Using CSS variables

CSS Variables are entities defined by authors, or users, of Web pages to contain specific values throughout a document. They are set using custom properties and are accessed using a specific functional notation var().

Basic usage

Declaring a variable:

element {
  --main-bg-color: brown;
}

Using the variable:

element {
  background-color: var(--main-bg-color);
}

Problems to solve

When building large sites, authors often face a maintainability challenge. In such websites, the size of the CSS is quite large and a lot of information may be repeated in multiple places. For example, maintaining a coherent color scheme throughout a document implies reusing a few color values at numerous positions in the CSS files. Altering the scheme, whether tweaking a single color or completely rewriting it, therefore becomes a complex task requiring precision, as a single find and replace often isn't enough.

The situation gets worse with CSS frameworks, where changing colors requires editing the framework itself. Preprocessors like LESS or Sass are quite helpful in these situations, but may increase the complexity of the creation system, by adding an extra processing step. CSS variables help by employing some of the low-hanging benefits of a preprocessor, without the compilation overhead.

A second advantage of these variables is that the name itself contains semantic information. CSS files become easier to read and understand: main-text-color is easier to understand than the reuse of #00ff00 throughout the text, especially if this same color is also used in another context.

How CSS Variables can help

In imperative programming languages, like Java, C++, or even JavaScript, the state can be tracked through the notion of variables. Variables are symbolic names associated with a given value that can vary with the time.

In a declarative language like CSS, time-changing values are not common, and the concept of variables is also uncommon.

Nevertheless, CSS introduces the notion of cascading variables in order to help solve the maintainability challenge. This allows for symbolically refering to a value throughout the CSS tree.

What are CSS Variables

CSS Variables currently have two forms:

• variables, which are an association between an identifier and a value that can be used in place of any regular values, using the var() functional notation: var(--example-variable) returns the value of the --example-variable value.
• custom properties, which are special properties of the form --* where * represents the variable name. These are used to define the value of a given variable: --example-variable: 20px; is a CSS declaration, using the custom --* property to set the value of the CSS variable --example-variable to 20px.

Custom properties are similar to regular properties: they are subject to the cascade and inherit their value from their parent, if not redefined.

First steps with CSS Variables

Let's start with this simple CSS that colors elements of different classes with the same color:

.one {
  color: white;
  background-color: brown;
  margin: 10px;
  width: 50px;
  height: 50px;
  display: inline-block;
}

.two {
  color: white;
  background-color: black;
  margin: 10px;
  width: 150px;
  height: 70px;
  display: inline-block;
}
.three {
  color: white;
  background-color: brown;
  margin: 10px;
  width: 75px;
}
.four {
  color: white;
  background-color: brown;
  margin: 10px;
  width: 100px;
}

.five {
  background-color: brown;
}

<div>
    <div class="one"></div>
    <div class="two">Text <span class="five">- more text</span></div>
    <input class="three">
    <textarea class="four">Lorem Ipsum</textarea>
</div>

Notice the repetition in the CSS. The background color is set to brown in several places. For some CSS declarations, it is possible to declare this higher in the cascade and let CSS inheritance solve this problem naturally. For non-trivial projects, this is not always possible. By declaring a variable on the :root pseudo-class, a CSS author can halt some instances of repetition by using the variable.

:root {
  --main-bg-color: brown;
}

.one {
  color: white;
  background-color: var(--main-bg-color);
  margin: 10px;
  width: 50px;
  height: 50px;
  display: inline-block;
}

.two {
  color: white;
  background-color: black;
  margin: 10px;
  width: 150px;
  height: 70px;
  display: inline-block;
}
.three {
  color: white;
  background-color: var(--main-bg-color);
  margin: 10px;
  width: 75px;
}
.four {
  color: white;
  background-color: var(--main-bg-color);
  margin: 10px;
  width: 100px;
}

.five {
  background-color: var(--main-bg-color);
}

<div>
    <div class="one"></div>
    <div class="two">Text <span class="five">- more text</span></div>
    <input class="three">
    <textarea class="four">Lorem Ipsum</textarea>
</div>

<div class="one">
  <div class="two">
    <div class="three">
    </div>
    <div class="four">
    </div>
  <div>
</div>

with the following CSS:

.two {
  --test: 10px;
}

.three {
  --test: 2em;
}

In this case, the results of var(--test) are:

• for the class="two" element: 10px
• for the class="three" element: 2em
• for the class="four" element: 10px (inherited from its parent)
• for the class="one" element: invalid value, which is the default value of any custom property.

Validity and values

The classical CSS concept of validity, tied to each property, is not very useful in regard to custom properties. When the values of the custom properties are parsed, the browser doesn't know where they will be used, so must therefore consider nearly all values as valid.

Unfortunately, these valid values can be used, via the var() functional notation, in a context where they might not make sense. Properties and custom variables can lead to invalid CSS statements, leading to the new concept of valid at computed time.

Browser compatibility

[1] Chrome initially implemented this feature using a different syntax, which required to prefix custom property names with -webkit-var- to define them. They could then be used unprefixed within a -webkit-var() function. Additionally, the implementation was hidden behind the Enable experimental WebKit features flag under chrome://flags, later renamed to Enable experimental Web Platform features.

[2] Chrome 34.0 removed this feature due to performance issues.

[3] This feature is implemented behind the preference layout.css.variables.enabled, defaulting to false and using the old var-variablename syntax in Gecko 29. Starting from Gecko 31 the preference is enabled by default and the new --variablename syntax is used.