1 min read
Building drift-ui in the open
How an idea between two flatmates became an open source component registry, and why we want first-time contributors working on it.
TL;DR
- drift-ui started as an idea between two flatmates, and the repo went public on October 31.
- It’s an MIT-licensed registry of components shadcn/ui doesn’t have.
- We’re building it in the open so people can learn on real code, and first-time contributors are welcome.
drift-ui started as an idea between two flatmates, Gautam Anand and Syed Fahad Junaid. We wanted to make a component library.
The first commit landed in August 2026, and the repo went public on October 31.
What drift-ui is
drift-ui is a registry of the components shadcn/ui doesn't have, like a tags input, stepper, tree view and phone input. Everything is MIT licensed and installs with the shadcn CLI, so the source ends up in your repo.
Why we're building it in the open
A lot of people already use coss ui and similar libraries, and that's fine. The point here is learning.
If you're an intern, a college student or an engineer at any level, come and contribute. We're looking for people who want to pick up their first open source issue.
You'd work on real component code, from keyboard handling to tests, and a maintainer reviews your pull request. Once it's merged, you're on the contributors page.