# Autoprefixer [![Cult Of Martians][cult-img]][cult]
[PostCSS] plugin to parse CSS and add vendor prefixes to CSS rules using values
from [Can I Use]. It is [recommended] by Google and used in Twitter and Taobao.
Write your CSS rules without vendor prefixes (in fact, forget about them
entirely):
```css
::placeholder {
color: gray;
}
```
Autoprefixer will use the data based on current browser popularity and property
support to apply prefixes for you. You can try the [interactive demo]
of Autoprefixer.
```css
::-webkit-input-placeholder {
color: gray;
}
:-ms-input-placeholder {
color: gray;
}
::-ms-input-placeholder {
color: gray;
}
::placeholder {
color: gray;
}
```
Twitter account for news and releases: [@autoprefixer].
[interactive demo]: http://autoprefixer.github.io/
[@autoprefixer]: https://twitter.com/autoprefixer
[recommended]: https://developers.google.com/web/tools/setup/setup-buildtools#dont_trip_up_with_vendor_prefixes
[Can I Use]: http://caniuse.com/
[cult-img]: http://cultofmartians.com/assets/badges/badge.svg
[PostCSS]: https://github.com/postcss/postcss
[cult]: http://cultofmartians.com/tasks/autoprefixer-grid.html
## Browsers
Autoprefixer uses [Browserslist], so you can specify the browsers
you want to target in your project by queries like `> 5%`
(see [Best Practices]).
The best way to provide browsers is `.browserslistrc` config
or `package.json` with `browserslist` key. Put it in your project root.
We recommend to avoid Autoprefixer option and use `.browserslistrc` config
or `package.json`. In this case browsers will be shared with other tools
like [babel-preset-env] or [Stylelint].
See [Browserslist docs] for queries, browser names, config format,
and default value.
[Browserslist docs]: https://github.com/ai/browserslist#queries
[babel-preset-env]: https://github.com/babel/babel-preset-env
[Best Practices]: https://github.com/browserslist/browserslist#best-practices
[Browserslist]: https://github.com/ai/browserslist
[Stylelint]: http://stylelint.io/
## FAQ
#### Does Autoprefixer polyfill Grid Layout for IE?
Autoprefixer can be used to use Grid Layout for IE 10 and IE 11.
But this polyfill will not work in 100 % cases.
This is why it is disabled by default.
First, you need to enable Grid prefixes by `grid: true` option.
Second, you need to test every fix with Grid in IE. It is not,
enable and forget feature. But it is still very useful.
Financial Times and Yandex use it in production.
Third, there is not auto placement and all grid cell position must be set
explicitly. However, Autoprefixer can covert even `grid-template`
and `grid-gap` (but only when they are together).
```css
.page {
display: grid;
grid-gap: 33px;
grid-template:
"head head head" 1fr
"nav main main" minmax(100px, 1fr)
"nav foot foot" 2fr /
1fr 100px 1fr;
}
.page__head {
grid-area: head;
}
.page__nav {
grid-area: nav;
}
.page__main {
grid-area: main;
}
.page__footer {
grid-area: foot;
}
```
See also:
* [The guide about Grids in IE and Autoprefixer].
* [`postcss-gap-properties`] to use new `gap` property
instead of old `grid-gap`.
* [`postcss-grid-kiss`] has alternate “everything in one property” syntax,
which make using Autoprefixer’s Grid safer.
[The guide about Grids in IE and Autoprefixer]: https://css-tricks.com/css-grid-in-ie-css-grid-and-the-new-autoprefixer/
[`postcss-gap-properties`]: https://github.com/jonathantneal/postcss-gap-properties
[`postcss-grid-kiss`]: https://github.com/sylvainpolletvillard/postcss-grid-kiss
#### No prefixes in production
Many other tools contain Autoprefixer. For example, webpack uses Autoprefixer
to minify CSS by cleaning unnecessary prefixes.
If you set browsers list to Autoprefixer by `browsers` option, only first
Autoprefixer will know your browsers. Autoprefixer inside webpack will use
default browsers list. As result, webpack will remove prefixes, that first
Autoprefixer added.
You need to put your browsers to [`browserslist` config] in project root —
as result all tools (Autoprefixer, cssnano, doiuse, cssnext) will use same
browsers list.
