Tailwind CSS v4

Core Changes

• CSS-first configuration: Configuration is now done in CSS instead of JavaScript

  • Use @theme directive in CSS instead of tailwind.config.js

  • Example:

    @import "tailwindcss";
    
    @theme {
      --font-display: "Satoshi", "sans-serif";
      --breakpoint-3xl: 1920px;
      --color-avocado-500: oklch(0.84 0.18 117.33);
      --ease-fluid: cubic-bezier(0.3, 0, 0, 1);
    }

• Legacy tailwind.config.js files can still be imported using the @config directive:

  @import "tailwindcss";
  @config "../../tailwind.config.js";

• CSS import syntax: Use @import "tailwindcss" instead of @tailwind directives

  • Old: @tailwind base; @tailwind components; @tailwind utilities;
  • New: @import "tailwindcss";

• Package changes:

  • PostCSS plugin is now @tailwindcss/postcss (not tailwindcss)
  • CLI is now @tailwindcss/cli
  • Vite plugin is @tailwindcss/vite
  • No need for postcss-import or autoprefixer anymore

• Native CSS cascade layers: Uses real CSS @layer instead of Tailwind's custom implementation

Theme Configuration

• CSS theme variables: All design tokens are available as CSS variables

  • Namespace format: --category-name (e.g., --color-blue-500, --font-sans)
  • Access in CSS: var(--color-blue-500)
  • Available namespaces:
    • --color-* : Color utilities like bg-red-500 and text-sky-300
    • --font-* : Font family utilities like font-sans
    • --text-* : Font size utilities like text-xl
    • --font-weight-* : Font weight utilities like font-bold
    • --tracking-* : Letter spacing utilities like tracking-wide
    • --leading-* : Line height utilities like leading-tight
    • --breakpoint-* : Responsive breakpoint variants like sm:*
    • --container-* : Container query variants like @sm:* and size utilities like max-w-md
    • --spacing-* : Spacing and sizing utilities like px-4 and max-h-16
    • --radius-* : Border radius utilities like rounded-sm
    • --shadow-* : Box shadow utilities like shadow-md
    • --inset-shadow-* : Inset box shadow utilities like inset-shadow-xs
    • --drop-shadow-* : Drop shadow filter utilities like drop-shadow-md
    • --blur-* : Blur filter utilities like blur-md
    • --perspective-* : Perspective utilities like perspective-near
    • --aspect-* : Aspect ratio utilities like aspect-video
    • --ease-* : Transition timing function utilities like ease-out
    • --animate-* : Animation utilities like animate-spin

• Simplified theme configuration: Many utilities no longer need theme configuration

  • Utilities like grid-cols-12, z-40, and opacity-70 work without configuration
  • Data attributes like data-selected:opacity-100 don't need configuration

• Dynamic spacing scale: Derived from a single spacing value

  • Default: --spacing: 0.25rem
  • Every multiple of the base value is available (e.g., mt-21 works automatically)

• Overriding theme namespaces:

  • Override entire namespace: --font-*: initial;
  • Override entire theme: --*: initial;

New Features

• Container query support: Built-in now, no plugin needed

  • @container for container context
  • @sm:, @md:, etc. for container-based breakpoints
  • @max-md: for max-width container queries
  • Combine with @min-md:@max-xl:hidden for ranges

• 3D transforms:

  • transform-3d enables 3D transforms
  • rotate-x-*, rotate-y-*, rotate-z-* for 3D rotation
  • scale-z-* for z-axis scaling
  • translate-z-* for z-axis translation
  • perspective-* utilities (perspective-near, perspective-distant, etc.)
  • perspective-origin-* utilities
  • backface-visible and backface-hidden

• Gradient enhancements:

  • Linear gradient angles: bg-linear-45 (renamed from bg-gradient-*)
  • Gradient interpolation: bg-linear-to-r/oklch, bg-linear-to-r/srgb
  • Conic and radial gradients: bg-conic, bg-radial-[at_25%_25%]

• Shadow enhancements:

  • inset-shadow-* and inset-ring-* utilities
  • Can be composed with regular shadow-* and ring-*

• New CSS property utilities:

  • field-sizing-content for auto-resizing textareas
  • scheme-light, scheme-dark for color-scheme property
  • font-stretch-* utilities for variable fonts

New Variants

• Composable variants: Chain variants together

  • Example: group-has-data-potato:opacity-100

• New variants:

  • starting variant for @starting-style transitions
  • not-* variant for :not() pseudo-class
  • inert variant for inert attribute
  • nth-* variants (nth-3:, nth-last-5:, nth-of-type-4:, nth-last-of-type-6:)
  • in-* variant (like group-* but without adding group class)
  • open variant now supports :popover-open
  • ** variant for targeting all descendants

Custom Extensions

• Custom utilities: Use @utility directive

  @utility tab-4 {
    tab-size: 4;
  }

• Custom variants: Use @custom-variant to define project-specific variants. Use @variant only to apply an existing Tailwind variant inside custom CSS.

  @custom-variant wide-gamut {
    @media (color-gamut: p3) {
      @slot;
    }
  }
  
  @custom-variant theme-midnight (&:where([data-theme="midnight"] *));

• Plugins: Use @plugin directive

  @plugin "@tailwindcss/typography";

Breaking Changes

• Removed deprecated utilities:

  • bg-opacity-* → Use bg-black/50 instead
  • text-opacity-* → Use text-black/50 instead
  • And others: border-opacity-*, divide-opacity-*, etc.

• Renamed utilities:

  • shadow-sm → shadow-xs (and shadow → shadow-sm)
  • drop-shadow-sm → drop-shadow-xs (and drop-shadow → drop-shadow-sm)
  • blur-sm → blur-xs (and blur → blur-sm)
  • rounded-sm → rounded-xs (and rounded → rounded-sm)
  • outline-none → outline-hidden (for the old behavior)

• Default style changes:

  • Default border color is now currentColor (was gray-200)
  • Default ring width is now 1px (was 3px)
  • Placeholder text now uses current color at 50% opacity (was gray-400)
  • Hover styles only apply on devices that support hover (@media (hover: hover))

• Syntax changes:

  • CSS variables in arbitrary values: bg-(--brand-color) instead of bg-[--brand-color]
  • Stacked variants now apply left-to-right (not right-to-left)
  • Use CSS variables instead of theme() function

Advanced Configuration

• Using a prefix:

  @import "tailwindcss" prefix(tw);

  • Results in classes like tw:flex, tw:bg-red-500, tw:hover:bg-red-600

• Source detection:

  • Automatic by default (ignores .gitignore files and binary files)
  • Add sources: @source "../node_modules/@my-company/ui-lib";
  • Disable automatic detection: @import "tailwindcss" source(none);

• Legacy config files:

  @import "tailwindcss";
  @config "../../tailwind.config.js";

• Dark mode configuration:

  @import "tailwindcss";
  @custom-variant dark (&:where(.dark, .dark *));

• Container customization: Extend with @utility

  @utility container {
    margin-inline: auto;
    padding-inline: 2rem;
  }

• Using @apply in Vue/Svelte:

  <style>
    @reference "../../my-theme.css";
    /* or, when using only the default theme */
    @reference "tailwindcss";
  
    h1 {
      @apply text-2xl font-bold text-red-500;
    }
  </style>