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Theme Overview

Themes in DevOpsMaestro are NvimTheme YAML resources that define a Neovim colorscheme configuration. They specify the colorscheme plugin to use, style variants, color overrides, and plugin-specific options.

What Themes Are

A theme defines:

  • Plugin - The Neovim colorscheme plugin to install (e.g., folke/tokyonight.nvim)
  • Style - A variant name for plugins that support multiple styles (e.g., night, mocha)
  • Colors - Semantic color overrides for backgrounds, foregrounds, UI elements, and syntax
  • Options - Plugin-specific configuration passed to the setup call
  • Category - Whether the theme is dark, light, or both

Standalone themes have no plugin - they apply highlight groups directly via Lua without a colorscheme plugin.

Library vs User Themes

Type Location Editable Priority
Library Embedded in binary No (read-only) Lower
User ~/.nvp/themes/ Yes Higher

Library themes are available automatically. User themes override library themes with the same name.

Installing Themes

Library themes (automatic)

All library themes are available immediately with no installation step:

nvp theme use coolnight-ocean
nvp theme use catppuccin-mocha
nvp theme use tokyonight-night

Install to user store

Copy a library theme to ~/.nvp/themes/ to create an editable local copy:

nvp theme library install catppuccin-mocha

From a YAML file

Apply any NvimTheme YAML file:

nvp apply -f my-theme.yaml
nvp apply -f https://example.com/theme.yaml
nvp apply -f github:user/repo/my-theme.yaml

From the parametric generator

Create a custom CoolNight variant:

nvp theme create --from "280" --name my-purple

Using Themes

Set the active theme

nvp theme use coolnight-ocean

View the active theme

nvp theme get

Generate Lua files

After setting a theme, generate the Neovim configuration files:

nvp generate

Theme YAML Format

All themes use apiVersion: devopsmaestro.io/v1 with kind: NvimTheme:

apiVersion: devopsmaestro.io/v1
kind: NvimTheme
metadata:
  name: my-custom-theme
  description: My personal colorscheme
  author: Your Name
  category: dark
spec:
  plugin:
    repo: folke/tokyonight.nvim   # GitHub repository
    branch: main                  # optional
    tag: v4.0.0                   # optional
  style: night                    # Plugin variant name
  transparent: false
  colors:
    bg: "#1a1b26"
    fg: "#c0caf5"
    accent: "#7aa2f7"
    error: "#f7768e"
    warning: "#e0af68"
  options:
    dim_inactive: true
    styles:
      comments: italic
      keywords: bold

When spec.plugin.repo is empty, the theme is standalone and applies highlight groups directly without a colorscheme plugin.

Generated Files

Running nvp generate creates Lua files in ~/.config/nvim/lua/:

~/.config/nvim/lua/
  theme/
    palette.lua       # Color palette (all colors, semantic aliases)
    init.lua          # Theme helpers (lualine, bufferline, telescope)
  plugins/nvp/
    colorscheme.lua   # lazy.nvim plugin spec

palette.lua - Exports all theme colors and semantic aliases. Reference it from other Neovim config files:

local palette = require("theme").palette
vim.api.nvim_set_hl(0, "MyHighlight", {
  fg = palette.colors.accent,
  bg = palette.colors.bg,
})

init.lua - Provides helpers for lualine, bufferline, and telescope theming.

colorscheme.lua - A lazy.nvim plugin spec that installs and configures the colorscheme plugin. For standalone themes, it references a local colorscheme file instead.

Switching Themes

# Switch to a different theme
nvp theme use gruvbox-dark

# Regenerate Lua files
nvp generate

# Restart Neovim to apply

Next Steps