Something went wrong reading your `components.json` file…

Error message

Something went wrong reading your `components.json` file. Please ensure you have a valid `components.json` file.

What it means

components.json exists (so preFlightMigrate didn't flag MISSING_CONFIG) but getConfig could not parse it into a valid Config object, so `config` is null. Typically a JSON syntax error or a schema-validation failure.

Solutions

Validate components.json with a JSON linter: `npx jsonlint components.json`.
Diff against a known-good components.json produced by `shadcn init`.
Re-run `shadcn init` to regenerate a valid file.
Ensure required fields ($schema, style, tailwind, aliases, resolvedPaths) are present and correctly typed.

Example fix

// before (components.json — trailing comma)
{
  "$schema": "https://ui.shadcn.com/schema.json",
  "style": "new-york",
  "tailwind": { "baseColor": "neutral", "cssVariables": true, }
}
// after
{
  "$schema": "https://ui.shadcn.com/schema.json",
  "style": "new-york",
  "tailwind": { "baseColor": "neutral", "cssVariables": true }
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

import fs from "fs-extra"
import { z } from "zod"

const ComponentsJsonSchema = z.object({
  $schema: z.string().optional(),
  style: z.string(),
  tailwind: z.object({
    baseColor: z.string(),
    cssVariables: z.boolean(),
  }),
})

async function parseComponentsJson(p: string) {
  const raw = await fs.readJson(p)            // throws on JSON syntax error
  return ComponentsJsonSchema.parse(raw)      // throws on schema error
}

Type guard

import { z } from "zod"

const ComponentsJsonSchema = z.object({
  style: z.string(),
  tailwind: z.object({ baseColor: z.string(), cssVariables: z.boolean() }),
})

function isValidComponentsJson(raw: unknown) {
  return ComponentsJsonSchema.safeParse(raw).success
}

Prevention

Never hand-edit components.json without a JSON validator.
Commit a known-good components.json so you can revert on breakage.

When it happens

Trigger: Running `shadcn migrate` when components.json is syntactically invalid JSON or fails schema validation inside getConfig — required fields missing, wrong types, unknown tailwind/aliases shape.

Common situations: Hand-edited components.json with a trailing comma, unquoted key, or comment; partial git merge leaving broken JSON; file truncated by a crashed editor; schema fields renamed across shadcn versions.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of shadcn-ui/ui@5c7072da67 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/42a257ac230e8b92. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at packages/shadcn/src/commands/migrate.ts:118

        return
      }

      const { errors, config } = await preFlightMigrate(options)

      if (errors[ERRORS.MISSING_DIR_OR_EMPTY_PROJECT]) {
        throw new Error(
          "No `components.json` file found. Ensure you are at the root of your project."
        )
      }

      if (errors[ERRORS.MISSING_CONFIG]) {
        throw new Error(
          "No `components.json` file found. Ensure you are at the root of your project."
        )
      }

      if (!config) {
        throw new Error(
          "Something went wrong reading your `components.json` file. Please ensure you have a valid `components.json` file."
        )
      }

      if (options.migration === "icons") {
        await migrateIcons(config, {
          from: options.from,
          to: options.to,
          path: options.path,
          yes: options.yes,
        })
      }

      if (options.migration === "base-color") {
        await migrateBaseColor(config, {
          from: options.from,
          to: options.to,
          yes: options.yes,

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