Django and Tailwind integration based on the prebuilt Tailwind CSS CLI.
Verified details
These details have been verified by PyPIProject links
Owner
GitHub Statistics
Maintainers
Project description
django-tailwind-cli
The simplest way to integrate Tailwind CSS with Django ⚡
No Node.js required! This library provides seamless Tailwind CSS integration for Django using the standalone Tailwind CSS CLI. Inspired by the Tailwind integration for Phoenix, it eliminates the need for Node.js in your Django development workflow.
✨ Why django-tailwind-cli?
- 🚀 Zero Node.js dependency - No npm, webpack, or build tools required
- ⚡ Instant setup - Get Tailwind running in under 5 minutes
- 🔄 Hot reload - Watch mode with automatic CSS rebuilding
- 📦 Production ready - Optimized builds with automatic purging
- 🎨 DaisyUI support - Built-in component library integration
- 🛠️ Developer friendly - Rich CLI with helpful error messages and debugging tools
🚀 Quick Start
1. Install the package
# Using pip
pip install django-tailwind-cli
# Using uv (recommended)
uv add django-tailwind-cli
# Using poetry
poetry add django-tailwind-cli
2. Configure Django settings
Add to your settings.py:
INSTALLED_APPS = [
# ... your other apps
"django_tailwind_cli",
]
# Configure static files directory — make sure it exists on disk,
# Django raises an error at startup if it does not.
STATICFILES_DIRS = [BASE_DIR / "assets"]
mkdir -p assets
3. Set up your base template
Create or update your base template (e.g., templates/base.html):
<!DOCTYPE html>
{% load tailwind_cli %}
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title>My Django App</title>
{% tailwind_css %}
</head>
<body class="bg-gray-50">
<div class="container mx-auto px-4">
{% block content %}{% endblock %}
</div>
</body>
</html>
4. Start developing
# Start Django's dev server with a parallel Tailwind watcher (recommended)
python manage.py tailwind runserver
# Or run build and watch separately
python manage.py tailwind watch # In one terminal
python manage.py runserver # In another terminal
The watcher runs under Django's own auto-reloader, so editing settings.py (e.g. adding a new app) restarts it automatically and picks up the new configuration on the fly. Pass --noreload to opt out.
First run creates a managed <BASE_DIR>/.django_tailwind_cli/ directory for the CLI binary and an auto-generated source.css. The directory is automatically git-ignored — no entry in your project-level .gitignore needed.
Tip: Prefer a guided walkthrough? Run
python manage.py tailwind setupinstead for an interactive step-by-step first-time setup.
🎉 You're ready to go!
Start adding Tailwind classes to your templates:
{% extends "base.html" %}
{% block content %}
<div class="max-w-4xl mx-auto py-12">
<h1 class="text-4xl font-bold text-gray-900 mb-8">
Welcome to Django + Tailwind!
</h1>
<p class="text-lg text-gray-600">
This text is styled with Tailwind CSS.
</p>
<button class="bg-blue-500 hover:bg-blue-700 text-white font-bold py-2 px-4 rounded mt-4">
Click me!
</button>
</div>
{% endblock %}
📚 Next Steps: Check out the full documentation for advanced configuration and usage patterns.
🎯 Core Features
🏗️ Build System
- Automatic CLI download - No manual setup required
- Smart caching - Faster rebuilds with file change detection
- Production optimization - Automatic CSS purging and minification
- Force rebuild -
--forceflag for clean builds
🔧 Development Tools
- Interactive setup -
python manage.py tailwind setup - Configuration viewer -
python manage.py tailwind config - Troubleshooting guide -
python manage.py tailwind troubleshoot
🎨 Styling Features
- Tailwind CSS 4.x - Latest features and performance improvements
- DaisyUI integration - Pre-built components via tailwindcss-cli-extra
- Custom CSS support - Bring your own styles and configurations
- Template tag - Simple
{% tailwind_css %}inclusion
⚡ Performance
- File change detection - Only rebuild when necessary
- Concurrent processing - Parallel build and server processes
- Progress indicators - Visual feedback during downloads and builds
- Verbose logging - Detailed diagnostics with
--verbose
🛠️ Management Commands
| Command | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
setup |
Interactive first-time setup guide | python manage.py tailwind setup |
build |
Production CSS build | python manage.py tailwind build |
watch |
Development file watcher (Django autoreload by default) | python manage.py tailwind watch |
runserver |
Django dev server + watcher (forwards any runserver flag) | python manage.py tailwind runserver |
config |
Show current configuration | python manage.py tailwind config |
troubleshoot |
Debug common issues | python manage.py tailwind troubleshoot |
tailwind runserver is a transparent passthrough: every positional argument and option (apart from --force-default-runserver) is forwarded verbatim to the underlying runserver or runserver_plus. Every flag those commands accept works — including runserver_plus-only ones like --extra-file, --reloader-interval, and --print-sql.
