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The CLI drives 21st AI end to end: kick off a generation, watch it build, refine the draft you like, and pull its code. It’s the same engine as the web app and MCP.

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Start a generation

21st generate "a settings page with tabs"
Starts a 21st AI sketch generation and opens a browser preview so you can watch the drafts build. Returns a projectId you use with the commands below.

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List the drafts

21st generation <projectId>
Lists the “takes” (drafts) of a generation with their take numbers and ready state. Free.

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Refine a take

21st iterate <projectId> "make it darker and add a footer"
21st iterate <projectId> "tighten the spacing" --take 2
Edits one take in natural language. Without --take it refines the default take; pass --take N to target a specific one.

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Grab the code

21st take <projectId>            # paste-ready copy-prompt (default)
21st take <projectId> --take 2   # a specific take
21st take <projectId> --code     # raw HTML instead of the copy-prompt
By default take prints a paste-ready copy-prompt you can drop into your editor or agent to recreate the UI in your own stack. Use --code to print the raw HTML. Free.
generate and iterate consume credits. Listing drafts (generation) and taking code (take) are free.

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Typical flow

# 1. start
21st generate "a pricing section, 3 tiers, annual toggle"
#    → projectId: pr_abc123

# 2. see what came back
21st generation pr_abc123

# 3. refine the one you like
21st iterate pr_abc123 "make the middle tier the highlighted one" --take 3

# 4. take the code
21st take pr_abc123 --take 3 --code