Tailwind CSS v4: Everything You Need to Know

Tailwind CSS v4 is the most significant update since the project launched. A complete rewrite of the engine in Rust delivers 10x faster build times and a fundamentally simpler configuration model.

No More Config File

Tailwind v4 uses CSS itself as the configuration file. You define your design tokens directly in CSS using custom properties, making the setup more intuitive and portable.

Native CSS Variables

Every design token is now a CSS custom property by default. This means your Tailwind colors, spacing, and typography values are accessible throughout your stylesheet.

Lightning CSS

The new engine uses Lightning CSS for transforms, vendor prefixing, and syntax lowering — eliminating the need for separate PostCSS plugins in most projects.