Vanilla JavaScript support for Tailwind Plus

Philipp Spiess, Adam WathanTailwind CSS BlogPublished Aug 10, 2026, 01:45 AM0 reads

There are a lot of UI blocks in Tailwind Plus that need JavaScript to really be useful, like dialogs, dropdowns, command palettes, and more.

And unless you're a React or Vue user, using those UI blocks has always meant writing all of that tricky JavaScript yourself.

Well today that finally changes — every UI block in Tailwind Plus is now fully functional, accessible, and interactive, including the plain HTML examples. Now you can use any dropdown, command palette, dialog, drawer, and more in any project you're working on — no JavaScript framework required.

No framework required To pull this off, we built @tailwindplus/elements — a library we're releasing exclusively for Tailwind Plus customers. Elements is a collection of headless custom elements that wrap up all of the complex behavior needed to build custom interactive UIs using just HTML, and can be styled any way you like using utility classes or custom CSS.

Instead of being coupled to a specific JavaScript framework, these custom elements work anywhere you can use a <script> tag: <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@tailwindplus/elements@1" type="module"></script> Here's what it look like to build a custom dropdown menu with Elements: <el-dropdown class="relative inline-block text-left"> <button class="inline-flex w-full justify-center gap-x-1.5 rounded-md bg-white px-3 py-2 text-sm font-semibold text-gray-900 shadow-xs ring-1 ring-gray-300 ring-inset hover:bg-gray-50"> Options <svg viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" class="-mr-1 size-5 text-gray-400"> <path d="M5.22 8.22a.75.75 0 0 1 1.06 0L10 11.94l3.72-3.72a.75.75 0 1 1 1.06 1.06l-4.25 4.25a.75.75 0 0 1-1.06 0L5.22 9.28a.75.75 0 0 1 0-1.06Z" clip-rule="evenodd" fill-rule="evenodd" /> </svg> </button> <el-menu anchor="bottom end" popover class="w-56 origin-top-right rounded-md bg-white shadow-lg ring-1 ring-black/5 transition transition-discrete [--anchor-gap:--spacing(2)] focus:outline-hidden data-closed:scale-95 data-closed:transform data-closed:opacity-0 data-enter:duration-100 data-enter:ease-out data-leave:duration-75 data-leave:ease-in"> <div class="py-1"> <a href="#" class="block px-4 py-2 text-sm text-gray-700 focus:bg-gray-100 focus:text-gray-900 focus:outline-hidden">Account settings</a> <a href="#" class="block px-4 py-2 text-sm text-gray-700 focus:bg-gray-100 focus:text-gray-900 focus:outline-hidden">Support</a> <a href="#" class="block px-4 py-2 text-sm text-gray-700 focus:bg-gray-100 focus:text-gray-900 focus:outline-hidden">License</a> <form action="#" method="POST"> <button type="submit" class="block w-full px-4 py-2 text-left text-sm text-gray-700 focus:bg-gray-100 focus:text-gray-900 focus:outline-hidden">Sign out</button> </form> </div> </el-menu></el-dropdown> And here's what it looks like to build a custom select: <label for="select" class="block text-sm/6 font-medium text-gray-900">Assigned to</label><el-select id="select" name="selected" value="4" class="mt-2 block"> <button type="button" class="grid w-full cursor-default grid-cols-1 ..."> <el-selectedcontent></el-selectedcontent> <svg viewBox="0 0 16 16" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" class="col-start-1 row-start-1 ..."

>  </svg> </button> <el-options anchor="bottom start" popover class="max-h-60 w-(--button-width) [--anchor-gap:--spacing(1)] ..."> <el-option value="1" class="group/option relative block focus:bg-indigo-600 ..."> <div class="flex items-center"> <span aria-hidden="true" class="inline-block size-2 shrink-0 ..."></span> <span class="ml-3 block group-aria-selected/option:font-semibold ..."

