Modus themes for GNU Emacs

Option for diff buffer looks.

Customization Options

The Modus themes are highly configurable, though they should work well without any further tweaks. By default, all customization options are set to nil, unless otherwise noted in this manual.

Remember that all customization options must be evaluated before loading a theme (Enable and load).

Below is a summary of what you will learn in the subsequent sections of this manual.

(setq modus-themes-italic-constructs t
      modus-themes-bold-constructs nil
      modus-themes-no-mixed-fonts nil
      modus-themes-subtle-line-numbers nil
      modus-themes-success-deuteranopia t
      modus-themes-inhibit-reload t ; only applies to `customize-set-variable' and related

      modus-themes-fringes nil ; {nil,'subtle,'intense}

      ;; Options for `modus-themes-lang-checkers' are either nil (the
      ;; default), or a list of properties that may include any of those
      ;; symbols: `straight-underline', `text-also', `background',
      ;; `intense'
      modus-themes-lang-checkers nil

      ;; Options for `modus-themes-mode-line' are either nil, or a list
      ;; that can combine any of `3d' OR `moody', `borderless',
      ;; `accented'.  The variable's doc string shows all possible
      ;; combinations.
      modus-themes-mode-line '(3d accented)

      ;; Options for `modus-themes-syntax' are either nil (the default),
      ;; or a list of properties that may include any of those symbols:
      ;; `faint', `yellow-comments', `green-strings', `alt-syntax'
      modus-themes-syntax nil

      ;; Options for `modus-themes-hl-line' are either nil (the default),
      ;; or a list of properties that may include any of those symbols:
      ;; `accented', `underline', `intense'
      modus-themes-hl-line '(underline accented)

      ;; Options for `modus-themes-paren-match' are either nil (the
      ;; default), or a list of properties that may include any of those
      ;; symbols: `bold', `intense', `underline'
      modus-themes-paren-match '(bold intense)

      ;; Options for `modus-themes-links' are either nil (the default),
      ;; or a list of properties that may include any of those symbols:
      ;; `neutral-underline' OR `no-underline', `faint' OR `no-color',
      ;; `bold', `italic', `background'
      modus-themes-links '(neutral-underline background)

      ;; Options for `modus-themes-prompts' are either nil (the
      ;; default), or a list of properties that may include any of those
      ;; symbols: `background', `bold', `gray', `intense', `italic'
      modus-themes-prompts '(intense bold)

      modus-themes-completions 'moderate ; {nil,'moderate,'opinionated}

      modus-themes-mail-citations nil ; {nil,'faint,'monochrome}

      ;; Options for `modus-themes-region' are either nil (the default),
      ;; or a list of properties that may include any of those symbols:
      ;; `no-extend', `bg-only', `accented'
      modus-themes-region '(bg-only no-extend)

      ;; Options for `modus-themes-diffs': nil, 'desaturated,
      ;; 'bg-only, 'deuteranopia, 'fg-only-deuteranopia
      modus-themes-diffs 'fg-only-deuteranopia

      modus-themes-org-blocks 'gray-background ; {nil,'gray-background,'tinted-background}

      modus-themes-org-agenda ; this is an alist: read the manual or its doc string
      '((header-block . (variable-pitch scale-title))
        (header-date . (grayscale workaholic bold-today))
        (scheduled . uniform)
        (habit . traffic-light-deuteranopia))

      modus-themes-headings ; this is an alist: read the manual or its doc string
      '((1 . (overline background))
        (2 . (rainbow overline))
        (t . (no-bold)))

      modus-themes-variable-pitch-ui nil
      modus-themes-variable-pitch-headings t
      modus-themes-scale-headings t
      modus-themes-scale-1 1.1
      modus-themes-scale-2 1.15
      modus-themes-scale-3 1.21
      modus-themes-scale-4 1.27
      modus-themes-scale-title 1.33)

Option for inhibiting theme reload

Symbol: modus-themes-inhibit-reload

Possible values:

nil
t (default)

By default, customizing a theme-related user option through the Custom interfaces or with

M-x customize-set-variable

will not reload the currently active Modus theme.

Enable this behaviour by setting this variable to nil.

Option for color-coding success state (deuteranopia)

Symbol: modus-themes-success-deuteranopia

Possible values:

nil (default)
t

The default is to colorise all faces that denote "success", "done", or similar with a variant of green.

With a non-nil value (t), use variants of blue instead of green. This is meant to empower users with red-green color deficiency.

The present customization option should apply to all contexts where there can be a color-coded distinction between success and failure, to-do and done, and so on.

Diffs, which have a red/green dichotomy by default, can also be configured to conform with deuteranopia.

Option for more bold constructs

Symbol: modus-themes-bold-constructs

Possible values:

nil (default)
t

The default is to use a bold typographic weight only when it is required.

With a non-nil value (t) display several syntactic constructs in bold weight. This concerns keywords and other important aspects of code syntax. It also affects certain mode line indicators and command-line prompts.

Advanced users may also want to configure the exact attributes of the bold face.

Option for more italic constructs

Symbol: modus-themes-italic-constructs

Possible values:

nil (default)
t

The default is to not use slanted text forms (italics) unless it is absolutely necessary.

With a non-nil value (t) choose to render more faces in italics. This typically affects documentation strings and code comments.

Advanced users may also want to configure the exact attributes of the italic face.

Option for more bold constructs.

Option for syntax highlighting

Symbol: modus-themes-syntax

Possible values are expressed as a list of properties (default is nil or an empty list). The list can include any of the following symbols:

faint
yellow-comments
green-strings
alt-syntax

The default (a nil value or an empty list) is to use a balanced combination of colors on the cyan-blue-magenta side of the spectrum. There is little to no use of greens, yellows, and reds. Comments are gray, strings are blue colored, doc strings are a shade of cyan, while color combinations are designed to avoid exaggerations.

The property faint fades the saturation of all applicable colors, where that is possible or appropriate.

The property yellow-comments applies a yellow color to comments.

The property green-strings applies a green color to strings and a green tint to doc strings.

The property alt-syntax changes the combination of colors beyond strings and comments, so that the effective palette is broadened to provide greater variety relative to the default.

Combinations of any of those properties are expressed as a list, like in these examples:

(faint)
(green-strings yellow-comments)
(alt-syntax green-strings yellow-comments)
(faint alt-syntax green-strings yellow-comments)

The order in which the properties are set is not significant.

In user configuration files the form may look like this:

(setq modus-themes-syntax '(faint alt-syntax))

Independent of this variable, users may also control the use of a bold weight or italic text: modus-themes-bold-constructs and modus-themes-italic-constructs.

Option for more italic constructs.

Option for no font mixing

Symbol: modus-themes-no-mixed-fonts

Possible values:

nil (default)
t

By default, the themes configure some spacing-sensitive faces like Org tables and code blocks to always inherit from the fixed-pitch face. This is to ensure that those constructs remain monospaced even when users opt for a mode that remaps typeface families, such as the built-in

M-x variable-pitch-mode

. Otherwise the layout would appear broken, due to how spacing is done. To disable this behaviour, set the option to t.

Users may prefer to use another package for handling mixed typeface configurations, rather than letting the theme do it, perhaps because a purpose-specific package has extra functionality. Two possible options are org-variable-pitch and mixed-pitch.

Update Org block delimiter fontification.

Option for links

Symbol: modus-themes-links

Possible values are expressed as a list of properties (default is nil or an empty list). The list can include any of the following symbols:

Underline style:
- neutral-underline
- no-underline
Text coloration:
- faint
- no-color
bold
italic
background

The default (a nil value or an empty list) is a prominent text color, typically blue, with an underline of the same color.

For the style of the underline, a neutral-underline property turns the color of the line into a subtle gray, while the no-underline property removes the line altogether. If both of those are set, the latter takes precedence.

For text coloration, a faint property desaturates the color of the text and the underline, unless the underline is affected by the aforementioned properties. While a no-color property removes the color from the text. If both of those are set, the latter takes precedence.

A bold property applies a heavy typographic weight to the text of the link.

An italic property adds a slant to the link's text (italic or oblique forms, depending on the typeface).

A background property applies a subtle tinted background color.

In case both no-underline and no-color are set, then a subtle gray background is applied to all links. This can still be combined with the bold and italic properties.

Combinations of any of those properties are expressed as a list, like in these examples:

(faint)
(no-underline faint)
(no-color no-underline bold)
(italic bold background no-color no-underline)

The order in which the properties are set is not significant.

In user configuration files the form may look like this:

(setq modus-themes-links '(neutral-underline background))

The placement of the underline, meaning its proximity to the text, is controlled by x-use-underline-position-properties, x-underline-at-descent-line, underline-minimum-offset. Please refer to their documentation strings.

Option for command prompt styles

Symbol: modus-themes-prompts

Possible values are expressed as a list of properties (default is nil or an empty list). The list can include any of the following symbols:

background
bold
gray
intense
italic

The default (a nil value or an empty list) means to only use a subtle accented foreground color.

The property background applies a background color to the prompt's text. By default, this is a subtle accented value.

The property intense makes the foreground color more prominent. If the background property is also set, it amplifies the value of the background as well.

The property gray changes the prompt's colors to grayscale. This affects the foreground and, if the background property is also set, the background. Its effect is subtle, unless it is combined with the intense property.

The property bold makes the text use a bold typographic weight. Similarly, italic adds a slant to the font's forms (italic or oblique forms, depending on the typeface).

Combinations of any of those properties are expressed as a list, like in these examples:

(intense)
(bold intense)
(intense bold gray)
(intense background gray bold)

The order in which the properties are set is not significant.

In user configuration files the form may look like this:

(setq modus-themes-prompts '(background gray))

Option for mode line presentation

Symbol: modus-themes-mode-line

Possible values, which can be expressed as a list of combinations of box effect, color, and border visibility:

Overall style:
- 3d
- moody
accented
borderless

The default (a nil value or an empty list) is a two-dimensional rectangle with a border around it. The active and the inactive mode lines use different shades of grayscale values for the background, foreground, border.

The 3d property applies a three-dimensional effect to the active mode line. The inactive mode lines remain two-dimensional and are toned down a bit, relative to the default style.

The moody property optimizes the mode line for use with the library of the same name (hereinafter referred to as 'Moody'). In practice, it removes the box effect and replaces it with underline and overline properties. It also tones down the inactive mode lines. Despite its intended purpose, this option can also be used without the Moody library (please consult the themes' manual on this point for more details). If both 3d and moody properties are set, the latter takes precedence.

The borderless property removes the color of the borders. It does not actually remove the borders, but only makes their color the same as the background, effectively creating some padding.

The accented property ensures that the active mode line uses a colored background instead of the standard shade of gray.

