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Kendo CLI Options for React

Updated on Apr 1, 2026

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

Install the Kendo CLI

Install the CLI globally:

npm i -g @progress/kendo-cli

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:

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:

kendo license refresh

Inspect the Active License

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

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

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:

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

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.

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.

Vite Next.js Astro

sh
npx kendo react create vite MyKendoApp --theme=bootstrap
sh
npx kendo react create 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:

kendo react create vite [name]

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

kendo react create nextjs [name]

npx kendo react create astro MyKendoApp --theme=bootstrap

npx kendo react create astro MyKendoApp --styling=Sass

Astro options:

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

Synopsis:

kendo react create astro [name]

Build and Run

After generation, install dependencies and start the development server:

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):

npm i -g @progress/kendo-cli

Run migration from your project root:

npx @progress/kendo-cli migrate

The guided flow can:

Check for available package updates and peer dependencies.
Prompt you to install updates.
Prompt you to apply codemods.
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
npx @progress/kendo-cli migrate
sh
npx @progress/kendo-cli migrate @progress/kendo-react-grid
sh
npx @progress/kendo-cli migrate @progress/kendo-react-grid --from 10 --to 11
sh
npx @progress/kendo-cli migrate --force
sh
npx @progress/kendo-cli migrate --no-codemods
sh
npx @progress/kendo-cli migrate @progress/kendo-react-grid --no-install
sh
npx @progress/kendo-cli 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.