> Wade Cooper <span class="sr-only"> is online</span> </span> </div> <span class="group-not-aria-selected/option:hidden group-focus/option:text-white in-[el-selectedcontent]:hidden ..."> <svg viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" class="size-5">  </svg> </span> </el-option>  </el-options></el-select> See those custom HTML elements like <el-select> and <el-options>?

Those are the secret sauce that make everything work, including automatic ARIA attribute management, focus handling, keyboard support, and more.

You can even build something as sophisticated as a custom command palette with Elements, without having to write any of your own JavaScript: <button command="show-modal" commandfor="dialog" class="rounded-md bg-white/80 px-2.5 py-1.5 text-sm font-semibold text-gray-900 hover:bg-white/90"> Open command palette</button><el-dialog> <dialog id="dialog" class="backdrop:bg-transparent"> <el-dialog-backdrop class="fixed inset-0 bg-gray-500/25 transition-opacity data-closed:opacity-0 data-enter:duration-300 data-enter:ease-out data-leave:duration-200 data-leave:ease-in"></div> <div tabindex="0" class="fixed inset-0 w-screen overflow-y-auto p-4 focus:outline-none sm:p-6 md:p-20"> <el-dialog-panel class="mx-auto block max-w-3xl transform overflow-hidden rounded-xl bg-white shadow-2xl ring-1 ring-black/5 transition-all data-closed:scale-95 data-closed:opacity-0 data-enter:duration-300 data-enter:ease-out data-leave:duration-200 data-leave:ease-in"> <el-command-palette class="divide-y divide-gray-100"> <div class="grid grid-cols-1"> <input type="text" autofocus placeholder="Search..." class="col-start-1 row-start-1 h-12 w-full pr-4 pl-11 text-base text-gray-900 outline-hidden placeholder:text-gray-400 sm:text-sm" /> <svg viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" class="pointer-events-none col-start-1 row-start-1 ml-4 size-5 self-center text-gray-400"> <path d="M9 3.5a5.5 5.5 0 1 0 0 11 5.5 5.5 0 0 0 0-11ZM2 9a7 7 0 1 1 12.452 4.391l3.328 3.329a.75.75 0 1 1-1.06 1.06l-3.329-3.328A7 7 0 0 1 2 9Z" clip-rule="evenodd" fill-rule="evenodd" /> </svg> </div> <div class="flex transform-gpu divide-x divide-gray-100"> <div class="max-h-96 min-w-0 flex-auto scroll-py-4 overflow-y-auto px-6 py-4"> <el-command-list class="-mx-2 block text-sm text-gray-700"> <el-defaults> <h2 class="mx-2 mt-2 mb-4 text-xs font-semibold text-gray-500">Recent searches</h2> <div class="text-sm text-gray-700"> <a id="person-suggestion-6" href="#" class="group flex cursor-default items-center rounded-md p-2 select-none focus:outline-hidden aria-selected:bg-gray-100 aria-selected:text-gray-900"> <img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1472099645785-5658abf4ff4e?

ixlib=rb-1.2.1&ixid=eyJhcHBfaWQiOjEyMDd9&auto=format&fit=facearea&facepad=2&w=256&h=256&q=80" alt="" class="size-6 flex-none rounded-full" /> <span class="ml-3 flex-auto truncate">Leslie Alexander</span> <svg viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" class="ml-3 hidden size-5 flex-none text-gray-400 group-aria-selected:block"> <path d="M8.22 5.22a.75.75 0 0 1 1.06 0l4.25 4.25a.75.75 0 0 1 0 1.06l-4.25 4.25a.75.75 0 0 1-1.06-1.06L11.94 10 8.22 6.28a.75.75 0 0 1 0-1.06Z" clip-rule="evenodd" fill-rule="evenodd" /> </svg> </a>  </el-command-group> </el-command-list> <el-no-results hidden class="block px-6 py-14 text-center text-sm sm:px-14"> <svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="1.5" aria-hidden="true" class="mx-auto size-6 text-gray-400"> <path d="M15 19.128a9.38 9.38 0 0 0 2.625.372 9.337 9.337 0 0 0 4.121-.952 4.125 4.125 0 0 0-7.533-2.493M15 19.128v-.003c0-1.113-.285-2.16-.786-3.07M15 19.128v.106A12.318 12.318 0 0 1 8.624 21c-2.331 0-4.512-.645-6.374-1.766l-.001-.109a6.375 6.375 0 0 1 11.964-3.07M12 6.375a3.375 3.375 0 1 1-6.75 0 3.375 3.375 0 0 1 6.75 0Zm8.25 2.25a2.625 2.625 0 1 1-5.25 0 2.625 2.625 0 0 1 5.25 0Z" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" /> </svg> <p class="mt-4 font-semibold text-gray-900">No people found</p> <p class="mt-2 text-gray-500">We couldn't find anything with that term.