Combinations of any of those properties are expressed as a list, like in these examples:

(accented)
(borderless 3d)
(moody accented borderless)

The order in which the properties are set is not significant.

In user configuration files the form may look like this:

(setq modus-themes-prompts '(borderless accented))

Note that Moody does not expose any faces that the themes could style directly. Instead it re-purposes existing ones to render its tabs and ribbons. As such, there may be cases where the contrast ratio falls below the 7:1 target that the themes conform with (WCAG AAA). To hedge against this, we configure a fallback foreground for the moody property, which will come into effect when the background of the mode line changes to something less accessible, such as Moody ribbons (read the doc string of set-face-attribute, specifically :distant-foreground). This fallback is activated when Emacs determines that the background and foreground of the given construct are too close to each other in terms of color distance. In practice, users will need to experiment with the variable face-near-same-color-threshold to trigger the effect. We find that a value of 45000 shall suffice, contrary to the default 30000. Though for the combinations that involve the accented and moody properties, as mentioned above, that should be raised up to 70000. Do not set it too high, because it has the adverse effect of always overriding the default colors (which have been carefully designed to be highly accessible).

Furthermore, because Moody expects an underline and overline instead of a box style, it is advised to set x-underline-at-descent-line to a non-nil value.

Option for completion framework aesthetics

Symbol: modus-themes-completions

Possible values:

nil (default)
moderate
opinionated

This is a special option that has different effects depending on the completion UI. The interfaces can be grouped in two categories, based on their default aesthetics: (i) those that only or mostly use foreground colors for their interaction model, and (ii) those that combine background and foreground values for some of their metaphors. The former category encompasses Icomplete, Ido, Selectrum, Vertico, as well as pattern matching styles like Orderless and Flx. The latter covers Helm, Ivy, and Sallet.

A value of nil (the default) will simply respect the metaphors of each completion framework.

Option moderate applies a combination of background and foreground that is fairly subtle. For Icomplete and friends this constitutes a departure from their default aesthetics, however the difference is small. While Helm, Ivy et al appear slightly different than their original looks, as they are toned down a bit.

Option opinionated uses color combinations that refashion the completion UI. For the Icomplete camp this means that intense background and foreground combinations are used: in effect their looks emulate those of Helm, Ivy and co. in their original style. Whereas the other group of packages will revert to an even more nuanced aesthetic with some additional changes to the choice of hues.

To appreciate the scope of this customization option, you should spend some time with every one of the nil (default), moderate, and opinionated possibilities.

Option for mail citations

Symbol: modus-themes-mail-citations

Possible values:

nil (default)
faint
monochrome

By default, citations in email-related buffers apply contrasting hues to different levels of depth in cited text. The colors are fairly easy to tell apart.

A value of faint makes all citation levels less intense, while retaining the default style of contrasting hues (albeit very subtle ones).

Option monochrome turns all citations in to a uniform shade of gray.

Whatever the value assigned to this variable, citations in emails are controlled by typographic elements or indentation, which the themes do not touch.

Option for fringe visibility

Symbol: modus-themes-fringes

Possible values:

nil (default)
subtle
intense

The default is to use the same color as that of the main background, meaning that the fringes are not obvious though they still occupy the space given to them by fringe-mode.

Options subtle and intense apply a gray background, making the fringes visible. The difference between the two is one of degree, as their names imply.

Option for language checkers

Symbol: modus-themes-lang-checkers

Possible values are expressed as a list of properties (default is nil or an empty list). The list can include any of the following symbols:

straight-underline
text-also
background
intense

The default (a nil value or an empty list) applies a color-coded underline to the affected text, while it leaves the original foreground intact. If the display spec of Emacs has support for it, the underline's style is that of a wave, otherwise it is a straight line.

The property straight-underline ensures that the underline under the affected text is always drawn as a straight line.

The property text-also applies the same color of the underline to the affected text.

The property background adds a color-coded background.

The property intense amplifies the applicable colors if background and/or text-only are set. If intense is set on its own, then it implies text-only.

To disable fringe indicators for Flymake or Flycheck, refer to variables flymake-fringe-indicator-position and flycheck-indication-mode, respectively.

Combinations of any of those properties can be expressed in a list, as in those examples:

(background)
(straight-underline intense)
(background text-also straight-underline)

The order in which the properties are set is not significant.

In user configuration files the form may look like this:

(setq modus-themes-lang-checkers '(text-also background))

NOTE: The placement of the straight underline, though not the wave style, is controlled by the built-in variables underline-minimum-offset, x-underline-at-descent-line, x-use-underline-position-properties.

Option for line highlighting (hl-line-mode)

Symbol: modus-themes-hl-line

Possible values are expressed as a list of properties (default is nil or an empty list). The list can include any of the following symbols:

accented
intense
underline

The default (a nil value or an empty list) is a subtle gray background color.

The property accented changes the background to a colored variant.

An underline property draws a line below the highlighted area. Its color is similar to the background, so gray by default or an accent color when accented is also set.

An intense property amplifies the colors in use, which may be both the background and the underline.

Combinations of any of those properties are expressed as a list, like in these examples:

(intense)
(underline intense)
(accented intense underline)

The order in which the properties are set is not significant.

In user configuration files the form may look like this:

(setq modus-themes-hl-line '(underline accented))

Set x-underline-at-descent-line to a non-nil value for better results with underlines.

This style affects several packages that enable hl-line-mode, such as elfeed, notmuch, and mu4e.

Option for line numbers (display-line-numbers-mode)

Symbol: modus-themes-subtle-line-numbers

Possible value:

nil (default)
t

The default style for display-line-numbers-mode and its global variant is to apply a subtle gray background to the line numbers. The current line has a more pronounced background and foreground combination to bring more attention to itself.

Similarly, the faces for display-line-numbers-major-tick and its counterpart display-line-numbers-minor-tick use appropriate styles that involve a bespoke background and foreground combination.

With a non-nil value (t), line numbers have no background of their own. Instead they retain the primary background of the theme, blending with the rest of the buffer. Foreground values for all relevant faces are updated to accommodate this aesthetic.

Option for parenthesis matching (show-paren-mode)

Symbol: modus-themes-paren-match

Possible values are expressed as a list of properties (default is nil or an empty list). The list can include any of the following symbols:

bold
intense
underline

The default (a nil value or an empty list) is a subtle background color.

The bold property adds a bold weight to the characters of the matching delimiters.

The intense property applies a more prominent background color to the delimiters.

The underline property draws a straight line under the affected text.

Combinations of any of those properties are expressed as a list, like in these examples:

(bold)
(underline intense)
(bold intense underline)

The order in which the properties are set is not significant.

In user configuration files the form may look like this:

(setq modus-themes-paren-match '(bold intense))

This customization variable affects the built-in show-paren-mode and the smartparens package.

Option for active region

Symbol: modus-themes-region

Possible values are expressed as a list of properties (default is nil or an empty list). The list can include any of the following symbols:

no-extend
bg-only
accented

The default (a nil value or an empty list) is a prominent gray background that overrides all foreground colors in the area it encompasses. Its reach extends to the edge of the window.

The no-extend property limits the region to the end of the line, so that it does not reach the edge of the window.

The bg-only property makes the region's background color more subtle to allow the underlying text to retain its foreground colors.

The accented property applies a more colorful background to the region.

Combinations of any of those properties are expressed as a list, like in these examples:

(no-extend)
(bg-only accented)
(accented bg-only no-extend)

The order in which the properties are set is not significant.

In user configuration files the form may look like this:

(setq modus-themes-region '(bg-only no-extend))

Option for diff buffer looks

Symbol: modus-themes-diffs

Possible values:

nil (default)
desaturated
bg-only
deuteranopia
fg-only-deuteranopia

The default (nil) uses fairly intense color combinations for diffs, by applying prominently colored backgrounds, with appropriate foregrounds.

Option desaturated follows the same principles as with the default (nil), though it tones down all relevant colors.

Option bg-only applies a background but does not override the text's foreground. This makes it suitable for a non-nil value passed to diff-font-lock-syntax (note: Magit does not support syntax highlighting in diffs—last checked on 2021-04-21).

Option deuteranopia is like the default (nil) in terms of using prominently colored backgrounds, except that it also accounts for red-green color defficiency by replacing all instances of green with colors on the blue side of the spectrum. Other stylistic changes are made in the interest of optimizing for such a use-case.

Option fg-only-deuteranopia removes all colored backgrounds, except from word-wise or refined changes. Instead, it only uses color-coded foreground values to differentiate between added, removed, and changed lines. If a background is necessary to denote context, a subtle grayscale value is applied. The color used for added lines is a variant of blue to account for red-green color defficiency but also because green text alone is hard to discern in the diff's context (hard for our accessibility purposes). The fg-only option that existed in older versions of the themes is now an alias of fg-only-deuteranopia, in the interest of backward compatibility.

Option for org-mode block styles

Symbol: modus-themes-org-blocks

Possible values:

nil (default)
gray-background (value grayscale exists for backward compatibility)
tinted-background (value rainbow exists for backward compatibility)

The default means that the block has no distinct background of its own and uses the one that applies to the rest of the buffer.

Option gray-background applies a subtle gray background to the block's contents. It also affects the begin and end lines of the block: their background extends to the edge of the window for Emacs version >= 27 where the :extend keyword is recognized by set-face-attribute (this is contingent on the variable org-fontify-whole-block-delimiter-line).

Option tinted-background uses a slightly colored background for the contents of the block. The exact color will depend on the programming language and is controlled by the variable org-src-block-faces (refer to the theme's source code for the current association list). For this to take effect, Org must be restarted with

M-x org-mode-restart

Code blocks use their major mode's colors only when the variable org-src-fontify-natively is non-nil. While quote/verse blocks require setting org-fontify-quote-and-verse-blocks to a non-nil value.

Older versions of the themes provided options grayscale (or greyscale) and rainbow. Those will continue to work as they are aliases for gray-background and tinted-background, respectively.

Option for Org agenda constructs

Symbol: modus-themes-org-agenda

This is an alist that accepts a (key . value) combination. Some values are specified as a list. Here is a sample, followed by a description of all possible combinations:

(setq modus-themes-org-agenda
      '((header-block . (variable-pitch scale-title))
        (header-date . (grayscale workaholic bold-today))
        (scheduled . uniform)
        (habit . traffic-light)))

A header-block key applies to elements that concern the headings which demarcate blocks in the structure of the agenda. By default (a nil value) those are rendered in a bold typographic weight, plus a height that is slightly taller than the default font size. Acceptable values come in the form of a list that can include either or both of those properties:

variable-pitch to use a proportionately spaced typeface;
scale-title to increase the size to the number assigned to modus-themes-scale-title (Control the scale of headings) or no-scale to make the font use the same height as the rest of the buffer.

