Theme System

Built-in Themes

Fresh includes several carefully designed themes optimized for terminal use:

High visibility theme with strong color contrastOptimized for accessibility and readability in any lighting condition. Features bright text on dark backgrounds with vivid syntax highlighting.

{"theme": "high-contrast"}

Classic dark themeComfortable dark theme with muted colors. Easy on the eyes for extended coding sessions.

{"theme": "dark"}

Bright theme for daylight useClean light theme with dark text on light backgrounds. Perfect for well-lit environments.

{"theme": "light"}

Arctic-inspired color paletteBased on the popular Nord color scheme. Cool blues and muted pastels create a calm coding environment.

{"theme": "nord"}

Dark theme with vibrant accentsInspired by the Dracula theme. Dark purple backgrounds with bright, saturated syntax colors.

{"theme": "dracula"}

Retro terminal aestheticClassic terminal look with amber/green monochrome styling reminiscent of vintage CRT displays.

{"theme": "nostalgia"}

Precision colors for readabilityBased on Solarized Dark by Ethan Schoonover. Scientifically designed color relationships.

{"theme": "solarized-dark"}

Changing Themes

Via Configuration File

Edit ~/.config/fresh/config.json:

config.json

{
  "theme": "dracula"
}

Available theme names:

"high-contrast" (default)
"dark"
"light"
"nord"
"dracula"
"nostalgia"
"solarized-dark"

Open View → Select Theme…
Choose from the list of available themes
Theme changes apply immediately

Via Command Palette

Press Ctrl+P
Type >select theme
Select theme from the dropdown

Theme Structure

Themes are JSON files located in ~/.config/fresh/themes/ or in the editor’s built-in theme directory. Each theme defines colors for:

Editor: Background, foreground, cursor, selection, line numbers
UI: Tabs, menu bar, status bar, popups, scrollbars
Search: Match highlighting
Diagnostics: Errors, warnings, info, hints
Syntax: Keywords, strings, comments, functions, types

Theme File Example

{
  "name": "dark",
  "editor": {
    "bg": [30, 30, 30],
    "fg": [212, 212, 212],
    "cursor": [255, 255, 255],
    "inactive_cursor": [100, 100, 100],
    "selection_bg": [38, 79, 120],
    "current_line_bg": [40, 40, 40],
    "line_number_fg": [100, 100, 100],
    "line_number_bg": [30, 30, 30],
    "whitespace_indicator_fg": [70, 70, 70]
  },
  "ui": {
    "tab_active_fg": "Yellow",
    "tab_active_bg": "Blue",
    "tab_inactive_fg": "White",
    "tab_inactive_bg": "DarkGray",
    "status_bar_fg": "White",
    "status_bar_bg": [30, 30, 30],
    "menu_bg": [60, 60, 65],
    "menu_fg": [220, 220, 220]
  },
  "syntax": {
    "keyword": [86, 156, 214],
    "string": [206, 145, 120],
    "comment": [106, 153, 85],
    "function": [220, 220, 170],
    "type": [78, 201, 176],
    "variable": [156, 220, 254],
    "constant": [79, 193, 255],
    "operator": [212, 212, 212]
  },
  "diagnostic": {
    "error_fg": "Red",
    "warning_fg": "Yellow",
    "info_fg": "Blue",
    "hint_fg": "Gray"
  },
  "search": {
    "match_bg": [100, 100, 20],
    "match_fg": [255, 255, 255]
  }
}

Color Format

Colors can be specified in two formats:

RGB Array

"bg": [46, 52, 64]

RGB values from 0-255.

Named Colors

"fg": "White"

Available named colors:

"Black", "Red", "Green", "Yellow", "Blue", "Magenta", "Cyan", "White"
"Gray", "DarkGray", "LightRed", "LightGreen", "LightYellow", "LightBlue", "LightMagenta", "LightCyan"
"Default" (use terminal default)

Creating a Custom Theme

Create theme file

Create ~/.config/fresh/themes/my-theme.json:

my-theme.json

{
  "name": "my-theme",
  "editor": {
    "bg": [20, 20, 20],
    "fg": [220, 220, 220],
    "cursor": [255, 255, 255],
    "selection_bg": [60, 80, 120]
  },
  "syntax": {
    "keyword": [100, 150, 255],
    "string": [150, 200, 100],
    "comment": [100, 100, 100]
  }
}

Activate theme

Set the theme in config.json:

{"theme": "my-theme"}

Reload

Fresh automatically reloads when config changes. Your custom theme is now active.

Theme Components

Editor Colors

Key	Description
`bg`	Editor background
`fg`	Default text color
`cursor`	Cursor color
`inactive_cursor`	Cursor color in inactive splits
`selection_bg`	Selected text background
`current_line_bg`	Current line highlight background
`line_number_fg`	Line number color
`line_number_bg`	Line number gutter background
`whitespace_indicator_fg`	Whitespace character color (tabs, spaces)
`diff_add_bg`	Added line background (diff view)
`diff_remove_bg`	Removed line background
`diff_modify_bg`	Modified line background

UI Colors

Key	Description
`tab_active_fg` / `tab_active_bg`	Active tab colors
`tab_inactive_fg` / `tab_inactive_bg`	Inactive tab colors
`tab_separator_bg`	Tab separator background
`status_bar_fg` / `status_bar_bg`	Status bar colors
`menu_bg` / `menu_fg`	Menu colors
`menu_highlight_bg` / `menu_highlight_fg`	Menu selection colors
`popup_bg` / `popup_text_fg`	Popup/dialog colors
`scrollbar_track_fg` / `scrollbar_thumb_fg`	Scrollbar colors
`split_separator_fg`	Split pane separator

Syntax Colors

Key	Description
`keyword`	Language keywords (if, for, while, etc.)
`string`	String literals
`comment`	Comments
`function`	Function names
`type`	Type names (classes, structs, etc.)
`variable`	Variables
`constant`	Constants
`operator`	Operators (+, -, *, etc.)

