Zeplin Extension Documentation ⚗️📚
Zeplin extensions are JavaScript modules that generate code snippets from various design elements. All code snippets you interact with in Zeplin are generated using extensions and they're curated at extensions.zeplin.io.
If you're interested in developing your own Zeplin extension, this documentation covers the basics of building one along with a tutorial and discusses their capabilities.
Ping us at extensions@zeplin.io if you'd like us to publish your extension at extensions.zeplin.io or if you have any questions—we'd love to hear what you're building!
If you just want to try out extensions and ended up here by mistake, head to extensions.zeplin.io to browse them.
☝️ Friendly reminder: This documentation will likely change as we polish things during the beta.
What is an extension?
Extensions are JavaScript modules that implement various functions to generate code snippets from models.
In the example above, Zeplin invokes the layer function of the extension, passing the selected layer object as a parameter. Returned value is then displayed. Code highlighting is performed by Zeplin, extensions only communicate the preferred language.
Getting started
zem, Zeplin extension manager, is a command line tool that lets you quickly create and test extensions.
If you have npm 5.2+ installed, you can run zem directly to create one:
npx zem create my-extensionUnder my-extension, zem will generate the initial project structure:
my-extension
├── README.md
├── package.json
└── src
└── index.js
index.js
Default entry point for the extension, a JavaScript document that exports functions, corresponding to different actions. To name a few:
styleguideColors: Generates snippets from Styleguide colors.layer: Generates snippets from layers.
See Extension documentation for all the functions and their details.
package.json
npm's package.json defines everything you, and Zeplin, need to know about an extension, along with its dependencies.
Apart from with basic information like name and description, under the zeplin key, extensions can also define options.
See package.json documentation for details.
Running an extension
zem also lets you run an extension in the command line, during development. You can execute functions with sample data and observe the results, without running the extension inside Zeplin.
To learn more about zem, see documentation.
Your first extension
We've prepared a tutorial to guide you through your first Zeplin extension, dive in:
🎓 View tutorial
Models
Quickly jump to the documentation of a particular model to learn more about it.
Examples
React Native
React Native extension used in Zeplin, used by thousands of developers everyday. It's a full-fledged extension example, generating React Native JavaScript snippets from colors, text styles and layers.
Check back later for more examples—the plan is to open source most of our existing extensions.