In case both scale-title and no-scale are in the list, the latter takes precedence.

Example usage:

(header-block . nil)
(header-block . (scale-title))
(header-block . (no-scale))
(header-block . (variable-pitch scale-title))

A header-date key covers date headings. Dates use only a foreground color by default (a nil value), with weekdays and weekends having a slight difference in hueness. The current date has an added gray background. This key accepts a list of values that can include any of the following properties:

grayscale to make weekdays use the main foreground color and weekends a more subtle gray;
workaholic to make weekdays and weekends look the same in terms of color;
bold-today to apply a bold typographic weight to the current date;
bold-all to render all date headings in a bold weight.

For example:

(header-date . nil)
(header-date . (workaholic))
(header-date . (grayscale bold-all))
(header-date . (grayscale workaholic))
(header-date . (grayscale workaholic bold-today))

A scheduled key applies to tasks with a scheduled date. By default (a nil value), those use varying shades of yellow to denote (i) a past or current date and (ii) a future date. Valid values are symbols:

nil (default);
uniform to make all scheduled dates the same color;
rainbow to use contrasting colors for past, present, future scheduled dates.

For example:

(scheduled . nil)
(scheduled . uniform)
(scheduled . rainbow)

A habit key applies to the org-habit graph. All possible value are passed as a symbol. Those are:

The default (nil) is meant to conform with the original aesthetic of org-habit. It employs all four color codes that correspond to the org-habit states—clear, ready, alert, and overdue—while distinguishing between their present and future variants. This results in a total of eight colors in use: red, yellow, green, blue, in tinted and shaded versions. They cover the full set of information provided by the org-habit consistency graph.
simplified is like the default except that it removes the dichotomy between current and future variants by applying uniform color-coded values. It applies a total of four colors: red, yellow, green, blue. They produce a simplified consistency graph that is more legible (or less busy) than the default. The intent is to shift focus towards the distinction between the four states of a habit task, rather than each state's present/future outlook.
traffic-light further reduces the available colors to red, yellow, and green. As in simplified, present and future variants appear uniformly, but differently from it, the clear state is rendered in a green hue, instead of the original blue. This is meant to capture the use-case where a habit task being too early is less important than it being too late. The difference between ready and clear states is attenuated by painting both of them using shades of green. This option thus highlights the alert and overdue states.
traffic-light-deuteranopia is like the traffic-light except its three colors are red, yellow, and blue to be suitable for users with red-green color deficiency (deuteranopia).

For example:

(habit . nil)
(habit . simplified)
(habit . traffic-light)

Putting it all together, the alist can look like this:

'((header-block . (scale-title variable-pitch))
  (header-date . (grayscale workaholic bold-today))
  (scheduled . uniform)
  (habit . traffic-light))

;; Or else:
(setq modus-themes-org-agenda
      '((header-block . (scale-title variable-pitch))
        (header-date . (grayscale workaholic bold-today))
        (scheduled . uniform)
        (habit . traffic-light)))

Option for the headings' overall style

Symbol: modus-themes-headings

This is an alist that accepts a (key . list-of-values) combination. The key is either a number, representing the heading's level or t, which pertains to the fallback style. The list of values covers symbols that refer to properties, as described below. Here is a sample, followed by a presentation of all available properties:

(setq modus-themes-headings
      '((1 . (background overline))
        (2 . (overline rainbow))
        (t . (monochrome))))

Properties:

rainbow
overline
background
no-bold
monochrome

By default (a nil value for this variable), all headings have a bold typographic weight and use a desaturated text color.

A rainbow property makes the text color more saturated.

An overline property draws a line above the area of the heading.

A background property adds a subtle tinted color to the background of the heading.

A no-bold property removes the bold weight from the heading's text.

A monochrome property makes all headings the same base color, which is that of the default for the active theme (black/white). When background is also set, monochrome changes its color to gray. If both monochrome and rainbow are set, the former takes precedence.

Combinations of any of those properties are expressed as a list, like in these examples:

(no-bold)
(rainbow background)
(overline monochrome no-bold)

The order in which the properties are set is not significant.

In user configuration files the form may look like this:

(setq modus-themes-headings
      '((1 . (background overline rainbow))
        (2 . (background overline))
        (t . (overline no-bold))))

When defining the styles per heading level, it is possible to pass a non-nil value (t) instead of a list of properties. This will retain the original aesthetic for that level. For example:

(setq modus-themes-headings
      '((1 . t)           ; keep the default style
        (2 . (background overline))
        (t . (rainbow)))) ; style for all other headings

(setq modus-themes-headings
      '((1 . (background overline))
        (2 . (rainbow no-bold))
        (t . t))) ; default style for all other levels

For Org users, the extent of the heading depends on the variable org-fontify-whole-heading-line. This affects the overline and background properties. Depending on the version of Org, there may be others, such as org-fontify-done-headline.

Option for scaled headings.

Option for variable-pitch font in headings.

Option for scaled headings

Symbol: modus-themes-scale-headings

Possible values:

nil (default)
t

The default is to use the same size for headings and paragraph text.

With a non-nil value (t) make headings larger in height relative to the main text. This is noticeable in modes like Org, Markdown, and Info.

Control the scale of headings

In addition to the toggle for enabling scaled headings, users can also specify a number of their own.

If it is a floating point, say, 1.5, it is interpreted as a multiple of the base font size. This is the recommended method, because it will always adapt to changes in the base font size, such as while using the text-scale-adjust command.
If it is an integer, it is read as an absolute font height that is 1/10 of the typographic point size. Thus a value of 18pt must be expressed as 180. Setting an absolute value is discouraged, as it will break the layout in cases where the base font size must change, such as with the text-scale-adjust command (Font configurations). While we discourage using absolute values, we still provide for this option for users who do not need to perform text-scaling operations or who are content with whatever discrepancies in height.

Below are the variables in their default values, using the floating point paradigm. The numbers are very conservative, but one is free to change them to their liking, such as 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, 1.8, 2.0—or use a resource for finding a consistent scale:

(setq modus-themes-scale-1 1.05
      modus-themes-scale-2 1.1
      modus-themes-scale-3 1.15
      modus-themes-scale-4 1.2
      modus-themes-scale-title 1.3)

As for the application of that scale, the variables that range from modus-themes-scale-1 up to modus-themes-scale-4 apply to regular headings within the context of the given major mode. The former is the smallest, while the latter is the largest. "Regular headings" are those that have a standard syntax for their scale, such as Org mode's eight levels of asterisks or Markdown's six columns.

Whereas modus-themes-scale-title is applied to special headings that do not conform with the aforementioned syntax, yet which are expected to be larger than the largest value on that implied scale or at least have some unique purpose in the buffer. Put concretely, Org's #+title meta datum is not part of the eight levels of headings in an Org file, yet is supposed to signify the primary header. Similarly, the Org Agenda's structure headings are not part of a recognisable scale and so they also get modus-themes-scale-title (Option for Org agenda constructs).

Users who wish to maintain scaled headings for the normal syntax while preventing special headings from standing out, can assign a value of 1.0 to modus-themes-scale-title to make it the same as body text (or whatever value would render it indistinguishable from the desired point of reference).

Note that in earlier versions of Org, scaling would only increase the size of the heading, but not of keywords that were added to it, like "TODO". The issue has been fixed upstream: <https://protesilaos.com/codelog/2020-09-24-org-headings-adapt/>.

Option for variable-pitch font in UI elements

Symbol: modus-themes-variable-pitch-ui

Possible values:

nil (default)
t

This option concerns User Interface elements that are under the direct control of Emacs. In particular: the mode line, header line, tab bar, and tab line.

The default is to use the same font as the rest of Emacs, which usually is a monospaced family.

With a non-nil value (t) apply a proportionately spaced typeface. This is done by assigning the variable-pitch face to the relevant items.

Option for variable-pitch font in headings

Symbol: modus-themes-variable-pitch-headings

Possible values:

nil (default)
t

The default is to use the main font family, which typically is monospaced.

With a non-nil value (t) apply a proportionately spaced typeface, else "variable-pitch", to headings (such as in Org mode).

A theme-agnostic hook for theme loading.

Advanced customization (do-it-yourself)

Unlike the predefined customization options which follow a clear pattern of allowing the user to quickly specify their preference, the themes also provide a more flexible, albeit difficult, mechanism to control things with precision (Customization Options).

This section is of interest only to users who are prepared to maintain their own local tweaks and who are willing to deal with any possible incompatibilities between versioned releases of the themes. As such, they are labelled as "do-it-yourself" or "DIY".

Per-theme customization settings (DIY)

If you prefer to maintain different customization options between the two themes, it is best you write your own functions that first set those options and then load the relevant theme. The following code does exactly that by simply differentiating the two themes on the choice of bold constructs in code syntax (enabled for one, disabled for the other).

(defun my-demo-modus-operandi ()
  (interactive)
  (setq modus-themes-bold-constructs t) ; ENABLE bold
  (modus-themes-load-operandi))

(defun my-demo-modus-vivendi ()
  (interactive)
  (setq modus-themes-bold-constructs nil) ; DISABLE bold
  (modus-themes-load-vivendi))

(defun my-demo-modus-themes-toggle ()
  (if (eq (car custom-enabled-themes) 'modus-operandi)
      (my-demo-modus-vivendi)
    (my-demo-modus-operandi)))

Then assign my-demo-modus-themes-toggle to a key instead of the equivalent the themes provide.

For a more elaborate design, it is better to inspect the source code of modus-themes-toggle and relevant functions.

Case-by-case face specs using the themes' palette (DIY)

This section is about tweaking individual faces. If you plan to do things at scale, consult the next section: Set multiple faces.

We already covered in previous sections how to toggle between the themes and how to configure options prior to loading. We also explained that some of the functions made available to users will fire up a hook that can be used to pass tweaks in the post-theme-load phase.

Now assume you wish to change a single face, say, the cursor. And you would like to get the standard "blue" color value of the active Modus theme, whether it is Modus Operandi or Modus Vivendi. To do that, you can use the modus-themes-color function. It accepts a symbol that is associated with a color in modus-themes-operandi-colors and modus-themes-vivendi-colors. Like this:

(modus-themes-color 'blue)

The function always extracts the color value of the active Modus theme.

(progn
  (load-theme 'modus-operandi t)
  (modus-themes-color 'blue))           ; "#0031a9" for `modus-operandi'

(progn
  (load-theme 'modus-vivendi t)
  (modus-themes-color 'blue))           ; "#2fafff" for `modus-vivendi'

C-h v

on the aforementioned variables to check all the available symbols that can be passed to this function.

