ShellUI CLI Syntax

This reference covers CLI 0.3.0-rc.2: net10.0, Tailwind CSS 4.3.2, and 90 direct component targets. Older versions, including the stable 0.2.1, lack some of these commands.

Command prefix

A global tool is invoked as shellui. After creating a .NET tool manifest, a local tool is invoked as dotnet shellui.

The examples below use a global tool. Replace shellui with dotnet shellui when using a local tool manifest.

shellui --help
shellui --version

Command overview

shellui init [--force] [--style <style>] [--tailwind standalone|npm] [--yes] [--dashboard 01|02|none] [--replace-layout]
shellui add <name...> [--force] [--replace-layout]
shellui list [--installed|--available]
shellui remove <name...>
shellui update [name...] [--all]
shellui theme init <url-or-id> [--force] [--style <style>] [--tailwind standalone|npm] [--yes] [--dashboard 01|02|none] [--replace-layout]
shellui theme apply <url-or-id> [--emit-override <path>]
shellui theme update

sidebar-js is retained as a hidden legacy component for existing generated providers. New sidebar and provider templates depend on shellui-js instead.

`init`

Initializes ShellUI in the current Blazor project.

shellui init
shellui init --force
shellui init --style new-york
shellui init --tailwind npm --yes
shellui init --yes --dashboard 02

Options:

--force reinitializes a project that already has shellui.json.
--style <style> selects default, new-york, or minimal.
--tailwind standalone|npm selects the Tailwind setup method.
--yes runs without prompts and uses the selected defaults. Without an explicit method, the default is standalone.
--dashboard 01|02|none sets up a dashboard layout: 02 has a sticky header, 01 a scrolling one. Without the option, init asks; with --yes alone, no dashboard is added.
--replace-layout makes the dashboard the default layout even when the app already uses a custom layout. See Dashboard layouts.

Initialization creates or updates:

Components/UI/
wwwroot/input.css and wwwroot/app.css
tailwind.config.js at the project root
Build/ShellUI.targets
shellui.json
Components/_Imports.razor when it already exists
the host file when applicable

Components/Layout/ is created when a layout target is installed.

init removes the template's local Bootstrap copy (wwwroot/lib/bootstrap or, on .NET 8, wwwroot/bootstrap) and its <link> in App.razor; Bootstrap loaded from a CDN is left alone. The sample pages (Home, Counter, Weather, Error, NotFound, Auth) are restyled with Tailwind classes when they are unchanged from dotnet new blazor. Pages you have edited are kept, and init lists any that still use Bootstrap classes. Identity pages under Account/ are counted but not restyled.

With --dashboard, init then runs shellui add dashboard-0x, including the layout wiring described under Dashboard layouts.

Standalone mode stores the Tailwind executable in .shellui/bin/. npm mode installs tailwindcss@^4.3.2 and @tailwindcss/cli@^4.3.2 and requires Node.js and npm. The current CLI invokes npm through cmd; use standalone mode on non-Windows systems or run npm manually.

`add`

Copies one or more component targets and their source dependencies into the project.

shellui add button
shellui add button card dialog
shellui add button,card,dialog
shellui add button,card dialog
shellui add button --force

add accepts space-separated names, comma-separated names, and a mixture of both. Use the exact target names printed by shellui list.

--force overwrites an existing component file. Dependencies are installed automatically; there is no separate dependency option.

Dashboard layouts

shellui add dashboard-01 and shellui add dashboard-02, and init --dashboard, also wire the layout into the app:

Routes.razor gets DefaultLayout="typeof(Layout.DashboardLayout02)". Switching between the two dashboards is automatic.
If the app uses a custom layout, or a MainLayout that was modified, the CLI asks before switching. Without a terminal it leaves the layout alone and prints a hint; pass --replace-layout to switch anyway.
The stock MainLayout and NavMenu files (and their .razor.css) are deleted only when they are byte-identical to dotnet new blazor output for .NET 8, 9 or 10 and nothing else references them. Modified files are kept with a warning.
Pages that pin @layout MainLayout, such as the .NET 10 NotFound page, move to the dashboard layout.
The Blazor error bar (blazor-error-ui) moves from MainLayout into App.razor.
AppSidebar links are built from the app's @page routes. Parameterized routes, /Account/*, /Error and /not-found are skipped. Links you have edited are left alone.
ReconnectModal and pages are not changed otherwise.

Running the command again is safe. It prints a summary of what changed.

`list`

Lists the direct targets and their installation status.

shellui list
shellui list --installed
shellui list --available

There are 90 direct targets. Registry entries used only as dependencies are not counted as direct targets. Choose either --installed or --available to filter the output.

