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<pre class='metadata'>
Title: CSS Nesting Module
Shortname: css-nesting
Level: 1
Status: ED
Work Status: Exploring
Group: CSSWG
ED: https://drafts.csswg.org/css-nesting/
TR: https://www.w3.org/TR/css-nesting-1/
Editor: Tab Atkins-Bittner, Google, http://xanthir.com/contact/, w3cid 42199
Editor: Adam Argyle, Google, https://nerdy.dev, w3cid 112669
Abstract: This module introduces the ability to nest one style rule inside another, with the selector of the child rule relative to the selector of the parent rule. This increases the modularity and maintainability of CSS stylesheets.
</pre>
<pre class=link-defaults>
spec:css-color-4; type:property; text:color
spec:css-values-4; type:dfn; text:identifier
spec:cssom-1; type:dfn;
text:child css rules
text:specified order
</pre>
<h2 id="intro">
Introduction</h2>
<em>This section is not normative.</em>
This module describes support for nesting a style rule within another style rule,
allowing the inner rule's selector to reference the elements matched by the outer rule.
This feature allows related styles to be aggregated into a single structure within the CSS document,
improving readability and maintainability.
<h3 id="placement">
Module Interactions</h3>
This module introduces new parser rules that extend the [[!CSS21]] parser model.
This module introduces selectors that extend the [[SELECTORS4]] module.
<h3 id="values">
Values</h3>
This specification does not define any new properties or values.
<h3 id="motivation">
Motivation</h3>
The CSS for even moderately complicated web pages
often include lots of duplication
for the purpose of styling related content.
For example, here is a portion of the CSS markup for one version of the [[CSS-COLOR-3]] module:
<div class='example'>
<pre class=lang-css>
table.colortable td {
text-align:center;
}
table.colortable td.c {
text-transform:uppercase;
}
table.colortable td:first-child, table.colortable td:first-child+td {
border:1px solid black;
}
table.colortable th {
text-align:center;
background:black;
color:white;
}
</pre>
</div>
Nesting allows the grouping of related style rules, like this:
<div class='example'>
<pre class=lang-css>
table.colortable {
& td {
text-align:center;
&.c { text-transform:uppercase }
&:first-child, &:first-child + td { border:1px solid black }
}
& th {
text-align:center;
background:black;
color:white;
}
}
</pre>
</div>
Besides removing duplication,
the grouping of related rules improves the readability and maintainability of the resulting CSS.
Nesting Style Rules {#nesting}
==============================
Style rules can be nested inside of other styles rules.
These <dfn export lt="nested style rule|nesting style rule">nested style rules</dfn>
act exactly like ordinary style rules--
associating properties with elements via selectors--
but they "inherit" their parent rule's selector context,
allowing them to further build on the parent's selector
without having to repeat it,
possibly multiple times.
A [=nested style rule=] is exactly like a normal style rule,
with the exception that its [=selector=]
cannot start with an [=identifier=] or [=functional notation=].
Additionally, [=nested style rules=]
can use [=relative selectors=].
<div class=example>
That is,
a nested style rule like:
<pre class=lang-css>
.foo {
color: red;
.bar {
color: blue;
}
}
</pre>
is valid,
and equivalent to:
<pre class=lang-css>
.foo {
color: red;
}
.foo .bar {
color: blue;
}
</pre>
The nested rule can also use the [=nesting selector=]
to directly refer to the parent rule's matched elements,
or use [=relative selector=] syntax
to specify relationships other than "descendant".
<pre class=lang-css>
.foo {
color: red;
&:hover {
color: blue;
}
}
/* equivalent to: */
.foo { color: red; }
.foo:hover { color: blue; }
</pre>
<pre class=lang-css>
.foo {
color: red;
+ .bar {
color: blue;
}
}
/* equivalent to: */
.foo { color: red; }
.foo + .bar { color: blue; }
</pre>
</div>
<div class=example>
However, starting the nested selector with an identifier
(a [=type selector=], in other words)
is invalid:
<pre class=lang-css class=invalid>
div {
color: red;
input {
margin: 1em;
}
}
/* Invalid, because "input" is an identifier. */
</pre>
Such selectors can still be written,
they just need to be slightly rephrased:
<pre class=lang-css>
div {
color: red;
& input { margin: 1em; }
/* valid, no longer starts with an identifier */
:is(input) { margin: 1em; }
/* valid, starts with a colon,
and equivalent to the previous rule. */
}
</pre>
</div>
<details class=note>
<summary>Why are there restrictions on nested rule selectors?</summary>
Nesting style rules naively inside of other style rules is, unfortunately, ambiguous--
the syntax of a selector overlaps with the syntax of a declaration,
so an implementation requires unbounded lookahead
to tell whether a given bit of text is a declaration or the start of a style rule.