With that granted, let us expand the example to actually change the cursor face's background property. We employ the built-in function of set-face-attribute:

(set-face-attribute 'cursor nil :background (modus-themes-color 'blue))

If you evaluate this form, your cursor will become blue. But if you change themes, such as with modus-themes-toggle, your edits will be lost, because the newly loaded theme will override the :background attribute you had assigned to that face.

For such changes to persist, we need to make them after loading the theme. So we rely on modus-themes-after-load-theme-hook, which gets called from modus-themes-load-operandi, modus-themes-load-vivendi, as well as the command modus-themes-toggle. Here is a sample function that tweaks two faces and then gets added to the hook:

(defun my-modus-themes-custom-faces ()
  (set-face-attribute 'cursor nil :background (modus-themes-color 'blue))
  (set-face-attribute 'font-lock-type-face nil :foreground (modus-themes-color 'magenta-alt)))

(add-hook 'modus-themes-after-load-theme-hook #'my-modus-themes-custom-faces)

Using this principle, it is possible to override the styles of faces without having to find color values for each case.

Another application is to control the precise weight for bold constructs. This is particularly useful if your typeface has several variants such as "heavy", "extrabold", "semibold". All you have to do is edit the bold face. For example:

(set-face-attribute 'bold nil :weight 'semibold)

Remember to use the custom function and hook combo we demonstrated above. Because the themes do not hard-wire a specific weight, this simple form is enough to change the weight of all bold constructs throughout the interface.

Finally, there are cases where you want to tweak colors though wish to apply different ones to each theme, say, a blue hue for Modus Operandi and a shade of red for Modus Vivendi. To this end, we provide modus-themes-color-alts as a convenience function to save you from the trouble of writing separate wrappers for each theme. It still returns a single value by querying either of modus-themes-operandi-colors and modus-themes-vivendi-colors, only here you pass the two keys you want, first for modus-operandi then modus-vivendi.

Take the previous example with the cursor face:

;; Blue for `modus-operandi' and red for `modus-vivendi'
(set-face-attribute 'cursor nil :background (modus-themes-color-alts 'blue 'red))

Face specs at scale using the themes' palette (DIY)

The examples here are for large scale operations. For simple, one-off tweaks, you may prefer the approach documented in the previous section (Case-by-case face specs using the themes' palette).

The modus-themes-with-colors macro lets you retrieve multiple color values by employing the backquote/backtick and comma notation. The values are stored in the alists modus-themes-operandi-colors and modus-themes-vivendi-colors, while the macro always queries that of the active Modus theme.

Here is an abstract example that just returns a list of color values while modus-operandi is enabled:

(modus-themes-with-colors
  (list fg-main
        blue-faint
        magenta
        magenta-alt-other
        cyan-alt-other
        fg-special-cold
        blue-alt
        magenta-faint
        cyan
        fg-main
        green-faint
        red-alt-faint
        blue-alt-faint
        fg-special-warm
        cyan-alt
        blue))
;; =>
;; ("#000000" "#002f88" "#721045" "#5317ac"
;;  "#005a5f" "#093060" "#2544bb" "#752f50"
;;  "#00538b" "#000000" "#104410" "#702f00"
;;  "#003f78" "#5d3026" "#30517f" "#0031a9")

Getting a list of colors may have its applications, though what you are most likely interested in is how to use those variables to configure several faces at once. To do so we can rely on the built-in custom-set-faces function, which sets face specifications for the special user theme. That "theme" gets applied on top of regular themes like modus-operandi and modus-vivendi.

This is how it works:

(modus-themes-with-colors
  (custom-set-faces
   `(cursor ((,class :background ,blue)))
   `(mode-line ((,class :background ,yellow-nuanced-bg
                        :foreground ,yellow-nuanced-fg)))
   `(mode-line-inactive ((,class :background ,blue-nuanced-bg
                                 :foreground ,blue-nuanced-fg)))))

The above snippet will immediately refashion the faces it names once it is evaluated. However, if you switch between the Modus themes, say, from modus-operandi to modus-vivendi, the colors will not get updated to match those of the new theme. To make things work across the themes, we need to employ the same technique we discussed in the previous section, namely, to pass our changes at the post-theme-load phase via a hook.

The themes provide the modus-themes-after-load-theme-hook, which gets called from modus-themes-load-operandi, modus-themes-load-vivendi, as well as the command modus-themes-toggle. With this knowledge, you can wrap the macro in a function and then assign that function to the hook. Thus:

(defun my-modus-themes-custom-faces ()
  (modus-themes-with-colors
    (custom-set-faces
     `(cursor ((,class :background ,blue)))
     `(mode-line ((,class :background ,yellow-nuanced-bg
                          :foreground ,yellow-nuanced-fg)))
     `(mode-line-inactive ((,class :background ,blue-nuanced-bg
                                   :foreground ,blue-nuanced-fg))))))

(add-hook 'modus-themes-after-load-theme-hook #'my-modus-themes-custom-faces)

A theme-agnostic hook for theme loading.

To discover the faces defined by all loaded libraries, you may do

M-x list-faces-display

. Be warned that when you :inherit a face you are introducing an implicit dependency, so try to avoid doing so for libraries other than the built-in

faces.el

(or at least understand that things may break if you inherit from a yet-to-be-loaded face).

Also bear in mind that these examples are meant to work with the Modus themes. If you are cycling between multiple themes you may encounter unforeseen issues, such as the colors of the Modus themes being applied to a non-Modus item.

Finally, note that you can still use other functions where those make sense. For example, the modus-themes-color-alts that was discussed in the previous section. Adapt the above example like this:

...
(modus-themes-with-colors
  (custom-set-faces
   `(cursor ((,class :background ,(modus-themes-color-alts 'blue 'green))))
   ...))

Remap face with local value (DIY)

There are cases where we need to change the buffer-local attributes of a face. This might be because we have our own minor mode that re-uses a face for a particular purpose, such as a line selection tool that activates hl-line-mode, but we wish to keep it distinct from other buffers. This is where face-remap-add-relative can be applied and may be combined with modus-themes-with-colors to deliver consistent results.

Option for no font mixing.

In this example we will write a simple interactive function that adjusts the background color of the region face. This is the sample code:

(defvar my-rainbow-region-colors
  (modus-themes-with-colors
    `((red . ,red-subtle-bg)
      (green . ,green-subtle-bg)
      (yellow . ,yellow-subtle-bg)
      (blue . ,blue-subtle-bg)
      (magenta . ,magenta-subtle-bg)
      (cyan . ,cyan-subtle-bg)))
  "Sample list of color values for `my-rainbow-region'.")

(defun my-rainbow-region (color)
  "Remap buffer-local attribute of `region' using COLOR."
  (interactive
   (list
    (completing-read "Pick a color: " my-rainbow-region-colors)))
  (face-remap-add-relative
   'region
   `( :background ,(alist-get (intern color) my-rainbow-region-colors)
      :foreground ,(face-attribute 'default :foreground))))

When my-rainbow-region is called interactively, it prompts for a color to use. The list of candidates is drawn from the car of each association in my-rainbow-region-colors (so "red", "green", etc.).

To extend this principle, we may write wrapper functions that pass a color directly. Those can be useful in tandem with hooks. Consider this example:

(defun my-rainbow-region-magenta ()
  (my-rainbow-region 'magenta))

(add-hook 'diff-mode-hook #'my-rainbow-region-magenta)

Whenever we enter a diff-mode buffer, we now get a magenta-colored region.

Perhaps you may wish to generalise those findings in to a set of functions that also accept an arbitrary face. We shall leave the experimentation up to you.

Cycle through arbitrary colors (DIY)

Users may opt to customize individual faces of the themes to accommodate their particular needs. One such case is with the color intensity of comments, specifically the foreground of font-lock-comment-face. The Modus themes set that to a readable value, in accordance with their accessibility objective, though users may prefer to lower the overall contrast on an on-demand basis.

One way to achieve this is to design a command that cycles through three distinct levels of intensity, though the following can be adapted to any kind of cyclic behaviour, such as to switch between red, green, and blue.

In the following example, we employ the modus-themes-color function which reads a symbol that represents an entry in the active theme's color palette (Case-by-case face specs using the themes' palette). Those are stored in my-modus-themes-comment-colors.

(defvar my-modus-themes-comment-colors
  ;; We are abusing the palette here, as those colors have their own
  ;; purpose in the palette, so please ignore the semantics of their
  ;; names.
  '((low . bg-region)
    (medium . bg-tab-inactive-alt)
    (high . fg-alt))
  "Alist of levels of intensity mapped to color palette entries.
The entries are found in `modus-themes-operandi-colors' or
`modus-themes-vivendi-colors'.")

(defvar my-modus-themes--adjust-comment-color-state nil
  "The cyclic state of `my-modus-themes-adjust-comment-color'.
For internal use.")

(defun my-modus-themes--comment-foreground (degree state)
  "Set `font-lock-comment-face' foreground.
Use `my-modus-themes-comment-colors' to extract the color value
for each level of intensity.

This is complementary to `my-modus-themes-adjust-comment-color'."
  (let ((palette-colors my-modus-themes-comment-colors))
    (set-face-foreground
     'font-lock-comment-face
     (modus-themes-color (alist-get degree palette-colors)))
    (setq my-modus-themes--adjust-comment-color-state state)
    (message "Comments are set to %s contrast" degree)))

(defun my-modus-themes-adjust-comment-color ()
  "Cycle through levels of intensity for comments.
The levels are determined by `my-modus-themes-comment-colors'."
  (interactive)
  (pcase my-modus-themes--adjust-comment-color-state
    ('nil
     (my-modus-themes--comment-foreground 'low 1))
    (1
     (my-modus-themes--comment-foreground 'medium 2))
    (_
     (my-modus-themes--comment-foreground 'high nil))))

With the above,

M-x my-modus-themes-adjust-comment-color

will cycle through the three levels of intensity that have been specified.

Another approach is to not read from the active theme's color palette and instead provide explicit color values, either in hexadecimal RGB notation (like #123456) or as the names that are displayed in the output of

M-x list-colors-display

. In this case, the alist with the colors will have to account for the active theme, so as to set the appropriate colors. While this introduces a bit more complexity, it ultimately offers greater flexibility on the choice of colors for such a niche functionality (so there is no need to abuse the palette of the active Modus theme):

(defvar my-modus-themes-comment-colors
  '((light . ((low . "gray75")
              (medium . "gray50")
              (high . "#505050")))      ; the default for `modus-operandi'

    (dark . ((low . "gray25")
             (medium . "gray50")
             (high . "#a8a8a8"))))      ; the default for `modus-vivendi'
  "Alist of levels of intensity mapped to color values.
For such colors, consult the command `list-colors-display'.  Pass
the name of a color or its hex value.")

(defvar my-modus-themes--adjust-comment-color-state nil
  "The cyclic state of `my-modus-themes-adjust-comment-color'.
For internal use.")

