[Question] Why does add ignore directory paths from external registries?

[programming-with-ia]

When I use the shadcn-ui add command to install a component from a custom registry (like Magic UI), the tool seems to ignore the directory structure defined in the component's JSON.

For example, a component with path: "registry/magicui/my-component.tsx" gets installed at src/components/ui/my-component.tsx, instead of src/components/ui/magicui/my-component.tsx.

Is there a way to make the add command respect the directory path and create subfolders for external components? This would help keep my component library organized.

[hosanxiv]

files[].path identifies the file inside the registry; it is not the authoritative installation destination.

For a permanent fix, the registry item should provide an alias-aware target:

{
  "path": "registry/magicui/my-component.tsx",
  "type": "registry:ui",
  "target": "@ui/magicui/my-component.tsx"
}

@ui/ resolves through the consumer's components.json aliases.ui, while the remaining magicui/my-component.tsx path is preserved. See the official registry target documentation and the current target resolver.

If you only consume the registry and cannot change its JSON, override the destination when adding it:

npx shadcn@latest add @magicui/my-component \
  --path src/components/ui/magicui \
  --dry-run

Remove --dry-run after checking the preview. The --path and --dry-run options are documented in the official CLI reference.