For example, if a parser starts by seeing ''color:hover ...'',
it can't tell whether that's the 'color' property
(being set to an invalid value...)
or a selector for a <code><color></code> element.
It can't even rely on looking for valid properties to tell the difference;
this would cause parsing to depend on which properties the implementation supported,
and could change over time.
Forbidding nested style rules from starting with an [=identifier=]
works around this problem--
all [=declarations=] start with an identifier
giving the property name,
so the parser can immediately tell whether it's parsing a [=declaration=] or [=style rule=].
Some non-browser implementations of nested rules do not impose this requirement.
It <em>is</em>, in most cases, <em>eventually</em> possible
to tell properties and selectors apart,
but doing so requires unbounded lookahead in the parser;
that is, the parser might have to hold onto an unknown amount of content
before it can tell which way it's supposed to be interpreting it.
CSS to date requires only a small, known amount of lookahead in its parsing,
which allows for more efficient parsing algorithms,
so unbounded lookahead is generally considered unacceptable among browser implementations of CSS.
</details>
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Syntax {#syntax}
------------------------
The contents of [=style rules=]
now accepts [=nested style rules=]
and [=at-rules=],
in addition to the existing [=declarations=].
[=Nested style rules=] differ from non-nested rules
in the following ways:
* The selector of [=nested style rules=]
must not start with an [=identifier=]
or a [=functional notation=].
* A [=nested style rule=] accepts a <<relative-selector-list>>
as its prelude
(rather than just a <<selector-list>>).
Any [=relative selectors=]
are relative to the elements represented by the [=nesting selector=].
* If a selector in the <<relative-selector-list>>
does not start with a [=combinator=]
but does contain the [=nesting selector=],
it is interpreted as a non-[=relative selector=].
The precise details of how nested style rules are parsed
are defined in [[!CSS-SYNTAX-3]].
<div class="example">
For example, the following nestings are valid:
<pre class=lang-css>
<b>/* & can be used on its own */</b>
.foo {
color: blue;
& > .bar { color: red; }
> .baz { color: green; }
}
/* equivalent to
.foo { color: blue; }
.foo > .bar { color: red; }
.foo > .baz { color: green; }
*/
<b>/* or in a compound selector,
refining the parent's selector */</b>
.foo {
color: blue;
&.bar { color: red; }
}
/* equivalent to
.foo { color: blue; }
.foo.bar { color: red; }
*/
<b>/* multiple selectors in the list are all
relative to the parent */</b>
.foo, .bar {
color: blue;
+ .baz, &.qux { color: red; }
}
/* equivalent to
.foo, .bar { color: blue; }
:is(.foo, .bar) + .baz,
:is(.foo, .bar).qux { color: red; }
*/
<b>/* & can be used multiple times in a single selector */</b>
.foo {
color: blue;
& .bar & .baz & .qux { color: red; }
}
/* equivalent to
.foo { color: blue; }
.foo .bar .foo .baz .foo .qux { color: red; }
*/
<b>/* & doesn't have to be at the beginning of the selector */</b>
.foo {
color: red;
.parent & {
color: blue;
}
}
/* equivalent to
.foo { color: red; }
.parent .foo { color: blue; }
*/
.foo {
color: red;
:not(&) {
color: blue;
}
}
/* equivalent to
.foo { color: red; }
:not(.foo) { color: blue; }
*/
<b>/* But if you use a <l>[=relative selector=]</l>,
an initial & is implied automatically */</b>
.foo {
color: red;
+ .bar + & { color: blue; }
}
/* equivalent to
.foo { color: red; }
.foo + .bar + .foo { color: blue; }
*/
<b>/* Somewhat silly, but & can be used all on its own, as well. */</b>
.foo {
color: blue;
& { padding: 2ch; }
}
/* equivalent to
.foo { color: blue; }
.foo { padding: 2ch; }
// or
.foo {
color: blue;
padding: 2ch;
}
*/
<b>/* Again, silly, but can even be doubled up. */</b>
.foo {
color: blue;
&& { padding: 2ch; }
}
/* equivalent to
