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How to Prevent a Flex Child from Filling the Entire Height

How to Prevent a Flex Child from Filling the Entire Height

In a horizontal list of items, sometimes a line of text can expand to two lines, causing additional space and causing its flex siblings to extend to full height. However, there is a simple solution to this problem.

First, let’s take a look at the code before making any changes:

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<li class="flex">
 <code class="flex-none text-sm whitespace-normal mr-2 mt-0.5 bg-white text-black p-1 ">
 {new Date(post.date).toString().slice(4, 11)}
 </code>{' '}
 <code class="flex-none text-sm whitespace-normal mr-2 bg-black text-white border p-1 ">
 {post.tag}
 </code>
 <a href={'/' + post.url + '/'}>{post.title}</a>
</li>

To fix the issue, we need to add the self-start class to the code blocks. In Tailwind CSS, this class applies the CSS rule align-self: start;. This will ensure that the flex child does not fill the entire height. The updated code will look like this:

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<li class="flex">
 <code class="flex-none text-sm whitespace-normal mr-2 mt-0.5 bg-white text-black p-1 self-start">
 {new Date(post.date).toString().slice(4, 11)}
 </code>{' '}
 <code class="flex-none text-sm whitespace-normal mr-2 bg-black text-white border p-1 self-start">
 {post.tag}
 </code>
 <a href={'/' + post.url + '/'}>{post.title}</a>
</li>

By adding the self-start class, the <code> elements will align to the top of the flex container, ensuring that the flex siblings do not extend to full height.

This fix will result in a cleaner and more visually appealing layout, as shown in the image below:

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Tags: flexbox, CSS, web development