[`browserslist` config]: https://github.com/ai/browserslist#config-file
#### What is unprefixed version for `-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio`?
```css
@media (min-resolution: 2dppx) {
.image {
background-image: url(image@2x.png);
}
}
```
Will be compiled to:
```css
@media (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),
(-o-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2/1),
(min-resolution: 2dppx) {
.image {
background-image: url(image@2x.png);
}
}
```
#### Does it add polyfills?
No. Autoprefixer only adds prefixes.
Most new CSS features will require client side JavaScript to handle a new
behavior correctly.
Depending on what you consider to be a “polyfill”, you can take a look at some
other tools and libraries. If you are just looking for syntax sugar,
you might take a look at:
- [postcss-preset-env] is a plugins preset with polyfills and Autoprefixer
to write future CSS today.
- [Oldie], a PostCSS plugin that handles some IE hacks (opacity, rgba, etc).
- [postcss-flexbugs-fixes], a PostCSS plugin to fix flexbox issues.
[postcss-flexbugs-fixes]: https://github.com/luisrudge/postcss-flexbugs-fixes
[postcss-preset-env]: https://github.com/jonathantneal/postcss-preset-env
[Oldie]: https://github.com/jonathantneal/oldie
#### Why doesn’t Autoprefixer add prefixes to `border-radius`?
Developers are often surprised by how few prefixes are required today.
If Autoprefixer doesn’t add prefixes to your CSS, check if they’re still
required on [Can I Use].
There is a [list with all supported] properties, values, and selectors.
[list with all supported]: https://github.com/postcss/autoprefixer/wiki/support-list
[Can I Use]: http://caniuse.com/
#### Why Autoprefixer uses unprefixed properties in `@-webkit-keyframes`?
Browser teams can remove some prefixes before others. So we try to use
all combinations of prefixed/unprefixed values.
#### How to work with legacy `-webkit-` only code?
Autoprefixer needs unprefixed property to add prefixes. So if you only
wrote `-webkit-gradient` without W3C’s `gradient`,
Autoprefixer will not add other prefixes.
But [PostCSS] has a plugins to convert CSS to unprefixed state.
Use [postcss-unprefix] before Autoprefixer.
[postcss-unprefix]: https://github.com/gucong3000/postcss-unprefix
#### Does Autoprefixer add `-epub-` prefix?
No, Autoprefixer works only with browsers prefixes from Can I Use.
But you can use [postcss-epub](https://github.com/Rycochet/postcss-epub)
for prefixing ePub3 properties.
#### Why doesn’t Autoprefixer transform generic font-family `system-ui`?
`system-ui` is technically not a prefix and the transformation is not future-proof. But you can use [postcss-font-family-system-ui](https://github.com/JLHwung/postcss-font-family-system-ui) to transform `system-ui` to a practical font-family list.
## Usage
### Gulp
In Gulp you can use [gulp-postcss] with `autoprefixer` npm package.
```js
gulp.task('autoprefixer', function () {
var postcss = require('gulp-postcss');
var sourcemaps = require('gulp-sourcemaps');
var autoprefixer = require('autoprefixer');
return gulp.src('./src/*.css')
.pipe(sourcemaps.init())
.pipe(postcss([ autoprefixer() ]))
.pipe(sourcemaps.write('.'))
.pipe(gulp.dest('./dest'));
});
```
With `gulp-postcss` you also can combine Autoprefixer
with [other PostCSS plugins].
[other PostCSS plugins]: https://github.com/postcss/postcss#plugins
[gulp-postcss]: https://github.com/postcss/gulp-postcss
### Webpack
In [webpack] you can use [postcss-loader] with `autoprefixer`
and [other PostCSS plugins].
```js
module.exports = {
module: {
rules: [
{
test: /\.css$/,
use: ["style-loader", "css-loader", "postcss-loader"]
}
]
}
}
```
And create a `postcss.config.js` with:
```js
module.exports = {
plugins: [
require('autoprefixer')
]
}
```
[other PostCSS plugins]: https://github.com/postcss/postcss#plugins
[postcss-loader]: https://github.com/postcss/postcss-loader
[webpack]: http://webpack.github.io/
### Grunt
In Grunt you can use [grunt-postcss] with `autoprefixer` npm package.
