Framer SDK Patterns

Examples

Use a scoped staging integration and fictional CMS data to validate schema and idempotency. Reject an unexpected destination before publishing and record only opaque IDs and aggregate results.

Overview

Production-ready patterns for Framer plugins, Server API, code components, and CMS integrations. Covers plugin architecture, type-safe CMS operations, and reusable component patterns.

Prerequisites

Completed framer-install-auth setup
Familiarity with React and TypeScript

Instructions

Step 1: Type-Safe CMS Operations

// src/cms/types.ts — type-safe field definitions
interface BlogPost {
  title: string;
  body: string;
  author: string;
  publishDate: string;
  featured: boolean;
  slug: string;
}

const BLOG_FIELDS = [
  { id: 'title' as const, name: 'Title', type: 'string' as const },
  { id: 'body' as const, name: 'Body', type: 'formattedText' as const },
  { id: 'author' as const, name: 'Author', type: 'string' as const },
  { id: 'publishDate' as const, name: 'Published', type: 'date' as const },
  { id: 'featured' as const, name: 'Featured', type: 'boolean' as const },
  { id: 'slug' as const, name: 'Slug', type: 'slug' as const, userEditable: false },
] as const;

function toBlogItem(post: BlogPost) {
  return { fieldData: { ...post } };
}

Step 2: Plugin State Management

// src/hooks/usePluginState.ts
import { useState, useCallback } from 'react';
import { framer } from 'framer-plugin';

type SyncStatus = 'idle' | 'fetching' | 'syncing' | 'success' | 'error';

export function useSyncState() {
  const [status, setStatus] = useState<SyncStatus>('idle');
  const [error, setError] = useState<string | null>(null);
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0);

  const sync = useCallback(async (fn: () => Promise<number>) => {
    setStatus('syncing');
    setError(null);
    try {
      const synced = await fn();
      setCount(synced);
      setStatus('success');
      framer.notify(`Synced ${synced} items`);
    } catch (err: any) {
      setError(err.message);
      setStatus('error');
      framer.notify(`Sync failed: ${err.message}`);
    }
  }, []);

  return { status, error, count, sync };
}

Step 3: Reusable Component Patterns

// Responsive container pattern
import { addPropertyControls, ControlType } from 'framer';

export default function ResponsiveCard({ title, description, imageUrl, ctaText, ctaUrl }) {
  return (
    <div style={{ display: 'flex', flexDirection: 'column', borderRadius: 12, overflow: 'hidden', boxShadow: '0 2px 8px rgba(0,0,0,0.1)' }}>
      {imageUrl && <img src={imageUrl} style={{ width: '100%', aspectRatio: '16/9', objectFit: 'cover' }} />}
      <div style={{ padding: 20, display: 'flex', flexDirection: 'column', gap: 8 }}>
        <h3 style={{ margin: 0, fontSize: 20 }}>{title}</h3>
        <p style={{ margin: 0, color: '#666', fontSize: 14 }}>{description}</p>
        {ctaText && <a href={ctaUrl} style={{ color: '#007AFF', fontWeight: 600, textDecoration: 'none' }}>{ctaText}</a>}
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

addPropertyControls(ResponsiveCard, {
  title: { type: ControlType.String, defaultValue: 'Card Title' },
  description: { type: ControlType.String, defaultValue: 'Card description here' },
  imageUrl: { type: ControlType.String, defaultValue: '' },
  ctaText: { type: ControlType.String, defaultValue: 'Learn More' },
  ctaUrl: { type: ControlType.String, defaultValue: '#' },
});

Step 4: Server API Wrapper

// src/server/framer-client.ts
import { framer } from 'framer-api';

export class FramerCMSClient {
  private client: any;

  async connect() {
    this.client = await framer.connect({
      apiKey: process.env.FRAMER_API_KEY!,
      siteId: process.env.FRAMER_SITE_ID!,
    });
  }

  async syncCollection(name: string, fields: any[], items: any[]) {
    const collections = await this.client.getCollections();
    let collection = collections.find(c => c.name === name);
    if (!collection) {
      collection = await this.client.createManagedCollection({ name, fields });
    }
    await collection.setItems(items);
    return items.length;
  }

  async publish() {
    await this.client.publish();
  }
}

Step 5: Override Factory Pattern

// src/overrides/factory.ts — generate overrides programmatically
import { Override } from 'framer';

export function createFadeIn(delay = 0, duration = 0.6): () => Override {
  return () => ({
    initial: { opacity: 0, y: 20 },
    whileInView: { opacity: 1, y: 0 },
    transition: { duration, delay, ease: [0.25, 0.1, 0.25, 1] },
    viewport: { once: true },
  });
}

// Usage in overrides file:
export const FadeIn1 = createFadeIn(0);
export const FadeIn2 = createFadeIn(0.1);
export const FadeIn3 = createFadeIn(0.2);

Output

Type-safe CMS field definitions
Plugin state management hook
Reusable component with property controls
Server API wrapper class
Override factory pattern

Error Handling

Pattern	Use Case	Benefit
Type-safe fields	CMS collections	Catch schema errors at compile time
State hook	Plugin UI	Consistent loading/error states
Component patterns	Design systems	Reusable across projects
Override factory	Staggered animations	DRY animation code

Resources

Next Steps

Apply patterns in framer-core-workflow-a for CMS sync plugins.

framer-sdk-patterns