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expo-tailwind-setup

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Set up Tailwind CSS v4 in Expo with react-native-css and NativeWind v5 for universal styling

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expo-app-design

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expo/skills
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plugins/expo-app-design/skills/expo-tailwind-setup/SKILL.md

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January 20, 2026

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npx add-skill https://github.com/expo/skills/blob/main/plugins/expo-app-design/skills/expo-tailwind-setup/SKILL.md -a claude-code --skill expo-tailwind-setup

Installation paths:

Claude
.claude/skills/expo-tailwind-setup/
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Instructions

# Tailwind CSS Setup for Expo with react-native-css

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

```bash
# 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:

```json
// 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`:

```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`:

```js
// postcss.config.mjs
export default {
  plugins: {
    "@tailwindcss/postcss": {},
  },
};
```

### Global CSS

Create `src/global.css`:

```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;
    -

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