🧬 Retro Synth Dark 🧬
🌈✨ Code like it's 2085 - with style! ✨🌈
🎮 Crafted with cyberpunk love by @BuckedUnicorn 🎮
⚡ Standard VS Code theming at its finest ⚡
⚡ The ONLY synthwave theme you need - with electric vibes and standard VS Code theming! ⚡
Transform your coding experience into a neon-soaked cyberpunk adventure 🚀
This is a standard VS Code theme based on the synthwave-x-fluoromachine theme family. This version uses only official VS Code theming APIs and doesn't require any custom extensions or modifications.
Retro synthwave colors and aesthetic
🔥 Why Choose Retro Synth Dark?
Tired of boring themes? Ready to code like it's 2085?
Unlike other synthwave themes that require complex setup, Retro Synth Dark gives you:
🚫 The Problem with "Animated" Themes:
- ⚠️ Complex Setup: Require admin/sudo access to modify VS Code core files
- 💥 Fragile: Break with every VS Code update
- 🎛️ Dependencies: Need custom extensions and code injection
- 🚷 Unsupported: Use unofficial modification methods
✨ The Retro Synth Dark Solution:
- 🏗️ API Compliant: Uses only official VS Code theming APIs
🎨 Theme Variants
Retro Synth Dark now includes five carefully crafted variants, each optimized for different coding experiences. Below are screenshots for each theme:
🔥 Retro Synth Heatmap (Market Monkey Tribute)
- Palette: Deep purple and black background with electric cyan, magenta, and vibrant red highlights.
- Best For: High-energy coding, data visualization, and anyone who loves a high-contrast, vibrant aesthetic.
- Vibe: A tribute to the awesome Market Monkey Terminal by Anthony De Meulemeester (@anthdm on X). It's a liquidation heatmap for your code!
- Eye Strain: High contrast and high energy.
🌅 Retro Synth Sunset
- Palette: Deep purple backgrounds with orange/gold highlights and hot pink accents
- Best For: Creative coding sessions and long-form development
- Vibe: Miami sunset meets synthwave - vibrant yet comfortable
- Eye Strain: Low - warm colors reduce blue light exposure
🌙 Retro Synth Midnight
- Palette: Deep navy backgrounds with royal blue highlights and gold accents
- Best For: Extended coding sessions and professional environments
- Vibe: Elegant cosmic synthwave with starlit cyberpunk aesthetics
- Eye Strain: Minimal - cool blues and careful contrast optimization
💚 Retro Synth Matrix
- Palette: Pure black backgrounds with synthwave-matrix fusion of neon green, electric magenta, cyan, and yellow
- Best For: Cyberpunk immersion with synthwave aesthetics, high-contrast debugging, and matrix-style coding
- Vibe: High-contrast Matrix terminal meets 80s synthwave - authentic cyberpunk with retro flair
- Syntax: Comprehensive token coverage with language-specific optimizations for Python, TypeScript, React, CSS, and more
- Eye Strain: Optimized high contrast - vivid synthwave colors for enhanced focus and code clarity
🔮 Retro Synth Cyan
- Palette: Dark purple backgrounds with cyan highlights and magenta accents
- Best For: General development and the classic synthwave experience
- Vibe: Pure 80s synthwave with neon cyberpunk elements
- Eye Strain: Low - balanced contrast with retro appeal
🧠 Scientific Design Principles
Each theme is built on research-backed principles for optimal developer experience:
- 🎯 Flow State Optimization: Colors chosen to maintain focus without distraction
- 👁️ Eye Strain Reduction: Careful luminance control and contrast ratios
