Running the CLI with an empty -o option creates a file called
./true which contains the generated CSS content.
cd v3/
npx tailwindcss -h
#=> tailwindcss v3.4.17
npx tailwindcss -i ./input.css
#=> see generated tailwind outputcd v4
# install latest betas
npm install tailwindcss@next @tailwindcss/cli@next
npx tailwindcss -h
#=> ≈ tailwindcss v4.0.0-beta.9
# try the same
npx @tailwindcss/cli@next --i ./input.css
# =>displays the usage output
# add a `-o`
npx @tailwindcss/cli@next --input ./input.css -o
# => creates a new file named ./true with all the tailwind data
head true
# => /*! tailwindcss v4.0.0-beta.9 | MIT License | https://tailwindcss.com */
@layer theme, base, components, utilities;
@layer theme {
:root {
--font-sans: ui-sans-serif, system-ui, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji",
"Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji";
# remove that file
rm -f ./true
# specify an output file
npx @tailwindcss/cli -i input.css -o output.css
# => works as expected