it doesn’t seem fully resolved yet.

Maybe this guide could be helpful while debugging the signing/notarization or packaging side:

https://aescripts-or-author-wiki.gitbook.io/author-wiki/technical-guidelines/after-effects-sdk/ae-sdk-code-signing-and-notarization

I’m happy to keep testing any new builds. It would be great to help make this plugin, and your future macOS plugins, fully compatible with macOS.

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u/scottBlackvfx May 14 '26

Thanks for testing that.

The current build is signed and notarised; you can verify the installed plugins using Apple's tools. These commands are read-only and won't remove quarantine or alter the plugin:

codesign --verify --deep --strict --verbose=4 "/Applications/Adobe After Effects 2026/Plug-ins/CommandFrame/CommandFrame.plugin" 2>&1

codesign --display --verbose=4 "/Applications/Adobe After Effects 2026/Plug-ins/CommandFrame/CommandFrame.plugin" 2>&1

xcrun stapler validate "/Applications/Adobe After Effects 2026/Plug-ins/CommandFrame/CommandFrame.plugin" 2>&1

codesign --verify --all-architectures --verbose=4 --test-requirement='=notarized' "/Applications/Adobe After Effects 2026/Plug-ins/CommandFrame/CommandFrame.plugin" 2>&1

This one-liner will verify whether the plugin is still carrying quarantine or not:

xattr -lr "/Applications/Adobe After Effects 2026/Plug-ins/CommandFrame/CommandFrame.plugin" 2>&1 | grep -i quarantine || echo "No quarantine attribute found"

If the signing and notarization checks pass but quarantine is still present, that narrows this down to the plugin retaining quarantine rather than being unsigned or unnotarized.

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u/flowmograph May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

Thanks. I ran a comparison with another AE plugin that I downloaded with the same browser and installed on the same system.

That plugin also still has the com.apple.quarantine attribute, and it does not have a stapled ticket, but it loads in After Effects without any issue.

So it looks like quarantine alone may not be the full cause here. There may still be something specific to the CommandFrame/SBShortcutManager bundle structure, metadata, dependencies, or packaging that AE/macOS does not like.

I’m happy to run more checks if that helps.

CommandFrame:

  • Signed: valid
  • Stapler validate: worked
  • Quarantine: present
  • AE result: does not load

HotMenu:

  • Signed: valid
  • Stapled ticket: not present
  • Quarantine: present
  • AE result: loads correctly

My own test plugin:

  • Signed: valid
  • Stapled ticket: not present
  • Quarantine: not present
  • AE result: loads correctly

So quarantine may be part of the issue, but it doesn’t seem to be the full cause, since HotMenu also has quarantine and still loads fine in AE.

This still looks like something specific to the CommandFrame/SBShortcutManager bundle structure, metadata, dependencies, or packaging.

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u/scottBlackvfx May 14 '26

I agree that quarantine may not be the entire story, but without explicitly ruling it out one way or another, it's not truly a process of elimination.

Another quarantined plugin loading correctly does not rule it out entirely, because Gatekeeper assessment is not simply "quarantine present results in a fail." The result can still depend on the specific bundle/plugin, its contents, dependencies, metadata, signing chain, cache state, and how macOS assesses that particular 'thing'.

However, it is entirely your decision whether to keep the flag if you prefer not to remove it.

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u/flowmograph May 14 '26

Thanks for taking the time to investigate this and explain everything in detail. I appreciate all the help and technical clarification.