SKILL.md

Tailwind CSS Setup for Expo with react-native-css

Name: expo-tailwind-setup
Author: expo

This guide covers setting up Tailwind CSS v4 in Expo using react-native-css and NativeWind v5 for universal styling across iOS, Android, and Web.

Overview

This setup uses:

Tailwind CSS v4 - Modern CSS-first configuration

react-native-css - CSS runtime for React Native

NativeWind v5 - Metro transformer for Tailwind in React Native

@tailwindcss/postcss - PostCSS plugin for Tailwind v4

Installation

# Install dependencies

npx expo install tailwindcss@^4 nativewind@5.0.0-preview.2 react-native-css@0.0.0-nightly.5ce6396 @tailwindcss/postcss tailwind-merge clsx

Add resolutions for lightningcss compatibility:

// package.json

{

  "resolutions": {

    "lightningcss": "1.30.1"

  }

}

autoprefixer is not needed in Expo because of lightningcss

postcss is included in expo by default

Configuration Files

Metro Config

Create or update metro.config.js:

// metro.config.js

const { getDefaultConfig } = require("expo/metro-config");

const { withNativewind } = require("nativewind/metro");

/** @type {import('expo/metro-config').MetroConfig} */

const config = getDefaultConfig(__dirname);

module.exports = withNativewind(config, {

  // inline variables break PlatformColor in CSS variables

  inlineVariables: false,

  // We add className support manually

  globalClassNamePolyfill: false,

});

PostCSS Config

Create postcss.config.mjs:

// postcss.config.mjs

export default {

  plugins: {

    "@tailwindcss/postcss": {},

  },

};

Global CSS

Create src/global.css:

@import "tailwindcss/theme.css" layer(theme);

@import "tailwindcss/preflight.css" layer(base);

@import "tailwindcss/utilities.css";

/* Platform-specific font families */

@media android {

  :root {

    --font-mono: monospace;

    --font-rounded: normal;

    --font-serif: serif;

    --font-sans: normal;

  }

}

@media ios {

  :root {

    --font-mono: ui-monospace;

    --font-serif: ui-serif;

    --font-sans: system-ui;

    --font-rounded: ui-rounded;

  }

}

IMPORTANT: No Babel Config Needed

With Tailwind v4 and NativeWind v5, you do NOT need a babel.config.js for Tailwind. Remove any NativeWind babel presets if present:

// DELETE babel.config.js if it only contains NativeWind config

// The following is NO LONGER needed:

// module.exports = function (api) {

//   api.cache(true);

//   return {

//     presets: [

//       ["babel-preset-expo", { jsxImportSource: "nativewind" }],

//       "nativewind/babel",

//     ],

//   };

// };

CSS Component Wrappers

Since react-native-css requires explicit CSS element wrapping, create reusable components:

Main Components ( src/tw/index.tsx )

import {

  useCssElement,

  useNativeVariable as useFunctionalVariable,

} from "react-native-css";

import { Link as RouterLink } from "expo-router";

import Animated from "react-native-reanimated";

import React from "react";

import {

  View as RNView,

  Text as RNText,

  Pressable as RNPressable,

  ScrollView as RNScrollView,

  TouchableHighlight as RNTouchableHighlight,

  TextInput as RNTextInput,

  StyleSheet,

} from "react-native";

// CSS-enabled Link

export const Link = (

  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof RouterLink> &#x26; { className?: string }

) => {

  return useCssElement(RouterLink, props, { className: "style" });

};

Link.Trigger = RouterLink.Trigger;

Link.Menu = RouterLink.Menu;

Link.MenuAction = RouterLink.MenuAction;

Link.Preview = RouterLink.Preview;

// CSS Variable hook

export const useCSSVariable =

  process.env.EXPO_OS !== "web"

    ? useFunctionalVariable

    : (variable: string) => `var(${variable})`;

// View

export type ViewProps = React.ComponentProps<typeof RNView> &#x26; {

  className?: string;

};

export const View = (props: ViewProps) => {

  return useCssElement(RNView, props, { className: "style" });

