Appearance: themes, mode, and color
Start in Settings → Appearance when you want a coordinated change. A theme is the simplest choice: it selects a visual direction and may also choose a wallpaper, GTK theme, icon theme, and light or dark default. You do not need to understand color-generation algorithms to pick a look.
Pick a theme
The catalogue brings together 20 complete looks. Eight make up Hornero Originals: Hornero Dark, Hornero Light, Pampa, Patagonia, Fin del Mundo, Quebrada, Iberá, and Buenos Aires Nocturno. Other looks span Catppuccin, Everforest, Gruvbox, Neon City, Nord Dreams, Rosé Pine, Vapor Dreams, Monochrome, Landscape, Soft Morning, and Warm Sunset. Each can create a distinct desktop; the collection is not divided into primary and lesser appearances.
The implementation has two useful forms. Hornero Dark, Hornero Light, and Pampa carry authored semantic interface colors. The other packs describe a visual direction and defaults such as mode, GTK/icons, wallpaper, and a Material 3 generation style. For those, Hornero derives the shell palette from the selected wallpaper. Both forms use the same chooser and can coordinate the desktop; the difference matters when inspecting or authoring a pack, not when choosing a look.
In Settings, preview a card and select it to apply. If a theme’s external GTK or icon theme is missing, the system cannot create that part of the look; use the theme details and the troubleshooting guide to check readiness. Hornero does not silently download third-party themes.
From a terminal, inspect before applying:
horneroctl appearance theme list
horneroctl appearance theme show neon-city
horneroctl appearance theme apply neon-city --dry-run
horneroctl appearance theme apply neon-city --yes
horneroctl appearance theme getUse apply for any installed pack. set is the verified, atomic switch for
the Hornero semantic themes:
horneroctl appearance theme set hornero-light --dry-run
horneroctl appearance theme set hornero-light --yesMutating CLI commands require --yes; --dry-run shows the proposed action.
After a theme change, horneroctl appearance doctor checks whether live
appearance state is coherent.
Light and dark
A theme supplies a default mode. The current mode can follow that default or be overridden by the user. GTK’s color-scheme preference is a separate setting: changing it does not switch the shell between light and dark. Settings indicates when the live mode differs from the theme’s default.
For scripted workflows, inspect horneroctl appearance scheme --help before
using set-mode; use horneroctl appearance gtk color-scheme to inspect or
change GTK’s policy. Avoid changing the shell mode and GTK policy together
unless that is intentional.
Wallpaper-derived color
Some appearances use the current wallpaper to generate shell colors. The active wallpaper, theme, and mode are related, but they are not the same setting: changing a wallpaper does not rename the theme, and a user mode override remains independent of the theme default.
To see how a wallpaper will resolve without changing it:
horneroctl wallpaper current
horneroctl appearance scheme status
horneroctl appearance colors statusChoose how the palette feels
When a wallpaper-led look follows the active wallpaper, Hornero samples its most representative colors and builds coordinated colors for surfaces, text, and controls. The variant changes the character of that generated palette; it does not change the wallpaper or the theme name. Preview a few options against your current desktop before applying one.
| Variant | What it tends to look like |
|---|---|
| Tonal spot | Balanced color and softly tinted surfaces. |
| Vibrant | Stronger, more colorful accents. |
| Expressive | A broader mix of related hues. |
| Fidelity | Keeps the generated roles closer to the source color. |
| Content | Brings more of the source color into key roles. |
| Neutral | Quieter, less colorful surfaces and accents. |
| Monochrome | Near-grayscale roles with little color emphasis. |
These are generation styles, not seven separate Hornero themes. Light/dark mode determines which tones are used; the chosen variant determines how the source colors are arranged into a palette. The names are available for scripts and diagnostics:
horneroctl appearance accent show
horneroctl appearance scheme listSaved palettes let you keep a generated color result while trying a different wallpaper or variant. They are reusable color choices, not another theme pack. For the underlying Material Color Utilities scheme model, see the upstream color scheme guide.
Theme packs and wallpaper availability
Theme metadata and validation rules live in HorneroOS/config. The catalogue is generated from those packs. Wallpaper files are separate media: packs may name an expected image without bundling that image in the package. If the image is not present locally, choose another available wallpaper or use a path on your own machine. Theme selection remains available and the Shell explains when referenced media is missing.
The wallpaper collection includes high-altitude mineral light in Quebrada, blue-green wetlands in Iberá, and rain-lit city color in Buenos Aires Nocturno, alongside the southern scenes of Patagonia and Fin del Mundo. These original generated artworks are provided by the public dotfiles wallpaper collection and are not documentary photographs. A pack remains selectable if optional wallpaper media is unavailable; Settings explains that state.
The architecture guide explains the boundaries between semantic tokens, wallpaper analysis, shell colors, GTK, icons, and Qt: Appearance system. For everyday wallpaper selection, see Wallpapers and color. For the application-specific behavior of GTK, Qt, Kitty, and CopyQ, see Apps and workflows.