build-sentinel-skin

name

build-sentinel-skin

description

Add a new THEME/skin to the Sentinel suite end-to-end — the on-chart palette AND the platform skin — so one switch re-colors every card, plot, the wallpaper, and the NT chrome. Use whenever the user asks to "build/add a Sentinel theme/skin", names a new theme (e.g. "Neon", "Viridian"), or wants to restyle the suite's palette. Needs SentinelSkin (src/runtime/AddOns) + the src/skins/themes/Sentinel* folders present.

Build a Sentinel skin/theme

A Sentinel theme is a CENTRAL swap: every on-chart pixel funnels through SentinelSkin C*/K* tokens, so a theme = one Palette + a few registrations. The platform chrome is a separate 16-file skin folder. Full background: docs/SENTINEL_DESIGN_SYSTEM.md §1/§1b.

Files referenced below live in this repo: src/runtime/AddOns/SentinelSkin.cs · src/skins/Indicators/SentinelWallpaper_v1_0_0.cs · the theme folders under src/skins/themes/Sentinel *. If you're building against the full Sentinel suite, the Deck (manual trader) also carries a theme-cycle button — its step below is marked optional because the Deck isn't part of this public cut.

THE ONE LAW (design gate — check BEFORE picking colors)

ONE accent = live/watching; green/red = money + direction. The accent need NOT be cyan (Amber = gold, Neon = violet), but before committing an accent, check it against Warn AND Up AND Down — live and caution must never share a hue, and the accent must never rhyme with the money colors. (Amber's gold accent forced Warn from amber → cool blue. A proposed "Viridian" was rejected: its accent rhymed with Up-green.) On a near-black ground, LIFT the ink (bright text needs less weight, not more) and tune GlowMul (neon cranks it ~1.5; Obsidian dims it 0.6; light bakes its glow-down into the IsLight branches).

PART A — the on-chart theme (4 code places + 2 UI). Files: src/runtime/AddOns/SentinelSkin.cs, src/skins/Indicators/SentinelWallpaper_v1_0_0.cs (+ the Deck, if present)

This alone is previewable via Sentinel\theme.txt = <name> + F5 (a pin BEATS the skin — see the glue note).

1. Palette <Name> — add a public static readonly Palette beside the others in SentinelSkin.cs. Set ALL of: Void Panel Card Line Dim Faint Ink Ink2 Mute Accent Up Down Warn, the GlassTop/GlassBot + WashTop/WashBot gradient stops, and GlowMul (⚠ it's a class field → an unset Palette defaults to 0 = no glow; every Palette MUST set it). Colors via RC(r,g,b) / RC(r,g,b,a). The K* WPF-Color accessors auto-derive from the active Palette — no per-theme K* work.
2. enum Theme — append <Name>.
3. TryParseTheme — add case "<name>": t = Theme.<Name>; return true;.
4. SkinBgTheme — add { 0x<CHARTBG>u, Theme.<Name> }. This is the GLUE: it maps the platform skin's EXACT ChartControl.ChartBackground hex → theme (luminance CANNOT separate two dark themes, so exact-hex first). Keep this hex identical to the skin folder's ChartControl.xaml (both sides carry a comment).
5. Wallpaper (SentinelWallpaper_v1_0_0.cs ThemeGhostScale): add a case Theme.<Name>: return <k>; (near-black grounds need ~1.1–1.25; light ~0.9).
6. (Optional — only if you have the Deck) Deck theme cycle: append the mode word to ThemeModes and a 1-char face to ThemeGlyphs (keep the arrays equal length; "auto" is ~ because it means FOLLOW THE SKIN). TryParseTheme is the only word→Theme map — no other Deck logic changes.

PART B — the platform skin folder (16 files). src/skins/themes/Sentinel <Name>\

Gives full cohesion (price panel + NT chrome). Two toggles until glue: Tools▸Options▸General▸Skin = "Sentinel " (often needs a RESTART) + theme.txt=auto so the on-chart follows. (To install: copy the folder into your NinjaTrader templates\Skins\ directory.)

1. Copy the closest existing theme (a DARK-side theme → copy Sentinel Obsidian or Sentinel; a LIGHT theme → copy Sentinel Light). 16 files: ChartControl, ControlCenter, SuperDom, OrderTicket, DataSeries, Level2, MarketAnalyzer, News, TimeAndSales, AtmGrouping, BasicEntry, FxBoard, FxPro, NinjaScriptWizard, OptionChain, BluePrint (the last is NT's 564-key master palette — unrelated to the Blueprint theme).
2. Role-based hex-CORE sed map on the 15 non-ChartControl files: lighten/darken GROUNDS toward the new theme, move BORDERS, deepen/shift ACCENTS. Preserve alpha (map the 6-hex core, keep the #AARRGGBB prefix). Dark themes KEEP text light (no darken); light themes darken text.
3. Hand-write ChartControl.xaml: price-panel bg = the exact SkinBgTheme hex; text ink; the accent; gridlines are the trap — the role sed usually lands them ON the ground (invisible) → hand-LIFT them a step above the panel (the drafting grid is a theme signature). Axis pens tuned; keep the user's candle colors unless asked; keep the deep buy/sell button tints.
4. Balance every file — each is a ResourceDictionary; a stray/duplicate key breaks skin load silently.

VERIFY

• Compile Part A via NT's own compiler (F5 in the NinjaScript Editor, or nt8bridge compile if you use the cli-nt-bridge tool). ⚠ Strip each edited indicator's generated region to 0 first (external edits re-append it). AddOns (SentinelSkin) have no generated region.
• Live: pin theme.txt=<name> + F5 → on-chart preview (cards/plots/wallpaper). Then select the skin + theme.txt=auto → the whole platform + on-chart follow via the glue. When a skin switch seems not to re-theme, CHECK theme.txt FIRST — a pin beats the skin (back up the old value to theme.txt.bak).
• ⚠ Grep any tool you touched for hardcoded Color.FromRgb( / Color4( / RC( outside SentinelSkin — a surface with its own palette won't follow.

The extension contract (the whole point)

Consumers read CAccent/K* and are UNTOUCHED — so a new theme is additive, never a per-file hunt. Seven themes (Dark/Light/Silver/Obsidian/Blueprint/Amber/Neon) prove it holds. Adding one should be a single clean pass.