```js
module.exports = function(grunt) {
grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-postcss');
grunt.initConfig({
postcss: {
options: {
map: true,
processors: [
require('autoprefixer')
]
},
dist: {
src: 'css/*.css'
}
}
});
grunt.registerTask('default', ['postcss:dist']);
};
```
With `grunt-postcss` you also can combine Autoprefixer
with [other PostCSS plugins].
[other PostCSS plugins]: https://github.com/postcss/postcss#plugins
[grunt-postcss]: https://github.com/nDmitry/grunt-postcss
### Other Build Tools:
* **Ruby on Rails**: [autoprefixer-rails]
* **Neutrino**: [neutrino-middleware-postcss]
* **Jekyll**: add `autoprefixer-rails` and `jekyll-assets` to `Gemfile`
* **Brunch**: [postcss-brunch]
* **Broccoli**: [broccoli-postcss]
* **Middleman**: [middleman-autoprefixer]
* **Mincer**: add `autoprefixer` npm package and enable it:
`environment.enable('autoprefixer')`
[neutrino-middleware-postcss]: https://www.npmjs.com/package/neutrino-middleware-postcss
[middleman-autoprefixer]: https://github.com/middleman/middleman-autoprefixer
[autoprefixer-rails]: https://github.com/ai/autoprefixer-rails
[broccoli-postcss]: https://github.com/jeffjewiss/broccoli-postcss
[postcss-brunch]: https://github.com/iamvdo/postcss-brunch
### Preprocessors
* **Less**: [less-plugin-autoprefix]
* **Stylus**: [autoprefixer-stylus]
* **Compass**: [autoprefixer-rails#compass]
[less-plugin-autoprefix]: https://github.com/less/less-plugin-autoprefix
[autoprefixer-stylus]: https://github.com/jenius/autoprefixer-stylus
[autoprefixer-rails#compass]: https://github.com/ai/autoprefixer-rails#compass
### CSS-in-JS
There is [postcss-js] to use Autoprefixer in React Inline Styles, [Free Style],
Radium and other CSS-in-JS solutions.
```js
let prefixer = postcssJs.sync([ autoprefixer ]);
let style = prefixer({
display: 'flex'
});
```
[postcss-js]: https://github.com/postcss/postcss-js
[Free Style]: https://github.com/blakeembrey/free-style
### GUI Tools
* [CodeKit](https://codekitapp.com/help/autoprefixer/)
* [Prepros](https://prepros.io)
### CLI
You can use the [postcss-cli] to run Autoprefixer from CLI:
```sh
npm install postcss-cli autoprefixer
npx postcss *.css --use autoprefixer -d build/
```
See `postcss -h` for help.
[postcss-cli]: https://github.com/postcss/postcss-cli
### JavaScript
You can use Autoprefixer with [PostCSS] in your Node.js application
or if you want to develop an Autoprefixer plugin for new environment.
```js
var autoprefixer = require('autoprefixer');
var postcss = require('postcss');
postcss([ autoprefixer ]).process(css).then(function (result) {
result.warnings().forEach(function (warn) {
console.warn(warn.toString());
});
console.log(result.css);
});
```
There is also [standalone build] for the browser or as a non-Node.js runtime.
You can use [html-autoprefixer] to process HTML with inlined CSS.
[html-autoprefixer]: https://github.com/RebelMail/html-autoprefixer
[standalone build]: https://raw.github.com/ai/autoprefixer-rails/master/vendor/autoprefixer.js
[PostCSS]: https://github.com/postcss/postcss
### Text Editors and IDE
Autoprefixer should be used in assets build tools. Text editor plugins are not
a good solution, because prefixes decrease code readability and you will need
to change value in all prefixed properties.
I recommend you to learn how to use build tools like [Gulp].
They work much better and will open you a whole new world of useful plugins
and automatization.
But, if you can’t move to a build tool, you can use text editor plugins:
* [Sublime Text](https://github.com/sindresorhus/sublime-autoprefixer)
* [Brackets](https://github.com/mikaeljorhult/brackets-autoprefixer)
* [Atom Editor](https://github.com/sindresorhus/atom-autoprefixer)
* [Visual Studio](http://vswebessentials.com/)
[Gulp]: http://gulpjs.com/
## Warnings
Autoprefixer uses the [PostCSS warning API] to warn about really important problems
in your CSS:
* Old direction syntax in gradients.
* Old unprefixed `display: box` instead of `display: flex`
by latest specification version.