(defun my-modus-themes--comment-foreground (degree state)
    "Set `font-lock-comment-face' foreground.
Use `my-modus-themes-comment-colors' to extract the color value
for each level of intensity.

This is complementary to `my-modus-themes-adjust-comment-color'."
  (let* ((colors my-modus-themes-comment-colors)
         (levels (pcase (car custom-enabled-themes)
                   ('modus-operandi (alist-get 'light colors))
                   ('modus-vivendi (alist-get 'dark colors)))))
    (set-face-foreground
     'font-lock-comment-face
     (alist-get degree levels))
    (setq my-modus-themes--adjust-comment-color-state state)
    (message "Comments are set to %s contrast" degree)))

(defun my-modus-themes-adjust-comment-color ()
  "Cycle through levels of intensity for comments.
The levels are determined by `my-modus-themes-comment-colors'."
  (interactive)
  (pcase my-modus-themes--adjust-comment-color-state
    ('nil
     (my-modus-themes--comment-foreground 'low 1))
    (1
     (my-modus-themes--comment-foreground 'medium 2))
    (_
     (my-modus-themes--comment-foreground 'high nil))))

The effect of the above configurations on font-lock-comment-face is global. To make it buffer-local, one must tweak the code to employ the function face-remap-add-relative (Remap face with local value).

So this form in my-modus-themes--comment-foreground:

;; example 1
(...
 (set-face-foreground
  'font-lock-comment-face
  (modus-themes-color (alist-get degree palette-colors)))
 ...)

;; example 2
(...
 (set-face-foreground
  'font-lock-comment-face
  (alist-get degree levels))
 ...)

Must become this:

;; example 1
(...
 (face-remap-add-relative
  'font-lock-comment-face
  `(:foreground ,(modus-themes-color (alist-get degree palette-colors))))
 ...)

;; example 2
(...
 (face-remap-add-relative
  'font-lock-comment-face
  `(:foreground ,(alist-get degree levels)))
 ...)

Override colors (DIY)

The themes provide a mechanism for overriding their color values. This is controlled by the variables modus-themes-operandi-color-overrides and modus-themes-vivendi-color-overrides, which are alists that should mirror a subset of the associations in modus-themes-operandi-colors and modus-themes-vivendi-colors respectively. As with all customisations, overriding must be done before loading the affected theme.

Let us approach the present topic one step at a time. Here is a simplified excerpt of the default palette for Modus Operandi with some basic background values that apply to buffers and the mode line (remember to inspect the actual value to find out all the associations that can be overridden):

(defconst modus-themes-operandi-colors
  '((bg-main . "#ffffff")
    (bg-dim . "#f8f8f8")
    (bg-alt . "#f0f0f0")
    (bg-active . "#d7d7d7")
    (bg-inactive . "#efefef")))

As one can tell, we bind a key to a hexadecimal RGB color value. Now say we wish to override those specific values and have our changes propagate to all faces that use those keys. We could write something like this, which adds a subtle ochre tint:

(setq modus-themes-operandi-color-overrides
      '((bg-main . "#fefcf4")
        (bg-dim . "#faf6ef")
        (bg-alt . "#f7efe5")
        (bg-active . "#e8dfd1")
        (bg-inactive . "#f6ece5")))

Once this is evaluated, any subsequent loading of modus-operandi will use those values instead of the defaults. No further intervention is required.

To reset the changes, we apply this and reload the theme:

(setq modus-themes-operandi-color-overrides nil)

Users who wish to leverage such a mechanism can opt to implement it on-demand by means of a global minor mode. The following snippet covers both themes and expands to some more assosiations in the palette:

(define-minor-mode my-modus-themes-tinted
  "Tweak some Modus themes colors."
  :init-value nil
  :global t
  (if my-modus-themes-tinted
      (setq modus-themes-operandi-color-overrides
            '((bg-main . "#fefcf4")
              (bg-dim . "#faf6ef")
              (bg-alt . "#f7efe5")
              (bg-hl-line . "#f4f0e3")
              (bg-active . "#e8dfd1")
              (bg-inactive . "#f6ece5")
              (bg-region . "#c6bab1")
              (bg-header . "#ede3e0")
              (bg-tab-bar . "#dcd3d3")
              (bg-tab-active . "#fdf6eb")
              (bg-tab-inactive . "#c8bab8")
              (fg-unfocused . "#55556f"))
            modus-themes-vivendi-color-overrides
            '((bg-main . "#100b17")
              (bg-dim . "#161129")
              (bg-alt . "#181732")
              (bg-hl-line . "#191628")
              (bg-active . "#282e46")
              (bg-inactive . "#1a1e39")
              (bg-region . "#393a53")
              (bg-header . "#202037")
              (bg-tab-bar . "#262b41")
              (bg-tab-active . "#120f18")
              (bg-tab-inactive . "#3a3a5a")
              (fg-unfocused . "#9a9aab")))
    (setq modus-themes-operandi-color-overrides nil
          modus-themes-vivendi-color-overrides nil)))

With this in place, one can invoke

M-x my-modus-themes-tinted

and then load the Modus theme of their choice. The new palette subset will come into effect: subtle ochre tints for Modus Operandi and night sky shades for Modus Vivendi. Switching between the two themes, such as with

M-x modus-themes-toggle

will also use the overrides.

Given that this is a user-level customisation, one is free to implement whatever color values they desire, even if the possible combinations fall below the minimum 7:1 contrast ratio that governs the design of the themes (the WCAG AAA legibility standard). Alternatively, this can also be done programmatically (Override color saturation).

For manual interventions it is advised to inspect the source code of modus-themes-operandi-colors and modus-themes-vivendi-colors for the inline commentary: it explains what the intended use of each palette subset is.

Furthermore, users may benefit from the modus-themes-contrast function that we provide: test color combinations. It measures the contrast ratio between two color values, so it can help in overriding the palette (or a subset thereof) without making the end result inaccessible.

Override color saturation (DIY)

In the previous section we documented how one can override color values manually (Override colors). Here we use a programmatic approach which leverages the built-in color-saturate-name function to adjust the saturation of all color values used by the active Modus theme. Our goal is to prepare a counterpart of the active theme's palette that holds modified color values, adjusted for a percent change in saturation. A positive number amplifies the effect, while a negative one will move towards a grayscale spectrum.

We start with a function that can be either called from Lisp or invoked interactively. In the former scenario, we pass to it the rate of change we want. While in the latter, a minibuffer prompt asks for a number to apply the desired effect. In either case, we intend to assign anew the value of modus-themes-operandi-color-overrides (light theme) and the same for modus-themes-vivendi-color-overrides (dark theme).

(defun my-modus-themes-saturate (percent)
  "Saturate current Modus theme palette overrides by PERCENT."
  (interactive
   (list (read-number "Saturation by percent: ")))
  (let* ((theme (modus-themes--current-theme))
         (palette (pcase theme
                    ('modus-operandi modus-themes-operandi-colors)
                    ('modus-vivendi modus-themes-vivendi-colors)
                    (_ (error "No Modus theme is active"))))
         (overrides (pcase theme
                      ('modus-operandi 'modus-themes-operandi-color-overrides)
                      ('modus-vivendi 'modus-themes-vivendi-color-overrides)
                      (_ (error "No Modus theme is active")))))
    (let (name cons colors)
      (dolist (cons palette)
        (setq name (color-saturate-name (cdr cons) percent))
        (setq name (format "%s" name))
        (setq cons `(,(car cons) . ,name))
        (push cons colors))
      (set overrides colors))
    (pcase theme
      ('modus-operandi (modus-themes-load-operandi))
      ('modus-vivendi (modus-themes-load-vivendi)))))

;; sample Elisp calls (or call `my-modus-themes-saturate' interactively)
(my-modus-themes-saturate 50)
(my-modus-themes-saturate -75)

Using the above has an immediate effect, as it reloads the active Modus theme.

The my-modus-themes-saturate function stores new color values in the variables modus-themes-operandi-color-overrides and modus-themes-vivendi-color-overrides, meaning that it undoes changes implemented by the user on individual colors. To have both automatic saturation adjustment across the board and retain per-case edits to the palette, some tweaks to the above function are required. For example:

(defvar my-modus-themes-vivendi-extra-color-overrides
  '((fg-main . "#ead0c0")
    (bg-main . "#050515"))
  "My bespoke colors for `modus-vivendi'.")

(defvar my-modus-themes-operandi-extra-color-overrides
  '((fg-main . "#1a1a1a")
    (bg-main . "#fefcf4"))
  "My bespoke colors for `modus-operandi'.")

(defun my-modus-themes-saturate (percent)
  "Saturate current Modus theme palette overrides by PERCENT.
Preserve the color values stored in
`my-modus-themes-operandi-extra-color-overrides',
`my-modus-themes-vivendi-extra-color-overrides'."
  (interactive
   (list (read-number "Saturation by percent: ")))
  (let* ((theme (modus-themes--current-theme))
         (palette (pcase theme
                    ('modus-operandi modus-themes-operandi-colors)
                    ('modus-vivendi modus-themes-vivendi-colors)
                    (_ (error "No Modus theme is active"))))
         (overrides (pcase theme
                      ('modus-operandi 'modus-themes-operandi-color-overrides)
                      ('modus-vivendi 'modus-themes-vivendi-color-overrides)
                      (_ (error "No Modus theme is active"))))
         (extra-overrides (pcase theme
                            ('modus-operandi my-modus-themes-operandi-extra-color-overrides)
                            ('modus-vivendi my-modus-themes-vivendi-extra-color-overrides)
                            (_ (error "No Modus theme is active")))))
    (let (name cons colors)
      (dolist (cons palette)
        (setq name (color-saturate-name (cdr cons) percent))
        (setq name (format "%s" name))
        (setq cons `(,(car cons) . ,name))
        (push cons colors))
      (set overrides (append extra-overrides colors)))
    (pcase theme
      ('modus-operandi (modus-themes-load-operandi))
      ('modus-vivendi (modus-themes-load-vivendi)))))

To disable the effect, one must reset the aforementioned variables of the themes to nil. Or specify a command for it, such as by taking inspiration from the modus-themes-toggle we already provide:

(defun my-modus-themes-revert-overrides ()
  "Reset palette overrides and reload active Modus theme."
  (interactive)
  (setq modus-themes-operandi-color-overrides nil
        modus-themes-vivendi-color-overrides nil)
  (pcase (modus-themes--current-theme)
    ('modus-operandi (modus-themes-load-operandi))
    ('modus-vivendi (modus-themes-load-vivendi))))

Font configurations for Org and others (DIY)

The themes are designed to cope well with mixed font configurations.

This mostly concerns org-mode and markdown-mode, though expect to find it elsewhere like in Info-mode.

