shadcn-ui/ui · error · Error

Unknown base color: ${options.to}. Available base colors: ${

Error message

Unknown base color: ${options.to}. Available base colors: ${baseColorNames.join(", ")}.

What it means

Validates the migration target against the shipped BASE_COLORS list (neutral, zinc, stone, mauve, olive, mist, taupe). Deliberately only `to` is validated here: the source (`from`) may be a legacy base color such as slate that an older project still uses, but the target must be one of the currently supported names.

Source

Thrown at packages/shadcn/src/migrations/migrate-base-color.ts:61

  if (!config.tailwind.cssVariables) {
    throw new Error(
      "The `base-color` migration requires CSS variables. Your `components.json` has `cssVariables: false`, which uses inline Tailwind color classes instead of theme variables."
    )
  }

  const baseColorChoices = BASE_COLORS.map((baseColor) => ({
    title: baseColor.label,
    value: baseColor.name,
  }))
  const baseColorNames: string[] = BASE_COLORS.map(
    (baseColor) => baseColor.name
  )

  // Only the target is validated. The source can be a legacy base color
  // (e.g. slate) an existing project still uses.
  if (options.to && !baseColorNames.includes(options.to)) {
    throw new Error(
      `Unknown base color: ${options.to}. Available base colors: ${baseColorNames.join(
        ", "
      )}.`
    )
  }

  // Default the source to the project's current base color.
  let sourceBaseColor = options.from || config.tailwind.baseColor
  let targetBaseColor = options.to

  if (!sourceBaseColor || !targetBaseColor) {
    const currentBaseColorIndex = baseColorChoices.findIndex(
      (choice) => choice.value === config.tailwind.baseColor
    )
    const migrateOptions = await prompts([
      {
        type: sourceBaseColor ? null : "select",
        name: "sourceBaseColor",

View on GitHub (pinned to c06da1d0e9)

Solutions

1. Pick the target from the list in the message: neutral, zinc, stone, mauve, olive, or taupe (lowercase).
2. If you expected a different name (e.g. slate), upgrade the CLI (`npx shadcn@latest`) — the supported set can change between versions — and check the error output, which always lists current names.
3. For legacy names like slate use them only as --from, never --to.

Example fix

# before
npx shadcn@latest migrate base-color --to slate
# -> Unknown base color: slate. Available base colors: neutral, zinc, stone, mauve, olive, mist, taupe.

# after
npx shadcn@latest migrate base-color --from slate --to neutral

import { BASE_COLORS } from '@/src/registry/constants' // or hardcode the list

const BASE_COLOR_NAMES = ['neutral', 'zinc', 'stone', 'mauve', 'olive', 'mist', 'taupe'] as const

function assertValidTarget(to: string): void {
  if (!BASE_COLOR_NAMES.includes(to as never)) {
    throw new Error(
      `--to must be one of: ${BASE_COLOR_NAMES.join(', ')} (got "${to}")`
    )
  }
}

const BASE_COLOR_NAMES = ['neutral', 'zinc', 'stone', 'mauve', 'olive', 'mist', 'taupe'] as const

type BaseColorName = (typeof BASE_COLOR_NAMES)[number]

function isBaseColorName(name: string): name is BaseColorName {
  return (BASE_COLOR_NAMES as readonly string[]).includes(name)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `npx shadcn@latest migrate base-color --to slate` (or gray/sand/any name outside the list), or passing migrateBaseColor(config, { to: ... }) with an unsupported name. Case matters: `--to Zinc` fails too.

Common situations: Assuming classic Tailwind palette names (slate, gray) are valid targets; upgrading from an older shadcn version whose color set differed; typos or wrong casing in scripts/CI pipelines that automate the migration.

Understand the failure class

Background: Invalid enum value errors: "Unknown type", "Invalid scope", "must be one of" — when a string is not on the library's allowed list — this error's family across 23 libraries.

Related errors

• You cannot migrate to the same base color. Please choose a d
• Failed to read config at ${options.cwd}.
• Missing value for --only. Use one or more of: ${APPLY_ONLY_V
• Invalid value for --only: ${value}. Use one or more of: ${AP
• Missing preset for --only. Use: shadcn apply <preset> --only

AI-assisted analysis of shadcn-ui/ui@c06da1d0e9 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bdc2f05646c620ee. Report an issue: GitHub.