Black Metal

A VS Code workbench theme adapted from Ghostty's Black Metal palette.

Design Notes

• Keeps the chrome almost entirely black and gray
• Uses #486e6f for structural emphasis such as focus and active states
• Uses #dd9999 and #a06666 for syntax, diagnostics, diffs, and terminal ANSI mapping

Installation

Marketplace

1. Open the Extensions view in VS Code.
2. Search for Black Metal.
3. Install the theme published by fu-chen.
4. Open Command Palette and choose Preferences: Color Theme.
5. Select Black Metal.

You can also install it from the command line:

code --install-extension fu-chen.black-metal-vscode-theme

Local Development

1. Clone this repository.
2. Install dependencies with npm install.
3. Run npm run build:theme to regenerate the theme from parts/.
4. From the repository root, run code --extensionDevelopmentPath "$(pwd)".
5. In the Extension Development Host window, open Command Palette and choose Preferences: Color Theme.
6. Select Black Metal.

Development

• Edit parts/, then run npm run build:theme to regenerate themes/black-metal-color-theme.json
• Run npm test to validate the extension metadata and theme mapping
• Packaging and publishing regenerate the theme automatically through npm run vscode:prepublish
• Inspect the theme inside the Extension Development Host before packaging

Release Publishing

• Run npm run release:local -- [patch|minor|major] to bump the local version, update this changelog, validate the extension, and build a .vsix package. The default release type is patch.
• Create a GitHub Release from the package.json version, using either 0.1.0 or v0.1.0.
• Run npm test and npm run package:vsix before publishing if you are not using release:local.
• Set the VSCE_PAT secret in the GitHub repository secrets for fu-chen so npx @vscode/vsce publish can upload the extension.

Changelog

0.1.1 - 2026-04-29

• fix: handle inherited stdio in release script (78f96f5)
• feat: add local release automation (828d290)
• fix: improve workbench selection contrast (bea2bec)
• test: reduce brittleness with snapshot tests and loosen rigid assertions (0b7b313)
• test: remove redundant test cases and consolidate docs/publishing checks (053299e)
• chore: migrate test suite from node:test to vitest (febaf03)
• docs: update CLAUDE.md with lint and format configuration (612b191)
• chore: add oxlint and oxfmt for linting and formatting (117265f)
• docs: add AGENTS.md as unified AI coding guide (89a86dc)
• fix: align publisher ID to fu-chen across tests and docs (ce0da0a)
• chore: replace npm lockfile with bun lockfile (394e426)
• docs: add preivew image in README (4168360)
• chore: publisher id (bdbfb87)
• Add VSIX packaging script (96e4b83)
• Clarify marketplace release validation (4e00ccf)
• Exclude internal tooling from VSCE packaging (4a1fc6d)
• docs: document github release publishing (1a8c164)
• ci: guard marketplace release publishing (3f54be7)
• ci: publish marketplace releases from github (ba1e854)
• build: normalize lockfile registry URLs (3144127)
• build: prepare extension manifest for marketplace publishing (fe4fbbf)
• docs: add marketplace release automation spec (ac39f73)
• Add packaging-time theme build hook (ff96dc6)
• docs: document theme builder workflow (f737745)
• refactor: harden theme builder errors (f350ec7)
• refactor: generate theme from parts (4bde91b)
• test: make the theme builder scaffold runnable (4da6202)
• test: introduce source layout contract (4ea7dd3)
• chore: ignore local worktrees (a1dd26c)
• docs: add builder refactor design spec (af2028d)
• Add VSCode theme skill scaffold (c83f7e3)
• chore: add repository metadata and publish gitignore (07a6e80)
• Fix badge contrast and add MIT license (57f09b7)
• test: require gitignore in vscode packaging (fda9113)
• docs: add black metal theme usage and packaging notes (4002ace)
• test: enforce full task 4 token contract (a55edfa)
• feat: add balanced black metal syntax colors (caacc77)
• test: harden task 3 color contracts (2cc0350)
• fix: keep theme colors flat (b2afb2b)
• feat: add editor states and diagnostics colors (5c038f1)
• feat: add black metal workbench and terminal colors (4cadac5)
• fix: restore full task one metadata contract (29a1945)
• fix: trim package metadata to scaffold spec (5ca914f)
• feat: scaffold black metal theme extension (b79182b)
• docs: add black metal theme design spec (a7432b4)

Palette Source

This theme is based on Ghostty's Black Metal palette and preserves its terminal ANSI layout while adapting the workbench hierarchy for VS Code.