You can get warnings from `result.warnings()`:
```js
result.warnings().forEach(function (warn) {
console.warn(warn.toString());
});
```
Every Autoprefixer runner should display this warnings.
[PostCSS warning API]: https://github.com/postcss/postcss/blob/master/docs/api.md#warning-class
## Disabling
### Prefixes
Autoprefixer was designed to have no interface – it just works.
If you need some browser specific hack just write a prefixed property
after the unprefixed one.
```css
a {
transform: scale(0.5);
-moz-transform: scale(0.6);
}
```
If some prefixes were generated in a wrong way,
please create an issue on GitHub.
### Features
You can use these plugin options to disable some of the Autoprefixer's features.
* `supports: false` will disable `@supports` parameters prefixing.
* `flexbox: false` will disable flexbox properties prefixing.
Or `flexbox: "no-2009"` will add prefixes only for final and IE
versions of specification.
* `remove: false` will disable cleaning outdated prefixes.
You should set them to the plugin:
```js
autoprefixer({ grid: true });
```
### Control Comments
If you do not need Autoprefixer in some part of your CSS,
you can use control comments to disable Autoprefixer.
```css
.a {
transition: 1s; /* it will be prefixed */
}
.b {
/* autoprefixer: off */
transition: 1s; /* it will not be prefixed */
}
.c {
/* autoprefixer: ignore next */
transition: 1s; /* it will not be prefixed */
mask: url(image.png); /* it will be prefixed */
}
```
There are two types of control comments:
* `/* autoprefixer: off */` disable the whole block *before* and after comment.
* `/* autoprefixer: ignore next */` disable only next property
or next rule selector or at-rule parameters (but not rule/at‑rule body).
You can also use comments recursively:
```css
/* autoprefixer: off */
@supports (transition: all) {
/* autoprefixer: on */
a {
/* autoprefixer: off */
}
}
```
## Options
Function `autoprefixer(options)` returns new PostCSS plugin.
See [PostCSS API] for plugin usage documentation.
```js
autoprefixer({ cascade: false })
```
Available options are:
* `env` (string): environment for Browserslist.
* `cascade` (boolean): should Autoprefixer use Visual Cascade,
if CSS is uncompressed. Default: `true`
* `add` (boolean): should Autoprefixer add prefixes. Default is `true`.
* `remove` (boolean): should Autoprefixer [remove outdated] prefixes.
Default is `true`.
* `supports` (boolean): should Autoprefixer add prefixes for `@supports`
parameters. Default is `true`.
* `flexbox` (boolean|string): should Autoprefixer add prefixes for flexbox
properties. With `"no-2009"` value Autoprefixer will add prefixes only
for final and IE versions of specification. Default is `true`.
* `grid` (boolean): should Autoprefixer add IE prefixes for Grid Layout
properties. Default is `false`.
* `stats` (object): custom [usage statistics] for `> 10% in my stats`
browsers query.
* `browsers` (array): list of queries for target browsers. Try to not use it.
The best practice is to use `.browserslistrc` config
or `browserslist` key in `package.json` to share target browsers
with Babel, ESLint and Stylelint. See [Browserslist docs]
for available queries and default value.
* `ignoreUnknownVersions` (boolean): do not raise error on unknown browser
version in Browserslist config or `browsers` option. Default is `false`.
Plugin object has `info()` method for debugging purpose.
You can use PostCSS processor to process several CSS files
to increase performance.
[usage statistics]: https://github.com/ai/browserslist#custom-usage-data
[PostCSS API]: http://api.postcss.org
## Debug
Run `npx autoprefixer --info` in your project directory to check
which browsers are selected and which properties will be prefixed:
```
$ npx autoprefixer --info
Browsers:
Edge: 16
These browsers account for 0.26% of all users globally
At-Rules:
@viewport: ms
Selectors:
::placeholder: ms
Properties:
appearance: webkit
flow-from: ms
flow-into: ms
hyphens: ms
overscroll-behavior: ms
region-fragment: ms
scroll-snap-coordinate: ms
scroll-snap-destination: ms
scroll-snap-points-x: ms
scroll-snap-points-y: ms
scroll-snap-type: ms
text-size-adjust: ms
text-spacing: ms
user-select: ms
```
JS API is also available:
```js
var info = autoprefixer().info();
console.log(info);
```