purgetss

PurgeTSS is a toolkit for building mobile apps with the Titanium framework. It adds practical utilities to speed up styling and reduce repeated setup work.

It includes utility classes, icon font support, an Animation module, a simple grid system, and the shades command for generating custom colors.

If you build UI-heavy screens, PurgeTSS helps you move faster without hand-writing long TSS files.

What's New in v7.3.x

File rename and improved error handling. PurgeTSS v7.3 renames tailwind.tss to utilities.tss to reflect the project's standalone identity, and adds XML syntax validation to catch errors early.

Breaking changes

• File rename: Output file is now utilities.tss instead of tailwind.tss
  • Generated file: purgetss/styles/utilities.tss (was purgetss/styles/tailwind.tss)
  • Distribution file: dist/utilities.tss (was dist/tailwind.tss)

Major improvements

• XML syntax validation: Catches common Alloy XML malformations before processing

  • Detects missing opening < brackets (e.g., Label id= instead of <Label id=)
  • Shows detailed error messages with line numbers, context preview, and fix suggestions
  • Saves debugging time by catching errors early in the build process

• Classic Titanium compatibility: deviceInfo() function now works in both Alloy and Classic projects

  • Removed dependency on Alloy.isTablet/Alloy.isHandheld
  • Uses platform-based detection instead

Migration guide

If you have references to tailwind.tss in your project, update them to utilities.tss:

# Update any custom scripts or paths
# From: purgetss/styles/tailwind.tss
# To:   purgetss/styles/utilities.tss

For most users, upgrading is straightforward:

npm install -g purgetss@latest

What's New in v7.2.x

FontAwesome 7 support and major internal cleanup. PurgeTSS v7.2 adds full support for FontAwesome 7, including the new CSS custom properties format. It also reduces installation size and reorganizes the codebase for better performance and maintainability.

Breaking changes

• Node.js 20+ required (due to the inquirer v13 upgrade)
• Removed deprecated commands:
  • copy-fonts (use icon-library instead)
  • build-legacy (legacy Tailwind build removed)
• Complete legacy mode removal:
  • All legacy-related code and conditional checks eliminated
  • Legacy mode no longer supported anywhere in the codebase

Major improvements

• FontAwesome 7 support: Works with the new --fa: custom properties while staying compatible with version 6.
• Reduced installation size: About 45MB smaller by moving non-essential assets to dev dependencies.
• Improved Unicode extraction: Better handling of short hex codes, ASCII symbols, and direct character mappings.
• Optimized internal structure: Codebase split into focused modules for readability and speed.
• Enhanced CLI experience: Commands grouped by purpose, with better error handling and smarter suggestions.

Command improvements

• build-fonts simplified:
  • Automatically detects and handles both FontAwesome 6 and 7 formats.
  • The -f flag now controls both font class names and icon prefixes using filenames.
• tailwind init: Removed redundant flags for a cleaner initialization process.
• shades command: Better precision when generating custom color shades.
• CLI categories: Commands grouped by purpose: Setup, Development, Assets, Utilities, and Maintenance.

Migration guide

For most users, upgrading is straightforward:

npm install -g purgetss@latest

Key changes to note:

• Node.js 20 or higher is now required.
• FontAwesome 7: If you use FA7, PurgeTSS will automatically handle the new --fa: properties.
• VS Code extension: We recommend KevinYouu.tailwind-raw-reorder-tw4 for better compatibility with modern Tailwind versions and XML reordering.
• Clean reinstall: If you run into issues, try npm uninstall -g purgetss && npm install -g purgetss.

Here are its main functionalities:

• Utility-First Classes: PurgeTSS ships with 21,000+ utility classes, so you get a lot of styling options out of the box.
• Efficient style management: It parses all XML files to create a clean app.tss containing only the classes used in your project, reducing size and improving performance.
• Customization and JIT classes: You can customize default classes via a config file and use JIT classes for arbitrary values inside views.
• Icon fonts integration: Use icon fonts such as Font Awesome, Material Icons, Material Symbols, and Framework7-Icons in Buttons and Labels.
• fonts.tss generation: The build-fonts command creates a fonts.tss file with class definitions and fontFamily selectors for regular and icon fonts, with simplified options for filenames and icon prefixes.
• shades command: Generate custom color shades from a hex color without external tools.
• Animation module: Apply basic 2D matrix animations or transformations to elements or arrays of elements.
• Grid system: A two-dimensional grid system to align and distribute elements within views.

In short, PurgeTSS keeps styling consistent and removes a lot of repetitive UI setup work.

Visit the official documentation site at purgetss.com to learn more.

Requirements

• Titanium SDK (Compatible with all versions; 13.1.1.GA recommended for full property support)
• Alloy Framework (for most commands)
• Node.js 20+ (required for the CLI tool)

Table of Content

• What's New in v7.2
• Installation
• Commands
• Customization
  • config file
  • Custom rules
  • apply directive
  • opacity modifier
  • Arbitrary values in XMLs
  • Platform and Device modifiers
  • Icon Fonts Libraries
• Animation module
  • Introduction
  • Available utilities
  • Complex UI elements
• Grid System