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Compstronaut

Browser-style back and forward navigation for After Effects - jump to previous compositions and timeline positions.

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Description
Compstronaut
Compstronaut

Finally, a True Back Button for After Effects

Compstronaut is the missing navigation upgrade for motion designers: an interactive, browser-style history panel that tracks every composition switch and timeline jump as you work. Instantly retrace your creative steps with keyboard or mouse control. Move backwards, forward, or jump to any moment in your session just like a web browser.

No more hunting through the project panel or composition tabs to find your previous position. Compstronaut keeps a living history of your workflow, always ready for you to revisit or branch off as inspiration strikes.

History On Command

  • One-Click History: Every composition switch and timeline jump is automatically captured. Open any previous comp or time in a single click or with a keyboard shortcut.
  • Back and Forward Controls: Seamlessly retrace your steps, just like hitting the back button in a browser.
  • Live Panel: See your full navigation trail at a glance, complete with comp names and timecodes.
  • Lightning Fast: Eliminate wasted time navigating; Compstronaut saves you time, letting you bounce between nested comps and edits faster without losing context.

Key Features

  • Browser-Style History: Interactive timeline of your project session.
  • Advanced UI: A fully animated panel grows and reacts gracefully in real-time to your shortcuts, scrolls and clicks.
  • Instant Jump: Click any entry in your history to open that comp and time instantly.
  • Session Momentum: Your navigation feed grows as you work, giving you a living map of your project for reviews and revisions.
  • Global Shortcuts: Move backwards and forward without touching the mouse. Assign your preferred shortcuts for maximum speed. Panel visibility is optional - Compstronaut is designed for rapid, pro-level, keyboard-first workflows.
  • Audio & Visual Feedback: Sound cues and mouse-linked notifications keep you aware of each action, all individually toggle-able per-action.
  • A complimentary SFX soundboard, Kalimba Bottle, is included to help build muscle memory with the new controls for After Effects facilitated by Compstronaut. You can also assign your own custom sound effects.
  • History Configuration: Expand the possible number of working history entries up to a maximum of 150.
  • Configurable Tracking: Choose a custom sensitivity for tracking changes in CTI (current time indicator) positions, including all possible changes, or only composition switches.
  • Persistence: Your navigation history persists between After Effects sessions, and even between different project files. Remain in context even when switching between projects.

Synergy with Control Groups

Compstronaut and Control Groups are designed to work together, providing a seamless, deeply integrated workflow in After Effects.

  • Unified Navigation History: Navigation events triggered within Control Groups (such as jumping to bookmarked timeline locations, or navigating using layers) are automatically tracked in Compstronaut's session history. Every jump in your project becomes part of your accessible navigation feed.
  • Shared Notification Layer: Both extensions use the same floating, mouse-linked notification system to provide real-time visual and audio feedback for every action.
  • Complementary Workflow: Move between compositions and layer groups with Control Groups, then retrace your steps or instantly revisit any moment using Compstronaut's browser-style history. Each tool is powerful individually, but together they deliver a fundamental workflow upgrade, all fully drivable through global keyboard shortcuts.

For the best After Effects workflow, use Compstronaut and Control Groups side by side. This pairing delivers a monumental speed increase, letting you move between ideas, assets, and edits with a level of fluidity that simply is not possible natively. Once you have used both, you will wonder how you ever worked without them.

SB Shortcut Manager Support

Our advanced, native companion plugin enables the extension's most robust and powerful shortcut handling. The bundled plugin allows extension control and use with definable global shortcuts, dramatically enhancing speed and convenience.

The development of this plugin was in service of creating a user experience platform for faster, optimised workflows. Saving time is a serious value proposition in and of itself; every second saved furthers your value and offering as a designer to clients.

SB Shortcut Manager

Compatibility

Adobe After Effects

Versions tested and supported:

  • Apple macOS (Intel processors): 2023, 2024, and 2025 releases.
  • Apple macOS (Apple Silicon processors): 2023, 2024, and 2025 releases.
  • Microsoft Windows: 2024 and 2025 releases.

Note: Releases from calendar-year 2022 may operate successfully but have not been validated. Versions from 2021 and older are not supported.

Note: performance may vary on older hardware.

Operating System

Minimum required operating system versions:

  • Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit) or later.
  • Apple macOS 13 Ventura or later.

One Small Step for After Effects

Compstronaut gives professionals a direct, browser-inspired way to move through their ideas and animations without ever breaking momentum or losing context. Experience history on command, shortcut-driven navigation, and time savings that add up with every project.

Discussions

Want to talk about it?

Head over to r/aescripts to chat with fellow users about this product.

Need Support?

Please open a support ticket to be connected directly with the author of this product

Version History

1.0.3 -

Nov 7, 2025

Changed

- Updated the aescripts licensing framework to the latest version.

1.0.2 -

Nov 4, 2025

Initial Release

Compatibility

After Effects

2025, 2024, 2023