compass-style.org/content/help/index.haml
---
title: Compass Help
crumb: Help
classnames:
- help
- getting-started
layout: site
---
%article
%h1 Getting started with Compass
:markdown
Compass is an open-source CSS authoring framework which uses the [Sass stylesheet
language](http://sass-lang.com) to make writing stylesheets powerful and easy. If you're
not familiar with Sass, Go to [sass-lang.com](http://sass-lang.com/guide) to learn
all about how it works.
:markdown
## Installing Compass
To install, please follow the steps found in the [Compass installation guide](/install/).
This will install Compass and Sass too. If you want to verify that compass is installed, run:
$ compass version
## Watching and Compiling your Project
When doing development on your project, you can run the compass watcher to keep your CSS files
up to date as changes are made.
$ cd /path/to/project
$ compass watch
When it comes time to compile your css files for production use, pass the `-e production`
compiler option to select defaults that optimize your output for end-users:
$ compass compile -e production
## Using Compass without the command line tools
You can use compass without the compass command line tools. In some cases,
this may make it easier to integrate with sass-based compilers and frameworks that
do not explicitly support Compass.
$ gem install compass-core
$ cat <<- EOF > _project-setup.scss
\$project-path: absolute-path(join-file-segments(".."));
@import "compass/configuration";
\$compass-options: (http_path: "/");
@include compass-configuration(\$compass-options);
EOF
# Add to the top of each sass file: @import "project-setup";
# Compile using the Sass command line:
$ sass -r compass-core --update sass:css
Read more: [Compass's Sass-based configuration options](/help/documentation/sass-based-configuration-options/).
## More command line options
Full documentation of all compass commands can be found by running:
$ compass help
To see the options available and description for a compass command run:
$ compass help <command>
Where `<command>` is one of the compass commands (E.g. `compile`)