# Basecoat UI MCP

An offline MCP server that hands your agent Basecoat UI templates, layouts and static checks. Useful when you build UI on Astro, Next.js or Tailwind CSS 4.

- MCP server · `type=mcp` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf (Devin Desktop), Cline, Zed, Gemini CLI · ★ 38
- Author: zygiu-zygis
- License: MIT · policy=link-only · description only; the file stays with the author
- Source: https://github.com/zygiu-zygis/basecoat-ui-mcp
- Updated: 2026-10-14
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/basecoat-ui-mcp

## What it does

The server gives the agent a ready registry of Basecoat UI templates, layouts and rhythm tokens — the shadcn/ui look without React or a bundler. It speaks local stdio and makes no network calls. Replies are size-bounded, and bigger result sets come back through cursors.

There are 22 tools across six layers: project setup, layout planning, charts, component retrieval, macro design graphs and state contracts. `basecoat_setup_config` builds a framework boilerplate with Tailwind CSS 4 imports and OKLCH variables; `basecoat_component_syntax` returns component markup with state variants and inline SVG icons. Node.js 22.14.0 or newer is required.

The project root comes from `--project-root`, which wins over `BASECOAT_PROJECT_ROOT`, and that in turn wins over the launch directory. `DESIGN.md` is read from that directory, and sessions land in `.basecoat/designer/` under it. Parent directories are never scanned, so pass an absolute path. `.basecoat/rhythm.json` is an optional override: it has to sit in a real `.basecoat` folder inside the project root, be a regular file rather than a symlink, and stay within 65,536 UTF-8 bytes. Host application sources are never written to.

## Requirements
- Needs: Node.js (commands run via npx)
- Environment variables: `BASECOAT_PROJECT_ROOT` — keys and tokens: ask the human for the values, never commit them or put them in shared files.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

**Platform CLI**
```bash
claude mcp add --env BASECOAT_PROJECT_ROOT=<BASECOAT_PROJECT_ROOT> --transport stdio basecoat-ui-mcp -- npx -y @intellmedia/basecoat-ui-mcp
```
Replace <…> with your own values

### Codex

**Platform CLI**
```bash
codex mcp add basecoat-ui-mcp --env BASECOAT_PROJECT_ROOT=<BASECOAT_PROJECT_ROOT> -- npx -y @intellmedia/basecoat-ui-mcp
```
Replace <…> with your own values

### Cursor

**Config file**
File `.cursor/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "basecoat-ui-mcp": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "@intellmedia/basecoat-ui-mcp"
            ],
            "env": {
                "BASECOAT_PROJECT_ROOT": "<BASECOAT_PROJECT_ROOT>"
            }
        }
    }
}
```
Replace <…> with your own values

### GitHub Copilot

**Config file**
File `.vscode/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "servers": {
        "basecoat-ui-mcp": {
            "type": "stdio",
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "@intellmedia/basecoat-ui-mcp"
            ],
            "env": {
                "BASECOAT_PROJECT_ROOT": "<BASECOAT_PROJECT_ROOT>"
            }
        }
    }
}
```
Replace <…> with your own values

### Gemini CLI

**Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini mcp add -e BASECOAT_PROJECT_ROOT=<BASECOAT_PROJECT_ROOT> basecoat-ui-mcp npx -y @intellmedia/basecoat-ui-mcp
```
Replace <…> with your own values

## When to use it
- scaffold an Astro or Next.js project with Tailwind CSS 4
- get Basecoat UI component markup with state variants
- pick a page layout with a container grid and slots
- find a theme-aware chart and drop it into markup
- check markup against Tailwind v4 rules and semantic tokens

## Example prompts
- Scaffold an Astro project with Tailwind CSS 4 and no-flash dark mode
- Give me component markup with state variants for a login form
- Pick a dashboard layout with a sidebar and slots for widgets

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