The Library View
Switch to LIB on the workspace toolbar and choose Library to put search, filtering, auditioning, applying, and organizing on one screen — not split across separate Browse and Organize tabs. It ships pre-populated with 100 seeded expressions across 15 categories (opacity, 2D/3D transform, random/wiggle, audio-driven, IK rigging, markers, and more), and it isn't a database: it's a real folder on your disk that you can also edit outside the app. See The Library Is a Real Folder.
One surface, not three tabs
The LIB workspace offers Library, Author, and Pseudo FX, plus New Draft and Backup & Restore actions. Settings is available from either workspace. The Library view itself is the browsing-and-organizing surface: everything you need to find an expression, check it against what's selected in AE, try it, commit it, or restructure where it lives happens without switching screens.
The two columns
The Library view is two columns. On the left, an eXLibrary section holds two collapsible roots — All expressions and All Pseudo Rigs (pseudo effects get their own tree — see Delivering Controls and the Pseudo Effects section) — plus Packs and Tags sections below it.
Selecting a folder narrows the panel on the right to that folder. Selecting the All Pseudo Rigs root, or one of its subfolders, swaps the right-hand panel to the matching flat list of pseudo rigs instead of expressions. Both lists are flat — items in a folder, not a nested tree of items — with breadcrumbs above the list showing the current scope.
On the right, a toolbar (search, a "Selected property" filter chip, and the active filter chips) sits above the row list.
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 context banner
A context banner above the row list tracks your AE selection live and shows <Layer> → <Property> — or "No property selected in AE" when nothing addressable is selected. This is the single source of truth every property filter, Audition, and Apply action reads from, so you always know exactly what the Library is pointed at before you click anything.
Every row's actions, in one fixed order
Every row — expression or pseudo rig — draws its actions in one fixed order, from the primary verb to the destructive one:
| Order | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apply | Always first, in the accent color, drawn as a play glyph |
| 2 | Audition | Expressions only — a non-destructive preview, drawn as headphones |
| 3 | Open in the authoring surface | Author for expressions, Pseudo Effect Authoring for rigs |
| 4 | Open in the IDE | Expressions only, opens in a new tab |
| 5 | Edit in place | Title/description/tags/icon for expressions, rename for rigs |
| 6 | Tag | Rigs only — opens the row and puts the caret straight in the tag field |
| 7 | Move to folder | |
| 8 | Duplicate and Export | Rigs |
| 9 | Delete | Always last, and the only red action |
Both lists share the same icons, sizes, and hover behavior, so a verb you learn on one row means the same thing on every row. A row's actions reflect what it actually is — a script row, for instance, can only be opened or edited, never applied or auditioned, since running a script is a different, confirm-gated action from applying an expression.
One icon, one meaning
Every icon in eXLib — rail, rows, tabs, Settings, Pseudo Effect Authoring, the Dependency Map, all of it — never means two different things depending on where you see it: Apply is always the play glyph, Audition is always headphones, copy-to-clipboard is always the clipboard glyph, and Export is the same export glyph whether it's exporting a whole library, a folder, or a pseudo rig.
In Flyout toolbar mode, the Library’s bottom status bar shows the current view, folder or rig scope, active query and filters, and store readiness. The eXLib glyph in its corner opens the toolbar menu.