get_item

Lightweight metadata for any shadcn.io item — title, description, premium flag, dependencies, file paths. No source. The cheap-to-browse retrieval tool.

get_item gives the agent everything it needs to reason about a component without downloading the full source. Use it to shortlist candidates before paying the token cost of get_item_source.

When to use it

The agent has a slug (from search_items, list_items, or list_blocks_in_category) and wants metadata: is it premium? what does it depend on? where does it install to?
Comparing multiple candidates cheaply before committing.
Answering "what does X need?" questions.

If the agent has committed and wants to read the code, skip to get_item_source. If it's ready to install, skip to get_install_command.

Arguments

Name	Type	Required	Notes
`name`	`string`	✓	Registry slug — e.g. `hero-announcement`, `pricing-grouped-comparison-table`, `use-debounce`

Example prompts

use shadcnio to tell me what pricing-grouped-comparison-table depends on

use shadcnio and check if hero-announcement is a premium block

use shadcnio to list the registryDependencies for the first 5 pricing blocks so I know which primitives I'll need

Response shape

{
"$schema": "https://ui.shadcn.com/schema/registry-item.json",
"name": "pricing-grouped-comparison-table",
"type": "registry:block",
"title": "React Grouped Comparison Table Pricing Block",
"description": "A pricing block using a grouped feature comparison table layout for tiered SaaS plans.",
"author": "shadcn.io",
"homepage": "https://www.shadcn.io/blocks/pricing-grouped-comparison-table",
"premium": true,
"dependencies": ["lucide-react"],
"registryDependencies": ["button", "badge"],
"files": [
  {
    "path": "blocks/pricing/pricing-grouped-comparison-table.tsx",
    "type": "registry:block",
    "target": "components/blocks/pricing/pricing-grouped-comparison-table.tsx"
  }
]
}

Key fields:

premium — true if the block has @premium true in its JSDoc. Non-Pro users get a 403 at install time, not at metadata time.
dependencies — npm packages you'll need (lucide-react, recharts, …), inferred from imports.
registryDependencies — other shadcn items this depends on (button, badge). shadcn add installs them transitively.
files[].target — where each file lands on install.

Manual invocation

curl -s -X POST "https://www.shadcn.io/api/mcp?token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-d '{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "get_item",
    "arguments": { "name": "pricing-grouped-comparison-table" }
  }
}' | jq '.result.content[0].text | fromjson'

get_item

When to use it

Arguments

Example prompts

Response shape

Manual invocation

FAQ

What's the difference between get_item and get_item_source?

How does the resolver find my slug?

Can I call get_item on a premium block without Pro?

Are the dependencies always right?

What if my slug could match multiple surfaces?