dotfiles/assets/alacritty

Alacritty Theme Synchronization

Simple theme synchronization for Alacritty that automatically switches between Catppuccin light and dark themes based on your macOS system theme.

This solution uses Nix conditional configuration - no complex scripts or wrappers needed!

How It Works

1. The system detects your current macOS theme using defaults read -g AppleInterfaceStyle
2. The theme is written to /Users/danny/.local/share/nvim_color_scheme
3. Your NixOS configuration reads this file and conditionally applies:
   • Light theme → Catppuccin Latte
   • Dark theme → Catppuccin Mocha
4. Alacritty gets the correct theme colors through Nix configuration

Setup

1. Run the setup script:

   ./scripts/setup-simple-theme-sync.sh
   

2. Apply the theme to Alacritty:

   home-manager switch
   

That's it! Your Alacritty will now use the correct theme based on your system theme.

Usage

Manual Theme Sync

When you change your system theme, run:

./scripts/sync-alacritty-theme.sh && home-manager switch

Automatic Theme Switching (Optional)

For automatic switching, you can set up a LaunchAgent:

cp assets/launchd/com.user.alacritty-theme-sync.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.user.alacritty-theme-sync.plist

Files

• scripts/detect-system-theme.sh - Detects current macOS system theme
• scripts/sync-alacritty-theme.sh - Updates the theme file that Nix reads
• scripts/setup-simple-theme-sync.sh - One-time setup script
• nixos/home/danny/home.nix - Contains the conditional Alacritty configuration

Theme Colors

Catppuccin Latte (Light)

• Background: #eff1f5 (base)
• Foreground: #4c4f69 (text)
• Accent colors optimized for light backgrounds

Catppuccin Mocha (Dark)

• Background: #1e1e2e (base)
• Foreground: #cdd6f4 (text)
• Accent colors optimized for dark backgrounds

Integration with NixOS

The solution uses Nix's conditional configuration in home.nix:

colors = let
  systemThemeFile = "/Users/danny/.local/share/nvim_color_scheme";
  isLightTheme = builtins.pathExists systemThemeFile && 
                 builtins.readFile systemThemeFile == "light\n";
  
  lightColors = { /* Catppuccin Latte colors */ };
  darkColors = { /* Catppuccin Mocha colors */ };
in if isLightTheme then lightColors else darkColors;

This approach:

• ✅ Works with Spotlight/Applications folder launches
• ✅ No shell aliases or wrapper scripts needed
• ✅ Integrates cleanly with NixOS configuration
• ✅ Minimal complexity - just 3 simple scripts
• ✅ Uses the same theme file as your Neovim configuration