daisyUI 5

CSS component library for Tailwind CSS 4. Provides semantic class names for common UI components.

Install

1. Requires Tailwind CSS 4. No tailwind.config.js (deprecated in v4).
2. Install: npm i -D daisyui@latest
3. CSS file:

@import "tailwindcss";
@plugin "daisyui";

4. CDN alternative:

<link href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/daisyui@5" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@tailwindcss/browser@4"></script>

Usage Rules

1. Style elements by combining: component class + part classes + modifier classes
2. Customize with Tailwind utility classes when daisyUI classes aren’t sufficient (e.g. btn px-10)
3. Use ! suffix on utilities as last resort for specificity (e.g. btn bg-red-500!)
4. If a component doesn’t exist in daisyUI, build it with Tailwind utilities
5. Use Tailwind responsive prefixes for flex/grid layouts
6. Only use daisyUI class names or Tailwind utility classes — no custom CSS
7. Use https://picsum.photos/{w}/{h} for placeholder images
8. Don’t add custom fonts unless necessary
9. Don’t add bg-base-100 text-base-content to body unless necessary
10. Follow Refactoring UI best practices for design decisions

Class Name Categories

• component: Required component class
• part: Child part of a component
• style: Sets specific style
• behavior: Changes behavior
• color: Sets specific color
• size: Sets specific size
• placement/direction: Sets position/direction
• modifier: Modifies component
• variant: Conditional prefix (variant:utility-class)

Colors

Semantic Color Names

Color Rules

1. Use daisyUI color names in Tailwind utilities: bg-primary, text-base-content
2. Colors change automatically per theme — no dark: prefix needed
3. Avoid Tailwind color names (e.g. text-gray-800) — they don’t adapt to themes
4. Use base-* colors for page majority, primary for important elements
5. *-content colors must contrast well against their associated colors

Config

@plugin "daisyui"; /* no config */

@plugin "daisyui" {
  themes: light --default, dark --prefersdark;
  root: ":root";
  include: ;
  exclude: ;
  prefix: ;
  logs: true;
}

Config options: themes (enable/set default), root, include/exclude (components), prefix (e.g. daisy-), logs.

Custom Themes

@plugin "daisyui/theme" {
  name: "mytheme";
  default: true;
  prefersdark: false;
  color-scheme: light;
  --color-base-100: oklch(98% 0.02 240);
  --color-base-200: oklch(95% 0.03 240);
  --color-base-300: oklch(92% 0.04 240);
  --color-base-content: oklch(20% 0.05 240);
  --color-primary: oklch(55% 0.3 240);
  --color-primary-content: oklch(98% 0.01 240);
  --color-secondary: oklch(70% 0.25 200);
  --color-secondary-content: oklch(98% 0.01 200);
  --color-accent: oklch(65% 0.25 160);
  --color-accent-content: oklch(98% 0.01 160);
  --color-neutral: oklch(50% 0.05 240);
  --color-neutral-content: oklch(98% 0.01 240);
  --color-info: oklch(70% 0.2 220);
  --color-info-content: oklch(98% 0.01 220);
  --color-success: oklch(65% 0.25 140);
  --color-success-content: oklch(98% 0.01 140);
  --color-warning: oklch(80% 0.25 80);
  --color-warning-content: oklch(20% 0.05 80);
  --color-error: oklch(65% 0.3 30);
  --color-error-content: oklch(98% 0.01 30);
  --radius-selector: 1rem;
  --radius-field: 0.25rem;
  --radius-box: 0.5rem;
  --size-selector: 0.25rem;
  --size-field: 0.25rem;
  --border: 1px;
  --depth: 1;
  --noise: 0;
}

All CSS variables above are required. Colors can be OKLCH, hex, or other formats.

Creating DaisyUI Components

Follow this workflow when creating or extending React components that wrap daisyUI. See references/creating-components.md for detailed patterns, compound component examples, and test templates.

1. Resolve the components directory

Check AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md for a DAISY_COMPONENTS_DIR variable. If not found, use src/components/daisy.

2. Ensure foundational files exist

Before creating any component, verify the project has the required infrastructure. If any are missing, create them from the bundled scripts/ templates. See references/creating-components.md for the full bootstrapping checklist and file contents.

Required files:

• <DAISY_COMPONENTS_DIR>/daisy-meta.ts — from bundled scripts/daisy-meta.ts
• generators/daisy/generate-daisy-safelist.ts — from bundled scripts/generate-daisy-safelist.ts (update the import path to point to daisy-meta.ts)
• src/app/styles/daisy.css — must import daisyUI plugin and the generated safelist
• package.json script "generate:safelist" — must run the generator
• The daisy.css file must be imported in the root layout or global CSS entry point

3. Register in daisy-meta.ts

Add the new component’s capabilities to COMPONENT_CAPABILITIES in <DAISY_COMPONENTS_DIR>/daisy-meta.ts. Reference the daisyUI docs (see Component Reference below) for which modifiers it supports.

4. Create the component

• Follow patterns in existing <DAISY_COMPONENTS_DIR>/daisy* files
• Prefer compound components for multi-part daisyUI components (card, modal, dropdown, etc.)
• Each sub-component in a compound component gets its own file
• See references/creating-components.md for compound component structure

5. Generate safelist

npm run generate:safelist

Generates src/app/styles/daisy-safelist.css.

6. Add tests

Use the project’s test framework (check package.json for jest/vitest). Default to Jest + React Testing Library. Test: rendering, prop variations (colors, sizes, variants), compound component composition, and accessibility.

7. Extend the safelist generator

If the new component introduces a capability modifier not yet handled in generate-daisy-safelist.ts, update buildClassList() to iterate over it.

Component Reference

Component docs are split by category. Read only the relevant file:

• Layout components: See references/layout.md drawer, navbar, footer, hero, dock, divider, indicator, join, stack, fab
• Data display: See references/data-display.md card, list, table, stat, badge, avatar, chat, timeline, countdown, diff, carousel, hover-3d, hover-gallery, text-rotate
• Input components: See references/input.md button, input, textarea, select, checkbox, radio, toggle, range, rating, file-input, filter, fieldset, label, validator, calendar
• Feedback & overlay: See references/feedback.md alert, modal, toast, loading, skeleton, progress, radial-progress, status, steps, swap, tab
• Navigation & chrome: See references/navigation.md accordion, collapse, breadcrumbs, dropdown, tooltip, link, kbd, menu, mask, mockup-browser, mockup-code, mockup-phone, mockup-window, pagination, theme-controller