Tailwind CSS IntelliSense

Tailwind CSS IntelliSense enhances the Tailwind development experience by providing Visual Studio Code users with advanced features such as autocomplete, syntax highlighting, and linting.

Installation

Install via the Visual Studio Code Marketplace →

In order for the extension to activate you must have tailwindcss installed and one of these:

• For v4 and later, a .css file that imports a Tailwind CSS stylesheet (e.g. @import "tailwindcss")
• For v3 and earlier, a Tailwind CSS config file named tailwind.config.{js,cjs,mjs,ts,cts,mts} in your workspace.
• For v3 and earlier, a stylesheet that points to a config file via @config

Features

Autocomplete

Intelligent suggestions for class names, as well as CSS functions and directives.

Linting

Highlights errors and potential bugs in both your CSS and your markup.

Hover Preview

See the complete CSS for a Tailwind class name by hovering over it.

Tailwind CSS Language Mode

An alternative to VS Code's built-in CSS language mode which maintains full CSS IntelliSense support even when using Tailwind-specific at-rules. Syntax definitions are also provided so that Tailwind-specific syntax is highlighted correctly in all CSS contexts.

Recommended VS Code Settings

files.associations

Use the files.associations setting to tell VS Code to always open .css files in Tailwind CSS mode:

"files.associations": {
  "*.css": "tailwindcss"
}

editor.quickSuggestions

By default VS Code will not trigger completions when editing "string" content, for example within JSX attribute values. Updating the editor.quickSuggestions setting may improve your experience:

"editor.quickSuggestions": {
  "strings": "on"
}

Extension Commands

Tailwind CSS: Show Output

Reveal the language server log panel. This command is only available when there is an active language server instance.

Tailwind CSS: Sort Selection (pre-release)

When a list of CSS classes is selected this command can be used to sort them in the same order that Tailwind orders them in your CSS. This command is only available when the current document belongs to an active Tailwind project and the tailwindcss version is 3.0.0 or greater.

Extension Settings

tailwindCSS.includeLanguages

This setting allows you to add additional language support. The key of each entry is the new language ID and the value is any one of the extensions built-in languages, depending on how you want the new language to be treated (e.g. html, css, or javascript):

{
  "tailwindCSS.includeLanguages": {
    "plaintext": "html"
  }
}

tailwindCSS.files.exclude

Configure glob patterns to exclude from all IntelliSense features. Inherits all glob patterns from the files.exclude setting. Default: ["**/.git/**", "**/node_modules/**", "**/.hg/**", "**/.svn/**"]

tailwindCSS.emmetCompletions

Enable completions when using Emmet-style syntax, for example div.bg-red-500.uppercase. Default: false

tailwindCSS.classAttributes

The HTML attributes for which to provide class completions, hover previews, linting etc. Default: class, className, ngClass, class:list

tailwindCSS.classFunctions

Functions in which to provide completions, hover previews, linting etc. Currently, this works for both function calls and tagged template literals in JavaScript / TypeScript.

Each entry is treated as regex pattern that matches on a function name. You cannot match on content before or after the function name — matches are limited to function names only.

Example:

{
  "tailwindCSS.classFunctions": ["tw", "clsx", "tw\\.[a-z-]+"]
}

let classes = tw`flex bg-red-500`
let classes2 = clsx([
  "flex bg-red-500",
  { "text-red-500": true }
])
let element = tw.div`flex bg-red-500`

tailwindCSS.colorDecorators

Controls whether the editor should render inline color decorators for Tailwind CSS classes and helper functions. Default: true

Note that editor.colorDecorators must be enabled for color decorators to be shown.

tailwindCSS.showPixelEquivalents

Show px equivalents for rem CSS values in completions and hovers. Default: true

tailwindCSS.rootFontSize

Root font size in pixels. Used to convert rem CSS values to their px equivalents. See tailwindCSS.showPixelEquivalents. Default: 16

tailwindCSS.hovers

Enable hovers. Default: true

tailwindCSS.suggestions

Enable autocomplete suggestions. Default: true

tailwindCSS.codeActions

Enable code actions. Default: true

tailwindCSS.validate

Enable linting. Rules can be configured individually using the tailwindcss.lint settings:

• ignore: disable lint rule entirely
• warning: rule violations will be considered "warnings," typically represented by a yellow underline
• error: rule violations will be considered "errors," typically represented by a red underline

tailwindCSS.lint.invalidScreen

Unknown screen name used with the @screen directive. Default: error

tailwindCSS.lint.invalidVariant

Unknown variant name used with the @variants directive. Default: error

tailwindCSS.lint.invalidTailwindDirective

Unknown value used with the @tailwind directive. Default: error

tailwindCSS.lint.invalidApply

Unsupported use of the @apply directive. Default: error

tailwindCSS.lint.invalidConfigPath

Unknown or invalid path used with the theme helper. Default: error

tailwindCSS.lint.cssConflict

Class names on the same HTML element which apply the same CSS property or properties. Default: warning

tailwindCSS.lint.recommendedVariantOrder

Class variants not in the recommended order (applies in JIT mode only). Default: warning

tailwindCSS.lint.usedBlocklistedClass

Usage of class names that have been blocklisted via @source not inline(…). Default: warning

tailwindCSS.lint.suggestCanonicalClasses

Detect usage of class names that are not in the most optimal form. Default: warning

Some examples of the changes this makes:

Class	Canonical Form
[color:red]/100	text-[red]
[@media_print]:[display:flex]	print:flex

tailwindCSS.inspectPort

Enable the Node.js inspector agent for the language server and listen on the specified port. Default: null

Experimental Extension Settings

Experimental settings may be changed or removed at any time.

tailwindCSS.experimental.configFile

Default: null

This setting allows you to manually specify the CSS entrypoints (for v4 projects) or the Tailwind configuration file (for v3 projects). By default, the extension attempts to detect your project setup automatically:

• For Tailwind CSS v4: The extension scans your project for CSS files and determines the "root" CSS file.
• For Tailwind CSS v3 (and earlier): The extension automatically uses the first tailwind.config.{js,cjs,mjs,ts,cts,mts} file it finds.

If IntelliSense is unable to detect your project, you can use this setting to define your config files manually.

Tailwind CSS v4.x (CSS entrypoints)

For v4 projects, specify the CSS file(s) that serve as your Tailwind entrypoints.

If your project contains a single CSS entrypoint, set this option to a string:

"tailwindCSS.experimental.configFile": "src/styles/app.css"

For projects with multiple CSS entrypoints, use an object where each key is a file path and each value is a glob pattern (or array of patterns) representing the files it applies to:

"tailwindCSS.experimental.configFile": {
  "packages/a/src/app.css": "packages/a/src/**",
  "packages/b/src/app.css": "packages/b/src/**"
}

Tailwind CSS v3.x and earlier (config files)

For v3 projects and below, specify the Tailwind configuration file(s) instead.

If your project contains a single Tailwind config, set this option to a string:

"tailwindCSS.experimental.configFile": ".config/tailwind.config.js"

For projects with multiple config files, use an object where each key is a config file path and each value is a glob pattern (or array of patterns) representing the files it applies to:

"tailwindCSS.experimental.configFile": {
  "themes/simple/tailwind.config.js": "themes/simple/**",
  "themes/neon/tailwind.config.js": "themes/neon/**"
}

Troubleshooting

If you’re having issues getting the IntelliSense features to activate, there are a few things you can check:

• You must have tailwindcss installed in your workspace via npm, pnpm, or yarn. The extension will then attempt to detect your Tailwind CSS configuration, which can be located in one of the following:
  • For Tailwind CSS v4 projects, configuration defined directly within your main CSS file using directives like @import "tailwindcss"; and @theme { ... }. Preprocessor files like Less, Sass, or Stylus are not supported. A .css file is required for IntelliSense to function.
  • For Tailwind CSS v3 and earlier, a Tailwind CSS config file in your workspace whose name matches (tailwind.config.{js,cjs,mjs,ts,cts,mts}), or a stylesheet that points to a config file via @config.
• Make sure your VS Code settings aren’t causing your stylesheet or your Tailwind CSS config file to be hidden/ignored, for example via the files.exclude, files.watcherExclude, or tailwindCSS.files.exclude settings.
• Take a look at the language server output by running the Tailwind CSS: Show Output command from the command palette. This may show errors that are preventing the extension from activating.
• For projects with multiple installations of Tailwind CSS, multiple config files, or several stylesheets with @import "tailwindcss" we recommend using the tailwindCSS.experimental.configFile setting to explicitly state your stylesheet or config paths.