Please try again.</p> </el-no-results> </div> <el-command-preview for="person-1" hidden class="h-96 w-1/2 flex-none flex-col divide-y divide-gray-100 overflow-y-auto sm:flex"> <div class="flex-none p-6 text-center"> <img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1494790108377-be9c29b29330?

ixlib=rb-1.2.1&ixid=eyJhcHBfaWQiOjEyMDd9&auto=format&fit=facearea&facepad=2&w=256&h=256&q=80" alt="" class="mx-auto size-16 rounded-full" /> <h2 class="mt-3 font-semibold text-gray-900">Leslie Alexander</h2> <p class="text-sm/6 text-gray-500">Co-Founder / CEO</p> </div> <div class="flex flex-auto flex-col justify-between p-6"> <dl class="grid grid-cols-1 gap-x-6 gap-y-3 text-sm text-gray-700"> <dt class="col-end-1 font-semibold text-gray-900">Phone</dt> <dd>1-493-747-9031</dd> <dt class="col-end-1 font-semibold text-gray-900">URL</dt> <dd class="truncate"><a href="https://example.com" class="text-indigo-600 underline">https://example.com</a></dd> <dt class="col-end-1 font-semibold text-gray-900">Email</dt> <dd class="truncate"><a href="mailto:[email protected]" class="text-indigo-600 underline">[email protected]</a></dd> </dl> <button type="button" class="mt-6 w-full rounded-md bg-indigo-600 px-3 py-2 text-sm font-semibold text-white shadow-xs hover:bg-indigo-500 focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:outline-indigo-600">Send message</button> </div> </el-command-preview>  </div> </el-command-palette> </el-dialog-panel> </div> </dialog></el-dialog> To support all of the UI blocks in Tailwind Plus, we're shipping the following primitives in this first release of Elements: Autocomplete — for building things like custom Comboboxes.

Command palette — for building custom Command Palettes. Dialog — for building custom Modal Dialogs, Drawers, and more. Disclosure — for building collapsible FAQs, mobile menus in Navbars, and more.

Dropdown menu — for building custom Dropdowns, of course. Popover — for building custom Flyout Menus and more. Select — for building custom Select Menus.

Tabs — for building custom tabs, like we use in custom Textareas and Product Overviews. If you're a Tailwind Plus customer, head over to the brand new Elements documentation to learn more about how everything works and check out some examples. Leveraging the modern web We leaned on a lot of modern platform features to keep Elements as light and native as a possible.

Custom elements as a cross-platform component abstraction. The popover attribute to manage overlays and popovers with automatic top-layer rendering together with beforetoggle to control transitions. Native <dialog> elements for focus trapping and top-layer rendering.

Invoker commands to declaratively manage interactive elements, like toggling a custom disclosure. ElementInternals to make our custom form controls work like native form controls. We also bundle any necessary polyfills for these features to make sure that Elements works in all of the same browsers supported by Tailwind CSS v4.0.

This means Elements will only get smaller as these modern platform features become more widely available. Components that work everywhere Since HTML is the lowest common denominator between all web frameworks, Elements makes it possible for all of HTML-only UI blocks in Tailwind Plus to work literally anywhere.

