Bun’s bundler has built-in support for CSS with the following features:
- Transpiling modern/future features to work on all browsers (including vendor prefixing)
- Minification
- CSS Modules
- Tailwind (via a native bundler plugin)
Transpiling
Bun’s CSS bundler lets you use modern/future CSS features without having to worry about browser compatibility — all thanks to its transpiling and vendor prefixing features which are enabled by default.
Bun’s CSS parser and bundler is a direct Rust → Zig port of LightningCSS, with a bundling approach inspired by esbuild. The transpiler converts modern CSS syntax into backwards-compatible equivalents that work across browsers.
A huge thanks goes to the amazing work from the authors of LightningCSS and esbuild.
Browser Compatibility
By default, Bun’s CSS bundler targets the following browsers:
- ES2020
- Edge 88+
- Firefox 78+
- Chrome 87+
- Safari 14+
Syntax Lowering
Nesting
The CSS Nesting specification allows you to write more concise and intuitive stylesheets by nesting selectors inside one another. Instead of repeating parent selectors across your CSS file, you can write child styles directly within their parent blocks.
/* With nesting */
.card {
	background: white;
	border-radius: 4px;
	.title {
		font-size: 1.2rem;
		font-weight: bold;
	}
	.content {
		padding: 1rem;
	}
}
/* Compiled output */
.card {
	background: white;
	border-radius: 4px;
}
.card .title {
	font-size: 1.2rem;
	font-weight: bold;
}
.card .content {
	padding: 1rem;
}
.responsive-element {
	display: block;
	@media (min-width: 768px) {
		display: flex;
	}
}
.responsive-element {
	display: block;
}
@media (min-width: 768px) {
	.responsive-element {
		display: flex;
	}
}
Color mix
The color-mix() function gives you an easy way to blend two colors together according to a specified ratio in a chosen color space. This powerful feature lets you create color variations without manually calculating the resulting values.
.button {
	/* Mix blue and red in the RGB color space with a 30/70 proportion */
	background-color: color-mix(in srgb, blue 30%, red);
	/* Create a lighter variant for hover state */
	&:hover {
		background-color: color-mix(in srgb, blue 30%, red, white 20%);
	}
}
.button {
	/* Computed to the exact resulting color */
	background-color: #b31a1a;
}
.button:hover {
	background-color: #c54747;
}
Relative colors
CSS now allows you to modify individual components of a color using relative color syntax. This powerful feature lets you create color variations by adjusting specific attributes like lightness, saturation, or individual channels without having to recalculate the entire color.
.theme-color {
	/* Start with a base color and increase lightness by 15% */
	--accent: lch(from purple calc(l + 15%) c h);
	/* Take our brand blue and make a desaturated version */
	--subtle-blue: oklch(from var(--brand-blue) l calc(c * 0.8) h);
}
.theme-color {
	--accent: lch(69.32% 58.34 328.37);
	--subtle-blue: oklch(60.92% 0.112 240.01);
}
LAB colors
Modern CSS supports perceptually uniform color spaces like LAB, LCH, OKLAB, and OKLCH that offer significant advantages over traditional RGB. These color spaces can represent colors outside the standard RGB gamut, resulting in more vibrant and visually consistent designs.
.vibrant-element {
	/* A vibrant red that exceeds sRGB gamut boundaries */
	color: lab(55% 78 35);
	/* A smooth gradient using perceptual color space */
	background: linear-gradient(to right, oklch(65% 0.25 10deg), oklch(65% 0.25 250deg));
}
.vibrant-element {
	/* Fallback to closest RGB approximation */
	color: #ff0f52;
	/* P3 fallback for browsers with wider gamut support */
	color: color(display-p3 1 0.12 0.37);
	/* Original value preserved for browsers that support it */
	color: lab(55% 78 35);
	background: linear-gradient(to right, #cd4e15, #3887ab);
	background: linear-gradient(to right, oklch(65% 0.25 10deg), oklch(65% 0.25 250deg));
}
Color function
The color() function provides a standardized way to specify colors in various predefined color spaces, expanding your design options beyond the traditional RGB space. This allows you to access wider color gamuts and create more vibrant designs.
.vivid-element {
	/* Using the Display P3 color space for wider gamut colors */
	color: color(display-p3 1 0.1 0.3);
	/* Using A98 RGB color space */
	background-color: color(a98-rgb 0.44 0.5 0.37);
}
.vivid-element {
	/* RGB fallback first for maximum compatibility */
	color: #fa1a4c;
	/* Keep original for browsers that support it */
	color: color(display-p3 1 0.1 0.3);
	background-color: #6a805d;
	background-color: color(a98-rgb 0.44 0.5 0.37);
}
HWB colors
The HWB (Hue, Whiteness, Blackness) color model provides an intuitive way to express colors based on how much white or black is mixed with a pure hue. Many designers find this approach more natural for creating color variations compared to manipulating RGB or HSL values.
