---
title: "Manual installation"
description: "Everything the CLI does, done by hand — for a project the CLI cannot read, or one you would rather it did not touch."
---

The CLI is a convenience. Nothing it writes is magic, and a project it cannot
read — an unusual monorepo layout, a bundler with its own alias scheme — can do
the same four things by hand.

Create the project with `npx newtui@latest init` — `--template <name>` scaffolds Next.js, Vite and Nuxt from nothing, and `--preset <code>` applies a preset from https://newtui.dev/create — or wire it into a project you already have:

1. **Install the dependencies**

    ```bash
    npx --yes class-variance-authority tailwindcss-animate
    ```

    Plus the class merger that matches your Tailwind major: `cn` on v4, or `clsx`
    with `tailwind-merge` on v3.

2. **Add the cn helper**

    Every component imports it. On Tailwind v4:

    ```ts title="lib/utils.ts"
    export { cn } from "cn"
    ```

    On v3, where the merge tables still understand v3 class names:

    ```ts title="lib/utils.ts"
    import { clsx, type ClassValue } from "clsx"
    import { twMerge } from "tailwind-merge"

    export function cn(...inputs: ClassValue[]) {
      return twMerge(clsx(inputs))
    }
    ```

3. **Add the tokens**

    Copy the `--newt-*` block from
    [`tokens.css`](https://github.com/wolfstar-project/newt-ui/blob/main/packages/cli/registry/html/tokens.css)
    into your global stylesheet, then map them onto Tailwind — an `@theme` block on
    v4, a preset on v3. Both projections are in
    [Theming](/docs/theming#tailwind).

4. **Copy the component**

    Take the source from the component's page — every one of them lists its files
    under Installation → Manual — and fix the two imports at the top: the `cn`
    helper, and any sibling component it builds on.

> **Info**
>
> Without `components.json` there is no `newtui diff`, so an upgrade means
> reading the component page again rather than a one-line command. That is the
> only thing the manual route costs you.