Here's one of our Combobox examples wired up with two-way binding in Svelte: <script> let input = $state(""); function handleSubmit() { alert(`Selected: ${input}`); }</script><form onsubmit={handleSubmit}> <label for="autocomplete" class="block text-sm/6 font-medium text-gray-900">Assigned to</label> <el-autocomplete class="relative mt-2 block"> <input bind:value={input} id="autocomplete" type="text" class="block w-full rounded-md ..." /> <button type="button" class="absolute inset-y-0 right-0 flex ..."> <svg viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" class="size-5 text-gray-400"> <path d="M5.22 8.22a.75.75 ..." clip-rule="evenodd" fill-rule="evenodd" /> </svg> </button> <el-options anchor="bottom end" popover class="max-h-60 w-(--input-width) [--anchor-gap:--spacing(1)] ..."> <el-option value="Leslie Alexander" class="block truncate aria-selected:bg-indigo-600 aria-selected:text-white ..."

>Leslie Alexander</el-option> </el-options> </el-autocomplete> <button type="submit">Submit</button></form> Or here's a custom select in Rails that's included in form submissions, just like a native form control: class OrdersController < ApplicationController def new @cars = Car.all @selected_car = @cars.first end def create car = Car.find(params[:car_id]) flash[:notice] = "Selected car: #{car.name}" redirect_to root_path endend <%= form_with do |form| %> <%= form.label :car_id, "Select model:" %> <el-select name="car_id" id="car_id" value="<%= @selected_car.id %>"> <button type="button" class="grid w-full cursor-default grid-cols-1 ..."> <el-selectedcontent class="col-start-1 row-start-1 truncate pr-6"> <%= @selected_car.name %> </el-selectedcontent> <svg viewBox="0 0 16 16" aria-hidden="true" class="col-start-1 row-start-1 size-5 ..."> <path d="M5.22 10.22a.75.75 ..." clip-rule="evenodd" fill-rule="evenodd" /> </svg> </button> <el-options anchor="bottom end" popover=""> <% @cars.each do |car| %> <el-option value="<%= car.id %>"> <span class="block truncate font-normal group-aria-selected/option:font-semibold"> <%= car.name %> </span> <span class="flex group-not-aria-selected/option:hidden group-focus/option:text-white in-[el-selectedcontent]:hidden ..."> <svg viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" class="size-5"> <path d="M16.704 4.153a.75.75 0 ..." clip-rule="evenodd" fill-rule="evenodd" /> </svg> </span> </el-option> <% end %> </el-options> </el-select> <%= form.submit "Place order" %><% end %> You can even use Elements in React instead of using a React-only library like Headless UI or React Aria if you want: import Link from "next/link";export function Menu() { return ( <el-dropdown className="relative inline-block text-left"> <button className="inline-flex w-full justify-center ..."

> Menu <svg viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" className="-mr-1 size-5 text-gray-400"> <path d="M5.22 8.22a.75.75 ..." clip-rule="evenodd" fill-rule="evenodd" /> </svg> </button> <el-menu anchor="bottom end" popover className="transition transition-discrete [--anchor-gap:--spacing(2)] focus:outline-hidden data-closed:scale-95 ..."> <div className="py-1"> <Link href="/" className="block px-4 py-2 focus:bg-gray-100 focus:text-gray-900 focus:outline-hidden ..."

>Home</Link> <Link href="/about" className="block px-4 py-2 focus:bg-gray-100 focus:text-gray-900 focus:outline-hidden ..." >About</Link> <Link href="/faq" className="block px-4 py-2 focus:bg-gray-100 focus:text-gray-900 focus:outline-hidden ..." >FAQ</Link> </div> </el-menu> </el-dropdown> );} Try it out today All of the updated UI blocks and the new Elements library are available now to all Tailwind Plus customers.

Check out UI block categories like Dropdowns and Command Palettes to play with these updated interactive examples yourself, and explore the new Elements documentation to learn how it all works and how to customize things for your projects. We can't wait to see what you'll build with this stuff!

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