clean-css vs cssnano vs postcss-minify vs postcss-clean vs gulp-clean-css
CSS 压缩与优化方案的技术选型与架构对比
clean-csscssnanopostcss-minifypostcss-cleangulp-clean-css类似的npm包:

CSS 压缩与优化方案的技术选型与架构对比

clean-css 是一个高性能的 CSS 优化器和压缩器,专注于通过算法移除冗余代码、优化选择器并压缩体积,通常作为独立工具或构建插件的核心引擎使用。cssnano 则是基于 PostCSS 生态系统的优化器集合,它本身是一个包装器,调用多个小型 PostCSS 插件(包括 cssnano-preset-default 中集成的压缩逻辑)来处理 CSS,强调模块化和与 PostCSS 工作流的深度集成。gulp-clean-css 是 clean-css 的 Gulp 插件封装,专为 Gulp 流式构建设计;postcss-clean 是将 clean-css 引擎桥接到 PostCSS 流程的插件;而 postcss-minify 通常指代早期的或特定实现的 PostCSS 压缩插件,但在现代架构中,其功能大多已被 cssnano 的默认预设所覆盖或取代。这些工具的核心目标都是减小 CSS 文件体积以提升加载性能,但它们在集成方式、依赖生态及维护状态上存在显著差异。

npm下载趋势

3 年

GitHub Stars 排名

统计详情

npm包名称
下载量
Stars
大小
Issues
发布时间
License
clean-css27,603,1294,200493 kB473 年前MIT
cssnano23,859,4234,9801.49 MB1815 天前MIT
postcss-minify45,58878.22 kB01 年前MIT
postcss-clean31,98443-126 年前MIT
gulp-clean-css0642-147 年前MIT

CSS 压缩引擎深度对比:clean-css vs cssnano 及其生态封装

在前端工程化架构中,CSS 压缩不仅仅是去掉空格,它涉及选择器重组、属性合并、颜色值优化以及移除未使用的代码。clean-css 和 cssnano 是目前 JavaScript 生态中最主流的两大解决方案,而 gulp-clean-css、postcss-clean 和 postcss-minify 则是它们在不同构建场景下的封装或历史产物。本文将从架构原理、集成方式、配置灵活性和维护状态四个维度,深入剖析这些工具的差异,帮助你在复杂的构建系统中做出正确选型。

🏗️ 核心架构:独立引擎 vs 插件集合

clean-css 是一个独立的、高度优化的 CSS 处理引擎。它不依赖 PostCSS,拥有自己的解析器和优化器。这意味着它可以运行在任何 JavaScript 环境中,从 Node.js 脚本到浏览器端(虽然较少见),并且被广泛集成到 Webpack、Vite 等现代打包器的底层插件中。

// clean-css: 独立使用示例
const CleanCSS = require('clean-css');
const source = 'body { color: #fff; background: #fff; }';

const output = new CleanCSS({ level: 2 }).minify(source);
console.log(output.styles); 
// 输出: body{color:#fff;background:#fff}
// 注意:level 2 会尝试更激进的优化,如属性合并

cssnano 本质上是一个 PostCSS 插件的集合管理器。它默认不执行具体的压缩逻辑,而是加载一系列小型的 PostCSS 插件(如 postcss-discard-comments, postcss-merge-rules 等)来协同工作。这种架构使其能够无缝嵌入任何 PostCSS 流程,并利用 PostCSS 的 AST(抽象语法树)进行精确操作。

// cssnano: 作为 PostCSS 插件使用
const postcss = require('postcss');
const cssnano = require('cssnano');
const source = 'body { color: #fff; background: #fff; }';

postcss([cssnano])
  .process(source, { from: undefined })
  .then(result => {
    console.log(result.css);
    // 输出: body{background:#fff;color:#fff}
    // cssnano 默认会按字母顺序排序属性以便进一步压缩
  });

postcss-minify 是一个较老的独立 PostCSS 插件,旨在提供基础的压缩功能。然而,随着 cssnano 的成熟,postcss-minify 的功能集显得单薄且维护滞后。在现代架构中,它几乎完全被 cssnano 的 preset-default 所取代,继续使用该包通常意味着技术栈更新不及时。

// postcss-minify: 旧式用法 (不推荐)
const postcss = require('postcss');
const minify = require('postcss-minify'); // 功能已被 cssnano 覆盖

// 此包缺乏 cssnano 的高级预设和细粒度控制
// 在现代项目中应避免使用,转而使用 cssnano

🔌 构建工具集成:Gulp 与 PostCSS 桥接

gulp-clean-css 是 clean-css 官方维护的 Gulp 插件。它将 Gulp 的 Vinyl 文件流转换为 clean-css 可处理的字符串,处理后再转回流。如果你仍在使用 Gulp 作为主要构建工具,这是最标准的选择,但它本质上只是 clean-css 的一层薄包装。

// gulp-clean-css: Gulp 流式处理
const gulp = require('gulp');
const cleanCss = require('gulp-clean-css');

gulp.task('minify-css', () => {
  return gulp.src('src/*.css')
    .pipe(cleanCss({ compatibility: 'ie11' })) // 直接传递 clean-css 选项
    .pipe(gulp.dest('dist'));
});

postcss-clean 扮演了桥梁的角色。它允许你在 PostCSS 流程中调用 clean-css 的强大引擎。这在某些特定场景下非常有用:例如,你的团队已经建立了复杂的 PostCSS 插件链,但发现 cssnano 的某些默认行为不符合需求,而你又特别依赖 clean-css 的 Level 2 优化算法。

// postcss-clean: 在 PostCSS 中使用 clean-css 引擎
const postcss = require('postcss');
const clean = require('postcss-clean');

postcss([clean({ level: 2 })])
  .process(source, { from: undefined })
  .then(result => {
    // 这里使用的是 clean-css 的算法,但通过 PostCSS 接口调用
    console.log(result.css);
  });