In practice it means that the user can safely opt for a more prose-friendly proportionately spaced typeface as their default, while letting spacing-sensitive elements like tables and inline code always use a monospaced font, by inheriting from the fixed-pitch face.

Users can try the built-in

M-x variable-pitch-mode

to see the effect in action.

To make everything use your desired font families, you need to configure the variable-pitch (proportional spacing) and fixed-pitch (monospaced) faces respectively. It may also be convenient to set your main typeface by configuring the default face the same way.

Put something like this in your initialization file (also consider reading the doc string of set-face-attribute):

;; Main typeface
(set-face-attribute 'default nil :family "DejaVu Sans Mono" :height 110)

;; Proportionately spaced typeface
(set-face-attribute 'variable-pitch nil :family "DejaVu Serif" :height 1.0)

;; Monospaced typeface
(set-face-attribute 'fixed-pitch nil :family "DejaVu Sans Mono" :height 1.0)

The next section shows how to make those work in a more elaborate setup that is robust to changes between the Modus themes.

Note for EWW and Elfeed fonts (SHR fonts).

Note the differences in the :height property. The default face must specify an absolute value, which is the point size × 10. So if you want to use a font at point size 11, you set the height to 110.[fn:: :height values do not need to be rounded to multiples of ten: the likes of 115 are perfectly valid—some typefaces will change to account for those finer increments.] Whereas every other face must have a value that is relative to the default, represented as a floating point (if you use an integer, then that means an absolute height). This is of paramount importance: it ensures that all fonts can scale gracefully when using something like the text-scale-adjust command which only operates on the base font size (i.e. the default face's absolute height).

Configure bold and italic faces (DIY)

The Modus themes do not hardcode a :weight or :slant attribute in the thousands of faces they cover. Instead, they configure the generic faces called bold and italic to use the appropriate styles and then instruct all relevant faces that require emphasis to inherit from them.

This practically means that users can change the particularities of what it means for a construct to be bold/italic, by tweaking the bold and italic faces. Cases where that can be useful include:

The default typeface does not have a variant with slanted glyphs (e.g. Fira Mono/Code as of this writing on 2021-07-07), so the user wants to add another family for the italics, such as Hack.
The typeface of choice provides a multitude of weights and the user prefers the light one by default. To prevent the bold weight from being too heavy compared to the light one, they opt to make bold use a semibold weight.
The typeface distinguishes between oblique and italic forms by providing different font variants (the former are just slanted versions of the upright forms, while the latter have distinguishing features as well). In this case, the user wants to specify the font that applies to the italic face.

To achieve those effects, one must first be sure that the fonts they use have support for those features. It then is a matter of following the instructions for all face tweaks.

A theme-agnostic hook for theme loading.

In this example, we set the default font family to Fira Code, while we choose to render italics in the Hack typeface (obviously you need to pick fonts that work well together):

(set-face-attribute 'default nil :family "Fira Code" :height 110)
(set-face-attribute 'italic nil :family "Hack")

And here we play with different weights, using Source Code Pro:

(set-face-attribute 'default nil :family "Source Code Pro" :height 110 :weight 'light)
(set-face-attribute 'bold nil :weight 'semibold)

To reset the font family, one can use this:

(set-face-attribute 'italic nil :family 'unspecified)

To ensure that the effects persist after switching between the Modus themes (such as with

M-x modus-themes-toggle

), the user needs to write their configurations to a function and hook it up to the modus-themes-after-load-theme-hook. This is necessary because the themes set the default styles of faces (otherwise changing themes would not be possible).

This is a minimal setup to preserve font configurations across theme load phases. For a more permanent setup, it is better to employ the custom-set-faces function: set-face-attribute works just fine, though it is more convenient for quick previews or for smaller scale operations (custom-set-faces follows the format used in the source code of the themes).

;; our generic function
(defun my-modes-themes-bold-italic-faces ()
  (set-face-attribute 'default nil :family "Source Code Pro" :height 110)
  (set-face-attribute 'bold nil :weight 'semibold))

;; or use this if you configure a lot of face and attributes and
;; especially if you plan to use `modus-themes-with-colors', as shown
;; elsewhere in the manual
(defun my-modes-themes-bold-italic-faces ()
  (custom-set-faces
   '(default ((t :family "Source Code Pro" :height 110)))
   '(bold ((t :weight semibold)))))

;; and here is the hook
(add-hook 'modus-themes-after-load-theme-hook #'my-modes-themes-bold-italic-faces)

Custom Org user faces (DIY)

Users of org-mode have the option to configure various keywords and priority cookies to better match their workflow. User options are org-todo-keyword-faces and org-priority-faces.

As those are meant to be custom faces, it is futile to have the themes guess what each user wants to use, which keywords to target, and so on. Instead, we can provide guidelines on how to customize things to one's liking with the intent of retaining the overall aesthetic of the themes.

Please bear in mind that the end result of those is not controlled by the active Modus theme but by how Org maps faces to its constructs. Editing those while org-mode is active requires re-initialization of the mode with

M-x org-mode-restart

for changes to take effect.

Let us assume you wish to visually differentiate your keywords. You have something like this:

(setq org-todo-keywords
      '((sequence "TODO(t)" "|" "DONE(D)" "CANCEL(C)")
        (sequence "MEET(m)" "|" "MET(M)")
        (sequence "STUDY(s)" "|" "STUDIED(S)")
        (sequence "WRITE(w)" "|" "WROTE(W)")))

You could then use a variant of the following to inherit from a face that uses the styles you want and also to preserve the properties applied by the org-todo face (in case there is a difference between the two):

(setq org-todo-keyword-faces
      '(("MEET" . '(font-lock-preprocessor-face org-todo))
        ("STUDY" . '(font-lock-variable-name-face org-todo))
        ("WRITE" . '(font-lock-type-face org-todo))))

This will refashion the keywords you specify, while letting the other items in org-todo-keywords use their original styles (which are defined in the org-todo and org-done faces).

If you want back the defaults, try specifying just the org-todo face:

(setq org-todo-keyword-faces
      '(("MEET" . org-todo)
        ("STUDY" . org-todo)
        ("WRITE" . org-todo)))

When you inherit from multiple faces, you need to quote the list as shown further above. The order is significant: the first entry is applied on top of the second, overriding any properties that are explicitly set for both of them: any property that is not specified is not overridden, so, for example, if org-todo has a background and a foreground, while font-lock-type-face only has a foreground, the merged face will include the background of the former and the foreground of the latter. If you do not want to blend multiple faces, you do not need a quoted list. A pattern of keyword . face will suffice.

Both approaches can be used simultaneously, as illustrated in this configuration of the priority cookies:

(setq org-priority-faces
      '((?A . '(org-scheduled-today org-priority))
        (?B . org-priority)
        (?C . '(shadow org-priority))))

To find all the faces that are loaded in your current Emacs session, use as well and then specify the name of each of those Org variables demonstrated above. Their documentation strings will offer you further guidance.

Recall that the themes let you retrieve a color from their palette. Do it if you plan to control face attributes.

Custom face specs using the themes' palette.

Check color combinations.

Update Org block delimiter fontification (DIY)

As noted in the section about modus-themes-org-blocks, Org contains a variable that determines whether the block's begin and end lines are extended to the edge of the window (Option for org-mode block styles). The variable is org-fontify-whole-block-delimiter-line.

Users who change the style of Org blocks from time to time may prefer to automatically update delimiter line fontification, such as with the following setup:

(defun my-modus-themes-org-fontify-block-delimiter-lines ()
  "Match `org-fontify-whole-block-delimiter-line' to theme style.
Run this function at the post theme load phase, such as with the
`modus-themes-after-load-theme-hook'."
  (if (eq modus-themes-org-blocks 'gray-background)
      (setq org-fontify-whole-block-delimiter-line t)
    (setq org-fontify-whole-block-delimiter-line nil)))

(add-hook 'modus-themes-after-load-theme-hook
          #'my-modus-themes-org-fontify-block-delimiter-lines)

Then

M-x org-mode-restart

for changes to take effect, though manual intervention can be circumvented by tweaking the function thus:

(defun my-modus-themes-org-fontify-block-delimiter-lines ()
  "Match `org-fontify-whole-block-delimiter-line' to theme style.
Run this function at the post theme load phase, such as with the
`modus-themes-after-load-theme-hook'."
  (if (eq modus-themes-org-blocks 'gray-background)
      (setq org-fontify-whole-block-delimiter-line t)
    (setq org-fontify-whole-block-delimiter-line nil))
  (when (derived-mode-p 'org-mode)
    (font-lock-flush)))

Measure color contrast (DIY)

The themes provide the functions modus-themes-wcag-formula and modus-themes-contrast. The former is a direct implementation of the WCAG formula: <https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/G18.html>. It calculates the relative luminance of a color value that is expressed in hexadecimal RGB notation. While the latter function is just a convenient wrapper for comparing the relative luminance between two colors.

In practice, one needs to work only with modus-themes-contrast. It accepts two color values and returns their contrast ratio. Values range from 1 to 21 (lowest to highest). The themes are designed to always be equal or higher than 7 for each combination of background and foreground that they use (this is the WCAG AAA standard—the most demanding of its kind).

A couple of examples (rounded numbers):

;; Pure white with pure green
(modus-themes-contrast "#ffffff" "#00ff00")
;; => 1.37
;; That is an outright inaccessible combo

;; Pure black with pure green
(modus-themes-contrast "#000000" "#00ff00")
;; => 15.3
;; That is is a highly accessible combo

It does not matter which color value comes first. The ratio is always the same.

If one does not wish to read all the decimal points, it is possible to try something like this:

(format "%0.2f" (modus-themes-contrast "#000000" "#00ff00"))

While it is fine to perform such calculations on a case-by-case basis, it is preferable to implement formulas and tables for more demanding tasks. Such instruments are provided by org-mode or orgtbl-mode, both of which are built into Emacs. Below is such a table that derives the contrast ratio of all colors in the first column (pure red, green, blue) relative to the color specified in the first row of the second column (pure white) and rounds the results:

|         | #ffffff |
|---------+---------|
| #ff0000 |    4.00 |
| #00ff00 |    1.37 |
| #0000ff |    8.59 |
#+tblfm: $2='(modus-themes-contrast $1 @1$2);%0.2f

To measure color contrast one needs to start from a known value. This typically is the background. The Modus themes define an expanded palette in large part because certain colors are only meant to be used in combination with some others. Consult the source code for the minutia and relevant commentary.

Such knowledge may prove valuable while attempting to override some of the themes' colors: Override colors.

Load theme depending on time of day (DIY)

While we do provide modus-themes-toggle to manually switch between the themes, users may also set up their system to perform such a task automatically at sunrise and sunset.

