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name: expo-tailwind-setup description: Set up Tailwind CSS v4 in Expo with react-native-css and NativeWind v5 for universal styling version: 1.0.0 license: MIT

Tailwind CSS Setup for Expo with react-native-css

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

bash

# 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:

json

// 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:

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`)

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 useCssElement(RouterLink, props, { className: "style" });
};
Link.Trigger = RouterLink.Trigger;
Link.Menu = RouterLink.Menu;
Link.MenuAction = RouterLink.MenuAction;
Link.Preview = RouterLink.Preview;
// CSS Variable hook
export const useCSSVariable =
  process.env.EXPO_OS !== "web"
    ? useFunctionalVariable
    : (variable: string) => `var(${variable})`;
// View
export type ViewProps = React.ComponentProps<typeof RNView> & {
  className?: string;
};
export const View = (props: ViewProps) => {
  return useCssElement(RNView, props, { className: "style" });
};
View.displayName = "CSS(View)";
// Text
export const Text = (
  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof RNText> & { className?: string }
) => {
  return useCssElement(RNText, props, { className: "style" });
};
Text.displayName = "CSS(Text)";
// ScrollView
export const ScrollView = (
  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof RNScrollView> & {
    className?: string;
    contentContainerClassName?: string;
  }
) => {
  return useCssElement(RNScrollView, props, {
    className: "style",
    contentContainerClassName: "contentContainerStyle",
  });
};
ScrollView.displayName = "CSS(ScrollView)";
// Pressable
export const Pressable = (
  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof RNPressable> & { className?: string }
) => {
  return useCssElement(RNPressable, props, { className: "style" });
};
Pressable.displayName = "CSS(Pressable)";
// TextInput
export const TextInput = (
  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof RNTextInput> & { className?: string }
) => {
  return useCssElement(RNTextInput, props, { className: "style" });
};
TextInput.displayName = "CSS(TextInput)";
// AnimatedScrollView
export const AnimatedScrollView = (
  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof Animated.ScrollView> & {
    className?: string;
    contentClassName?: string;
    contentContainerClassName?: string;
  }
) => {
  return useCssElement(Animated.ScrollView, props, {
    className: "style",
    contentClassName: "contentContainerStyle",
    contentContainerClassName: "contentContainerStyle",
  });
};
// TouchableHighlight with underlayColor extraction
function XXTouchableHighlight(
  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof RNTouchableHighlight>
) {
  const { underlayColor, ...style } = StyleSheet.flatten(props.style) || {};
  return (
    <RNTouchableHighlight
      underlayColor={underlayColor}
      {...props}
      style={style}
    />
  );
}
export const TouchableHighlight = (
  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof RNTouchableHighlight>
) => {
  return useCssElement(XXTouchableHighlight, props, { className: "style" });
};
TouchableHighlight.displayName = "CSS(TouchableHighlight)";

Image Component (`src/tw/image.tsx`)

tsx

import { useCssElement } from "react-native-css";
import React from "react";
import { StyleSheet } from "react-native";
import Animated from "react-native-reanimated";
import { Image as RNImage } from "expo-image";
const AnimatedExpoImage = Animated.createAnimatedComponent(RNImage);
export type ImageProps = React.ComponentProps<typeof Image>;
function CSSImage(props: React.ComponentProps<typeof AnimatedExpoImage>) {
  // @ts-expect-error: Remap objectFit style to contentFit property
  const { objectFit, objectPosition, ...style } =
    StyleSheet.flatten(props.style) || {};
  return (
    <AnimatedExpoImage
      contentFit={objectFit}
      contentPosition={objectPosition}
      {...props}
      source={
        typeof props.source === "string" ? { uri: props.source } : props.source
      }
      // @ts-expect-error: Style is remapped above
      style={style}
    />
  );
}
export const Image = (
  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof CSSImage> & { className?: string }
) => {
  return useCssElement(CSSImage, props, { className: "style" });
};
Image.displayName = "CSS(Image)";

Animated Components (`src/tw/animated.tsx`)

tsx

import * as TW from "./index";
import RNAnimated from "react-native-reanimated";
export const Animated = {
  ...RNAnimated,
  View: RNAnimated.createAnimatedComponent(TW.View),
};

Usage

Import CSS-wrapped components from your tw directory:

tsx

import { View, Text, ScrollView, Image } from "@/tw";
export default function MyScreen() {
  return (
    <ScrollView className="flex-1 bg-white">
      <View className="p-4 gap-4">
        <Text className="text-xl font-bold text-gray-900">Hello Tailwind!</Text>
        <Image
          className="w-full h-48 rounded-lg object-cover"
          source={{ uri: "https://example.com/image.jpg" }}
        />
      </View>
    </ScrollView>
  );
}

