How to use the Tailwind Sidebar npm package in your React and Next.js apps

These days, developers are increasingly preferring CSS frameworks like Tailwind CSS to help build fast, extensible and highly customizable user interfaces.

In this article, you will learn what is tailwind-sidebar What is npm package, how it works internally, and how to install and configure it in a real project. We’ll walk through setting up a responsive sidebar using Tailwind CSS, explore its key features with practical examples, and see how you can customize and control sidebar behavior to fit different layouts and screen sizes.

If you are building a React or Next.js application and want a lightweight yet powerful sidebar solution, Tailwind side bar is an excellent choice.

Conditions

Basic knowledge of JavaScript (ES6+)
Familiarity with React fundamentals (Components, Props, JSX)
Basic understanding of next.js project structure and routing
Experiment with using NPM or Yarn for package installation
Working knowledge of Tailwind CSS

The Tailwind Sidebar NPM package is a modern, developer-friendly sidebar component built entirely with Tailwind CSS. It is designed to help developers create responsive, customizable and accessible sidebars without the overhead of heavy UI frameworks.

tailwind-sidebar Tailwind is a lightweight utility package designed to simplify building responsive sidebars using CSS. Instead of manually handling sidebar state, transitions, and responsive behavior, the package provides a small JavaScript layer that works alongside Tailwind’s utility classes.

At its core, the package toggles the tailwind classes to control whether the sidebar is open or closed. This makes it framework-agnostic – it works with plain HTML as well as frameworks like React, View, or Next.js, as long as Tailwind CSS is available.

Because it relies on Tailwind utilities instead of custom CSS, the sidebar remains easy to customize, extend, and maintain.

What is Tailwind CSS?

Tailwind CSS is a utility-first CSS framework that lets you create modern, responsive user interfaces directly in your markup. Instead of predefined components, Tailwind provides low-level utility classes that give you complete design control without leaving your HTML.

Tailwind Sidebar is built on top of Tailwind CSS, offering a clean, flexible, and highly customizable sidebar solution for modern web applications.

Better performance

Tailwind Sidebar relies on utility classes instead of heavy JavaScript logic. This means it provides fast load times and smooth interactions, and is ideal for performance-critical applications.

Developer friendly

It has no complex configuration or component APIs. If you know Tailwind CSS, you already know how to customize the sidebar.

Easy maintenance

With a simple and predictable structure, updates and custom changes are straightforward, making it suitable for both small projects and large-scale applications.

Tailwind has a large and active CSS community. That means better tooling, regular updates, and a wealth of learning resources to support your development workflow.

This section walks you through installation and configuration tailwind-sidebar In a react and next dot js application. You’ll learn how to add a sidebar, create a menu, add a logo, and customize the navigation.

To get started, you’ll need to install Tailwind sidebar In your react and next dot js project. You can do this using either NPM or Yarn.

Using NPM:

npm i tailwind-sidebar

Using yarn:

yarn add tailwind-sidebar

It will increase tailwind-sidebar And it depends on your project.

Once the package is installed, you can import the necessary components into your project from the Tailwind sidebar. These components will allow you to customize the sidebar with menus, submenus, and even a logo.

import {

  AMSidebar,

  AMMenuItem,

  AMMenu,

  AMSubmenu,

  AMLogo,

} from "tailwind-sidebar";

To use the default styles of the Tailwind sidebar, you need to import its CSS file at the top of your project:

import "tailwind-sidebar/styles.css";

Step 3: React and Next dot j for rooting setup

Enable navigation inside tailwind-sidebar Love the ingredients AMMenuItem or AMLogoyou need to pass any react router or next/link to a link component using the component prop inside the corresponding component, as shown in the example below:

If you are using Reaction:

import { Link } from "react-router-dom";

<AMSidebar width={"270px"}>

     <AMLogo img="
        component={Link}
        href="/"
      >
        Adminmart

      AMLogo>
      <AMMenu subHeading="HOME">
        <AMMenuItem
         icon={<Home />}
          link="/"  // Passing link to component for routing
          badge={true}
          badgeType="default"
          badgeColor={"bg-secondary"}
          isSelected={true}
        >
          {/* text for your link */}
          Link Text
        AMMenuItem>
      AMMenu>
   AMSidebar>

And if you are using Next dot j:

import  Link  from "next/link";<AMSidebar width={"270px"}>
  <AMLogo img="
        component={Link} // Passing link to component for routing
        href="/"
      >
        Adminmart
      AMLogo>
        AdminMart
      Logo>
      <AMMenu subHeading="HOME">
         <AMMenuItem
          icon={<Home />}
          link="/tes"
          component={Link}
          isSelected={true}
        >
           Link Text {/* text for your link */}
        AMMenuItem>
      AMMenu>

Now we will sort AMSidebar component in your application. You can set the width of the sidebar using width Prop Here is a simple example:

"270px"}> 

{}

The sidebar starts with its width 270px. You can adjust this width based on your design needs.

