Rust Python
Functional Dark

A dark VS Code color theme built for long sessions in Rust and Python — where emphasis is rationed to three ranks and every hue earns its salience. Now with Markdown and TypeScript support too.

Install for VS Code See the palette ↓

The theme in a VS Code editor, cycling through Rust and Python source. — The theme at work — functions in the cool accent, control flow in the warm, everything else held quiet.

The idea

Most themes light up everything, so nothing is lit. This one spends contrast like a budget: functions and actions take the cool accent, verbs and operations the warm; related semantics — code, comments, literals — share a colorband, so the eye learns the map once.

Preattentively highlights functions, and distinguishes control.
Related semantics (code, comments, literals) share a colorband.
Reduced eye strain through careful, low-false-salience color.
Rust and Python first; Markdown and TypeScript along for the ride.

Three ranks, on the golden section

Visual emphasis is limited to three ranks to keep contrast reliable and false salience low. The intensities aren't picked by feel — they step down the golden ratio: 1.0, 0.618, 0.382. (The same fourth-rank discipline The Fold uses on its gradients, one project over.)

Rank	Intent	Scalar	Visual intensity
0	Primary focus — actions, errors, key edges	1.000	Highest chroma, highest contrast
1	Secondary focus — types, structure, navigation	0.618	Mid chroma, mid contrast
2	Tertiary context — hints, punctuation, low-salience UI	0.382	Low chroma, lower contrast

Colorwheel study showing the cool and warm accent families and their placement. — Colorwheel study — cool accent for functions, warm accent for verbs, mapped for reliable separation.

The palette was explicitly tuned against contrast-ratio checks for deuteranomaly / deutan-deficient viewing. Accessibility isn't a post-hoc audit here; it's a constraint the hues were chosen under.

The palette

Ten named tones, each with a job. Names courtesy of Name That Color and color-name.com.

Gracelynn

#e7e8b9 · Verbs

Functions and document headings — action-oriented semantics.

Mauve Mist

#c898b5 · Executive

Control flow and active borders — control tokens.

Granny Smith

#7f9fa1 · Common

Default text and neutral structure — unmarked.

Sinbad

#a9cdd9 · Literal

Literals and atomics — ephemera.

Cimarron

#87b2d1 · Info

Informational states — contextual guidance.

Coral Bright

#c8bfa8 · Warning

Warning states and caution UI — non-fatal attention.

Charm

#d0667f · Error

Errors and failures — the critical channel.

Feldgrau

#49595b · Paratext

Comments and low-salience hints — meta-discourse.

Business Black

#131315 · Editor BG

Primary editing surface tone.

Woodsmoke

#0c0c10 · Base BG

Foundational canvas — panels and surfaces.

Install

In VS Code: Extensions → search “Rust Python Functional Dark” → Install → then Preferences → Color Theme. Or grab it from the Marketplace. MIT licensed; source on GitHub.

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