};

View.displayName = "CSS(View)";

// Text

export const Text = (

  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof RNText> &#x26; { className?: string }

) => {

  return useCssElement(RNText, props, { className: "style" });

};

Text.displayName = "CSS(Text)";

// ScrollView

export const ScrollView = (

  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof RNScrollView> &#x26; {

    className?: string;

    contentContainerClassName?: string;

  }

) => {

  return useCssElement(RNScrollView, props, {

    className: "style",

    contentContainerClassName: "contentContainerStyle",

  });

};

ScrollView.displayName = "CSS(ScrollView)";

// Pressable

export const Pressable = (

  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof RNPressable> &#x26; { className?: string }

) => {

  return useCssElement(RNPressable, props, { className: "style" });

};

Pressable.displayName = "CSS(Pressable)";

// TextInput

export const TextInput = (

  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof RNTextInput> &#x26; { className?: string }

) => {

  return useCssElement(RNTextInput, props, { className: "style" });

};

TextInput.displayName = "CSS(TextInput)";

// AnimatedScrollView

export const AnimatedScrollView = (

  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof Animated.ScrollView> &#x26; {

    className?: string;

    contentClassName?: string;

    contentContainerClassName?: string;

  }

) => {

  return useCssElement(Animated.ScrollView, props, {

    className: "style",

    contentClassName: "contentContainerStyle",

    contentContainerClassName: "contentContainerStyle",

  });

};

// TouchableHighlight with underlayColor extraction

function XXTouchableHighlight(

  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof RNTouchableHighlight>

) {

  const { underlayColor, ...style } = StyleSheet.flatten(props.style) || {};

  return (

    <RNTouchableHighlight

      underlayColor={underlayColor}

      {...props}

      style={style}

    />

  );

}

export const TouchableHighlight = (

  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof RNTouchableHighlight>

) => {

  return useCssElement(XXTouchableHighlight, props, { className: "style" });

};

TouchableHighlight.displayName = "CSS(TouchableHighlight)";

Image Component ( src/tw/image.tsx )

import { useCssElement } from "react-native-css";

import React from "react";

import { StyleSheet } from "react-native";

import Animated from "react-native-reanimated";

import { Image as RNImage } from "expo-image";

const AnimatedExpoImage = Animated.createAnimatedComponent(RNImage);

export type ImageProps = React.ComponentProps<typeof Image>;

function CSSImage(props: React.ComponentProps<typeof AnimatedExpoImage>) {

  // @ts-expect-error: Remap objectFit style to contentFit property

  const { objectFit, objectPosition, ...style } =

    StyleSheet.flatten(props.style) || {};

  return (

    <AnimatedExpoImage

      contentFit={objectFit}

      contentPosition={objectPosition}

      {...props}

      source={

        typeof props.source === "string" ? { uri: props.source } : props.source

      }

      // @ts-expect-error: Style is remapped above

      style={style}

    />

  );

}

export const Image = (

  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof CSSImage> &#x26; { className?: string }

) => {

  return useCssElement(CSSImage, props, { className: "style" });

};

Image.displayName = "CSS(Image)";

Animated Components ( src/tw/animated.tsx )

import * as TW from "./index";

import RNAnimated from "react-native-reanimated";

export const Animated = {

  ...RNAnimated,

  View: RNAnimated.createAnimatedComponent(TW.View),

};

Usage

Import CSS-wrapped components from your tw directory:

import { View, Text, ScrollView, Image } from "@/tw";

export default function MyScreen() {

  return (

    <ScrollView className="flex-1 bg-white">

      <View className="p-4 gap-4">

        <Text className="text-xl font-bold text-gray-900">Hello Tailwind!</Text>

        <Image

          className="w-full h-48 rounded-lg object-cover"

          source={{ uri: "https://example.com/image.jpg" }}

        />

      </View>

    </ScrollView>

  );

}

Custom Theme Variables

Add custom theme variables in your global.css using @theme:

@layer theme {

  @theme {

    /* Custom fonts */

    --font-rounded: "SF Pro Rounded", sans-serif;

