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 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) |
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