Tailwind CSS development

Documentation

Use search-docs for detailed Tailwind CSS v3 patterns and documentation.

Basic usage

• Use Tailwind CSS classes to style HTML. Before introducing new patterns, check and follow the project's existing Tailwind conventions.
• Offer to extract repeated patterns into components that match the project's conventions, such as Blade, JSX, or Vue components.
• Consider class placement, order, priority, and defaults. Remove redundant classes, add classes to parent or child elements carefully to reduce repetition, and group elements logically.

Tailwind CSS v3 specifics

• Always use Tailwind CSS v3 and verify that you use only classes it supports.
• Configure Tailwind in the tailwind.config.js file.
• Import Tailwind with the @tailwind directives:

@tailwind base;
@tailwind components;
@tailwind utilities;

Spacing

When listing items, use gap utilities for spacing. Don't use margins.

<div class="flex gap-8">
    <div>Item 1</div>
    <div>Item 2</div>
</div>

Dark mode

If existing pages and components support dark mode, new pages and components must support it the same way, typically using the dark: variant:

<div class="bg-white dark:bg-gray-900 text-gray-900 dark:text-white">
    Content adapts to color scheme
</div>

Common patterns

Flexbox layout

<div class="flex items-center justify-between gap-4">
    <div>Left content</div>
    <div>Right content</div>
</div>

Grid layout

<div class="grid grid-cols-1 md:grid-cols-2 lg:grid-cols-3 gap-6">
    <div>Card 1</div>
    <div>Card 2</div>
    <div>Card 3</div>
</div>

Verification

1. Check the visual rendering in the browser
2. Test responsive breakpoints
3. If the project uses dark mode, verify it

Common pitfalls

• Using margins for spacing between siblings instead of gap utilities
• Forgetting to add dark mode variants when the project uses dark mode
• Not checking existing project conventions before adding new utilities
• Overusing inline styles when Tailwind classes would suffice