⚙️ 配置粒度与优化策略

clean-css 的配置核心在于 level 选项(1 或 2)。Level 1 专注于安全的单文件优化(如空格移除、颜色简写);Level 2 则执行跨选择器的优化(如合并相同属性的规则块)。这种二元配置简单直接,适合需要明确控制优化风险的场景。

// clean-css: 精细控制优化级别
const CleanCSS = require('clean-css');

// Level 1: 安全,快速
const level1 = new CleanCSS({ level: 1 }).minify(source);

// Level 2: 激进,可能改变结构但体积更小
const level2 = new CleanCSS({ level: 2 }).minify(source);

// 还可以针对特定属性进行微调
const custom = new CleanCSS({ 
  level: { 2: { mergeMedia: false } } // 禁用媒体查询合并
}).minify(source);

cssnano 通过 "Presets"(预设)提供配置。default 预设包含了一套经过验证的插件组合,适合大多数生产环境。你也可以创建自定义预设,启用或禁用特定的子插件,从而实现比 clean-css 更细粒度的控制,比如只压缩颜色但不合并选择器。

// cssnano: 使用预设和插件级配置
const cssnano = require('cssnano');

// 使用默认预设
const defaultConfig = { preset: 'default' };

// 自定义预设:禁用某些激进优化
const customConfig = {
  preset: ['default', {
    discardComments: { removeAll: true },
    mergeLonghand: false, // 禁止合并长手属性
    normalizeWhitespace: false
  }]
};

postcss([cssnano(customConfig)]).process(source);

⚠️ 维护状态与弃用警告

在技术选型中,包的健康状况至关重要。

  • clean-css: 维护活跃,是许多现代打包器(如 Webpack 5 的 css-minimizer-webpack-plugin)的默认后端。它是独立引擎的首选。
  • cssnano: 维护极其活跃,是 PostCSS 社区的标准压缩方案。其模块化设计使其能快速适配新的 CSS 特性。
  • gulp-clean-css: 维护状态良好,但仅限于 Gulp 生态。随着 Gulp 在新项目中份额下降,其重要性也在降低。
  • postcss-clean: 维护频率较低。由于 cssnano 已经非常强大,该包的存在的必要性正在减弱,仅建议在有特殊算法需求时使用。
  • postcss-minify: 强烈不建议使用。该包在功能上已被 cssnano 完全覆盖,且更新停滞。在新架构中引入它不仅增加依赖冗余,还可能带来未知的兼容性风险。
// ❌ 错误示范:在新项目中使用过时的 postcss-minify
// const minify = require('postcss-minify'); 
// 风险:功能缺失,无新 CSS 特性支持

// ✅ 正确示范:使用 cssnano 替代
const cssnano = require('cssnano');
// 优势:持续更新,社区支持,功能全面

🌐 真实场景决策指南

场景 1:现代 React/Vue 项目 (Webpack/Vite)

你的项目使用 Vite 或 Webpack 5,需要最小的 CSS 体积。

  • 最佳选择: clean-css (通过官方插件间接使用) 或 cssnano (通过 PostCSS 配置)。
  • 理由: Vite 默认使用 cssnano (通过 PostCSS),而 Webpack 5 的 css-minimizer-webpack-plugin 默认使用 clean-css。两者性能相当,只需遵循框架默认配置即可,无需额外安装独立包。
// vite.config.js (隐含使用 cssnano)
export default {
  css: {
    postcss: {
      plugins: [require('autoprefixer'), require('cssnano')]
    }
  }
};

场景 2:遗留 Gulp 构建系统

你正在维护一个大型老项目,构建流程完全基于 Gulp 4,暂时无法迁移。

  • 最佳选择: gulp-clean-css。
  • 理由: 它能无缝接入现有的 .pipe() 链,无需重写构建逻辑。虽然底层是 clean-css,但封装层提供了最舒适的 Gulp 开发体验。
// gulpfile.js
const cleanCss = require('gulp-clean-css');
gulp.src('styles/*.css').pipe(cleanCss()).pipe(gulp.dest('dist'));

场景 3:高度定制的 PostCSS 流水线

你需要在一个复杂的 PostCSS 链中,精确控制哪些步骤在压缩前执行,并且特别依赖 clean-css 的 Level 2 重组算法,而不喜欢 cssnano 的默认行为。

  • 最佳选择: postcss-clean。
  • 理由: 它允许你将 clean-css 作为一个普通插件插入链中的任意位置,既保留了 PostCSS 的灵活性,又利用了 clean-css 的特定算法优势。
// postcss.config.js
module.exports = {
  plugins: [
    require('postcss-import'),
    require('postcss-clean')({ level: 2 }), // 精确插入点
    require('autoprefixer')
  ]
};

📊 核心特性对比总结

特性clean-csscssnanogulp-clean-csspostcss-cleanpostcss-minify
核心定位独立压缩引擎PostCSS 插件集合Gulp 封装PostCSS 桥接过时插件
依赖生态无 (独立)PostCSSGulp + clean-cssPostCSS + clean-cssPostCSS
配置方式level (1/2)Presets (预设)透传 clean-css 选项透传 clean-css 选项有限选项
维护状态✅ 活跃✅ 非常活跃⚠️ 维护中 (Gulp 专用)⚠️ 低频❌ 不推荐/停滞
适用场景Webpack/Vite 底层PostCSS 标准流遗留 Gulp 项目特殊 PostCSS 需求无 (请避免)

