sass-site/source/documentation/at-rules/extend.liquid

---
title: "@extend"
table_of_contents: true
introduction: >
  There are often cases when designing a page when one class should have all the
  styles of another class, as well as its own specific styles. For example, the
  [BEM methodology](http://getbem.com/naming/) encourages modifier classes that
  go on the same elements as block or element classes. But this can create
  cluttered HTML, it's prone to errors from forgetting to include both classes,
  and it can bring non-semantic style concerns into your markup.
---

<!-- TODO(jina): I think these code blocks should be side-by-side -->
{% markdown %}
  ```html
  <div class="error error--serious">
    Oh no! You've been hacked!
  </div>
  ```

  ```css
  .error {
    border: 1px #f00;
    background-color: #fdd;
  }

  .error--serious {
    border-width: 3px;
  }
  ```

  Sass's `@extend` rule solves this. It's written `@extend <selector>`, and it
  tells Sass that one selector should inherit the styles of another.
{% endmarkdown %}

{% codeExample 'extend' %}
  .error {
    border: 1px #f00;
    background-color: #fdd;

    &--serious {
      @extend .error;
      border-width: 3px;
    }
  }
  ===
  .error
    border: 1px #f00
    background-color: #fdd

    &--serious
      @extend .error
      border-width: 3px
{% endcodeExample %}

{% markdown %}
  When one class extends another, Sass styles all elements that match the
  extender as though they also match the class being extended. When one class
  selector extends another, it works exactly as though you added the extended
  class to every element in your HTML that already had the extending class. You
  can just write `class="error--serious"`, and Sass will make sure it's styled
  as though it had `class="error"` as well.

  Of course, selectors aren't just used on their own in style rules. Sass knows
  to extend *everywhere* the selector is used. This ensures that your elements
  are styled exactly as if they matched the extended selector.
{% endmarkdown %}

{% codeExample 'extended-selector' %}
  .error:hover {
    background-color: #fee;
  }

  .error--serious {
    @extend .error;
    border-width: 3px;
  }
  ===
  .error:hover
    background-color: #fee


  .error--serious
    @extend .error
    border-width: 3px
{% endcodeExample %}

{% headsUp %}
  Extends are resolved after the rest of your stylesheet is compiled. In
  particular, it happens after [parent selectors][] are resolved. This means
  that if you `@extend .error`, it won't affect the inner selector in `.error {
  &__icon { ... } }`. It also means that [parent selectors in SassScript][]
  can't see the results of extend.

  [parent selectors]: /documentation/style-rules/parent-selector
  [parent selectors in SassScript]: /documentation/style-rules/parent-selector#in-sassscript
{% endheadsUp %}

{% markdown %}
  ## How It Works

  Unlike [mixins][], which copy styles into the current style rule, `@extend`
  updates style rules that contain the extended selector so that they contain
  the extending selector as well. When extending selectors, Sass does
  *intelligent unification*:

  [mixins]: /documentation/at-rules/mixin

  * It never generates selectors like `#main#footer` that can't possibly match
    any elements.

  * It ensures that complex selectors are interleaved so that they work no
    matter which order the HTML elements are nested.

  * It trims redundant selectors as much as possible, while still ensuring that
    the specificity is greater than or equal to that of the extender.

  * It knows when one selector matches everything another does, and can combine
    them together.

  * It intelligently handles [combinators][], [universal selectors][], and
    [pseudo-classes that contain selectors][].

  [combinators]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/CSS_Selectors#Combinators
  [pseudo-classes that contain selectors]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/:not
  [universal selectors]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Universal_selectors
{% endmarkdown %}

{% codeExample 'how-it-works' %}
  .content nav.sidebar {
    @extend .info;
  }

  // This won't be extended, because `p` is incompatible with `nav`.
  p.info {
    background-color: #dee9fc;
  }

  // There's no way to know whether `<div class="guide">` will be inside or
  // outside `<div class="content">`, so Sass generates both to be safe.
  .guide .info {
    border: 1px solid rgba(#000, 0.8);
    border-radius: 2px;
  }

  // Sass knows that every element matching "main.content" also matches ".content"
  // and avoids generating unnecessary interleaved selectors.
  main.content .info {
    font-size: 0.8em;
  }
  ===
  .content nav.sidebar
    @extend .info


  // This won't be extended, because `p` is incompatible with `nav`.
  p.info
    background-color: #dee9fc


  // There's no way to know whether `<div class="guide">` will be inside or
  // outside `<div class="content">`, so Sass generates both to be safe.
  .guide .info
    border: 1px solid rgba(#000, 0.8)
    border-radius: 2px


  // Sass knows that every element matching "main.content" also matches ".content"
  // and avoids generating unnecessary interleaved selectors.
  main.content .info
    font-size: 0.8em
{% endcodeExample %}

{% funFact %}
  You can directly access Sass's intelligent unification using [selector
  functions][]! The [`selector.unify()` function][] returns a selector that
  matches the intersection of two selectors, while the [`selector.extend()`
  function][] works just like `@extend`, but on a single selector.

