If a designer hands you a published Framer site and asks for a Next.js project, your first task is to define what "editable code" means for this particular handoff. A project that builds successfully is useful, but it does not prove that every animation has been rewritten as independent React logic.
Inspect the generated project before planning changes
Use the Framer to Next.js converter with a published URL that includes more than a simple homepage. Download the generated project, open its route files and components, and run the production build. Confirm that a nested route works when opened directly, not only when reached by clicking from the homepage.
Look at the structure rather than the file extensions. Find where text, images, layout, and metadata live. Check which parts are straightforward to edit and which parts still depend on Framer's runtime or assets. If you intend to maintain the result as a normal application, record those dependencies before promising a fully independent codebase.
Test behavior instead of assuming visual parity
The Next.js output retains Framer's runtime to preserve authored interactions. That is useful, but a converted site can still differ from the source because of custom components, embeds, third-party services, browser state, or deployment configuration.
For each important page, test:
- The mobile menu at the width where the original changes layouts.
- Buttons, links, hover states, accordions, tabs, and scroll effects.
- A real form submission, including the destination receiving the data.
- Direct loading of nested routes, plus the 404 page and changed-path redirects.
- Images, custom fonts, and network requests that still point to outside hosts.
Keep a short list of failures with the original URL, converted URL, viewport width, and expected behavior. That makes regressions reproducible for the developer who will maintain the site. The interaction QA guide expands this into a launch checklist.
Decide what to refactor
There are three different jobs that can follow a conversion. You might only need to deploy the generated project on your own host. You might need to edit copy, layout, and assets while leaving the existing interactions in place. Or you might need to replace runtime-dependent interactions with your own React components. The third job requires development work after export; estimate it separately.
If a page is mostly content and speed matters more than runtime-dependent effects, compare the Framer to HTML output as well. Its static files remove Framer's runtime, but you must test forms, custom components, and animation differences. The HTML independence audit helps you check whether the result still relies on Framer-hosted resources.
Before the domain switch
Build the Next.js project in production mode, deploy it to a preview URL, and compare the rendered pages against the published Framer source. Check metadata and canonicals on the deployed response. Test mobile and keyboard navigation, submit each critical form, and verify the paths in your sitemap. If URLs change, prepare redirects before changing DNS. This gives the next developer a clear handoff and gives visitors a working site on launch day.