nuxt-app/.agents/skills/shadcn-vue/customization.md

Customization & Theming

Components reference semantic CSS variable tokens. Change the variables to change every component.

Contents

• How it works (CSS variables → Tailwind utilities → components)
• Color variables and OKLCH format
• Dark mode setup
• Changing the theme (presets, CSS variables)
• Adding custom colors (Tailwind v3 and v4)
• Border radius
• Customizing components (variants, class, wrappers)
• Checking for updates

---

How It Works

1. CSS variables defined in :root (light) and .dark (dark mode).
2. Tailwind maps them to utilities: bg-primary, text-muted-foreground, etc.
3. Components use these utilities — changing a variable changes all components that reference it.

---

Color Variables

Every color follows the name / name-foreground convention. The base variable is for backgrounds, -foreground is for text/icons on that background.

Variable	Purpose
--background / --foreground	Page background and default text
--card / --card-foreground	Card surfaces
--primary / --primary-foreground	Primary buttons and actions
--secondary / --secondary-foreground	Secondary actions
--muted / --muted-foreground	Muted/disabled states
--accent / --accent-foreground	Hover and accent states
--destructive / --destructive-foreground	Error and destructive actions
--border	Default border color
--input	Form input borders
--ring	Focus ring color
--chart-1 through --chart-5	Chart/data visualization
--sidebar-*	Sidebar-specific colors
--surface / --surface-foreground	Secondary surface

Colors use OKLCH: --primary: oklch(0.205 0 0) where values are lightness (0–1), chroma (0 = gray), and hue (0–360).

---

Dark Mode

Class-based toggle via .dark on the root element. In Nuxt, use @nuxtjs/color-mode:

<!-- nuxt.config.ts -->
export default defineNuxtConfig({
  modules: ['@nuxtjs/color-mode'],
  colorMode: {
    classSuffix: ''
  }
})

---

Changing the Theme

# Apply a preset code from shadcn-vue.com.
npx shadcn-vue@latest apply --preset a2r6bw

# Positional shorthand also works.
npx shadcn-vue@latest apply a2r6bw

# Switch to a named preset and overwrite existing components.
npx shadcn-vue@latest apply --preset nova

# Preserve existing components instead.
npx shadcn-vue@latest init --preset nova --force --no-reinstall

# Use a custom theme URL.
npx shadcn-vue@latest apply --preset "https://shadcn-vue.com/init?base=reka&style=nova&..."

Or edit CSS variables directly in globals.css.

---

Adding Custom Colors

Add variables to the file at tailwindCssFile from npx shadcn-vue@latest info (typically globals.css). Never create a new CSS file for this.

/* 1. Define in the global CSS file. */
:root {
  --warning: oklch(0.84 0.16 84);
  --warning-foreground: oklch(0.28 0.07 46);
}
.dark {
  --warning: oklch(0.41 0.11 46);
  --warning-foreground: oklch(0.99 0.02 95);
}

/* 2a. Register with Tailwind v4 (@theme inline). */
@theme inline {
  --color-warning: var(--warning);
  --color-warning-foreground: var(--warning-foreground);
}

When tailwindVersion is "v3" (check via npx shadcn-vue@latest info), register in tailwind.config.js instead:

// 2b. Register with Tailwind v3 (tailwind.config.js).
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        warning: "oklch(var(--warning) / <alpha-value>)",
        "warning-foreground":
          "oklch(var(--warning-foreground) / <alpha-value>)",
      },
    },
  },
}

<!-- 3. Use in components. -->
<div class="bg-warning text-warning-foreground">Warning</div>

---

Border Radius

--radius controls border radius globally. Components derive values from it (rounded-lg = var(--radius), rounded-md = calc(var(--radius) - 2px)).

---

Customizing Components

See also: rules/styling.md for Incorrect/Correct examples.

Prefer these approaches in order:

1. Built-in variants

<Button variant="outline" size="sm">
  Click
</Button>

2. Tailwind classes via class

<Card class="mx-auto max-w-md">...</Card>

3. Add a new variant

Edit the component source to add a variant via cva:

// components/ui/Button.vue (or similar)
warning: "bg-warning text-warning-foreground hover:bg-warning/90",

4. Wrapper components

Compose shadcn-vue primitives into higher-level components:

<script setup lang="ts">
defineProps<{
  title: string
  description: string
}>()

const emit = defineEmits(['confirm'])
</script>

<template>
  <AlertDialog>
    <AlertDialogTrigger as-child>
      <slot />
    </AlertDialogTrigger>
    <AlertDialogContent>
      <AlertDialogHeader>
        <AlertDialogTitle>{{ title }}</AlertDialogTitle>
        <AlertDialogDescription>{{ description }}</AlertDialogDescription>
      </AlertDialogHeader>
      <AlertDialogFooter>
        <AlertDialogCancel>Cancel</AlertDialogCancel>
        <AlertDialogAction @click="emit('confirm')">Confirm</AlertDialogAction>
      </AlertDialogFooter>
    </AlertDialogContent>
  </AlertDialog>
</template>

See Updating Components in SKILL.md for the full smart merge workflow.