When generating base without utilities, --tw-transform is missing

Versions

Tailwind: v2.2.1 with jit, issue reproducible via CLI Node: 16.10, macOS

Issue

In our project, we have a separate entry point for @tailwind base (with other custom css reset) and an entry for utilities and components.

When the tailwind run only on the base file, custom properties for transform are not added to :root.

If I add @tailwind utilities at the end of this file, it works.

Expected result

The output of @tailwind base should not depend on the presence of @tailwind utilities in the file

[adamwathan]

Hey! Tailwind is really meant to process base/components/utilities together, so using separate entry points for each one without combining them with postcss-import or something can have unexpected results. By having the two entries, you are effectively running Tailwind in isolation two separate times — what’s the reason you need to do that?

[Xeevis]

Just hit this issue too, I assumed I could split parts of tailwind to make better use of caching, Because most of the time, only utilities change for me. It seemed unnecessary to force visitors to redownload entire styling for every simple change.

But if it can’t be effectively split, perhaps there is a way to warn user something is wrong? Otherwise it’s quite obscure issue.