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[GH-ISSUE #1142] [Question] Changing the tview.Styles (theme) at runtime #827

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opened 2026-03-04 01:07:59 +03:00 by kerem · 0 comments
kerem commented 2026-03-04 01:07:59 +03:00
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Originally created by @ramonvermeulen on GitHub (Jan 8, 2026).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/rivo/tview/issues/1142

Hi @rivo,

First, thank you for developing tview! It's been a great experience building a TUI application with it.

I'm currently implementing a theme picker in my application that allows users to switch themes at runtime. I'm using the Theme struct for this purpose, and I'm updating it at runtime with the user's selected theme from a registry.

E.g.:

	th := Get(name)
	tview.Styles = th

Unfortunately, this doesn't automatically update all primitives in the tview application. As the documentation for Theme notes:

"Theme defines the colors used when primitives are initialized."

Two approaches I considered were:

a) Rebuilding all primitives when changing the theme
This would work since all primitives would be reinitialized, but it seems like a heavy operation for just changing themes.

b) Notifying all primitives to update their theme
I implemented this approach by introducing a theme.Manager:

Example of the theme.Manager 
package theme

import (
	"sync"

	"github.com/gdamore/tcell/v2"
	"github.com/rivo/tview"
)

// Manager coordinates theme changes using a global registry pattern.
// Primitives register themselves, and theme changes are applied to all registered primitives.
type Manager struct {
	mu         sync.RWMutex
	current    string
	app        *tview.Application
	primitives []tview.Primitive
}

var (
	globalManager *Manager
	once          sync.Once
)

// NewManager creates or returns the singleton theme manager.
// This ensures only one manager instance exists throughout the application lifecycle.
func NewManager(app *tview.Application) *Manager {
	once.Do(func() {
		globalManager = &Manager{
			app:        app,
			primitives: make([]tview.Primitive, 0),
		}
	})
	return globalManager
}

// Register adds a primitive to be theme-aware. When themes change, it will be updated.
func (m *Manager) Register(p tview.Primitive) {
	if p == nil {
		return
	}
	m.mu.Lock()
	defer m.mu.Unlock()

	m.primitives = append(m.primitives, p)

	if m.current != "" {
		ApplyToPrimitive(p)
	}
}

// SetTheme applies a theme by name and updates all registered primitives.
func (m *Manager) SetTheme(name string) tview.Theme {
	th := Get(name)
	tview.Styles = th

	m.mu.Lock()
	m.current = name
	primitives := append([]tview.Primitive{}, m.primitives...)
	m.mu.Unlock()

	for _, p := range primitives {
		ApplyToPrimitive(p)
	}

	return th
}

// Current returns the currently active theme name.
func (m *Manager) Current() string {
	m.mu.RLock()
	defer m.mu.RUnlock()
	return m.current
}

// RegisterPrimitive is a convenience function to register a primitive with the global manager.
func RegisterPrimitive(p tview.Primitive) {
	if globalManager != nil {
		globalManager.Register(p)
	}
}

// ApplyToPrimitive applies theme colors to any tview primitive.
// Supports all official tview primitives with proper styling methods.
func ApplyToPrimitive(p tview.Primitive) {
	if p == nil {
		return
	}

	switch v := p.(type) {
	case *tview.TextView:
		v.SetTextColor(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor)
		v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor)
		v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor)
		v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor)

	case *tview.TextArea:
		v.SetTextStyle(tcell.StyleDefault.
			Foreground(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor).
			Background(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor))
		v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor)
		v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor)
		v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor)

	case *tview.Table:
		v.SetBordersColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor)
		v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor)
		v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor)
		v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor)

	case *tview.TreeView:
		v.SetGraphicsColor(tview.Styles.GraphicsColor)
		v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor)
		v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor)
		v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor)

	case *tview.List:
		v.SetMainTextStyle(tcell.StyleDefault.
			Foreground(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor).
			Background(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor))
		v.SetSecondaryTextStyle(tcell.StyleDefault.
			Foreground(tview.Styles.SecondaryTextColor).
			Background(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor))
		v.SetShortcutStyle(tcell.StyleDefault.
			Foreground(tview.Styles.TertiaryTextColor).
			Background(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor))
		v.SetSelectedStyle(tcell.StyleDefault.
			Foreground(tview.Styles.InverseTextColor).
			Background(tview.Styles.SecondaryTextColor))
		v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor)
		v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor)
		v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor)

	case *tview.InputField:
		v.SetFieldTextColor(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor)
		v.SetFieldBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.ContrastBackgroundColor)
		v.SetLabelColor(tview.Styles.SecondaryTextColor)
		v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor)
		v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor)
		v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor)