📋 Requirements
- Python: 3.10+
- Django: 4.2 LTS, 5.2, or 6.0
- Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux (automatic platform detection)
⚙️ Configuration Examples
Basic Configuration
# settings.py
STATICFILES_DIRS = [BASE_DIR / "assets"]
Advanced Configuration
# Pin specific Tailwind version
TAILWIND_CLI_VERSION = "4.1.3"
# Custom CSS paths
TAILWIND_CLI_SRC_CSS = "src/styles/main.css"
TAILWIND_CLI_DIST_CSS = "css/app.css"
# Enable DaisyUI
TAILWIND_CLI_USE_DAISY_UI = True
# Use an already-installed Tailwind binary (e.g. `brew install tailwindcss`)
TAILWIND_CLI_USE_SYSTEM_BINARY = True
# Auto-inject @source directives for editable-installed external apps (opt-in)
TAILWIND_CLI_AUTO_SOURCE_EXTERNAL_APPS = True
Production Settings
# Optimized for production
TAILWIND_CLI_VERSION = "4.1.3" # Pin version
TAILWIND_CLI_AUTOMATIC_DOWNLOAD = False # Use pre-installed CLI
TAILWIND_CLI_DIST_CSS = "css/tailwind.min.css"
🔍 Troubleshooting
Common Issues
CSS not updating?
python manage.py tailwind build --force
python manage.py tailwind troubleshoot
Configuration problems?
python manage.py tailwind config
python manage.py tailwind setup
Missing templates?
Make sure every template directory is covered by an @source directive in your
Tailwind CSS input file — Tailwind CSS 4.x discovers templates exclusively
through those directives.
Performance Tips
- Use file watching:
python manage.py tailwind runserverfor automatic rebuilds - Declare template sources explicitly: Use
@sourcedirectives in your CSS so Tailwind only scans what you need - Optimize builds: Use
--forceonly when necessary - Monitor file changes: Use
--verbosefor detailed logging
🎨 DaisyUI Integration
Enable beautiful pre-built components:
# settings.py
TAILWIND_CLI_USE_DAISY_UI = True
<!-- Use DaisyUI components -->
<button class="btn btn-primary">Primary Button</button>
<div class="card bg-base-100 shadow-xl">
<div class="card-body">
<h2 class="card-title">Card Title</h2>
<p>Card content goes here.</p>
</div>
</div>
📚 Documentation & Resources
- 📖 Full Documentation: django-tailwind-cli.rtfd.io
- 🎯 Tailwind CSS Docs: tailwindcss.com
- 🧩 DaisyUI Components: daisyui.com
- 💬 Django Commons: github.com/django-commons
🔗 Related Projects
- tailwindcss-cli-extra: DaisyUI-enabled CLI
- Django Extensions: Extended runserver features
- Tailwind CSS IntelliSense: VS Code extension
🤝 Contributing
We welcome contributions! This project uses modern Python tooling for development.
Prerequisites
Quick Development Setup
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/django-commons/django-tailwind-cli.git
cd django-tailwind-cli
# Setup development environment (with just)
just bootstrap
# Or setup manually with uv
uv venv
uv sync --all-extras
Development Commands
# With just (recommended)
just upgrade # Update dependencies
just lint # Run linting and formatting
just test # Run test suite
just test-all # Run tests across Python/Django versions
# Without just
uv sync --all-extras # Update dependencies
uvx pre-commit run --all-files # Run linting
uv run pytest # Run tests
uvx --with tox-uv tox # Run full test matrix
Contribution Guidelines
- 🍴 Fork the repository
- 🌿 Create a feature branch (
git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature) - ✅ Test your changes (
just test) - 📝 Commit with conventional commits (
feat:,fix:,docs:, etc.) - 📤 Push to your branch (
git push origin feature/amazing-feature) - 🔄 Create a Pull Request
Code Quality
- Type hints for all new code
- Tests for new features and bug fixes
- Documentation updates for user-facing changes
- Conventional commits for clear history
License
This software is licensed under MIT license.
