Alpha

Perceptually balanced syntax palette with a restrained interface. Two variants — alpha dark and alpha light.

Install · Website · Changelog · Issues

Why alpha

• Two variants. alpha dark and alpha light. Switch with your OS, or pin one.
• Equal-weight syntax palette. Seven hues calibrated so no token visually dominates another — the eye reads structure, not emphasis.
• Restrained interface. Editor, sidebar, status bar, tabs, panels, terminal — all tuned to stay out of the way.
• WCAG-AA on light. Light variant retuned per hue to clear ≥ 4.5:1 contrast on white.
• Free & open source. MIT-licensed. No telemetry, no account, no paywall.

Install

From VS Code

1. Open the Extensions panel (⌘+Shift+X / Ctrl+Shift+X).
2. Search for Alpha.
3. Click Install.
4. Run Preferences: Color Theme (⌘+K ⌘+T / Ctrl+K Ctrl+T) and pick alpha dark or alpha light.

From the command line

code --install-extension gokhangunduz.alpha

Or grab it directly from the Visual Studio Marketplace or Open VSX.

Match your system theme

To switch between dark and light automatically with your OS:

1. Open settings (⌘+, / Ctrl+,) and search for Auto Detect Color Scheme, enable it.
2. Set Preferred Dark Color Theme to alpha dark.
3. Set Preferred Light Color Theme to alpha light.

The palette

The dark variant locks every syntax color at HSL(h, 100%, 68%) — only the hue rotates, so weights stay equal across all seven colors. The light variant keeps saturation at 100% but lowers lightness per hue so each one clears WCAG-AA contrast on white.

In action

Contributing

Bug reports, palette suggestions, and pull requests are welcome.

• Report a bug
• Suggest a feature or color
• Reach out

License

MIT © Gökhan Gündüz