This can be accomplished by specifying the coordinates of one's location using the built-in

solar.el

and then configuring the circadian package:

(use-package solar                      ; built-in
  :config
  (setq calendar-latitude 35.17
        calendar-longitude 33.36))

(use-package circadian                  ; you need to install this
  :ensure
  :after solar
  (setq circadian-themes '((:sunrise . modus-operandi)
                           (:sunset  . modus-vivendi)))
  (circadian-setup))

Backdrop for pdf-tools (DIY)

Most PDF files use a white background for their page, making it impossible to discern the file's boundaries in the buffer while using the Modus Operandi theme. To introduce a distinction between the buffer's backdrop and the PDF page's background, the former must be rendered as some shade of gray. Ideally, pdf-tools would provide a face that the themes could support directly, though this does not seem to be the case for the time being. We must thus employ the face remapping technique that is documented elsewhere in this document to change the buffer-local value of the default face.

Remap face with local value.

To remap the buffer's backdrop, we start with a function like this one:

(defun my-pdf-tools-backdrop ()
  (face-remap-add-relative
   'default
   `(:background ,(modus-themes-color 'bg-alt))))

(add-hook 'pdf-tools-enabled-hook #'my-pdf-tools-backdrop)

The idea is to assign that function to a hook that gets called when pdf-tools renders the document: pdf-tools-enabled-hook. This is enough when you only use one theme. However it has the downside of setting the background color value only at render time. In other words, the face remapping function does not get evaluated anew whenever the theme changes, such as upon invoking

M-x modus-themes-toggle

To have our face remapping adapt gracefully while switching between the Modus themes, we need to also account for the current theme and control the activation of pdf-view-midnight-minor-mode. To which end we arrive at something like the following, which builds on the above example:

(defun my-pdf-tools-backdrop ()
  (face-remap-add-relative
   'default
   `(:background ,(modus-themes-color 'bg-alt))))

(defun my-pdf-tools-midnight-mode-toggle ()
  (when (derived-mode-p 'pdf-view-mode)
    (if (eq (car custom-enabled-themes) 'modus-vivendi)
        (pdf-view-midnight-minor-mode 1)
      (pdf-view-midnight-minor-mode -1))
    (my-pdf-tools-backdrop)))

(add-hook 'pdf-tools-enabled-hook #'my-pdf-tools-midnight-mode-toggle)
(add-hook 'modus-themes-after-load-theme-hook #'my-pdf-tools-midnight-mode-toggle)

With those in place, PDFs have a distinct backdrop for their page, while they automatically switch to their dark mode when modus-themes-toggle is called from inside a buffer whose major-mode is pdf-view-mode.

A theme-agnostic hook for theme loading (DIY)

The themes are designed with the intent to be useful to Emacs users of varying skill levels, from beginners to experts. This means that we try to make things easier by not expecting anyone reading this document to be proficient in Emacs Lisp or programming in general.

Such a case is with the use of the modus-themes-after-load-theme-hook, which runs after modus-themes-toggle, modus-themes-load-operandi, or modus-themes-load-vivendi is evaluated. We recommend using that hook for advanced customizations, because (1) we know for sure that it is available once the themes are loaded, and (2) anyone consulting this manual, especially the sections on enabling and loading the themes, will be in a good position to benefit from that hook.

Advanced users who have a need to switch between the Modus themes and other items will find that such a hook does not meet their requirements: it only works with the Modus themes and only with the aforementioned functions.

A theme-agnostic setup can be configured thus:

(defvar after-enable-theme-hook nil
   "Normal hook run after enabling a theme.")

(defun run-after-enable-theme-hook (&rest _args)
   "Run `after-enable-theme-hook'."
   (run-hooks 'after-enable-theme-hook))

(advice-add 'enable-theme :after #'run-after-enable-theme-hook)

This creates the after-enable-theme-hook and makes it run after each call to enable-theme, which means that it will work for all themes and also has the benefit that it does not depend on functions such as modus-themes-toggle and the others mentioned above. enable-theme is called internally by load-theme, so the hook works everywhere.

Now this specific piece of Elisp may be simple for experienced users, but it is not easy to read for newcomers, including the author of the Modus themes for the first several months of their time as an Emacs user. Hence our hesitation to recommend it as part of the standard setup of the Modus themes (it is generally a good idea to understand what the implications are of advising a function).

Face coverage

The Modus themes try to provide as close to full face coverage as possible. This is necessary to ensure a consistently accessible reading experience across all available interfaces.

Full support for packages or face groups

This list will always be updated to reflect the current state of the project. The idea is to offer an overview of the known status of all affected face groups. The items with an appended asterisk * tend to have lots of extensions, so the "full support" may not be 100% true…

ace-window
ag
alert
all-the-icons
annotate
anzu
apropos
apt-sources-list
artbollocks-mode
auctex and TeX
auto-dim-other-buffers
avy
awesome-tray
bbdb
binder
bm
bongo
boon
bookmark
breakpoint (provided by the built-in
gdb-mi.el
library)
buffer-expose
calendar and diary
calfw
centaur-tabs
cfrs
change-log and log-view (such as vc-print-log, vc-print-root-log)
cider
circe
color-rg
column-enforce-mode
company-mode*
company-posframe
compilation-mode
completions
consult
corfu
counsel*
counsel-css
counsel-org-capture-string
cov
cperl-mode
css-mode
csv-mode
ctrlf
custom (what you get with
M-x customize
)
dap-mode
dashboard (emacs-dashboard)
deadgrep
debbugs
define-word
deft
dictionary
diff-hl
diff-mode
dim-autoload
dir-treeview
dired
dired-async
dired-git
dired-git-info
dired-narrow
dired-subtree
diredc
diredfl
diredp (dired+)
disk-usage
display-fill-column-indicator-mode
doom-modeline
dynamic-ruler
easy-jekyll
easy-kill
ebdb
ediff
eglot
el-search
eldoc-box
elfeed
elfeed-score
embark
emms
enh-ruby-mode (enhanced-ruby-mode)
epa
equake
erc
eros
ert
eshell
eshell-fringe-status
eshell-git-prompt
eshell-prompt-extras (epe)
eshell-syntax-highlighting
evil* (evil-mode)
evil-goggles
evil-snipe
evil-visual-mark-mode
eww
exwm
eyebrowse
fancy-dabbrev
flycheck
flycheck-color-mode-line
flycheck-indicator
flycheck-posframe
flymake
flyspell
flyspell-correct
flx
freeze-it
frog-menu
focus
fold-this
font-lock (generic syntax highlighting)
forge
fountain (fountain-mode)
geiser
git-commit
git-gutter (and variants)
git-lens
git-rebase
git-timemachine
git-walktree
gnus
gotest
golden-ratio-scroll-screen
helm*
helm-ls-git
helm-switch-shell
helm-xref
helpful
highlight-blocks
highlight-defined
highlight-escape-sequences (hes-mode)
highlight-indentation
highlight-numbers
highlight-symbol
highlight-tail
highlight-thing
hl-defined
hl-fill-column
hl-line-mode
hl-todo
hydra
hyperlist
ibuffer
icomplete
icomplete-vertical
ido-mode
iedit
iflipb
imenu-list
indium
info
info-colors
interaction-log
ioccur
isearch, occur, etc.
isl (isearch-light)
ivy*
ivy-posframe
jira (org-jira)
journalctl-mode
js2-mode
julia
jupyter
kaocha-runner
keycast
ledger-mode
line numbers (display-line-numbers-mode and global variant)
lsp-mode
lsp-ui
macrostep
magit
magit-imerge
make-mode
man
marginalia
markdown-mode
markup-faces (adoc-mode)
mentor
messages
minibuffer-line
minimap
mmm-mode
mode-line
mood-line
moody
mpdel
mu4e
mu4e-conversation
multiple-cursors
neotree
no-emoji
notmuch
num3-mode
nxml-mode
objed
orderless
org*
org-journal
org-noter
org-pomodoro
org-recur
org-roam
org-superstar
org-table-sticky-header
org-tree-slide
org-treescope
origami
outline-mode
outline-minor-faces
package (what you get with
M-x list-packages
)
page-break-lines
pandoc-mode
paradox
paren-face
parrot
pass
pdf-tools
persp-mode
perspective
phi-grep
phi-search
pkgbuild-mode
pomidor
popup
powerline
powerline-evil
prism (Note for prism.el)
proced
prodigy
pulse
quick-peek
racket-mode
rainbow-blocks
rainbow-identifiers
rainbow-delimiters
rcirc
recursion-indicator
regexp-builder (also known as re-builder)
rg (rg.el)
ripgrep
rmail
ruler-mode
sallet
selectrum
selectrum-prescient
semantic
sesman
shell-script-mode
shortdoc
show-paren-mode
shr
side-notes
sieve-mode
skewer-mode
smart-mode-line
smartparens
smerge
solaire
spaceline
speedbar
spell-fu
spray
stripes
suggest
switch-window
swiper
swoop
sx
symbol-overlay
syslog-mode
tab-bar-groups
tab-bar-mode
tab-line-mode
table (built-in table.el)
telega
telephone-line
terraform-mode
term
tomatinho
transient (pop-up windows such as Magit's)
trashed
treemacs
tty-menu
tuareg
typescript
undo-tree
vc (vc-dir.el, vc-hooks.el)
vc-annotate (the output of
C-x v g
)
vdiff
vertico
vimish-fold
visible-mark
visual-regexp
volatile-highlights
vterm
wcheck-mode
web-mode
wgrep
which-function-mode
which-key
whitespace-mode
window-divider-mode
winum
writegood-mode
woman
xah-elisp-mode
xref
xterm-color (and ansi-colors)
yaml-mode
yasnippet
ztree

Plus many other miscellaneous faces that are provided by the upstream GNU Emacs distribution.

Indirectly covered packages

These do not require any extra styles because they are configured to inherit from some basic faces or their dependencies which are directly supported by the themes.

counsel-notmuch
edit-indirect
evil-owl
fortran-mode
goggles
i3wm-config-mode
perl-mode
php-mode
rjsx-mode
swift-mode
tab-bar-echo-area

Notes on individual packages

This section covers information that may be of interest to users of individual packages.

Note on avy hints

Hints can appear everywhere, in wildly varying contexts, hence, their appearance, by necessity, is a compromise. However, there are various options for making them stand out. First is dimming the surroundings:

(setq avy-background t)

Dimming works well when you find it difficult to spot hints, any hint. Second is limiting the number of faces used by hints:

(setq avy-lead-faces
      '(avy-lead-face
        avy-lead-face-1
        avy-lead-face-1
        avy-lead-face-1
        avy-lead-face-1))

Limiting the number of faces works well with longer hints when you find it difficult to identify individual hints, especially with hints touching each other. The first character of the hint will have an intense color, the remaining ones the same neutral color.

