Design once. Agents build in your taste. shads.app is a visual theme builder for shadcn/ui — human taste in the studio, installable themes for MCP and the CLI.

How do I install a shads.app theme in a shadcn/ui project?

Run npx shadcn@latest add https://shads.app/r/workspace-theme.json or npx @shadsapp/cli install -t workspace.

How do AI agents use shads.app?

Connect to the remote MCP server at https://mcp.shads.app. It can list starter themes, fetch theme.json and CSS, and validate documents.

How much does shads.app Pro cost?

Pro is $8/month and adds unlimited cloud saves and shares, up to 500 hosted AI generations per month, readonly share links, version history, W3C token export, CSS import, custom Google Fonts, and the Chrome extension preview for compatible shadcn apps.

MCP troubleshooting

First run the check: ask your assistant "Use the shads MCP server and run connection_status". If it answers, the connection works and the result says what is missing.

I do not see any shads tools

Restart the client after editing its config, and start a new chat.
Check the server is enabled and started: Cursor (Settings → Tools & MCP), VS Code (Start above shads in .vscode/mcp.json), Claude Code (/mcp), Codex (/mcp).
Check you edited the right file with the right key. VS Code uses .vscode/mcp.json with a top-level servers object. Cursor and Claude Code use mcpServers. Codex uses TOML. Windsurf uses serverUrl. Gemini CLI uses httpUrl. Copy the exact snippet from your client's guide in the MCP overview.
Open https://mcp.shads.app in a browser. It should return a small JSON status. If not, your network may block the host.

I only see public tools

connection_status names the reason.

No key reached the server: the Authorization header is missing. In Codex and other clients, an environment variable is not visible to apps launched from a desktop launcher; export it where the client starts, or put the key in the config file.
Key invalid or revoked: create a new one in Account settings → API keys.
Pro starter refused: your key works, but the account is on the free plan. Pro starters need the Pro plan.
VS Code: keep the header in .vscode/mcp.json; verify with connection_status if you use a shared .mcp.json.

The assistant does not use shads

Name the server in your prompt: "Use shads to …". Check that the client has not disabled the tools or asked for approval you have not answered. Windsurf allows 100 tools in total across servers.

429 or "rate limit exceeded"

Requests are limited per client address and per key. The error says how many seconds to wait. Cloud-hosted clients share addresses, so if this happens often, add an API key (higher limits) or contact support.

Claude Desktop or claude.ai cannot connect

Remote servers are added as custom connectors (Settings → Connectors), not through claude_desktop_config.json. Anthropic's servers make the connection, so it needs a public URL. Follow the Claude guide.

I added a key and still have no account tools

Restart the client so it re-reads the headers, then run connection_status. Also see authentication.

Still stuck

Send the connection_status output, your client name and version, and what you see to contact.