Installation

How to install dependencies and structure your app.

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Installation

Installation

Next.js

Create project

Start by creating a new Next.js project using create-next-app:

npx create-next-app@latest my-app --typescript --tailwind --eslint
npx create-next-app@latest my-app --typescript --tailwind --eslint

Run the CLI

Run the shadcn-ui init command to setup your project:

npx shadcn-ui@latest init
npx shadcn-ui@latest init

Configure components.json

You will be asked a few questions to configure components.json:

Which style would you like to use? › Default
Which color would you like to use as base color? › Slate
Where is your global CSS file? › › app/globals.css
Do you want to use CSS variables for colors? › no / yes
Where is your tailwind.config.js located? › tailwind.config.js
Configure the import alias for components: › @/components
Configure the import alias for utils: › @/lib/utils
Are you using React Server Components? › no / yes
Which style would you like to use? › Default
Which color would you like to use as base color? › Slate
Where is your global CSS file? › › app/globals.css
Do you want to use CSS variables for colors? › no / yes
Where is your tailwind.config.js located? › tailwind.config.js
Configure the import alias for components: › @/components
Configure the import alias for utils: › @/lib/utils
Are you using React Server Components? › no / yes

App structure

Here's how I structure my app. I use Next.js, but this is not required.

.
├── app
│   ├── layout.tsx
│   └── page.tsx
├── components
│   ├── ui
│   │   ├── alert-dialog.tsx
│   │   ├── button.tsx
│   │   ├── dropdown-menu.tsx
│   │   └── ...
│   ├── main-nav.tsx
│   ├── page-header.tsx
│   └── ...
├── lib
│   └── utils.ts
├── styles
│   └── globals.css
├── next.config.js
├── package.json
├── postcss.config.js
├── tailwind.config.js
└── tsconfig.json
.
├── app
│   ├── layout.tsx
│   └── page.tsx
├── components
│   ├── ui
│   │   ├── alert-dialog.tsx
│   │   ├── button.tsx
│   │   ├── dropdown-menu.tsx
│   │   └── ...
│   ├── main-nav.tsx
│   ├── page-header.tsx
│   └── ...
├── lib
│   └── utils.ts
├── styles
│   └── globals.css
├── next.config.js
├── package.json
├── postcss.config.js
├── tailwind.config.js
└── tsconfig.json
  • I place the UI components in the components/ui folder.
  • The rest of the components such as <PageHeader /> and <MainNav /> are placed in the components folder.
  • The lib folder contains all the utility functions. I have a utils.ts where I define the cn helper.
  • The styles folder contains the global CSS.

That's it. You can now start adding components to your project.

npx shadcn-ui@latest add
npx shadcn-ui@latest add

Other frameworks

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