$ whoami
Brandon McConnell
A software engineer helping communities build platforms and people build products.
San Francisco, CA
## about
I build tools for developers: Tailwind CSS plugins, React utilities, browser and editor extensions, and the occasional thing that exists only because I wanted to see if it could. I care about APIs that read the way you think, and about the small ergonomic wins that add up over a working day.
By day I'm a frontend engineer at Mintlify. I also run Toolwind, the org behind my Tailwind plugins and a registry of Tailwind tools that Vercel's OSS program is helping me build. I enjoy contributing to open source packages I use, and to the languages underneath them through CSSWG and TC39 discussions, browser bug trackers, and web-platform-tests.
Most of that thinking shows up on X first: plugin launches, CSS tricks people assume need JavaScript, and the occasional spec argument. Off the clock I'm a follower of Christ, a blessed husband, and a dad of two girls.
## projects
- toolwind/signals796 stars·tailwind, css
Style descendants based on an ancestor's state via style queries, no more variant chains.
- render-hooks413 stars·react
Inline, render-block-stable React hooks. Call hooks where you need them, not at the top.
- typed.css240 stars·scss, animation
A full-featured typewriter mixin for SCSS: multiple strings, per-string styling, animated caret, accessible.
- toolwind/mixins220 stars·tailwind
Reusable groups of utilities for Tailwind with a declarative API that stays utility-first.
- toolwind/multi185 stars·tailwind
Variant-grouped utilities: multi-['fixed;top-3;right-3'] instead of repeating the variant.
- toolwind/members74 stars·tailwind, css
Style an ancestor based on the state of its descendants. The inverse of signals.
- toolwind/lerp-colors55 stars·tailwind, color
Interpolate between configured colors for extra stops, like red-425. Built on chroma.js.
- shadd34 stars·cli
Global alias for `npx shadcn add` that detects your package manager.
- toolwind/shadows28 stars·tailwind
Directional shadows for Tailwind: shadow-b-lg/20 and friends.
- vscode-close-other-tabsvscode
Close every tab and group except the active one, borrowed from Sublime's CloseOtherWindows.
- open-in-gitkrakenbrowser extension
Browser extension that adds an Open in GitKraken option to GitHub's clone menu, using GitKraken's deep links.
- geldbrowser extension
Browser extension that tucks test files out of GitHub diffs and fixes the counts, so you review the code that matters first.
Also merged into tailwindcss, svelte-ux, svelte.dev, epic-stack, t3.gg, and web-platform-tests, among others.
Star counts come from GitHub and refresh hourly. More at github and toolwind.
## interests
- -CSS that people think is JavaScript's job
- -Developer ergonomics and API design
- -Browser specs, WPT, and filing the bug
- -Tailwind CSS internals and plugin authoring
- -Hiking, skiing, and any excuse to be outdoors
- -Traveling, and walking a new downtown until my feet give out
- -Great coffee, matcha, and boba, ideally all three in one day
- -Listening to great tunes (the radio in the scene is not decorative)
- -Any sport where I get to hit a ball over a net: table tennis, volleyball, pickleball
- -Photography, and seeing movies in an actual theater
Brandon’s been involved with CSSWG discussions for several years at this point, and I find I’ve never been disappointed seeing one of his comments. Not all of his ideas end up in a spec, but that’s not an issue - it just means that he dreams big, and importantly, he always does so with good justifications underlying his ideas.
Ok you win
Brandon is a great teacher and developer mentor, with a natural ability to explain complex topics in an engaging way. He’s also a very generous person who’s been helping students in our community with their technical struggles without ever asking for anything back.
Brandon’s got talent, from the front to the back, he’s a crafter and contributor.
Brandon’s contributions to the Interop Effort and the CSS Working Group effort have been instrumental in shaping the future of the web. His work directly influences browser vendors’ feature prioritization, accelerating web innovation.
Brandon is a talented designer and coder with clever ideas and an enviable amount of enthusiasm for our craft.
Brandon has demonstrated his web development knowledge through his helpful contributions to the Epic Stack and discussions online. I’m genuinely impressed by his attention to detail and grateful for his impactful contributions.
When I met Brandon in Atlanta several years ago wearing a floral shirt complementing my own, I knew he meant business.
Brandon has been very influential in the web community and his contributions are invaluable! He has helped me a lot over the years, and I’m incredibly grateful for all his efforts.
Brandon has contributed to tailwind-merge many times, sparking new ideas and uncovering bugs in the library. I deeply appreciate him making the open-source community stronger!
Brandon’s been involved with CSSWG discussions for several years at this point, and I find I’ve never been disappointed seeing one of his comments. Not all of his ideas end up in a spec, but that’s not an issue - it just means that he dreams big, and importantly, he always does so with good justifications underlying his ideas.
