ng-tailwindcss

ng-tailwindcss

A helpful cli tool for integrating tailwindcss into angular-cli projects with as little pain as possible

Quick and Dirty (for new projects only!)

After starting your new angular-cli project run these commands:

npm i ng-tailwindcss -g
npm i tailwindcss -D
./node_modules/.bin/tailwind init
ng-tailwindcss configure
touch src/tailwind.css

Put all your tailwind imports in src/tailwind.css and run:

ng-tailwindcss scripts

Run npm start and let the wind fill your wings!

Full Installation and Usage Guide

• Install globally: npm i ng-tailwindcss -g

• If you don't already have an angular project up and running, start your angular project (assumes angular cli is already installed globally): ng new angular-meets-tailwind

• Follow Steps 1-3 from the Tailwind Installation Instructions: Install Tailwind (npm i tailwindcss -D), initialize (./node_modules/.bin/tailwind init), and use tailwind in your source css files. A recommendation for new projects (no prior stylesheet changes) is to touch src/tailwind.css and use that file for all global styles and component classes.

• Configure your tailwind source/destination/config files by running:

  ng-tailwindcss configure --config ./path/to/whatever-you-named-tailwind-config.js --source ./path/to/your-tailwind-source.css --output ./path/to/whatever-you-call-it.css
  

  This will result in an ng-tailwind.js file at your project's root:

  module.exports = {
    configJS: './path/to/whatever-you-named-tailwind-config.js',
    sourceCSS: './path/to/your-tailwind-source.css',
    outputCSS: './path/to/whatever-you-call-it.css'
  }
  

  See Configuration Below for More Details and Implications for Existing Angular Projects

• Add or adjust these scripts in your package.json:

  scripts: {
    "prestart": "ng-tailwindcss build",
    "start": "ng serve & ng-tailwindcss watch",
    "build": "ng-tailwindcss build && ng build"
  }
  

  or simply run ng-tailwindcss scripts to have these adjustments made automatically in your package.json.

  Now using npm start for your development server will ensure your tailwind files are being watched and built with your project, and you can still rely on the angular-cli for everything else (no ng eject! yay!).

• Keep calm and angular on.

Configuration

The ng-tailwind.js file can be directly manipulated (in keeping with the tailwind way of doing things) after the initial configuration command has been run. Conversely, if you prefer the command line, running ng-tailwindcss configure a second time will overwrite only the properties specified by the flags you include (e.g. ng-tailwindcss configure -c ./new-tailwind-config.js will only change the configJS property, and retain the original values for sourceCSS and outputCSS).

Important: The default config (running ng-tailwindcss configure with no arguments) will assume a configuration of:

{
  configJS: './tailwind.js',
  sourceCSS: ''./src/tailwind.css',
  outputCSS: './src/styles.css'
}

It should be noted that such a configuration will set up your project to overwrite angular's default styles.css during each build, so if you desire to use the defaults in your existing project (recommended), you should remove any css from this file and place it in sourceCSS (the default being src/tailwind.css). If you are using styles.css as a source file (not really recommended), don't forget to edit your angular.json styles array to reflect your new global stylesheet (probably your outputCSS, but more complicated scenarios are certainly possible--be safe out there!).

Command Aliases

You can alias your commands or argument flags thus:

configure => c
  --config => -c
  --source => -s
  --output => -o

watch => w
build => b
scripts => s
--help => -h

--help provides descriptions of each command or argument.

Contributing

Yes, please.