Welcome to Farcaster 101, a 12 part educational series designed to introduce marketing professionals to the fundamentals of Farcaster. Presented by GM Farcaster in partnership with Snickerdoodle, this series will help you understand what makes Farcaster unique and how to grow your brand presence on the platform. Each webinar is accompanied by a blog post summarizing key insights and additional resources. Plus, we offer weekly office hours for personalized support.
Module 3: Getting Started with Frames
In Module 3, we dive into one of Farcaster's most exciting and dynamic features: Frames. By the end of this lesson, you’ll understand what Frames are, their use cases, and how to get started with them. Plus, we’ll touch on some advanced extensions like transaction frames, composer actions, and mini apps.
What are Frames?
Farcaster Frames are a way to create and embed interactive apps directly within the social feed. Think of Frames as a rich, dynamic content type—like a mini webpage you can engage with without leaving your timeline.
Frames allow for a much more interactive experience compared to typical posts on other platforms, which are limited to text, images, and video. For example, while scrolling through your feed, you might come across a frame that allows you to interact with data, make a transaction, or even play a game—all without leaving the Farcaster app.
This interactivity is made possible through the Open Graph Protocol, which was initially created by Facebook. Farcaster has extended this protocol, making it more powerful and interactive, allowing developers to create seamless, in-feed experiences. Essentially, frames are URLs that, when shared, embed a web-based application directly into Farcaster's feed.
Use Cases and Examples
Frames open up a wide range of possibilities for users and developers. Here are some of the key use cases:
Rich Media Embeds: Imagine embedding a full article, podcast, or video that users can interact with directly in their feed.
Transaction Frames: These allow users to make purchases, mint NFTs, or subscribe to services—right from the Farcaster timeline.
Interactive Data Displays: For example, if you’re sharing a report, a frame could allow users to interact with the data, filtering or viewing different aspects of it without having to leave the feed.
A great example of an interactive frame is the State of Farcaster report from Snickerdoodle. Users can interact with this data-rich report entirely within the social feed, making it a perfect example of the power of Frames.
Transaction Frames
Transaction frames add another layer of functionality by allowing users to complete transactions, such as making a purchase or minting NFTs, directly within the frame. A great example of this is Sam’s Candle Club, where users could subscribe to a candle delivery service and pay with crypto—all without leaving Farcaster.
Since Farcaster is built on crypto rails, users can link their wallets to their Farcaster accounts. This makes it incredibly easy to integrate blockchain-based transactions into frames.
Composer Actions
Composer actions allow you to take pre-built, interactive components and add them to your own casts. These actions are developed by the community and serve as "Lego blocks" that make it easy to create frames without writing code. For example, with an app like Events, you can use a composer action to create an event post, complete with RSVP functionality, directly within the Farcaster timeline.
Another example is Bounty Caster, where you can post bounties for anything from hiring a developer to offering a fun challenge. Composer actions make it easy for users to incorporate advanced functionality into their casts with just a few clicks.
Mini Apps
Mini apps are the next evolution of Frames—self-contained applications that can be as simple as a newsletter reader or as complex as a game. One example is Flappy Caster, a game built entirely within a frame, allowing users to play right within the feed.
Paragraph is another example of a mini app, which lets users read blog posts or newsletters and even subscribe to them directly within the Farcaster app. These mini apps open up endless possibilities for user interaction and content consumption.
What's Next
Frames represent a major leap in how we think about social media interaction. By integrating mini apps, composer actions, and transaction functionality directly into the feed, Farcaster transforms from a simple social platform into a dynamic, interactive experience.
In our next module, we’ll guide you through the process of creating your own frames and walk you through some hands-on examples of composer actions and mini apps. Be sure to join us and explore how to build on this powerful feature.
More Resources
Farcaster developer documentation about frames
Farcaster Frames Technical Specification
The Open Graph Protocol that Frames extends from
Not Boring piece on Frames and why Packy McCormick thinks Frames might be the future of the internet
Playlist with all Modules of Farcaster 101 that have been released to date
