Tailwind v4
How to use shadcn-svelte with Tailwind v4 and Svelte 5.
It's here! Tailwind v4 and Svelte 5. Ready for you to try out. You can start using it today.
This documentation site is now running Tailwind v4. If you're looking for the old Tailwind v3 docs, you can find them here: https://tw3.shadcn-svelte.com.
What's New
- The
@next
CLI can now initialize projects with Tailwind v4 and Svelte 5. - Full support for the new
@theme
directive and@theme inline
option. - All components are updated for Tailwind v4 and Svelte 5.
- Every primitive that renders an element now has a
data-slot
attribute for styling. - We've fixed and cleaned up the style of the components.
- Buttons now use the default cursor.
- We're deprecating the
default
style. New projects will usenew-york
. - HSL colors are now converted to OKLCH.
Note: this is non-breaking. Your existing apps with Tailwind v3 will continue to work. When you add new components, they'll still be in Tailwind v3 with the style configured in components.json
until you upgrade. Only new projects start with Tailwind v4.
See it Live
This documentation site is now using Tailwind v4 and Svelte 5, but for a more complete example, checkout the demo site here: https://v4.shadcn-svelte.com.
If you find any bugs, please us know on GitHub.
Try It Out
You can start using Tailwind v4 and Svelte 5 today using the @next
CLI. See the specific install docs
Upgrade Your Project
Note: This guide assumes you are coming from a Svelte 5 and Tailwind 3 project. If you are coming from a Svelte 4 project, you should first follow the Svelte 4 and Tailwind 3 to Svelte 5 guide.
Important: Before upgrading, please read the Tailwind v4 Compatibility Docs and make sure your project is ready for the upgrade. Tailwind v4 uses bleeding-edge browser features and is designed for modern browsers.
One of the major advantages of using shadcn-svelte
is that the code you end up with is exactly what you'd write yourself. There are no hidden abstractions.
This means when a dependency has a new release, you can just follow the official upgrade paths.
Here's how to upgrade your existing projects:
1. Follow the Tailwind v4 Upgrade Guide
- Upgrade to Tailwind v4 by following the official upgrade guide: https://tailwindcss.com/docs/upgrade-guide
- Use the
@tailwindcss/upgrade
codemod to remove deprecated utility classes and update the tailwind config.
2. Replace PostCSS with Vite
The upgrade script will automatically migrate your project to the latest PostCSS configuration of Tailwind v4, but the Tailwind team recommends using Vite instead, so we'll use that instead.
Delete postcss.config.js
- export default {
- plugins: {
- '@tailwindcss/postcss': {},
- }
- };
Uninstall @tailwindcss/postcss
Install @tailwindcss/vite
Update vite.config.ts
import { sveltekit } from '@sveltejs/kit/vite';
import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
+ import tailwindcss from '@tailwindcss/vite';
export default defineConfig({
- plugins: [sveltekit()],
+ plugins: [tailwindcss(), sveltekit()],
});
Verify the upgrade
Start your dev server and verify that all your styles are working as expected.
2. Update your app.css
file
The codemod will update your app.css
file to look something like this, where it's defining the colors as CSS variables and importing your existing tailwind.config.ts
file:
@import "tailwindcss";
@config '../tailwind.config.ts';
/*
The default border color has changed to `currentcolor` in Tailwind CSS v4,
so we've added these compatibility styles to make sure everything still
looks the same as it did with Tailwind CSS v3.
If we ever want to remove these styles, we need to add an explicit border
color utility to any element that depends on these defaults.
*/
@layer base {
*,
::after,
::before,
::backdrop,
::file-selector-button {
border-color: var(--color-gray-200, currentcolor);
}
}
@layer base {
:root {
--background: 0 0% 100%;
--foreground: 240 10% 3.9%;
--muted: 240 4.8% 95.9%;
--muted-foreground: 240 3.8% 46.1%;
--popover: 0 0% 100%;
--popover-foreground: 240 10% 3.9%;
--card: 0 0% 100%;
--card-foreground: 240 10% 3.9%;
--border: 240 5.9% 90%;
--input: 240 5.9% 90%;
--primary: 240 5.9% 10%;
--primary-foreground: 0 0% 98%;
--secondary: 240 4.8% 95.9%;
--secondary-foreground: 240 5.9% 10%;
--accent: 240 4.8% 95.9%;
--accent-foreground: 240 5.9% 10%;
--destructive: 0 72.2% 50.6%;
--destructive-foreground: 0 0% 98%;
--ring: 240 10% 3.9%;
--radius: 0.5rem;
--sidebar-background: 0 0% 98%;
--sidebar-foreground: 240 5.3% 26.1%;
--sidebar-primary: 240 5.9% 10%;
--sidebar-primary-foreground: 0 0% 98%;
--sidebar-accent: 240 4.8% 95.9%;
--sidebar-accent-foreground: 240 5.9% 10%;
--sidebar-border: 220 13% 91%;
--sidebar-ring: 217.2 91.2% 59.8%;
}
.dark {
--background: 240 10% 3.9%;
--foreground: 0 0% 98%;
--muted: 240 3.7% 15.9%;
--muted-foreground: 240 5% 64.9%;
--popover: 240 10% 3.9%;
--popover-foreground: 0 0% 98%;
--card: 240 10% 3.9%;
--card-foreground: 0 0% 98%;
--border: 240 3.7% 15.9%;
--input: 240 3.7% 15.9%;
--primary: 0 0% 98%;
--primary-foreground: 240 5.9% 10%;
--secondary: 240 3.7% 15.9%;
--secondary-foreground: 0 0% 98%;
--accent: 240 3.7% 15.9%;
--accent-foreground: 0 0% 98%;
--destructive: 0 62.8% 30.6%;
--destructive-foreground: 0 0% 98%;
--ring: 240 4.9% 83.9%;
--sidebar-background: 240 5.9% 10%;
--sidebar-foreground: 240 4.8% 95.9%;
--sidebar-primary: 224.3 76.3% 48%;
--sidebar-primary-foreground: 0 0% 100%;
--sidebar-accent: 240 3.7% 15.9%;
--sidebar-accent-foreground: 240 4.8% 95.9%;
--sidebar-border: 240 3.7% 15.9%;
--sidebar-ring: 217.2 91.2% 59.8%;
}
}
@layer base {
* {
@apply border-border;
}
body {
@apply bg-background text-foreground;
}
}
In the following steps, we'll update this to completely remove the tailwind.config.ts
and adopt the CSS-based config.
