v0.145.4Internal beta docs
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Beta documentation · eXLib v0.145.4. Public release is pending.

The Compact Insert Panel

When you want to search, audition, and apply library expressions without leaving the editor, use the Compact Library popover — a small, free-floating window that reuses the full Library's filter model.

Opening it

⌃⌘B toggles it open and closed from anywhere in the editor. (B is for Browse — chosen because it lands on no AE shortcut at all; the chord is rebindable in Settings → Shortcuts.) You can also choose IDE → Library Window in the workspace toolbar. In Flyout mode, open the eXLib glyph menu first. Use the LIB workspace for the full Library.

A floating panel, not a modal

Drag it by the title bar, resize it from the corner grip, and it raises above other floating panels when you click it. On first open it snaps flush to the right edge at full height; after that it reopens exactly where and how big you last left it — geometry persists across sessions and stays clamped on-screen.

Search, filters, and the result list

  • Search — a debounced free-text box running the same weighted search as the full Library.
  • Filters — the same three as the full Library: Compatible · <kind> (on by default; disabled with a tooltip when nothing is selected in AE), a Tags multi-select popover with a count badge and a "Clear tags" action, and a folder scope dropdown, shown only when the library has folders.
  • Result count — a live counter of how many expressions match.
  • Result list — compact rows showing title and source collection, with a "· compatible" suffix when a row matches your live target. Click a row to load it below; an empty state reads "No expressions match."
  • Per-row info — click the small (i) icon on any row to read its description in a popover, without changing your current selection.

The code preview

The selected expression renders in a real, read-only, syntax-highlighted Monaco embed — roughly half the panel's height, re-measured live as you resize — with the code fully mouse-selectable.

i

These screenshots were captured in an earlier beta. Toolbar and Library layouts have since changed; the written instructions on this page describe v0.145.4. See A Tour of the Panel for the current controls.

The Compact panel floating over the editor with a result row selected and its code shown in the Monaco preview
Search, filter, and read real syntax-highlighted code without leaving the editor — and the title bar names what you would apply to.

Acting on a row

Four actions live in the header/body cluster: Copy (full code to clipboard, always available), IDE (loads the code into the main editor and closes the panel), Audition (a non-destructive preview against your live selection), and Apply (commits it). Audition and Apply show an in-flight "Auditioning…" / "Applying…" status and then a panel-local toast — reporting success or AE's verbatim rejection reason. Error toasts linger longer so you can read AE's message, and any toast dismisses on click.

The action buttons follow your global Appearance icon/label density preference, matching the rest of the app.

Live target tracking

The panel re-reads your AE selection on open and whenever it changes, so the centered "Apply to: <kind>" label in the title bar, and the enabled state of Audition and Apply, always match your current selection.

If there's no resolvable target, a dismissable banner pins to the panel's bottom ("Select an expression-capable property in After Effects to audition or apply."), floating over the content rather than shrinking the code pane, and re-arming automatically the next time a target is lost.