strict-tailwind-order

A Prettier 3 plugin and CLI that runs the official prettier-plugin-tailwindcss first, then applies strict functional class ordering and family-safe class-line wrapping as the final stage.

The package does not fork, vendor, copy, or reimplement the official plugin.

Requirements

• Node.js >=20.19
• Prettier >=3.7.0 <4.0.0
• prettier-plugin-tailwindcss >=0.8.0 <0.9.0

Install

npm install -D prettier@^3.7.0 [email protected] strict-tailwind-order

With pnpm:

pnpm add -D prettier@^3.7.0 [email protected] strict-tailwind-order

Configure

Use one regular Prettier configuration:

const config = {
  semi: true,
  singleQuote: true,
  printWidth: 120,
  plugins: ['prettier-plugin-tailwindcss', 'strict-tailwind-order'],
};

export default config;

Run the strict-tailwind-order CLI rather than raw prettier when both sorters are configured. The CLI creates two isolated configurations internally:

source
→ Prettier + prettier-plugin-tailwindcss
→ Prettier + strict-tailwind-order
→ final output

Other parser and language plugins remain available in both stages. The official plugin is removed from the strict stage and cannot run again after strict sorting or wrapping.

CLI

npx strict-tailwind-order --write .
npx strict-tailwind-order --check .
npx strict-tailwind-order --write src
npx strict-tailwind-order --check src/App.vue
npx strict-tailwind-order --check "src/**/*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx,vue,html,css}"

--write performs both stages in memory and writes only the final output after both stages succeed. --check uses the same pipeline without modifying files.

The CLI uses the consumer project's Prettier configuration, overrides, .prettierignore, parser inference, installed Prettier, and installed official plugin.

Explicit Prettier config

When the Prettier config is outside a standard discovery location, pass it explicitly:

strict-tailwind-order --write . --config config/prettier.config.mjs
strict-tailwind-order --check pages/01/src/App.vue --config config/prettier.config.mjs

The option may appear before or after the inputs:

strict-tailwind-order --config config/prettier.config.mjs --write .
strict-tailwind-order --write . --config config/prettier.config.mjs

--config-path is an alias for --config. Relative paths are resolved from the current working directory; absolute paths are supported. The same resolved config is used by both stages, including filepath-based overrides, additional plugins, Tailwind options, and environment-dependent logic such as process.env.PAGE.

The CLI does not silently treat config/prettier.config.mjs as a special global fallback. Use --config when the file is not discoverable by Prettier. This avoids ambiguous or surprising config selection in generic projects.

Package scripts

Config in a standard location:

{
  "scripts": {
    "format": "strict-tailwind-order --write .",
    "format:check": "strict-tailwind-order --check ."
  }
}

Config in config/prettier.config.mjs:

{
  "scripts": {
    "format": "strict-tailwind-order --write . --config config/prettier.config.mjs",
    "format:check": "strict-tailwind-order --check . --config config/prettier.config.mjs"
  }
}

For multi-page projects, keep the existing command that sets PAGE and replace only the raw prettier executable with strict-tailwind-order, adding --config config/prettier.config.mjs.

CI

- run: npm ci
- run: npm run format:check

Pre-commit

Pass the staged file paths to the local CLI. Do not run the official plugin in a separate command after it.

npx strict-tailwind-order --write src/App.vue src/components/Card.tsx

Official plugin options

The official stage receives the project's official options unchanged, including supported stylesheet, config, attribute, function, duplicate, and whitespace options.

The strict stage maps these options when an equivalent exists:

| Official option | Strict option | | --- | --- | | tailwindStylesheet or tailwindEntryPoint | strictTailwindStylesheet | | tailwindAttributes | strictTailwindAttributes | | tailwindFunctions | strictTailwindFunctions | | tailwindPreserveWhitespace | strictTailwindPreserveWhitespace |

tailwindConfig, tailwindPackageName, and tailwindPreserveDuplicates remain official-stage options. The strict stage removes them rather than passing unknown options to Prettier.

