> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tyba.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Light and dark mode

> Two slots, one mode — and why clicking a light theme drops you into light.

TYBA has no "active theme". It has **two slots** — one theme for dark, one theme for light — and a **mode** that decides which of the two is on screen right now.

## The two slots

| Slot      | What it holds                                                                   |
| --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Dark**  | The theme that shows when the effective mode is dark. Default: **TYBA Dark**.   |
| **Light** | The theme that shows when the effective mode is light. Default: **TYBA Light**. |

The slots are **independent**. Dracula in dark and Solarized Light in light is a valid combination — and it is how most people end up using it.

<Note>
  A theme only goes into the slot for its own base. A theme with base `dark` never occupies the light slot, and vice versa. If a slot points at a theme that vanished (you deleted the `.json`) or that has the wrong base, it falls back to the built-in for that base — TYBA Dark or TYBA Light. You are never left without a theme.
</Note>

## The mode

**Settings → Appearance → Color mode** (`⌘,` on macOS, `Ctrl+,` on Windows and Linux). Three options:

| Mode               | What it does                                           |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Dark** (default) | Always the dark slot.                                  |
| **Light**          | Always the light slot.                                 |
| **System**         | Follows the operating system's `prefers-color-scheme`. |

On **System**, the switch is live: the operating system flips to light at dusk and TYBA flips with it — no restart, no reopening the window.

You can also do it from the [command palette](/en/interface/command-palette) (`⌘P` / `Ctrl+Shift+P`), under **Theme**: *Switch theme to Dark / Light / System*. The palette only offers the two modes you are **not** using.

## Clicking a theme from another base changes the mode too

<Warning>
  **Picking a theme does two things.** It goes into the slot for its base — and, if that base is not the one on screen, the **mode changes to follow it**.
</Warning>

You are in dark, you click **GitHub Light**. TYBA writes GitHub Light into the light slot **and switches the mode to Light**. There is no way to "save a light theme for later" by clicking — clicking is using.

This includes leaving **System**: if you are on System (with the OS in dark) and click a light theme, the mode stops being System and becomes a fixed Light. To follow the system again, pick **System** in Color mode.

The other direction is painless: in dark, clicking a dark theme only swaps the slot. The mode does not move.

## What gets saved

The mode and both slots live in TYBA's database (`tyba.db`), not in a text file. Close and reopen, and everything comes back as it was.

<Note>
  There is a cache in the embedded webview, but it exists only so the app doesn't flash white for a frame at startup. The database is the authority.
</Note>

## What does not exist

|                                          |                                                                       |
| ---------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **A third slot**                         | There are two: dark and light. No "SSH theme" or per-workspace theme. |
| **A theme per tab or per pane**          | The theme belongs to the whole app.                                   |
| **Scheduling the switch by time of day** | Only **System** — and the operating system decides the timing.        |

## See also

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="The themes" icon="palette" href="/en/themes/the-themes">
    The 18 built-ins, and what changes beyond color.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Import a theme" icon="download" href="/en/themes/import-a-theme">
    The JSON format, the rules, and the limits.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>