.easy-theming {
	/* Pure cyan with no white or black added */
	--primary: hwb(180 0% 0%);
	/* Same hue, but with 20% white added (tint) */
	--primary-light: hwb(180 20% 0%);
	/* Same hue, but with 30% black added (shade) */
	--primary-dark: hwb(180 0% 30%);
	/* Muted version with both white and black added */
	--primary-muted: hwb(180 30% 20%);
}
.easy-theming {
	--primary: #00ffff;
	--primary-light: #33ffff;
	--primary-dark: #00b3b3;
	--primary-muted: #339999;
}
Color notation
Modern CSS has introduced more intuitive and concise ways to express colors. Space-separated color syntax eliminates the need for commas in RGB and HSL values, while hex colors with alpha channels provide a compact way to specify transparency.
.modern-styling {
	/* Space-separated RGB notation (no commas) */
	color: rgb(50 100 200);
	/* Space-separated RGB with alpha */
	border-color: rgba(100 50 200 / 75%);
	/* Hex with alpha channel (8 digits) */
	background-color: #00aaff80;
	/* HSL with simplified notation */
	box-shadow: 0 5px 10px hsl(200 50% 30% / 40%);
}
.modern-styling {
	/* Converted to comma format for older browsers */
	color: rgb(50, 100, 200);
	/* Alpha channels handled appropriately */
	border-color: rgba(100, 50, 200, 0.75);
	/* Hex+alpha converted to rgba when needed */
	background-color: rgba(0, 170, 255, 0.5);
	box-shadow: 0 5px 10px rgba(38, 115, 153, 0.4);
}
light-dark() color function
The light-dark() function provides an elegant solution for implementing color schemes that respect the user’s system preference without requiring complex media queries. This function accepts two color values and automatically selects the appropriate one based on the current color scheme context.
:root {
	/* Define color scheme support */
	color-scheme: light dark;
}
.themed-component {
	/* Automatically picks the right color based on system preference */
	background-color: light-dark(#ffffff, #121212);
	color: light-dark(#333333, #eeeeee);
	border-color: light-dark(#dddddd, #555555);
}
/* Override system preference when needed */
.light-theme {
	color-scheme: light;
}
.dark-theme {
	color-scheme: dark;
}
:root {
	--lightningcss-light: initial;
	--lightningcss-dark: ;
	color-scheme: light dark;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
	:root {
		--lightningcss-light: ;
		--lightningcss-dark: initial;
	}
}
.light-theme {
	--lightningcss-light: initial;
	--lightningcss-dark: ;
	color-scheme: light;
}
.dark-theme {
	--lightningcss-light: ;
	--lightningcss-dark: initial;
	color-scheme: dark;
}
.themed-component {
	background-color: var(--lightningcss-light, #ffffff) var(--lightningcss-dark, #121212);
	color: var(--lightningcss-light, #333333) var(--lightningcss-dark, #eeeeee);
	border-color: var(--lightningcss-light, #dddddd) var(--lightningcss-dark, #555555);
}
Logical properties
CSS logical properties let you define layout, spacing, and sizing relative to the document’s writing mode and text direction rather than physical screen directions. This is crucial for creating truly international layouts that automatically adapt to different writing systems.
.multilingual-component {
	/* Margin that adapts to writing direction */
	margin-inline-start: 1rem;
	/* Padding that makes sense regardless of text direction */
	padding-block: 1rem 2rem;
	/* Border radius for the starting corner at the top */
	border-start-start-radius: 4px;
	/* Size that respects the writing mode */
	inline-size: 80%;
	block-size: auto;
}
/* For left-to-right languages */
.multilingual-component:dir(ltr) {
	margin-left: 1rem;
	padding-top: 1rem;
	padding-bottom: 2rem;
	border-top-left-radius: 4px;
	width: 80%;
	height: auto;
}
/* For right-to-left languages */
.multilingual-component:dir(rtl) {
	margin-right: 1rem;
	padding-top: 1rem;
	padding-bottom: 2rem;
	border-top-right-radius: 4px;
	width: 80%;
	height: auto;
}
:dir() selector isn’t supported, additional fallbacks are automatically generated to ensure your layouts work properly across all browsers and writing systems. This makes creating internationalized designs much simpler while maintaining compatibility with older browsers.
