Excalibur
Excalibur is a non-standard dark theme for Visual Studio Code focused on dependable everyday use, long coding sessions and a calmer visual hierarchy.
It is deliberately not purple and deliberately avoids neon or high-contrast UI. The interface is built from deep charcoal and warm neutral surfaces, with restrained red and antique-gold accents used to communicate state and syntax.
Design goals
- Soft dark mode — related charcoal surfaces provide separation without harsh black/white contrast.
- Red + gold identity — muted reds and antique golds give Excalibur its character without turning the editor into a decorative interface.
- Readable for daily work — syntax colours are distinctive enough to scan quickly but deliberately kept below the intensity of typical neon themes.
- Non-standard, still familiar — the theme changes the visual language while preserving VS Code's normal hierarchy and interaction cues.
- Consistent UI — editor, explorer, tabs, terminal, panels, menus, inputs, selections, diagnostics, Git decorations and status elements use the same palette.
- Low visual noise — accents are used sparingly so the theme can disappear into the workflow after the first few minutes.
Preview
The package contains a responsive HTML preview at preview.html. It can be opened directly in a browser.
Open the preview inside VS Code
This release also includes a small preview command, so the HTML does not have to be treated as a normal editor document:
- Install the VSIX.
- Open the Command Palette with
Ctrl+Shift+P (Cmd+Shift+P on macOS).
- Run Excalibur: Open Theme Preview.
- The preview opens in a VS Code webview and uses the bundled red lion asset.
The preview demonstrates:
- VS Code-style title bar, activity bar and Explorer
- Tabs, editor, line numbers and terminal
- Soft selections, focus states and diagnostics
- Red, antique gold, sage and warm neutral syntax accents
- Responsive desktop, tablet and mobile layouts
- The actual Excalibur lion artwork used by the package
Installation
Local VSIX testing
- Open VS Code.
- Open Extensions with
Ctrl+Shift+X.
- Select the … menu.
- Choose Install from VSIX….
- Select the supplied
Excalibur-1.0.1-red-gold.vsix file.
- Open Preferences: Color Theme and select Excalibur.
- Open the Command Palette and run Excalibur: Open Theme Preview to inspect the complete UI treatment.
Palette
| Role |
Direction |
| Editor |
Deep charcoal / warm black |
| UI surfaces |
Closely stepped charcoal and brown-neutral layers |
| Keywords |
Antique gold |
| Functions |
Warm gold |
| Strings |
Muted red |
| Types |
Soft sage |
| Variables |
Warm sand |
| Errors |
Restrained red |
| Selection |
Deep muted red-brown |
| Focus |
Warm brown-gold |
Why red and gold?
The red and gold palette is the visual identity of Excalibur, but the theme intentionally keeps both colours muted. The goal is to retain a distinctive character while avoiding the eye fatigue associated with saturated accents on a dark background.
Troubleshooting
The HTML file does not automatically appear as a VS Code preview: this is expected for a theme-only extension. In this release, use Excalibur: Open Theme Preview from the Command Palette. That command opens the bundled HTML as a VS Code webview.
The theme does not immediately appear: run Developer: Reload Window, then choose Excalibur again from Preferences: Color Theme.
Version
1.0.1
License
MIT License — see LICENSE.txt for details.
