PostCSS

PostCSS takes a CSS file and provides an API to analyze and modify its rules (by transforming them into an Abstract Syntax Tree). This API can then be used by plugins to do a lot of useful things, e.g., to find errors automatically, or to insert vendor prefixes.

Currently, PostCSS has more than 200 plugins. You can find all of the plugins in the plugins list or in the searchable catalog. Below is a list of our favorite plugins — the best demonstrations of what can be built on top of PostCSS.

If you have any new ideas, PostCSS plugin development is really easy.

Solve Global CSS Problem

• postcss-use allows you to explicitly set PostCSS plugins within CSS and execute them only for the current file.
• postcss-modules and react-css-modules automatically isolate selectors within components.
• postcss-autoreset is an alternative to using a global reset that is better for isolatable components.
• postcss-initial adds all: initial support, which resets all inherited styles.
• cq-prolyfill adds container query support, allowing styles that respond to the width of the parent.

Use Future CSS, Today

• autoprefixer adds vendor prefixes, using data from Can I Use.
• postcss-preset-env allows you to use future CSS features today.

Better CSS Readability

• postcss-nested unwraps nested rules the way Sass does.
• postcss-sorting sorts the content of rules and at-rules.
• postcss-utilities includes the most commonly used shortcuts and helpers.
• short adds and extends numerous shorthand properties.

Images and Fonts

• postcss-url postcss plugin to rebase url(), inline or copy asset.
• postcss-sprites generates image sprites.
• font-magician generates all the @font-face rules needed in CSS.
• postcss-inline-svg allows you to inline SVG and customize its styles.
• postcss-write-svg allows you to write simple SVG directly in your CSS.
• webp-in-css to use WebP image format in CSS background.
• avif-in-css to use AVIF image format in CSS background.

Linters

• stylelint is a modular stylesheet linter.
• stylefmt is a tool that automatically formats CSS according stylelint rules.
• doiuse lints CSS for browser support, using data from Can I Use.
• colorguard helps you maintain a consistent color palette.

Other

• cssnano is a modular CSS minifier.
• lost is a feature-rich calc() grid system.
• rtlcss mirrors styles for right-to-left locales.

Syntaxes

PostCSS can transform styles in any syntax, not just CSS. If there is not yet support for your favorite syntax, you can write a parser and/or stringifier to extend PostCSS.

• sugarss is a indent-based syntax like Sass or Stylus.
• postcss-syntax switch syntax automatically by file extensions.
• postcss-html parsing styles in <style> tags of HTML-like files.
• postcss-markdown parsing styles in code blocks of Markdown files.
• postcss-styled-syntax parses styles in template literals CSS-in-JS like styled-components.
• postcss-jsx parsing CSS in template / object literals of source files.
• postcss-styled parsing CSS in template literals of source files.
• postcss-scss allows you to work with SCSS (but does not compile SCSS to CSS).
• postcss-sass allows you to work with Sass (but does not compile Sass to CSS).
• postcss-less allows you to work with Less (but does not compile LESS to CSS).
• postcss-less-engine allows you to work with Less (and DOES compile LESS to CSS using true Less.js evaluation).
• postcss-js allows you to write styles in JS or transform React Inline Styles, Radium or JSS.
• postcss-safe-parser finds and fixes CSS syntax errors.
• midas converts a CSS string to highlighted HTML.

Articles

• Some things you may think about PostCSS… and you might be wrong
• What PostCSS Really Is; What It Really Does
• PostCSS Guides

More articles and videos you can find on awesome-postcss list.

Books

• Mastering PostCSS for Web Design by Alex Libby, Packt. (June 2016)