Third is preferring commands that produce fewer candidates. Fewer hints is less noise: avy-goto-char-timer is an excellent alternative to avy-goto-char.

Note on calendar.el weekday and weekend colors

By default, the

M-x calendar

interface differentiates weekdays from weekends by applying a gray color to the former and a faint red to the latter. The idea for this approach is that the weekend should serve as a subtle warning that no work is supposed to be done on that day, per the design of traditional calendars.

Users who prefer all days to look the same can configure the variable calendar-weekend-days to either use gray of weekdays or the faint red of weekends uniformly.

;; All are treated like weekdays (gray color)
(setq calendar-weekend-days nil)

;; All are treated like weekends (red-faint color)
(setq calendar-weekend-days (number-sequence 0 6))

;; The default marks the Saturday and Sunday as the weekend
(setq calendar-weekend-days '(0 6))

For changes to take effect, the Calendar buffer needs to be generated anew.

Note on underlines in compilation buffers

Various buffers that produce compilation results or run tests on code apply an underline to the file names they reference or to relevant messages. Users may consider this unnecessary or excessive.

To outright disable the effect, use this:

(setq compilation-message-face nil)

If some element of differentiation is still desired, a good option is to render the affected text using the italic face:

(setq compilation-message-face 'italic)

Note on inline Latex in Org buffers

Org can work with inline latex and related syntax. To actually fontify those constructs, set the variable org-highlight-latex-and-related to the desired list of values (per its doc string). For example:

(setq org-highlight-latex-and-related '(latex script))

Remember to use

M-x org-mode-restart

for changes to take effect.

Note on dimmer.el

The

dimmer.el

library by Neil Okamoto can be configured to automatically dim the colors of inactive Emacs windows. To guarantee consistent results with the Modus themes, we suggest some tweaks to the default styles, such as in this minimal setup:

(use-package dimmer
  :config
  (setq dimmer-fraction 0.3)
  (setq dimmer-adjustment-mode :foreground)
  (setq dimmer-use-colorspace :rgb)

  (dimmer-mode 1))

Of the above, we strongly recommend the RGB color space because it is the one that remains faithful to the hueness of the colors used by the themes. Whereas the default CIELAB space has a tendency to distort colors in addition to applying the dim effect, which can be somewhat disorienting.

The value of the dimmer-fraction has been selected empirically. Users might prefer to tweak it further (increasing it makes the dim effect more pronounced).

Changing the dimmer-adjustment-mode is a matter of preference. Though because the Modus themes use black and white as their base colors, any other value for that variable will turn the main background gray. This inadvertently leads to the opposite of the intended utility of this package: it draws too much attention to unfocused windows.

Note on display-fill-column-indicator-mode

While designing the style for display-fill-column-indicator-mode, we stayed close to the mode's defaults: to apply a subtle foreground color to the fill-column-indicator face, which blends well with the rest of theme and is consistent with the role of that mode. This is to not upset the expectations of users.

Nevertheless, display-fill-column-indicator-mode has some known limitations pertaining to its choice of using typographic characters to draw its indicator. What should be a continuous vertical line might appear as a series of dashes in certain contexts or under specific conditions: a non-default value for line-spacing, scaled and/or variable-pitch headings have been observed to cause this effect.

Given that we cannot control such factors, it may be better for affected users to deviate from the default style of the fill-column-indicator face. Instead of setting a foreground color, one could use a background and have the foreground be indistinguishable from it. For example:

(modus-themes-with-colors
  (custom-set-faces
   `(fill-column-indicator ((,class :background ,bg-inactive
                                    :foreground ,bg-inactive)))))

Note on mmm-mode.el background colors

The faces used by

mmm-mode.el

are expected to have a colorful background, while they should not touch any foreground value. The idea is that they must not interfere with existing fontification. Those background colors need to be distinct from each other, such as an unambiguous red juxtaposed with a clear blue.

While this design may be internally consistent with the raison d'être of that library, it inevitably produces inaccessible color combinations.

There are two competing goals at play:

Legibility of the text, understood as the contrast ratio between the background and the foreground.
Semantic precision of each face which entails faithfulness to color-coding of the underlying background.

As the Modus themes are designed with the express purpose of conforming with the first point, we have to forgo the apparent color-coding of the background elements. Instead we use subtle colors that do not undermine the legibility of the affected text while they still offer a sense of added context.

Users who might prefer to fall below the minimum 7:1 contrast ratio in relative luminance (the accessibility target we conform with), can opt to configure the relevant faces on their own.

This example uses more vivid background colors, though it comes at the very high cost of degraded legibility.

(modus-themes-with-colors
  (custom-set-faces
   `(mmm-cleanup-submode-face ((,class :background ,yellow-refine-bg)))
   `(mmm-code-submode-face ((,class :background ,bg-active)))
   `(mmm-comment-submode-face ((,class :background ,blue-refine-bg)))
   `(mmm-declaration-submode-face ((,class :background ,cyan-refine-bg)))
   `(mmm-default-submode-face ((,class :background ,bg-alt)))
   `(mmm-init-submode-face ((,class :background ,magenta-refine-bg)))
   `(mmm-output-submode-face ((,class :background ,red-refine-bg)))
   `(mmm-special-submode-face ((,class :background ,green-refine-bg)))))

Note on prism.el

This package by Adam Porter, aka "alphapapa" or "github-alphapapa", implements an alternative to the typical coloration of code. Instead of highlighting the syntactic constructs, it applies color to different levels of depth in the code structure.

prism.el

offers a broad range of customisations, we cannot style it directly at the theme level: that would run contrary to the spirit of the package. Instead, we may offer preset color schemes. Those should offer a starting point for users to adapt to their needs.

In the following code snippets, we employ the modus-themes-with-colors macro: Face specs at scale using the themes' palette.

These are the minimum recommended settings with 16 colors:

(setq prism-num-faces 16)

(prism-set-colors
  :desaturations '(0) ; do not change---may lower the contrast ratio
  :lightens '(0)      ; same
  :colors (modus-themes-with-colors
            (list fg-main
                  magenta
                  cyan-alt-other
                  magenta-alt-other
                  blue
                  magenta-alt
                  cyan-alt
                  red-alt-other
                  green
                  fg-main
                  cyan
                  yellow
                  blue-alt
                  red-alt
                  green-alt-other
                  fg-special-warm)))

With 8 colors:

(setq prism-num-faces 8)

(prism-set-colors
  :desaturations '(0) ; do not change---may lower the contrast ratio
  :lightens '(0)      ; same
  :colors (modus-themes-with-colors
            (list fg-special-cold
                  magenta
                  magenta-alt-other
                  cyan-alt-other
                  fg-main
                  blue-alt
                  red-alt-other
                  cyan)))

And this is with 4 colors, which produces results that are the closest to the themes' default aesthetic:

(setq prism-num-faces 4)

(prism-set-colors
  :desaturations '(0) ; do not change---may lower the contrast ratio
  :lightens '(0)      ; same
  :colors (modus-themes-with-colors
            (list fg-main
                  cyan-alt-other
                  magenta-alt-other
                  magenta)))

If you need to apply desaturation and lightening, you can use what the

prism.el

documentation recommends, like this (adapting to the examples with the 4, 8, 16 colors):

(prism-set-colors
  :desaturations (cl-loop for i from 0 below 16 collect (* i 2.5))
  :lightens (cl-loop for i from 0 below 16 collect (* i 2.5))
  :colors (modus-themes-with-colors
            (list fg-main
                  cyan-alt-other
                  magenta-alt-other
                  magenta)))

Note on god-mode.el

The god-mode library does not provide faces that could be configured by the Modus themes. Users who would like to get some visual feedback on the status of

M-x god-mode

are instead encouraged by upstream to set up their own configurations, such as by changing the mode-line face (Advanced customization (do-it-yourself)). This is an adaptation of the approach followed in the upstream README:

(defun my-god-mode-update-mode-line ()
  "Make `mode-line' blue if God local mode is active."
  (modus-themes-with-colors
    (if god-local-mode
        (set-face-attribute 'mode-line nil
                            :foreground blue-active
                            :background bg-active-accent
                            :box blue)
      (set-face-attribute 'mode-line nil
                          :foreground fg-active
                          :background bg-active
                          :box fg-alt))))

(add-hook 'post-command-hook 'my-god-mode-update-mode-line)

We employ the modus-themes-with-colors which provides access to color variables defined by the active theme. Its use is covered elsewhere in this manual (Face specs at scale using the themes' palette). As for the attributes that can be passed to each face, start by consulting the documentation string of set-face-attribute.

Note on company-mode overlay pop-up

By default, the company-mode pop-up that lists completion candidates is drawn using an overlay. This creates alignment issues every time it is placed above a piece of text that has a different height than the default.

The solution recommended by the project's maintainer is to use an alternative front-end for drawing the pop-up which draws child frames instead of overlays.[fn:: https://github.com/company-mode/company-mode/issues/1010][fn:: https://github.com/tumashu/company-posframe/]

Note on ERC escaped color sequences

The built-in IRC client erc has the ability to colorise any text using escape sequences that start with ^C (inserted with

C-q C-c

) and are followed by a number for the foreground and background.[fn:: This page explains the basics, though it is not specific to Emacs: https://www.mirc.com/colors.html] Possible numbers are 0-15, with the first entry being the foreground and the second the background, separated by a comma. Like this ^C1,6. The minimum setup is this:

(add-to-list 'erc-modules 'irccontrols)
(setq erc-interpret-controls-p t
      erc-interpret-mirc-color t)

As this allows users the chance to make arbitrary combinations, it is impossible to guarantee a consistently high contrast ratio. All we can we do is provide guidance on the combinations that satisfy the accessibility standard of the themes:

Modus Operandi: Use foreground color 1 for all backgrounds from 2-15. Like so:
C-q C-c1
where N is the background.
Modus Vivendi: Use foreground color 0 for all backgrounds from 2-13. Use foreground 1 for backgrounds 14, 15.

Colors 0 and 1 are white and black respectively. So combine them together, if you must.

Note on powerline or spaceline

Both Powerline and Spaceline package users will likely need to use the command powerline-reset whenever they make changes to their themes and/or mode line setup.

Note on SHR colors

Emacs' HTML rendering library (

shr.el

) may need explicit configuration to respect the theme's colors instead of whatever specifications the webpage provides.

Consult

C-h v shr-use-colors

Note on EWW and Elfeed fonts (SHR fonts)

EWW and Elfeed rely on the Simple HTML Renderer to display their content. The

shr.el

library contains the variable shr-use-fonts that controls whether the text in the buffer is set to a variable-pitch typeface (proportionately spaced) or if just retains whatever the default font family is. Its default value is non-nil, which means that variable-pitch is applied.