Ok you win
Brandon is a great teacher and developer mentor, with a natural ability to explain complex topics in an engaging way. He’s also a very generous person who’s been helping students in our community with their technical struggles without ever asking for anything back.
Brandon’s got talent, from the front to the back, he’s a crafter and contributor.
Brandon’s contributions to the Interop Effort and the CSS Working Group effort have been instrumental in shaping the future of the web. His work directly influences browser vendors’ feature prioritization, accelerating web innovation.
Brandon is a talented designer and coder with clever ideas and an enviable amount of enthusiasm for our craft.
Brandon has demonstrated his web development knowledge through his helpful contributions to the Epic Stack and discussions online. I’m genuinely impressed by his attention to detail and grateful for his impactful contributions.
When I met Brandon in Atlanta several years ago wearing a floral shirt complementing my own, I knew he meant business.
Brandon has been very influential in the web community and his contributions are invaluable! He has helped me a lot over the years, and I’m incredibly grateful for all his efforts.
Brandon has contributed to tailwind-merge many times, sparking new ideas and uncovering bugs in the library. I deeply appreciate him making the open-source community stronger!
Brandon’s been involved with CSSWG discussions for several years at this point, and I find I’ve never been disappointed seeing one of his comments. Not all of his ideas end up in a spec, but that’s not an issue - it just means that he dreams big, and importantly, he always does so with good justifications underlying his ideas.
Ok you win
Brandon is a great teacher and developer mentor, with a natural ability to explain complex topics in an engaging way. He’s also a very generous person who’s been helping students in our community with their technical struggles without ever asking for anything back.
Brandon’s got talent, from the front to the back, he’s a crafter and contributor.
Brandon’s contributions to the Interop Effort and the CSS Working Group effort have been instrumental in shaping the future of the web. His work directly influences browser vendors’ feature prioritization, accelerating web innovation.
Brandon is a talented designer and coder with clever ideas and an enviable amount of enthusiasm for our craft.
Brandon has demonstrated his web development knowledge through his helpful contributions to the Epic Stack and discussions online. I’m genuinely impressed by his attention to detail and grateful for his impactful contributions.
When I met Brandon in Atlanta several years ago wearing a floral shirt complementing my own, I knew he meant business.
Brandon has been very influential in the web community and his contributions are invaluable! He has helped me a lot over the years, and I’m incredibly grateful for all his efforts.
Brandon has contributed to tailwind-merge many times, sparking new ideas and uncovering bugs in the library. I deeply appreciate him making the open-source community stronger!
Brandon’s been involved with CSSWG discussions for several years at this point, and I find I’ve never been disappointed seeing one of his comments. Not all of his ideas end up in a spec, but that’s not an issue - it just means that he dreams big, and importantly, he always does so with good justifications underlying his ideas.
Ok you win
Brandon is a great teacher and developer mentor, with a natural ability to explain complex topics in an engaging way. He’s also a very generous person who’s been helping students in our community with their technical struggles without ever asking for anything back.
Brandon’s got talent, from the front to the back, he’s a crafter and contributor.
Brandon’s contributions to the Interop Effort and the CSS Working Group effort have been instrumental in shaping the future of the web. His work directly influences browser vendors’ feature prioritization, accelerating web innovation.
Brandon is a talented designer and coder with clever ideas and an enviable amount of enthusiasm for our craft.
Brandon has demonstrated his web development knowledge through his helpful contributions to the Epic Stack and discussions online. I’m genuinely impressed by his attention to detail and grateful for his impactful contributions.
When I met Brandon in Atlanta several years ago wearing a floral shirt complementing my own, I knew he meant business.
Brandon has been very influential in the web community and his contributions are invaluable! He has helped me a lot over the years, and I’m incredibly grateful for all his efforts.
Brandon has contributed to tailwind-merge many times, sparking new ideas and uncovering bugs in the library. I deeply appreciate him making the open-source community stronger!
Brandon’s been involved with CSSWG discussions for several years at this point, and I find I’ve never been disappointed seeing one of his comments. Not all of his ideas end up in a spec, but that’s not an issue - it just means that he dreams big, and importantly, he always does so with good justifications underlying his ideas.
Ok you win
Brandon is a great teacher and developer mentor, with a natural ability to explain complex topics in an engaging way. He’s also a very generous person who’s been helping students in our community with their technical struggles without ever asking for anything back.
Brandon’s got talent, from the front to the back, he’s a crafter and contributor.
Brandon’s contributions to the Interop Effort and the CSS Working Group effort have been instrumental in shaping the future of the web. His work directly influences browser vendors’ feature prioritization, accelerating web innovation.
Brandon is a talented designer and coder with clever ideas and an enviable amount of enthusiasm for our craft.
