Setting up TailwindCSS in Laravel project

Make sure Composer and npm are installed before you begin! (Note: If you prefer using SASS or LESS, the below tutorial may not be applicable.)

If you haven't set up Laravel yet, follow the steps below. Otherwise, skip these two steps.

1. Run composer global require laravel/installer
2. From command line, cd into the directory you want to install Laravel in and run laravel new myProjectName. A folder titled myProjectName will be created with Laravel installed in it.

Install Laravel dependencies

Navigate to your project's root folder (cd myProjectName) and run:

npm install 
npm install tailwindcss

Then run:

cd resources
mkdir css

The above commands will create a folder named css in resources.

In resources/css, create a file named tw.css (or whatever name you prefer - just be sure to substitute your file's name for tw.css in this tutorial). This file will contain your uncompiled Tailwind CSS. Here, you can add @tailwind base;, @tailwind components;, @tailwind utilities;, etc.

Next, navigate to webpack.config.js in your project's root folder. Add the following code snippet:

mix.postCss('resources/css/tw.css', 'public/css', [
        require('tailwindcss'),
    ])
    .js('resources/js/app.js', 'public/js')

Run npm run dev. After Laravel Mix has finished building successfully, you should have a file in public/css containing built Tailwind CSS. To link to this asset in your project, add the following code:

<link href = {{ asset('css/tw.css') }} rel = "stylesheet" />

Now you should be all set to go. Happy coding!

Comments

[Bobby Iliev]

Nice tutorial! Thanks for sharing!

Just noticed a small typo: wepback.config.js should be webpack.config.js

[Catherine Chen]

Thank you for pointing out the typo! The article has been updated. :) Glad you enjoyed it!

[hugo1707]

Hello, the link tag is wrong. it should be href and not src

[Catherine Chen]

Thanks for pointing that out! I've updated the example.

[Nick Mudge]

I just released RunCSS which is a runtime version of TailwindCSS. See here: dev.to/mudgen/runcss-a-runtime-ver...

I am interested in your thoughts about it.

[Ariful Mowla]

i tried this way. But it's only generating app.js file instead of app.css!

[Catherine Chen]

Try the code below in your webpack.config.js and let me know if it works.

mix.css('resources/css/app.css', 'public/css')   // replace with sass if using sass
    .options({
        processCssUrls: false,
        postCss: [ tailwindcss() ],
    })
    .js('resources/js/app.js', 'public/js');    // remove if you don't need js

[Ariful Mowla]

It seems like my nodejs problem. It's working on another PC.
in my PC: dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/...
another PC with the same config with version: dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/...

[Catherine Chen]

Ahh, okay! That's really strange. I'm glad you figured it out, though!