CLI

The Kernel CLI handles the mechanical parts of integrating the library: installing packages, adding the required stylesheet imports, and checking that your project is wired up correctly. It does not copy component source into your repo the way shadcn/ui does — Kernel ships as npm packages.

Install

npm install -D @kernelui-lib/cli
# or run once without installing:
npx @kernelui-lib/cli init

kernel init

Detects your package manager and framework (Vite or Next.js), installs@kernelui-lib/react and @kernelui-lib/styles, then idempotently adds the required CSS imports.

kernel init
kernel init --tailwind --accent blue
kernel init --dry-run

Options:

• --tailwind — use the Tailwind v4 bridge instead of plain CSS imports
• --accent <name> — import a named accent theme (amber, blue, green, orange, red, teal, violet)
• --tokens-only — install only @kernelui-lib/styles
• --dry-run — preview file changes without writing
• --package-manager npm|yarn|pnpm|bun — override lockfile detection
• --framework vite|next — override framework detection

kernel doctor

Verifies React 18+, package installation, and stylesheet imports. Ifcomponents.json or @radix-ui/* packages are present, it points you to the migration guide.

kernel doctor
kernel doctor --path ./apps/web

kernel docs

Looks up component metadata from the local registry — useful for agents and offline development. Accepts a slug, component name, or shadcn alias.

kernel docs
kernel docs text-field --json
kernel docs dialog --markdown

LLM assets

Kernel publishes several machine-readable surfaces:

• llms.txt in @kernelui-lib/react and @kernelui-lib/elements (shipped with npm)
• /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt on the docs site
• /registry.json — structured component catalog with shadcn aliases and migration caveats
• kernel docs <component> --json for local lookup

Exact prop types always live in dist/index.d.ts inside each package. The registry and llms.txt files are maps, not the source of truth for types.