Setting the file. One moment.
Subchapter 2.5
mcp.mdMarkdown3 KBView on GitHub
The CLI includes an MCP server that lets AI assistants search, browse, view, and install items from registries.
shadcn mcp # start the MCP server (stdio)
shadcn mcp init # write config for your editorEditor config files:
| Editor | Config file |
|---|---|
| Claude Code | .mcp.json |
| Cursor | .cursor/mcp.json |
| VS Code | .vscode/mcp.json |
| OpenCode | opencode.json |
| Codex | ~/.codex/config.toml (manual) |
Tip: MCP tools handle registry operations (search, view, install). For project configuration (aliases, framework, Tailwind version), use
npx shadcn@latest info— there is no MCP equivalent.
Returns registry names from components.json. Errors if no components.json exists.
Input: none
Lists all items from one or more registries. Registries can be configured
namespaces such as @acme, public GitHub sources such as owner/repo, or
registry catalog URLs. Omit registries to list from every registry configured
in components.json.
Input: registries (string[], optional — omit for all configured), types (string[], optional — e.g. ["ui", "block"]), limit (number, optional, defaults to 100), offset (number, optional)
Fuzzy search across registries. Registries can be configured namespaces, public
GitHub sources, or registry catalog URLs. Omit registries to search every
registry configured in components.json — e.g. “find me a hero” across all
configured registries.
Input: registries (string[], optional — omit for all configured), query (string), types (string[], optional — e.g. ["ui", "block"]), limit (number, optional, defaults to 100), offset (number, optional)
View item details including full file contents.
Input: items (string[]) — e.g.
["@shadcn/button", "@shadcn/card", "owner/repo/item"]
Find usage examples and demos with source code. Omit registries to search
every registry configured in components.json.
Input: registries (string[], optional — omit for all configured), query (string) — e.g. "accordion-demo", "button example"
Returns the CLI install command.
Input: items (string[]) — e.g. ["@shadcn/button"]
Returns a checklist for verifying components (imports, deps, lint, TypeScript).
Input: none
Namespaced and authenticated registries are set in components.json. The
@shadcn registry is always built-in. Public GitHub registries can also be used
directly as owner/repo registry sources when the repository has a root
registry.json; they do not need components.json configuration.
{
"registries": {
"@acme": "https://acme.com/r/{name}.json",
"@private": {
"url": "https://private.com/r/{name}.json",
"headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${MY_TOKEN}" }
}
}
}@.{name}.${VAR} references are resolved from environment variables.Community registry index: https://ui.shadcn.com/r/registries.json