Manages shadcn-vue components and projects — adding, searching, fixing, debugging, styling, and composing UI. Provides project context, component docs, and…

SKILL.md

shadcn-vue

A framework for building ui, components and design systems. Components are added as source code to the user's project via the CLI.

IMPORTANT: Run all CLI commands using the project's package runner: npx shadcn-vue@latest, pnpm dlx shadcn-vue@latest, or bunx --bun shadcn-vue@latest — based on the project's packageManager. Examples below use npx shadcn-vue@latest but substitute the correct runner for the project.

Current Project Context

!`npx shadcn-vue@latest info --json`

The JSON above contains the project config and installed components. Use npx shadcn-vue@latest docs <component> to get documentation and example URLs for any component.

Principles

Use existing components first. Use npx shadcn-vue@latest search to check registries before writing custom UI. Check community registries too.

Compose, don't reinvent. Settings page = Tabs + Card + form controls. Dashboard = Sidebar + Card + Chart + Table.

Use built-in variants before custom styles. variant="outline", size="sm", etc.

Use semantic colors. bg-primary, text-muted-foreground — never raw values like bg-blue-500.

Critical Rules

These rules are always enforced. Each links to a file with Incorrect/Correct code pairs.

Styling & Tailwind → styling.md

class for layout, not styling. Never override component colors or typography.

No space-x-* or space-y-*. Use flex with gap-*. For vertical stacks, flex flex-col gap-*.

Use size-* when width and height are equal. size-10 not w-10 h-10.

Use truncate shorthand. Not overflow-hidden text-ellipsis whitespace-nowrap.

No manual dark: color overrides. Use semantic tokens (bg-background, text-muted-foreground).

Use cn() for conditional classes. Don't write manual template literal ternaries.

No manual z-index on overlay components. Dialog, Sheet, Popover, etc. handle their own stacking.

Forms & Inputs → forms.md

Forms use FieldGroup + Field. Never use raw div with space-y-* or grid gap-* for form layout.

InputGroup uses InputGroupInput/InputGroupTextarea. Never raw Input/Textarea inside InputGroup.

Buttons inside inputs use InputGroup + InputGroupAddon.

Option sets (2–7 choices) use ToggleGroup. Don't loop Button with manual active state.

FieldSet + FieldLegend for grouping related checkboxes/radios. Don't use a div with a heading.

Field validation uses data-invalid + aria-invalid. data-invalid on Field, aria-invalid on the control. For disabled: data-disabled on Field, disabled on the control.

Component Structure → composition.md

Items always inside their Group. SelectItem → SelectGroup. DropdownMenuItem → DropdownMenuGroup. CommandItem → CommandGroup.

Dialog, Sheet, and Drawer always need a Title. DialogTitle, SheetTitle, DrawerTitle required for accessibility. Use class="sr-only" if visually hidden.

Use full Card composition. CardHeader/CardTitle/CardDescription/CardContent/CardFooter. Don't dump everything in CardContent.

Button has no isPending/isLoading. Compose with Spinner + data-icon + disabled.

TabsTrigger must be inside TabsList. Never render triggers directly in Tabs.

Avatar always needs AvatarFallback. For when the image fails to load.

Use Components, Not Custom Markup → composition.md

Use existing components before custom markup. Check if a component exists before writing a styled div.

Callouts use Alert. Don't build custom styled divs.

Empty states use Empty. Don't build custom empty state markup.

Toast via vue-sonner. Use toast() from vue-sonner.

Use Separator instead of <hr> or <div class="border-t">.

Use Skeleton for loading placeholders. No custom animate-pulse divs.

Use Badge instead of custom styled spans.

Icons → icons.md

Icons in Button use data-icon. data-icon="inline-start" or data-icon="inline-end" on the icon.

No sizing classes on icons inside components. Components handle icon sizing via CSS. No size-4 or w-4 h-4.

Pass icons as objects, not string keys. :icon="CheckIcon", not a string lookup.

