The official Tailwind CSS Typography Style plugin provides a set of prose classes you can utilize to add beautiful typographic styles to any vanilla HTMLs you don’t control, like HTML rendered from Markdown, or pulled from a CMS.

<article class="prose lg:prose-xl">{{ markdown }}</article>

To see what it looks like in action, check out our live demo on Tailwind Play.

Installation

Install the plugin from npm:

npm install -D tailwind-typography-cssstyle

Then add the plugin to your main style.css file:

  @import "tailwindcss";
+ @plugin "tailwind-typography-cssstyle";

If you are still using Tailwind CSS v3, add the plugin to your tailwind.config.js file:

// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    // ...
  },
  plugins: [
    require('tailwind-typography-cssstyle'),
    // ...
  ],
}

Basic usage

Now you can use the prose classes to add sensible typography styles to any vanilla HTML:

<article class="prose lg:prose-xl">
  <h1>Carrots: A Scientific Look at Their Health Benefits</h1>
  <p>
    Recent studies have highlighted the numerous health benefits of carrots, making them a powerhouse in the realm of nutrition. Rich in beta-carotene, a precursor to vitamin A, carrots play a key role in promoting healthy vision and supporting immune function. Research has also shown that the antioxidants found in carrots can help reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease and certain cancers.
  </p>
  <p>
    Additionally, their high fiber content aids in digestion, contributing to overall gut health. As a result, incorporating carrots into a balanced diet is widely recommended by nutrition experts for maintaining optimal health.
  </p> 
  <!-- ... -->
</article>

Choosing a gray scale

This plugin includes a modifier class for each of the five gray scales Tailwind includes by default so you can easily style your content to match the grays you're using in your project.

<article class="prose prose-slate">{{ markdown }}</article>

Here are the classes that are generated using a totally default Tailwind CSS v2.0 build:

| Class | Gray scale | | ------------------------ | ---------- | | prose-gray (default) | Gray | | prose-slate | Slate | | prose-zinc | Zinc | | prose-neutral | Neutral | | prose-stone | Stone |

Modifier classes are designed to be used with the multi-class modifier pattern and must be used in conjunction with the base prose class.

[!NOTE] Always include the prose class when adding a gray scale modifier

<article class="prose prose-stone">{{ markdown }}</article>

To learn about creating your own color themes, read the adding custom color themes documentation.

Applying a type scale

Size modifiers allow you to adjust the overall size of your typography for different contexts.

<article class="prose prose-xl">{{ markdown }}</article>

Five different typography sizes are included out of the box:

| Class | Body font size | | ------------------------ | ----------------- | | prose-sm | 0.875rem (14px) | | prose-base (default) | 1rem (16px) | | prose-lg | 1.125rem (18px) | | prose-xl | 1.25rem (20px) | | prose-2xl | 1.5rem (24px) |

These can be used in combination with Tailwind's breakpoint modifiers to change the overall font size of a piece of content at different viewport sizes:

<article class="prose md:prose-lg lg:prose-xl">{{ markdown }}</article>

Everything about the provided size modifiers has been hand-tuned by professional designers to look as beautiful as possible, including the relationships between font sizes, heading spacing, code block padding, and more.

Size modifiers are designed to be used with the multi-class modifier pattern and must be used in conjunction with the base prose class.

[!NOTE] Always include the prose class when adding a size modifier

<article class="prose prose-lg">{{ markdown }}</article>

To learn about customizing the included type scales, read the documentation on customizing the CSS.

Adapting to dark mode

Each default color theme includes a hand-designed dark mode version that you can trigger by adding the prose-invert class:

<article class="prose dark:prose-invert">{{ markdown }}</article>

To learn about creating your own color themes, read the adding custom color themes documentation.

Element modifiers

Use element modifiers to customize the style of individual elements in your content directly in your HTML:

<article class="prose prose-img:rounded-xl prose-headings:underline prose-a:text-blue-600">
  {{ markdown }}
</article>

This makes it easy to do things like style links to match your brand, add a border radius to images, and tons more.

