shadcn/ui Component Patterns

Build accessible, customizable UI components with shadcn/ui, Radix UI, and Tailwind CSS.

Overview

• Components are copied into your project — you own and customize the code
• Built on Radix UI primitives for full accessibility
• Styled with Tailwind CSS and CSS variables for theming
• CLI-based installation: npx shadcn@latest add <component>

When to Use

Activate when user requests involve:

• "Set up shadcn/ui", "initialize shadcn", "add shadcn components"
• "Install button/input/form/dialog/card/select/toast/table/chart"
• "React Hook Form", "Zod validation", "form with validation"
• "accessible components", "Radix UI", "Tailwind theme"
• "shadcn button", "shadcn dialog", "shadcn sheet", "shadcn table"
• "dark mode", "CSS variables", "custom theme"
• "charts with Recharts", "bar chart", "line chart", "pie chart"

Quick Reference

Available Components

Instructions

Initialize Project

# New Next.js project
npx create-next-app@latest my-app --typescript --tailwind --eslint --app
cd my-app
npx shadcn@latest init

# Existing project
npm install tailwindcss-animate class-variance-authority clsx tailwind-merge lucide-react
npx shadcn@latest init

# Install components
npx shadcn@latest add button input form card dialog select toast

Basic Component Usage

// Button with variants and sizes
import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button"

<Button variant="default">Default</Button>
<Button variant="destructive" size="sm">Delete</Button>
<Button variant="outline" disabled>Loading...</Button>

Form with Zod Validation

"use client"

import { zodResolver } from "@hookform/resolvers/zod"
import { useForm } from "react-hook-form"
import { z } from "zod"
import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button"
import { Form, FormControl, FormField, FormItem, FormLabel, FormMessage } from "@/components/ui/form"
import { Input } from "@/components/ui/input"

const formSchema = z.object({
  email: z.string().email("Invalid email"),
  password: z.string().min(8, "Password must be at least 8 characters"),
})

export function LoginForm() {
  const form = useForm<z.infer<typeof formSchema>>({
    resolver: zodResolver(formSchema),
    defaultValues: { email: "", password: "" },
  })

  return (
    <Form {...form}>
      <form onSubmit={form.handleSubmit(console.log)} className="space-y-4">
        <FormField name="email" control={form.control} render={({ field }) => (
          <FormItem>
            <FormLabel>Email</FormLabel>
            <FormControl><Input type="email" {...field} /></FormControl>
            <FormMessage />
          </FormItem>
        )} />
        <FormField name="password" control={form.control} render={({ field }) => (
          <FormItem>
            <FormLabel>Password</FormLabel>
            <FormControl><Input type="password" {...field} /></FormControl>
            <FormMessage />
          </FormItem>
        )} />
        <Button type="submit">Login</Button>
      </form>