Switch iTerm2 color preset automatic base on macOS dark mode.

iterm2_switch_automatic.md

The latest beta (3.5) includes separate color settings for light & dark mode. Toggling dark mode automatically switches colors.

Vist iTerm2 homepage or use brew install iterm2-beta to download the beta. Thanks @stefanwascoding.

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1. Add switch_automatic.py to ~/Library/ApplicationSupport/iTerm2/Scripts/AutoLaunch with:

#!/usr/bin/env python3

import asyncio
import iterm2

async def main(connection):
    async with iterm2.VariableMonitor(connection, iterm2.VariableScopes.APP, "effectiveTheme", None) as mon:
        while True:
            # Block until theme changes
            theme = await mon.async_get()

            # Themes have space-delimited attributes, one of which will be light or dark.
            parts = theme.split(" ")
            if "dark" in parts:
                preset = await iterm2.ColorPreset.async_get(connection, "Dark Background")
            else:
                preset = await iterm2.ColorPreset.async_get(connection, "Light Background")

            # Update the list of all profiles and iterate over them.
            profiles=await iterm2.PartialProfile.async_query(connection)
            for partial in profiles:
                # Fetch the full profile and then set the color preset in it.
                profile = await partial.async_get_full_profile()
                await profile.async_set_color_preset(preset)

iterm2.run_forever(main)

Change Dark Background and Light Background to color presets you like.

2. Enabled switch_automatic.py from Scripts menu.

i got this error... why?
ended unexpectedly

@d9i thanks!

i got this error... why?
ended unexpectedly

I was getting this error too. However I resolved it by choosing some of the base themes. Solarized Light and Solarized Dark. See if that fixes it for you too? They may not be the exact themes you want though, but at least my eyes aren't blown out at night now.

@d9i thank you, works like a charm

👍 thanks

There seems to be a bug with this script, where it spawns multiple processes that don't go away after iTerm2 has ended.

My laptop fans were constantly running and I saw bash was consuming 99% of a CPU. Looking more carefully I saw a screenful of this script running. After manually killing them all, CPU returned to normal.

I notice when I start up iTerm2, it launches two processes using ~/.config/iterm2/AppSupport/Scripts/AutoLaunch/auto_dark_mode.py. (I think that's normal, because one is the child of the other?)

But when you completely exit the iTerm2 application, those processes remain running. Then, if you launch iTerm2 again, two more processes are spawned for 4 total, and so on.

These processes aren't exiting when iTerm2 exits. I'm using iTerm2 on Mojave; I'll test it on M1/Big Sur as well.

[Edited for formatting.]

If I open the script console and close my sessions (i.e. iTerm2 hasn't exited because the console is open) then quit, the processes get cleaned up.

But if I don't have the script console open and close my sessions (iTerm2 exits) or quit, the processes hang around.

EDIT2: I thought it might be related to my preferences, but disabling them didn't seem to fix it:

• General | Closing | Quit when all windows are closed
• Profiles | Session | After a session ends No Action

Hello, here is my version if anyone is interested.

Automatic iTerm2 preset switching on MacOS

#!/usr/bin/env python3

import asyncio
import iterm2

THEME_LIGHT = "Tango Light"
THEME_DARK = "Tango Dark"


class AutoSwtichTheme:
    def __init__(self, connection, light="Light Background", dark="Dark Background"):
        self.connection = connection
        self.light = light
        self.dark = dark

    async def get_app(self):
        return await iterm2.async_get_app(self.connection)

    async def get_theme(self) -> str:
        parts = await (await self.get_app()).async_get_theme()
        if len(parts) <= 1:
            return parts[0]
        return ""

    async def set_color_preset(self, theme):
        preset = await iterm2.ColorPreset.async_get(
            self.connection, self.light if theme == "light" else self.dark
        )

        profiles = await iterm2.PartialProfile.async_query(self.connection)
        for partial in profiles:
            await (await partial.async_get_full_profile()).async_set_color_preset(
                preset
            )


async def quit(connection):
    while True:
        if not connection.websocket.open:
            exit(0)
        await asyncio.sleep(1)


async def main(connection):
    asyncio.ensure_future(quit(connection), loop=asyncio.get_event_loop())

    ast = AutoSwtichTheme(connection, THEME_LIGHT, THEME_DARK)
    await ast.set_color_preset(await ast.get_theme())

    async with iterm2.VariableMonitor(
        connection, iterm2.VariableScopes.APP, "effectiveTheme", None
    ) as mon:
        while True:
            # Block until theme changes
            theme = await mon.async_get()

            # Set preset if theme has changed
            await ast.set_color_preset(theme)


try:
    iterm2.run_forever(main)
except:
    print("Unable to connect on iTerm2 application")

The latest beta (3.5) includes separate color settings for light & dark mode. Toggling dark mode automatically switches colors.

The latest beta (3.5) includes separate color settings for light & dark mode. Toggling dark mode automatically switches colors.

Great!

Hello everybody, this script is really helpful, but I find myself having to click on “Scripts > switch_automatic.py” when the system theme switches in order to make the iTerm theme change… shouldn’t it happen automatically as soon as the system theme changes? Am I doing something wrong?

@xplosionmind in ~/Library/ApplicationSupport/iTerm2/Scripts folder you can create a new folder AutoLaunch, then put the script into it, it will work always.
But the official solution is download latest beta (3.5) as @stefanwascoding said.

in ~/Library/ApplicationSupport/iTerm2/Scripts folder you can create a new folder AutoLaunch, then put the script into it, it will work always.

Thanks! It now works wonderfully.

But the official solution is download latest beta (3.5) as @stefanwascoding said.

Does this mean that since 3.5 there won’t be any necessity for this script to be used?

@xplosionmind Yes.

Hello folks - I was able to get the background switching from dark to light whenever the system settings toggle. But the text color seems to reset to white every time. Is there a command I can use to set the text to different rgb combinations?

The latest beta (3.5) includes separate color settings for light & dark mode. Toggling dark mode automatically switches colors.

Works like a charm. Hope this will be included in future stable versions.

the text color seems to reset to white every time.

Maybe this has been fixed since I don’t experience this 🤷‍♀️

Can anyone share why this feature (of "matching" macOS system light/dark theme/mode for foreground-and-background of terminal windows) is not already "built in" to iTerm2?

-Maybe- said feature has already been added since this discussion thread started?

@johnnyutahh It appears that it's still in beta. So please use the beta 😄

Working well Thanks!

Works well for me, too, just at it looks per @fauzan-n's above screenshot. Thank you @pdostal and iTerm2 team!

First of all, thanks for adding the feature!!

I can't install the beta version via brew...

Any advice? Thank you!

brew install iterm2-beta
Warning: No available formula with the name "iterm2-beta".
==> Searching for similarly named formulae and casks...
==> Casks
iterm2

To install iterm2, run:
  brew install --cask iterm2

@stevo-knievo it's available as homebrew/cask-versions/iterm2-beta