Brandon has demonstrated his web development knowledge through his helpful contributions to the Epic Stack and discussions online. I’m genuinely impressed by his attention to detail and grateful for his impactful contributions.
When I met Brandon in Atlanta several years ago wearing a floral shirt complementing my own, I knew he meant business.
Brandon has been very influential in the web community and his contributions are invaluable! He has helped me a lot over the years, and I’m incredibly grateful for all his efforts.
Brandon has contributed to tailwind-merge many times, sparking new ideas and uncovering bugs in the library. I deeply appreciate him making the open-source community stronger!
Brandon is a standout software engineer who brings a friendly yet meticulous approach to every project.
His insane attention to detail and unwavering commitment to polish and integrity from design to development truly set him apart.
I’ve never met someone more obsessed with Tailwind CSS, and I’ve met a lot of people obsessed with Tailwind CSS.
Brandon’s vast experience and passion shines through any conversation you have with him. Not only that, he’s incredibly willing to walk alongside you and share his accumulated knowledge. A top bloke!
Brandon is a pleasure to work with. Not only is he extremely creative, but he offers up really innovative ideas when it comes to web development and design.
Brandon McConnell and I have tackled more projects together than I’ve had hot dinners. His knack for turning the impossible into "it’s already done" is nothing short of wizardry.
Brandon is one of the most driven and optimistic engineers I’ve worked with. He never gets distraught about what he doesn’t know, only excited by the opportunity to learn something new. Everything he does, he commits his full self to it, and doesn’t rest until he’s satisfied.
You win this time, McConnell.
Brandon has played a crucial role in refining my open-source library, input-otp, used by tens of thousands of developers, as well as my latest venture, Luna. His rock-solid fundamentals in web technologies make him an invaluable resource.
Brandon is a joy to interact with. Positive, introspective, curious, and has a keen engineering mind.
Brandon is a standout software engineer who brings a friendly yet meticulous approach to every project.
His insane attention to detail and unwavering commitment to polish and integrity from design to development truly set him apart.
I’ve never met someone more obsessed with Tailwind CSS, and I’ve met a lot of people obsessed with Tailwind CSS.
Brandon’s vast experience and passion shines through any conversation you have with him. Not only that, he’s incredibly willing to walk alongside you and share his accumulated knowledge. A top bloke!
Brandon is a pleasure to work with. Not only is he extremely creative, but he offers up really innovative ideas when it comes to web development and design.
Brandon McConnell and I have tackled more projects together than I’ve had hot dinners. His knack for turning the impossible into "it’s already done" is nothing short of wizardry.
Brandon is one of the most driven and optimistic engineers I’ve worked with. He never gets distraught about what he doesn’t know, only excited by the opportunity to learn something new. Everything he does, he commits his full self to it, and doesn’t rest until he’s satisfied.
You win this time, McConnell.
Brandon has played a crucial role in refining my open-source library, input-otp, used by tens of thousands of developers, as well as my latest venture, Luna. His rock-solid fundamentals in web technologies make him an invaluable resource.
Brandon is a joy to interact with. Positive, introspective, curious, and has a keen engineering mind.
Brandon is a standout software engineer who brings a friendly yet meticulous approach to every project.
His insane attention to detail and unwavering commitment to polish and integrity from design to development truly set him apart.
I’ve never met someone more obsessed with Tailwind CSS, and I’ve met a lot of people obsessed with Tailwind CSS.
Brandon’s vast experience and passion shines through any conversation you have with him. Not only that, he’s incredibly willing to walk alongside you and share his accumulated knowledge. A top bloke!
Brandon is a pleasure to work with. Not only is he extremely creative, but he offers up really innovative ideas when it comes to web development and design.
Brandon McConnell and I have tackled more projects together than I’ve had hot dinners. His knack for turning the impossible into "it’s already done" is nothing short of wizardry.
Brandon is one of the most driven and optimistic engineers I’ve worked with. He never gets distraught about what he doesn’t know, only excited by the opportunity to learn something new. Everything he does, he commits his full self to it, and doesn’t rest until he’s satisfied.
You win this time, McConnell.
Brandon has played a crucial role in refining my open-source library, input-otp, used by tens of thousands of developers, as well as my latest venture, Luna. His rock-solid fundamentals in web technologies make him an invaluable resource.
Brandon is a joy to interact with. Positive, introspective, curious, and has a keen engineering mind.
Brandon is a standout software engineer who brings a friendly yet meticulous approach to every project.
His insane attention to detail and unwavering commitment to polish and integrity from design to development truly set him apart.
I’ve never met someone more obsessed with Tailwind CSS, and I’ve met a lot of people obsessed with Tailwind CSS.
Brandon’s vast experience and passion shines through any conversation you have with him. Not only that, he’s incredibly willing to walk alongside you and share his accumulated knowledge. A top bloke!
