The study of metal–organic frameworks has largely been motivated by their structural and chemical diversity; however, these materials also possess rich physics, including optical, electronic, and magnetic activity. If these materials are to be employed in devices, it is necessary to develop an understanding of their solid-state behavior. We report an approach to calculate the effect of strain on the band structure of porous frameworks. The origin of the bidirectional absolute deformation potentials can be described from perturbations of the organic and inorganic building blocks. The unified approach allows us to propose several uses for hybrid materials, beyond their traditionally posited applications, including gas sensing, photoelectrochemistry, and as hybrid transistors.