shadcn-ui/ui · error · Error

Something went wrong fetching the base colors.

Error message

Something went wrong fetching the base colors.

What it means

The target palette fetch (getRegistryBaseColor(targetBaseColor)) resolved without a usable color. Unlike the source error, the target was already validated against BASE_COLORS, so this is not an input problem — the registry request for colors/<to>.json came back empty or unusable (network, proxy, or mirror issue).

Source

Thrown at packages/shadcn/src/migrations/migrate-base-color.ts:141

        targetBaseColor
      )}. Continue?`,
    })

    if (!confirm) {
      logger.info("Migration cancelled.")
      process.exit(0)
    }
  }

  const sourceColor = await getRegistryBaseColor(sourceBaseColor)
  const targetColor = await getRegistryBaseColor(targetBaseColor)

  if (!sourceColor) {
    throw new Error(`Unknown base color: ${sourceBaseColor}.`)
  }

  if (!targetColor) {
    throw new Error("Something went wrong fetching the base colors.")
  }

  const projectInfo = await getProjectInfo(config.resolvedPaths.cwd)
  const tailwindVersion = projectInfo?.tailwindVersion ?? "v4"

  const sourceVars = getBaseColorCssVars(sourceColor, tailwindVersion)
  const targetVars = getBaseColorCssVars(targetColor, tailwindVersion)

  const migrationSpinner = spinner(`Migrating base color...`)?.start()

  const raw = await fs.readFile(config.resolvedPaths.tailwindCss, "utf-8")
  const { cssVars, skipped } = getBaseColorMigration(
    raw,
    sourceVars,
    targetVars,
    tailwindVersion
  )

View on GitHub (pinned to c06da1d0e9)

Solutions

1. Retry the command — transient registry failures usually clear immediately.
2. Verify reachability of the color payload directly: `curl -sSL https://ui.shadcn.com/r/colors/neutral.json` (or $REGISTRY_URL/colors/<to>.json).
3. Check environment overrides: if REGISTRY_URL points at a mirror, make sure it serves colors/*.json, or unset it; also check HTTPS_PROXY/HTTP_PROXY interference.

Example fix

# before
REGISTRY_URL=https://mirror.internal/r npx shadcn@latest migrate base-color --to neutral
# -> Something went wrong fetching the base colors.

# after
curl -sSL $REGISTRY_URL/colors/neutral.json   # verify the mirror serves it
unset REGISTRY_URL
npx shadcn@latest migrate base-color --to neutral

// Pre-flight the target palette before migrating:
const REGISTRY_URL = process.env.REGISTRY_URL ?? 'https://ui.shadcn.com/r'

async function assertTargetColorFetchable(to: string): Promise<void> {
  const res = await fetch(`${REGISTRY_URL}/colors/${to}.json`)
  if (!res.ok) {
    throw new Error(`Registry cannot serve colors/${to}.json (HTTP ${res.status}). Check network/REGISTRY_URL.`)
  }
  await res.json() // force body read; empty bodies fail here, not mid-migration
}

async function migrateWithRetry(config: Config, opts: { from?: string; to?: string }, attempts = 3) {
  for (let i = 1; i <= attempts; i++) {
    try {
      return await migrateBaseColor(config, opts)
    } catch (error) {
      const message = error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)
      if (message === 'Something went wrong fetching the base colors.' && i < attempts) {
        await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 500 * i)) // transient registry failure: back off and retry
        continue
      }
      throw error
    }
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: `npx shadcn@latest migrate base-color --to neutral` while the registry request for colors/neutral.json fails to return a body — offline machine, corporate proxy stripping responses, REGISTRY_URL mirror that lacks the colors assets, or a transient CDN error.

Common situations: CI runners behind restrictive proxies; self-hosted/private registry mirrors that only replicate component JSONs; flaky networks; REGISTRY_URL/HTTPS_PROXY environment overrides.

Related errors

• Unknown base color: ${sourceBaseColor}.
• Something went wrong fetching the registry icons.
• Failed to fetch components from registry.
• UNAUTHORIZED
• NOT_FOUND

AI-assisted analysis of shadcn-ui/ui@c06da1d0e9 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a38a6ab852589edf. Report an issue: GitHub.