Replace tailwind-css-animate
with tw-animate-css
We've deprecated tailwindcss-animate
in favor of tw-animate-css
, which has support for Tailwind v4.
Import tw-animate-css
@import "tailwindcss";
+ @import "tw-animate-css";
/* ... */
CSS Variables and Theme Config
We'll move the CSS variables to the :root
and .dark
selectors, wrap the colors values in hsl()
, and setup an @theme inline
directive to replace our Tailwind v3 config.
Once complete, your app.css
file should look something like this (the color values will differ depending on your theme):
@import "tailwindcss";
@import "tw-animate-css";
/*
The default border color has changed to `currentcolor` in Tailwind CSS v4,
so we've added these compatibility styles to make sure everything still
looks the same as it did with Tailwind CSS v3.
If we ever want to remove these styles, we need to add an explicit border
color utility to any element that depends on these defaults.
*/
@layer base {
*,
::after,
::before,
::backdrop,
::file-selector-button {
border-color: var(--color-gray-200, currentcolor);
}
}
:root {
--background: hsl(0 0% 100%) /* <- Wrap in HSL */;
--foreground: hsl(240 10% 3.9%);
--muted: hsl(240 4.8% 95.9%);
--muted-foreground: hsl(240 3.8% 46.1%);
--popover: hsl(0 0% 100%);
--popover-foreground: hsl(240 10% 3.9%);
--card: hsl(0 0% 100%);
--card-foreground: hsl(240 10% 3.9%);
--border: hsl(240 5.9% 90%);
--input: hsl(240 5.9% 90%);
--primary: hsl(240 5.9% 10%);
--primary-foreground: hsl(0 0% 98%);
--secondary: hsl(240 4.8% 95.9%);
--secondary-foreground: hsl(240 5.9% 10%);
--accent: hsl(240 4.8% 95.9%);
--accent-foreground: hsl(240 5.9% 10%);
--destructive: hsl(0 72.2% 50.6%);
--destructive-foreground: hsl(0 0% 98%);
--ring: hsl(240 10% 3.9%);
--sidebar-background: hsl(0 0% 98%);
--sidebar-foreground: hsl(240 5.3% 26.1%);
--sidebar-primary: hsl(240 5.9% 10%);
--sidebar-primary-foreground: hsl(0 0% 98%);
--sidebar-accent: hsl(240 4.8% 95.9%);
--sidebar-accent-foreground: hsl(240 5.9% 10%);
--sidebar-border: hsl(220 13% 91%);
--sidebar-ring: hsl(217.2 91.2% 59.8%);
--radius: 0.5rem;
}
.dark {
--background: hsl(240 10% 3.9%);
--foreground: hsl(0 0% 98%);
--muted: hsl(240 3.7% 15.9%);
--muted-foreground: hsl(240 5% 64.9%);
--popover: hsl(240 10% 3.9%);
--popover-foreground: hsl(0 0% 98%);
--card: hsl(240 10% 3.9%);
--card-foreground: hsl(0 0% 98%);
--border: hsl(240 3.7% 15.9%);
--input: hsl(240 3.7% 15.9%);
--primary: hsl(0 0% 98%);
--primary-foreground: hsl(240 5.9% 10%);
--secondary: hsl(240 3.7% 15.9%);
--secondary-foreground: hsl(0 0% 98%);
--accent: hsl(240 3.7% 15.9%);
--accent-foreground: hsl(0 0% 98%);
--destructive: hsl(0 62.8% 30.6%);
--destructive-foreground: hsl(0 0% 98%);
--ring: hsl(240 4.9% 83.9%);
--sidebar-background: hsl(240 5.9% 10%);
--sidebar-foreground: hsl(240 4.8% 95.9%);
--sidebar-primary: hsl(224.3 76.3% 48%);
--sidebar-primary-foreground: hsl(0 0% 100%);
--sidebar-accent: hsl(240 3.7% 15.9%);
--sidebar-accent-foreground: hsl(240 4.8% 95.9%);
--sidebar-border: hsl(240 3.7% 15.9%);
--sidebar-ring: hsl(217.2 91.2% 59.8%);
}
@theme inline {
/* Radius (for rounded-*) */
--radius-sm: calc(var(--radius) - 4px);
--radius-md: calc(var(--radius) - 2px);
--radius-lg: var(--radius);
--radius-xl: calc(var(--radius) + 4px);
/* Colors */
--color-background: var(--background);
--color-foreground: var(--foreground);
--color-muted: var(--muted);
--color-muted-foreground: var(--muted-foreground);
--color-popover: var(--popover);
--color-popover-foreground: var(--popover-foreground);
--color-card: var(--card);
--color-card-foreground: var(--card-foreground);
--color-border: var(--border);
--color-input: var(--input);
--color-primary: var(--primary);
--color-primary-foreground: var(--primary-foreground);
--color-secondary: var(--secondary);
--color-secondary-foreground: var(--secondary-foreground);
