Theming

Theming, Fonts, and Color Schemes

Use this skill when the user wants to change fonts, colors, light/dark appearance, or general visual styling. Ditto ships with a light/dark theme system built on CSS custom properties and Tailwind v3, plus a useTheme hook for runtime switching.

Adding Fonts

Any Google Font can be installed via the @fontsource / @fontsource-variable packages.

1. Install the font package. Prefer the variable version when available.

   npm install @fontsource-variable/inter
   

   Package naming:

   • @fontsource-variable/<font-name> — variable fonts (preferred; one file, all weights)
   • @fontsource/<font-name> — static fonts

2. Import the font once in src/main.tsx:

   import '@fontsource-variable/inter';
   

3. Register the family in tailwind.config.ts:

   export default {
     theme: {
       extend: {
         fontFamily: {
           sans: ['Inter Variable', 'Inter', 'system-ui', 'sans-serif'],
         },
       },
     },
   };
   

Suggested families by use case

• Modern / Clean: Inter Variable, Outfit Variable, Manrope
• Professional / Corporate: Roboto, Open Sans, Source Sans Pro
• Creative / Artistic: Poppins, Nunito, Comfortaa
• Monospace / Code: JetBrains Mono, Fira Code, Source Code Pro

For expressive hierarchies, pair a sans body font with a display/serif heading font (e.g. Inter + Playfair Display) and expose the second family as fontFamily.serif or fontFamily.display in Tailwind.

Runtime font loading from Nostr events

Ditto also supports loading fonts referenced from Nostr events (theme events, letter stationery, etc.) through src/lib/fontLoader.ts. That path is separate from the build-time @fontsource approach — it constructs @font-face rules at runtime from sanitized URLs. Never feed event data through the @fontsource path; always go through fontLoader so the URL and family name are passed through sanitizeUrl() and sanitizeCssString() (see the nostr-security skill).

Color Schemes

Colors are defined as CSS custom properties in src/index.css under two selectors:

• :root — light-mode values
• .dark — dark-mode overrides

When the user requests a new color scheme:

1. Update both :root and .dark in src/index.css. Each variable is an HSL triplet (no hsl() wrapper), e.g. --primary: 222 47% 11%;.
2. Keep contrast ratios ≥ 4.5:1 for body text and interactive elements. Test both modes.
3. Prefer extending Tailwind's palette (tailwind.config.ts) over hard-coding hex values in components — this keeps the theme consistent and dark-mode-friendly.
4. Apply colors through semantic tokens (bg-primary, text-muted-foreground, border-input) rather than raw palette names when possible, so future theme changes propagate.

The shadcn/ui components consume these semantic tokens, so changing the variables automatically restyles the entire component library.

Light/Dark Theme Switching

Ditto includes:

• useTheme hook (src/hooks/useTheme.ts) — read and set the current theme programmatically.
• CSS custom properties in src/index.css — one set in :root, dark overrides in .dark.
• Automatic persistence via the AppContext config (config.theme), saved to local storage.

To add a theme toggle:

import { useTheme } from '@/hooks/useTheme';
import { Button } from '@/components/ui/button';
import { Moon, Sun } from 'lucide-react';

export function ThemeToggle() {
  const { theme, setTheme } = useTheme();
  return (
    <Button
      variant="ghost"
      size="icon"
      => setTheme(theme === 'dark' ? 'light' : 'dark')}
    >
      {theme === 'dark' ? <Sun className="size-4" /> : <Moon className="size-4" />}
    </Button>
  );
}

Component Styling Patterns

• Class merging: use the cn() utility (@/lib/utils) to combine conditional classes and override defaults without class-order bugs.
• Variants: follow shadcn/ui's class-variance-authority pattern for component variants (variant, size). Copy an existing ui/ component as a template.
• Responsive design: lean on Tailwind breakpoints (sm:, md:, lg:) rather than JS media queries. Use useIsMobile only when layout must change based on JS-measured viewport.
• Interactive states: always define hover:, focus-visible:, and disabled: states for clickable elements. Focus rings should use ring-ring / ring-offset-background so they pick up theme colors.
• Spacing: an 8px grid (Tailwind's default 4-based scale) keeps visual rhythm consistent. Common paddings: p-4, p-6; gaps: gap-2, gap-4.
• Depth: soft shadows (shadow-sm, shadow-md), subtle gradients, and rounded-lg / rounded-xl corners match Ditto's aesthetic. Avoid heavy drop shadows.

Negative z-index gotcha

When placing decorative elements behind content with -z-10 (e.g. blurred background gradients), add isolate to the parent container. Without isolate, the negative z-index escapes the local stacking context and the element disappears behind the page's background color.

<section className="relative isolate">
  <div className="absolute inset-0 -z-10 bg-gradient-to-br from-primary/20 to-transparent" />
  {/* content */}
</section>

Design Quality Checklist

Before finishing a visual change, verify:

• Both light and dark modes look correct — no hard-coded colors, all text readable.
• Contrast ratios meet WCAG AA (≥ 4.5:1 for body, ≥ 3:1 for large text).
• Interactive elements have visible hover, focus-visible, and disabled states.
• Layout is responsive down to ~360px width without horizontal scroll.
• Animations respect prefers-reduced-motion (Tailwind: motion-safe: / motion-reduce:).
• Spacing is consistent — no one-off p-[13px] style values.