Theming
Themes are defined in config/themes.toml. Change the active theme and save
to update dwm, Quickshell, terminal, GTK, and Qt styling. No restart needed.
[active]
theme = "nord" # ← change this line to switch themes
Available Themes
Dark
| Theme | Description |
|---|---|
nord | Arctic, cool blue palette (default) |
dracula | Purple-tinted dark theme |
gruvbox | Warm retro earth tones |
catppuccin | Mocha variant — soft pastels |
tokyonight | Deep blue-grey night theme |
onedark | Atom One Dark inspired |
solarized | Dark variant of Solarized |
rosepine | Muted rose/pine tones |
everforest | Muted green forest palette |
monochrome | Black and white minimal |
Light
| Theme | Description |
|---|---|
catppuccin-latte | Catppuccin light variant |
gruvbox-light | Warm light tones |
solarized-light | Classic Solarized light |
rosepine-dawn | Rose Pine dawn variant |
tokyonight-day | Tokyo Night day variant |
Border Size
[appearance]
borderpx = 1 # 0 = no border, 1 = thin (default), 2-3 = thicker
What Each Theme Controls
Each [theme.name] section sets colors for all components:
| Key | Applies To |
|---|---|
normfgcolor / normbgcolor / normbordercolor | Unfocused bar and windows |
selfgcolor / selbgcolor / selbordercolor | Focused window and active tag |
term_bg / term_fg / term_cursor | Terminal background, text, cursor |
term_color0–term_color15 | Full 16-color terminal palette |
dark_mode | GTK dark preference and Capitaine cursor variant (true / false) |
gtk_theme | Optional installed GTK theme name for GTK apps such as Thunar |
Quickshell derives its opaque surfaces, text, borders, accent, success, warning, and danger colors from the active theme’s existing dwm and terminal color keys.
Creating a Custom Theme
Add a new section to themes.toml:
[theme.mytheme]
normfgcolor = "#cdd6f4"
normbgcolor = "#1e1e2e"
normbordercolor = "#313244"
selfgcolor = "#cdd6f4"
selbgcolor = "#89b4fa"
selbordercolor = "#89b4fa"
term_bg = "#1e1e2e"
term_fg = "#cdd6f4"
term_cursor = "#f5e0dc"
# ... term_color0-15 ...
dark_mode = true
gtk_theme = "Nordic"
Then set theme = "mytheme" under [active] and save.
Applying Themes via Control Center
Open the Control Center with Super + F1, navigate to Appearance → Select Theme, and pick from the list. The theme switches immediately.
Wallpapers
Place images in ~/Pictures/backgrounds/. Use Super + Shift + W to randomize, or set a specific one:
feh --bg-fill ~/Pictures/backgrounds/mywall.jpg