---
title: Getting started
path: getting-started/index
---
Primer CSS is [open-sourced on GitHub](https://github.com/primer/css) and [available on npm](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@primer/css).
## Installing via npm
We recommend installing Primer CSS with npm: `npm install --save @primer/css`.
### Before you start
Primer CSS requires npm version 3 or above. You can check which version you have by running `npm -v`. If you have a version that's older than 3.0, you can update it with `npm install npm@latest -g`. For more info, read the [npm install docs](https://docs.npmjs.com/getting-started/installing-node).
### Initialize npm project
Begin by initializing your project with a `package.json` file. You can read more on how to do this [in the npm documentation](https://docs.npmjs.com/getting-started/using-a-package.json#creating-a-packagejson).
### Install Primer CSS
Install the Primer CSS npm package modules by running `npm install @primer/css`. This will install all of the SCSS source files into the `node_modules/@primer/css` directory.
```shell
npm install @primer/css --save
```
### Paths
Here's what you need to know about how the files are structured in both git and in the published npm module:
- In git, all of the SCSS source files live in the `src/` directory.
- When published, all of the files in `src/` are "hoisted" to the package root so that you can import, say, utilities with:
```scss
@import '@primer/css/utilities/index.scss';
```
- All bundle interdependencies within Primer CSS are defined as relative imports (e.g. with `../`), so everything should work fine as long as the `@primer/css` directory is in one of your Sass include paths (i.e. `node_modules`).
### For a Jekyll site
Make sure you have [Jekyll](https://jekyllrb.com/) version `3.3.1` or greater with:
```shell
jekyll -v
```
If you have an older version, follow the instructions in the [upgrading docs](https://jekyllrb.com/docs/upgrading/).
Once you have Jekyll up and running, you will need to add this configuration to your `_config.yml` file. This let's the sass compiler know where your code lives.
```yml
sass:
# Where you keep your scss files
sass_dir: assets/css/
# Where sass should look for other scss
load_paths:
- node_modules/
```
It's best practice to import all of this scss into one file, usually named `index.scss`. From this file you'll import one or more Primer CSS bundles and any other custom code you write.
```scss
@import '@primer/css/core/index.scss';
// These files live in the same directory as the index file.
@import './custom-1.scss';
@import './custom-2.scss';
```
Here's an example of how it might look if you installed only a few Primer CSS components with some custom variable overrides. The `$blue` uses the default primer blue in the text utilities, then the new blue in `"custom-that-uses-primer-variables.scss"` and `.foo`.
```scss
@import '@primer/css/utilities/index.scss';
@import 'primer-buttons/index.scss';
// Import color variables for custom code
@import 'primer-support/index.scss';
// Override default blue
$blue: #0000ff;
@import './custom-that-uses-primer-variables.scss';
.foo {
background: $blue;
font-size: $h2-size;
color: $text-gray;
}
```
Don't forget to add the compiled CSS to the `` section of your page.
```html
```
## Using Primer CSS on a static site
You won't need to install any node modules or Sass compilers for a static site; you can use the built CSS. The best thing to do is to [download the built CSS](https://unpkg.com/@primer/css/dist/primer.css) from the [unpkg.com](https://unpkg.com) and host it yourself. If that's not an option, you can include a CDN link in your HTML:
```html
```