Charcoal Mint for Visual Studio Code

A refreshing dark theme with charcoal background and mint accents that reduces eye strain and brings natural freshness to your coding experience

🌿 Features

• Eye-friendly Design: Carefully crafted charcoal background reduces eye strain during long coding sessions
• Refreshing Mint Accents: Natural mint green colors provide visual relief and enhance focus
• High Contrast: Optimized contrast ratios for better readability (WCAG AA compliant)
• Semantic Highlighting: Full support for VS Code's semantic highlighting features
• Bracket Pair Colorization: Beautiful gradient of mint shades for bracket highlighting
• Two Variants: Standard and Soft versions to suit different preferences
• Language Support: Optimized for JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, HTML, CSS, JSON, Markdown, and more

🎨 Color Palette

Main Colors

• Background Primary: #2c2f2c - Charcoal green
• Background Secondary: #262826 - Deeper charcoal
• Background Tertiary: #202220 - Darkest charcoal
• Foreground Primary: #f0f5f0 - Mint white
• Accent Primary: #98fb98 - Fresh mint
• Accent Secondary: #9fe2bf - Sea foam

Accent Colors

• Spearmint: #00ff7f - Bright mint for constants
• Jade: #00a86b - Deep green for keywords
• Emerald: #50c878 - Rich green for strings
• Pine: #01796f - Dark green for comments

📦 Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X)
3. Search for "Charcoal Mint"
4. Click Install
5. Go to File > Preferences > Color Theme
6. Select "Charcoal Mint" or "Charcoal Mint Soft"

Manual Installation

1. Download the latest release from GitHub
2. Extract the files to your VS Code extensions folder:
   • Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.vscode\extensions\
   • macOS: ~/.vscode/extensions/
   • Linux: ~/.vscode/extensions/
3. Restart VS Code
4. Select the theme from Color Theme preferences

🎯 Recommended Settings

For the best experience with Charcoal Mint, consider these VS Code settings:

{
    "editor.semanticHighlighting.enabled": true,
    "editor.bracketPairColorization.enabled": true,
    "editor.guides.bracketPairs": true,
    "editor.fontLigatures": true,
    "editor.cursorBlinking": "smooth",
    "workbench.tree.indent": 20,
    "terminal.integrated.minimumContrastRatio": 4.5
}

🖼️ Screenshots

JavaScript/TypeScript

Python

Bash/SH

Terminal

🌟 Theme Variants

Charcoal Mint (Standard)

• Higher contrast for bright environments
• Vibrant mint accents
• Perfect for daytime coding

Charcoal Mint Soft

• Softer contrast for low-light environments
• Muted mint tones
• Ideal for evening/night coding sessions

🔧 Customization

You can customize the theme by adding color overrides to your VS Code settings:

{
    "workbench.colorCustomizations": {
        "[Charcoal Mint]": {
            "editor.background": "#2a2d2a",
            "activityBar.background": "#1e201e"
        }
    },
    "editor.tokenColorCustomizations": {
        "[Charcoal Mint]": {
            "comments": "#8a908a"
        }
    }
}

🎨 Design Philosophy

Charcoal Mint is inspired by the calming and refreshing qualities of nature. The theme combines:

• Charcoal: Provides a sophisticated, non-distracting background
• Mint: Adds freshness and reduces visual fatigue
• Natural Harmony: Colors work together like elements in a forest

The theme follows modern design principles:

• Accessibility: WCAG AA contrast ratios
• Consistency: Unified color temperature and saturation
• Hierarchy: Clear visual distinction between code elements
• Comfort: Optimized for extended use

🐛 Issues & Feedback

Found a bug or have a suggestion? Please report it on our GitHub Issues page.

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guide for details.

📄 License

This theme is licensed under the MIT License.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Inspired by the natural beauty of mint plants and charcoal textures
• Thanks to the VS Code team for the excellent theming API
• Special thanks to our beta testers and the community

Enjoy coding with Charcoal Mint! 🌿✨

Made with ❤️ by Charcoal Mint Studio