Here's a complete list of available element modifiers:

| Modifier | Target | | ---------------------------- | ---------------------------- | | prose-headings:{utility} | h1, h2, h3, h4, th | | prose-lead:{utility} | [class~="lead"] | | prose-h1:{utility} | h1 | | prose-h2:{utility} | h2 | | prose-h3:{utility} | h3 | | prose-h4:{utility} | h4 | | prose-p:{utility} | p | | prose-a:{utility} | a | | prose-blockquote:{utility} | blockquote | | prose-figure:{utility} | figure | | prose-figcaption:{utility} | figcaption | | prose-strong:{utility} | strong | | prose-em:{utility} | em | | prose-kbd:{utility} | kbd | | prose-code:{utility} | code | | prose-pre:{utility} | pre | | prose-ol:{utility} | ol | | prose-ul:{utility} | ul | | prose-li:{utility} | li | | prose-dl:{utility} | dl | | prose-dt:{utility} | dt | | prose-dd:{utility} | dd | | prose-table:{utility} | table | | prose-thead:{utility} | thead | | prose-tr:{utility} | tr | | prose-th:{utility} | th | | prose-td:{utility} | td | | prose-img:{utility} | img | | prose-picture:{utility} | picture | | prose-video:{utility} | video | | prose-hr:{utility} | hr |

When stacking these modifiers with other modifiers like hover, you most likely want the other modifier to come last:

<article class="prose prose-a:text-blue-600 prose-a:hover:text-blue-500">{{ markdown }}</article>

If you are still using in Tailwind CSS v3, the modifier order is the opposite:

<article class="prose prose-a:text-blue-600 hover:prose-a:text-blue-500">{{ markdown }}</article>

Read the Tailwind CSS documentation on stacked modifiers to learn more.

Overriding max-width

Each size modifier comes with a baked in max-width designed to keep the content as readable as possible. This isn't always what you want though, and sometimes you'll want the content to just fill the width of its container.

In those cases, all you need to do is add max-w-none to your content to override the embedded max-width:

<div class="grid grid-cols-4">
  <div class="col-span-1">
    <!-- ... -->
  </div>
  <div class="col-span-3">
    <article class="prose max-w-none">{{ markdown }}</article>
  </div>
</div>

Advanced topics

Undoing typography styles

If you have a block of markup embedded in some content that shouldn't inherit the prose styles, use the not-prose class to sandbox it:

<article class="prose">
  <h1>My Heading</h1>
  <p>...</p>

  <div class="not-prose">
    <!-- Some example or demo that needs to be prose-free -->
  </div>

  <p>...</p>
  <!-- ... -->
</article>

Note that you can't nest new prose instances within a not-prose block at this time.

Even when using a prefix for your utilities not-prose should not have a prefix.

Adding custom color themes

To customize the color theme beyond simple CSS overrides, add a @utility directive to your CSS file:

@utility prose-pink {
  --tw-prose-body: var(--color-pink-800);
  --tw-prose-headings: var(--color-pink-900);
  --tw-prose-lead: var(--color-pink-700);
  --tw-prose-links: var(--color-pink-900);
  --tw-prose-bold: var(--color-pink-900);
  --tw-prose-counters: var(--color-pink-600);
  --tw-prose-bullets: var(--color-pink-400);
  --tw-prose-hr: var(--color-pink-300);
  --tw-prose-quotes: var(--color-pink-900);
  --tw-prose-quote-borders: var(--color-pink-300);
  --tw-prose-captions: var(--color-pink-700);
  --tw-prose-code: var(--color-pink-900);
  --tw-prose-pre-code: var(--color-pink-100);
  --tw-prose-pre-bg: var(--color-pink-900);
  --tw-prose-th-borders: var(--color-pink-300);
  --tw-prose-td-borders: var(--color-pink-200);
  --tw-prose-invert-body: var(--color-pink-200);
  --tw-prose-invert-headings: var(--color-white);
  --tw-prose-invert-lead: var(--color-pink-300);
  --tw-prose-invert-links: var(--color-white);
  --tw-prose-invert-bold: var(--color-white);
  --tw-prose-invert-counters: var(--color-pink-400);
  --tw-prose-invert-bullets: var(--color-pink-600);
  --tw-prose-invert-hr: var(--color-pink-700);
  --tw-prose-invert-quotes: var(--color-pink-100);
  --tw-prose-invert-quote-borders: var(--color-pink-700);
  --tw-prose-invert-captions: var(--color-pink-400);
  --tw-prose-invert-code: var(--color-white);
  --tw-prose-invert-pre-code: var(--color-pink-300);
  --tw-prose-invert-pre-bg: rgb(0 0 0 / 50%);
  --tw-prose-invert-th-borders: var(--color-pink-600);
  --tw-prose-invert-td-borders: var(--color-pink-700);
}

