ACF field groups sync for developers

acf-sync.php

<?php


define( 'ACF_FIELDS_VERSION', '1.0.1');


if ( 'development' == WP_ENV ) {

    // save fields to JSON
    add_filter('acf/settings/save_json', 'lc_json_save_point');

    // Sync fields if nececessary
    add_action('init', 'lc_check_acf_fields_version');

}
else {

    // don't show ACF UI
    add_filter('acf/settings/show_admin', '__return_false');

    // load fields from JSON
    add_filter('acf/settings/load_json', 'lc_json_load_point');

}


// Sync fields if nececessary
add_action('init', 'lc_check_acf_fields_version');

function lc_check_acf_fields_version() {

    $db_version = get_option( 'acf_fields_version' );

    if ( version_compare( ACF_FIELDS_VERSION,  $db_version ) > 0 ) {
    
        lc_import_json_field_groups();
    
        update_option( 'acf_fields_version', ACF_FIELDS_VERSION );
    }
}


// Import field groups from local JSON to make them editable via Admin UI (dev mode)
function lc_import_json_field_groups() {

    // tell ACF NOT to save to JSON
    add_filter('acf/settings/save_json', 'lc_import_json_save_no_point', 99 );


    // Remove previous field groups in DB
    $args = array(
        'post_type'   => 'acf-field-group',
        'post_status' => 'any',
        'posts_per_page' => -1
    );

    $query = new WP_Query( $args );

    foreach ( $query->posts as $acf_group ) {
        wp_delete_post( $acf_group->ID, true);
    }


    // Find local JSON directory
    $dir = new DirectoryIterator( dirname(__FILE__)  . '/fields' );
    
    foreach( $dir as $file ) {
        
        if ( !$file->isDot() && 'json' == $file->getExtension() ) {

            $json = json_decode( file_get_contents( $file->getPathname() ), true );

            // What follows is basically a copy of import() in ACF admin/settings-export.php

            // if importing an auto-json, wrap field group in array
            if( isset($json['key']) ) {
                
                $json = array( $json );
                
            }
            
            // vars
            $added   = array();
            $ignored = array();
            $ref     = array();
            $order   = array();
            
            foreach( $json as $field_group ) {
                
                // remove fields
                $fields = acf_extract_var($field_group, 'fields');
             
                
                // format fields
                $fields = acf_prepare_fields_for_import( $fields );

                
                // save field group
                $field_group = acf_update_field_group( $field_group );
                
                
                // add to ref
                $ref[ $field_group['key'] ] = $field_group['ID'];
                
                
                // add to order
                $order[ $field_group['ID'] ] = 0;
                
                
                // add fields
                foreach( $fields as $field ) {
                    
                    // add parent
                    if( empty($field['parent']) ) {
                        
                        $field['parent'] = $field_group['ID'];
                        
                    } elseif( isset($ref[ $field['parent'] ]) ) {
                        
                        $field['parent'] = $ref[ $field['parent'] ];
                            
                    }
                    
                    // add field menu_order
                    if( !isset($order[ $field['parent'] ]) ) {
                        
                        $order[ $field['parent'] ] = 0;
                        
                    }
                    
                    $field['menu_order'] = $order[ $field['parent'] ];
                    $order[ $field['parent'] ]++;
                    
                    // save field
                    $field = acf_update_field( $field );
                    
                }
                
            }
        }
    }

}


function lc_import_json_save_no_point( $paths) {
    return null;
}

Hi, sorry for answering late, i missed your comment !

You can save this php file and include it from a custom plugin or functions.php.

You then need to increment the ACF_FIELDS_VERSION constant each time you make changes to your ACF Fields and next time someone else get your updated code, it will automatically pick up changes from JSON files and import them back in database, so everybody will be synchronized.

I since have made improvements and built a plugin from this, i will make it public soon.

Avoid using this gist , here is the plugin version : https://github.com/FreshFlesh/ACF-Sync