expo-tailwind-setup

name	expo-tailwind-setup
description	Set up Tailwind CSS v4 in Expo with react-native-css and NativeWind v5 for universal styling
category	Document Processing
source	antigravity
tags	["javascript","typescript","react","api","ai","document","image","security","tailwind","cro"]
url	https://github.com/sickn33/antigravity-awesome-skills/tree/main/skills/expo-tailwind-setup

Tailwind CSS Setup for Expo with react-native-css

When to Use

Use this skill when you need set up Tailwind CSS v4 in Expo with react-native-css and NativeWind v5 for universal styling.

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> & { className?: string }
) => {
  return (, props, { :  });
};

. = .;
. = .;
. = .;
. = .;


  useCSSVariable =
  process.. !== 
    ? useFunctionalVariable
    :  ;


   = .< > & {
  ?: ;
};

   = () => {
   (, props, { :  });
};
. = ;


   = () => {
   (, props, { :  });
};
. = ;


   = () => {
   (, props, {
    : ,
    : ,
  });
};
. = ;


   = () => {
   (, props, { :  });
};
. = ;


   = () => {
   u