CSS Tags

Style HTML directly with modern CSS. No classes, no frameworks—just semantic markup that looks great.

A complete component without class soup

The card, cluster, badge, and button styles all come from the shipped entry point.

ReleaseStable

CSS that follows the markup

Compose semantic primitives from one shared token system.

<card>
  <card-body>
    <layout-stack gap="var(--space-md)">
      <layout-cluster justify="space-between">
        <span eyebrow>Release</span>
        <badge status="success">Stable</badge>
      </layout-cluster>
      <h3>CSS that follows the markup</h3>
      <p>Compose the primitives you need.</p>
      <button class="form-button btn-primary" type="button">Read the guide</button>
    </layout-stack>
  </card-body>
</card>

More examples

Each example introduces a different part of the shipped API.

The same tokens work in a real region

A semantic card composes layout, status, and action primitives without page-specific component CSS.

Weekly reportPreview

12 new subscribers and 4 completed tasks.

<article data-card>
  <div data-card-body>
    <layout-cluster justify="space-between">
      <h2>Weekly report</h2>
      <badge status="info">Preview</badge>
    </layout-cluster>
    <p>12 new subscribers and 4 completed tasks.</p>
    <button class="form-button btn-primary">Open report</button>
  </div>
</article>

Try It Right Now

See it for yourself in 60 seconds. Copy this code into an index.html file and open it in your browser:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>CSS Tags Demo</title>

  <!-- 1. Add the stylesheet. That's the only setup. -->
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/css-tags@0.1.0/index.css">
</head>
<body>

  <!-- 2. Write semantic HTML. No classes needed. -->
  <layout-center max-width="70ch">
    <card>
      <card-body>
        <h1>It Just Works.</h1>
        <p>This component is already responsive and adapts to your system's light or dark mode. No build step, no configuration needed.</p>
        <layout-cluster gap="var(--space-sm)">
          <!-- 3. Use design tokens for declarative styling. -->
          <button class="form-button btn-primary">Get Started</button>
          <button>Learn More</button>
        </layout-cluster>
      </card-body>
    </card>
  </layout-center>

</body>
</html>

Before & After

Traditional CSS Frameworks

<!-- You are forced to describe the styling, not the content. -->
<div class="card max-w-sm rounded-lg overflow-hidden shadow-lg bg-white p-6">
  <img class="w-full h-48 object-cover" src="..." alt="...">
  <div class="py-4">
    <div class="font-bold text-xl mb-2 text-gray-900">Amazing Product</div>
    <p class="text-gray-700 text-base">Description of the product...</p>
  </div>
  <div class="pt-4 pb-2">
    <button class="bg-blue-500 hover:bg-blue-700 text-white font-bold py-2 px-4 rounded">
      Buy Now
    </button>
  </div>
</div>

With CSS Tags

<!-- You describe the content. The styling is automatic. -->
<card>
  <card-media><img src="..." alt="..."></card-media>
  <card-body>
    <h3>Amazing Product</h3>
    <p>Description of the product...</p>
    <button class="form-button btn-primary">Buy Now</button>
  </card-body>
</card>

The difference: Clean, readable HTML that automatically adapts to themes, screen sizes, and user preferences.

Why CSS Tags?

CSS Tags brings styling back to HTML. Instead of cluttering your markup with utility classes, you write clean, semantic tags, and the stylesheet makes them beautiful and responsive automatically.

Semantic HTML - Write clean, readable HTML that describes your content, not your styling. No more div soup with endless class chains.
Zero Configuration - Just add one stylesheet link. No build step, no JavaScript, no configuration needed. Works immediately in any HTML file.
Modern CSS Showcase - Learn cutting-edge CSS features: OKLCH colors, container queries, cascade layers, :has() selector, and more.
Theme-Aware - Automatically adapts to light/dark mode with sophisticated OKLCH color system. Full theme customization via CSS variables.
Container Queries - Components respond to their container size, not viewport. A card in a sidebar looks different from one in main content—automatically.
Design Token System - Change one variable, update the entire theme. Everything from colors to spacing uses CSS custom properties.

The Foundational Pillars

This library isn’t magic—it’s a showcase of powerful, modern CSS features that are now widely supported. Understanding them is key to mastering CSS Tags.

1. Unknown HTML Tags

What It Is: Any HTML tag a browser doesn’t recognize (like <card>) is rendered as a generic element. It’s valid HTML.

Why It Matters: We can target these custom, semantic tags directly in CSS to build an entire component system without needing classes.

<card>
  <card-body>Clean, semantic markup</card-body>
</card>

2. OKLCH Color Space

What It Is: A perceptually uniform color space using Lightness, Chroma (intensity), and Hue.

Why It Matters: Unlike HSL, where 50% lightness looks different for yellow vs. blue, OKLCH is perceptually uniform. A 10% increase in lightness looks 10% lighter to the human eye, regardless of color.

/* One hue value creates an entire palette */
--primary-h: 240;
--accent: oklch(55% 0.15 240);

3. Relative Color Syntax

What It Is: Create new colors by modifying existing ones directly in CSS.

Why It Matters: No need to pre-define dozens of color variants. Derive them on the fly for hover, active, and subtle states.

/* Make button 10% darker on hover, whatever its color */
button:hover {
  background: oklch(from var(--bg) calc(l - 0.1) c h);
}

4. The :has() Selector

What It Is: Style a parent element based on children it contains.

Why It Matters: Enables automatic component variations without extra classes. A card styles itself differently just by detecting if an image is present.

/* If card has media, make it horizontal */
card:has(card-media) {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: row;
}

5. The attr() Function

What It Is: Read HTML attribute values in CSS.

Why It Matters: Pass “props” from HTML to CSS, creating declarative, configurable components without JavaScript.

<layout-grid min-item-size="300px">...</layout-grid>

What You Get

Layout Components

Declarative layout primitives: <layout-center>, <layout-grid>, <layout-stack>, <layout-sidebar>, <layout-cluster>, and more.

UI Components

Pre-built styling contracts include <card>, native <button>, <alert-message>, <badge>, <dialog data-modal>, <tooltip>, <carousel>, and their documented native, data, or class alternatives.

Core System

Foundational layers: Reset, Base, Tokens, Theme, Engine, Palette—all using modern CSS cascade layers.

Utilities

Single-purpose utility classes for rapid styling when you need them.

View all components →