create-react-app.md

Use Twin with Create React App + Emotion

🔥 View the CRA + Emotion + Tailwind Twin starter for usage examples

Getting started

1. Install Create React App

npx create-react-app my-app

2. Install the dependencies

npm install --save twin.macro @emotion/core @emotion/styled

Yarn instructions

yarn add twin.macro @emotion/core @emotion/styled

3. Add the global styles

Projects using Twin also use the Tailwind preflight base styles to smooth over cross-browser inconsistencies.

Twin adds the preflight base styles with the GlobalStyles import which you can add in src/App.js:

// src/App.js
import React from 'react'
import { GlobalStyles } from 'twin.macro'

const App = () => (
  <>
    <GlobalStyles />
    <App />
  </>
)

export default App

GlobalStyles also includes some @keyframes so the animate-xxx classes have animations. But if you’re not using the animate classes then you can avoid adding the extra keyframes.

4. Add the recommended config

Twin’s recommended config can be added in a couple of different places.

a) In your package.json:

// package.json
"babelMacros": {
    "twin": {
      "config": "tailwind.config.js",
      "preset": "emotion",
      "debugProp": true,
      "debugPlugins": false,
      "debug": false,
    }
},

b) Or in a new file named babel-plugin-macros.config.js placed in your project root:

// babel-plugin-macros.config.js
module.exports = {
  twin: {
    config: 'tailwind.config.js',
    preset: 'emotion',
    debugProp: true,
    debugPlugins: false,
    debug: false,
  },
}

5. Enable babel macros and the jsx pragma

To use the tw and css props, emotion must first extend jsx with a jsx pragma.

// In .babelrc
{
  "plugins": [
    "babel-plugin-macros",
    "babel-plugin-transform-react-jsx"
  ]
}

Then when styling with the tw/css prop, add the two lines for the pragma at the top of your file. This will replace the react import:

/** @jsx jsx */
import { jsx } from '@emotion/core'
import tw from 'twin.macro'

const Input = () => <input tw="bg-black" />
// or
const Input = () => <input css={tw`bg-black`} />

You can automate the injection of the jsx pragma but you’ll need to use a package like rewire create react app to allow changes to the project .babelrc. Check the emotion + react docs for the babel config.

Note: After build, if you’re seeing "process is not defined" then npm install and add "babel-plugin-transform-inline-environment-variables" to .babelrc

6. Add the types for css and styled (TypeScript only)

Twin comes with types for every import except the css and styled imports.

Add the remaining types →

Options

Name	Type	Default	Description
config	string	"tailwind.config.js"	The path to your Tailwind config
preset	string	"emotion"	The css-in-js library behind the scenes - also supports 'styled-components' and 'goober'
hasSuggestions	boolean	true	Display class suggestions when a class can't be found
debugPlugins	boolean	false	Display generated class information in your terminal from your plugins
debugProp	boolean	false	Add a prop to your elements in development so you can see the original tailwind classes, eg: <div data-tw="bg-black" />
debug	boolean	false	Display information in your terminal about the Tailwind class conversions

If twin’s default styled and css imports need to be adjusted, you can do so with the following config:

{
  styled: { import: "default", from: "@emotion/styled" },
  css: { import: "css", from: "@emotion/core" }
}

Note: Make sure you remove the preset option as that value disables the styled + css options.

Next steps

• See how to customize your classes →
• Learn how to use the emotion library
  The css prop / css import / styled import

Installation guides

• "Vanilla" React + Emotion
• Create React App + Emotion (current)
• Gatsby + Emotion
• Next.js + Emotion