---
title: "Edit a composition with the SDK"
sidebarTitle: "SDK quickstart"
description: "Open composition HTML, query and edit elements, serialize the result, and add persistence."
---

Use `@hyperframes/sdk` when an application must inspect or change composition
HTML without opening Studio. If you only need playback, use the
[Player](/packages/player). If you only need a rendered file, use the
[CLI](/developers/cli) or [Producer](/packages/producer).

The core loop is open, query, edit, and serialize. The SDK adds stable
`data-hf-id` values where they are missing so later edits target the same
elements.

## Open, edit, serialize

<Steps>
  <Step title="Install the package">
    ```bash
    npm install @hyperframes/sdk
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open a composition">
    `openComposition` parses the HTML, stamps any elements that lack `data-hf-id` attributes, and returns a `Composition` session.

    ```typescript
    import { openComposition } from "@hyperframes/sdk";

    const html = `<div class="clip" data-start="0" data-duration="5"
                    data-hf-id="hf-title">Launch day</div>`;

    const comp = await openComposition(html);
    ```

    The call is async because it runs the ID-stamping pass over the DOM before returning.

  </Step>

  <Step title="Find elements">
    Use `getElements()` for a flat snapshot of everything in the composition, or `find()` to filter by tag, text content, `data-name` attribute, track index, or sub-composition host.

    ```typescript
    // All elements
    const all = comp.getElements();

    // Elements whose text contains "Launch"
    const ids = comp.find({ text: "Launch" });

    // A specific element by its hf-id
    const el = comp.getElement("hf-title");
    console.log(el?.text); // "Launch day"
    ```

    `find()` returns an array of `scopedId` strings. For top-level elements, `scopedId === id`. For elements inside inlined sub-compositions, it is `"hf-HOST/hf-LEAF"`.

  </Step>

  <Step title="Edit elements with typed methods">
    Typed methods are the most readable way to mutate a composition. Each one translates directly into a dispatched `EditOp` and emits a patch event.

    ```typescript
    // Change text
    comp.setText("hf-title", "Launch day — we shipped!");

    // Change inline styles (camelCase property names)
    comp.setStyle("hf-title", {
      color: "#FFD60A",
      fontSize: "96px",
      fontWeight: "700",
    });

    // Adjust clip timing
    comp.setTiming("hf-title", { start: 0.5, duration: 4 });
    ```

    Use `batch()` when several mutations should collapse into one undo entry, one persist write, and one `change` event:

    ```typescript
    comp.batch(() => {
      comp.setText("hf-title", "Launch day — we shipped!");
      comp.setStyle("hf-title", { color: "#FFD60A" });
      comp.setTiming("hf-title", { start: 0.5, duration: 4 });
    });
    ```

  </Step>

  <Step title="Serialize and dispose">
    `serialize()` returns the full updated HTML string. Call `dispose()` when you are done to release event handlers and any internal state.

    ```typescript
    const updatedHtml = comp.serialize();
    comp.dispose();

    // updatedHtml is ready to write to disk, send to a renderer, or store in a database.
    ```

  </Step>
</Steps>

## Add a persistence adapter

The headless pattern above is fine for one-shot transforms. When you want the SDK to persist edits,
pass a `PersistAdapter`. Rapid changes are coalesced and written in order, with the latest state
winning rather than one disk write per UI event.

The filesystem adapter (`@hyperframes/sdk/adapters/fs`) writes to a local directory and keeps a rolling version history.

```typescript
import { openComposition } from "@hyperframes/sdk";
import { createFsAdapter } from "@hyperframes/sdk/adapters/fs";
import { readFile } from "node:fs/promises";

// Load the current HTML from disk (or use a template string on first run).
const html = await readFile("./project/index.html", "utf8").catch(() => "<div></div>");

const comp = await openComposition(html, {
  persist: createFsAdapter({ root: "./project" }),
  persistPath: "index.html",
});

// Persistence failures surface as events, not thrown errors.
comp.on("persist:error", ({ error }) => {
  console.error("Autosave failed:", error.message);
});

comp.setText("hf-title", "Autosaved title");
comp.setStyle("hf-title", { color: "#22C55E" });

// Drain any pending write before the process exits.
await comp.flush();
comp.dispose();
```

The adapter writes `./project/index.html` after every mutation and keeps up to 20 version snapshots under `./project/.hf-versions/`.

<Note>
  Disabling undo (`history: false`) does **not** disable autosave. The two are independent. Passing
  `history: false` is only necessary when you are managing the undo stack yourself.
</Note>

## Related topics

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card
    title="Querying & Editing Elements"
    icon="magnifying-glass"
    href="/sdk/guides/querying-and-editing"
  >
    FindQuery fields, scopedId for sub-compositions, batch semantics, and element handles.
  </Card>
  <Card
    title="Undo, Redo & Patches"
    icon="arrow-rotate-left"
    href="/sdk/guides/undo-redo-and-patches"
  >
    History module, patch events for host sync, and applyPatches loop prevention.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Persistence" icon="floppy-disk" href="/sdk/guides/persistence">
    Adapter selection, version history, and implementing a custom adapter.
  </Card>
  <Card title="openComposition reference" icon="door-open" href="/sdk/reference/open-composition">
    Full option reference — adapters, overrides, coalesce window, and more.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>
