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

Note: react-native-css@0.0.0-nightly.5ce6396 and nativewind@5.0.0-preview.2 are pre-release/experimental and may be unstable. Check for newer stable releases before using.

# 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 pnpm overrides for lightningcss compatibility:

// package.json
{
  "overrides": {
    "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:

@import "tailwindcss";

/* 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;
  }
}

Use granular imports (@import "tailwindcss/theme.css" layer(theme);, etc.) only when deliberately omitting or customizing Preflight or other layers.

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)

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
const LinkBase = (
  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof RouterLink> & { className?: string }
) => {
  return useCssElement(RouterLink, props, { className: "style" });
};

export const Link = Object.assign(LinkBase, {
  Trigger: RouterLink.Trigger,
  Menu: RouterLink.Menu,
  MenuAction: RouterLink.MenuAction,
  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 BaseTouchableHighlight(
  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(BaseTouchableHighlight, props, { className: "style" });
};
TouchableHighlight.displayName = "CSS(TouchableHighlight)";

export { Image } from "./image";

Image Component (src/tw/image.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)

import * as TW from "./index";
import RNAnimated from "react-native-reanimated";

export const Animated = {
  ...RNAnimated,
  View: RNAnimated.createAnimatedComponent(TW.View),
};

Usage

See also: @expo-deployment-v55, @expo-cicd-workflows-v55.

Import CSS-wrapped components from your tw directory:

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:

@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:

@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:

/* src/css/sf.css */
@layer base {
  html {
    color-scheme: light;
  }
}

:root {
  --sf-blue: rgb(0 122 255);
  --sf-green: rgb(52 199 89);
  --sf-red: rgb(255 59 48);
  --sf-gray: rgb(142 142 147);
  --sf-gray-2: rgb(174 174 178);
  --sf-text: rgb(0 0 0);
  --sf-text-2: rgb(60 60 67 / 0.6);
  --sf-bg: rgb(255 255 255);
  --sf-bg-2: rgb(242 242 247);
}

.dark,
[data-theme="dark"] {
  --sf-blue: rgb(10 132 255);
  --sf-green: rgb(48 209 89);
  --sf-red: rgb(255 69 58);
  --sf-gray: rgb(142 142 147);
  --sf-gray-2: rgb(99 99 102);
  --sf-text: rgb(255 255 255);
  --sf-text-2: rgb(235 235 245 / 0.6);
  --sf-bg: rgb(0 0 0);
  --sf-bg-2: 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:

<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:

import { useCSSVariable } from "@/tw";

function MyComponent() {
  const blue = useCSSVariable("--sf-blue");

  return <View style={{ borderColor: blue }} />;
}

Key Differences from NativeWind v4 / Tailwind v3

See also: @expo-deployment-v55, @expo-cicd-workflows-v55.

1. No babel.config.js - Configuration is now CSS-first
2. PostCSS plugin - Uses @tailwindcss/postcss instead of tailwindcss
3. CSS imports - Use single @import "tailwindcss"; (granular imports like @import "tailwindcss/components"; only as an explicit exception)
4. Theme config - Use @theme in CSS instead of tailwind.config.js
5. Component wrappers - Must wrap components with useCssElement for className support
6. Metro config - Use withNativewind with different options (inlineVariables: false)

Troubleshooting

See also: @expo-deployment-v55, @expo-cicd-workflows-v55.

Styles not applying

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

Platform colors not working

1. Use platformColor() in @media ios blocks
2. For web/Android, use explicit :root (light) and .dark / [data-theme="dark"] (dark) overrides; react-native-css does not support light-dark()

TypeScript errors

Add className to component props:

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