grunt-contrib-less

What is grunt-contrib-less?

The grunt-contrib-less package is a Grunt plugin that compiles LESS files to CSS. It provides a variety of options to customize the compilation process, such as specifying source maps, compressing the output, and including additional paths for @import directives.

What are grunt-contrib-less's main functionalities?

Basic Compilation

This feature allows you to compile LESS files into CSS. The 'paths' option specifies directories to scan for @import directives.

{
  "less": {
    "development": {
      "options": {
        "paths": ["assets/css"]
      },
      "files": {
        "path/to/result.css": "path/to/source.less"
      }
    }
  }
}

Source Maps

This feature enables the generation of source maps, which help in debugging by mapping the compiled CSS back to the original LESS source.

{
  "less": {
    "development": {
      "options": {
        "sourceMap": true,
        "sourceMapFilename": "path/to/result.css.map",
        "sourceMapURL": "result.css.map"
      },
      "files": {
        "path/to/result.css": "path/to/source.less"
      }
    }
  }
}

Compression

This feature allows you to compress the output CSS, reducing file size for production environments.

{
  "less": {
    "production": {
      "options": {
        "compress": true
      },
      "files": {
        "path/to/result.min.css": "path/to/source.less"
      }
    }
  }
}

Custom Functions

This feature allows you to define custom functions that can be used within your LESS files.

{
  "less": {
    "development": {
      "options": {
        "functions": {
          "add": function(less, a, b) {
            return a + b;
          }
        }
      },
      "files": {
        "path/to/result.css": "path/to/source.less"
      }
    }
  }
}

Other packages similar to grunt-contrib-less

less

The 'less' package is the official LESS compiler. It can be used directly via the command line or integrated into build systems. It offers similar functionalities to grunt-contrib-less but does not provide the Grunt-specific integration.

gulp-less

The 'gulp-less' package is a Gulp plugin for compiling LESS files. It offers similar functionalities to grunt-contrib-less but is designed to work within the Gulp task runner ecosystem.

less-loader

The 'less-loader' package is a Webpack loader for compiling LESS files. It integrates LESS compilation into the Webpack build process, offering similar functionalities but within the Webpack ecosystem.

README

grunt-contrib-less

Compile LESS files to CSS.

Getting Started

This plugin requires Grunt ~0.4.0

If you haven't used Grunt before, be sure to check out the Getting Started guide, as it explains how to create a Gruntfile as well as install and use Grunt plugins. Once you're familiar with that process, you may install this plugin with this command:

npm install grunt-contrib-less --save-dev

Once the plugin has been installed, it may be enabled inside your Gruntfile with this line of JavaScript:

grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-less');

This plugin was designed to work with Grunt 0.4.x. If you're still using grunt v0.3.x it's strongly recommended that you upgrade, but in case you can't please use v0.3.2.

Less task

Run this task with the grunt less command.

Task targets, files and options may be specified according to the grunt Configuring tasks guide.

Options

paths

Type: String|Array Default: Directory of input file.

Specifies directories to scan for @import directives when parsing. Default value is the directory of the source, which is probably what you want.

compress

Type: Boolean Default: False

Compress output by removing some whitespaces.

yuicompress

Type: Boolean Default: False

Compress output using cssmin.js

optimization

Type: Integer Default: null

Set the parser's optimization level. The lower the number, the less nodes it will create in the tree. This could matter for debugging, or if you want to access the individual nodes in the tree.

strictImports

Type: Boolean Default: False

Force evaluation of imports.

dumpLineNumbers

Type: String Default: false

Configures -sass-debug-info support.

Accepts following values: comments, mediaquery, all.

Usage Examples

less: {
  development: {
    options: {
      paths: ["assets/css"]
    },
    files: {
      "path/to/result.css": "path/to/source.less"
    }
  },
  production: {
    options: {
      paths: ["assets/css"],
      yuicompress: true
    },
    files: {
      "path/to/result.css": "path/to/source.less"
    }
  }
}

Release History

• 2013-04-24   v0.5.1   Gracefully handle configuration without sources
• 2013-02-14   v0.5.0   First official release for Grunt 0.4.0.
• 2013-01-22   v0.5.0rc7   Updating grunt/gruntplugin dependencies to rc7. Changing in-development grunt/gruntplugin dependency versions from tilde version ranges to specific versions. Remove experimental wildcard destination support. Switching to this.files api.
• 2012-10-17   v0.3.2   Add support for dumpLineNumbers.
• 2012-10-11   v0.3.1   Rename grunt-contrib-lib dep to grunt-lib-contrib.
• 2012-09-23   v0.3.0   Global options depreciated Revert normalize linefeeds.
• 2012-09-15   v0.2.2   Support all less options Normalize linefeeds Default path to dirname of src file.
• 2012-09-09   v0.2.0   Refactored from grunt-contrib into individual repo.

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Task submitted by Tyler Kellen

This file was generated on Thu Apr 25 2013 09:47:05.