Zenbones Redux for Visual Studio Code

A contrast-based color theme for Visual Studio Code, ported from the popular Zenbones Neovim colorscheme.

Philosophy

Zenbones highlights code using contrasts and font variations, not colors. Colors are reserved for other roles: diagnostics, diffs, search matches, and git decorations. This creates a calm, readable editing experience that lets the structure of your code speak through typography.

"A rock garden in Ryōan-ji" - The theme draws inspiration from the simplicity of zen aesthetics.

Variants

Variant	Background	Style
Zenbones Light	Warm sand (#F0EDEC)	Light theme with stone-toned foreground
Zenbones Dark	Dark sand (#1C1917)	Dark theme with cool stone foreground

Color Palette

Six named accent colors are used exclusively for UI roles (never for syntax):

Name	Light	Dark	Role
Rose	#A8334C	#DE6E7C	Errors, deletions
Leaf	#4F6C31	#819B69	Success, additions
Wood	#944927	#B77E64	Warnings
Water	#286486	#6099C0	Info, links
Blossom	#88507D	#B279A7	Hints, search, regex
Sky	#3B8992	#66A5AD	Cyan accents

Installation

From Marketplace

1. Open VSCode
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X)
3. Search for "Zenbones Redux"
4. Click Install
5. Select the theme: Ctrl+K Ctrl+T / Cmd+K Cmd+T and choose Zenbones Light or Zenbones Dark

Manual Installation

1. Clone or download this repository
2. Copy the folder to your VSCode extensions directory:
   • macOS: ~/.vscode/extensions/
   • Linux: ~/.vscode/extensions/
   • Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.vscode\extensions\
3. Restart VSCode
4. Select the theme via Ctrl+K Ctrl+T / Cmd+K Cmd+T

From VSIX

npm install -g @vscode/vsce
vsce package
code --install-extension zenbones-redux-1.0.1.vsix

Recommended Settings

For the full Zenbones experience, use a font with good bold and italic support:

{
  "editor.fontFamily": "'JetBrains Mono', 'Fira Code', Menlo, monospace",
  "editor.fontLigatures": true,
  "editor.bracketPairColorization.enabled": true
}

Credits

This is an unofficial VSCode port of the zenbones.nvim colorscheme by mcchrish. All color values are derived from the original theme.

Zenbones is inspired by Verdandi and vim-yin-yang.

License

MIT