Strict options

const config = {
  plugins: ['prettier-plugin-tailwindcss', 'strict-tailwind-order'],
  strictTailwindMaxClassLineLength: 100,
  strictTailwindStylesheet: 'src/main.css',
  strictTailwindAttributes: ['button-class'],
  strictTailwindFunctions: ['cx'],
  strictTailwindPreserveWhitespace: false,
};

export default config;

strictTailwindStylesheet is optional because stylesheet discovery remains enabled by default. Set strictTailwindMaxClassLineLength to 0 to disable class-content wrapping.

Vue regular HTML self-closing compatibility

The combined CLI protects regular lowercase HTML elements that are written as self-closing Vue template elements before the official stage, restores them before the strict stage, and preserves their final structure:

<p class="mb-4 px-2 md:mb-8 md:px-4" />

The compatibility layer does not convert the element to <p></p> or to a fragment. It does not rewrite Vue components, void elements, already-closed regular elements, comments, script strings, style content, directives, or class bindings. Class values remain available to the official stage and are then sorted and wrapped by strict as the final operation.

Protection markers are collision-safe for single- and double-digit indexes, are fully restored before the strict stage, and must never appear in final output. The regression suite covers files with more than ten protected self-closing elements and entity-like attribute values.

Existing strict behavior

• Sorts Vue and HTML class, JSX and TSX className, Vue transition class attributes, dynamic class strings, and configured helper functions.
• Detects common stylesheet entry points, imported local stylesheets, sibling src/js and src/css, resources/builds/default/js and css, and isolated multi-page layouts.
• Detects Tailwind v4 breakpoints, custom classes, @utility, and @custom-variant declarations.
• Preserves regular HTML self-closing elements inside Vue.
• Wraps class content without splitting utility families.
• Keeps unknown classes stable at the end.

Missing or incompatible dependencies

The CLI fails without modifying files when the consumer project is missing Prettier or prettier-plugin-tailwindcss.

It also reports the detected version, supported range, and installation command when either dependency is outside the supported range.

The official plugin can be updated independently within >=0.8.0 <0.9.0. A newer minor line must be verified before extending that range.

PhpStorm File Watcher

Disable PhpStorm's built-in Run Prettier on save for the same files. Otherwise the built-in formatter can race with the two-stage CLI and replace the final strict order.

Open:

Settings → Tools → File Watchers

Create a custom watcher with these values.

Config in a standard location

Linux and macOS:

Program: $ProjectFileDir$/node_modules/.bin/strict-tailwind-order
Arguments: --write "$FilePath$"
Working directory: $ProjectFileDir$
Output paths to refresh: $FilePath$

Windows:

Program: $ProjectFileDir$\node_modules\.bin\strict-tailwind-order.cmd
Arguments: --write "$FilePath$"
Working directory: $ProjectFileDir$
Output paths to refresh: $FilePath$

Config in config/prettier.config.mjs

Program: node_modules/.bin/strict-tailwind-order
Arguments: --write "$FilePath$" --config config/prettier.config.mjs
Working directory: $ProjectFileDir$

Configure the watcher for each supported file type or for a project scope covering the required files. The command receives only the current file, including paths containing spaces.

Use these watcher settings:

• Clear Create output file from stdout.
• Set console output to appear on errors.
• Clear Trigger the watcher on external changes to prevent the CLI write from starting another watcher run.
• Keep the working directory at the project root so dependency, config, stylesheet, and ignore resolution use the consumer project.

Save the file twice during setup. The first save may format it; the second must produce no change.

PhpStorm can store a project-level watcher under .idea when the watcher is created at project level. Commit that IDE configuration only when the team intentionally shares it and has reviewed the generated paths.

Direct Prettier plugin usage

The original direct plugin mode remains available for projects that do not use prettier-plugin-tailwindcss:

export default {
  plugins: ['strict-tailwind-order'],
};

Raw Prettier format-on-save cannot guarantee the required official-first and strict-last execution when both sorter plugins are loaded in one run. Use the CLI, a package script, CI command, pre-commit command, or PhpStorm File Watcher for the combined architecture.