component-registry

name	component-registry
description	Use before hand-writing any UI component in a React/Tailwind repo - pull a vetted, accessible primitive from a shadcn-compatible registry (npx shadcn add); hand-roll only what no registry has.

Component registry

The setup has strong tooling for judging UI after it exists — screenshots, pixel-diff, axe-core, design review. It had nothing for where a component comes from, so every combobox, date picker, and dialog was hand-written from scratch and then critiqued into shape. Registry components have already survived that critique: accessibility, keyboard handling, focus traps, and edge states are solved before you start.

Protocol

1. Check the project speaks the protocol. A components.json at the repo root means the shadcn CLI is wired; note its style, tailwind.css, and aliases. No components.json in a React + Tailwind repo? npx shadcn@latest init is cheap and non-destructive — ask nothing, run it, commit it with the component.
2. Search before you write. npx shadcn@latest search <term> queries the configured registries; npx shadcn@latest view <item> prints the source so you can judge it before adding. Anything registry.json-conformant works as a source, not just ui.shadcn.com — a URL or @namespace/name both resolve.
3. Add, then adapt. npx shadcn@latest add <item> vendors the source into the repo — it is yours to edit, not a dependency. Restyle it to the product; do not fork its accessibility wiring (aria attributes, focus management, keyboard handlers) without a reason you can state.
4. Hand-roll only the gap. If no registry has the primitive, write it — composed from registry primitives where possible — and say so in the commit message, because that is the signal a future session should re-check the registries.

When this does not apply

• Not a React repo, or styling is not utility-class based: the protocol is React-shaped; skip it rather than force it.
• Truly bespoke, brand-defining pieces (hero animations, one-off marketing layouts): the impeccable skill owns those; registries would fight it.
• The repo already has its own design system package: its components outrank any registry.

After adding, the normal loop applies: ui-iterate to verify it renders right at every breakpoint, impeccable if the surface is brand-critical.