Follow light/dark appearance in the tmux status bar

The status bar was five hardcoded tangere-dark colours, so in light mode the
pale #fdfdd9 text landed on a white background and became unreadable. That was
the real reason Auto appearance "never worked with the terminal setup" — ghostty
was switching correctly all along.

Split the colours into tmux-light.conf and tmux-dark.conf. The dark file is
extracted byte-exact from the previous config; the light file is the same layout
with each colour swapped for the tangere-light palette entry at the same index,
so roles are preserved (text on an accent uses the theme background, which
inverts from #1a2938 to #fdfdfa).

tmux 3.6+ learns the terminal's theme over OSC 2031, so this keys off the
appearance change itself rather than a schedule, and behaves identically whether
that came from Auto at sunrise/sunset or a manual toggle. Three hooks: the two
theme hooks react to a change, and client-attached covers a client attaching
mid-way, since those two only fire on a change. Sourcing is idempotent so the
overlap is harmless.

This replaces the dark-mode-notify launchd agent removed in 59d5622, which could
not have worked: it re-sourced .zshrc inside each shell, but the status bar
belongs to the tmux server.

Verified by round trip: flipping to Light switched #{client_theme} and applied
the light palette, and returning to Dark restored it. A running nvim does not
follow a live change (docs: the TUI sets 'background' on startup); noted in the
README.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

README.md

@@ -4,65 +4,95 @@ Here’s my dotfiles, inspired by people like Mathias. See his dotfiles at
 [`https://github.com/mathias/dotfiles`](https://github.com/mathias/dotfiles).
 
 The idea I’m currently going down is to create a symlink from `$HOME` to this
-directory. There is one exception to this, the `.gitconfig` file. I don’t want actual commiter details committed into this repo. So my git credentials are
+directory. There is one exception to this, the `.gitconfig` file. I don’t want
-stored in a `.extra` file which gets sourced. This then calls the relavent git
+actual commiter details committed into this repo, and they differ per machine
-command, which causes git to edit `$HOME/.gitconfig`. If that file was a symlink
+anyway — this Mac signs with my work address, the iMac with my personal one.
-to this repo, then the repo would see the file as edited and the repo would then
+
-be in a dirty state, permanently.
+So identity and signing live in an untracked `$HOME/.gitconfig.local`, which the
+tracked `gitconfig` pulls in with an `[include]` as its **last** directive. Last
+matters: git applies config in file order, so anything after the include would
+override it.
+
+`$HOME/.gitconfig` is copied rather than symlinked, so that an ad-hoc
+`git config --global` writes into `$HOME` instead of dirtying this repo. The
+trade-off is that `git pull` alone does not update it — re-run `./bootstrap.sh`,
+or `cp gitconfig ~/.gitconfig`, after changing the tracked copy.
 
 ## Usage
 
 First clone the repo.
 
-As mentioned above my git credentials are stored in an untracked file:
+Run `./bootstrap.sh`, this will create all the necessary symlinks, then source
-`$HOME/.extra`. This must be manually created, mine looks something like:
-
-```
-# Git credentials
-GIT_AUTHOR_NAME="Jonny Barnes"
-GIT_COMMITER_NAME="$GIT_AUTHOR_NAME"
-git config --global user.name "$GIT_AUTHOR_NAME"
-GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL="jonny@jonnybarnes.uk"
-GIT_COMMITER_EMAIL="$GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL"
-git config --global user.email "$GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL"
-```
-
-Run `./boostrap.sh`, this will create all the necessary symlinks, then source
 `.zshrc`.
 
 > [!WARNING]
 > This is a **destructive** process, so backup your dotfiles first.
 
-## Auto switch between light and dark mode
+As mentioned above, git identity lives in an untracked `$HOME/.gitconfig.local`.
+`bootstrap.sh` seeds it from `gitconfig.local.template` if it does not already
+exist, and never overwrites an existing one. Fill it in:
 
-To switch between dark and light mode automatically, we use a helper lib.
+```
+[user]
+    name = Jonny Barnes
+    email = jonny@jonnybarnes.uk
+    signingkey = ssh-ed25519 AAAA...
 