	case *tview.DropDown:
		v.SetFieldTextColor(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor)
		v.SetFieldBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.ContrastBackgroundColor)
		v.SetLabelColor(tview.Styles.SecondaryTextColor)
		v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor)
		v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor)
		v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor)

	case *tview.Checkbox:
		v.SetLabelColor(tview.Styles.SecondaryTextColor)
		v.SetFieldTextColor(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor)
		v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor)
		v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor)
		v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor)

	case *tview.Image:
		v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor)
		v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor)
		v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor)

	case *tview.Button:
		v.SetLabelColor(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor)
		v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.ContrastBackgroundColor)
		v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor)
		v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor)

	case *tview.Form:
		v.SetFieldBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.ContrastBackgroundColor)
		v.SetFieldTextColor(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor)
		v.SetLabelColor(tview.Styles.SecondaryTextColor)
		v.SetButtonBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.ContrastBackgroundColor)
		v.SetButtonTextColor(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor)
		v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor)
		v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor)
		v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor)

	case *tview.Modal:
		v.SetTextColor(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor)
		v.SetButtonBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.ContrastBackgroundColor)
		v.SetButtonTextColor(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor)
		v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.ContrastBackgroundColor)
		v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor)

	case *tview.Grid:
		v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor)
		v.SetBordersColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor)
		v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor)
		v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor)

	case *tview.Flex:
		v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor)
		v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor)
		v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor)

	case *tview.Pages:
		v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor)
		v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor)
		v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor)

	default:
		if box, ok := p.(interface{ SetBackgroundColor(tcell.Color) *tview.Box }); ok {
			box.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor)
		}
		if bordered, ok := p.(interface{ SetBorderColor(tcell.Color) *tview.Box }); ok {
			bordered.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor)
		}
		if titled, ok := p.(interface{ SetTitleColor(tcell.Color) *tview.Box }); ok {
			titled.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor)
		}
	}
}

Image

My current approach is to register each primitive with the manager in its initializer function. The manager then calls ApplyToPrimitive on all registered primitives when the theme changes. This works, but I'm wondering if this is the best approach to solve this problem, or if there's a better solution within tview itself?

One potential solution could be to add an ApplyTheme(theme *tview.Theme) method to either Application or Pages. I'm not sure if this is feasible, but I think theoretically it should be possible to traverse the entire primitive tree and apply theme settings to each primitive.

If you think this feature has potential, please let me know. I'd be happy to explore whether this is feasible to implement and open a PR.

