Themes

Herald can inherit your terminal colors, use built-in app palettes, or load local YAML themes. The built-in catalog is useful for quickly choosing a readable mailbox style without editing config, while the YAML path remains available for personal or shared theme files.

Quick Launch

Use -theme with either a built-in theme name or a local theme YAML file. The flag changes only the current session and does not save to ~/.herald/conf.yaml.

./bin/herald --demo -theme jade-signal
./bin/herald --demo -theme ./my-theme.yaml
./bin/herald -config ~/.herald/conf.yaml -theme amber-furnace

Build Your Own

Start from the Jade Signal baseline YAML when you want a complete local theme file to copy and edit. The sample uses the installable slug my-jade-signal so it does not conflict with Herald’s reserved built-in jade-signal theme.

./bin/herald --demo -theme ./jade-signal-baseline.yaml

You can also install the same file from Settings by opening S, choosing Theme Selection, and entering the local YAML path in Install local theme YAML.

Theme Index

Use these links to jump directly to a theme section. Each section has a stable heading anchor, so URLs such as /themes/#jade-signal can be shared. Click any screenshot to zoom it, then click the expanded image or press Esc to return to the page.

Red / Warm: Red Black, Crimson, Ember, Ruby Noir, Garnet Console, Amber Furnace, Copper Ash, Magma Core
Green / Earth: Jade Signal, Viridian Glass, Forest CRT, Pine Mail, Olive Circuit, Sepia Debug, Solar Paper, Zenbones Light
Blue / Violet: Peacock Ink, Ultramarine Desk, Amethyst Night, Graphite Rose, Arctic Signal, Iceberg Queue, Sonokai Signal
Diverse Terminal Palettes: Ayu Courier, Cobalt Dispatch, Kanagawa Post, Rose Pine Desk, Tokyo Dusk, Panda Packet, Tomorrow Desk

Red / Warm

These themes emphasize red, amber, copper, and high-heat contrast. They are useful when you want strong status colors and a dramatic terminal profile without losing table readability.

Red Black

Crimson

Ember

Ruby Noir

Garnet Console

Amber Furnace

Copper Ash

Magma Core

Green / Earth

These themes lean into green, jade, olive, paper, and earth-toned palettes. They keep the mailbox calm while preserving obvious focus and selection states.

Jade Signal

Viridian Glass

Forest CRT

Pine Mail

Olive Circuit

Sepia Debug

Solar Paper

Zenbones Light

Blue / Violet

These themes are built around blue, cyan, violet, rose, and cool graphite accents. They suit long reading sessions where preview contrast and row selection need to stay crisp.

Peacock Ink

Ultramarine Desk

Amethyst Night

Graphite Rose

Arctic Signal

Iceberg Queue

Sonokai Signal

Diverse Terminal Palettes

These themes borrow from well-known terminal palette families and mixed editorial palettes. They give Herald broader visual range without changing the underlying semantic roles.

Ayu Courier

Cobalt Dispatch

Kanagawa Post

Rose Pine Desk

Tokyo Dusk

Panda Packet

Tomorrow Desk

Custom Themes

Settings can install local YAML files into ~/.herald/themes. Config-level theme.overrides apply semantic role edits on top of the selected theme, so you can start from a built-in palette or the Jade Signal baseline YAML and tune individual roles such as chrome.status_bar, focus.selection_active, or metadata.sender.

These pages cover the settings, config, and media workflows that connect to theme selection and screenshots.