Tailwind CSS Not Found in node_modules/.bin/ After Installation in WSL

[metacurtis]

I've been struggling for weeks trying to install Tailwind CSS inside my WSL 2 (Ubuntu 22.04) environment, and no matter what I do, the Tailwind CLI is missing from node_modules/.bin/.

⚡ My Setup:
OS: Windows 11, running WSL 2 (Ubuntu 22.04)
Node.js Version: v18.20.6 (via NVM)
npm Version: 10.8.2
Project Manager: npm (not yarn)
Project Type: Vite + React + TypeScript
🛠️ Steps I Took (and Still Failing)
Initialized Project:

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npm init -y
Installed Tailwind CSS:

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npm install -D tailwindcss postcss autoprefixer
Checked for Tailwind CLI:

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ls node_modules/.bin/tailwindcss
❌ Error: ls: cannot access 'node_modules/.bin/tailwindcss': No such file or directory

Tried Reinstalling Everything:

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rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json
npm cache clean --force
npm install
Tried Running Directly via npx:

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npx tailwindcss -v
❌ Error: npm error could not determine executable to run

Checked if Tailwind CSS is Installed:

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npm list --depth=0 | grep tailwindcss
✅ Output: [email protected] (So it's installed, but not available in node_modules/.bin/)

Tried Installing Globally:

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npm install -g tailwindcss
✅ Installs fine, but still can't run npx tailwindcss inside the project.

🚨 What Could Be Wrong?
Is WSL 2 causing an issue with file linking?
Does npm 10.x have known issues with Tailwind CSS?
Could Node.js v18.20.6 be the problem?
Are there known workarounds for missing node_modules/.bin/tailwindcss files?
🙏 Any Help Would Be Greatly Appreciated!
I've already wiped my machine once trying to fix this issue, and I’d rather not do it again. 😓

[wongjn]

You need to install the @tailwindcss/cli node package for the CLI interface:

$ npm install @tailwindcss/cli

You seem to have followed old v3 instructions. As a side note, you don't neccessarily need postcss or autoprefixer packages.

[metacurtis]

Thanks! I was in v3 mode. I appreciate the information,

[Bugatti-shir0n]

Thanks so much for this. Not even chatgpt or gemini could assist for over a week

[austin72905]

Thanks! It works!

[MaslovD]

Thanks, It helped!

[xTararAisx]

you saved my day!!!

[rozsazoltan]

Related:

• Problem installing TailwindCSS with Vite, after "npx tailwindcss init -p" command

I don't want to maintain duplicate content, but I thought this could be a useful post for those who haven't reviewed the breaking changes in v4 yet or just want to quickly go over the most important ones.

• Changed npx tailwindcss to npx @tailwindcss/cli
• Deprecated init process

[Stroh-M]

Thanks, saved a lot of frustration

[metacurtis]

Glad it help everyone...AI has limitations. Important to leverage your problem solving on stuff like this. This community is good for that.