For Tailwind v3, update the typography section in the JavaScript config file and provide your colors under the css key:

/** @type {import('tailwindcss').Config} */
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      typography: () => ({
        pink: {
          css: {
            '--tw-prose-body': 'var(--color-pink-800)',
            '--tw-prose-headings': 'var(--color-pink-900)',
            '--tw-prose-lead': 'var(--color-pink-700)',
            '--tw-prose-links': 'var(--color-pink-900)',
            '--tw-prose-bold': 'var(--color-pink-900)',
            '--tw-prose-counters': 'var(--color-pink-600)',
            '--tw-prose-bullets': 'var(--color-pink-400)',
            '--tw-prose-hr': 'var(--color-pink-300)',
            '--tw-prose-quotes': 'var(--color-pink-900)',
            '--tw-prose-quote-borders': 'var(--color-pink-300)',
            '--tw-prose-captions': 'var(--color-pink-700)',
            '--tw-prose-code': 'var(--color-pink-900)',
            '--tw-prose-pre-code': 'var(--color-pink-100)',
            '--tw-prose-pre-bg': 'var(--color-pink-900)',
            '--tw-prose-th-borders': 'var(--color-pink-300)',
            '--tw-prose-td-borders': 'var(--color-pink-200)',
            '--tw-prose-invert-body': 'var(--color-pink-200)',
            '--tw-prose-invert-headings': 'var(--color-white)',
            '--tw-prose-invert-lead': 'var(--color-pink-300)',
            '--tw-prose-invert-links': 'var(--color-white)',
            '--tw-prose-invert-bold': 'var(--color-white)',
            '--tw-prose-invert-counters': 'var(--color-pink-400)',
            '--tw-prose-invert-bullets': 'var(--color-pink-600)',
            '--tw-prose-invert-hr': 'var(--color-pink-700)',
            '--tw-prose-invert-quotes': 'var(--color-pink-100)',
            '--tw-prose-invert-quote-borders': 'var(--color-pink-700)',
            '--tw-prose-invert-captions': 'var(--color-pink-400)',
            '--tw-prose-invert-code': 'var(--color-white)',
            '--tw-prose-invert-pre-code': 'var(--color-pink-300)',
            '--tw-prose-invert-pre-bg': 'rgb(0 0 0 / 50%)',
            '--tw-prose-invert-th-borders': 'var(--color-pink-600)',
            '--tw-prose-invert-td-borders': 'var(--color-pink-700)',
          },
        },
      }),
    },
  },
}

Changing the default class name

If you need to use a class name other than prose for any reason, you can do so using the className option when registering the plugin:

@import 'tailwindcss';
@plugin "tailwind-typography-cssstyle" {
  classname: wysiwyg;
}

Now every instance of prose in the default class names will be replaced by your custom class name:

<article class="wysiwyg wysiwyg-slate lg:wysiwyg-xl">
  <h1>My Heading</h1>
  <p>...</p>

  <div class="not-wysiwyg">
    <!-- Some example or demo that needs to be prose-free -->
  </div>

  <p>...</p>
  <!-- ... -->
</article>

Customizing the CSS

If you want to customize the raw CSS generated by this plugin, you can use the JavaScript based theme API. To do that, use the @config directive:

  @import "tailwindcss";
  @plugin "tailwind-typography-cssstyle";
+ @config "./tailwind.config.js";

You can then create your own config by adding a new tailwind.config.js file with the typography section and providing your styles under the css key:

/** @type {import('tailwindcss').Config} */
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      typography: {
        DEFAULT: {
          css: {
            color: '#333',
            a: {
              color: '#3182ce',
              '&:hover': {
                color: '#2c5282',
              },
            },
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Like with all theme customizations in Tailwind, you can use CSS variables if you need access to access your theme configuration:

/** @type {import('tailwindcss').Config} */
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      typography: {
        DEFAULT: {
          css: {
            color: 'var(--color-gray-800)',
            // ...
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Customizations should be applied to a specific modifier like DEFAULT or xl, and must be added under the css property. Customizations are authored in the same CSS-in-JS syntax used to write Tailwind v3 plugins.

Community

For help, discussion about best practices, or any other conversation that would benefit from being searchable:

Discuss the Tailwind CSS Typography plugin on GitHub

For casual chit-chat with others using the framework:

Join the Tailwind CSS Discord Server