Tailwind CSS Development When to Apply
Activate this skill when:
Adding styles to components or pages Working with responsive design Implementing dark mode Extracting repeated patterns into components Debugging spacing or layout issues Documentation
Use search-docs for detailed Tailwind CSS v3 patterns and documentation.
Basic Usage Use Tailwind CSS classes to style HTML. Check and follow existing Tailwind conventions in the project before introducing new patterns. Offer to extract repeated patterns into components that match the project's conventions (e.g., Blade, JSX, Vue). Consider class placement, order, priority, and defaults. Remove redundant classes, add classes to parent or child elements carefully to reduce repetition, and group elements logically. Tailwind CSS v3 Specifics Always use Tailwind CSS v3 and verify you're using only classes it supports. Configuration is done in the tailwind.config.js file. Import using @tailwind directives: Spacing
When listing items, use gap utilities for spacing; don't use margins.
Dark Mode
If existing pages and components support dark mode, new pages and components must support it the same way, typically using the dark: variant:
Common Patterns Flexbox Layout Grid Layout Verification Check browser for visual rendering Test responsive breakpoints Verify dark mode if project uses it Common Pitfalls Using margins for spacing between siblings instead of gap utilities Forgetting to add dark mode variants when the project uses dark mode Not checking existing project conventions before adding new utilities Overusing inline styles when Tailwind classes would suffice