diff --git a/packages/tailwindcss/src/design-system.ts b/packages/tailwindcss/src/design-system.ts
index 384746b57b17..975e59e9abb5 100644
--- a/packages/tailwindcss/src/design-system.ts
+++ b/packages/tailwindcss/src/design-system.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { Polyfills } from '.'
-import { optimizeAst, toCss } from './ast'
+import { optimizeAst, toCss, type AstNode } from './ast'
 import {
   parseCandidate,
   parseVariant,
@@ -19,11 +19,13 @@ import {
   type VariantEntry,
 } from './intellisense'
 import { getClassOrder } from './sort'
+import type { SourceLocation } from './source-maps/source'
 import { Theme, ThemeOptions, type ThemeKey } from './theme'
 import { Utilities, createUtilities, withAlpha } from './utilities'
 import { DefaultMap } from './utils/default-map'
 import { extractUsedVariables } from './utils/variables'
 import { Variants, createVariants, substituteAtVariant } from './variants'
+import { WalkAction, walk } from './walk'
 
 export const enum CompileAstFlags {
   None = 0,
@@ -59,12 +61,16 @@ export type DesignSystem = {
 
   // Used by IntelliSense
   candidatesToCss(classes: string[]): (string | null)[]
+  candidatesToAst(classes: string[]): AstNode[][]
 
   // General purpose storage
   storage: Record<symbol, unknown>
 }
 
-export function buildDesignSystem(theme: Theme): DesignSystem {
+export function buildDesignSystem(
+  theme: Theme,
+  utilitiesSrc?: SourceLocation | undefined,
+): DesignSystem {
   let utilities = createUtilities(theme)
   let variants = createVariants(theme)
 
@@ -109,6 +115,44 @@ export function buildDesignSystem(theme: Theme): DesignSystem {
     }
   })
 
+  function candidatesToAst(classes: string[]): AstNode[][] {
+    let result: AstNode[][] = []
+
+    for (let className of classes) {
+      let wasValid = true
+
+      let { astNodes } = compileCandidates([className], designSystem, {
+        onInvalidCandidate() {
+          wasValid = false
+        },
+      })
+
+      if (utilitiesSrc) {
+        walk(astNodes, (node) => {
+          // We do this conditionally to preserve source locations from both
+          // `@utility` and `@custom-variant`. Even though generated nodes are
+          // cached this should be fine because `utilitiesNode.src` should not
+          // change without a full rebuild which destroys the cache.
+          node.src ??= utilitiesSrc
+          return WalkAction.Continue
+        })
+      }
+
+      // Disable all polyfills to not unnecessarily pollute IntelliSense output
+      astNodes = optimizeAst(astNodes, designSystem, Polyfills.None)
+
+      result.push(wasValid ? astNodes : [])
+    }
+
+    return result
+  }
+
+  function candidatesToCss(classes: string[]): (string | null)[] {
+    return candidatesToAst(classes).map((nodes) => {
+      return nodes.length > 0 ? toCss(nodes) : null
+    })
+  }
+
   let designSystem: DesignSystem = {
     theme,
     utilities,
@@ -117,30 +161,8 @@ export function buildDesignSystem(theme: Theme): DesignSystem {
     invalidCandidates: new Set(),
     important: false,
 
-    candidatesToCss(classes: string[]) {
-      let result: (string | null)[] = []
-
-      for (let className of classes) {
-        let wasInvalid = false
-
-        let { astNodes } = compileCandidates([className], this, {
-          onInvalidCandidate() {
-            wasInvalid = true
-          },
-        })
-
-        // Disable all polyfills to not unnecessarily pollute IntelliSense output
-        astNodes = optimizeAst(astNodes, designSystem, Polyfills.None)
-
-        if (astNodes.length === 0 || wasInvalid) {
-          result.push(null)
-        } else {
-          result.push(toCss(astNodes))
-        }
-      }
-
-      return result
-    },
+    candidatesToCss,
+    candidatesToAst,
 
     getClassOrder(classes) {
       return getClassOrder(this, classes)
diff --git a/packages/tailwindcss/src/index.ts b/packages/tailwindcss/src/index.ts
index 6cf77bc81f40..512c2f831d03 100644
--- a/packages/tailwindcss/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/tailwindcss/src/index.ts
@@ -595,7 +595,7 @@ async function parseCss(
     }
   })
 
-  let designSystem = buildDesignSystem(theme)
+  let designSystem = buildDesignSystem(theme, utilitiesNode?.src)
 
   if (important) {
     designSystem.important = important
@@ -855,7 +855,7 @@ export async function compile(
 }
 
 export async function __unstable__loadDesignSystem(css: string, opts: CompileOptions = {}) {
-  let result = await parseCss(CSS.parse(css), opts)
+  let result = await parseCss(CSS.parse(css, { from: opts.from }), opts)
   return result.designSystem
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/tailwindcss/src/intellisense.test.ts b/packages/tailwindcss/src/intellisense.test.ts
index ca9830664ddf..e37f05b9cb98 100644
--- a/packages/tailwindcss/src/intellisense.test.ts
+++ b/packages/tailwindcss/src/intellisense.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { expect, test } from 'vitest'
 import { __unstable__loadDesignSystem } from '.'
+import { decl, rule } from './ast'
 import plugin from './plugin'
 import { ThemeOptions } from './theme'
 
@@ -165,6 +166,26 @@ test('Can produce CSS per candidate using `candidatesToCss`', async () => {
     `)
 })
 
+test('Can produce AST per candidate using `candidatesToAst`', async () => {
+  let design = await loadDesignSystem()
+  design.invalidCandidates = new Set(['bg-[#fff]'])
+
+  expect(
+    design.candidatesToAst(['underline', 'i-dont-exist', 'bg-[#fff]', 'bg-[#000]', 'text-xs']),
+  ).toEqual([
+    [rule('.underline', [decl('text-decoration-line', 'underline')])],
+    [],
+    [],
+    [rule('.bg-\\[\\#000\\]', [decl('background-color', '#000')])],
+    [
+      rule('.text-xs', [
+        decl('font-size', 'var(--text-xs)'),
+        decl('line-height', 'var(--tw-leading, var(--text-xs--line-height))'),
+      ]),
+    ],
+  ])
+})
+
 test('Utilities do not show wrapping selector in intellisense', async () => {
   let input = css`
     @import 'tailwindcss/utilities';
@@ -238,7 +259,7 @@ test('Utilities, when marked as important, show as important in intellisense', a
 test('Static utilities from plugins are listed in hovers and completions', async () => {
   let input = css`
     @import 'tailwindcss/utilities';
-    @plugin "./plugin.js"l;
+    @plugin "./plugin.js";
   `
 
   let design = await __unstable__loadDesignSystem(input, {
@@ -275,7 +296,7 @@ test('Static utilities from plugins are listed in hovers and completions', async
 test('Functional utilities from plugins are listed in hovers and completions', async () => {
   let input = css`
     @import 'tailwindcss/utilities';
-    @plugin "./plugin.js"l;
+    @plugin "./plugin.js";
   `
 
   let design = await __unstable__loadDesignSystem(input, {