💡 架构师建议

在现代前端架构中,cssnano 和 clean-css 是唯二值得深入考量的核心库。

  • 如果你的技术栈围绕 PostCSS 构建(如使用 Tailwind CSS, Autoprefixer, postcss-preset-env),cssnano 是自然的选择。它的模块化设计让你可以像搭积木一样定制优化流程,且社区生态最为丰富。
  • 如果你追求极致的独立性能,或者你的构建工具(如 Webpack)已经内置了对 clean-css 的深度优化支持,那么直接使用它是最稳妥的方案。它的 Level 2 优化在处理大型遗留 CSS 文件时往往表现出色。

至于 gulp-clean-css,它只是特定工具链下的产物,不应作为技术选型的核心理由;而 postcss-clean 仅在有非常具体的算法偏好冲突时才值得考虑。最重要的是,请坚决从你的 package.json 中移除 postcss-minify,它是过去时代的残留物,不再符合现代 Web 开发的标准。

最终,无论选择哪个工具,关键在于将其纳入自动化的 CI/CD 流程,并配合 Source Map 以确保压缩后的代码在调试时依然可追溯。性能优化不应以牺牲开发体验为代价。

如何选择: clean-css vs cssnano vs postcss-minify vs postcss-clean vs gulp-clean-css

  • clean-css:

    选择 clean-css 如果你需要一个不依赖 PostCSS 的独立压缩引擎,或者你的构建流程基于 Webpack (通过 css-minimizer-webpack-plugin)、Vite 或其他非 PostCSS 原生的工具链。它在处理大型 CSS 文件时具有极高的性能表现,且 API 稳定,适合作为底层核心库直接调用或集成到自定义构建脚本中。

  • cssnano:

    选择 cssnano 如果你的项目已经广泛使用 PostCSS 生态系统(如 Autoprefixer、postcss-preset-env),并且希望在一个统一的配置文件中管理所有 CSS 转换步骤。它提供了从安全压缩到激进优化的多种预设(presets),能够灵活平衡压缩率与安全性,是现代前端工程化中最通用的标准选择。

  • postcss-minify:

    不建议在新项目中选择 postcss-minify。该包在现代 PostCSS 生态中已显得多余,因为其核心功能完全被 cssnano 覆盖,且维护活跃度较低。如果文档或旧教程中提到它,请将其替换为 cssnano,以避免潜在的兼容性问题和依赖冗余。

  • postcss-clean:

    选择 postcss-clean 的场景非常特定:当你必须使用 clean-css 的高级优化算法(如特定级别的重组逻辑),但又强制要求该步骤必须发生在 PostCSS 插件链中时。在大多数情况下,cssnano 的默认配置已足够优秀,因此除非你有明确的算法偏好差异,否则优先推荐使用 cssnano 以获得更好的长期维护支持。

  • gulp-clean-css:

    选择 gulp-clean-css 仅当你正在维护一个遗留的 Gulp 4 或更早版本的构建系统,且不希望重构整个流水线为 Webpack 或 Vite。对于新项目,不建议直接引入此包,而应优先考虑迁移到更现代的构建工具或使用 Gulp 调用原生的 clean-css 实例以保持依赖精简。

clean-css的README


clean-css logo

npm version Build Status PPC Linux Build Status Dependency Status npm Downloads

clean-css is a fast and efficient CSS optimizer for Node.js platform and any modern browser.

According to tests it is one of the best available.

Table of Contents

Node.js version support

clean-css requires Node.js 10.0+ (tested on Linux, OS X, and Windows)

Install

npm install --save-dev clean-css

Use

var CleanCSS = require('clean-css');
var input = 'a{font-weight:bold;}';
var options = { /* options */ };
var output = new CleanCSS(options).minify(input);

What's new in version 5.3

clean-css 5.3 introduces one new feature:

  • variables can be optimized using level 1's variableValueOptimizers option, which accepts a list of value optimizers or a list of their names, e.g. variableValueOptimizers: ['color', 'fraction'].

What's new in version 5.0

clean-css 5.0 introduced some breaking changes:

  • Node.js 6.x and 8.x are officially no longer supported;
  • transform callback in level-1 optimizations is removed in favor of new plugins interface;
  • changes default Internet Explorer compatibility from 10+ to >11, to revert the old default use { compatibility: 'ie10' } flag;
  • changes default rebase option from true to false so URLs are not rebased by default. Please note that if you set rebaseTo option it still counts as setting rebase: true to preserve some of the backward compatibility.

And on the new features side of things:

  • format options now accepts numerical values for all breaks, which will allow you to have more control over output formatting, e.g. format: {breaks: {afterComment: 2}} means clean-css will add two line breaks after each comment
  • a new batch option (defaults to false) is added, when set to true it will process all inputs, given either as an array or a hash, without concatenating them.

What's new in version 4.2

clean-css 4.2 introduces the following changes / features:

  • Adds process method for compatibility with optimize-css-assets-webpack-plugin;
  • new transition property optimizer;
  • preserves any CSS content between /* clean-css ignore:start */ and /* clean-css ignore:end */ comments;
  • allows filtering based on selector in transform callback, see example;
  • adds configurable line breaks via format: { breakWith: 'lf' } option.

What's new in version 4.1

clean-css 4.1 introduces the following changes / features:

  • inline: false as an alias to inline: ['none'];
  • multiplePseudoMerging compatibility flag controlling merging of rules with multiple pseudo classes / elements;
  • removeEmpty flag in level 1 optimizations controlling removal of rules and nested blocks;
  • removeEmpty flag in level 2 optimizations controlling removal of rules and nested blocks;
  • compatibility: { selectors: { mergeLimit: <number> } } flag in compatibility settings controlling maximum number of selectors in a single rule;
  • minify method improved signature accepting a list of hashes for a predictable traversal;
  • selectorsSortingMethod level 1 optimization allows false or 'none' for disabling selector sorting;
  • fetch option controlling a function for handling remote requests;
  • new font shorthand and font-* longhand optimizers;
  • removal of optimizeFont flag in level 1 optimizations due to new font shorthand optimizer;
  • skipProperties flag in level 2 optimizations controlling which properties won't be optimized;
  • new animation shorthand and animation-* longhand optimizers;
  • removeUnusedAtRules level 2 optimization controlling removal of unused @counter-style, @font-face, @keyframes, and @namespace at rules;
  • the web interface gets an improved settings panel with "reset to defaults", instant option changes, and settings being persisted across sessions.