CLI

Apply preset codes directly with the CLI. Use npx shadcn-vue@latest apply <code> for existing projects, or npx shadcn-vue@latest init --preset <code> when initializing.

Key Patterns

These are the most common patterns that differentiate correct shadcn-vue code. For edge cases, see the linked rule files above.

<FieldGroup>
<Field>
<FieldLabel for="email">Email</FieldLabel>
<Input id="email" />
</Field>
</FieldGroup>

<Field data-invalid>
<FieldLabel>Email</FieldLabel>
<Input aria-invalid />
<FieldDescription>Invalid email.</FieldDescription>
</Field>

<Button>
<SearchIcon data-icon="inline-start" />
Search
</Button>

<div class="flex flex-col gap-4"> 
<div class="space-y-4">

<Avatar class="size-10"> 
<Avatar class="w-10 h-10">

<Badge variant="secondary">+20.1%</Badge> 
<span class="text-emerald-600">+20.1%</span>

Component Selection

Need
Use

Button/action
Button with appropriate variant

Form inputs
Input, Select, Combobox, Switch, Checkbox, RadioGroup, Textarea, InputOTP, Slider

Toggle between 2–7 options
ToggleGroup + ToggleGroupItem

Data display
Table, Card, Badge, Avatar

Navigation
Sidebar, NavigationMenu, Breadcrumb, Tabs, Pagination

Overlays
Dialog (modal), Sheet (side panel), Drawer (bottom sheet), AlertDialog (confirmation)

Feedback
vue-sonner (toast), Alert, Progress, Skeleton, Spinner

Command palette
Command inside Dialog

Charts
Chart (wraps Unovis)

Layout
Card, Separator, Resizable, ScrollArea, Accordion, Collapsible

Empty states
Empty

Menus
DropdownMenu, ContextMenu, Menubar

Tooltips/info
Tooltip, HoverCard, Popover

Key Fields

The injected project context contains these key fields:

aliases → use the actual alias prefix for imports (e.g. @/, ~/), never hardcode.

tailwindVersion → "v4" uses @theme inline blocks; "v3" uses tailwind.config.js.

tailwindCssFile → the global CSS file where custom CSS variables are defined. Always edit this file, never create a new one.

style → component visual treatment (e.g. nova, vega).

base → primitive library (reka). Affects component APIs and available props.

iconLibrary → determines icon imports. Use @lucide/vue for lucide, @tabler/icons-vue for tabler, etc. Never assume @lucide/vue.

resolvedPaths → exact file-system destinations for components, utils, hooks, etc.

framework → routing and file conventions (e.g. Nuxt vs Vite SPA).

packageManager → use this for any non-shadcn-vue dependency installs (e.g. pnpm add date-fns vs npm install date-fns).

See cli.md — info command for the full field reference.

Component Docs, Examples, and Usage

Run npx shadcn-vue@latest docs <component> to get the URLs for a component's documentation, examples, and API reference. Fetch these URLs to get the actual content.

npx shadcn-vue@latest docs button dialog select

When creating, fixing, debugging, or using a component, always run npx shadcn-vue@latest docs and fetch the URLs first. This ensures you're working with the correct API and usage patterns rather than guessing.

Workflow

Get project context — already injected above. Run npx shadcn-vue@latest info again if you need to refresh.

Check installed components first — before running add, always check the components list from project context or list the resolvedPaths.ui directory. Don't import components that haven't been added, and don't re-add ones already installed.

Find components — npx shadcn-vue@latest search.

Get docs and examples — run npx shadcn-vue@latest docs <component> to get URLs, then fetch them. Use npx shadcn-vue@latest view to browse registry items you haven't installed. To preview changes to installed components, use npx shadcn-vue@latest add --diff.

Install or update — npx shadcn-vue@latest add. When updating existing components, use --dry-run and --diff to preview changes first (see Updating Components below).

