Dusk Star

A dark and light Monokai-inspired color theme for VS Code, with an optional folder-only icon theme.

Themes

Dusk Star Dark

Dusk Star Light

Features

Dark and light variants with a shared Monokai-inspired palette.
Semantic highlighting for types, functions, parameters, properties, and enum members.
Distinct colors for selections, find matches, and Git status decorations.
An optional folder-only icon theme with custom open/closed arrows.
Color IDs, transparency, and contrast are checked in CI.

Installation

From the Marketplace

Open the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X).
Search for Dusk Star Theme.
Install the extension published by tonyx.

You can also run:

code --install-extension tonyx.dusk-star-theme

From a VSIX

code --install-extension dusk-star-theme-<version>.vsix

Activate the Theme

Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P).
Run Preferences: Color Theme.
Select Dusk Star Dark or Dusk Star Light.

Or set it in settings.json:

{
  "workbench.colorTheme": "Dusk Star Dark"
}

File Icon Theme

Dusk Star includes an optional folder-only icon theme. It uses custom arrow-style folder icons and hides the native explorer arrows. It does not replace file icons.

Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P).
Run Preferences: File Icon Theme.
Select Dusk Star.

Or set it in settings.json:

{
  "workbench.iconTheme": "dusk-star-icon"
}

Color Palette

Role	Dusk Star Dark	Dusk Star Light
Editor background	`#222222`	`#F4F7FB`
Editor foreground	`#F8F8F2`	`#2E3440`
Comment	`#918C7F`	`#677186`
Keyword	`#FF4D82`	`#C2185B`
String	`#E6DB74`	`#3F7E50`
Number	`#AE81FF`	`#7A4DD8`
Function / type	`#A6E22E`	`#2E66E8` / `#5A7A1D`
Parameter	`#FD971F`	`#A65300`
Selection background	`#365C8A`	`#B9D3F0`
Find match background	`#A66A00CC`	`#F2C14E99`
Git added	`#7FB4FF`	`#1F5FA8`
Git modified	`#FD971F`	`#7A3E00`
Git deleted	`#FF6B6B`	`#A31515`
Git renamed	`#AE81FF`	`#4B2E9E`
Git conflicting	`#FF4D82`	`#A3155B`

Customization

Override individual colors in settings.json:

{
  "workbench.colorCustomizations": {
    "[Dusk Star Dark]": {
      "editor.background": "#1E1E1E",
      "editor.lineHighlightBackground": "#2A2A2A"
    }
  }
}

Override syntax colors:

{
  "editor.tokenColorCustomizations": {
    "[Dusk Star Dark]": {
      "comments": "#7F8C8D",
      "keywords": "#FF6B9D"
    }
  }
}

Development

Requirements:

Node.js 20 or newer
Python 3.11 or newer
VS Code 1.81 or newer

Install dependencies and validate the theme data:

npm install
npm run validate

The validator checks JSON structure, color IDs, transparency metadata, package metadata, the icon theme, README image references, and contrast for key editor and UI colors. It also has a self-test:

python3 scripts/validate.py --self-test

Build a VSIX:

npm run package

The generated dusk-star-theme-x.x.x.vsix is written to the repository root.

Publishing is intended for maintainers and requires a Marketplace personal access token:

VSCE_PAT=your-token npm run publish

The committed color-ID registry is generated from a local VS Code installation:

python3 scripts/update-color-registry.py

Run this after upgrading VS Code and review the resulting diff. CI uses the committed registry and does not require VS Code.

scripts/expected-theme-values.json is a regression baseline for intentional color changes. Update it only when a color change is deliberate. New dark-only color IDs must also be added to DARK_ONLY_ALLOWED in scripts/validate.py.

The GitHub Actions workflow runs validation and packages the extension on pushes and pull requests.

Project Structure

themes/color-dark.json    Dark color theme
themes/color-light.json   Light color theme
themes/file-icon.json     Folder-only icon theme
imgs/                     Theme icon, folder SVGs, and screenshots
imgs/archive/             Archived screenshots (not packaged)
scripts/                  Validation and registry maintenance
.github/workflows/        CI validation and VSIX packaging

License

MIT. See LICENSE.

The folder SVG icons are original assets for this project and are distributed under the same MIT license. The themes are inspired by Monokai.

Dusk Star Theme

tonyx