Install Tailwind CSS and daisyUI for Zola

How to install Tailwind CSS and daisyUI in a Zola project, without Node.js

1. Create a new Zola project

Install Zole according to the Zola docs.

Create a new Zola project in called myblog and navigate to it:

Terminal

zola init myblog
cd myblog

2. Get Tailwind CSS executable

Follow Tailwind CSS guide and get the latest version of Tailwind CSS executable for your OS.

For example:

Terminal

# Run the corresponding command for your OS

# Linux
curl -sLo static/tailwindcss https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/latest/download/tailwindcss-linux-arm64
curl -sLo static/tailwindcss https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/latest/download/tailwindcss-linux-arm64-musl
curl -sLo static/tailwindcss https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/latest/download/tailwindcss-linux-x64
curl -sLo static/tailwindcss https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/latest/download/tailwindcss-linux-x64-musl

# MacOS
curl -sLo static/tailwindcss https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/latest/download/tailwindcss-macos-arm64
curl -sLo static/tailwindcss https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/latest/download/tailwindcss-macos-x64

# Windows
curl -sLo static\tailwindcss.exe https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/latest/download/tailwindcss-windows-x64.exe

Make the file executable (For Linux and MacOS):

Terminal

chmod +x static/tailwindcss

3. Get daisyUI bundled JS file

Run this code to download latest version of daisyUI as a single js file and put it next to Tailwind's executable file.

Terminal

curl -sLo static/daisyui.mjs https://github.com/saadeghi/daisyui/releases/latest/download/daisyui.mjs
curl -sLo static/daisyui-theme.mjs https://github.com/saadeghi/daisyui/releases/latest/download/daisyui-theme.mjs

4. Add Tailwind CSS and daisyUI

Add Tailwind CSS and daisyUI to your CSS file.
Address your HTML and other markup files in the source function.

input.css

@import "tailwindcss";

@source not "./daisyui{,*}.mjs";

@plugin "./daisyui.mjs";

/* Optional for custom themes – Docs: https://daisyui.com/docs/themes/#how-to-add-a-new-custom-theme */
@plugin "./daisyui-theme.js"{
  /* custom theme here */
}

4. Build CSS

Run this command to build the CSS file using Tailwind CSS executable.
Using --watch will automatically update the output.css file when you change the input.css file.
For CI/CD, run the command without --watch to generate the output.css file once.

Terminal

./static/tailwindcss -i static/input.css -o static/output.css --watch
# For Windows
static\tailwindcss.exe -i static\input.css -o static\output.css --watch