Important: 4.0 breaking changes

clean-css 4.0 introduces some breaking changes:

  • API and CLI interfaces are split, so API stays in this repository while CLI moves to clean-css-cli;
  • root, relativeTo, and target options are replaced by a single rebaseTo option - this means that rebasing URLs and import inlining is much simpler but may not be (YMMV) as powerful as in 3.x;
  • debug option is gone as stats are always provided in output object under stats property;
  • roundingPrecision is disabled by default;
  • roundingPrecision applies to all units now, not only px as in 3.x;
  • processImport and processImportFrom are merged into inline option which defaults to local. Remote @import rules are NOT inlined by default anymore;
  • splits inliner: { request: ..., timeout: ... } option into inlineRequest and inlineTimeout options;
  • remote resources without a protocol, e.g. //fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Domine:700, are not inlined anymore;
  • changes default Internet Explorer compatibility from 9+ to 10+, to revert the old default use { compatibility: 'ie9' } flag;
  • renames keepSpecialComments to specialComments;
  • moves roundingPrecision and specialComments to level 1 optimizations options, see examples;
  • moves mediaMerging, restructuring, semanticMerging, and shorthandCompacting to level 2 optimizations options, see examples below;
  • renames shorthandCompacting option to mergeIntoShorthands;
  • level 1 optimizations are the new default, up to 3.x it was level 2;
  • keepBreaks option is replaced with { format: 'keep-breaks' } to ease transition;
  • sourceMap option has to be a boolean from now on - to specify an input source map pass it a 2nd argument to minify method or via a hash instead;
  • aggressiveMerging option is removed as aggressive merging is replaced by smarter override merging.

Constructor options

clean-css constructor accepts a hash as a parameter with the following options available:

  • compatibility - controls compatibility mode used; defaults to ie10+; see compatibility modes for examples;
  • fetch - controls a function for handling remote requests; see fetch option for examples (since 4.1.0);
  • format - controls output CSS formatting; defaults to false; see formatting options for examples;
  • inline - controls @import inlining rules; defaults to 'local'; see inlining options for examples;
  • inlineRequest - controls extra options for inlining remote @import rules, can be any of HTTP(S) request options;
  • inlineTimeout - controls number of milliseconds after which inlining a remote @import fails; defaults to 5000;
  • level - controls optimization level used; defaults to 1; see optimization levels for examples;
  • rebase - controls URL rebasing; defaults to false;
  • rebaseTo - controls a directory to which all URLs are rebased, most likely the directory under which the output file will live; defaults to the current directory;
  • returnPromise - controls whether minify method returns a Promise object or not; defaults to false; see promise interface for examples;
  • sourceMap - controls whether an output source map is built; defaults to false;
  • sourceMapInlineSources - controls embedding sources inside a source map's sourcesContent field; defaults to false.

Compatibility modes

There is a certain number of compatibility mode shortcuts, namely:

  • new CleanCSS({ compatibility: '*' }) (default) - Internet Explorer 10+ compatibility mode
  • new CleanCSS({ compatibility: 'ie9' }) - Internet Explorer 9+ compatibility mode
  • new CleanCSS({ compatibility: 'ie8' }) - Internet Explorer 8+ compatibility mode
  • new CleanCSS({ compatibility: 'ie7' }) - Internet Explorer 7+ compatibility mode

Each of these modes is an alias to a fine grained configuration, with the following options available:

new CleanCSS({
  compatibility: {
    colors: {
      hexAlpha: false, // controls 4- and 8-character hex color support
      opacity: true // controls `rgba()` / `hsla()` color support
    },
    properties: {
      backgroundClipMerging: true, // controls background-clip merging into shorthand
      backgroundOriginMerging: true, // controls background-origin merging into shorthand
      backgroundSizeMerging: true, // controls background-size merging into shorthand
      colors: true, // controls color optimizations
      ieBangHack: false, // controls keeping IE bang hack
      ieFilters: false, // controls keeping IE `filter` / `-ms-filter`
      iePrefixHack: false, // controls keeping IE prefix hack
      ieSuffixHack: false, // controls keeping IE suffix hack
      merging: true, // controls property merging based on understandability
      shorterLengthUnits: false, // controls shortening pixel units into `pc`, `pt`, or `in` units
      spaceAfterClosingBrace: true, // controls keeping space after closing brace - `url() no-repeat` into `url()no-repeat`
      urlQuotes: true, // controls keeping quoting inside `url()`
      zeroUnits: true // controls removal of units `0` value
    },
    selectors: {
      adjacentSpace: false, // controls extra space before `nav` element
      ie7Hack: true, // controls removal of IE7 selector hacks, e.g. `*+html...`
      mergeablePseudoClasses: [':active', ...], // controls a whitelist of mergeable pseudo classes
      mergeablePseudoElements: ['::after', ...], // controls a whitelist of mergeable pseudo elements
      mergeLimit: 8191, // controls maximum number of selectors in a single rule (since 4.1.0)
      multiplePseudoMerging: true // controls merging of rules with multiple pseudo classes / elements (since 4.1.0)
    },
    units: {
      ch: true, // controls treating `ch` as a supported unit
      in: true, // controls treating `in` as a supported unit
      pc: true, // controls treating `pc` as a supported unit
      pt: true, // controls treating `pt` as a supported unit
      rem: true, // controls treating `rem` as a supported unit
      vh: true, // controls treating `vh` as a supported unit
      vm: true, // controls treating `vm` as a supported unit
      vmax: true, // controls treating `vmax` as a supported unit
      vmin: true // controls treating `vmin` as a supported unit
    }
  }
})

