Archived cli/archive/13-add-view.md

patties add --view / patties view

shadcn lets you preview a registry item's source before installing (view /

Purpose

shadcn lets you preview a registry item's source before installing (view / add --view). patties has no pre-install preview — --dry-run shows the file and dep plan but not the source (matrix §1 view, §2 --view — gap). The matrix rates this cheap to add on top of --dry-run and a clean win for the "see before you stamp" gap ("Gaps worth an RFC" #4).

Usage

patties add --view <component>       # print the component's source + metadata
patties view <component>             # alias of the above
patties add --view --dry-run <c>     # --view implies read-only; --dry-run is redundant but allowed

--view never writes. It is a strict superset of --dry-run's information: the plan plus the actual source that would be stamped.

Behavior

  1. Load the catalog and resolve the named component (reuse resolveNames, add.ts:78). Unknown name → EXIT.USAGE, same message as add.
  2. Print a metadata header: name, phase, kind, island, status, declared peerDeps, internalHelpers, tokens — the same fields --dry-run surfaces (add.ts:100,118).
  3. For each file in entry.files, read the template from templatesDir and print its full source, fenced with the destination path as a heading so the user sees exactly what lands where.
  4. With a TTY, apply lightweight syntax styling via the ANSI helpers; when piped, emit plain text so patties view button > button.tsx is a usable escape hatch.
  5. --view is read-only; never patches package.json, never merges tokens.

Relationship to --dry-run and --diff

  • --dry-run (shipped, add.ts:107): plan only — which files are new/exist, dep diff, token/helper plan. No source.
  • --view (this spec): plan + source of the catalog template.
  • --diff ([[cli/12-add-update-diff]]): catalog source vs the user's stamped file — only meaningful once stamped.

--view answers "what will I get?"; --diff answers "how did mine drift?".

Acceptance criteria

  • patties add --view button prints the metadata header and the full source of every file in the button entry, writes nothing, exits EXIT.OK.
  • patties view button behaves identically (alias).
  • patties add --view nonexistent exits EXIT.USAGE with the unknown-component message.
  • Output is syntax-styled on a TTY and plain when piped; piping a single-file component yields valid .tsx source.
  • No package.json, tokens.css, or _internal/ writes occur during --view.