    /* Custom line heights */

    --text-xs--line-height: calc(1em / 0.75);

    --text-sm--line-height: calc(1.25em / 0.875);

    --text-base--line-height: calc(1.5em / 1);

    /* Custom leading scales */

    --leading-tight: 1.25em;

    --leading-snug: 1.375em;

    --leading-normal: 1.5em;

  }

}

Platform-Specific Styles

Use platform media queries for platform-specific styling:

@media ios {

  :root {

    --font-sans: system-ui;

    --font-rounded: ui-rounded;

  }

}

@media android {

  :root {

    --font-sans: normal;

    --font-rounded: normal;

  }

}

Apple System Colors with CSS Variables

Create a CSS file for Apple semantic colors:

/* src/css/sf.css */

@layer base {

  html {

    color-scheme: light;

  }

}

:root {

  /* Accent colors with light/dark mode */

  --sf-blue: light-dark(rgb(0 122 255), rgb(10 132 255));

  --sf-green: light-dark(rgb(52 199 89), rgb(48 209 89));

  --sf-red: light-dark(rgb(255 59 48), rgb(255 69 58));

  /* Gray scales */

  --sf-gray: light-dark(rgb(142 142 147), rgb(142 142 147));

  --sf-gray-2: light-dark(rgb(174 174 178), rgb(99 99 102));

  /* Text colors */

  --sf-text: light-dark(rgb(0 0 0), rgb(255 255 255));

  --sf-text-2: light-dark(rgb(60 60 67 / 0.6), rgb(235 235 245 / 0.6));

  /* Background colors */

  --sf-bg: light-dark(rgb(255 255 255), rgb(0 0 0));

  --sf-bg-2: light-dark(rgb(242 242 247), rgb(28 28 30));

}

/* iOS native colors via platformColor */

@media ios {

  :root {

    --sf-blue: platformColor(systemBlue);

    --sf-green: platformColor(systemGreen);

    --sf-red: platformColor(systemRed);

    --sf-gray: platformColor(systemGray);

    --sf-text: platformColor(label);

    --sf-text-2: platformColor(secondaryLabel);

    --sf-bg: platformColor(systemBackground);

    --sf-bg-2: platformColor(secondarySystemBackground);

  }

}

/* Register as Tailwind theme colors */

@layer theme {

  @theme {

    --color-sf-blue: var(--sf-blue);

    --color-sf-green: var(--sf-green);

    --color-sf-red: var(--sf-red);

    --color-sf-gray: var(--sf-gray);

    --color-sf-text: var(--sf-text);

    --color-sf-text-2: var(--sf-text-2);

    --color-sf-bg: var(--sf-bg);

    --color-sf-bg-2: var(--sf-bg-2);

  }

}

Then use in components:

<Text className="text-sf-text">Primary text</Text>

<Text className="text-sf-text-2">Secondary text</Text>

<View className="bg-sf-bg">...</View>

Using CSS Variables in JavaScript

Use the useCSSVariable hook:

import { useCSSVariable } from "@/tw";

function MyComponent() {

  const blue = useCSSVariable("--sf-blue");

  return <View style={{ borderColor: blue }} />;

}

Key Differences from NativeWind v4 / Tailwind v3

No babel.config.js - Configuration is now CSS-first

PostCSS plugin - Uses @tailwindcss/postcss instead of tailwindcss

CSS imports - Use @import "tailwindcss/..." instead of @tailwind directives

Theme config - Use @theme in CSS instead of tailwind.config.js

Component wrappers - Must wrap components with useCssElement for className support

Metro config - Use withNativewind with different options (inlineVariables: false)

Troubleshooting

Styles not applying

Ensure you have the CSS file imported in your app entry

Check that components are wrapped with useCssElement

Verify Metro config has withNativewind applied

Platform colors not working

Use platformColor() in @media ios blocks

Fall back to light-dark() for web/Android

TypeScript errors

Add className to component props:

type Props = React.ComponentProps<typeof RNView> &#x26; { className?: string };

expo-tailwind-setup