You can also use a string when setting a compatibility mode, e.g.

new CleanCSS({
  compatibility: 'ie9,-properties.merging' // sets compatibility to IE9 mode with disabled property merging
})

Fetch option

The fetch option accepts a function which handles remote resource fetching, e.g.

var request = require('request');
var source = '@import url(http://example.com/path/to/stylesheet.css);';
new CleanCSS({
  fetch: function (uri, inlineRequest, inlineTimeout, callback) {
    request(uri, function (error, response, body) {
      if (error) {
        callback(error, null);
      } else if (response && response.statusCode != 200) {
        callback(response.statusCode, null);
      } else {
        callback(null, body);
      }
    });
  }
}).minify(source);

This option provides a convenient way of overriding the default fetching logic if it doesn't support a particular feature, say CONNECT proxies.

Unless given, the default loadRemoteResource logic is used.

Formatting options

By default output CSS is formatted without any whitespace unless a format option is given. First of all there are two shorthands:

new CleanCSS({
  format: 'beautify' // formats output in a really nice way
})

and

new CleanCSS({
  format: 'keep-breaks' // formats output the default way but adds line breaks for improved readability
})

however format option also accept a fine-grained set of options:

new CleanCSS({
  format: {
    breaks: { // controls where to insert breaks
      afterAtRule: false, // controls if a line break comes after an at-rule; e.g. `@charset`; defaults to `false`
      afterBlockBegins: false, // controls if a line break comes after a block begins; e.g. `@media`; defaults to `false`
      afterBlockEnds: false, // controls if a line break comes after a block ends, defaults to `false`
      afterComment: false, // controls if a line break comes after a comment; defaults to `false`
      afterProperty: false, // controls if a line break comes after a property; defaults to `false`
      afterRuleBegins: false, // controls if a line break comes after a rule begins; defaults to `false`
      afterRuleEnds: false, // controls if a line break comes after a rule ends; defaults to `false`
      beforeBlockEnds: false, // controls if a line break comes before a block ends; defaults to `false`
      betweenSelectors: false // controls if a line break comes between selectors; defaults to `false`
    },
    breakWith: '\n', // controls the new line character, can be `'\r\n'` or `'\n'` (aliased as `'windows'` and `'unix'` or `'crlf'` and `'lf'`); defaults to system one, so former on Windows and latter on Unix
    indentBy: 0, // controls number of characters to indent with; defaults to `0`
    indentWith: 'space', // controls a character to indent with, can be `'space'` or `'tab'`; defaults to `'space'`
    spaces: { // controls where to insert spaces
      aroundSelectorRelation: false, // controls if spaces come around selector relations; e.g. `div > a`; defaults to `false`
      beforeBlockBegins: false, // controls if a space comes before a block begins; e.g. `.block {`; defaults to `false`
      beforeValue: false // controls if a space comes before a value; e.g. `width: 1rem`; defaults to `false`
    },
    wrapAt: false, // controls maximum line length; defaults to `false`
    semicolonAfterLastProperty: false // controls removing trailing semicolons in rule; defaults to `false` - means remove
  }
})

Also since clean-css 5.0 you can use numerical values for all line breaks, which will repeat a line break that many times, e.g:

  new CleanCSS({
    format: {
      breaks: {
        afterAtRule: 2,
        afterBlockBegins: 1, // 1 is synonymous with `true`
        afterBlockEnds: 2,
        afterComment: 1,
        afterProperty: 1,
        afterRuleBegins: 1,
        afterRuleEnds: 1,
        beforeBlockEnds: 1,
        betweenSelectors: 0 // 0 is synonymous with `false`
      }
    }
  })

which will add nicer spacing between at rules and blocks.

Inlining options

inline option whitelists which @import rules will be processed, e.g.

new CleanCSS({
  inline: ['local'] // default; enables local inlining only
})
new CleanCSS({
  inline: ['none'] // disables all inlining
})
// introduced in clean-css 4.1.0

new CleanCSS({
  inline: false // disables all inlining (alias to `['none']`)
})
new CleanCSS({
  inline: ['all'] // enables all inlining, same as ['local', 'remote']
})
new CleanCSS({
  inline: ['local', 'mydomain.example.com'] // enables local inlining plus given remote source
})
new CleanCSS({
  inline: ['local', 'remote', '!fonts.googleapis.com'] // enables all inlining but from given remote source
})

Optimization levels

The level option can be either 0, 1 (default), or 2, e.g.

new CleanCSS({
  level: 2
})

or a fine-grained configuration given via a hash.

Please note that level 1 optimization options are generally safe while level 2 optimizations should be safe for most users.

Level 0 optimizations

Level 0 optimizations simply means "no optimizations". Use it when you'd like to inline imports and / or rebase URLs but skip everything else.

Level 1 optimizations

Level 1 optimizations (default) operate on single properties only, e.g. can remove units when not required, turn rgb colors to a shorter hex representation, remove comments, etc

