TailwindCSS v4 Styling

Styling guide for TailwindCSS v4 with CSS-first configuration and @theme directive.

When to Use This Skill

• Styling components and pages
• Defining custom themes (colors, fonts, spacing)
• Implementing responsive design
• Adding dark mode support
• Using utility-first CSS approach

When NOT to use:

• Logic implementation only → angular-v21-development
• Page routing configuration → analogjs-development
• UI/UX design patterns → material-design-3-expressive

Core Principles

• CSS-First Configuration: No tailwind.config.js needed, use CSS directly
• @theme Directive: Define design tokens in CSS with @theme { }
• Utility-First: Prefer utility classes over custom CSS
• Mobile-First: Use responsive prefixes (md:, lg:, xl:) for larger screens
• Class Binding: Use [class] binding in Angular instead of ngClass
• Style Binding: Use [style] binding in Angular instead of ngStyle
• Project Setup:

  /* src/styles.css */
  @import "tailwindcss";
  
  @theme {
    --font-sans: "Inter", ui-sans-serif, system-ui, sans-serif;
  }
  

Implementation Guidelines

Theme Configuration

Define custom design tokens in CSS:

1. Use @theme { } block in src/styles.css
2. Define CSS custom properties for colors, fonts, spacing
3. TailwindCSS automatically generates utility classes from theme variables
4. Use oklch() color space for better color manipulation

→ Details: Theme Configuration

Responsive Design

Responsive layout patterns:

1. Mobile-first approach: base styles for mobile
2. Add breakpoint prefixes for larger screens: md:, lg:, xl:, 2xl:
3. Use responsive container classes
4. Test across breakpoints

→ Details: Theme Configuration

Dark Mode

Dark mode implementation patterns:

1. Use prefers-color-scheme media query in @theme
2. Override CSS custom properties for dark theme
3. Use dark: variant for component-level overrides

→ Details: Theme Configuration

Angular Integration

Patterns for using TailwindCSS with Angular:

1. Use [class] binding for conditional classes
2. Use [style] binding for dynamic styles
3. Avoid ngClass and ngStyle directives
4. Keep styling in template, use component CSS for complex cases

→ Details: Theme Configuration

Layout Patterns

Common layout implementations:

1. Flexbox utilities: flex, justify-*, items-*, gap-*
2. Grid utilities: grid, grid-cols-*, col-span-*
3. Container: container mx-auto px-4
4. Spacing: p-*, m-*, space-*

→ Details: Theme Configuration

Workflow

1. Design Analysis: Review design requirements and identify patterns
2. Theme Setup: Define custom tokens in @theme if needed
3. Utility Styling: Apply utility classes directly in templates
4. Responsive Adaptation: Add breakpoint prefixes for responsive behavior
5. Interaction States: Add hover:, focus:, active: variants
6. Dark Mode: Implement dark theme support if required

Related Skills

• angular-v21-development: For class binding integration
• material-design-3-expressive: For design token integration
• analogjs-development: For page styling

Reference Documentation

For detailed patterns and code examples, see:

• Theme Configuration - @theme directive and customization