Originally created by @ramonvermeulen on GitHub (Jan 8, 2026). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/rivo/tview/issues/1142 Hi @rivo, First, thank you for developing tview! It's been a great experience building a TUI application with it. I'm currently implementing a theme picker in my application that allows users to switch themes at runtime. I'm using the [`Theme`](https://github.com/rivo/tview/blob/v0.42.0/styles.go#L6) struct for this purpose, and I'm updating it at runtime with the user's selected theme from a registry. E.g.: ```go th := Get(name) tview.Styles = th ``` Unfortunately, this doesn't automatically update all primitives in the tview application. As the documentation for [`Theme`](https://github.com/rivo/tview/blob/v0.42.0/styles.go#L6) notes: > "Theme defines the colors used **when primitives are initialized**." --- Two approaches I considered were: **a) Rebuilding all primitives when changing the theme** This would work since all primitives would be reinitialized, but it seems like a heavy operation for just changing themes. **b) Notifying all primitives to update their theme** I implemented this approach by introducing a `theme.Manager`: <details> <summary>Example of the theme.Manager</summary> ```go package theme import ( "sync" "github.com/gdamore/tcell/v2" "github.com/rivo/tview" ) // Manager coordinates theme changes using a global registry pattern. // Primitives register themselves, and theme changes are applied to all registered primitives. type Manager struct { mu sync.RWMutex current string app *tview.Application primitives []tview.Primitive } var ( globalManager *Manager once sync.Once ) // NewManager creates or returns the singleton theme manager. // This ensures only one manager instance exists throughout the application lifecycle. func NewManager(app *tview.Application) *Manager { once.Do(func() { globalManager = &Manager{ app: app, primitives: make([]tview.Primitive, 0), } }) return globalManager } // Register adds a primitive to be theme-aware. When themes change, it will be updated. func (m *Manager) Register(p tview.Primitive) { if p == nil { return } m.mu.Lock() defer m.mu.Unlock() m.primitives = append(m.primitives, p) if m.current != "" { ApplyToPrimitive(p) } } // SetTheme applies a theme by name and updates all registered primitives. func (m *Manager) SetTheme(name string) tview.Theme { th := Get(name) tview.Styles = th m.mu.Lock() m.current = name primitives := append([]tview.Primitive{}, m.primitives...) m.mu.Unlock() for _, p := range primitives { ApplyToPrimitive(p) } return th } // Current returns the currently active theme name. func (m *Manager) Current() string { m.mu.RLock() defer m.mu.RUnlock() return m.current } // RegisterPrimitive is a convenience function to register a primitive with the global manager. func RegisterPrimitive(p tview.Primitive) { if globalManager != nil { globalManager.Register(p) } } // ApplyToPrimitive applies theme colors to any tview primitive. // Supports all official tview primitives with proper styling methods. func ApplyToPrimitive(p tview.Primitive) { if p == nil { return } switch v := p.(type) { case *tview.TextView: v.SetTextColor(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor) v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor) v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor) v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor) case *tview.TextArea: v.SetTextStyle(tcell.StyleDefault. Foreground(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor). Background(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor)) v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor) v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor) v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor) case *tview.Table: v.SetBordersColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor) v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor) v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor) v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor) case *tview.TreeView: v.SetGraphicsColor(tview.Styles.GraphicsColor) v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor) v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor) v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor) case *tview.List: v.SetMainTextStyle(tcell.StyleDefault. Foreground(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor). Background(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor)) v.SetSecondaryTextStyle(tcell.StyleDefault. Foreground(tview.Styles.SecondaryTextColor). Background(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor)) v.SetShortcutStyle(tcell.StyleDefault. Foreground(tview.Styles.TertiaryTextColor). Background(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor)) v.SetSelectedStyle(tcell.StyleDefault. Foreground(tview.Styles.InverseTextColor). Background(tview.Styles.SecondaryTextColor)) v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor) v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor) v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor) case *tview.InputField: v.SetFieldTextColor(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor) v.SetFieldBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.ContrastBackgroundColor) v.SetLabelColor(tview.Styles.SecondaryTextColor) v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor) v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor) v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor) case *tview.DropDown: v.SetFieldTextColor(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor) v.SetFieldBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.ContrastBackgroundColor) v.SetLabelColor(tview.Styles.SecondaryTextColor) v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor) v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor) v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor) case *tview.Checkbox: v.SetLabelColor(tview.Styles.SecondaryTextColor) v.SetFieldTextColor(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor) v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor) v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor) v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor) case *tview.Image: v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor) v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor) v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor) case *tview.Button: v.SetLabelColor(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor) v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.ContrastBackgroundColor) v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor) v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor) case *tview.Form: v.SetFieldBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.ContrastBackgroundColor) v.SetFieldTextColor(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor) v.SetLabelColor(tview.Styles.SecondaryTextColor) v.SetButtonBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.ContrastBackgroundColor) v.SetButtonTextColor(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor) v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor) v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor) v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor) case *tview.Modal: v.SetTextColor(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor) v.SetButtonBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.ContrastBackgroundColor) v.SetButtonTextColor(tview.Styles.PrimaryTextColor) v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.ContrastBackgroundColor) v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor) case *tview.Grid: v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor) v.SetBordersColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor) v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor) v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor) case *tview.Flex: v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor) v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor) v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor) case *tview.Pages: v.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor) v.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor) v.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor) default: if box, ok := p.(interface{ SetBackgroundColor(tcell.Color) *tview.Box }); ok { box.SetBackgroundColor(tview.Styles.PrimitiveBackgroundColor) } if bordered, ok := p.(interface{ SetBorderColor(tcell.Color) *tview.Box }); ok { bordered.SetBorderColor(tview.Styles.BorderColor) } if titled, ok := p.(interface{ SetTitleColor(tcell.Color) *tview.Box }); ok { titled.SetTitleColor(tview.Styles.TitleColor) } } } ``` </details> ![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7ddccbc9-8813-4e2c-8188-03d714420791) My current approach is to register each primitive with the manager in its initializer function. The manager then calls ApplyToPrimitive on all registered primitives when the theme changes. This works, but I'm wondering if this is the best approach to solve this problem, or if there's a better solution within tview itself? --- One potential solution could be to add an `ApplyTheme(theme *tview.Theme)` method to either [`Application`](https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/rivo/tview#Application) or [`Pages`](https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/rivo/tview#Pages). I'm not sure if this is feasible, but I think theoretically it should be possible to traverse the entire primitive tree and apply theme settings to each primitive. If you think this feature has potential, please let me know. I'd be happy to explore whether this is feasible to implement and open a PR.
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