Here is a full list of available options:

new CleanCSS({
  level: {
    1: {
      cleanupCharsets: true, // controls `@charset` moving to the front of a stylesheet; defaults to `true`
      normalizeUrls: true, // controls URL normalization; defaults to `true`
      optimizeBackground: true, // controls `background` property optimizations; defaults to `true`
      optimizeBorderRadius: true, // controls `border-radius` property optimizations; defaults to `true`
      optimizeFilter: true, // controls `filter` property optimizations; defaults to `true`
      optimizeFont: true, // controls `font` property optimizations; defaults to `true`
      optimizeFontWeight: true, // controls `font-weight` property optimizations; defaults to `true`
      optimizeOutline: true, // controls `outline` property optimizations; defaults to `true`
      removeEmpty: true, // controls removing empty rules and nested blocks; defaults to `true`
      removeNegativePaddings: true, // controls removing negative paddings; defaults to `true`
      removeQuotes: true, // controls removing quotes when unnecessary; defaults to `true`
      removeWhitespace: true, // controls removing unused whitespace; defaults to `true`
      replaceMultipleZeros: true, // contols removing redundant zeros; defaults to `true`
      replaceTimeUnits: true, // controls replacing time units with shorter values; defaults to `true`
      replaceZeroUnits: true, // controls replacing zero values with units; defaults to `true`
      roundingPrecision: false, // rounds pixel values to `N` decimal places; `false` disables rounding; defaults to `false`
      selectorsSortingMethod: 'standard', // denotes selector sorting method; can be `'natural'` or `'standard'`, `'none'`, or false (the last two since 4.1.0); defaults to `'standard'`
      specialComments: 'all', // denotes a number of /*! ... */ comments preserved; defaults to `all`
      tidyAtRules: true, // controls at-rules (e.g. `@charset`, `@import`) optimizing; defaults to `true`
      tidyBlockScopes: true, // controls block scopes (e.g. `@media`) optimizing; defaults to `true`
      tidySelectors: true, // controls selectors optimizing; defaults to `true`,
      variableValueOptimizers: [] // controls value optimizers which are applied to variables
    }
  }
});

There is an all shortcut for toggling all options at the same time, e.g.

new CleanCSS({
  level: {
    1: {
      all: false, // set all values to `false`
      tidySelectors: true // turns on optimizing selectors
    }
  }
});

Level 2 optimizations

Level 2 optimizations operate at rules or multiple properties level, e.g. can remove duplicate rules, remove properties redefined further down a stylesheet, or restructure rules by moving them around.

Please note that if level 2 optimizations are turned on then, unless explicitely disabled, level 1 optimizations are applied as well.

Here is a full list of available options:

new CleanCSS({
  level: {
    2: {
      mergeAdjacentRules: true, // controls adjacent rules merging; defaults to true
      mergeIntoShorthands: true, // controls merging properties into shorthands; defaults to true
      mergeMedia: true, // controls `@media` merging; defaults to true
      mergeNonAdjacentRules: true, // controls non-adjacent rule merging; defaults to true
      mergeSemantically: false, // controls semantic merging; defaults to false
      overrideProperties: true, // controls property overriding based on understandability; defaults to true
      removeEmpty: true, // controls removing empty rules and nested blocks; defaults to `true`
      reduceNonAdjacentRules: true, // controls non-adjacent rule reducing; defaults to true
      removeDuplicateFontRules: true, // controls duplicate `@font-face` removing; defaults to true
      removeDuplicateMediaBlocks: true, // controls duplicate `@media` removing; defaults to true
      removeDuplicateRules: true, // controls duplicate rules removing; defaults to true
      removeUnusedAtRules: false, // controls unused at rule removing; defaults to false (available since 4.1.0)
      restructureRules: false, // controls rule restructuring; defaults to false
      skipProperties: [] // controls which properties won't be optimized, defaults to `[]` which means all will be optimized (since 4.1.0)
    }
  }
});

There is an all shortcut for toggling all options at the same time, e.g.

new CleanCSS({
  level: {
    2: {
      all: false, // sets all values to `false`
      removeDuplicateRules: true // turns on removing duplicate rules
    }
  }
});

Plugins

In clean-css version 5 and above you can define plugins which run alongside level 1 and level 2 optimizations, e.g.

var myPlugin = {
  level1: {
    property: function removeRepeatedBackgroundRepeat(_rule, property, _options) {
      // So `background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat` becomes `background-repeat:no-repeat`
      if (property.name == 'background-repeat' && property.value.length == 2 && property.value[0][1] == property.value[1][1]) {
        property.value.pop();
        property.dirty = true;
      }
    }
  }
}

new CleanCSS({plugins: [myPlugin]})

Search test\module-test.js for plugins or check out lib/optimizer/level-1/property-optimizers and lib/optimizer/level-1/value-optimizers for more examples.

Important: To rewrite your old transform as a plugin, check out this commit.

Minify method

Once configured clean-css provides a minify method to optimize a given CSS, e.g.

var output = new CleanCSS(options).minify(source);

The output of the minify method is a hash with following fields:

console.log(output.styles); // optimized output CSS as a string
console.log(output.sourceMap); // output source map if requested with `sourceMap` option
console.log(output.errors); // a list of errors raised
console.log(output.warnings); // a list of warnings raised
console.log(output.stats.originalSize); // original content size after import inlining
console.log(output.stats.minifiedSize); // optimized content size
console.log(output.stats.timeSpent); // time spent on optimizations in milliseconds
console.log(output.stats.efficiency); // `(originalSize - minifiedSize) / originalSize`, e.g. 0.25 if size is reduced from 100 bytes to 75 bytes

Example: Minifying a CSS string:

const CleanCSS = require("clean-css");

const output = new CleanCSS().minify(`

  a {
    color: blue;
  }
  div {
    margin: 5px
  }

`);

console.log(output);

// Log:
{
  styles: 'a{color:#00f}div{margin:5px}',
  stats: {
    efficiency: 0.6704545454545454,
    minifiedSize: 29,
    originalSize: 88,
    timeSpent: 6
  },
  errors: [],
  inlinedStylesheets: [],
  warnings: []
}

The minify method also accepts an input source map, e.g.

var output = new CleanCSS(options).minify(source, inputSourceMap);

or a callback invoked when optimizations are finished, e.g.

new CleanCSS(options).minify(source, function (error, output) {
  // `output` is the same as in the synchronous call above
});

To optimize a single file, without reading it first, pass a path to it to minify method as follows:

var output = new CleanCSS(options).minify(['path/to/file.css'])

(if you won't enclose the path in an array, it will be treated as a CSS source instead).

