Title Bar Palette

Automatically give each VS Code or Cursor workspace a distinct title-bar accent so open windows are easier to identify at a glance.

VS Code workspaces with distinct Title Bar Palette accents

Features

Automatic workspace colors. New workspaces rotate through 12 curated presets.
Strong title-bar colors. The title bar and Command Center carry the workspace color in both VS Code and Cursor.
Theme-aware shell tint. Current VS Code gets a muted modernUI shell tint derived from the workspace color, with separate dark and light variants.
Theme-aware presets. Built-in colors switch automatically when the editor theme changes.
Persistent sequence. The next automatic color is remembered across editor restarts.
Workspace-safe behavior. Complete custom workspace accents and unrelated workbench.colorCustomizations values are preserved.
Manual selection. Run Title Bar Palette: Select Color to choose any preset for the current workspace.

Install

Install from the Visual Studio Marketplace or Open VSX.

Title Bar Palette requires VS Code ^1.85.0. Open a folder or workspace after installation and the extension assigns the next palette color automatically.

Using Title Bar Palette

Automatic assignment needs no configuration. Each fresh workspace receives the next preset in the sequence.

To choose a color yourself, open the Command Palette and run Title Bar Palette: Select Color. Manual selection moves the automatic sequence to the following preset.

Empty untitled windows are left unchanged because the extension writes only to workspace settings.

Palette

Color	Dark theme	Light theme
Blue	`#2563EB`	`#93C5FD`
Violet	`#7C3AED`	`#C4B5FD`
Emerald	`#047857`	`#6EE7B7`
Amber	`#A16207`	`#FCD34D`
Rose	`#BE123C`	`#FDA4AF`
Teal	`#0F766E`	`#5EEAD4`
Cyan	`#0E7490`	`#67E8F9`
Indigo	`#4338CA`	`#A5B4FC`
Fuchsia	`#A21CAF`	`#F0ABFC`
Orange	`#C2410C`	`#FDBA74`
Lime	`#4D7C0F`	`#BEF264`
Pink	`#BE185D`	`#F9A8D4`

Dark variants use white Command Center text. Light variants use #111827. Every preset is validated for at least 4.5:1 Command Center text contrast.

How it works

Title Bar Palette writes workspace-scoped workbench.colorCustomizations values for:

Command Center background, foreground, active, inactive, and border colors
Title-bar active/inactive backgrounds and foregrounds
modernUI.shellBackground and modernUI.inactiveShellBackground
window.activeBorder and window.inactiveBorder
titleBar.border

The title bar uses the full preset color. On current VS Code, the explicit modernUI values prevent that strong title-bar color from bleeding across the entire shell; the shell gets a darker or lighter muted tint instead. Cursor versions without those modernUI theme keys simply use the title-bar colors and ignore the extra shell values.

The extension inspects the workspace-scoped value directly, so User-level color customizations do not suppress automatic assignment. Complete custom workspace accents and complete custom title-bar colors are preserved. Recognized built-in presets re-anchor the sequence so the next automatic workspace receives the following color.

Recognized 0.1 title-bar presets and earlier 0.2 compact presets migrate in place to the current title-bar plus shell format. Other workspace color customizations stay in place.

Compatibility

Title Bar Palette uses standard VS Code workspace configuration APIs, has no native dependencies, and is designed for desktop VS Code and Cursor. The extension metadata supports untrusted and virtual workspaces.

Window border visibility depends on editor chrome support. The title bar and Command Center remain the primary workspace identifiers.

Development

npm install
npm test
npm run package

Support

Report bugs, compatibility issues, and focused feature requests through GitHub Issues or see SUPPORT.md.

Developed and maintained by Serbyte Development.