jimeh@chroma ~ tmux attach -t docs github

Chroma — a host-aware status theme for tmux

A different accent for every host.

Chroma is a tmux theme that hashes each machine’s short hostname into one of twenty-two balanced accents. The same host always gets the same color, so you know where you are before you read a single character.

# this page is the session — navigate with the window list in the status line below

pick an accent

Click a swatch and the page re-themes the way a new host would. The quieter companion color is derived by blending the accent toward Chroma’s bar background.

auto by hostname

The default 'auto' preset hashes each machine’s short hostname — this page seeded itself from your browser instead. Type a hostname to preview the accent it would get.

custom accent

Skip the presets entirely: apply any #rrggbb value and Chroma derives the quieter companion shade the same way.

configure by clicking

This block is live. Click an underlined value and the status line at the bottom of the page re-renders, exactly as tmux would after a reload.

custom background

Match any terminal: apply a #rrggbb background and Chroma classifies it as dark or light by perceived luma, then blends the bar surfaces toward it — exactly what the plugin does with your terminal’s background color.

runtime signals

Some state isn’t config. Hold the prefix or synchronize panes and Chroma surfaces it without shifting the window list. Try both against the bar below.

more options

@chroma_base_color
Skip the presets with any #rrggbb accent.
@chroma_host_label
Show something other than the hostname.
@chroma_clock_format
Any strftime string for the right-hand clock.
@chroma_disk_path
Which mount the disk gauge reports on.
@chroma_left_extra
Your own content after the session name.
@chroma_right_extra
Your own content before the metrics.

install

One plugin line with TPM, or a clone if you prefer to keep the theme entirely transparent. Reload tmux and Chroma picks this machine’s color on its own.

with tpm

Add Chroma before TPM’s initialization line, then press prefix + I.

set -g @plugin 'jimeh/tmux-chroma'

manually

Clone the repository and run the plugin after your own overrides.

# clone the plugin

git clone https://github.com/jimeh/tmux-chroma.git \ ~/.tmux/plugins/tmux-chroma

# in ~/.tmux.conf, after your overrides

run-shell "${HOME}/.tmux/plugins/tmux-chroma/chroma.tmux"

requirements

tmux 3.2 or later on macOS or Linux. Linux needs Bash 4.2 or later; the Bash included with macOS is supported. Powerline mode also needs a font containing the divider glyphs.

# see also

github.com/jimeh/tmux-chroma · full option reference

MIT licensed · selected accents adapted from Catppuccin Macchiato