shadcn/ui announced that Base UI is now the default component library, replacing Radix as the primary choice for new projects. The change takes effect immediately through npx shadcn init, with Base UI components appearing first in documentation and CLI prompts. This marks a significant shift for the popular React component toolkit that originally launched on Radix in January 2023.

The same team behind Radix built Base UI, incorporating lessons learned from the original library. Base UI reached version 1.6.0 with 6 million weekly downloads, and the team actively ships new components. Projects created via shadcn/create already favor Base UI 2-to-1 over Radix, indicating community preference. This stability and adoption drove the decision to make it the default.

Radix remains fully supported and is not being deprecated. Developers can opt-out with the -b radix flag for existing scripts, and all new components ship for both libraries. A migration skill allows gradual component-by-component transitions without breaking production apps. The tool generates detailed reports in .migration/ folders and maintains clean git history with one commit per component.

June also brought chat interface components including Message Scroller, Bubble, and Attachment, plus GitHub registry support. The @shadcn/react package now offers unstyled headless primitives for developers wanting behavior without styling constraints. These pieces integrate independently, letting teams adopt them selectively.