- 🔍 Pattern Recognition: Distinctive syntax colors for quick code comprehension
- ⚡ WCAG Compliance: All text meets accessibility standards for readability
- 🔄 Update Resistant: Designed to work with VS Code updates
- ⚡ Instant: Simple marketplace installation
🎨 Features That Make You Look Like a Cyberpunk Pro
✅ 🔒 Standard Install: Official VS Code marketplace installation
✅ ⚡ Lightning Setup: Install in 10 seconds, coding in 11
✅ 🔄 Update Resistant: Designed to work with VS Code updates
✅ 🌈 Electric Colors: Neon purples, cyans, and magentas that pop
✅ 👁️ Eye Comfort: High contrast with carefully tuned brightness
✅ 🖥️ Full Coverage: Editor, terminal, UI - everything themed
✅ 🎯 Git Integration: Color-coded version control that actually helps
✅ 🔍 Enhanced Search: Find/replace with neon highlights
✅ 📊 Smart Errors: Warning/error states that catch your attention
🎮 Your code editor just became a time machine to the neon future 🎮
⚡ Installation (Seriously, It's That Easy)
No complex setup. Standard VS Code installation. Just pure cyberpunk coding bliss:
Option 1: VS Code Marketplace (Recommended)
- Open VS Code Extensions (
Ctrl+Shift+X or Cmd+Shift+X)
- Search "Retro Synth Dark"
- Click Install
- Select theme:
Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P) → "Preferences: Color Theme" → "Retro Synth Dark"
Option 2: Command Palette
- Open Command Palette (
Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P)
- Type "Preferences: Color Theme"
- Select "Retro Synth Dark"
Option 3: VSIX File (Manual Install)
- Download the
.vsix file from GitHub Releases
- Open VS Code
- Press
Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P)
- Type "Extensions: Install from VSIX..."
- Select the downloaded
.vsix file
🎨 Complete the Look:
- Set the recommended file icons:
Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P) → "Preferences: File Icon Theme" → "Sweet VSCode Icons" (by EliverLara)
- Choose a synthwave font from our recommendations below
🎉 That's it! You're now coding in the cyberpunk future.
🎨 Color Palette Reference
🔥 Heatmap (Market Monkey Tribute) Colors
Primary: [#100814](https://github.com/BuckedUnicorn/retro-synth-dark/issues/100814) (Deep Purple/Black Background)
Secondary: #1a1423 (Deeper Panel/Widget)
Accent 1: #00e5ff (Electric Cyan)
Accent 2: #c45eff (Neon Magenta)
Accent 3: #ff5572 (Hot Red/Pink)
Accent 4: #ffcb6b (Warm Yellow)
Highlight: #6a4bff (Violet)
Text: #c0d5ff (Cool Light)
🌅 Sunset Theme Colors
Primary: #1a1025 (Deep Purple Background)
Secondary: #2d0036 (Darker Purple)
Accent 1: #ffb347 (Sunset Orange)
Accent 2: #ffd700 (Gold)
Accent 3: #ff0080 (Hot Pink)
Highlight: #a259ff (Purple)
Text: #ffeedd (Warm Cream)
🌙 Midnight Theme Colors
Primary: #05070f (Deep Navy Background)
Secondary: #0a0d1a (Medium Navy)
Accent 1: #4169e1 (Royal Blue)
Accent 2: #ffd700 (Gold)
Accent 3: #87ceeb (Sky Blue)
Highlight: #6495ed (Cornflower Blue)
Text: #e8ecff (Cool White)
💚 Matrix Theme Colors
Primary: [#000000](https://github.com/BuckedUnicorn/retro-synth-dark/issues/000000) (Pure Black Background)
Secondary: #0a0a0a (Deep Matrix Dark)
Accent 1: #00ff41 (Matrix Green - Variables/Functions)
Accent 2: #ff00ff (Electric Magenta - UI/Types/Operators)
Accent 3: #00ffff (Electric Cyan - Strings/Properties)
Accent 4: #ffff00 (Neon Yellow - Classes/Constants)
Accent 5: #ff0066 (Hot Pink - Keywords/Tags)
