Ever since I started developing on a modern editor, I’ve struggled with finding a color scheme that I actually liked. By that I mean something welcoming and relaxing enough to tackle long programming sessions, but also decently accessible so I don’t lose my eyesight prematurely.
Plus, since I mainly work on web development, I’ve always found it quite annoying that most themes out there don’t make it easy to distinguish at a glance between markup parts and business logic within the same file. This causes me particular confusion, especially when working with Angular or React components.
So I started a long series of tests with all the themes available. After abandoning the neon tones of Synthwave ‘84, I’ve been a huge fan of Everforest lately, but in the end I decided to gather some courage (or rather, willpower and determination) and try to put together a theme that combined everything I was looking for: a relaxing color palette, a clear distinction between markup and logic, good readability both in light and dark conditions, and above all, special attention to accessibility for those who, like me, spend many hours in front of the screen.
I started working on Nur from a very simple foundation, trying to balance contrasts without overdoing it and choosing colors that wouldn’t strain the eyes. I prioritized differentiation between HTML tags, attributes, variables, functions, and constants, so that the various parts of the code would be immediately recognizable, especially in mixed files like those of React, Angular, or Svelte.
After numerous attempts, tests on different languages and IDEs, and some feedback from developer friends, I arrived at a version that satisfies me and that I hope can be useful to others as well. I’m still not entirely convinced about some colors, especially regarding the VSCode and Cursor interface, but when it comes to syntax highlighting, I’m very satisfied.
Currently, the theme is available for Visual Studio Code, Cursor, Ghostty, and Vim.
If you’d like to contribute, the full source code is available on Github.
