What causes "Failed to parse registry file: ${registryFile}" in shadcn-ui/ui?

Run the file through a JSON linter or `node -e 'JSON.parse(require("fs").readFileSync("registry.json","utf8"))'` to locate the syntax error.

shadcn-ui/ui · error · RegistryParseError

PARSE_ERROR

PARSE_ERROR

Error message

Failed to parse registry file: ${registryFile}

What it means

Thrown by parseRegistry when JSON.parse(content) throws — the registry file content is not syntactically valid JSON. This is purely a JSON-syntax failure (trailing comma, unquoted key, stray comment, BOM/encoding issue). It is distinct from error 114, which fires when the JSON parses but fails the registry chunk Zod schema. The error is a RegistryParseError with subject 'registry file' and a 'fix the JSON syntax' suggestion.

Source

Thrown at packages/shadcn/src/registry/source.ts:407

      message: `Failed to read source registry file at ${formatSourcePath(
        registryFile,
        options.source
      )}.`,
      context: { registryFile, source: options.source },
      suggestion:
        registryFile === "registry.json"
          ? "Check that the repository has a registry.json file at its root."
          : "Check that the included registry.json file exists and that the include path is correct.",
    })
  }
}

function parseRegistry(content: string, registryFile: string) {
  let json: unknown
  try {
    json = JSON.parse(content)
  } catch (error) {
    throw new RegistryParseError(registryFile, error, {
      subject: "registry file",
      context: { registryFile },
      suggestion:
        "Fix the JSON syntax in the registry.json file and try again.",
    })
  }

  const result = registryChunkSchema.safeParse(json)
  if (!result.success) {
    throw new RegistryValidationError(
      `Invalid registry file at ${registryFile}:\n${formatZodIssues(
        result.error
      )}`,
      {
        registryFile,
        cause: result.error,
        suggestion:
          "Update the registry.json file so it matches the registry schema.",

View on GitHub (pinned to efac598707)

Solutions

Run the file through a JSON linter or `node -e 'JSON.parse(require("fs").readFileSync("registry.json","utf8"))'` to locate the syntax error.
Remove comments, trailing commas, and unquoted keys.
Re-save with UTF-8 (no BOM) encoding.

Example fix

// before — registry.json with trailing comma (invalid JSON)
{
  "name": "my-registry",
  "homepage": "https://my.dev",
  "items": [],
}

// after — trailing comma removed
{
  "name": "my-registry",
  "homepage": "https://my.dev",
  "items": []
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

function isValidJson(content: string): { ok: true; value: unknown } | { ok: false; error: unknown } {
  try {
    return { ok: true, value: JSON.parse(content) };
  } catch (e) {
    return { ok: false, error: e };
  }
}

Try / catch

import { RegistryParseError } from "@/src/registry/errors";

try {
  await loadRegistryItemFromSource(name, reader, opts);
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof RegistryParseError && /registry file/i.test(e.message)) {
    // JSON syntax error; lint the file at e.context.registryFile
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

Use a JSON-aware editor with syntax checking enabled.
Run a JSON linter (e.g. `jsonlint`) on registry.json in CI.
Never add comments or trailing commas to registry.json.

When it happens

Trigger: A hand-edited registry.json with a trailing comma, single-quoted string, JS-style comment, or unquoted key; a file with a BOM or mixed encoding; HTML returned instead of JSON in non-source contexts.

Common situations: Manual editing of registry.json without a JSON linter; copy-pasting config snippets that include `//` comments; CRLF/encoding issues from cross-platform editing.

Understand the failure class

Parsing and encoding errors: unexpected token, malformed input — why parsers reject input and how to find the real culprit.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of shadcn-ui/ui@efac598707 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/230ad6d1d6984156. Report an issue: GitHub.