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;
}

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