Fix imports in third-party components — After adding components from community registries, check the added non-UI files for hardcoded import paths like @/components/ui/.... These won't match the project's actual aliases. Use npx shadcn-vue@latest info to get the correct ui alias (e.g. @workspace/ui/components) and rewrite the imports accordingly. The CLI rewrites imports for its own UI files, but third-party registry components may use default paths that don't match the project.

Review added components — After adding a component or block from any registry, always read the added files and verify they are correct. Check for missing sub-components (e.g. SelectItem without SelectGroup), missing imports, incorrect composition, or violations of the Critical Rules. Also replace any icon imports with the project's iconLibrary from the project context (e.g. if the registry item uses @lucide/vue but the project uses hugeicons, swap the imports and icon names accordingly). Fix all issues before moving on.

Registry must be explicit — When the user asks to add a block or component, do not guess the registry. If no registry is specified (e.g. user says "add a login block" without specifying @shadcn, etc.), ask which registry to use. Never default to a registry on behalf of the user.

Switching presets — Ask the user first: overwrite, merge, or skip?

Overwrite: npx shadcn-vue@latest apply <code>. Overwrites detected components, fonts, and CSS variables.

Merge: npx shadcn-vue@latest init --preset <code> --force --no-reinstall, then run npx shadcn-vue@latest info to list installed components, then for each installed component use --dry-run and --diff to smart merge it individually.

Skip: npx shadcn-vue@latest init --preset <code> --force --no-reinstall. Only updates config and CSS, leaves components as-is.

Important: Always run preset commands inside the user's project directory. apply only works in an existing project with a components.json file. The CLI automatically preserves the current base (reka) from components.json. If you must use a scratch/temp directory (e.g. for --dry-run comparisons), pass --base <current-base> explicitly — preset codes do not encode the base.

Updating Components

When the user asks to update a component from upstream while keeping their local changes, use --dry-run and --diff to intelligently merge. NEVER fetch raw files from GitHub manually — always use the CLI.

Run npx shadcn-vue@latest add <component> --dry-run to see all files that would be affected.

For each file, run npx shadcn-vue@latest add <component> --diff <file> to see what changed upstream vs local.

Decide per file based on the diff:

No local changes → safe to overwrite.

Has local changes → read the local file, analyze the diff, and apply upstream updates while preserving local modifications.

User says "just update everything" → use --overwrite, but confirm first.

Never use --overwrite without the user's explicit approval.

Quick Reference

# Create a new project.
npx shadcn-vue@latest init --name my-app --preset nova
npx shadcn-vue@latest init --name my-app --preset a2r6bw --template vite

# Initialize existing project.
npx shadcn-vue@latest init --preset nova
npx shadcn-vue@latest init --defaults # shortcut: --template=nuxt --preset=nova (base style implied)

# Apply a preset to an existing project.
npx shadcn-vue@latest apply a2r6bw

# Add components.
npx shadcn-vue@latest add button card dialog
npx shadcn-vue@latest add --all

# Search registries.
npx shadcn-vue@latest search @shadcn -q "sidebar"

# Get component docs and example URLs.
npx shadcn-vue@latest docs button dialog select

# View registry item details (for items not yet installed).
npx shadcn-vue@latest view @shadcn/button

Named presets: nova, vega, maia, lyra, mira, luma
Templates: nuxt, vite, astro and laravel
Preset codes: Version-prefixed base62 strings (e.g. a2r6bw), from shadcn-vue.com.

Detailed References

rules/forms.md — FieldGroup, Field, InputGroup, ToggleGroup, FieldSet, validation states

rules/composition.md — Groups, overlays, Card, Tabs, Avatar, Alert, Empty, Toast, Separator, Skeleton, Badge, Button loading

rules/icons.md — data-icon, icon sizing, passing icons as objects

rules/styling.md — Semantic colors, variants, class, spacing, size, truncate, dark mode, cn(), z-index

cli.md — Commands, flags, presets, templates

customization.md — Theming, CSS variables, extending components