midnight.nvim

A minimal, scientifically-optimized colorscheme with automatic dark/light variants.

Features

• Single theme, dual modes: Automatically detects vim.o.background and switches between midnight (dark) and daylight (light) palettes
• Ultra-minimal syntax: Only 3 semantic colors - blue for keywords, green for literals, grey for comments, white for everything else
• Scientific optimization: Desaturated colors in the 200-50 range, WCAG AAA contrast ratios
• Eye strain reduction: No pure black (#121212) or pure white (#e0e0e0)
• Full terminal support: Complete 16 ANSI color support
• Plugin compatibility: Built-in support for fzf-lua, nvim-cmp, gitsigns, and more

Installation

lazy.nvim

{
  'barrett-ruth/midnight.nvim',
  lazy = false,
  priority = 1000,
  config = function()
    require('midnight').setup()
    vim.cmd('colorscheme midnight')
  end,
}

Usage

colorscheme midnight

The theme automatically adapts to your background setting:

vim.o.background = 'dark'  -- uses midnight palette
vim.o.background = 'light' -- uses daylight palette

Design Philosophy

• Minimal colors: Only color what's semantically necessary
• High contrast: Meet WCAG AAA standards for readability
• Consistent with terminal: Matches Ghostty, tmux, and FZF themes
• No AI comments: Clean, human-written code

Color Palette

Midnight (Dark)

• Background: #121212 (optimal dark gray)
• Foreground: #e0e0e0 (87% white)
• Blue: #7aa2f7 (keywords/control)
• Green: #98c379 (literals/data)
• Grey: #666666 (comments)

Daylight (Light)

• Optimized light variant with similar principles

License

MIT