Setup

Installing AI Elements is straightforward and can be done in a couple of ways. You can use the dedicated CLI command for the fastest setup, or integrate via the standard shadcn/ui CLI if you’ve already adopted shadcn’s workflow.

npx ai-elements@latest

Prerequisites

Before installing AI Elements, make sure your environment meets the following requirements:

• Node.js, version 18 or later
• A Next.js project with the AI SDK installed.
• shadcn/ui installed in your project. In practice, this means you have already initialized shadcn in your project (for example by running npx shadcn@latest init and configuring Tailwind CSS). AI Elements currently supports only the CSS Variables mode of shadcn/ui for theming.
• We also highly recommend using the AI Gateway and adding AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY to your env.local so you don't have to use an API key from every provider. AI Gateway also gives $5 in usage per month so you can experiment with models. You can obtain an API key here.

Installing Components

You can install AI Elements components using either the AI Elements CLI or the shadcn/ui CLI. Both achieve the same result: adding the selected component’s code and any needed dependencies to your project.

The CLI will download the component’s code and integrate it into your project’s directory (usually under your components folder). By default, AI Elements components are added to the @/components/ai-elements/ directory (or whatever folder you’ve configured in your shadcn components settings).

After running the command, you should see a confirmation in your terminal that the files were added. You can then proceed to use the component in your code.