--color-accent: var(--accent);
--color-accent-foreground: var(--accent-foreground);
--color-destructive: var(--destructive);
--color-destructive-foreground: var(--destructive-foreground);
--color-ring: var(--ring);
--color-radius: var(--radius);
--color-sidebar-background: var(--sidebar-background);
--color-sidebar-foreground: var(--sidebar-foreground);
--color-sidebar-primary: var(--sidebar-primary);
--color-sidebar-primary-foreground: var(--sidebar-primary-foreground);
--color-sidebar-accent: var(--sidebar-accent);
--color-sidebar-accent-foreground: var(--sidebar-accent-foreground);
--color-sidebar-border: var(--sidebar-border);
--color-sidebar-ring: var(--sidebar-ring);
/* Animations */
--animate-accordion-up: accordion-up 0.2s ease-out;
--animate-accordion-down: accordion-down 0.2s ease-out;
--animate-caret-blink: caret-blink 1.25s ease-out infinite;
}
@layer base {
* {
@apply border-border;
}
body {
@apply bg-background text-foreground;
}
}
@keyframes accordion-down {
from {
height: 0;
}
to {
height: var(--bits-accordion-content-height);
}
}
@keyframes accordion-up {
from {
height: var(--bits-accordion-content-height);
}
to {
height: 0;
}
}
@keyframes caret-blink {
0%,
70%,
100% {
opacity: 1;
}
20%,
50% {
opacity: 0;
}
}
Verify the update
Restart your dev server and verify that all your styles are working as expected.
Remove the tailwind.config
file
Once you've verified that your styles are working as expected, you can remove the tailwind.config.ts
file.
3. Use new size-*
utility
The new size-*
utility (added in Tailwind v3.4), is now fully supported by tailwind-merge
. You can replace w-* h-*
with the new size-*
utility:
- w-4 h-4
+ size-4
4. Update your dependencies
5. Update your utils (optional)
If you're planning on adding additional components in the future or plan to update your existing components to the latest versions, you'll need to update your utils.ts
file.
Previously, we were depending on bits-ui
for some simple type helpers that required you to have bits-ui
installed, regardless if you were using components that depend on it.
These helpers have been moved into the utils.ts
file:
import { clsx, type ClassValue } from "clsx";
import { twMerge } from "tailwind-merge";
export function cn(...inputs: ClassValue[]) {
return twMerge(clsx(inputs));
}
+ // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+ export type WithoutChild<T> = T extends { child?: any } ? Omit<T, "child"> : T;
+ // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+ export type WithoutChildren<T> = T extends { children?: any } ? Omit<T, "children"> : T;
+ export type WithoutChildrenOrChild<T> = WithoutChildren<WithoutChild<T>>;
+ export type WithElementRef<T, U extends HTMLElement = HTMLElement> = T & { ref?: U | null };
And then you can incrementally replace these imports in your existing components:
<script lang="ts">
- import type { WithElementRef } from "bits-ui";
+ import type { WithElementRef } from "$lib/utils.js";
</script>
6. Update Your Colors (optional)
The dark mode colors have been revisited and updated to be more accessible, as you can see in these docs as well as the v4.shadcn-svelte.com demo site.
You can update your components to use the new dark mode colors by re-adding your components using the CLI1.
Commit any changes
The CLI will overwrite your existing components. It's recommended to commit the changes you've made to your components before running the CLI.
git add .
git commit -m '..."
Update components
Update colors
Update the dark mode colors in your app.css
file to the new OKLCH values. See the Base Colors reference for a list of colors.
Review Changes
Review and re-apply any changes you've made to your components using the git diffs.
Footnotes
Updating your components will overwrite your existing components. ↩