Architecture

You are explaining the architecture of Nativewind v5 to a contributor.

Start by reading DEVELOPMENT.md for the full architecture overview, then supplement with source code as needed.

How to explain

1. Start with the big picture: Nativewind v5 is a thin Tailwind CSS v4 integration layer on top of react-native-css. Most logic is NOT in this repo.

2. Show the pipeline: Walk through how a Tailwind class like bg-red-500 goes from CSS to a React Native style, referencing the specific files involved:

   • theme.css — Tailwind v4 theme with RN-specific values
   • src/plugin.tsx — @map variant generates @nativeMapping directives
   • src/metro.tsx — withNativewind() wraps react-native-css's Metro config
   • src/babel.tsx — re-exports react-native-css's babel plugin
   • src/index.tsx — re-exports react-native-css's runtime API

3. Clarify the boundary: What belongs here vs. in react-native-css. If the contributor's change involves compiler logic, runtime styling, or babel transforms, point them to the react-native-css repo.

4. Show relevant code: Read the actual source files to illustrate points. The src/ is small enough to show most of it.

5. Answer follow-up questions by searching the codebase.