Skip to main content
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

​
items
string[]
required
The item names or URLs to view. Can be component names, URLs, or local paths.

​
Options

​
--cwd
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

  1. Reads your components.json (if it exists) or uses default configuration
  2. Resolves registry URLs for the requested items
  3. Fetches item metadata and content from the registry
  4. 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)

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us