There are several ways to optimize multiple files at the same time, see How to optimize multiple files?.

Promise interface

If you prefer clean-css to return a Promise object then you need to explicitely ask for it, e.g.

new CleanCSS({ returnPromise: true })
  .minify(source)
  .then(function (output) { console.log(output.styles); })
  .catch(function (error) { // deal with errors });

CLI utility

Clean-css has an associated command line utility that can be installed separately using npm install clean-css-cli. For more detailed information, please visit https://github.com/clean-css/clean-css-cli.

FAQ

How to optimize multiple files?

It can be done either by passing an array of paths, or, when sources are already available, a hash or an array of hashes:

new CleanCSS().minify(['path/to/file/one', 'path/to/file/two']);
new CleanCSS().minify({
  'path/to/file/one': {
    styles: 'contents of file one'
  },
  'path/to/file/two': {
    styles: 'contents of file two'
  }
});
new CleanCSS().minify([
  {'path/to/file/one': {styles: 'contents of file one'}},
  {'path/to/file/two': {styles: 'contents of file two'}}
]);

Passing an array of hashes allows you to explicitly specify the order in which the input files are concatenated. Whereas when you use a single hash the order is determined by the traversal order of object properties - available since 4.1.0.

Important note - any @import rules already present in the hash will be resolved in memory.

How to process multiple files without concatenating them into one output file?

Since clean-css 5.0 you can, when passing an array of paths, hash, or array of hashes (see above), ask clean-css not to join styles into one output, but instead return stylesheets optimized one by one, e.g.

var output = new CleanCSS({ batch: true }).minify(['path/to/file/one', 'path/to/file/two']);
var outputOfFile1 = output['path/to/file/one'].styles // all other fields, like errors, warnings, or stats are there too
var outputOfFile2 = output['path/to/file/two'].styles

How to process remote @imports correctly?

In order to inline remote @import statements you need to provide a callback to minify method as fetching remote assets is an asynchronous operation, e.g.:

var source = '@import url(http://example.com/path/to/remote/styles);';
new CleanCSS({ inline: ['remote'] }).minify(source, function (error, output) {
  // output.styles
});

If you don't provide a callback, then remote @imports will be left as is.

How to apply arbitrary transformations to CSS properties?

Please see plugins.

How to specify a custom rounding precision?

The level 1 roundingPrecision optimization option accept a string with per-unit rounding precision settings, e.g.

new CleanCSS({
  level: {
    1: {
      roundingPrecision: 'all=3,px=5'
    }
  }
}).minify(source)

which sets all units rounding precision to 3 digits except px unit precision of 5 digits.

How to optimize a stylesheet with custom rpx units?

Since rpx is a non standard unit (see #1074), it will be dropped by default as an invalid value.

However you can treat rpx units as regular ones:

new CleanCSS({
  compatibility: {
    customUnits: {
      rpx: true
    }
  }
}).minify(source)

How to keep a CSS fragment intact?

Note: available since 4.2.0.

Wrap the CSS fragment in special comments which instruct clean-css to preserve it, e.g.

.block-1 {
  color: red
}
/* clean-css ignore:start */
.block-special {
  color: transparent
}
/* clean-css ignore:end */
.block-2 {
  margin: 0
}

Optimizing this CSS will result in the following output:

.block-1{color:red}
.block-special {
  color: transparent
}
.block-2{margin:0}

How to preserve a comment block?

Use the /*! notation instead of the standard one /*:

/*!
  Important comments included in optimized output.
*/

How to rebase relative image URLs?

clean-css will handle it automatically for you in the following cases:

  • when full paths to input files are passed in as options;
  • when correct paths are passed in via a hash;
  • when rebaseTo is used with any of above two.

How to work with source maps?

To generate a source map, use sourceMap: true option, e.g.:

new CleanCSS({ sourceMap: true, rebaseTo: pathToOutputDirectory })
  .minify(source, function (error, output) {
    // access output.sourceMap for SourceMapGenerator object
    // see https://github.com/mozilla/source-map/#sourcemapgenerator for more details
});

You can also pass an input source map directly as a 2nd argument to minify method:

new CleanCSS({ sourceMap: true, rebaseTo: pathToOutputDirectory })
  .minify(source, inputSourceMap, function (error, output) {
    // access output.sourceMap to access SourceMapGenerator object
    // see https://github.com/mozilla/source-map/#sourcemapgenerator for more details
});

or even multiple input source maps at once:

new CleanCSS({ sourceMap: true, rebaseTo: pathToOutputDirectory }).minify({
  'path/to/source/1': {
    styles: '...styles...',
    sourceMap: '...source-map...'
  },
  'path/to/source/2': {
    styles: '...styles...',
    sourceMap: '...source-map...'
  }
}, function (error, output) {
  // access output.sourceMap as above
});

How to apply level 1 & 2 optimizations at the same time?

Using the hash configuration specifying both optimization levels, e.g.

new CleanCSS({
  level: {
    1: {
      all: true,
      normalizeUrls: false
    },
    2: {
      restructureRules: true
    }
  }
})

will apply level 1 optimizations, except url normalization, and default level 2 optimizations with rule restructuring.

What level 2 optimizations do?

