What’s new in TailwindCSS v3

TailwindCSSv3.0.0-alpha-1 was released yesterday! It’s not a full release of v3 yet, but might already give us an insight on what is to come with TailwindCSS v3.

I went through the release notes and summed up some things that I found importand below.

New

In TailwindCSS v3, JIT will be the default compiler mode. If you want to learn more about the Just-In-Time compiler, check this blogpost.

All colors are enabled by default. Before you had to import them via the tailwind.config.js.

new utilities:

aspect-ratio
scroll-snap
scroll-behavior
text-indent
column
touch-action
will-change
border-x & border-y

new variants:

file: -> for the native file upload button styling
open: -> for styling native <details> & <dialog> elements

Using JIT in CDN mode

Before, when using the TailwindCSS CDN, you had to give up on a lot of configuration functionality. Well, that isn’t the case anymore since TailwindCSS v3. But TailwindLabs noted: TailwindCSS CDN JIT is intended for development only, do not use in production!. So there is probably still something in the works there.

Using the TailwindCSS CDN JIT isn’t that hard:

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <!-- add base TailwindCSS -->
    +
    <script src="https://cdn-tailwindcss.vercel.app/"></script>

    <!-- add Plugins -->
    <script src="https://cdn-tailwindcss.vercel.app/?plugins=forms,typography,aspect-ratio,line-clamp"></script>

    <!-- customize config -->
    <script>
      tailwind.config = {
        theme: {
          extend: {
            colors: {
              tomato: "tomato",
            },
          },
        },
      };
    </script>

    <!-- add custom styling -->
    <style type="text/tailwindcss">
      body {
        @apply bg-pink-500;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- -->
  </body>
</html>

Breaking

PostCSS 7 won’t be supported any longer
purge option in tailwind.config.js has changed to content
overflow-clip utility was changed to text-clip

Notes

If you decide on trying TailwindCSS v3 early, be sure to update the @tailwindcss dependencies to like @tailwindcss/typography and @tailwindcss/forms

You can install or upgrade both tailwindcss and its dependencies by adding @next as a release:

npm i -D tailwindcss@next
npm i -D @tailwindcss/typography@next

All official releasenotes can be found on the TailwindCSS GitHub repo. Check out the official TailwindCSS Documentation

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