Tailwind CSS v4.1.3: npm install fails to create .bin links / npx error "could not determine executable"

[sibersky]

When installing [email protected] using npm v10.8+ (tested on Node v20 LTS and Node v22 Current), the necessary executable links (tailwindcss, tailwindcss.cmd, etc.) are not created in the node_modules/.bin directory. Consequently, attempting to run the CLI via npx tailwindcss fails with the error npm error could not determine executable to run.

This issue occurs even in a minimal, clean project setup and has been reproduced on both Windows and Linux (Kali).

Importantly, installing tailwindcss@3 under the exact same environment conditions works correctly: the .bin links are created, and npx tailwindcss --version executes successfully. This strongly suggests the issue is specific to the v4.1.3 package or its interaction with recent npm versions.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Create a new directory and navigate into it:

   mkdir test-tailwind && cd test-tailwind

2. Initialize a new npm project:

   npm init -y

3. Install Tailwind CSS v4.1.3:

   npm install [email protected] --save-dev

4. Check for bin links (this step fails):

   # On Linux/macOS/Git Bash:
   ls ./node_modules/.bin/tailwind*
   # On PowerShell:
   Get-ChildItem ./node_modules/.bin/tailwind*

5. Attempt to run via npx (this step fails):

   npx tailwindcss -v

Expected Behavior:

• Step 4 should list the executable links (tailwindcss, tailwindcss.cmd, etc.).
• Step 5 should execute the Tailwind CLI (and potentially output version info or ask for input, but not produce the npx error).

Actual Behavior:

• Step 4 produces no output (or a "No such file or directory" / "PathNotFound" error).
• Step 5 fails with the error:

  npm error could not determine executable to run
  npm error A complete log of this run can be found in: <path-to-log-file>
  

  (The debug log indicates the failure occurs in libnpmexec's getBinFromManifest function).

Environment:

• Tailwind CSS Version: 4.1.3
• Node.js Versions Tested: v20.19.0 (LTS), v22.14.0 ("Current")
• NPM Versions Tested: v10.8.2 (with Node 20), v10.9.2 (with Node 22)
• Operating Systems Tested: Windows 10/11, Kali Linux (Issue occurs identically on both)

Additional Context:

• Running npm install tailwindcss@3 --save-dev in the same environments works correctly, creating the .bin links and allowing npx tailwindcss --version to execute.
• Other packages (e.g., next) installed in the same projects do correctly create their .bin links.

[wongjn]

For v4, the CLI interface has been moved to the @tailwindcss/cli package:

$ npm install @tailwindcss/cli
$ npx @tailwindcss/cli

[AdekunleMustapha]

they should've put this in their documentation though

[wongjn]

It is mentioned in the upgrade guide:

Using Tailwind CLI

In v4, Tailwind CLI lives in a dedicated @tailwindcss/cli package. Update any of your build commands to use the new package instead:

npx tailwindcss -i input.css -o output.css
npx @tailwindcss/cli -i input.css -o output.css