:dir() selector
The :dir() pseudo-class selector allows you to style elements based on their text direction (RTL or LTR), providing a powerful way to create direction-aware designs without JavaScript. This selector matches elements based on their directionality as determined by the document or explicit direction attributes.
/* Apply different styles based on text direction */
.nav-arrow:dir(ltr) {
	transform: rotate(0deg);
}
.nav-arrow:dir(rtl) {
	transform: rotate(180deg);
}
/* Position elements based on text flow */
.sidebar:dir(ltr) {
	border-right: 1px solid #ddd;
}
.sidebar:dir(rtl) {
	border-left: 1px solid #ddd;
}
:dir() selector yet, Bun’s CSS bundler converts it to the more widely supported :lang() selector with appropriate language mappings:
/* Converted to use language-based selectors as fallback */
.nav-arrow:lang(en, fr, de, es, it, pt, nl) {
	transform: rotate(0deg);
}
.nav-arrow:lang(ar, he, fa, ur) {
	transform: rotate(180deg);
}
.sidebar:lang(en, fr, de, es, it, pt, nl) {
	border-right: 1px solid #ddd;
}
.sidebar:lang(ar, he, fa, ur) {
	border-left: 1px solid #ddd;
}
:dir() selector natively. If multiple arguments to :lang() aren’t supported, further fallbacks are automatically provided.
:lang() selector
The :lang() pseudo-class selector allows you to target elements based on the language they’re in, making it easy to apply language-specific styling. Modern CSS allows the :lang() selector to accept multiple language codes, letting you group language-specific rules more efficiently.
/* Typography adjustments for CJK languages */
:lang(zh, ja, ko) {
	line-height: 1.8;
	font-size: 1.05em;
}
/* Different quote styles by language group */
blockquote:lang(fr, it, es, pt) {
	font-style: italic;
}
blockquote:lang(de, nl, da, sv) {
	font-weight: 500;
}
:lang() selector, Bun’s CSS bundler converts this syntax to use the :is() selector to maintain the same behavior:
/* Multiple languages grouped with :is() for better browser support */
:is(:lang(zh), :lang(ja), :lang(ko)) {
	line-height: 1.8;
	font-size: 1.05em;
}
blockquote:is(:lang(fr), :lang(it), :lang(es), :lang(pt)) {
	font-style: italic;
}
blockquote:is(:lang(de), :lang(nl), :lang(da), :lang(sv)) {
	font-weight: 500;
}
:is() as well, ensuring your language-specific styles work across all browsers. This approach simplifies creating internationalized designs with distinct typographic and styling rules for different language groups.
:is() selector
The :is() pseudo-class function (formerly :matches()) allows you to create more concise and readable selectors by grouping multiple selectors together. It accepts a selector list as its argument and matches if any of the selectors in that list match, significantly reducing repetition in your CSS.
/* Instead of writing these separately */
/* 
.article h1,
.article h2,
.article h3 {
  margin-top: 1.5em;
}
*/
/* You can write this */
.article :is(h1, h2, h3) {
	margin-top: 1.5em;
}
/* Complex example with multiple groups */
:is(header, main, footer) :is(h1, h2, .title) {
	font-family: "Heading Font", sans-serif;
}
:is(), Bun’s CSS bundler provides fallbacks using vendor-prefixed alternatives:
/* Fallback using -webkit-any */
.article :-webkit-any(h1, h2, h3) {
	margin-top: 1.5em;
}
/* Fallback using -moz-any */
.article :-moz-any(h1, h2, h3) {
	margin-top: 1.5em;
}
/* Original preserved for modern browsers */
.article :is(h1, h2, h3) {
	margin-top: 1.5em;
}
/* Complex example with fallbacks */
:-webkit-any(header, main, footer) :-webkit-any(h1, h2, .title) {
	font-family: "Heading Font", sans-serif;
}
:-moz-any(header, main, footer) :-moz-any(h1, h2, .title) {
	font-family: "Heading Font", sans-serif;
}
:is(header, main, footer) :is(h1, h2, .title) {
	font-family: "Heading Font", sans-serif;
}
The vendor-prefixed versions have some limitations compared to the standardized :is() selector,
particularly with complex selectors. Bun handles these limitations intelligently, only using
prefixed versions when they’ll work correctly.
:not() selector
The :not() pseudo-class allows you to exclude elements that match a specific selector. The modern version of this selector accepts multiple arguments, letting you exclude multiple patterns with a single, concise selector.