.foo { color: blue; }
.foo.foo { padding: 2ch; }
*/
<b>/* The parent selector can be arbitrarily complicated */</b>
.error, #404 {
&:hover > .baz { color: red; }
}
/* equivalent to
:is(.error, #404):hover > .baz { color: red; }
*/
.ancestor .el {
.other-ancestor & { color: red; }
}
/* equivalent to
.other-ancestor :is(.ancestor .el) { color: red; }
<b>/* As can the nested selector */</b>
.foo {
& :is(.bar, &.baz) { color: red; }
}
/* equivalent to
.foo :is(.bar, .foo.baz) { color: red; }
*/
<b>/* Multiple levels of nesting "stack up" the selectors */</b>
figure {
margin: 0;
> figcaption {
background: hsl(0 0% 0% / 50%);
> p {
font-size: .9rem;
}
}
}
/* equivalent to
figure { margin: 0; }
figure > figcaption { background: hsl(0 0% 0% / 50%); }
figure > figcaption > p { font-size: .9rem; }
*/
<b>/* Example usage with Cascade Layers */</b>
@layer base {
html {
block-size: 100%;
& body {
min-block-size: 100%;
}
}
}
/* equivalent to
@layer base {
html { block-size: 100%; }
html body { min-block-size: 100%; }
}
*/
<b>/* Example nesting Cascade Layers */</b>
@layer base {
html {
block-size: 100%;
@layer support {
& body {
min-block-size: 100%;
}
}
}
}
/* equivalent to
@layer base {
html { block-size: 100%; }
}
@layer base.support {
html body { min-block-size: 100%; }
}
*/
<b>/* Example usage with Scoping */</b>
@scope (.card) to (> header) {
:scope {
inline-size: 40ch;
aspect-ratio: 3/4;
> header {
border-block-end: 1px solid white;
}
}
}
/* equivalent to
@scope (.card) to (> header) {
:scope { inline-size: 40ch; aspect-ratio: 3/4; }
:scope > header { border-block-end: 1px solid white; }
}
*/
<b>/* Example nesting Scoping */</b>
.card {
inline-size: 40ch;
aspect-ratio: 3/4;
@scope (&) to (> header > *) {
:scope > header {
border-block-end: 1px solid white;
}
}
}
/* equivalent to
.card { inline-size: 40ch; aspect-ratio: 3/4; }
@scope (.card) to (> header > *) {
:scope > header { border-block-end: 1px solid white; }
}
*/
</pre>
But these are not valid:
<pre class=lang-css>
<b>/* Selector starts with an identifier */</b>
.foo {
color: blue;
div {
color: red;
}
}
</pre>
</div>
<div class=note>
Some CSS-generating tools will concatenate selectors like strings,
allowing authors to build up a single simple selector
across nesting levels.
This is sometimes used by selector-organization methods
like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS#:~:text=bem%20(block%2C%20element%2C%20modifier)">BEM</a>
to reduce repetition across a file,
when the selectors themselves have significant repetition internally.
For example, if one component uses the class ''.foo'',
and a nested component uses ''.foo__bar'',
you could write this in <a href="https://sass-lang.com/">Sass</a> as:
<pre class="lang-css">
.foo {
color: blue;
&__bar { color: red; }
}
/* In Sass, this is equivalent to
.foo { color: blue; }
.foo__bar { color: red; }
*/
</pre>
Unfortunately, this method is inconsistent with selector syntax in general,
and at best requires heuristics tuned to particularly selector-writing practices
to recognize when the author wants it,
versus the author attempting to add a type selector in the nested rule.
''__bar'', for example,
<em>is</em> a valid <a href="https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/custom-elements.html">custom element name</a> in HTML.
As such, CSS can't do this;
the nested selector components are interpreted on their own,
and not "concatenated":
<pre class="lang-css">
.foo {
color: blue;
&__bar { color: red; }
}
/* In CSS, this is instead equivalent to
.foo { color: blue; }
__bar.foo { color: red; }
*/
</pre>
</div>
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Nesting Other At-Rules {#conditionals}
--------------------------------------
In addition to [=nested style rules=],
this specification allows <dfn export>nested group rules</dfn>
inside of [=style rules=]:
any at-rule whose body contains [=style rules=]
can be nested inside of a [=style rule=] as well.
