After Effects error {unexpected match name searched for in group} ( 29 :: 0 )

I discovered this type of issue using both the 2025 and 2023 versions. I attempted to remove the plugin from the public folder (common)and the problem was resolved. However, I discovered that a certain version of the Mocha plugin was causing the issue, so I deleted it. The world is now peaceful, and I hope it can help you

Are you still having the issue? Let us know.

I am moving this thread from Bugs to Discussions for now.

Thanks,

Nishu

@BigSandwich3, would you be able to share the project privately with us? That would better allow us to troubleshoot what might be going wrong in the project. A direct message with a link would be easiest.

Another troubleshooting option would be to close as many panels as possible e.g. open the Minimal workspace, and see if that avoids the error. If so, try opening panels one by one until the error shows up again, then let us know which panel causes the error.

Thanks again,

- John, After Effects Engineering Team 

Thank you for responding so quickly!

Starting in Safe Mode seemed to solve the issue at first. I opened a completely fresh project, and everything worked as expected. Then I tried going back to my actual work (still in Safe Mode), and the error message started showing up again. If it's something wrong with my project file, how should I go about fixing it?

Thanks again!

Did you migrate your preferences from one version to the other?

Can you try starting in safe mode and seeing if the problem persists while in safe mode? If it does not, it could be that your preferences are causing problems.

If it does fix the problem, please don't delete those preferences, insted save them to a zip file so we can diagnose what the problem might be.

Any hints as to how to reproduce the problem would be helpful in diagnosing the problem.

Hi @BigSandwich3,

Thank you for reporting this issue. Do you still see the error if you start After Effects in Safe Mode? Safe Mode is available in the Preferences under Startup & Repair.

If the error doesn't show up while you are in Safe Mode, try resetting the preferences with Reset All Preferences to Defaults... in the same Startup & Repair section.

Thanks again,

- John, After Effects Engineering Team