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Customize themes and fonts

Themes and fonts control how comfortable ButtonsCLI feels during long terminal sessions. Start with a built-in theme, then change only the parts you care about.

Pick a built-in theme

Open Settings and choose Themes. The theme browser includes practical themes, stylized themes, converted Gogh themes, and newer contrast-focused presets.

Use search when the list gets long. A good clean baseline is v5-cobalt night. Fresh installs may start with a warmer house theme.

Apply only part of a theme

Themes can change separate parts of the app.

Use apply sections when you want a preset to update only:

  • app chrome
  • terminal colors
  • fonts
  • gradients
  • effects

This lets you keep a font you like while trying a different ANSI palette or gradient.

Save your own themes

The custom theme library saves the current look for the active profile. Use it when you want different projects or moods to keep different visual setups.

You can:

  • save the current theme
  • export a theme JSON file
  • import a saved theme
  • open the active profile’s theme folder

Saved themes belong to the current profile.

Tune terminal colors

The Terminal settings page controls the actual terminal surface.

Important controls include:

  • background and foreground
  • cursor color and blink
  • selection color
  • gradient background
  • full 16-color ANSI palette
  • bold text behavior

The ANSI palette affects colored terminal output from tools like Git, test runners, and shells.

Use gradients carefully

Gradients can make the terminal feel more personal, but they can also reduce readability. If output gets hard to scan, lower the contrast, turn off animation, or return to a flat background.

The gradient controls include type, angle, animation, speed, and multiple color stops.

Choose fonts

Open Settings and choose Fonts to change typography.

ButtonsCLI separates font zones so the terminal can stay monospaced while the rest of the app uses a UI font. Zones include:

  • shell UI
  • tabs
  • preset dock
  • settings window
  • AI Help window
  • status bar
  • terminal text

Google Fonts are disabled by default. Enable them only if you want remote font loading. Bundled fonts stay local.

Use AI theme generation

If Vibe Code Themes is available in your build, describe a look and generate candidate themes. ButtonsCLI previews candidates before you save one into the normal theme library.

Generated themes still use the same local validation path for contrast, ANSI visibility, and selection color.