MCP Server

The shadcn MCP server lets your AI assistant read the React Bits Pro registries directly: it can list what is available, search it, and install straight into your project from a sentence.

Before you start

MCP reads the same setup the CLI does, so do the installation once and it covers both.

Your license key in .env.local as REACTBITS_LICENSE_KEY
Both registries in your components.json: @reactbits-starter and @reactbits-pro
shadcn CLI 3.0 or newer, which shadcn@latest gives you

Missing any of these? Run through the installation guide first: it takes about a minute.

Connect your client

Pick your assistant. The CLI writes the config for you, except where noted.

Point the CLI at your client

Run this in your project root, the folder that holds components.json.

Turn the server on

Restart Claude Code, then run /mcp. The shadcn server should read Connected.

What it writes

.mcp.json

Prefer to do it by hand? Paste the block above into .mcp.json, merging with what is already there. See the Claude Code MCP docs.

Ask for something

No slugs, no lookup. If the answer comes back with real names from our registries, the connection is good.

Show me every component available in the @reactbits-starter registry

What it changes

Same registries, same license key. What moves is where the lookup happens.

Browse and search

Your assistant lists and filters everything your plan can reach: 134 components, 238 marketing blocks and 300 Application UI blocks, by name or by what they do.

Install by asking

“Add a pricing section” resolves to a real registry item and runs the install, dependencies and all. No slug to look up.

Both registries at once

Namespaces keep them apart: @reactbits-starter for components on every plan, @reactbits-pro for blocks, Application UI and the Agent Kit.

Whole pages, one prompt

Name the sections you want in order and the assistant fetches and assembles them, rather than you installing six blocks and wiring them up.

Prompts that work

Naming the registry keeps the assistant off the default shadcn/ui one.

Browse and search

Show me every component available in the @reactbits-starter registry

Find me a pricing section in the @reactbits-pro registry

What Application UI blocks does @reactbits-pro have for dashboards?

Install

Add mono-waves-tw from @reactbits-starter to my project

Install @reactbits-pro/hero-1 and @reactbits-pro/pricing-4

Add an app shell and a data table from @reactbits-pro to my dashboard

Build a page

Build a SaaS landing page using hero, features, pricing and FAQ blocks from @reactbits-pro

Install skill-swiss-grid and recipe-saas-homepage from @reactbits-pro, then follow the recipe

When it misbehaves

Four failures cover almost everything people hit.

No tools or prompts show up

Clear the npx cache with npx clear-npx-cache, then disable and re-enable the server in your client. In Cursor the logs are under View → Output, MCP: project-*.

Installs fail with 401 Unauthorized

The server runs the shadcn CLI from your project root, so REACTBITS_LICENSE_KEY has to be resolvable there. Open the folder that holds components.json and .env.local in your editor, and confirm the key matches the one on your installation page.

Blocks 403 on a Starter plan

@reactbits-starter serves components on every plan. Blocks, Application UI and the Agent Kit come from @reactbits-pro, which needs Pro or Ultimate. View plans.

The registry is not found

The assistant can only see registries listed in components.json. Add the registries block from the installation guide and restart the MCP client so it re-reads the file.

Take it further

MCP tells your agent how to fetch. These tell it what to build.

React Bits Pro Skill

A SKILL.md your agent reads: every registry name, both variant suffixes, the whole install syntax

Agent Kit

Design skills, page prompts and recipes that name the exact blocks in order

Connected already?

Browse the library so you know what to ask for, or let the assistant discover it for you.

Installation Browse components