Diagnostic Colors

Key	Description
`error_fg` / `error_bg`	Error diagnostic colors
`warning_fg` / `warning_bg`	Warning colors
`info_fg` / `info_bg`	Info colors
`hint_fg` / `hint_bg`	Hint colors

Search Colors

Key	Description
`match_bg` / `match_fg`	Search match highlighting

Terminal Background Transparency

To use your terminal’s background (e.g., for transparency):

config.json

{
  "editor": {
    "use_terminal_bg": true
  }
}

This makes Fresh inherit the terminal’s background color instead of using the theme’s editor.bg.

Theme Inheritance

You can create themes that extend existing ones:

custom-dark.json

{
  "name": "custom-dark",
  "inherits": "dark",
  "syntax": {
    "keyword": [255, 100, 100],
    "string": [100, 255, 100]
  }
}

Only the specified fields are overridden. All other colors inherit from the parent theme.

Installing Community Themes

Fresh supports installing themes from the plugin registry:

fresh --install-plugin theme-name

Themes are installed to ~/.config/fresh/themes/. To share your theme:

Create a theme JSON file
Publish to GitHub
Submit to the Fresh plugins registry

Example: Complete Theme

View complete dracula.json theme

dracula.json

{
  "name": "dracula",
  "editor": {
    "bg": [40, 42, 54],
    "fg": [248, 248, 242],
    "cursor": [255, 121, 198],
    "selection_bg": [68, 71, 90],
    "current_line_bg": [50, 52, 66],
    "line_number_fg": [98, 114, 164],
    "line_number_bg": [40, 42, 54],
    "whitespace_indicator_fg": [68, 71, 90]
  },
  "ui": {
    "tab_active_fg": [248, 248, 242],
    "tab_active_bg": [189, 147, 249],
    "tab_inactive_fg": [248, 248, 242],
    "tab_inactive_bg": [68, 71, 90],
    "tab_separator_bg": [40, 42, 54],
    "status_bar_fg": [40, 42, 54],
    "status_bar_bg": [189, 147, 249],
    "menu_bg": [40, 42, 54],
    "menu_fg": [248, 248, 242],
    "menu_highlight_bg": [189, 147, 249],
    "menu_highlight_fg": [40, 42, 54],
    "popup_bg": [40, 42, 54],
    "popup_text_fg": [248, 248, 242],
    "scrollbar_track_fg": [68, 71, 90],
    "scrollbar_thumb_fg": [98, 114, 164]
  },
  "syntax": {
    "keyword": [255, 121, 198],
    "string": [241, 250, 140],
    "comment": [98, 114, 164],
    "function": [80, 250, 123],
    "type": [139, 233, 253],
    "variable": [248, 248, 242],
    "constant": [189, 147, 249],
    "operator": [255, 121, 198]
  },
  "diagnostic": {
    "error_fg": [255, 85, 85],
    "error_bg": [64, 42, 54],
    "warning_fg": [241, 250, 140],
    "warning_bg": [64, 60, 42],
    "info_fg": [139, 233, 253],
    "info_bg": [40, 56, 70],
    "hint_fg": [98, 114, 164],
    "hint_bg": [40, 42, 54]
  },
  "search": {
    "match_bg": [241, 250, 140],
    "match_fg": [40, 42, 54]
  }
}

Getting Started

Core Features

Configuration

Advanced Features

Plugins

Reference

Theme System

Built-in Themes

Changing Themes

Via Configuration File

Via Menu

Via Command Palette

Theme Structure

Theme File Example

Color Format

RGB Array

Named Colors

Creating a Custom Theme

Theme Components

Editor Colors

UI Colors

Syntax Colors

Diagnostic Colors

Search Colors

Terminal Background Transparency

Theme Inheritance

Installing Community Themes

Example: Complete Theme

Next Steps

Settings Reference

Keyboard Configuration

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Getting Started

Core Features

Configuration

Advanced Features

Plugins

Reference

​Built-in Themes

​Changing Themes

​Via Configuration File

​Via Menu

​Via Command Palette

​Theme Structure

​Theme File Example

​Color Format

​RGB Array

​Named Colors

​Creating a Custom Theme

​Theme Components

​Editor Colors

​UI Colors

​Syntax Colors

​Diagnostic Colors

​Search Colors

​Terminal Background Transparency

​Theme Inheritance

​Installing Community Themes

​Sharing Themes

​Example: Complete Theme

​Next Steps

Settings Reference

Keyboard Configuration

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Built-in Themes

Changing Themes

Via Configuration File

Via Menu

Via Command Palette

Theme Structure

Theme File Example

Color Format

RGB Array

Named Colors

Creating a Custom Theme

Theme Components

Editor Colors

UI Colors

Syntax Colors

Diagnostic Colors

Search Colors

Terminal Background Transparency

Theme Inheritance

Installing Community Themes

Sharing Themes

Example: Complete Theme

Next Steps