Kendo CLI Options for React

Updated on Jun 3, 2026

This article covers all React-related setup tasks you can perform with the Kendo CLI: installation, the interactive wizard, license management, MCP server configuration, project generation, and assisted migration.

Install the Kendo CLI

Install the CLI globally:

sh

npm i -g @progress/kendo-cli@latest

Interactive Wizard

Run kendo with no arguments to open the interactive wizard — a guided, experience that walks you through every command with a visual, step-by-step flow.

sh

kendo

The wizard greets you with a categorized command menu:

Group	Commands
Quick Start	Create a new project, Scaffold components
Environment	Set up your environment, Configure AI assistant (MCP), Manage license
Manage	Migrate to the latest version, Build custom Kendo UI for jQuery bundle
Utilities	Print machine ID

Guided Flows

Each command in the wizard prompts you through its options interactively:

• Create — Select product, template, app name, theme, swatch, and styling
• Scaffold — Detect and confirm project directory, then choose a component
• Setup — Detects already-configured products and prompts only for the remaining ones
• MCP — Detects already-configured servers, then prompts for product and IDE
• Migrate — Choose scope, target version, mode (full / install-only / codemods-only), optional codemods, and AI mode
• License — Choose from activate, refresh, or info

Wizard Features

• Color-coded UI with selection indicators and completion confirmations
• Automatic detection of already-configured products (setup, MCP)
• Project directory detection for scaffold commands
• Progress spinner during command execution
• Success summary box after each completed command
• "Run another command?" loop — chain operations in a single session without relaunching the CLI

Example Session

$ kendo

  ██████╗ ██████╗  ██████╗  ██████╗ ██████╗ ███████╗███████╗███████╗
  ██╔══██╗██╔══██╗██╔═══██╗██╔════╝ ██╔══██╗██╔════╝██╔════╝██╔════╝
  ██████╔╝██████╔╝██║   ██║██║  ███╗██████╔╝█████╗  ███████╗███████╗
  ██╔═══╝ ██╔══██╗██║   ██║██║   ██║██╔══██╗██╔══╝  ╚════██║╚════██║
  ██║     ██║  ██║╚██████╔╝╚██████╔╝██║  ██║███████╗███████║███████║
  ╚═╝     ╚═╝  ╚═╝ ╚═════╝  ╚═════╝ ╚═╝  ╚═╝╚══════╝╚══════╝╚══════╝

  ? What would you like to do?
  Quick Start
  › Create a new project          kendo create
    Scaffold components           kendo scaffold
    ...

  ? Which product?
  › KendoReact
    Kendo UI for Angular
    ...

  ╭───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
  │  ✓ KendoReact app ready                                       │
  │                                                               │
  │  Next steps:                                                  │
  │    cd MyApp                                                   │
  │    npm install                                                │
  │    npm run dev                                                │
  │                                                               │
  │  Theme       Default                                          │
  │                                                               │
  │  Docs  https://www.telerik.com/kendo-react-ui/components      │
  ╰───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

  ? What would you like to do next?
  ❯ Back to main menu
    Exit

All wizard operations are also available as direct CLI commands for scripting and CI. See the sections below for the full syntax reference.

License Setup for KendoReact

A valid Telerik or Kendo UI license is required to use premium KendoReact components in your projects.

Activate Your License

Find your license key at Your Licenses, then run:

sh

kendo license activate

The command searches for a license key in the following locations:

• TELERIK_LICENSE environment variable
• KENDO_UI_LICENSE environment variable
• telerik-license.txt in the current directory, any parent directory, or ~/.telerik/
• kendo-ui-license.txt in the current directory, any parent directory, or ~/.telerik/

license activate options:

Option	Description
--ignore-no-license	Exit with code 0 even when no license file is found. Useful in CI when a missing license should be treated as a warning.

Download or Refresh a License Key

To authenticate with telerik.com in a browser and save a fresh key to ~/.telerik/telerik-license.txt, run:

sh

kendo license refresh

Inspect the Active License

To print the current license audience, issue date, and covered products, run:

sh

kendo license info

Configure the Kendo UI Agent (MCP) for React

Use MCP commands to register KendoReact MCP servers for your AI coding assistant.

