tamagui

Tamagui Skill

Universal React UI framework for web and native with an optimizing compiler.

Getting Project-Specific Config

Before writing Tamagui code, get the project's actual configuration:

npx tamagui generate-prompt

This outputs tamagui-prompt.md with the project's specific:

Design tokens (space, size, radius, color, zIndex)
Theme names and hierarchy
Available components
Media query breakpoints
Shorthand properties
Font families

Always reference this file for token/theme/media query names rather than guessing or using defaults.

Core Concepts

styled() Function

Create components by extending existing ones:

import { View, Text, styled } from '@tamagui/core'

const Card = styled(View, { padding: '$4', // use tokens with $ backgroundColor: '$background', borderRadius: '$4',

variants: { size: { small: { padding: '$2' }, large: { padding: '$6' }, }, elevated: { true: { shadowColor: '$shadowColor', shadowRadius: 10, }, }, } as const, // required for type inference

defaultVariants: { size: 'small', }, })

// usage <Card size="large" elevated />

Key rules:

Always use as const on variants objects
Tokens use $ prefix: $4 , $background , $color11
Prop order matters - later props override earlier ones
Variants defined later in the object override earlier ones

Stack Components

import { XStack, YStack, ZStack } from 'tamagui'

// XStack = flexDirection: 'row' // YStack = flexDirection: 'column' // ZStack = position: 'relative' with absolute children

<YStack gap="$4" padding="$4"> <XStack justifyContent="space-between" alignItems="center"> <Text>Label</Text> <Button>Action</Button> </XStack> </YStack>

Themes

Themes nest and combine hierarchically:

import { Theme } from 'tamagui'

// base theme <Theme name="dark"> {/* sub-theme /} <Theme name="blue"> {/ uses dark_blue theme */} <Button>Blue button on dark</Button> </Theme> </Theme>

// access theme values const theme = useTheme() console.log(theme.background.val) // actual color value console.log(theme.color11.val) // high contrast text

12-step color scale convention:

$color1-4 : backgrounds (subtle to emphasized)
$color5-6 : borders, separators
$color7-8 : hover/active states
$color9-10 : solid backgrounds
$color11-12 : text (low to high contrast)

Responsive Styles

Use media query props (check your tamagui-prompt.md for actual breakpoint names):

// or with hook const media = useMedia() if (media.gtMd) { // render for medium+ screens }

Animations

import { AnimatePresence } from 'tamagui'

Animation drivers:

@tamagui/animations-css
web only, CSS transitions
@tamagui/animations-react-native
native Animated API
@tamagui/animations-reanimated
best native performance
@tamagui/animations-motion
spring physics

CSS driver uses easing strings, others support spring physics.

Compound Components

Use createStyledContext for components that share state:

import { createStyledContext, styled, View, Text } from '@tamagui/core' import { withStaticProperties } from '@tamagui/helpers'

const CardContext = createStyledContext({ size: 'medium' as 'small' | 'medium' | 'large' })

const CardFrame = styled(View, { context: CardContext, padding: '$4', backgroundColor: '$background',

variants: { size: { small: { padding: '$2' }, medium: { padding: '$4' }, large: { padding: '$6' }, }, } as const, })

const CardTitle = styled(Text, { context: CardContext, // inherits size from parent fontWeight: 'bold',

variants: { size: { small: { fontSize: '$4' }, medium: { fontSize: '$5' }, large: { fontSize: '$6' }, }, } as const, })

export const Card = withStaticProperties(CardFrame, { Title: CardTitle, })

// usage - size cascades to children <Card size="large"> <Card.Title>Large Title</Card.Title> </Card>

Common Patterns

Dialog with Adapt (Sheet on Mobile)

import { Dialog, Sheet, Adapt, Button } from 'tamagui'

