/shadcn

shadcn MCP Server

The CLI includes an MCP server that lets AI assistants search, browse, view, and install items from registries.

Setup

shadcn mcp        # start the MCP server (stdio)
shadcn mcp init   # write config for your editor

Editor config files:

Tools

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.

shadcn:get_project_registries

Returns registry names from components.json. Errors if no components.json exists.

Input: none

shadcn:list_items_in_registries

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)

shadcn:search_items_in_registries

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)

shadcn:view_items_in_registries

View item details including full file contents.

Input: items (string[]) — e.g. ["@shadcn/button", "@shadcn/card", "owner/repo/item"]

shadcn:get_item_examples_from_registries

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"

shadcn:get_add_command_for_items

Returns the CLI install command.

Input: items (string[]) — e.g. ["@shadcn/button"]

shadcn:get_audit_checklist

Returns a checklist for verifying components (imports, deps, lint, TypeScript).

Input: none

Configuring Registries

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}" }
    }
  }
}

• Names must start with @.
• URLs must contain {name}.
• ${VAR} references are resolved from environment variables.

Community registry index: https://ui.shadcn.com/r/registries.json