  [selector functions]: /documentation/modules/selector
  [`selector.unify()` function]: /documentation/modules/selector#unify
  [`selector.extend()` function]: /documentation/modules/selector#extend
{% endfunFact %}

{% headsUp %}
  Because `@extend` updates style rules that contain the extended selector,
  their styles have precedence in [the cascade][] based on where the extended
  selector's style rules appear, *not* based on where the `@extend` appears.
  This can be confusing, but just remember: this is the same precedence those
  rules would have if you added the extended class to your HTML!

  [the cascade]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Cascade
{% endheadsUp %}

{% markdown %}
  ## Placeholder Selectors

  Sometimes you want to write a style rule that's *only* intended to be
  extended. In that case, you can use [placeholder selectors][], which look like
  class selectors that start with `%` instead of `.`. Any selectors that include
  placeholders aren't included in the CSS output, but selectors that extend them
  are.

  [placeholder selectors]: /documentation/style-rules/placeholder-selectors
{% endmarkdown %}

{% render 'code-snippets/example-placeholder' %}

{% markdown %}
  ### Private Placeholders

  Like [module members][], a placeholder selector can be marked private by
  starting its name with either `-` or `_`. A private placeholder selector can
  only be extended within the stylesheet that defines it. To any other
  stylesheets, it will look as though that selector doesn't exist.

  [module members]: /documentation/at-rules/use#private-members

  ## Extension Scope

  When one stylesheet extends a selector, that extension will only affect style
  rules written in *upstream* modules—that is, modules that are loaded by that
  stylesheet using the [`@use` rule][] or the [`@forward` rule][], modules
  loaded by *those* modules, and so on. This helps make your `@extend` rules
  more predictable, ensuring that they affect only the styles you were aware of
  when you wrote them.

  [`@use` rule]: /documentation/at-rules/use
  [`@forward` rule]: /documentation/at-rules/forward

  {% headsUp %}
    Extensions aren't scoped at all if you're using the [`@import` rule][]. Not
    only will they affect every stylesheet you import, they'll affect every
    stylesheet that imports your stylesheet, everything else those stylesheets
    import, and so on. Without `@use`, extensions are *global*.

    [`@import` rule]: /documentation/at-rules/import
  {% endheadsUp %}

  ## Mandatory and Optional Extends

  Normally, if an `@extend` doesn't match any selectors in the stylesheet, Sass
  will produce an error. This helps protect from typos or from renaming a
  selector without renaming the selectors that inherit from it. Extends that
  require that the extended selector exists are *mandatory*.

  This may not always be what you want, though. If you want the `@extend` to do
  nothing if the extended selector doesn't exist, just add `!optional` to the
  end.

  ## Extends or Mixins?

  Extends and [mixins][] are both ways of encapsulating and re-using styles in
  Sass, which naturally raises the question of when to use which one. Mixins are
  obviously necessary when you need to configure the styles using [arguments][],
  but what if they're just a chunk of styles?

  [mixins]: /documentation/at-rules/mixin
  [arguments]: /documentation/at-rules/mixin#arguments

  As a rule of thumb, extends are the best option when you're expressing a
  relationship between semantic classes (or other semantic selectors). Because
  an element with class `.error--serious` *is an* error, it makes sense for it
  to extend `.error`. But for non-semantic collections of styles, writing a
  mixin can avoid cascade headaches and make it easier to configure down the
  line.

  {% funFact %}
    Most web servers compress the CSS they serve using an algorithm that's very
    good at handling repeated chunks of identical text. This means that,
    although mixins may produce more CSS than extends, they probably won't
    substantially increase the amount your users need to download. So choose the
    feature that makes the most sense for your use-case, not the one that
    generates the least CSS!