When nested in this way,
the contents of a [=nested group rule=] are parsed as <<style-block>>
rather than <<stylesheet>>:
* [=Style rules=] are [=nested style rules=],
with their [=nesting selector=] taking its definition
from the nearest ancestor [=style rule=].
* Properties can be directly used,
acting as if they were nested in a <code>& {...}</code> block.
<div class=note>
Specifically, these rules are capable of being [=nested group rules=]:
* all the [=conditional group rules=] (''@media'', ''@supports'')
* ''@layer''
* ''@scope''
* ''@container''
</div>
The meanings and behavior of such [=nested group rules=]
is otherwise unchanged,
unless otherwise specified.
<div class="example">
For example, the following conditional nestings are valid:
<pre class="lang-css">
<b>/* Properties can be directly used */</b>
.foo {
display: grid;
@media (orientation: landscape) {
grid-auto-flow: column;
}
}
/* equivalent to
.foo {
display: grid;
@media (orientation: landscape) {
& {
grid-auto-flow: column;
}
}
}
*/
/* finally equivalent to
.foo { display: grid; }
@media (orientation: landscape) {
.foo {
grid-auto-flow: column;
}
}
*/
<b>/* Conditionals can be further nested */</b>
.foo {
display: grid;
@media (orientation: landscape) {
grid-auto-flow: column;
@media (min-width > 1024px) {
max-inline-size: 1024px;
}
}
}
/* equivalent to
.foo { display: grid; }
@media (orientation: landscape) {
.foo {
grid-auto-flow: column;
}
}
@media (orientation: landscape) and (min-width > 1024px) {
.foo {
max-inline-size: 1024px;
}
}
*/
<b>/* Example nesting Cascade Layers */</b>
html {
@layer base {
block-size: 100%;
@layer support {
& body {
min-block-size: 100%;
}
}
}
}
/* equivalent to
@layer base {
html { block-size: 100%; }
}
@layer base.support {
html body { min-block-size: 100%; }
}
*/
<b>/* Example nesting Scoping */</b>
.card {
inline-size: 40ch;
aspect-ratio: 3/4;
@scope (&) {
:scope {
border: 1px solid white;
}
}
}
/* equivalent to
.card { inline-size: 40ch; aspect-ratio: 3/4; }
@scope (.card) {
:scope { border-block-end: 1px solid white; }
}
*/
</pre>
</div>
All directly-nested properties are treated
as if they were collected together, in order,
and nested in a [=nested style rule=]
with the selector ''&'',
and placed before all other child rules.
<div class=example>
For example, the earlier example:
<pre highlight=css>
.foo {
display: grid;
@media (orientation: landscape) {
grid-auto-flow: column;
}
}
/* equivalent to
.foo {
display: grid;
@media (orientation: landscape) {
& {
grid-auto-flow: column;
}
}
}
*/
</pre>
is in fact <em>exactly</em> equivalent,
producing the exact same CSSOM structure.
The {{CSSMediaRule}} object
will have a single {{CSSStyleRule}} object
in its <code highlight=js>.childRules</code> attribute,
containing the 'grid-auto-flow' property.
</div>
Issue: Need to modify the serialization rules,
as in <a href="https://github.com/w3c/csswg-drafts/issues/7850#issuecomment-1288883780">this comment</a>,
to remove the wrapping rule
when the first child rule is <code>& {...}</code>.
### Nested ''@scope'' Rules {#nesting-at-scope}
When the ''@scope'' rule is a [=nested group rule=],
an ''&'' in the <<scope-start>> selector
refers to the elements matched
by the nearest ancestor style rule.
For the purposes of the style rules in its body
and its own <<scope-end>> selector,
the ''@scope'' rule is treated as an ancestor style rule,
matching the elements matched by its <<scope-start>> selector.
<div class=example>
That is, the following code:
<pre highlight=css>
.parent {
color: blue;
@scope (& > .scope) to (& .limit) {
& .content {
color: red;
}
}
}
</pre>
is equivalent to:
<pre highlight=css>
.parent { color: blue; }
@scope (.parent > .scope) to (.parent > .scope .limit) {
.parent > .scope .content {
color: red;
}
}
</pre>
</div>
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Mixing Nesting Rules and Declarations {#mixing}
-----------------------------------------------
When a style rule contains both declarations
and [=nested style rules=] or [=nested conditional group rules=],
all three can be arbitrarily mixed.
