21st-cli-use

21st-cli-use is a skill for Claude Code from 21st-dev/claude-code-plugin. It costs 160 tokens per session (1,322 once invoked), scanned A, a copy of 21st-cli-use, Apache-2.0.

A command-line tool for finding, installing, viewing, and generating React and shadcn interface components, themes, and templates from 21st.dev.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to search the 21st.dev catalogue, inspect or install components and themes, and generate new components when needed.
Why use it?
It reduces the need to build common interface pieces from scratch when a suitable catalogue item exists.

Skill for Claude Code

Written for Claude Code: shipped in a Claude Code plugin. Also seen: mentions Codex.

Part of the 21st plugin — 7 skills, 1 MCP server shipped together

Good fit Use it to search the 21st.dev catalogue, inspect or install components and themes, and generate new components when needed.

Compare 6 skills from other repositories ↓
Install with agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/21st-dev/claude-code-plugin/21st-cli-use
Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

Any agent
npx skills add 21st-dev/claude-code-plugin --skill 21st-cli-use
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/21st-dev/claude-code-plugin

Made for: Claude Code.

Or install 21st, the plugin that ships this one along with the rest of its 7 skills, 1 MCP server.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for 21st-cli-use

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/21st-dev/claude-code-plugin/21st-cli-use/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/21st-dev/claude-code-plugin/21st-cli-use)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/21st-dev/claude-code-plugin/21st-cli-use"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/21st-dev/claude-code-plugin/21st-cli-use/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>

Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.

agentmods 80×15 button for 21st-cli-use

Your own site · 80×15
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/21st-dev/claude-code-plugin/21st-cli-use"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/21st-dev/claude-code-plugin/21st-cli-use.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>
Per session 160 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 1,322 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 1 finding. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.
Origin 100% copy Near-identical to another mod in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00160 $0.01322
Opus 5.5 $0.00064 $0.00529
Sonnet 5.5 $0.00032 $0.00264
Haiku 4.5 $0.00016 $0.00132

Measured 1mo ago against content hash 88ff054abb43, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-10-07, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

21st-cli-use scanned grade A with 1 finding against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 1mo ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Makes network callslowCapability

Not a fault in itself. Listed so you know the mod talks to something, and to what.

Prints each logo's name and SVG url(s) to curl straight into a project. Uses the
Origin

This is a copy

100% identical to 21st-cli-use — 0 lines differ, which has more behind it and is treated as the original. This page carries a canonical link to it rather than competing with it.

plugins/21st/skills/21st-cli-use/SKILL.md · 129 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 129 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

21st CLI — find, install & generate from the terminal

The 21st CLI (npx @21st-dev/cli, bin 21st) is the command-line surface for the 21st.dev catalog. Search first, install what fits, and only hand-write UI when nothing matches. To publish your own components/themes/templates, use the 21st-registry skill; to publish a project's design as a theme, use 21st-design-sync.

Auth (do this once)

Two interchangeable credentials, both sent as the API key:

  1. Login session — npx @21st-dev/cli login opens the browser and saves a token to ~/.config/21st/auth.json. Best for interactive/dev machines.
  2. API key — 21st_sk_… from https://21st.dev/mcp (or https://21st.dev/settings/api-keys). Pass via --api-key <key> or the TWENTYFIRST_TOKEN / API_KEY_21ST env var. Best for CI.

21st whoami shows the signed-in account; 21st usage shows retrieval tier/quota and the 21st AI generation status, not an AI credit balance. For structured status, use MCP get_usage.aiGenerationEnabled or CLI 1.17.1+ 21st usage --json. Missing or unknown status does not grant AI access. 21st logout clears the saved login.

Metering

Metadata (search, previews, a theme's CSS) is free. Retrieving component code (21st get, install) has a free daily quota; Builder includes unlimited retrieval. Hosted 21st AI requires separate AI access and consumes AI credits. Base Builder has AI off. Check 21st usage before choosing generation: when AI is not explicitly enabled, search and retrieve code, then adapt it with your own coding agent. Do not retry a generation denied with ai_subscription_required until AI access is enabled.


Find

# Search everything (components + themes + templates)
21st search "pricing table" --limit 10
21st search button --type c        # components only (c | theme | template)
21st search dark --type theme
# Filters: --tag <slug> --color <bucket> --sort <s> --free|--paid
#          --author <username> --mine --liked   --json for machine output

Read the full file on GitHub · 129 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 1mo ago Changed · +7 lines 88ff054abb43
  2. 1mo ago First seen · 122 lines · 160 tokens per session scan A c888765e0640

Subscribe to this mod's changes

21st-cli-use is a skill published in the GitHub repository 21st-dev/claude-code-plugin (15 stars, last pushed 1mo ago), licensed Apache-2.0. It adds 160 tokens to every session and 1,322 once invoked, about $0.0006 per session on Opus 5.5. A static security scan graded it A with 1 finding (makes network calls). It is 100% identical to 21st-cli-use, differing in 0 lines, and is treated as a copy.

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