Themes

Arcana includes 7 built-in themes with custom backgrounds and color palettes for supported truecolor terminals. Each theme transforms the terminal UI — from the prompt colors and borders to background imagery and accent highlights.

Available Themes

Each theme includes a complete color palette with background, foreground, accent, and status colors. Here's a visual preview of each theme's color scheme:

Setting a Theme

You can set a theme using either the config command or the dedicated theme command:

# Set theme via config
arcana config set theme bloodmoon

# Or use the dedicated command
arcana theme set crypt

# Apply immediately without saving (session only)
arcana theme set dragon --temporary

Preview a Theme

Preview a theme without permanently switching to it:

# Preview a theme (revert on exit)
arcana theme preview lich

# List available themes with preview
arcana theme list --preview

Managing Themes

# List all available themes
arcana theme list

# Show current theme
arcana theme current

# Reset to default theme
arcana theme reset

# Export current theme to file
arcana theme export my-theme.json

Creating a Custom Theme

You can create your own theme by placing a JSON file in ~/.config/arcana/themes/. Themes use a simple color scheme format:

{
  "name": "midnight-ocean",
  "type": "dark",
  "colors": {
    "background": "#0a0e1a",
    "foreground": "#c8d6e5",
    "accent": "#54a0ff",
    "success": "#5fcf80",
    "warning": "#feca57",
    "error": "#ee5a24",
    "info": "#54a0ff",
    "border": "#1e2a4a",
    "selection": "#2e3a5a",
    "muted": "#576574"
  }
}

Custom themes appear automatically in arcana theme list once placed in the themes directory.

Color Reference

Each theme supports these color keys:

Example Custom Themes

Ocean Breeze

{
  "name": "ocean-breeze",
  "type": "dark",
  "colors": {
    "background": "#0a1628",
    "foreground": "#e8f4f8",
    "accent": "#00b4d8",
    "success": "#48cae4",
    "warning": "#f9c74f",
    "error": "#f94144",
    "info": "#0096c7",
    "border": "#1a3a5c",
    "selection": "#1a3a5c",
    "muted": "#577590"
  }
}

Sunset Glow

{
  "name": "sunset-glow",
  "type": "dark",
  "colors": {
    "background": "#1a0f0a",
    "foreground": "#f5e6d3",
    "accent": "#ff6b35",
    "success": "#06d6a0",
    "warning": "#ffd166",
    "error": "#ef476f",
    "info": "#118ab2",
    "border": "#3a2a1a",
    "selection": "#3a2a1a",
    "muted": "#8d6e63"
  }
}

Nord Frost

{
  "name": "nord-frost",
  "type": "dark",
  "colors": {
    "background": "#2e3440",
    "foreground": "#eceff4",
    "accent": "#88c0d0",
    "success": "#a3be8c",
    "warning": "#ebcb8b",
    "error": "#bf616a",
    "info": "#5e81ac",
    "border": "#3b4252",
    "selection": "#434c5e",
    "muted": "#7b88a1"
  }
}

Overriding Built-in Themes

To customize a built-in theme, create a file with the same name in your themes directory:

# Override the bloodmoon theme with custom colors
~/.config/arcana/themes/bloodmoon.json

Your override takes precedence over the built-in version.

Requirements

• Truecolor support — Arcana uses 24-bit truecolor. Supported by most modern terminals (iTerm2, Kitty, Alacritty, Windows Terminal, Gnome Terminal)
• Kitty image protocol (optional) — For background images in supported terminals

Theme File Locations

Troubleshooting

• Colors look wrong? — Ensure your terminal supports truecolor. Run arcana doctor to check.
• Theme not showing? — Verify the JSON file is valid and in the correct directory.
• Want to revert? — Run arcana theme reset to restore the default theme.