You can add a logo inside the sidebar by using AMLogo Components To do this, you can provide a img Support linking to the CDN logo image. You can also click the logo by passing the navigation link using it component And href Here’s how you can add a logo:

"270px"}>

<AMLogo img="
component={Link}
href="/" 
>        
Adminmart
AMLogo>

In this example, we added a logo using a CDN img Prop, used component Props to pass Linkand set the navigation path (/) Using the home page href Prop and set “Admin Mart” as application name.

Now let’s create a menu inside the sidebar AMMenu Components You can define submenu headings using this subHeading Inside the prop AMMenuyou can add AMMenuItem Components of each item.

You can also provide link as well as component Prop AMMenuItem To convert an item to a one-click link.

Here’s how you can configure the menu:

"270px"}>
  <AMMenu subHeading="HOME">
  <AMMenuItem  component={Link}  link="/"  badge=”true”  isSelected={true} >
      Modern
    AMMenuItem>
    <AMMenuItem>eCommerceAMMenuItem>
    <AMMenuItem>AnalyticalAMMenuItem>
  AMMenu>

In this example:

We have added a AMMenu With the heading “Home”.
The first AMMenuItem a link prop, so clicking on it will take you to the home page (/).
Second and third AMMenuItem Components are simple text items without links.

you can use badge="true" Prop. to indicate a badge or notification Aminotum. isSelected={true} Marks this menu item as currently selected or enabled (although you can customize this feature to suit your needs).

To add a submenu within the main menu, use AMSubmenu Ingredients AMSubmenu can be nested within AMMenu component and has its own set AMMenuItem. use title Support for setting sub-menu headings

Here is an example of adding a submenu:

"270px"}>
    <AMMenu subHeading="SERVICES">
      <AMMenuItem  component={Link}   link="/web-development">Web DevelopmentAMMenuItem>
      <AMMenuItem component={Link}  link="/seo-services">SEO ServicesAMMenuItem>
      <AMSubmenu title="Marketing">
            <AMMenuItem component={Link}  link="/digital-marketing">Digital MarketingAMMenuItem>
           <AMMenuItem component={Link}  link="/content-marketing">Content MarketingAMMenuItem>
      AMSubmenu>
  AMMenu>

In this example:

Utility first and lightweight

The Tailwind sidebar is built entirely using Tailwind CSS utility classes. This means no heavy JavaScript logic or additional styling frameworks, keeping your bundle size small and performance fast.

Code example:

"260px" className="bg-gray-900 text-white">
     <AMMenu>
           <AMMenuItem>DashboardAMMenuItem>
      AMMenu>

Here’s what’s going on:

bg-gray-900 text-white: Applies black background and white text Directly Through Tailwind classes (no separate css file).
width="260px": Sets the width of the component’s supported sidebar. Here, it shows how Tailwind combines utilities with props for control.

Since all spacing and colors are from the Tailwind classes, you don’t need additional custom styling.

Fully responsive design

The sidebar adapts seamlessly to different screen sizes. Whether you’re building for desktop, tablet, or mobile, Tailwind Sidebar ensures a smooth and consistent navigation experience.

For example use:

"260px" className="hidden md:block">
  <AMMenu>
           <AMMenuItem>HomeAMMenuItem>
      AMMenu>

Here’s what’s going on:

hidden md:block: Use Tailwind Responsible utility classes To hide the component (hidden) on mobile screens and show it on startup md breakpoint (md:block)

This pattern is Tailwind’s general way of controlling visibility into breakpoints without media queries.

Highly customizable

Tailwind allows full customization of sidebar colors, hover states, spacing and typography directly through Tailwind classes. You can customize layouts and animations without touching custom CSS files.

For example use:

 "hover:bg-blue-600 rounded-lg px-4 py-2”>
      Analytics

Here’s what’s going on:

hover:bg-blue-600: When you rotate the menu item, the background changes to blue, purely by the tailwind.
rounded-lg: Adds rounded corners.
px-4 py-2: controls the horizontal (px) and vertical (py) recruitment to adjust spacing.

