Framer Server API vs pen.dev

Framer Server API

Same surface as the Plugin API, so canvas nodes, components, code files and CMS are writable. No REST endpoints and no official MCP server. You need Node 22 and the framer-api package.

pen.dev

An agent can create, edit and export .pen designs without a GUI through the pen CLI, with four compact MCP tools that carry annotations and a documented JSON format. The software is closed and needs a pen.dev account. No changelog, status page or security contact was found, and 14 public issue reports had no reply on 8 October 2026.

Framer Server API

1. connect(projectUrl, process.env.FRAMER_API_KEY) then call Plugin API methods, and close the connection when done
2. Publish creates a preview deployment. Promote it with deploy() only after checking it
3. Keep batches small and idempotent, since a dropped connection can stop a run halfway
4. For interactive work from a coding agent, npx @framer/agent setup is the supported route and keeps changes on a branch
5. Check the changelog before upgrading. v5.0.0 changed CMS array fields and requires stable id values

pen.dev

1. Call read_skill(), then read_skill({ path: "pen-schema.md" }) and read_skill({ path: "execute.md" }) before the first execute. The tool description alone doesn't document the operations
2. Call get_app_state() and confirm the active document before editing. The MCP server works on whichever .pen file is open in the app
3. In headless pen interactive, call save() before exit(), and keep --in and --out on different paths to preserve the source
4. Check that an export file exists. The docs say an export failure can print an error without a nonzero exit status
5. In CI set PEN_CLI_KEY plus a provider key such as ANTHROPIC_API_KEY. Run pen version, since pen --version is not a flag