Framer local dev loop

Framer Local Dev Loop

Overview

Set up a fast development workflow for Framer plugins and code components with Vite hot-reload, TypeScript, and testing.

Prerequisites

• Completed framer-install-auth setup
• Node.js 18+ with npm
• Framer editor open

Instructions

Step 1: Plugin Dev Environment

npx create-framer-plugin@latest my-plugin
cd my-plugin
npm install
npm run dev  # Starts Vite dev server — hot-reloads into Framer editor

Project structure:

my-plugin/
├── src/
│   ├── App.tsx           # Plugin UI (React)
│   ├── main.tsx          # Entry point
│   └── framer.d.ts       # Type definitions
├── package.json
├── vite.config.ts        # Vite config with framer-plugin
└── tsconfig.json

Step 2: Connect to Framer Editor

1. Open Framer, go to your project
2. Click Plugins > Development in the toolbar
3. Select your local dev plugin
4. Changes in src/App.tsx hot-reload instantly

Step 3: Testing Plugin Logic

// tests/sync.test.ts — test data transformation outside Framer
import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';

// Extract pure functions for testability
function transformPosts(posts: any[]) {
  return posts.map(p => ({
    fieldData: {
      title: p.title,
      body: `<p>${p.body}</p>`,
      slug: p.title.toLowerCase().replace(/[^a-z0-9]+/g, '-').slice(0, 50),
    },
  }));
}

describe('CMS Sync', () => {
  it('should transform posts into CMS items', () => {
    const posts = [{ title: 'Hello World', body: 'Content here', userId: 1 }];
    const items = transformPosts(posts);
    expect(items[0].fieldData.title).toBe('Hello World');
    expect(items[0].fieldData.slug).toBe('hello-world');
    expect(items[0].fieldData.body).toContain('<p>');
  });

  it('should handle slugs with special characters', () => {
    const posts = [{ title: 'What\'s New in 2025?', body: 'test', userId: 1 }];
    const items = transformPosts(posts);
    expect(items[0].fieldData.slug).toBe('what-s-new-in-2025-');
  });
});

Step 4: Code Component Development

# Code components are edited directly in Framer editor
# For local development of shared component libraries:
mkdir framer-components && cd framer-components
npm init -y
npm install react framer typescript @types/react

// components/Button.tsx — develop locally, paste into Framer
import { addPropertyControls, ControlType } from 'framer';

export default function Button({ label = 'Click me', variant = 'primary' }) {
  const styles = {
    primary: { background: '#000', color: '#fff' },
    secondary: { background: '#eee', color: '#000' },
  };
  return <button style={{ ...styles[variant], padding: '12px 24px', border: 'none', borderRadius: 8, fontSize: 16, cursor: 'pointer' }}>{label}</button>;
}

addPropertyControls(Button, {
  label: { type: ControlType.String, title: 'Label', defaultValue: 'Click me' },
  variant: { type: ControlType.Enum, title: 'Variant', options: ['primary', 'secondary'], defaultValue: 'primary' },
});

Step 5: Server API Development

// server-dev.ts — develop Server API integrations locally
import { framer } from 'framer-api';
import 'dotenv/config';

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

  // Test CMS operations
  const collections = await client.getCollections();
  console.log('Collections:', collections.map(c => `${c.name} (${c.type})`));
}

dev().catch(console.error);

Output

• Vite-powered plugin with hot-reload into Framer editor
• Testable data transformation functions
• Local component development workflow
• Server API development setup

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
Plugin not showing	Dev server not running	Run npm run dev
Hot-reload not working	Wrong Vite config	Ensure framer-plugin Vite plugin is configured
framer undefined in tests	Editor-only API	Mock framer or extract pure functions
Component type errors	Missing Framer types	Install @types/framer or use framer.d.ts

Resources

• create-framer-plugin
• Framer Developer Reference
• Vitest

Next Steps

See framer-sdk-patterns for production-ready patterns.