-Clone it from `https://github.com/bouk/dark-mode-notify` then run `make` and `make install`.
+[commit]
+    gpgsign = true
 
-Then make a script to run is automatically, put the plist where your system can find it: `~/Library/LaunchAgents/ke.bou.dark-mode-notify.plist` with the following content:
+[gpg "ssh"]
-
+    program = /Applications/1Password.app/Contents/MacOS/op-ssh-sign
-```xml
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN"
-"http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
-<plist version="1.0">
-<dict>
-    <key>Label</key>
-    <string>ke.bou.dark-mode-notify</string>
-    <key>KeepAlive</key>
-    <true/>
-    <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
-    <string>/Users/jonny/.local/var/log/dark-mode-notify-stderr.log</string>
-    <key>StandardOutPath</key>
-    <string>/Users/jonny/.local/var/log/dark-mode-notify-stdout.log</string>
-    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
-    <array>
-       <string>/usr/local/bin/dark-mode-notify</string>
-       <string>/Users/jonny/git/dotfiles/zsh/dark-mode-notify.zsh</string>
-    </array>
-</dict>
-</plist>
 ```
 
-Make the log file and script file point to the right location. For clarity `dark-mode-notify.zsh` is in this repo.
+Do not skip this. Git will not prompt you — with no identity it quietly derives
+one from your username and hostname, warns once, and signs nothing.
+
+`$HOME/.extra` is a separate untracked file for other machine-local environment
+variables, sourced from `.zshrc`. Keep git out of it:
+
+> [!IMPORTANT]
+> Never put `git config --global` in `.extra`. It is re-sourced on every
+> `SIGUSR1`, so with several tmux panes the concurrent writes race on
+> `~/.gitconfig.lock` and spew `error: could not lock config file`. Put git
+> settings in `.gitconfig.local` instead.
+
+## Light and dark mode
+
+Most of this is now handled natively and needs no configuration:
+
+- **ghostty** follows the system appearance itself via
+  `theme = light:tangere-light.conf,dark:tangere-dark.conf`.
+- **tmux** 3.6+ learns the terminal’s theme over OSC 2031 and exposes it as
+  `#{client_theme}`.
+- **bat** picks a theme per invocation from `BAT_THEME_LIGHT` / `BAT_THEME_DARK`.
+- **delta** and **nvim** detect the terminal background themselves.
+
+The tmux status bar needs help, because its colours are set explicitly. They live
+in `tmux-light.conf` and `tmux-dark.conf` — the same layout, with each colour
+taken from the matching tangere palette index — and `tmux` sources one of them
+from three hooks:
+
+- `client-light-theme` / `client-dark-theme` react to a change,
+- `client-attached` picks the right one for a client that attaches mid-way, since
+  the two above only fire on a change.
+
+Because this keys off the terminal's reported theme rather than a schedule, it
+behaves identically whether the change came from Auto at sunrise/sunset or from
+toggling Light/Dark by hand — nothing in the chain knows why it changed.
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> A running nvim will not follow a live change: the docs are explicit that the
+> TUI sets `background` *on startup* if it can detect it. New instances are
+> fine; existing ones need `:set background=light` or a restart. delta is
+> per-invocation so should be fine, but that is untested here.
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> This previously used [`dark-mode-notify`](https://github.com/bouk/dark-mode-notify)
+> as a `launchd` agent that ran `pkill -usr1 zsh` on every appearance change.
+> That has been removed. It could never have worked: re-sourcing `.zshrc` runs
+> inside each *shell*, but the status bar belongs to the tmux *server* and
+> colours to a running nvim, so it could not retheme either. The one variable it
+> set was read by nothing. Meanwhile it fired on every unlock, re-running
+> `.zshrc` in every pane. Don’t bring it back.
 

bootstrap.sh

@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ echo "Sym-linking the various config files"
 test -L $HOME/.gitignore || ln -f -s $BASEDIR/gitignore $HOME/.gitignore
 test -L $HOME/.hushlogin || ln -f -s $BASEDIR/hushlogin $HOME/.hushlogin
 test -L $HOME/.tmux.conf || ln -f -s $BASEDIR/tmux $HOME/.tmux.conf
+test -L $HOME/.tmux-light.conf || ln -f -s $BASEDIR/tmux-light.conf $HOME/.tmux-light.conf
+test -L $HOME/.tmux-dark.conf || ln -f -s $BASEDIR/tmux-dark.conf $HOME/.tmux-dark.conf
 test -d $HOME/.config/sheldon || mkdir $HOME/.config/sheldon
 test -L $HOME/.config/sheldon/plugins.toml || ln -f -s $BASEDIR/sheldon.toml $HOME/.config/sheldon/plugins.toml