    [gzip]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gzip
  {% endfunFact %}

  ## Limitations

  ### Disallowed Selectors

  {% compatibility 'dart: true', 'libsass: false', 'ruby: false', 'feature: No Compound Extensions' %}
    LibSass and Ruby Sass currently allow compound selectors like
    `.message.info` to be extended. However, this behavior doesn't match the
    definition of `@extend`: instead of styling elements that match the
    extending selector as though it had `class="message info"`, which would be
    affected by style rules that included either `.message` *or* `.info`, it
    only styled them with rules that included both `.message` *and* `info`.

    In order to keep the definition of `@extend` straightforward and
    understandable, and to keep the implementation clean and efficient, that
    behavior is now deprecated and will be removed from future versions.

    See [the breaking change page][] for more details.

    [the breaking change page]: /documentation/breaking-changes/extend-compound
  {% endcompatibility %}

  Only *simple selectors*—individual selectors like `.info` or `a`—can be
  extended. If `.message.info` could be extended, the definition of `@extend`
  says that elements matching the extender would be styled as though they
  matched `.message.info`. That's just the same as matching both `.message` and
  `.info`, so there wouldn't be any benefit in writing that instead of `@extend
  .message, .info`.

  Similarly, if `.main .info` could be extended, it would do (almost) the same
  thing as extending `.info` on its own. The subtle differences aren't worth the
  confusion of looking like it's doing something substantially different, so
  this isn't allowed either.
{% endmarkdown %}

{% codeExample 'disallowed-selectors', false %}
  .alert {
    @extend .message.info;
    //      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    // Error: Write @extend .message, .info instead.

    @extend .main .info;
    //      ^^^^^^^^^^^
    // Error: write @extend .info instead.
  }
  ===
  .alert
    @extend .message.info
    //      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    // Error: Write @extend .message, .info instead.

    @extend .main .info
    //      ^^^^^^^^^^^
    // Error: write @extend .info instead.
{% endcodeExample %}

{% markdown %}
  ### HTML Heuristics

  When `@extend` [interleaves complex selectors][], it doesn't generate all
  possible combinations of ancestor selectors. Many of the selectors it could
  generate are unlikely to actually match real HTML, and generating them all
  would make stylesheets way too big for very little real value. Instead, it
  uses a [heuristic][]: it assumes that each selector's ancestors will be
  self-contained, without being interleaved with any other selector's ancestors.

  [interleaves complex selectors]: #how-it-works
  [heuristic]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heuristic
{% endmarkdown %}

{% codeExample 'html-heuristics' %}
  header .warning li {
    font-weight: bold;
  }

  aside .notice dd {
    // Sass doesn't generate CSS to match the <dd> in
    //
    // <header>
    //   <aside>
    //     <div class="warning">
    //       <div class="notice">
    //         <dd>...</dd>
    //       </div>
    //     </div>
    //   </aside>
    // </header>
    //
    // because matching all elements like that would require us to generate nine
    // new selectors instead of just two.
    @extend li;
  }
  ===
  header .warning li
    font-weight: bold


  aside .notice dd
    // Sass doesn't generate CSS to match the <dd> in
    //
    // <header>
    //   <aside>
    //     <div class="warning">
    //       <div class="notice">
    //         <dd>...</dd>
    //       </div>
    //     </div>
    //   </aside>
    // </header>
    //
    // because matching all elements like that would require us to generate nine
    // new selectors instead of just two.
    @extend li
{% endcodeExample %}

{% markdown %}
  ### Extend in `@media`

  While `@extend` is allowed within [`@media` and other CSS at-rules][], it's
  not allowed to extend selectors that appear outside its at-rule. This is
  because the extending selector only applies within the given media context,
  and there's no way to make sure that restriction is preserved in the generated
  selector without duplicating the entire style rule.

  [`@media` and other CSS at-rules]: /documentation/at-rules/css
{% endmarkdown %}

{% codeExample 'extend-media', false %}
  @media screen and (max-width: 600px) {
    .error--serious {
      @extend .error;
      //      ^^^^^^
      // Error: ".error" was extended in @media, but used outside it.
    }
  }

  .error {
    border: 1px #f00;
    background-color: #fdd;
  }
  ===
  @media screen and (max-width: 600px)
    .error--serious
      @extend .error
      //      ^^^^^^
      // Error: ".error" was extended in @media, but used outside it.



  .error
    border: 1px #f00
    background-color: #fdd
{% endcodeExample %}