shhhed
🤫 Theme that dims the scaffolding and colors what matters. Dark and light.
How to install
With Forge Super installed, the button above opens the app on this extension, where you press Install. Nothing is installed until you do.
You can also open the Extensions panel in the app and search for shhhed. The extension's id is shhhed-theme.
Don't have Forge Super yet? Download it here.
README
From the extension's repository, written by its authors and not by Mentenaz. See the source.
Font: Iosevka SS14 (JetBrains Mono) 548 · Terminal: Iosevka Term SS10 · Icons: FantastIcons · Tip:
"colorize_brackets": false
shhhed
A quiet theme for Zed. Scaffolding recedes, meaning emerges.
Design
Five brightness tiers, assigned by how much each token matters when scanning code:
| Tier | OKLCH L | Examples | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canvas | — | Editor #1e1e22 #1e1e22, chrome #1a1a1e #1a1a1e | Background |
| Recede | 0.56–0.60 | Comments #797981 #797981, Punctuation #74747a #74747a | Present but not competing |
| Structural | 0.62–0.67 | Operators #929296 #929296, Keywords #918699 #918699, Attributes / properties / parameters / member vars #909094 #909094 | Scaffolding |
| Semantic | 0.68–0.71 | Types #60b1b1 #60b1b1, Functions #729bcf #729bcf, Strings #c48d2f #c48d2f, Numbers #ca8489 #ca8489 | Meaning |
| Reading | 0.76–0.79 | Variables #b8b8bc #b8b8bc, Constructors #c6a6be #c6a6be, Variants #c6a6be #c6a6be | What you're reading |
- Near-neutral canvas with blue undertone. Compatible with Night Shift / f.lux.
- Palette computed in OKLCH. Same-tier tokens differ by hue, not brightness.
- Saturation under 50% HSL (most under 40%) to reduce strain on dark backgrounds.
- Structural tokens clear 4.5:1 against the canvas (WCAG AA). Recede tokens sit at 3.5–4.1:1 — legible but not competing.
Palette
| Token | Color | Hex |
|---|---|---|
| Types | #60b1b1 | #60b1b1 |
| Functions | #729bcf | #729bcf |
| Strings | #c48d2f | #c48d2f |
| Numbers | #ca8489 | #ca8489 |
| Keywords | #918699 | #918699 |
| Background | #1e1e22 | #1e1e22 |
Light
Same five tiers, inverted. Cool canvas, gray scaffolding, vivid meaning.
On a dark background, brighter and more colorful both mean "more visible." The eye gets two signals, so small lightness gaps are enough to tell tiers apart.
On a light background, darker and more colorful pull apart: a token can be dark or vivid, but not both. Structural tokens stay dark and neutral; semantic tokens trade some darkness for high chroma so they stand out through color intensity instead.
| Tier | OKLCH L | C | Examples | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canvas | 0.97 | ~0 | Background #f1f6fb #f1f6fb | Background |
| Recede | 0.58–0.60 | 0.01–0.02 | Comments #877f73 #877f73, Punctuation #7f7970 #7f7970 | Present but not competing |
| Structural | 0.53–0.55 | 0.02–0.07 | Keywords #79658d #79658d, Operators #726b5f #726b5f, Properties #756d62 #756d62 | Scaffolding |
| Semantic | 0.49–0.60 | 0.12–0.22 | Types #008cb4 #008cb4, Functions #0050d8 #0050d8, Strings #a85b01 #a85b01, Numbers #c82868 #c82868 | Meaning |
| Reading | 0.28–0.41 | 0.01–0.20 | Variables #2d2821 #2d2821, Constructors #6a1098 #6a1098 | What you're reading |
- Cool-white canvas (L=0.97) with blue undertone, matching the dark variant.
- Chroma carries the tier signal — semantic tokens pop through color intensity (C=0.12–0.22) against near-neutral structural tokens (C≈0.02–0.07).
| Token | Color | Hex | OKLCH |
|---|---|---|---|
| Types | #008cb4 | #008cb4 | L=0.60 C=0.12 H=227 |
| Functions | #0050d8 | #0050d8 | L=0.49 C=0.22 H=262 |
| Strings | #a85b01 | #a85b01 | L=0.55 C=0.13 H=59 |
| Numbers | #c82868 | #c82868 | L=0.56 C=0.20 H=3 |
| Keywords | #79658d | #79658d | L=0.54 C=0.07 H=307 |
| Background | #f1f6fb | #f1f6fb | L=0.97 C=0.01 H=248 |
Install
shhhed in Zed extensions.
Further reading
- APCA Contrast Algorithm
- OKLCH Color Space
- Helmholtz–Kohlrausch effect
- Syntax Highlighting Done Right — Tonsky
License
MIT