Configure for a Specific IDE

Use react as the product when you configure KendoReact.

sh

kendo mcp config react --ide=cursor

sh

kendo mcp config react --ide=vscode

sh

kendo mcp config react --ide=all

Supported IDEs: cursor, vscode, visualstudio, all

Configure All Products for All IDEs

sh

kendo mcp all

Force Overwrite Existing Entries

By default, mcp config and mcp all skip entries that already exist in the config file. Use --force to overwrite existing entries:

sh

kendo mcp config react --ide=cursor --force

sh

kendo mcp all --force

JSON Output for Scripts and CI

Use --json to return machine-readable output:

sh

kendo mcp config react --ide=cursor --json

Example output:

json

{
    "exitCode": 0,
    "message": "MCP servers registered successfully.",
    "data": {
        "registered": [{ "ide": "Cursor", "configPath": "/Users/you/.cursor/mcp.json" }]
    },
    "success": true
}

MCP config files written per IDE:

IDE	Config file
Cursor	~/.cursor/mcp.json
Visual Studio Code	~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/mcp.json (macOS)
Visual Studio	~/.mcp.json

MCP Command Synopsis

sh

kendo mcp config react

Options:

Option	Applies to	Description
--ide=<ide>	mcp config	IDE to configure: cursor, vscode, visualstudio, all (default: all).
--json	mcp config, mcp all	Print machine-readable JSON output.
--force	mcp config, mcp all	Overwrite existing MCP server entries.

sh

kendo mcp all

Configures all MCP servers for all IDEs and products.

Generate a KendoReact Project

The Kendo CLI can scaffold KendoReact apps for Vite, Next.js, and Astro.

ViteNext.jsAstro

sh

npx kendo create react vite MyKendoApp --theme=bootstrap

sh

npx kendo create react vite MyKendoApp --styling=Sass

Vite options:

• Language: --ts
• Styling: --styling=CSS, --styling=Sass
• Theme: --theme=default, --theme=bootstrap, --theme=material, --theme=fluent
• Other: --free

Synopsis:

sh

kendo create react vite [name]

sh

npx kendo create react nextjs MyKendoApp --js --theme=bootstrap

sh

npx kendo create react nextjs MyKendoApp --js --no-app --theme=bootstrap

sh

npx kendo create react nextjs MyKendoApp --ts --theme=bootstrap

sh

npx kendo create react nextjs MyKendoApp --ts --no-app --theme=bootstrap

Next.js options:

• Language: --js, --ts
• Theme: --theme=default, --theme=bootstrap, --theme=material, --theme=fluent
• Other: --eslint, --no-app, --no-src-dir, --import-alias="@/*"

Synopsis:

sh

kendo create react nextjs [name]

sh

npx kendo create react astro MyKendoApp --theme=bootstrap

sh

npx kendo create react astro MyKendoApp --styling=Sass

Astro options:

• Language: --ts
• Styling: --styling=CSS, --styling=Sass
• Theme: --theme=default, --theme=bootstrap, --theme=material, --theme=fluent

Synopsis:

sh

kendo create react astro [name]

Build and Run

After generation, install dependencies and start the development server:

sh

cd MyKendoApp
npm install
npm run dev

Assisted Migration for KendoReact

Use CLI-assisted migration to update KendoReact packages and apply available codemods.

Install the CLI globally (if needed):

sh

npm i -g @progress/kendo-cli

Run migration from your project root:

sh

kendo migrate

If you have not installed the CLI globally, use:

sh

npx @progress/kendo-cli migrate

The guided flow can:

1. Check for available package updates and peer dependencies.
2. Prompt you to install updates.
3. Prompt you to apply codemods.
4. Apply transformations version by version.

After migration, review added code comments and run your app/tests.

Best Practices

• Migrate between consecutive major versions (for example, v10 to v11).
• Migrate one package at a time for better control.
• Validate behavior with a full test run after migration.

Quick Migration Commands

sh

kendo migrate

sh

kendo migrate @progress/kendo-react-grid

sh

kendo migrate @progress/kendo-react-grid --from 10 --to 11

sh

kendo migrate --force

sh

kendo migrate --no-codemods

sh

kendo migrate @progress/kendo-react-grid --no-install

sh

kendo migrate @progress/kendo-react-grid --no-install --ignore-pattern="dist/**"

Migration Arguments Reference

Argument	Description
<pkg>	Package(s) to migrate. If omitted, runs for all available Kendo packages.
--help	Print command help.
--version	Print Kendo CLI version.
--verbose	Set output verbosity level (0 to 5).
--quiet	Minimal output (equivalent to --verbose=0).
--force	Run without confirmations.
--to	Target version to migrate to.
--from	Source version to migrate from.
--no-install	Skip package installation and run codemods only.
--no-codemods	Skip codemods and install updates only.
--no-peer-deps	Skip peer dependency installation.
--no-optional	Skip optional codemods.
--ignore-pattern	Ignore files/directories by glob pattern.

Suggested Links

• Getting Started with KendoReact
• Set Up Your KendoReact License Key
• License Activation Errors and Warnings
• KendoReact AI Tools Overview
• Agentic UI Generator Getting Started