Brandon is a pleasure to work with. Not only is he extremely creative, but he offers up really innovative ideas when it comes to web development and design.
Brandon McConnell and I have tackled more projects together than I’ve had hot dinners. His knack for turning the impossible into "it’s already done" is nothing short of wizardry.
Brandon is one of the most driven and optimistic engineers I’ve worked with. He never gets distraught about what he doesn’t know, only excited by the opportunity to learn something new. Everything he does, he commits his full self to it, and doesn’t rest until he’s satisfied.
You win this time, McConnell.
Brandon has played a crucial role in refining my open-source library, input-otp, used by tens of thousands of developers, as well as my latest venture, Luna. His rock-solid fundamentals in web technologies make him an invaluable resource.
Brandon is a joy to interact with. Positive, introspective, curious, and has a keen engineering mind.
Brandon is a standout software engineer who brings a friendly yet meticulous approach to every project.
His insane attention to detail and unwavering commitment to polish and integrity from design to development truly set him apart.
I’ve never met someone more obsessed with Tailwind CSS, and I’ve met a lot of people obsessed with Tailwind CSS.
Brandon’s vast experience and passion shines through any conversation you have with him. Not only that, he’s incredibly willing to walk alongside you and share his accumulated knowledge. A top bloke!
Brandon is a pleasure to work with. Not only is he extremely creative, but he offers up really innovative ideas when it comes to web development and design.
Brandon McConnell and I have tackled more projects together than I’ve had hot dinners. His knack for turning the impossible into "it’s already done" is nothing short of wizardry.
Brandon is one of the most driven and optimistic engineers I’ve worked with. He never gets distraught about what he doesn’t know, only excited by the opportunity to learn something new. Everything he does, he commits his full self to it, and doesn’t rest until he’s satisfied.
You win this time, McConnell.
Brandon has played a crucial role in refining my open-source library, input-otp, used by tens of thousands of developers, as well as my latest venture, Luna. His rock-solid fundamentals in web technologies make him an invaluable resource.
Brandon is a joy to interact with. Positive, introspective, curious, and has a keen engineering mind.
Brandon’s been involved with CSSWG discussions for several years at this point, and I find I’ve never been disappointed seeing one of his comments. Not all of his ideas end up in a spec, but that’s not an issue - it just means that he dreams big, and importantly, he always does so with good justifications underlying his ideas.
Brandon’s contributions to the Interop Effort and the CSS Working Group effort have been instrumental in shaping the future of the web. His work directly influences browser vendors’ feature prioritization, accelerating web innovation.
I’ve never met someone more obsessed with Tailwind CSS, and I’ve met a lot of people obsessed with Tailwind CSS.
Brandon is a talented designer and coder with clever ideas and an enviable amount of enthusiasm for our craft.
Brandon has contributed to tailwind-merge many times, sparking new ideas and uncovering bugs in the library. I deeply appreciate him making the open-source community stronger!
Brandon has demonstrated his web development knowledge through his helpful contributions to the Epic Stack and discussions online. I’m genuinely impressed by his attention to detail and grateful for his impactful contributions.
You win this time, McConnell.
Brandon is one of the most driven and optimistic engineers I’ve worked with. He never gets distraught about what he doesn’t know, only excited by the opportunity to learn something new. Everything he does, he commits his full self to it, and doesn’t rest until he’s satisfied.
Ok you win
Brandon is a standout software engineer who brings a friendly yet meticulous approach to every project.
His insane attention to detail and unwavering commitment to polish and integrity from design to development truly set him apart.
Brandon has been very influential in the web community and his contributions are invaluable! He has helped me a lot over the years, and I’m incredibly grateful for all his efforts.
Brandon’s vast experience and passion shines through any conversation you have with him. Not only that, he’s incredibly willing to walk alongside you and share his accumulated knowledge. A top bloke!
Brandon has played a crucial role in refining my open-source library, input-otp, used by tens of thousands of developers, as well as my latest venture, Luna. His rock-solid fundamentals in web technologies make him an invaluable resource.
When I met Brandon in Atlanta several years ago wearing a floral shirt complementing my own, I knew he meant business.
Brandon is a pleasure to work with. Not only is he extremely creative, but he offers up really innovative ideas when it comes to web development and design.
Brandon’s got talent, from the front to the back, he’s a crafter and contributor.
Brandon McConnell and I have tackled more projects together than I’ve had hot dinners. His knack for turning the impossible into "it’s already done" is nothing short of wizardry.
Brandon is a joy to interact with. Positive, introspective, curious, and has a keen engineering mind.
Brandon is a great teacher and developer mentor, with a natural ability to explain complex topics in an engaging way. He’s also a very generous person who’s been helping students in our community with their technical struggles without ever asking for anything back.
1 / 19, swipe the top card in any direction for the next one