EffectHouse AI (ehai)

A Claude Code and Codex plugin for TikTok Effect House. Describe the effect you want and the agent builds it in the real Effect House engine, shows it in a live preview, lets you tune it with sliders, and publishes it to your Effect House account. It runs on macOS, with Apple silicon or an Intel processor (macOS 13 or later), and on Windows x64. You do not need to install Node.js.

Projects open in Effect House 5.16.0 and later. A project the plugin saves no longer opens in an older Effect House; before it upgrades an older project, it keeps a copy of the original in the project's .ehai folder.

Install

In the Codex app or the Claude app, choose or create a workspace folder and trust it when asked; we recommend switching to Full access before your first message, so you do not approve every step. Then paste the prompt for your host (in Codex, not ChatGPT; in Claude Code, not a Claude chat). It installs or updates the plugin and runs the first-time setup (about 600 MB, once); start a new session when it finishes, so the plugin loads. Pasted into a chat page, the prompt only tells you to come back to Codex or Claude Code.

Codex:

Fetch https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tiktok/effect-house-agent-plugins/main/codex_install_update.md directly with curl, not web search. Follow it to install/update and set up EffectHouse AI, then fork this chat and continue there if supported. If you cannot run commands on my computer (you are ChatGPT or another chat page, not Codex), install nothing: tell me to paste this prompt into Codex on my Mac or Windows PC.

Claude Code:

Fetch https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tiktok/effect-house-agent-plugins/main/claude_install_update.md directly with curl, not web search. Follow it to install/update and set up EffectHouse AI, then fork this session and continue there if supported. If you cannot run commands on my computer (you are Claude or another assistant on a chat page, not Claude Code), install nothing: tell me to paste this prompt into Claude Code on my Mac or Windows PC.

By hand, add the marketplace and install the plugin:

claude plugin marketplace add tiktok/effect-house-agent-plugins
claude plugin install ehai@effect-house
codex plugin marketplace add tiktok/effect-house-agent-plugins
codex plugin add ehai@effect-house

Then run the setup in the installed folder, sh scripts/setup.sh (on Windows powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts\setup.ps1), until it says READY, and start a new conversation (in Codex a new task). In Claude Code, turn on auto-update for the effect-house marketplace under /plugin, Marketplaces.

Sign in

The first time you use the plugin, the agent shows a QR code in the chat. In the TikTok app, tap Profile, then the menu (☰), then Your QR code; tap the scan button, scan the code and confirm on your phone. If the code expires, ask for a new one.

Try it

• "Create an iridescent ribbon effect with glowing sparkles floating around my face."
• "Make a 2D game where I move my head to catch falling stars in a dreamy night sky."
• "Create a cute pink pig hood with little floppy ears that follows my head."

Updates

Once a day the plugin checks this repository for a newer version; the assistant then asks whether to update and, if you agree, runs claude plugin update ehai@effect-house (after refreshing the marketplace) or codex plugin marketplace upgrade effect-house.

What runs on your machine

• Two MCP servers started through scripts/start (start.cmd on Windows): ehai (Studio, preview, account actions) and eh (the Effect House editing kernel). The starters and setup entries are this repository's only code; the rest ships in the downloaded runtime, with an official Node.js of its own.
• A local daemon on 127.0.0.1 only, and one Effect House engine per session.
• The runtime (about 34 MB) and engine (about 600 MB) download into ~/.ehai. runtime/runtime.json and runtime/engine.json name each archive's address, size and SHA-256; nothing from an archive runs before it matches.

• Small hooks in Claude Code (Codex runs none): a turn-end signal; a note of what the Studio shows, which also passes the start of your prompt to the local daemon to label its change history; and a turn record that hands the prompt and the turn's end to the local engine, which keeps only the length. Prompt text does not leave your machine. None runs before a tool call or approves, denies or changes a permission.

Network, sign-in and privacy

PRIVACY.md says what the plugin sends and to whom, and how to turn off the usage analytics (EHAI_TELEMETRY=off) or the update check (EHAI_UPDATE_CHECK=off). Use is governed by the Effect House Terms of Service and the TikTok Privacy Policy.

Uninstall

~/.ehai/runtime/current/bin/ehai uninstall (ehai.cmd on Windows) prints what it would stop and delete; add --yes to do it, and --remove-login to sign out too. Then remove the plugin with claude plugin uninstall ehai@effect-house or codex plugin remove ehai@effect-house. Your project folders are never touched.

Troubleshooting

• The agent says it has no Effect House tools: start a new session; the plugin only loads in a session started after you install or update it.
• Tool calls fail with "requires approval": the permission mode changed while the agent was working; send your message again.
• Setup says why it stopped. A failed download resumes on the next run; behind a proxy set HTTPS_PROXY, and NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS for one that re-signs HTTPS.
• ehai_update_required: update with the command it names, then start a new conversation.
• Cannot add marketplace "effect-house": its source doesn't match: an earlier copy came from somewhere else. Run claude plugin marketplace remove effect-house, then add the marketplace and install again.
• Claude Code asks once before the agent reads the engine's guides (outside your project folder); a headless claude -p run needs that folder in --add-dir.
• Anything else: run ~/.ehai/runtime/current/bin/ehai doctor and reconnect.

Licence

This repository's source code and documentation are licensed under Apache-2.0 (NOTICE). The downloaded runtime and engine come under their own licences, which it does not relicense; THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.txt lists their third-party software, with licence texts under third-party-notices/.

Help

• A bug or a feature request: open an issue, or ask the assistant to "report this bug to the team": it collects the version, host and what happened, shows you the draft, and posts it (or gives you the prefilled link) only after you agree. Issues are public, so keep account details out of them.
• Questions: the Effect House guides or Discord.
• A security problem: the channel in SECURITY.md, never a public issue.