August 2025 - shadcn CLI 3.0 and MCP Server

We just shipped shadcn CLI 3.0 with support for namespaced registries, advanced authentication, new commands and a completely rewritten registry engine.

What's New

• Namespaced Registries - Install components using @registry/name format.
• Private Registries - Secure your registry with advanced authentication.
• Search & Discovery - New commands to find and view code before installing.
• MCP Server - MCP server for all registries.
• Faster Everything - Completely rewritten registry resolution.
• Improved Error Handling - Better error messages for users and LLMs.
• Upgrade Guide - Migration notes for existing users.

Namespaced Registries

The biggest change in 3.0 is namespaced registries. You can now install components from registries: a community registry, your company's private registry or internal registry, using the @registry/name format.

This makes it easier to distribute code across teams and projects.

Configure registries in your components.json:

Copy{
  "registries": {
    "@acme": "https://acme.com/r/{name}.json",
    "@internal": {
      "url": "https://registry.company.com/{name}",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${REGISTRY_TOKEN}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Then use the @registry/name format to install components:

pnpmnpmyarnbun
pnpm dlx shadcn add @acme/button @internal/auth-system
Copy

It's completely decentralized. There's no central registrar. Create any namespace you want and organize components however makes sense for your team.

Copy{
  "registries": {
    "@design": "https://registry.company.com/create/{name}.json",
    "@engineering": "https://registry.company.com/eng/{name}.json",
    "@marketing": "https://registry.company.com/marketing/{name}.json"
  }
}

Components can even depend on resources from different registries. Everything gets resolved and installed automatically from the right sources.

Copy{
  "name": "dashboard",
  "type": "registry:block",
  "registryDependencies": [
    "@shadcn/card", // From default registry
    "@v0/chart", // From v0 registry
    "@acme/data-table", // From acme registry
    "@lib/data-fetcher", // Utility library
    "@ai/analytics-prompt" // AI prompt resource
  ]
}

Private Registries

Need to keep your components private? We've got you covered. Configure authentication with tokens, API keys, or custom headers:

Copy{
  "registries": {
    "@private": {
      "url": "https://registry.company.com/{name}.json",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${REGISTRY_TOKEN}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Your private components stay private. Perfect for enterprise teams with proprietary UI libraries.

We support all major authentication methods: basic auth, bearer token, api key query params and custom headers.

See the authentication docs for more details.

Search & Discovery

Three new commands make it easy to find exactly what you need:

1. View items from the registry before installing

pnpmnpmyarnbun
pnpm dlx shadcn view @acme/auth-system
Copy

2. Search items from registries

pnpmnpmyarnbun
pnpm dlx shadcn search @tweakcn -q "dark"
Copy

3. List all items from a registry

pnpmnpmyarnbun
pnpm dlx shadcn list @acme
Copy

Preview components before installing them. Search across multiple registries. See the code and all dependencies upfront.

MCP Server

Back in April, we introduced the first version of the MCP server. Since then, we've taken everything we learned and built a better MCP server.

Here's what's new:

• Works with all registries. Zero config
• One command to add to your favorite MCP clients
• We improved the underlying tools
• Better integration with the CLI and registries
• Support for multiple registries in the same project

Add the MCP server to your project:

pnpmnpmyarnbun
pnpm dlx shadcn@latest mcp init
Copy

See the docs for more details.

Faster Everything

We completely rewrote the registry resolution engine from scratch. It's faster, smarter, and handles even the trickiest dependency trees.

• Up to 3x faster dependency resolution
• Smarter file deduplication and merging
• Better monorepo support out of the box
• Updated build command for registry authors

Improved Error Handling

Registry developers can now provide custom error messages to help guide users (and LLMs) when things go wrong. The CLI displays helpful, actionable errors for common issues:

CopyUnknown registry "@acme". Make sure it is defined in components.json as follows:
{
  "registries": {
    "@acme": "[URL_TO_REGISTRY]"
  }
}

Missing environment variables? The CLI tells you exactly what's needed:

CopyRegistry "@private" requires the following environment variables:
  • REGISTRY_TOKEN
 
Set the required environment variables to your .env or .env.local file.

Registry authors can provide custom error messages in their responses to help users and AI agents understand and fix issues quickly.

CopyError:
You are not authorized to access the item at http://example.com/r/component.
 
Message:
[Unauthorized] Your API key has expired. Renew it at https://example.com/api/renew-key.

Upgrade Guide

Here's the best part: there are no breaking changes for users. Your existing components.json works exactly the same. All your installed components work exactly the same.

For developers, if you're using the programmatic APIs directly, we've deprecated a few functions in favor of better ones:

• fetchRegistry → getRegistry
• resolveRegistryTree → resolveRegistryItems
• Schema moved from shadcn/registry to shadcn/schema package

Copy- import { registryItemSchema } from "shadcn/registry"
+ import { registryItemSchema } from "shadcn/schema"

That's it. Seriously. Everything else just works.