AutoAppearance

AutoAppearance is a Sublime Text 4 plugin for Linux desktops that follow the xdg-desktop-portal appearance setting. It runs busctl --user monitor in the background, detects portal SettingChanged signals, reads org.freedesktop.appearance color-scheme, and updates Sublime's theme and color_scheme preferences from Sublime's own light/dark settings.

The portal color-scheme values are:

• 0: no preference
• 1: prefer dark
• 2: prefer light

Install

Place this folder in your Sublime Text Packages directory, for example:

~/.config/sublime-text/Packages/AutoAppearance

Then restart Sublime Text or run sublime_plugin.reload_plugin("auto_appearance") from the Sublime console.

For package-based testing, build and install a .sublime-package:

make build
make install

The installer copies dist/AutoAppearance.sublime-package into Sublime's Installed Packages directory. If your Sublime data directory lives somewhere custom, pass it explicitly:

make install SUBLIME_INSTALLED_PACKAGES_DIR="$HOME/.config/sublime-text/Installed Packages"

Configure

AutoAppearance reads these settings from Preferences.sublime-settings:

{
  "light_theme": "Default.sublime-theme",
  "dark_theme": "Default Dark.sublime-theme",
  "light_color_scheme": "Celeste.sublime-color-scheme",
  "dark_color_scheme": "Mariana.sublime-color-scheme",
}

When the system switches appearance, AutoAppearance copies the matching light/dark values into Sublime's active theme and color_scheme settings.

Open Preferences: Package Settings > AutoAppearance > Settings, or edit AutoAppearance.sublime-settings directly for plugin behavior such as busctl lookup and how to handle the portal's no preference value.

If Sublime cannot find busctl when launched from your desktop environment, set:

{
  "busctl_binary": "/usr/bin/busctl",
}

Commands

The command palette includes:

• AutoAppearance: Sync Appearance Now
• AutoAppearance: Restart busctl Monitor

Package Control displays the install instructions from messages/install.txt.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please read CONTRIBUTING.md, CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md, and SECURITY.md before opening issues or pull requests.

License

AutoAppearance is released under the MIT License. See LICENSE.