 test -L $HOME/.zsh || ln -f -s $BASEDIR/zsh $HOME/.zsh

tmux

@@ -33,9 +33,6 @@ set -g default-terminal "$TERM"
 # Allow OSC 8 links
 set -ga terminal-features "*:hyperlinks"
 
-# Tweak status bar styles
-set -g status-style bg=default,fg='#fdfdd9'
-
 # Set status bar length
 set -g status-left-length 40
 set -g status-right-length 60
@@ -43,14 +40,16 @@ set -g status-right-length 60
 # Center the window list
 set -g status-justify centre
 
-# Left side: session name with blue accent
+# Status bar colours live in ~/.tmux-light.conf and ~/.tmux-dark.conf. tmux
-set -g status-left "#[fg=#1a2938,bg=#8fb4cd,bold]  #S #[fg=#8fb4cd,bg=default]\ue0b0"
+# learns the terminal's theme over OSC 2031, so this reacts to the appearance
+# change itself, whether that came from Auto at sunrise/sunset or a manual
+# toggle, since nothing here knows why it changed.
+set-hook -g client-light-theme 'source-file ~/.tmux-light.conf'
+set-hook -g client-dark-theme 'source-file ~/.tmux-dark.conf'
 
-# Right side: multi-segment with transitions
+# Those hooks only fire on a change, so also pick the right palette whenever a
-set -g status-right "#[fg=#6dafb5,bg=default]\ue0b2#[fg=#1a2938,bg=#6dafb5] %H:%M #[fg=#bb98d9,bg=#6dafb5]\ue0b2#[fg=#1a2938,bg=#bb98d9] %d-%b "
+# client attaches. Sourcing is idempotent, so the overlap is harmless.
+set-hook -g client-attached 'if -F "#{==:#{client_theme},light}" "source-file ~/.tmux-light.conf" "source-file ~/.tmux-dark.conf"'
 
-# Inactive windows (no powerline symbols)
+# Default before any client has attached and reported a theme.
-setw -g window-status-format "#[fg=#2f4656,bg=default] #I #W "
+source-file ~/.tmux-dark.conf
-
-# Active window (cyan highlight, no powerline)
-setw -g window-status-current-format "#[fg=#1a2938,bg=#6dafb5,bold] #I #W "

tmux-dark.conf

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# tangere-dark status bar, sourced by the client-dark-theme hook in ~/.tmux.conf
+#
+# Colours are tangere-dark palette entries so the bar matches the ghostty theme.
+# Text sitting on an accent uses the theme background (#1a2938).
+#   #fdfdd9 foreground   #1a2938 background   #2f4656 dim (15)
+#   #8fb4cd blue (4)     #6dafb5 cyan (2)     #bb98d9 magenta (5)
+
+# Tweak status bar styles
+set -g status-style bg=default,fg='#fdfdd9'
+
+# Left side: session name with blue accent
+set -g status-left "#[fg=#1a2938,bg=#8fb4cd,bold]  #S #[fg=#8fb4cd,bg=default]\ue0b0"
+
+# Right side: multi-segment with transitions
+set -g status-right "#[fg=#6dafb5,bg=default]\ue0b2#[fg=#1a2938,bg=#6dafb5] %H:%M #[fg=#bb98d9,bg=#6dafb5]\ue0b2#[fg=#1a2938,bg=#bb98d9] %d-%b "
+
+# Inactive windows (no powerline symbols)
+setw -g window-status-format "#[fg=#2f4656,bg=default] #I #W "
+
+# Active window (cyan highlight, no powerline)
+setw -g window-status-current-format "#[fg=#1a2938,bg=#6dafb5,bold] #I #W "

tmux-light.conf

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# tangere-light status bar, sourced by the client-light-theme hook in ~/.tmux.conf
+#
+# Same layout as tmux-dark.conf, with each colour swapped for the tangere-light
+# palette entry at the same index. Roles are preserved: text on an accent uses
+# the theme background, which is now light rather than dark.
+#   #000000 foreground   #fdfdfa background   #d1d1d1 dim (15)
+#   #223355 blue (4)     #004c73 cyan (2)     #663d52 magenta (5)
+
+# Tweak status bar styles
+set -g status-style bg=default,fg='#000000'
+
+# Left side: session name with blue accent
+set -g status-left "#[fg=#fdfdfa,bg=#223355,bold]  #S #[fg=#223355,bg=default]\ue0b0"
+
+# Right side: multi-segment with transitions
+set -g status-right "#[fg=#004c73,bg=default]\ue0b2#[fg=#fdfdfa,bg=#004c73] %H:%M #[fg=#663d52,bg=#004c73]\ue0b2#[fg=#fdfdfa,bg=#663d52] %d-%b "
+
+# Inactive windows (no powerline symbols)
+setw -g window-status-format "#[fg=#d1d1d1,bg=default] #I #W "
+
+# Active window (cyan highlight, no powerline)
+setw -g window-status-current-format "#[fg=#fdfdfa,bg=#004c73,bold] #I #W "

zsh/dark-mode-notify.zsh

@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env zsh
-
-function switch-dark-mode()
-{
-  local darkMode=true;
-
-  if [[ $(defaults read -g AppleInterfaceStyle 2> /dev/null) != 'Dark' ]]; then
-    darkMode=false
-  fi
-
-  if [[ $darkMode == true ]]; then
-    echo "Switched to dark mode"
-    export MACOS_APPEARANCE="dark"
-  else
-    echo "Switched to light mode"
-    export MACOS_APPEARANCE="light"
-  fi
-
-  # Reload zshrc
-  pkill -usr1 zsh
-}
-
-switch-dark-mode