---
title: Minimal Setup
description: How to set up Bamboo with the bare minimum.
---

The default Bamboo setup includes utilities and design tokens by default. In this guide, you'll see how to strip out the
defaults and start from scratch.

## Removing default tokens

To remove the default design tokens injected by Bamboo, set the `presets` key to an empty array:

```js
export default defineConfig({
  // ...
  presets: [],
})
```

This allows you to define your own tokens, without having to use the `extend` key in the theme.

```js
export default defineConfig({
  // ...
  theme: {
    tokens: {
      colors: {
        primary: { value: '#ff0000' },
      },
    },
  },
})
```

## Removing default utilities

Set `presets: []` to remove all the default utilities. `presets` is the complete list, so an empty one loads nothing.

Bamboo doesn't automatically know which tokens are valid for which CSS properties, so it is necessary to tell Bamboo
that my tokens from the "colors" category are valid for the CSS property "color".

```js
export default defineConfig({
  // ...
  presets: [],
  utilities: {
    color: {
      values: 'colors',
    },
  },
  theme: {
    tokens: {
      colors: {
        primary: { value: '#ff0000' },
      },
    },
  },
})
```

This makes `<p className={css({ color: 'primary' })}> Text </p>` work as expected.

## Re-using Bamboo presets

Bamboo offers 2 presets:

- `@bamboocss/preset-base`: This is a relatively unopinionated set of utilities for mapping CSS properties to values
  (almost everyone will want these)

You can use these presets by installing them via npm and adding them to your `presets` key:

```js
export default defineConfig({
  // ...
  presets: ['@bamboocss/preset-base'],
})
```

- `@bamboocss/preset-bamboo` as an opinionated set of tokens if you don't want to define your own colors/spacing/fonts
  etc.

```js
export default defineConfig({
  // ...
  presets: ['@bamboocss/preset-bamboo'],
})
```

> Note: You don't need to install `@bamboocss/preset-base` or `@bamboocss/preset-bamboo`. Bamboo will automatically
> resolve them for you.