<Dialog.Portal> <Dialog.Overlay key="overlay" animation="quick" opacity={0.5} enterStyle={{ opacity: 0 }} exitStyle={{ opacity: 0 }} /> <Dialog.Content key="content" animation="quick" enterStyle={{ opacity: 0, scale: 0.95 }} exitStyle={{ opacity: 0, scale: 0.95 }} > <Dialog.Title>Title</Dialog.Title> <Dialog.Description>Description</Dialog.Description> <Dialog.Close asChild> <Button>Close</Button> </Dialog.Close> </Dialog.Content> </Dialog.Portal> </Dialog>

Form with Input/Label

import { Input, Label, YStack, XStack, Button } from 'tamagui'

<YStack gap="$4" padding="$4"> <YStack gap="$2"> <Label htmlFor="email">Email</Label> <Input id="email" placeholder="email@example.com" autoCapitalize="none" keyboardType="email-address" /> </YStack>

<XStack gap="$2" justifyContent="flex-end"> <Button variant="outlined">Cancel</Button> <Button theme="blue">Submit</Button> </XStack> </YStack>

Anti-Patterns

❌ Hardcoded values instead of tokens

// bad <View padding={16} backgroundColor="#fff" />

// good - uses design tokens <View padding="$4" backgroundColor="$background" />

❌ Missing as const on variants

// bad - TypeScript can't infer variant types variants: { size: { small: {...}, large: {...} } }

// good variants: { size: { small: {...}, large: {...} } } as const

❌ Platform detection in styled()

// bad - won't be extracted by compiler const Box = styled(View, { padding: Platform.OS === 'web' ? 10 : 20, })

// good - use platform modifiers const Box = styled(View, { padding: 20, '$platform-web': { padding: 10 }, })

❌ exitStyle without AnimatePresence

// bad - exit animation won't work {show && <View exitStyle={{ opacity: 0 }} />}

// good <AnimatePresence> {show && <View key="box" exitStyle={{ opacity: 0 }} />} </AnimatePresence>

❌ Dynamic values that prevent extraction

// bad - runtime variable prevents compiler extraction const dynamicPadding = isPremium ? '$6' : '$4' <View padding={dynamicPadding} />

// good - inline ternary is extractable <View padding={isPremium ? '$6' : '$4'} />

❌ Wrong media query order

// bad - base value overrides responsive <View $gtMd={{ padding: '$8' }} padding="$4" />

// good - base first, then responsive overrides <View padding="$4" $gtMd={{ padding: '$8' }} />

❌ Spring animations with CSS driver

// bad - CSS driver doesn't support spring physics import { createAnimations } from '@tamagui/animations-css' const anims = createAnimations({ bouncy: { type: 'spring', damping: 10 } // won't work })

// good for CSS driver - use easing strings const anims = createAnimations({ bouncy: 'cubic-bezier(0.68, -0.55, 0.265, 1.55) 300ms' })

Compiler Optimization

The Tamagui compiler extracts static styles to CSS at build time. For styles to be extracted:

Use tokens - $4 extracts, 16 may not
Inline ternaries - padding={x ? '$4' : '$2'} extracts
Avoid runtime variables - computed values don't extract
Use variants - better than conditional props

Check if extraction is working:

Look for data-tamagui attributes in dev mode
Bundle size should be smaller with compiler enabled
Styles should appear as CSS classes, not inline

TypeScript

import { GetProps, styled, View } from '@tamagui/core'

const MyComponent = styled(View, { variants: { size: { small: {}, large: {} } } as const, })

// extract props type type MyComponentProps = GetProps<typeof MyComponent>

// extend with custom props interface ExtendedProps extends MyComponentProps { onCustomEvent?: () => void }

Quick Reference

Pattern Example

Token padding="$4"

Theme value backgroundColor="$background"

Color scale color="$color11" (high contrast text)

Responsive $gtSm={{ padding: '$6' }}

Variant <Button size="large" variant="outlined" />

Animation animation="quick" enterStyle={{ opacity: 0 }}

Theme switch <Theme name="dark"><Theme name="blue">

Compound <Card><Card.Title> with createStyledContext

Resources

Docs: https://tamagui.dev
GitHub: https://github.com/tamagui/tamagui
Discord: https://discord.gg/tamagui

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