We build the design system we
wanted to own.
An open-core, agent-native design system in the shadcn format. This page is the thinking behind it.
Five positions the whole system is built to keep.
You should own the code.
Components install through the shadcn CLI and land in your repository as source you can read, edit and keep. ai2 is not a dependency you rent or a black box you import. The MIT-licensed core is yours the moment it lands.
MIT coreOne variant is not a system.
Every component ships a variant, tone and size matrix instead of a single flat style. Six semantic tones, a shared size scale aligned to the button, and axes that compose. A design system earns the name when the combinations are the point.
variant x tone x sizeOne file should move the whole surface.
A single tokens.json is the source of truth. It generates the CSS variables and the registry theme item, so one edit re-colors every component in both light and dark. No scattered overrides, no drift between the two modes.
tokens.jsonAgents are readers too.
Registry metadata is written to be read by models as much as by people. Each item states its variant matrix, intended use and dependencies in plain words, so an agent on the shadcn MCP server can discover and install components without guessing props.
agent-nativeCompatibility is a promise, not a coincidence.
ai2 keeps the shadcn variable names, file conventions and registry format on purpose. If you know shadcn, you already know ai2. Your muscle memory, existing snippets and agents keep working. The new axes are additive.
shadcn-compatibleWhat ai2 is, and what it refuses to be.
- An open-core component system you install and own
- Compatible with the shadcn registry, CLI and MCP
- Driven by one token file across both modes
- Documented for AI agents as first-class consumers
- Built with its own components, the same ones you install
- A component library you rent as a service
- A locked design tool with an export button
- A screenshot kit you copy by hand
- A single Tailwind config you swap and hope
- A walled garden you cannot leave
Free where it should be free. Paid where the depth is.
The component core is open source and MIT licensed. You install it, own it, and ship it without asking anyone. Pro is where the composed depth lives, and it is planned as a one-time purchase, not a subscription you carry forever.
Every component on this site, MIT licensed and installable today through the shadcn CLI and MCP.
free foreverComposed blocks, premium themes, the Framer bridge, a Figma kit and an agent MCP tier. All built on the same tokens.
one-time licenseOne registry feeds Next.js, Vite and MCP agents today, with the Framer bridge planned on the same token contract. The numbers above are what ships now, counted from the registry itself.
The best way to understand ai2 is to install one component.
Read the thinking, then try the thing. Everything on this page is built with the components it describes.