alouette — Responsive design

Use Tailwind responsive variant classes (sm:, md:, lg:, xl:) for responsive styling. They are the default tool, work on web and native (NativeWind evaluates them at runtime), and need no extra component. alouette customizes the breakpoint widths: sm 480 · md 768 · lg 1024 · xl 1280 — note sm is 480px, not Tailwind's default 640.

Reach for SwitchBreakpoints* only when classes can't express the change: a genuinely different component tree per size, or unmounting a heavy off-screen variant.

Setup

tsx

import { View } from "alouette";

<View className="flex-col md:flex-row gap-m">…</View>;

Core Patterns

Responsive utility classes (preferred)

tsx

<View className="p-m lg:p-xl" />
<Text className="text-base md:text-lg" />
<View className="flex-col md:flex-row" />

Stack on narrow screens, switch to a row at md (768px) and up.

Switch whole subtrees when classes aren't enough

When a breakpoint needs different components (not just different classes), use SwitchBreakpoints. UsingDisplayNone keeps every slot mounted and toggles visibility (SSR-friendly on web); UsingNull mounts only the matching slot — use it to keep heavy off-screen variants unmounted. The base slot is required.

tsx

import { SwitchBreakpointsUsingNull } from "alouette";

<SwitchBreakpointsUsingNull base={<MobileNav />} large={<DesktopSidebar />} />;

Read the current breakpoint in JS

tsx

import { useCurrentBreakpointName } from "alouette";

const bp = useCurrentBreakpointName(); // "base" | "small" | "medium" | "large" | "wide"

Common Mistakes

HIGH Using SwitchBreakpoints where a responsive class would do

Wrong:

tsx

<SwitchBreakpointsUsingNull
  base={<View className="flex-col" />}
  medium={<View className="flex-row" />}
/>

Correct:

tsx

<View className="flex-col md:flex-row" />

Responsive variant classes are the default; they avoid mounting multiple subtrees and work on web + native. Use SwitchBreakpoints* only when the variants are genuinely different components or the off-screen one must be unmounted.

Source: packages/alouette/src/windowSize/SwitchBreakpoints.tsx

MEDIUM Assuming Tailwind's default breakpoint widths

Wrong:

tsx

// expecting sm: to start at 640px
<View className="sm:flex-row" />

Correct:

tsx

// alouette sm: starts at 480px; md 768 / lg 1024 / xl 1280
<View className="md:flex-row" />

alouette overrides the breakpoint widths, so picking a prefix by Tailwind's defaults shifts the layout boundary.

Source: packages/alouette/src/config/Breakpoints.ts

MEDIUM Building responsive class names dynamically

Wrong:

tsx

const cls = `${bp}:flex-row`;
<View className={cls} />;

Correct:

tsx

<View className="md:flex-row" />

Tailwind v4 only emits classes it sees as literal strings, so a runtime-built ${bp}:flex-row is never generated.

Source: packages/alouette/src/windowSize/SwitchBreakpoints.tsx

MEDIUM SwitchBreakpoints without a base slot

Wrong:

tsx

<SwitchBreakpointsUsingNull medium={<Wide />} />

Correct:

tsx

<SwitchBreakpointsUsingNull base={<Narrow />} medium={<Wide />} />

When you do use SwitchBreakpoints, base is required — it is the fallback below the smallest defined breakpoint. Omitting it is a type error.

Source: packages/alouette/src/windowSize/SwitchBreakpoints.tsx

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