Minimal Monochrome
A minimal, monochrome color theme for VS Code. Ported from tdfirth's Minimal theme for the Zed editor. Meant to be complimented with Minimal Monochrome Icons Theme
Philosophy
Most themes use color to differentiate syntax elements. While colorful, this approach can be visually noisy and distracting. Minimal Monochrome takes a different approach:
- Grayscale syntax - Code uses only grayscale tones, with contrast through typography (bold for functions, types, keywords)
- Pastel semantic colors - Functional UI elements (errors, warnings, git status, terminal) use soft, aesthetic pastel colors that don't overwhelm
- Reduced visual noise - Comments and secondary text are muted, letting your code speak for itself
- Two variants - Light and dark themes that follow the same principles
The result is a calm, focused editing experience where structure emerges from typography rather than a rainbow of colors.
Preview
Dark
Light
Installation
From VS Code MarketplaceS
- Open VS Code
- Go to Extensions (
Cmd+Shift+X on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+X on Windows/Linux)
- Search for "Minimal Monochrome"
- Click Install
- Go to
Preferences > Color Theme and select Minimal Monochrome Dark or Minimal Monochrome Light
Manual Installation
- Download or clone this repository
- Copy the folder to your VS Code extensions directory:
- macOS:
~/.vscode/extensions/
- Windows:
%USERPROFILE%\.vscode\extensions\
- Linux:
~/.vscode/extensions/
- Restart VS Code
- Select the theme from
Preferences > Color Theme
Color Palette
Dark Theme
Grayscale (Syntax)
| Element |
Hex |
| Background |
#1A1A1A |
| Foreground |
#EEEEEE |
| Comments |
#7B7B7B |
| Strings |
#B4B4B4 |
| Selection |
#606060 |
Pastel Semantic Colors
| Purpose |
Hex |
| Error/Red |
#F5A3A7 (soft coral) |
| Success/Green |
#8BCFAC (soft mint) |
| Warning/Yellow |
#F0C674 (soft golden) |
| Info/Blue |
#89B4D4 (soft sky) |
| Magenta |
#C9A5E0 (soft lavender) |
| Cyan |
#7DD4D0 (soft teal) |
Light Theme
Grayscale (Syntax)
| Element |
Hex |
| Background |
#FCFCFC |
| Foreground |
#000000DF |
| Comments |
#999999 |
| Strings |
#777777 |
| Selection |
#D0D0D0 |
Pastel Semantic Colors
| Purpose |
Hex |
| Error/Red |
#C97A7D (dusty rose) |
| Success/Green |
#5A9E6F (sage) |
| Warning/Yellow |
#B8893A (muted amber) |
| Info/Blue |
#5A8FB8 (steel blue) |
| Magenta |
#8B6BA8 (dusty purple) |
| Cyan |
#4A9EA8 (muted teal) |
Recommended Settings
For the best experience, consider these VS Code settings:
{
"editor.fontFamily": "Zed Mono, JetBrains Mono, IBM Plex Mono, Cascadia Code, Monaspace Krypton, JetBrains Mono, FiraCode-Retina, Fira Mono, Monaco, Menlo, 'Courier New', monospace",
"editor.lineHeight": 20,
"editor.bracketPairColorization.enabled": false,
"workbench.tree.indent": 16
}
Credits
License
MIT