Accent 6: #ff6600 (Orange - Regex/Special Values)
Accent 7: #00ffaa (Teal - Parameters/Special Cases)
Accent 8: [#666666](https://github.com/BuckedUnicorn/retro-synth-dark/issues/666666) (Gray - Comments/Subdued Elements)
Highlight: #ffffff (Pure White - Escapes/Emphasis)
Text: #00ff41 (Matrix Green)
🔮 Cyan Theme Colors
Primary: [#000000](https://github.com/BuckedUnicorn/retro-synth-dark/issues/000000) (Pure Black Background)
Secondary: #1a0d2e (Dark Purple)
Accent 1: #00ffff (Electric Cyan)
Accent 2: #f222ff (Hot Magenta)
Accent 3: #743ad5 (Deep Purple)
Highlight: #40e0ff (Bright Cyan)
Text: #e0e6ff (Cool Light)
🎨 Pro Customization
⚙️ Recommended Settings
Take your cyberpunk setup to the next level:
{
"workbench.colorCustomizations": {
"minimap.background": "#00000000",
"tab.inactiveBackground": "#0c0e14"
},
"editor.fontLigatures": true,
"editor.cursorBlinking": "smooth",
"editor.cursorSmoothCaretAnimation": "on"
}
🔤 Epic Font Combinations
🏆 The Cyberpunk Trinity (Our Top Picks):
JetBrains Mono ⭐ BEST OVERALL
- Perfect ligatures, excellent readability
- Free, open-source, designed for coding
"editor.fontFamily": "JetBrains Mono"
Fira Code ⭐ LIGATURE KING
- Most comprehensive ligature support
- Great for functional programming
"editor.fontFamily": "Fira Code"
Cascadia Code ⭐ MICROSOFT'S FINEST
- Built for Windows Terminal & VS Code
- Excellent for C# and .NET development
"editor.fontFamily": "Cascadia Code"
🎮 Retro Specialist Fonts:
- Victor Mono - Cursive ligatures for that authentic retro feel
- Operator Mono - Premium choice with italics that pop
- Dank Mono - The indie developer's dream font
💡 Pro Tip: Enable ligatures with any of these fonts for the ultimate synthwave coding experience!
🗂️ Recommended File Icons
Want your file explorer to look as neon as your code?
Sweet VSCode Icons by EliverLara – The perfect match for Retro Synth Dark! Vibrant, colorful, and totally cyberpunk.
How to set the icon theme:
- Open Command Palette (
Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P)
- Type
Preferences: File Icon Theme
- Select
Sweet VSCode Icons (by EliverLara)
🤝 Join the Cyberpunk Revolution
Love the theme? Help us make it even more epic:
💜 Made with love for the coding community 💜
🏆 Credits & Inspiration
Standing on the shoulders of giants - Original synthwave theme pioneers:
- Synthwave '84 by @robbowen - The original synthwave VS Code theme
- Fluoromachine by @fullerenedream - Neon color palette inspiration
- Monokai Charcoal by @74th - High contrast methodology
- Synthwave x Fluoromachine by @webrender - Color combination concepts
- Epic animations variants by @thecodemonkey and @coltwillcox - Animation inspiration
- Fixed animations by @weswigham - Technical approaches
What makes Retro Synth Dark unique: We reimagined synthwave theming from the ground up, creating a completely new theme that's simple, stable, and stunning using only standard VS Code APIs.
🙌 Special Tribute
- Market Monkey Terminal by Anthony De Meulemeester — Massive inspiration for the Heatmap variant.
📄 License & Copyright
MIT License - Free to use, modify, and distribute.
🎨 Logo & Branding: Copyright © 2025 BuckedUnicorn. All rights reserved.
👨💻 Created by: BuckedUnicorn
🐦 Follow: @BuckedUnicorn
⭐ Star: GitHub Repo
🌈✨ Code like it's 2085 - safely! ✨🧬
🎮 Crafted with cyberpunk love by @BuckedUnicorn 🎮
⚡ No admin rights harmed in the making of this theme ⚡