Custom Theme Variables

Add custom theme variables in your global.css using @theme:

css

@layer theme {
  @theme {
    /* Custom fonts */
    --font-rounded: "SF Pro Rounded", sans-serif;
 
    /* Custom line heights */
    --text-xs--line-height: calc(1em / 0.75);
    --text-sm--line-height: calc(1.25em / 0.875);
    --text-base--line-height: calc(1.5em / 1);
 
    /* Custom leading scales */
    --leading-tight: 1.25em;
    --leading-snug: 1.375em;
    --leading-normal: 1.5em;
  }
}

Platform-Specific Styles

Use platform media queries for platform-specific styling:

css

@media ios {
  :root {
    --font-sans: system-ui;
    --font-rounded: ui-rounded;
  }
}
 
@media android {
  :root {
    --font-sans: normal;
    --font-rounded: normal;
  }
}

Apple System Colors with CSS Variables

Create a CSS file for Apple semantic colors:

css

/* src/css/sf.css */
@layer base {
  html {
    color-scheme: light;
  }
}
 
:root {
  /* Accent colors with light/dark mode */
  --sf-blue: light-dark(rgb(0 122 255), rgb(10 132 255));
  --sf-green: light-dark(rgb(52 199 89), rgb(48 209 89));
  --sf-red: light-dark(rgb(255 59 48), rgb(255 69 58));
 
  /* Gray scales */
  --sf-gray: light-dark(rgb(142 142 147), rgb(142 142 147));
  --sf-gray-2: light-dark(rgb(174 174 178), rgb(99 99 102));
 
  /* Text colors */
  --sf-text: light-dark(rgb(0 0 0), rgb(255 255 255));
  --sf-text-2: light-dark(rgb(60 60 67 / 0.6), rgb(235 235 245 / 0.6));
 
  /* Background colors */
  --sf-bg: light-dark(rgb(255 255 255), rgb(0 0 0));
  --sf-bg-2: light-dark(rgb(242 242 247), rgb(28 28 30));
}
 
/* iOS native colors via platformColor */
@media ios {
  :root {
    --sf-blue: platformColor(systemBlue);
    --sf-green: platformColor(systemGreen);
    --sf-red: platformColor(systemRed);
    --sf-gray: platformColor(systemGray);
    --sf-text: platformColor(label);
    --sf-text-2: platformColor(secondaryLabel);
    --sf-bg: platformColor(systemBackground);
    --sf-bg-2: platformColor(secondarySystemBackground);
  }
}
 
/* Register as Tailwind theme colors */
@layer theme {
  @theme {
    --color-sf-blue: var(--sf-blue);
    --color-sf-green: var(--sf-green);
    --color-sf-red: var(--sf-red);
    --color-sf-gray: var(--sf-gray);
    --color-sf-text: var(--sf-text);
    --color-sf-text-2: var(--sf-text-2);
    --color-sf-bg: var(--sf-bg);
    --color-sf-bg-2: var(--sf-bg-2);
  }
}

Then use in components:

tsx

<Text className="text-sf-text">Primary text</Text>
<Text className="text-sf-text-2">Secondary text</Text>
<View className="bg-sf-bg">...</View>

Using CSS Variables in JavaScript

Use the useCSSVariable hook:

tsx

import { useCSSVariable } from "@/tw";
function MyComponent() {
  const blue = useCSSVariable("--sf-blue");
  return <View style={{ borderColor: blue }} />;
}

Key Differences from NativeWind v4 / Tailwind v3

No babel.config.js - Configuration is now CSS-first
PostCSS plugin - Uses @tailwindcss/postcss instead of tailwindcss
CSS imports - Use @import "tailwindcss/..." instead of @tailwind directives
Theme config - Use @theme in CSS instead of tailwind.config.js
Component wrappers - Must wrap components with useCssElement for className support
Metro config - Use withNativewind with different options (inlineVariables: false)

Troubleshooting

Styles not applying

Ensure you have the CSS file imported in your app entry
Check that components are wrapped with useCssElement
Verify Metro config has withNativewind applied

Platform colors not working

Use platformColor() in @media ios blocks
Fall back to light-dark() for web/Android

TypeScript errors

Add className to component props:

tsx

type Props = React.ComponentProps<typeof RNView> & { className?: string };

All versions