Themes

cliamp includes 21 color themes that pass contrast checks. You can add custom themes with TOML files.

Press t during playback to open the theme picker. Use / to navigate and preview each theme. Press Enter to select it or Esc to cancel.

cliamp saves your selection and restores it at the next start.

Built-in themes

ayu-mirage-dark, catppuccin, catppuccin-latte, dracula, ember, ethereal, everforest, flexoki-light, gruvbox, hackerman, kanagawa, matte-black, miasma, neon-blade-runner, nord, osaka-jade, ristretto, rose-pine, tokyo-night, vantablack, winamp

Creating a custom theme

Create a .toml file in ~/.config/cliamp/themes/:

mkdir -p ~/.config/cliamp/themes

Each file needs all six foreground colors as #RRGGBB hex values. Add bg to set a background. Omit it to keep the terminal background. cliamp ignores incomplete or malformed custom themes. The file name without .toml is the theme name.

Example: ~/.config/cliamp/themes/solarized.toml

bg = "#002b36"
accent = "#268bd2"
bright_fg = "#eee8d5"
fg = "#839496"
green = "#859900"
yellow = "#b58900"
red = "#dc322f"

Press t to show the theme in the list immediately.

Color reference

Key Color use
bg Optional application background
accent Title, track name, seek bar, selected items
bright_fg Primary text and time display
fg Muted text, help bar, inactive elements
green Playing, success, volume, spectrum low
yellow Warnings and spectrum middle
red Errors and spectrum top

All values are six-digit hex strings, for example "#ff5733". Help-key pill text switches between black and white for readable contrast.

Important UI states also use stable text markers: >, Q, , !, WARN:, and ERR:. These markers keep state and feedback distinct in monochrome terminals.

Overriding a built-in theme

If a custom file has the same name as a built-in theme, the custom file takes priority. For example, ~/.config/cliamp/themes/catppuccin.toml replaces the built-in catppuccin theme.

Setting a default theme

Add a theme line to ~/.config/cliamp/config.toml:

theme = "catppuccin"

Use the file name without .toml. Leave the value empty or omit it to use terminal default colors.