Together, these utilities show how Tailwind controls design details directly at the HTML/JSX level.

Integration with React and Next:

Tailwind Sidebar integrates seamlessly with React and Next.js, offering a familiar and efficient development experience.

The sidebar works natively with both Router response And Next.js routing by passing Link Ingredients

React Example
{
  
}

import { Link } from "react-router-dom";
<AMMenuItem component={Link} link="/dashboard">
            Dashboard 
AMMenuItem>

Next.js Example
{
  
}

import Link from "next/link";

<AMMenuItem component={Link} link="/dashboard">
         Dashboard
AMMenuItem>

Here’s what’s going on:

component={Link} link="/dashboard": shows how you move the routing component of your framework AMMenuItemturning it into a real naval link.

This means the tailwind sidebar is routing the boilerplate according to both the reaction rotor and the forward dot js.

Organize your navigation with:

Main menu items
Nested Sabinus

This makes it easy to manage complex navigation structures while keeping the UI clean and intuitive.

For example use:

"MANAGEMENT">
             <AMMenuItem>UsersAMMenuItem>
                <AMSubmenu title="Reports">
                   <AMMenuItem>SalesAMMenuItem>
                      <AMMenuItem>RevenueAMMenuItem>
                    AMSubmenu>

Here’s what’s going on:

This example clearly shows a hierarchical menu without additional CSS – the structure and tailwind classes handle layout.

Icon support

Sidebar comes with built-in support for icons, allowing developers to enhance the visual appeal and usability of their application. Developers can use any icon library and provide an icon component.

For example Lucide-React:

import { Home } from "lucide-react";

<AMMenuItem icon={<Home size={18} />}>
     Home
AMMenuItem>

Here’s what’s going on:

icon={}: Here, an icon component is passed as a prop.
You control the size directly through the icon library (here lucid) and handle the spacing/placement with the tailwind handle text itself.

This makes it clear how the icons and text are combined in the sidebar component.

Smooth transition

Tailwind provides built-in animation support through the sidebar animation prop. When enabled, menu items and submenus animate easily, improving the overall user experience without the need for custom CSS or JavaScript.

For example use:

"270px" animation={true}>
           <AMMenu subHeading="SETTINGS">
                  <AMMenuItem>ProfileAMMenuItem>
                  <AMMenuItem>SecurityAMMenuItem>
             AMMenu>

Here’s what’s going on:

animation={true}: Enables built-in animation support.

The example shows how adding this prop triggers the smooth transitions defined by the component (still internally dependent on the tailwind utility). You don’t need to manually write CSS frames or transition functions.

wrap up

You have now successfully integrated a fully functional sidebar into your React and Next.js application. tailwind-sidebar. You can further customize the sidebar:

Modifying width and design.
Adding more submenus, menu items, or icons.
Use links to navigate between pages.

This setup provides a flexible, responsive, and easy-to-use sidebar, perfect for most web applications.

If you want to see how a sidebar like this fits into a real dashboard layout, you can check out the open source Tailwind CSS admin template. https://tailwind-admin.com/.

Try this:

You can see a working demo of the Tailwind sidebar here: Watch the demo.

Note: In this tutorial, we used lucide-react To build this sidebar. Feel free to choose an alternate library or use different icons based on your specific needs.

You can also try Next.js tailwind sidebar – A simple and responsive sidebar built for next.js, and Tailwind sidebar reaction -A lightweight Tailwind-based sidebar for React applications.

Table of Contents

Conditions

Understanding the Tailwind Sidebar

What is Tailwind CSS?

Better performance

Developer friendly

Easy maintenance

Using NPM:

Using yarn:

Step 3: React and Next dot j for rooting setup

Utility first and lightweight

Fully responsive design

Highly customizable

Integration with React and Next:

Icon support

Smooth transition

wrap up

Try this:

Editor's pick

Get latest news

How to use the Tailwind Sidebar npm package in your React and Next.js apps

Table of Contents

Conditions

Understanding the Tailwind Sidebar

What is Tailwind CSS?

Better performance

Developer friendly

Easy maintenance

Using NPM:

Using yarn:

Step 3: React and Next dot j for rooting setup

Utility first and lightweight

Fully responsive design

Highly customizable

Integration with React and Next:

Icon support

Smooth transition

wrap up

Try this:

5 Code Sandboxes for Your AI Agents

How relational database constraints work and why they are important

You may also like

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Editor's pick

Get latest news