SASS - use variables across multiple files

I would like to keep one central .scss file that stores all SASS variable definitions for a project.

// _master.scss 

$accent: #6D87A7;           
$error: #811702;
$warning: #F9E055;
$valid: #038144;
// etc... 

The project will have a large number of CSS files, due to its nature. It is important that I declare all project-wide style variables in one location.

Is there a way to do this in SCSS?

Solution 1:

You can do it like this:

I have a folder named utilities and inside that I have a file named _variables.scss

in that file i declare variables like so:

$black: #000;
$white: #fff;

then I have the style.scss file in which i import all of my other scss files like this:

// Utilities
@import "utilities/variables";

// Base Rules
@import "base/normalize";
@import "base/global";

then, within any of the files I have imported, I should be able to access the variables I have declared.

Just make sure you import the variable file before any of the others you would like to use it in.

Solution 2:

This question was asked a long time ago so I thought I'd post an updated answer.

You should now avoid using @import. Taken from the docs:

Sass will gradually phase it out over the next few years, and eventually remove it from the language entirely. Prefer the @use rule instead.

A full list of reasons can be found here

You should now use @use as shown below:

_variables.scss

$text-colour: #262626;

_otherFile.scss

@use 'variables'; // Path to _variables.scss Notice how we don't include the underscore or file extension

body {
  // namespace.$variable-name
  // namespace is just the last component of its URL without a file extension
  color: variables.$text-colour;
}

You can also create an alias for the namespace:

_otherFile.scss

@use 'variables' as v;

body {
  // alias.$variable-name
  color: v.$text-colour;
}

EDIT As pointed out by @und3rdg at the time of writing (November 2020) @use is currently only available for Dart Sass and not LibSass (now deprecated) or Ruby Sass. See https://sass-lang.com/documentation/at-rules/use for the latest compatibility