tailwind-best-practices

{ "tailwindcss": "^3.x" }  // → v3 rules apply
{ "tailwindcss": "^4.x" }  // → v4 rules apply

// ✅ Mobile-first: start with mobile, add larger breakpoints
<div className="
  w-full           // Mobile: full width
  md:w-1/2         // Tablet: half width
  lg:w-1/3         // Desktop: third width
">
  <p className="
    text-sm          // Mobile: small text
    md:text-base     // Tablet: base text
    lg:text-lg       // Desktop: large text
  ">
    Content
  </p>
</div>

// ❌ Don't think desktop-first
<div className="w-1/3 md:w-1/2 sm:w-full">  // Confusing

module.exports = { darkMode: 'class' }

@import "tailwindcss";
/* dark mode is class-based by default in v4 — no config needed */

<div className="bg-white dark:bg-gray-900 text-gray-900 dark:text-white">
  <h2 className="text-gray-900 dark:text-white">Title</h2>
  <p className="text-gray-600 dark:text-gray-400">Description</p>
</div>

function toggleDarkMode() {
  document.documentElement.classList.toggle('dark')
}

import { clsx, type ClassValue } from 'clsx'
import { twMerge } from 'tailwind-merge'

// cn utility - merges Tailwind classes intelligently
export function cn(...inputs: ClassValue[]) {
  return twMerge(clsx(inputs))
}

// Usage
interface ButtonProps {
  variant?: 'primary' | 'secondary' | 'danger'
  size?: 'sm' | 'md' | 'lg'
  className?: string
  children: React.ReactNode
}

function Button({ variant = 'primary', size = 'md', className, children }: ButtonProps) {
  return (
    <button
      className={cn(
        // Base styles
        'inline-flex items-center justify-center rounded-md font-medium transition-colors',
        'focus:outline-none focus:ring-2 focus:ring-offset-2',

        // Variants
        {
          'bg-blue-600 text-white hover:bg-blue-700 focus:ring-blue-500':
            variant === 'primary',
          'bg-gray-100 text-gray-900 hover:bg-gray-200 focus:ring-gray-500':
            variant === 'secondary',
          'bg-red-600 text-white hover:bg-red-700 focus:ring-red-500':
            variant === 'danger',
        },

        // Sizes
        {
          'px-3 py-1.5 text-sm': size === 'sm',
          'px-4 py-2 text-base': size === 'md',
          'px-6 py-3 text-lg': size === 'lg',
        },

        // Allow override
        className
      )}
    >
      {children}
    </button>
  )
}

/** @type {import('tailwindcss').Config} */
module.exports = {
  content: ['./resources/**/*.{blade.php,js,ts,jsx,tsx}'],
  darkMode: 'class',
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: { primary: { 500: '#0ea5e9', 600: '#0284c7' } },
      fontFamily: { sans: ['Inter', 'sans-serif'] },
      spacing: { '18': '4.5rem' },
    },
  },
  plugins: [require('@tailwindcss/forms')],
}

@import "tailwindcss";

@theme {
  --color-primary-500: #0ea5e9;
  --color-primary-600: #0284c7;
  --font-sans: Inter, sans-serif;
  --spacing-18: 4.5rem;
  --breakpoint-3xl: 1920px;
}

// Product grid - responsive columns
<div className="grid grid-cols-1 sm:grid-cols-2 lg:grid-cols-3 xl:grid-cols-4 gap-6">
  {products.map(product => (
    <ProductCard key={product.id} product={product} />
  ))}
</div>

// Dashboard layout - sidebar + main
<div className="flex flex-col lg:flex-row min-h-screen">
  <aside className="
    w-full lg:w-64
    bg-gray-900
    lg:min-h-screen
  ">
    <nav>...</nav>
  </aside>
  <main className="flex-1 p-4 lg:p-8">
    <div className="max-w-7xl mx-auto">
      {children}
    </div>
  </main>
</div>

<form className="space-y-6">
  <div>
    <label htmlFor="email" className="block text-sm font-medium text-gray-700 dark:text-gray-300">
      Email
    </label>
    <input
      type="email"
      id="email"
      className="
        mt-1 block w-full rounded-md
        border-gray-300 dark:border-gray-600
        bg-white dark:bg-gray-800
        text-gray-900 dark:text-white
        shadow-sm
        focus:border-blue-500 focus:ring-blue-500
        disabled:bg-gray-100 disabled:cursor-not-allowed
      "
    />
  </div>

  <button
    type="submit"
    className="
      w-full flex justify-center
      py-2 px-4
      border border-transparent rounded-md
      shadow-sm text-sm font-medium
      text-white bg-blue-600
      hover:bg-blue-700
      focus:outline-none focus:ring-2 focus:ring-offset-2 focus:ring-blue-500
      disabled:opacity-50 disabled:cursor-not-allowed
    "
  >
    Submit
  </button>
</form>

// Respect user's motion preferences
<div className="
  transition-transform duration-300
  hover:scale-105
  motion-reduce:transition-none
  motion-reduce:hover:transform-none
">
  Card content
</div>

// Custom animation
<div className="animate-fade-in motion-reduce:animate-none">
  Content
</div>

// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      keyframes: {
        'fade-in': {
          '0%': { opacity: '0' },
          '100%': { opacity: '1' },
        },
      },
      animation: {
        'fade-in': 'fade-in 0.3s ease-out',
      },
    },
  },
}

rules/config-extend-theme.md
rules/dark-setup.md
rules/comp-clsx-cn.md
rules/resp-mobile-first.md

rules/v4-installation.md
rules/v4-theme-configuration.md
rules/v4-custom-utilities.md

rules/v4-migration.md