All level 2 optimizations are dispatched here, and this is what they do:

  • recursivelyOptimizeBlocks - does all the following operations on a nested block, like @media or @keyframe;
  • recursivelyOptimizeProperties - optimizes properties in rulesets and flat at-rules, like @font-face, by splitting them into components (e.g. margin into margin-(bottom|left|right|top)), optimizing, and restoring them back. You may want to use mergeIntoShorthands option to control whether you want to turn multiple components into shorthands;
  • removeDuplicates - gets rid of duplicate rulesets with exactly the same set of properties, e.g. when including a Sass / Less partial twice for no good reason;
  • mergeAdjacent - merges adjacent rulesets with the same selector or rules;
  • reduceNonAdjacent - identifies which properties are overridden in same-selector non-adjacent rulesets, and removes them;
  • mergeNonAdjacentBySelector - identifies same-selector non-adjacent rulesets which can be moved (!) to be merged, requires all intermediate rulesets to not redefine the moved properties, or if redefined to have the same value;
  • mergeNonAdjacentByBody - same as the one above but for same-selector non-adjacent rulesets;
  • restructure - tries to reorganize different-selector different-rules rulesets so they take less space, e.g. .one{padding:0}.two{margin:0}.one{margin-bottom:3px} into .two{margin:0}.one{padding:0;margin-bottom:3px};
  • removeDuplicateFontAtRules - removes duplicated @font-face rules;
  • removeDuplicateMediaQueries - removes duplicated @media nested blocks;
  • mergeMediaQueries - merges non-adjacent @media at-rules by the same rules as mergeNonAdjacentBy* above;

What errors and warnings are?

If clean-css encounters invalid CSS, it will try to remove the invalid part and continue optimizing the rest of the code. It will make you aware of the problem by generating an error or warning. Although clean-css can work with invalid CSS, it is always recommended that you fix warnings and errors in your CSS.

Example: Minify invalid CSS, resulting in two warnings:

const CleanCSS = require("clean-css");

const output = new CleanCSS().minify(`

  a {
    -notarealproperty-: 5px;
    color:
  }
  div {
    margin: 5px
  }

`);

console.log(output);

// Log:
{
  styles: 'div{margin:5px}',
  stats: {
    efficiency: 0.8695652173913043,
    minifiedSize: 15,
    originalSize: 115,
    timeSpent: 1
  },
  errors: [],
  inlinedStylesheets: [],
  warnings: [
    "Invalid property name '-notarealproperty-' at 4:8. Ignoring.",
    "Empty property 'color' at 5:8. Ignoring."
  ]
}

Example: Minify invalid CSS, resulting in one error:

const CleanCSS = require("clean-css");

const output = new CleanCSS().minify(`

  @import "idontexist.css";
  a {
    color: blue;
  }
  div {
    margin: 5px
  }

`);

console.log(output);

// Log:
{
  styles: 'a{color:#00f}div{margin:5px}',
  stats: {
    efficiency: 0.7627118644067796,
    minifiedSize: 28,
    originalSize: 118,
    timeSpent: 2
  },
  errors: [
    'Ignoring local @import of "idontexist.css" as resource is missing.'
  ],
  inlinedStylesheets: [],
  warnings: []
}

Clean-css for Gulp

An example of how you can include clean-css in gulp

const { src, dest, series } = require('gulp');
const CleanCSS = require('clean-css');
const concat = require('gulp-concat');

function css() {
    const options = {
        compatibility: '*', // (default) - Internet Explorer 10+ compatibility mode
        inline: ['all'], // enables all inlining, same as ['local', 'remote']
        level: 2 // Optimization levels. The level option can be either 0, 1 (default), or 2, e.g.
        // Please note that level 1 optimization options are generally safe while level 2 optimizations should be safe for most users.
    };

    return src('app/**/*.css')
        .pipe(concat('style.min.css'))
        .on('data', function(file) {
            const buferFile = new CleanCSS(options).minify(file.contents)
            return file.contents = Buffer.from(buferFile.styles)
        })
        .pipe(dest('build'))
}
exports.css = series(css)

How to use clean-css with build tools?

There is a number of 3rd party plugins to popular build tools:

How to use clean-css from web browser?

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md.

How to get started?

First clone the sources:

git clone git@github.com:clean-css/clean-css.git

then install dependencies:

cd clean-css
npm install

then use any of the following commands to verify your copy:

npm run bench # for clean-css benchmarks (see [test/bench.js](https://github.com/clean-css/clean-css/blob/master/test/bench.js) for details)
npm run browserify # to create the browser-ready clean-css version
npm run check # to lint JS sources with [JSHint](https://github.com/jshint/jshint/)
npm test # to run all tests

Acknowledgments

Sorted alphabetically by GitHub handle:

  • @abarre (Anthony Barre) for improvements to @import processing;
  • @alexlamsl (Alex Lam S.L.) for testing early clean-css 4 versions, reporting bugs, and suggesting numerous improvements.
  • @altschuler (Simon Altschuler) for fixing @import processing inside comments;
  • @ben-eb (Ben Briggs) for sharing ideas about CSS optimizations;
  • @davisjam (Jamie Davis) for disclosing ReDOS vulnerabilities;
  • @facelessuser (Isaac) for pointing out a flaw in clean-css' stateless mode;
  • @grandrath (Martin Grandrath) for improving minify method source traversal in ES6;
  • @jmalonzo (Jan Michael Alonzo) for a patch removing node.js' old sys package;
  • @lukeapage (Luke Page) for suggestions and testing the source maps feature; Plus everyone else involved in #125 for pushing it forward;
  • @madwizard-thomas for sharing ideas about @import inlining and URL rebasing.
  • @ngyikp (Ng Yik Phang) for testing early clean-css 4 versions, reporting bugs, and suggesting numerous improvements.
  • @wagenet (Peter Wagenet) for suggesting improvements to @import inlining behavior;
  • @venemo (Timur Kristóf) for an outstanding contribution of advanced property optimizer for 2.2 release;
  • @vvo (Vincent Voyer) for a patch with better empty element regex and for inspiring us to do many performance improvements in 0.4 release;
  • @xhmikosr for suggesting new features, like option to remove special comments and strip out URLs quotation, and pointing out numerous improvements like JSHint, media queries, etc.

License

clean-css is released under the MIT License.