Migrate Nativewind To Uniwind

Migrate NativeWind to Uniwind

Uniwind replaces NativeWind with better performance and stability. It requires Tailwind CSS 4 and uses CSS-based theming instead of JS config.

Pre-Migration Checklist

Before starting, read the project's existing config files to understand the current setup:

• package.json (NativeWind version, dependencies)
• tailwind.config.js / tailwind.config.ts
• metro.config.js
• babel.config.js
• global.css or equivalent CSS entry file
• nativewind-env.d.ts or nativewind.d.ts
• Any file using cssInterop or remapProps from nativewind
• Any file importing from react-native-css-interop
• Any ThemeProvider from NativeWind (vars() usage)

Step 1: Remove NativeWind and Related Packages

Uninstall ALL of these packages (if present):

npm uninstall nativewind react-native-css-interop
# or
yarn remove nativewind react-native-css-interop
# or
bun remove nativewind react-native-css-interop

CRITICAL: react-native-css-interop is a NativeWind dependency that must be removed. It is commonly missed during migration. Search the entire codebase for any imports from it:

rg "react-native-css-interop" -g "*.{ts,tsx,js,jsx}"

Remove every import and usage found.

Step 2: Install Uniwind and Tailwind 4

npm install uniwind tailwindcss@latest
# or
yarn add uniwind tailwindcss@latest
# or
bun add uniwind tailwindcss@latest

Ensure tailwindcss is version 4+.

Step 3: Update babel.config.js

Remove the NativeWind babel preset:

// REMOVE this line from presets array:
// 'nativewind/babel'

No Uniwind babel preset is needed.

Step 4: Update metro.config.js

Replace NativeWind's metro config with Uniwind's. withUniwindConfig must be the outermost wrapper.

Before (NativeWind):

const { withNativeWind } = require('nativewind/metro');
module.exports = withNativeWind(config, { input: './global.css' });

After (Uniwind):

const { getDefaultConfig } = require('expo/metro-config');
// For bare RN: const { getDefaultConfig } = require('@react-native/metro-config');
const { withUniwindConfig } = require('uniwind/metro');

const config = getDefaultConfig(__dirname);

module.exports = withUniwindConfig(config, {
  cssEntryFile: './global.css',
  polyfills: { rem: 14 },
});

cssEntryFile must be a relative path string from project root (e.g. ./global.css or ./app/global.css). Do not use absolute paths or path.resolve(...) / path.join(...) for this option.

// ❌ Broken
cssEntryFile: path.resolve(__dirname, 'app', 'global.css')

// ✅ Correct
cssEntryFile: './app/global.css'

Always set `polyfills.rem` to 14 to match NativeWind's default rem value and prevent spacing/sizing differences after migration.

If the project uses custom themes beyond light/dark (e.g. defined via NativeWind's vars() or a custom ThemeProvider), register them with extraThemes. Do NOT include light or dark — they are added automatically:

module.exports = withUniwindConfig(config, {
  cssEntryFile: './global.css',
  polyfills: { rem: 14 },
  extraThemes: ['ocean', 'sunset', 'premium'],
});

Options:

• cssEntryFile (required): relative path string to CSS entry file (from project root)
• polyfills.rem (required for migration): set to 14 to match NativeWind's rem base
• extraThemes (required if project has custom themes): array of custom theme names — do NOT include light/dark
• dtsFile (optional): path for generated TypeScript types, defaults to ./uniwind-types.d.ts
• debug (optional): log unsupported CSS properties during dev

Step 5: Update global.css

Replace NativeWind's Tailwind 3 directives with Tailwind 4 imports:

Before:

@tailwind base;
@tailwind components;
@tailwind utilities;

After:

@import 'tailwindcss';
@import 'uniwind';

Step 6: Update CSS Entry Import

Ensure global.css is imported in your main App component (e.g., App.tsx), NOT in the root index.ts/index.js where you register the app — importing there breaks hot reload.

Step 7: Delete NativeWind Type Definitions

Delete nativewind-env.d.ts or nativewind.d.ts. Uniwind auto-generates its own types at the path specified by dtsFile.

Step 8: Delete tailwind.config.js

Remove tailwind.config.js / tailwind.config.ts entirely. All theme config moves to CSS using Tailwind 4's @theme directive.

Migrate custom theme values to global.css:

Before (tailwind.config.js):

module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        primary: '#00a8ff',
        secondary: '#273c75',
      },
      fontFamily: {
        normal: ['Roboto-Regular'],
        bold: ['Roboto-Bold'],
      },
    },
  },
};

After (global.css):

@import 'tailwindcss';
@import 'uniwind';

@theme {
  --color-primary: #00a8ff;
  --color-secondary: #273c75;
  --font-normal: 'Roboto-Regular';
  --font-bold: 'Roboto-Bold';
}

Font families must specify a single font — React Native doesn't support font fallbacks.

Step 9: Remove ALL cssInterop and remapProps Usage

This is the most commonly missed step. Search the entire codebase:

rg "cssInterop|remapProps" -g "*.{ts,tsx,js,jsx}"

Replace every cssInterop() / remapProps() call with Uniwind's withUniwind():

Before (NativeWind):

import { cssInterop } from 'react-native-css-interop';
import { Image } from 'expo-image';

cssInterop(Image, { className: 'style' });

After (Uniwind):

import { withUniwind } from 'uniwind';
import { Image as ExpoImage } from 'expo-image';

export const Image = withUniwind(ExpoImage);

withUniwind automatically maps className → style and other common props. For custom prop mappings:

const StyledProgressBar = withUniwind(ProgressBar, {
  width: {
    fromClassName: 'widthClassName',
    styleProperty: 'width',
  },
});

Define wrapped components at module level (not inside render functions). Each component should only be wrapped once:

• Used in one file only — define the wrapped component in that same file: ```tsx // screens/ProfileScreen.tsx import { withUniwind } from 'uniwind'; import { BlurView as RNBlurView } from '@react-native-community/blur';

const BlurView = withUniwind(RNBlurView);

export function ProfileScreen() { return <BlurView className="flex-1" />; }

- **Used across multiple files** — wrap once in a shared module and re-export:

// components/styled.ts import { withUniwind } from 'uniwind'; import { Image as ExpoImage } from 'expo-image'; import { LinearGradient as RNLinearGradient } from 'expo-linear-gradient';

export const Image = withUniwind(ExpoImage); export const LinearGradient = withUniwind(RNLinearGradient);

  Then import from the shared module everywhere:

import { Image, LinearGradient } from '@/components/styled';

Never call `withUniwind` on the same component in multiple files — wrap once, import everywhere.

**IMPORTANT**: Do NOT wrap components from `react-native` or `react-native-reanimated` with `withUniwind` — they already support `className` out of the box. This includes `View`, `Text`, `Image`, `ScrollView`, `FlatList`, `Pressable`, `TextInput`, `Animated.View`, etc. Only use `withUniwind` for **third-party** components (e.g. `expo-image`, `expo-linear-gradient`, `@react-native-community/blur`).

**IMPORTANT — accent- prefix for non-style color props**: React Native components have props like `color`, `tintColor`, `backgroundColor` that are NOT part of the `style` object. To set these via Tailwind classes, use the `accent-` prefix with the corresponding `*ClassName` prop:

// color prop → colorClassName with accent- prefix <ActivityIndicator className="m-4" size="large" colorClassName="accent-blue-500 dark:accent-blue-400" />

// color prop on Button <Button colorClassName="accent-background"