Basecoat MCP Server

Give your AI assistant the full Basecoat UI component library (the shadcn/ui look in plain HTML + Tailwind, no React), so it writes correct Basecoat markup instead of guessing class names.

Kept in sync with Basecoat releases. Basecoat 1.0.2 shipped with breaking API changes; this MCP was updated to it the same day.

Story

While building my hobby project — turning old devices into a Digital Photo Frame — I struggled with UI components. I wanted to use Basecoat CSS, the HTML port of ShadCN UI, but there was no MCP server to easily pull components and docs into AI-assisted coding.

So I built one.
This is my first MCP server, and it’s here to make working with Basecoat (and ShadCN-style components) effortless for everyone. Feedback and contributions are welcome!

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides programmatic access to Basecoat CSS components and their usage documentation. This server allows AI assistants to help developers build HTML interfaces using the Basecoat CSS framework.

Features

• Basecoat 1.0.2: All markup follows the 1.0 API (class="btn" data-variant="outline", .field, method-based JS).
• 90+ Component Variants: Buttons, fields, input groups, cards, dialogs, command menus, drawers, charts and more.
• Usage Documentation: Implementation guides for 30 components, including JS requirements and 0.x migration notes.
• Setup Scripts: CDN links for any style pack (Vega, Nova, Maia, Lyra, Mira, Luma, Sera, Rhea) and the theme script.
• Search & Discovery: Find components by name or category.
• Accessibility Ready: All components include ARIA attributes and semantic HTML.

Quick Start

No install needed: every client runs the server with npx.

Claude Code

claude mcp add basecoat-ui -- npx -y basecoat-ui-mcp

Claude Desktop

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "basecoat-ui": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "basecoat-ui-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Click Install in Cursor above, or add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "basecoat-ui": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "basecoat-ui-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

VS Code (GitHub Copilot)

Click Install in VS Code above, or add to .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "basecoat-ui": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "basecoat-ui-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "basecoat-ui": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "basecoat-ui-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Codex CLI

Add to ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.basecoat-ui]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "basecoat-ui-mcp"]

Other MCP clients

Run npx -y basecoat-ui-mcp as a stdio server.

Try it

Ask your assistant something like:

Build a sign-up page with Basecoat: a card with GitHub/Google buttons, email and password fields, and a dark mode toggle.

It will call get_setup, pull the matching components and usage docs, and return HTML that uses the real Basecoat 1.0 API.

Local Development

git clone https://github.com/Sorbh/basecoat-ui-mcp.git
cd basecoat-ui-mcp
npm install

Point your client at the local copy:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "basecoat-ui": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/basecoat-ui-mcp/server.js"]
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

| Tool | Description | Parameters | |------|-------------|------------| | get_component | Get HTML code for a specific component variant | name: Component name (e.g., "button-outline", "field", "command"). Prefix with a category to disambiguate (e.g., "layout/pagination") | | list_components | List all available components organized by category | None | | get_usage | Get usage documentation for a component | component: Component name (e.g., "button", "combobox"). Variant names fall back to their base doc ("button-primary" → "button") | | get_setup | Get Basecoat CSS setup code with CDN links | style (optional): vega (default), nova, maia, lyra, mira, luma, sera, rhea | | get_theme_script | Get theme switcher script for dark/light mode | None | | search_components | Search for components by name or category | query: Search term (e.g., "button", "form", "navigation") | | get_category | Get all components in a specific category | category: combine, feedback, forms, interactive, layout, navigation |

Component Categories

Forms

• Button: default, secondary, outline, ghost, link, destructive, sizes, icon, with-icon, loading
• Button Group: horizontal, vertical
• Field / Fieldset: label, description, invalid state, grouped fields
• Input / Input Group: basic, with-label, invalid, with icon, with button
• Select: native select, JS select
• Checkbox, Radio Group, Switch: with labels and descriptions
• Slider, Textarea, Label, Form container

Navigation

• Tabs, Accordion, Breadcrumb, Sidebar

Feedback

• Alert: default, success, error
• Alert Dialog, Dialog: confirmation and modal forms
• Badge: primary, secondary, destructive, outline
• Toast, Empty, Progress, Spinner

Interactive

• Command: inline and dialog palettes
• Combobox: input-first searchable select
• Dropdown Menu, Popover, Tooltip
• Drawer (beta): bottom and side
• Theme Switcher

Layout

• Card, Avatar, Item, Kbd, Scroll Area
• Skeleton, Table, Pagination
• Chart (beta)

Combine

Composed examples: chat, login, settings, interactive pagination.

Upgrading from 1.x of this MCP

Version 2.0.0 of this MCP targets Basecoat 1.0.2, which has breaking changes from Basecoat 0.3.x:

• Variant classes became data attributes: btn-outline → class="btn" data-variant="outline", btn-sm-icon → data-size="icon-sm".
• The .form wrapper was removed; wrap each label and control in <div class="field">.
• Document events (basecoat:toast, basecoat:sidebar, basecoat:theme) were replaced by methods: toaster.toast(), sidebar.toggle(), window.basecoat.theme.toggle().
• dialog-alert was renamed to alert-dialog.

If your project still has 0.x markup, load Basecoat's compatibility stylesheet after Basecoat while you migrate (@import "basecoat-css/compat";). See style-guide.md for the full migration guide.

Directory Structure

basecoat-mcp/
├── components/           # HTML component files
│   ├── combine/         # Composed page examples
│   ├── feedback/        # Alerts, badges, dialogs, toasts
│   ├── forms/           # Buttons, fields, inputs, selects
│   ├── interactive/     # Command, combobox, dropdowns, tooltips
│   ├── layout/          # Cards, tables, avatars, items
│   └── navigation/      # Tabs, accordion, sidebar
├── usage/               # Usage documentation (same categories)
├── scripts/             # Setup and theme scripts
├── style-guide.md       # Full Basecoat 1.0 style and migration guide
├── server.js            # MCP server implementation
├── package.json
└── README.md

Categories are read from disk, so adding a folder under components/ or usage/ is enough to expose it.

About Basecoat CSS

Basecoat CSS is a comprehensive CSS framework that provides:

• Accessible, semantic components
• Dark/light theme support
• Tailwind CSS integration
• JavaScript-enhanced interactions
• Mobile-responsive design

Learn more at basecoatui.com

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
3. Make your changes following our coding standards
4. Test your changes thoroughly
5. Commit with clear messages: git commit -m 'Add amazing feature'
6. Push to your branch: git push origin feature/amazing-feature
7. Open a Pull Request

Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues