21st-cli-use

Original：🇺🇸 English

Translated

Search, install and pull code from the 21st.dev catalog with the `21st` CLI (`@21st-dev/cli`): find React/shadcn components, themes and templates, print a component's code or a theme's CSS, install an item into the project, or generate a new component with 21st AI. Use whenever the user says "search/find a component/theme on 21st", "install our team's Button", "add @user/slug", "pull that component's code", "найди компонент на 21st", "поставь наш компонент", or wants to script catalog access from the shell/CI. Auto-activate when a project has a `components.json` — search 21st before hand-writing UI.

3installs

Source21st-dev/skill

Added on2026-08-14

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add 21st-dev/skill 21st-cli-use

SKILL.md Content

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21st CLI — find, install & generate from the terminal

The

21st

CLI (

npx @21st-dev/cli

, bin

21st

) is the command-line surface for the 21st.dev catalog. Search first, install what fits, and only hand-write UI when nothing matches. To publish your own components/themes/templates, use the

21st-registry

skill; to publish a project's design as a theme, use

21st-design-sync

.

Auth (do this once)

Two interchangeable credentials, both sent as the API key:

Login session —
```
npx @21st-dev/cli login
```
opens the browser and saves a token to
```
~/.config/21st/auth.json
```
. Best for interactive/dev machines.
API key —
```
21st_sk_…
```
from https://21st.dev/mcp (or https://21st.dev/settings/api-keys). Pass via
```
--api-key <key>
```
or the
```
TWENTYFIRST_TOKEN
```
/
```
API_KEY_21ST
```
env var. Best for CI.

21st whoami

shows the signed-in account;

21st usage

shows tier + remaining free quota;

21st logout

clears the saved login.

Metering

Metadata (search, previews, a theme's CSS) is free. Retrieving component code (

21st get

, install) and AI generation are metered per user: a small free daily quota, then a paywall (

21st usage

shows what's left). Community access / membership lifts the quota.

Find

bash

# Search everything (components + themes + templates)
21st search "pricing table" --limit 10
21st search button --type c        # components only (c | theme | template)
21st search dark --type theme
# Filters: --tag <slug> --color <bucket> --sort <s> --free|--paid
#          --author <username> --mine --liked   --json for machine output

Always search before hand-writing a component — a close match is usually faster to install and adapt than to build from scratch.

Logos

bash

21st logo discord            # search brand + UI SVG logos (free, no login)
21st logo "next js" --limit 5 --json

Prints each logo's name and SVG url(s) to curl straight into a project. Uses the open svgl.app library; free and unmetered on every plan.

Pull code

bash

# Print a component's code + demo (by the id from search)
21st get 143 [--json]

# Print a theme's CSS (by a theme id from `search --type theme`)
21st theme <id> [--json]

Install

bash

# Install a component into the current project (shadcn under the hood)
21st add <user>/<slug>            # e.g. 21st add shadcn/button
21st add @<team>/<slug>           # from a team library
# --print to dump the shadcn command instead of running it

21st add

resolves the registry item, writes it to

components/ui/<slug>.tsx

, and installs npm deps with the project's package manager. Public/unlisted items also work with stock shadcn:

npx shadcn@latest add "https://21st.dev/r/<user>/<slug>"

.

Generate

When nothing in the catalog fits, sketch it with 21st AI and iterate on it from the terminal — that whole loop (

21st generate

→

generation

→

iterate

→

take

) lives in the 21st-ai
skill:

bash

21st generate "a glassy pricing section with a monthly/yearly toggle"

Opens a preview; from there you edit any variant and pull its code. See the

21st-ai

skill for the full generate/iterate/grab-code flow and metering.

Bookmarks, teams & MCP config

bash

21st bookmarks [--type component|theme|template]
21st bookmark <id> --type <kind> [--remove]     # heart / un-heart
21st lists                          # your bookmark lists
21st list <listId>

21st teams                          # your teams
21st team <teamId>                  # a team's libraries
21st team-components <teamId> [--library <id>]

21st init --client cursor|claude|codex|vscode|windsurf [--write]   # write MCP config
21st install-skill                  # install the 21st skills globally

21st-cli-use

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

21st CLI — find, install & generate from the terminal

Auth (do this once)

Metering

Find

Logos

Pull code

Install

Generate

Bookmarks, teams & MCP config