SilkCircuit Design Language

Electric meets elegant.

Git-Iris features the SilkCircuit design language—a token-based theme system that combines neon-bright colors with sophisticated dark palettes. Every color, gradient, and style is fully customizable through simple TOML files.

Philosophy

SilkCircuit was designed around three core principles:

1. Electric Energy — Bold, saturated colors that command attention
2. Elegant Structure — Semantic tokens that maintain visual hierarchy
3. Effortless Customization — Simple TOML configuration, no code required

The result is a visual language that feels both futuristic and refined—perfect for developers who spend hours in the terminal.

Core Color Palette

The original SilkCircuit Neon theme defines six core brand colors:

Color	Hex	RGB	Usage
Electric Purple	#e135ff	(225, 53, 255)	Primary accents, active modes
Neon Cyan	#80ffea	(128, 255, 234)	Paths, interactions, focus
Coral	#ff6ac1	(255, 106, 193)	Hashes, numbers, constants
Electric Yellow	#f1fa8c	(241, 250, 140)	Warnings, timestamps
Success Green	#50fa7b	(80, 250, 123)	Success states, staged changes
Error Red	#ff6363	(255, 99, 99)	Errors, danger, deleted files

Theme Variants

Git-Iris ships with five carefully crafted theme variants:

Theme	Variant	Description
SilkCircuit Neon	Dark	Electric purple and neon cyan (default)
SilkCircuit Soft	Dark	Muted elegance with desaturated colors
SilkCircuit Glow	Dark	Maximum neon intensity against pure black
SilkCircuit Vibrant	Dark	High saturation with rich purple tones
SilkCircuit Dawn	Light	Purple accents on soft lavender-white

See the Theme Gallery for visual previews and color comparisons.

Token-Based Architecture

Unlike traditional themes that hardcode colors, SilkCircuit uses a semantic token system:

[palette]
purple_500 = "#e135ff"      # Raw color primitive

[tokens]
"accent.primary" = "purple_500"  # Semantic token → palette
"mode.active" = "accent.primary" # Token → token reference

[styles]
mode_active = { fg = "mode.active", bold = true }  # Composed style

This three-layer architecture enables:

• Consistency — Change one palette color, update everywhere
• Flexibility — Override specific tokens without rebuilding
• Clarity — Semantic names reveal intent (accent.primary vs #e135ff)

Quick Start

Switching Themes

# List available themes
git-iris theme list

# Switch to a different theme
git-iris theme set silkcircuit-soft

# Preview theme in Studio
git-iris studio --theme silkcircuit-glow

Creating Custom Themes

Create ~/.config/git-iris/themes/my-theme.toml:

[meta]
name = "My Custom Theme"
author = "Your Name"
variant = "dark"

[palette]
primary = "#ff00ff"
secondary = "#00ffff"

[tokens]
"accent.primary" = "primary"
"accent.secondary" = "secondary"

See Creating Custom Themes for a complete guide.

Architecture Overview

flowchart TB
    subgraph Theme["Theme System"]
        palette[Palette]
        tokens[Tokens]
        styles[Styles]
        gradients[Gradients]

        palette --> tokens
        tokens --> styles
        tokens --> gradients
    end

Layer	Purpose	Example
Palette	Raw color primitives	purple_500 = "#e135ff"
Tokens	Semantic color assignments	accent.primary = "purple_500"
Styles	Composed styles with modifiers	keyword = { fg = "accent.primary", bold = true }
Gradients	Multi-stop color transitions	primary = ["purple_500", "cyan_400"]

Documentation Structure

• Theme Gallery — Visual showcase of all builtin themes
• Creating Custom Themes — Step-by-step theme creation guide
• Semantic Token Reference — Complete token listing
• Styles & Gradients — Advanced styling techniques

Design Inspiration

SilkCircuit draws inspiration from:

• Synthwave aesthetics — Neon colors and retro-future vibes
• Cyberpunk UI — High contrast, electric gradients
• Modern terminal themes — Dracula, Tokyo Night, Nord
• Material Design — Semantic color systems and elevation

The result is a unique visual identity that stands out in the crowded landscape of terminal themes while remaining functional and readable for extended coding sessions.

Technical Implementation

The theme system is built on:

• TOML configuration — Simple, human-readable format
• Semantic tokens — 50+ predefined tokens for UI consistency
• Color interpolation — Smooth gradients with multiple stops
• Runtime switching — Change themes without restarting
• Fallback handling — Graceful degradation for missing tokens

All themes are validated at load time, ensuring you never encounter broken color references or missing tokens.

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Ready to explore? Check out the Theme Gallery or dive into creating your own theme.