/* Select all buttons except primary and secondary variants */
button:not(.primary, .secondary) {
	background-color: #f5f5f5;
	border: 1px solid #ddd;
}
/* Apply styles to all headings except those inside sidebars or footers */
h2:not(.sidebar *, footer *) {
	margin-top: 2em;
}
:not(), Bun’s CSS bundler converts this syntax to a more compatible form while preserving the same behavior:
/* Converted to use :not with :is() for compatibility */
button:not(:is(.primary, .secondary)) {
	background-color: #f5f5f5;
	border: 1px solid #ddd;
}
h2:not(:is(.sidebar *, footer *)) {
	margin-top: 2em;
}
:is() isn’t supported, Bun can generate further fallbacks:
/* Even more fallbacks for maximum compatibility */
button:not(:-webkit-any(.primary, .secondary)) {
	background-color: #f5f5f5;
	border: 1px solid #ddd;
}
button:not(:-moz-any(.primary, .secondary)) {
	background-color: #f5f5f5;
	border: 1px solid #ddd;
}
button:not(:is(.primary, .secondary)) {
	background-color: #f5f5f5;
	border: 1px solid #ddd;
}
Math functions
CSS now includes a rich set of mathematical functions that let you perform complex calculations directly in your stylesheets. These include standard math functions (round(), mod(), rem(), abs(), sign()), trigonometric functions (sin(), cos(), tan(), asin(), acos(), atan(), atan2()), and exponential functions (pow(), sqrt(), exp(), log(), hypot()).
.dynamic-sizing {
	/* Clamp a value between minimum and maximum */
	width: clamp(200px, 50%, 800px);
	/* Round to the nearest multiple */
	padding: round(14.8px, 5px);
	/* Trigonometry for animations or layouts */
	transform: rotate(calc(sin(45deg) * 50deg));
	/* Complex math with multiple functions */
	--scale-factor: pow(1.25, 3);
	font-size: calc(16px * var(--scale-factor));
}
.dynamic-sizing {
	width: clamp(200px, 50%, 800px);
	padding: 15px;
	transform: rotate(35.36deg);
	--scale-factor: 1.953125;
	font-size: calc(16px * var(--scale-factor));
}
<, >, <=, and >= instead of the more verbose min- and max- prefixes. This syntax is more readable and matches how we normally think about values and ranges.
/* Modern syntax with comparison operators */
@media (width >= 768px) {
	.container {
		max-width: 720px;
	}
}
/* Inclusive range using <= and >= */
@media (768px <= width <= 1199px) {
	.sidebar {
		display: flex;
	}
}
/* Exclusive range using < and > */
@media (width > 320px) and (width < 768px) {
	.mobile-only {
		display: block;
	}
}
/* Converted to traditional min/max syntax */
@media (min-width: 768px) {
	.container {
		max-width: 720px;
	}
}
@media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1199px) {
	.sidebar {
		display: flex;
	}
}
@media (min-width: 321px) and (max-width: 767px) {
	.mobile-only {
		display: block;
	}
}
Shorthands
CSS has introduced several modern shorthand properties that improve code readability and maintainability. Bun’s CSS bundler ensures these convenient shorthands work on all browsers by converting them to their longhand equivalents when needed.
/* Alignment shorthands */
.flex-container {
	/* Shorthand for align-items and justify-items */
	place-items: center start;
	/* Shorthand for align-content and justify-content */
	place-content: space-between center;
}
.grid-item {
	/* Shorthand for align-self and justify-self */
	place-self: end center;
}
/* Two-value overflow */
.content-box {
	/* First value for horizontal, second for vertical */
	overflow: hidden auto;
}
/* Enhanced text-decoration */
.fancy-link {
	/* Combines multiple text decoration properties */
	text-decoration: underline dotted blue 2px;
}
/* Two-value display syntax */
.component {
	/* Outer display type + inner display type */
	display: inline flex;
}
.flex-container {
	/* Expanded alignment properties */
	align-items: center;
	justify-items: start;
	align-content: space-between;
	justify-content: center;
}
.grid-item {
	align-self: end;
	justify-self: center;
}
.content-box {
	/* Separate overflow properties */
	overflow-x: hidden;
	overflow-y: auto;
}
.fancy-link {
	/* Individual text decoration properties */
	text-decoration-line: underline;
	text-decoration-style: dotted;
	text-decoration-color: blue;
	text-decoration-thickness: 2px;
}
.component {
	/* Single value display */
	display: inline-flex;
}
Double position gradients
The double position gradient syntax is a modern CSS feature that allows you to create hard color stops in gradients by specifying the same color at two adjacent positions. This creates a sharp transition rather than a smooth fade, which is useful for creating stripes, color bands, and other multi-color designs.