However, the relative order of declarations
vs other rules
is not preserved in any way.
<div class=example>
For example,
in the following code:
<pre class=lang-css>
article {
color: green;
& { color: blue; }
color: red;
}
/* equivalent to */
article {
color: green;
color: red;
& { color: blue; }
}
</pre>
</div>
For the purpose of determining the [[css-cascade-4#cascade-sort|Order Of Appearance]],
[=nested style rules=] and [=nested conditional group rules=]
are considered to come <em>after</em> their parent rule.
<div>
For example:
<xmp class=lang-css>
article {
color: blue;
& { color: red; }
}
</xmp>
Both declarations have the same specificity (0,0,1),
but the nested rule is considered to come <em>after</em> its parent rule,
so the ''color: red'' declarations wins the cascade.
On the other hand, in this example:
<xmp class=lang-css>
article {
color: blue;
:where(&) { color: red; }
}
</xmp>
The '':where()'' pseudoclass reduces the specificity of the [=nesting selector=] to 0,
so the ''color: red'' declaration now has a specificity of (0,0,0),
and loses to the ''color: blue'' declaration
before "Order Of Appearance" comes into consideration.
</div>
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Nesting Selector: the ''&'' selector {#nest-selector}
=====================================================
When using a <a>nested style rule</a>,
one must be able to refer to the elements matched by the parent rule;
that is, after all, <em>the entire point of nesting</em>.
To accomplish that,
this specification defines a new selector,
the <dfn export>nesting selector</dfn>,
written as <dfn selector>&</dfn> (U+0026 AMPERSAND).
When used in the selector of a <a>nested style rule</a>,
the <a>nesting selector</a> represents the elements matched by the parent rule.
When used in any other context,
it represents nothing.
(That is, it's valid, but matches no elements.)
<div class="note">
The <a>nesting selector</a> can be desugared
by replacing it with the parent style rule's selector,
wrapped in an '':is()'' selector.
For example,
<pre class=lang-css>
a, b {
& c { color: blue; }
}
</pre>
is equivalent to
<pre class=lang-css>
:is(a, b) c { color: blue; }
</pre>
</div>
The [=nesting selector=] cannot represent pseudo-elements
(identical to the behavior of the '':is()'' pseudo-class).
<div class=example>
For example, in the following style rule:
<pre class=lang-css>
.foo, .foo::before, .foo::after {
color: red;
&:hover { color: blue; }
}
</pre>
the ''&'' only represents the elements matched by ''.foo'';
in other words, it's equivalent to:
<pre class=lang-css>
.foo, .foo::before, .foo::after {
color: red;
}
.foo:hover {
color: blue;
}
</pre>
</div>
Issue: We'd like to relax this restriction,
but need to do so simultaneously for both '':is()'' and ''&'',
since they're intentionally built on the same underlying mechanisms.
(<a href="https://github.com/w3c/csswg-drafts/issues/7433">Issue 7433</a>)
The <a>specificity</a> of the <a>nesting selector</a>
is equal to the largest specificity among the complex selectors
in the parent style rule's selector list
(identical to the behavior of '':is()'').
<div class="example">
For example, given the following style rules:
<pre class=lang-css>
#a, b {
& c { color: blue; }
}
.foo c { color: red; }
</pre>
Then in a DOM structure like
<xmp class="lang-html">
<b class=foo>
<c>Blue text</c>
</b>
</xmp>
The text will be blue, rather than red.
The specificity of the ''&''
is the larger of the specificities of ''#a'' ([1,0,0])
and <css>b</css> ([0,0,1]),
so it's [1,0,0],
and the entire ''& c'' selector thus has specificity [1,0,1],
which is larger than the specificity of ''.foo c'' ([0,1,1]).
Notably, this is <em>different</em> than the result you'd get
if the nesting were manually expanded out
into non-nested rules,
since the ''color: blue'' declaration would then be matching
due to the ''b c'' selector ([0,0,2])
rather than ''#a c'' ([1,0,1]).
</div>
<details class=note>
<summary>Why is the specificity different than non-nested rules?</summary>
The [=nesting selector=] intentionally uses the same specificity rules
as the '':is()'' pseudoclass,
which just uses the largest specificity among its arguments,
rather than tracking <em>which</em> selector actually matched.
This is required for performance reasons;
if a selector has multiple possible specificities,
depending on how precisely it was matched,