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Using shadcn/ui components and CLI in a monorepo.

Until now, using shadcn/ui in a monorepo was a bit of a pain. You could add components using the CLI, but you had to manage where the components were installed and manually fix import paths.

With the new monorepo support in the CLI, we've made it a lot easier to use shadcn/ui in a monorepo.

The CLI now understands the monorepo structure and will install the components, dependencies and registry dependencies to the correct paths and handle imports for you.

Getting started

Create a new monorepo project

To create a new monorepo project, run the init command with the --monorepo flag.

pnpm dlx shadcn@latest init --monorepo

Then select the template you want to use.

? Select a template ›
❯   Next.js
    Vite
    TanStack Start
    React Router
    Astro

This will create a new monorepo project with two workspaces: web and ui, and Turborepo as the build system.

Everything is set up for you, so you can start adding components to your project.

Add components to your project

To add components to your project, run the add command in the path of your app.

cd apps/web
pnpm dlx shadcn@latest add [COMPONENT]

The CLI will figure out what type of component you are adding and install the correct files to the correct path.

For example, if you run npx shadcn@latest add button, the CLI will install the button component under packages/ui and update the import path for components in apps/web.

If you run npx shadcn@latest add login-01, the CLI will install the button, label, input and card components under packages/ui and the login-form component under apps/web/components.

Importing components

You can import components from the @workspace/ui package as follows:

import { Button } from "@workspace/ui/components/button"

You can also import hooks and utilities from the @workspace/ui package.

import { useTheme } from "@workspace/ui/hooks/use-theme"
import { cn } from "@workspace/ui/lib/utils"

File Structure

When you create a new monorepo project, the CLI will create the following file structure:

apps
└── web         # Your app goes here.
    ├── app
    │   └── page.tsx
    ├── components
    │   └── login-form.tsx
    ├── components.json
    └── package.json
packages
└── ui          # Your components and dependencies are installed here.
    ├── src
    │   ├── components
    │   │   └── button.tsx
    │   ├── hooks
    │   ├── lib
    │   │   └── utils.ts
    │   └── styles
    │       └── globals.css
    ├── components.json
    └── package.json
package.json
turbo.json

Requirements

  1. Every workspace must have a components.json file. A package.json file tells npm how to install the dependencies. A components.json file tells the CLI how and where to install components.

  2. The components.json file must properly define aliases for the workspace. This tells the CLI how to import components, hooks, utilities, etc.

apps/web/components.json
{
  "$schema": "https://ui.shadcn.com/schema.json",
  "style": "radix-nova",
  "rsc": true,
  "tsx": true,
  "tailwind": {
    "config": "",
    "css": "../../packages/ui/src/styles/globals.css",
    "baseColor": "neutral",
    "cssVariables": true
  },
  "iconLibrary": "lucide",
  "aliases": {
    "components": "@/components",
    "hooks": "@/hooks",
    "lib": "@/lib",
    "utils": "@workspace/ui/lib/utils",
    "ui": "@workspace/ui/components"
  }
}
packages/ui/components.json
{
  "$schema": "https://ui.shadcn.com/schema.json",
  "style": "radix-nova",
  "rsc": true,
  "tsx": true,
  "tailwind": {
    "config": "",
    "css": "src/styles/globals.css",
    "baseColor": "neutral",
    "cssVariables": true
  },
  "iconLibrary": "lucide",
  "aliases": {
    "components": "@workspace/ui/components",
    "utils": "@workspace/ui/lib/utils",
    "hooks": "@workspace/ui/hooks",
    "lib": "@workspace/ui/lib",
    "ui": "@workspace/ui/components"
  }
}

  1. Ensure you have the same style, iconLibrary and baseColor in both components.json files.

  2. For Tailwind CSS v4, leave the tailwind config empty in the components.json file.

By following these requirements, the CLI will be able to install ui components, blocks, libs and hooks to the correct paths and handle imports for you.

Using package.json#imports

For a monorepo that uses package imports and does not rely on tsconfig.json paths, use:

  • local #... aliases for files inside each workspace
  • workspace package exports for shared imports such as @workspace/ui/components

For example, an app workspace can use local package imports:

apps/web/package.json
{
  "name": "web",
  "private": true,
  "type": "module",
  "imports": {
    "#components/*": "./src/components/*.tsx",
    "#lib/*": "./src/lib/*.ts",
    "#hooks/*": "./src/hooks/*.ts"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "@workspace/ui": "workspace:*"
  }
}
apps/web/components.json
{
  "aliases": {
    "components": "#components",
    "ui": "@workspace/ui/components",
    "lib": "#lib",
    "hooks": "#hooks",
    "utils": "@workspace/ui/lib/utils"
  }
}

And the shared UI package can expose its install targets with exports:

packages/ui/package.json
{
  "name": "@workspace/ui",
  "private": true,
  "type": "module",
  "imports": {
    "#components/*": "./src/components/*.tsx",
    "#lib/*": "./src/lib/*.ts",
    "#hooks/*": "./src/hooks/*.ts"
  },
  "exports": {
    "./globals.css": "./src/styles/globals.css",
    "./components/*": "./src/components/*.tsx",
    "./lib/*": "./src/lib/*.ts",
    "./hooks/*": "./src/hooks/*.ts"
  }
}
packages/ui/components.json
{
  "aliases": {
    "components": "#components",
    "ui": "#components",
    "lib": "#lib",
    "hooks": "#hooks",
    "utils": "#lib/utils"
  }
}

In this setup:

  • files added from the app to the shared UI package are routed through @workspace/ui/...
  • files added inside packages/ui use the package-local #... aliases
  • the shared package must export any path referenced by another workspace

For framework-specific package import setup, see the package imports guide.