xmake-theme

name	xmake-theme
description	Use when switching xmake's output theme (colors, progress style, emoji) or fixing garbled/unreadable terminal output — `xmake g --theme=...`. Built-in themes: default, ninja, emoji, dark, light, plain, powershell.

Xmake Theme Style

Xmake's terminal output can be re-themed globally. Themes control color palette, the progress bar style, and whether emoji are used. Configured per-machine via xmake g.

Switch theme

xmake g --theme=default       # default: colorful, rolling progress
xmake g --theme=ninja         # ninja-style single-line progress bar
xmake g --theme=emoji         # uses emoji in place of colors
xmake g --theme=dark          # darker palette for very light terminals
xmake g --theme=light         # light palette for very dark terminals
xmake g --theme=plain         # strip all color/emoji — fixes garbled terminals
xmake g --theme=powershell    # tuned for Windows PowerShell's odd palette

Reset to default:

xmake g -c                    # reset all global config
xmake g --theme=default

When to pick which

Situation	Theme
Default dark terminal, you just want it to work	default
Terminal shows garbled ANSI escapes (old Windows cmd, dumb terminals)	plain
Warnings invisible because bg is yellow	dark
Text overlap on dark backgrounds	light
Magenta looks wrong (PowerShell)	powershell
Want persistent single-line progress like ninja	ninja
Fun / emoji UI	emoji

Color control without switching themes

If you just want to toggle color output, the XMAKE_COLORTERM env var is simpler:

export XMAKE_COLORTERM=nocolor       # disable all color
export XMAKE_COLORTERM=color8        # 8 colors
export XMAKE_COLORTERM=color256      # 256 colors
export XMAKE_COLORTERM=truecolor     # 24-bit true color

Or globally:

xmake g --theme=plain                # full disable — same effect as nocolor

Pitfalls

• Theme is global. There is no per-project theme. If you need a different look for CI, set XMAKE_COLORTERM=nocolor in the CI env rather than switching themes.
• Powershell garbage on Windows. Magenta renders wrong on legacy PowerShell. xmake g --theme=powershell fixes it.
• --theme=plain also hides emoji. Intentional — use it when terminals choke on both ANSI and unicode.
• Old Windows cmd still broken with any theme. Use plain, or switch to Windows Terminal / PowerShell 7.

When to branch out

• Emitting your own colored output from scripts/tasks → xmake-color-output
• Debugging why colors look wrong at all → xmake-troubleshooting