.striped-background {
	/* Creates a sharp transition from green to red at 30%-40% */
	background: linear-gradient(
		to right,
		yellow 0%,
		green 20%,
		green 30%,
		red 30%,
		/* Double position creates hard stop */ red 70%,
		blue 70%,
		blue 100%
	);
}
.progress-bar {
	/* Creates distinct color sections */
	background: linear-gradient(
		to right,
		#4caf50 0% 25%,
		/* Green from 0% to 25% */ #ffc107 25% 50%,
		/* Yellow from 25% to 50% */ #2196f3 50% 75%,
		/* Blue from 50% to 75% */ #9c27b0 75% 100% /* Purple from 75% to 100% */
	);
}
.striped-background {
	background: linear-gradient(
		to right,
		yellow 0%,
		green 20%,
		green 30%,
		red 30%,
		/* Split into two color stops */ red 70%,
		blue 70%,
		blue 100%
	);
}
.progress-bar {
	background: linear-gradient(
		to right,
		#4caf50 0%,
		#4caf50 25%,
		/* Two stops for green section */ #ffc107 25%,
		#ffc107 50%,
		/* Two stops for yellow section */ #2196f3 50%,
		#2196f3 75%,
		/* Two stops for blue section */ #9c27b0 75%,
		#9c27b0 100% /* Two stops for purple section */
	);
}
system-ui font
The system-ui generic font family lets you use the device’s native UI font, creating interfaces that feel more integrated with the operating system. This provides a more native look and feel without having to specify different font stacks for each platform.
.native-interface {
	/* Use the system's default UI font */
	font-family: system-ui;
}
.fallback-aware {
	/* System UI font with explicit fallbacks */
	font-family: system-ui, sans-serif;
}
system-ui, Bun’s CSS bundler automatically expands it to a comprehensive cross-platform font stack:
.native-interface {
	/* Expanded to support all major platforms */
	font-family:
		system-ui,
		-apple-system,
		BlinkMacSystemFont,
		"Segoe UI",
		Roboto,
		"Noto Sans",
		Ubuntu,
		Cantarell,
		"Helvetica Neue";
}
.fallback-aware {
	/* Preserves the original fallback after the expanded stack */
	font-family:
		system-ui,
		-apple-system,
		BlinkMacSystemFont,
		"Segoe UI",
		Roboto,
		"Noto Sans",
		Ubuntu,
		Cantarell,
		"Helvetica Neue",
		sans-serif;
}
system-ui in your source code while ensuring your interface adapts correctly to all operating systems and browsers. The expanded font stack includes appropriate system fonts for macOS/iOS, Windows, Android, Linux, and fallbacks for older browsers.
CSS Modules
Bun’s bundler also supports bundling CSS modules in addition to regular CSS with support for the following features:
- Automatically detecting CSS module files (.module.css) with zero configuration
- Composition (composesproperty)
- Importing CSS modules into JSX/TSX
- Warnings/errors for invalid usages of CSS modules
A CSS module is a CSS file (with the.module.css extension) where are all class names and animations are scoped to the file. This helps you avoid class name collisions as CSS declarations are globally scoped by default.
Under the hood, Bun’s bundler transforms locally scoped class names into unique identifiers.
Getting started
Create a CSS file with the .module.css extension:
You can then import this file, for example into a TSX file:

app.tsx
import styles from "./styles.module.css";
import otherStyles from "./other-styles.module.css";
export default function App() {
	return (
		<>
			<button className={styles.button}>Red button!</button>
			<button className={otherStyles.button}>Blue button!</button>
		</>
	);
}

app.tsx
import styles from "./styles.module.css";
import otherStyles from "./other-styles.module.css";
console.log(styles);
console.log(otherStyles);

app.tsx
{
	button: "button_123";
}
{
	button: "button_456";
}
Composition
CSS modules allow you to compose class selectors together. This lets you reuse style rules across multiple classes.
For example:
.button {
	composes: background;
	color: red;
}
.background {
	background-color: blue;
}
.button {
	background-color: blue;
	color: red;
}
.background {
	background-color: blue;
}
composes:
Composition Rules: - A composes property must come before any regular CSS properties or
declarations - You can only use composes on a simple selector with a single class name
#button {
	/* Invalid! `#button` is not a class selector */
	composes: background;
}
.button,
.button-secondary {
	/* Invalid! `.button, .button-secondary` is not a simple selector */
	composes: background;
}
Composing from a separate CSS module file
You can also compose from a separate CSS module file:
.background {
	background-color: blue;
}
.button {
	composes: background from "./background.module.css";
	color: red;
}
When composing classes from separate files, be sure that they do not contain the same properties.The CSS module spec says that composing classes from separate files with conflicting properties is undefined behavior, meaning that the output may differ and be unreliable.