shadcn view - shadcn/ui

The view command fetches and displays registry items in JSON format. Use it to inspect component metadata, dependencies, and source code.

Usage

shadcn view <items...>

Arguments

string[]

required

The item names or URLs to view. Can be component names, URLs, or local paths.

Options

string

The working directory. Defaults to the current directory.

Examples

View a single component

shadcn view button

Output:

[
  {
    "name": "button",
    "type": "registry:ui",
    "dependencies": [
      "@radix-ui/react-slot",
      "class-variance-authority"
    ],
    "registryDependencies": [],
    "files": [
      {
        "path": "ui/button.tsx",
        "content": "import * as React from \"react\"...",
        "type": "registry:ui"
      }
    ]
  }
]

View multiple components

shadcn view button card dialog

View from URL

shadcn view https://ui.shadcn.com/r/styles/new-york/button.json

View from local path

shadcn view ./my-component.json

View in specific directory

shadcn view button --cwd ./my-project

What it does

Reads your components.json (if it exists) or uses default configuration
Resolves registry URLs for the requested items
Fetches item metadata and content from the registry
Outputs the complete item data as JSON

Output structure

Each registry item includes:

name - Component name
type - Registry type (registry:ui, registry:block, etc.)
dependencies - npm packages required
devDependencies - npm dev packages required
registryDependencies - Other shadcn components required
files - Array of file objects with path and content
meta - Additional metadata

Registry types

Components can have different types:

registry:ui - UI components
registry:block - Larger UI blocks
registry:hook - React hooks
registry:lib - Library utilities
registry:theme - Theme configurations
registry:style - Style systems
registry:base - Base configurations

Use cases

Inspect before adding

Review a component’s structure and dependencies before installing:

shadcn view button | jq '.[] | .dependencies'

Extract component source

Get the raw source code for inspection:

shadcn view button | jq -r '.[].files[].content'

Check registry dependencies

See which other components are required:

shadcn view dialog | jq '.[] | .registryDependencies'

Compare versions

Fetch and compare different component versions:

shadcn view https://registry1.com/button.json > v1.json
shadcn view https://registry2.com/button.json > v2.json
diff v1.json v2.json

Working with output

The JSON output can be processed with tools like jq:

# Get just the file paths
shadcn view button | jq -r '.[].files[].path'

# Get dependencies only
shadcn view button | jq -r '.[].dependencies[]'

# Pretty print with color
shadcn view button | jq '.'

# Save to file
shadcn view button > button.json

Notes

Output is always valid JSON
Returns an array of items, even for a single component
Supports partial components.json files
Automatically configures registries if needed
Works without a components.json file (uses defaults)

⌘I

​Usage

​Arguments

​Options

​Examples

​View a single component

​View multiple components

​View from URL

​View from local path

​View in specific directory

​What it does

​Output structure

​Registry types

​Use cases

​Inspect before adding

​Extract component source

​Check registry dependencies

​Compare versions

​Working with output

​Notes