Add design doc for dark/light theme support

Defines the config format, data model, and daemon integration
approach for theme-aware styling.

Made-with: Cursor
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cottongin
2026-03-10 08:34:43 -04:00
parent eefb908268
commit 49c03e4b71

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# Dark/Light Theme Support — Design
## Summary
Add dark/light mode theme support to cursor-flasher. Users can define separate border styles for each OS appearance mode via new `dark` and `light` config sections. A `theme` option controls which styles are active: `"dark"`, `"light"`, or `"auto"` (follows macOS appearance in real-time).
## Config Format
The old top-level `running`/`completed` format is replaced (breaking change). Modes are now nested under theme sections:
```yaml
theme: auto # "dark" | "light" | "auto"
dark:
running:
color: "#FF9500"
width: 4
opacity: 0.85
pulse_speed: 1.5
sound: "Glass"
volume: 0.5
completed:
color: "#00FF00"
width: 4
opacity: 0.85
duration: 1.5
sound: ""
volume: 0.0
light:
running:
color: "#3B82F6"
width: 4
opacity: 0.9
pulse_speed: 1.5
sound: "Glass"
volume: 0.5
completed:
color: "#22C55E"
width: 4
opacity: 0.9
duration: 1.5
sound: ""
volume: 0.0
flash:
mode: "screen"
approval_tools:
- Shell
- Write
- Delete
general:
approval_delay: 2.5
cooldown: 2.0
```
## Data Model
- `StyleConfig` — unchanged (color, width, opacity, duration, pulse_speed, sound, volume).
- New `ThemeStyles` dataclass — groups `running: StyleConfig` and `completed: StyleConfig` for one theme.
- `Config` — replaces `running`/`completed` with `dark: ThemeStyles` and `light: ThemeStyles`. Adds `theme: str` field. Exposes `active_styles(system_appearance: str) -> ThemeStyles` method that resolves the correct theme based on the `theme` setting and the passed-in system appearance string.
## Appearance Detection
The daemon detects macOS appearance via `NSApplication.sharedApplication().effectiveAppearance().name()`. If the name contains "Dark", the appearance is `"dark"`; otherwise `"light"`. This check happens at flash/pulse trigger time (not polled), so it picks up OS appearance changes between flashes with zero overhead.
## Daemon Integration
Two call sites change: `_check_pending()` and `_handle_stop()`. Each resolves the active theme styles at trigger time:
```python
styles = self.config.active_styles(_get_system_appearance())
self.overlay.pulse(frames, styles.running)
play_alert(styles.running)
```
## Decisions
- **Modes under themes** (not themes under modes) — `dark.running` rather than `running.dark`.
- **Old format not supported** — top-level `running`/`completed` keys are ignored.
- **Real-time detection** — appearance checked at each flash trigger, not just at startup.
- **Config stays pure** — no Cocoa imports in config.py; appearance detection lives in daemon.py.