Project details
Verified details
These details have been verified by PyPIProject links
Owner
GitHub Statistics
Maintainers
Release history Release notifications | RSS feed
Download files
Download the file for your platform. If you're not sure which to choose, learn more about installing packages.
Source Distribution
Built Distribution
Filter files by name, interpreter, ABI, and platform.
If you're not sure about the file name format, learn more about wheel file names.
Copy a direct link to the current filters
File details
Details for the file django_tailwind_cli-4.6.0.tar.gz.
File metadata
- Download URL: django_tailwind_cli-4.6.0.tar.gz
- Upload date:
- Size: 117.7 kB
- Tags: Source
- Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? Yes
- Uploaded via: twine/6.1.0 CPython/3.13.7
File hashes
| Algorithm | Hash digest | |
|---|---|---|
| SHA256 |
c600daede503e6b3f64d97eca5dead2cca52d9057b8818ec17a75e060febbf03
|
|
| MD5 |
bd07ec472f4f5caa5b6388aca1394f13
|
|
| BLAKE2b-256 |
fe3476a7f2ca5af05268b116f8010663dc0404d1c95428662976db4f720b77b1
|
Provenance
The following attestation bundles were made for django_tailwind_cli-4.6.0.tar.gz:
Publisher:
release.yml on django-commons/django-tailwind-cli
-
Statement:
-
Statement type:
https://in-toto.io/Statement/v1 -
Predicate type:
https://docs.pypi.org/attestations/publish/v1 -
Subject name:
django_tailwind_cli-4.6.0.tar.gz -
Subject digest:
c600daede503e6b3f64d97eca5dead2cca52d9057b8818ec17a75e060febbf03 - Sigstore transparency entry: 1279079342
- Sigstore integration time:
-
Permalink:
django-commons/django-tailwind-cli@622288897daec06a75447f0f7c2ac9f5536da4f6 -
Branch / Tag:
refs/tags/v4.6.0 - Owner: https://github.com/django-commons
-
Access:
public
-
Token Issuer:
https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com -
Runner Environment:
github-hosted -
Publication workflow:
release.yml@622288897daec06a75447f0f7c2ac9f5536da4f6 -
Trigger Event:
push
-
Statement type:
File details
Details for the file django_tailwind_cli-4.6.0-py3-none-any.whl.
File metadata
- Download URL: django_tailwind_cli-4.6.0-py3-none-any.whl
- Upload date:
- Size: 37.0 kB
- Tags: Python 3
- Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? Yes
- Uploaded via: twine/6.1.0 CPython/3.13.7
File hashes
| Algorithm | Hash digest | |
|---|---|---|
| SHA256 |
232016bffc89ded46420a12df3fd75b4b055ee002a335445af695f2e49abf770
|
|
| MD5 |
24a6f29556b6aa1afd3eb15d19e935a7
|
|
| BLAKE2b-256 |
f2d406eb54e1d2762ff613f9f1aadcebf6c0044c39cb9e7725d22638e013fbd6
|
Provenance
The following attestation bundles were made for django_tailwind_cli-4.6.0-py3-none-any.whl:
Publisher:
release.yml on django-commons/django-tailwind-cli
-
Statement:
-
Statement type:
https://in-toto.io/Statement/v1 -
Predicate type:
https://docs.pypi.org/attestations/publish/v1 -
Subject name:
django_tailwind_cli-4.6.0-py3-none-any.whl -
Subject digest:
232016bffc89ded46420a12df3fd75b4b055ee002a335445af695f2e49abf770 - Sigstore transparency entry: 1279079347
- Sigstore integration time:
-
Permalink:
django-commons/django-tailwind-cli@622288897daec06a75447f0f7c2ac9f5536da4f6 -
Branch / Tag:
refs/tags/v4.6.0 - Owner: https://github.com/django-commons
-
Access:
public
-
Token Issuer:
https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com -
Runner Environment:
github-hosted -
Publication workflow:
release.yml@622288897daec06a75447f0f7c2ac9f5536da4f6 -
Trigger Event:
push
-
Statement type:
