What is bootstrap-sass?

twbs/bootstrap-sass — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-06-24

★ 12,506SCSSAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((bootstrap-sass))
    What it does
      Bootstrap 3 Sass port
      Variable customization
      Component selection
    Install methods
      Ruby gem for Rails
      npm for Node.js
      Bower package
    Customization
      Sass variables
      Partial imports
      Smaller bundles
    Limitations
      Bootstrap 3 only
      Legacy projects
      Separate repo for v4

mindmap root((bootstrap-sass)) What it does Bootstrap 3 Sass port Variable customization Component selection Install methods Ruby gem for Rails npm for Node.js Bower package Customization Sass variables Partial imports Smaller bundles Limitations Bootstrap 3 only Legacy projects Separate repo for v4

Click or tap to explore — scroll the page freely

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Add bootstrap-sass as a Ruby gem to a Rails project to use Bootstrap 3 with Sass-based customization.

USE CASE 2

Customize Bootstrap 3's color scheme and typography by overriding Sass variables before your stylesheet compiles.

USE CASE 3

Import only the Bootstrap components your project needs to keep the final CSS file small.

What is it built with?

SCSSJavaScriptRubynpm

How does it compare?

	twbs/bootstrap-sass	primer/css	selectize/selectize.js
Stars	12,506	12,943	13,027
Language	SCSS	SCSS	SCSS
Setup difficulty	easy	easy	easy
Complexity	2/5	2/5	2/5
Audience	developer	developer	developer

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 30min

This repo covers Bootstrap 3 only, Bootstrap 4 and later have separate repos with different Sass integration approaches.

No license information is mentioned in the explanation.

So what is it?

Bootstrap is a popular toolkit for building the visual look of websites, providing pre-made styles for buttons, forms, navigation bars, and other common elements. This repository is the official Sass port of Bootstrap 3, meaning it translates Bootstrap's styling code into a format that works with the Sass stylesheet language. Sass is an extension of regular CSS that adds features like variables, nesting, and reusable style chunks. The main reason to use this version over plain Bootstrap is that Sass lets you customize Bootstrap's colors, sizes, and behavior by changing variables before the styles are compiled, rather than overriding styles after the fact. You can also pick and choose which parts of Bootstrap you want to include, keeping your final stylesheet smaller. This package works with several popular installation methods. Ruby on Rails developers can add it as a gem to their project. Node.js developers can install it through npm. It is also available via Bower. The README provides detailed setup instructions for each of these paths, including how to import the styles and load the JavaScript components correctly. It is worth noting that this repository covers Bootstrap version 3 only. Bootstrap 4 and later versions handle Sass support differently and are maintained in separate repositories. This project is essentially an older, stable release kept available for projects that still rely on Bootstrap 3.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

Show me how to add bootstrap-sass to a Ruby on Rails project as a gem and customize the primary button color using a Sass variable.

Prompt 2

Using bootstrap-sass via npm, how do I import only the Bootstrap 3 grid and button styles without loading the entire library?

Prompt 3

I need to override Bootstrap 3's default navbar background color in bootstrap-sass. Show me the correct Sass variable name and where to set it in my project.

Frequently asked questions