`remove`

Removes the named component files and their entries from shellui.json.

shellui remove button
shellui remove button card dialog

Pass names separated by spaces. remove has no force flag or other options, does not prompt, and does not perform reverse-dependency cleanup. If another component still references a removed file, update that usage or remove the dependent component yourself. Layout blocks such as dashboard-01 and dashboard-02 currently require manual removal from Components/Layout because remove is not yet layout-aware.

`update`

Replaces installed component source with the current template source.

shellui update button
shellui update button card
shellui update --all
shellui update

Names are separated by spaces. With no names, or with --all, every installed component is updated. update overwrites files directly; there is no diff, merge, confirmation, or force option. Commit or back up local changes before updating.

`theme`

The theme commands fetch a public tweakcn theme by URL or theme ID and write its CSS variables into the project.

`theme init`

Initializes a project and applies a theme in one step.

shellui theme init <url-or-id>
shellui theme init <url-or-id> --force --style default --tailwind standalone --yes

--style accepts default, new-york, or minimal. The command uses the same initialization options as init.

`theme apply`

Applies a theme to wwwroot/input.css by default.

shellui theme apply <url-or-id>
shellui theme apply <url-or-id> --emit-override wwwroot/theme.css

With --emit-override, the command writes a separate CSS file instead of modifying the input stylesheet. Link that file after the ShellUI stylesheet.

`theme update`

Re-fetches the source recorded in shellui.theme.lock.

shellui theme update

Run it from the project root after a theme has been applied.

Tailwind files

Path	Purpose
`wwwroot/input.css`	Tailwind v4 input and theme variables
`wwwroot/app.css`	Generated Tailwind output
`tailwind.config.js`	Project content globs and dark-mode setting
`.shellui/bin/tailwindcss`	Standalone CLI on macOS/Linux
`.shellui/bin/tailwindcss.exe`	Standalone CLI on Windows
`Build/ShellUI.targets`	MSBuild integration
`shellui.json`	ShellUI project configuration
`shellui.theme.lock`	Theme source and integrity record

The npm v4 command is:

npm install -D tailwindcss@^4.3.2 @tailwindcss/cli@^4.3.2
npx @tailwindcss/cli -i ./wwwroot/input.css -o ./wwwroot/app.css --watch

The generated wwwroot/input.css uses the Tailwind v4 import:

@import "tailwindcss";

Configuration fields

ShellUIConfig is serialized with these property names:

Property	Meaning
`Schema`	Schema identifier
`Style`	`default`, `new-york`, or `minimal`
`ComponentsPath`	Usually `Components/UI`
`LayoutPath`	Usually `Components/Layout`
`Tailwind`	Tailwind settings
`InstalledComponents`	Installed component records
`ProjectType`	Detected Blazor project type

Representative fields look like this:

{
  "Style": "default",
  "ComponentsPath": "Components/UI",
  "LayoutPath": "Components/Layout",
  "Tailwind": {
    "Enabled": true,
    "Version": "4.3.2",
    "Method": "standalone",
    "ConfigPath": "tailwind.config.js",
    "CssPath": "wwwroot/app.css"
  },
  "InstalledComponents": [
    {
      "Name": "button",
      "Version": "0.3.0-rc.2",
      "InstalledAt": "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z",
      "IsCustomized": false
    }
  ],
  "ProjectType": 1
}

ProjectType is serialized as the enum value; 1 is BlazorServer. IsCustomized is metadata, not a merge mechanism. update still overwrites the file.

Common workflow

shellui init --yes --tailwind standalone
shellui add button,input,card
dotnet build

For a theme-aware setup:

shellui theme init <url-or-id> --yes --tailwind standalone
shellui add button,card

Troubleshooting

If the command is not found, use shellui for a global tool or dotnet shellui for a local manifest.
Run shellui list to verify a target name.
Confirm wwwroot/input.css exists and contains @import "tailwindcss";.
Run dotnet build to invoke the generated Tailwind build target.
In standalone mode, check .shellui/bin/; in npm mode, run npm install.

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ShellUI CLI Syntax

Command prefix

Command overview

`init`

`add`

Dashboard layouts

`list`

`remove`

`update`

`theme`

`theme init`

`theme apply`

`theme update`

Tailwind files

Configuration fields

Common workflow

Troubleshooting

Related documentation

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ShellUI CLI Syntax

Command prefix

Command overview

init

add

Dashboard layouts

list

remove

update

theme

theme init

theme apply

theme update

Tailwind files

Configuration fields

Common workflow

Troubleshooting

Related documentation

`init`

`add`

`list`

`remove`

`update`

`theme`

`theme init`

`theme apply`

`theme update`