# atmos theme

Customize the look and feel of Atmos to make it your own. Configure and preview terminal themes that control the appearance of Atmos, including tables and markdown rendering.

_\[Video: atmos theme]_

**Configure Terminal Settings**

Learn how to configure terminal themes, colors, and display options in your atmos.yaml.

Configuration Reference[Read more](/cli/configuration/settings/terminal)

## Usage

## Overview

The `atmos theme` command allows you to customize the visual appearance of Atmos CLI output. Themes control:

- **Color schemes** for tables, status messages, and command output
- **Syntax highlighting** for code blocks and configuration examples
- **Markdown rendering** styles for help text and documentation
- **UI element styling** including borders, headers, and emphasis

Atmos includes a curated collection of themes optimized for both dark and light terminal backgrounds, with several recommended themes tested for optimal readability and accessibility.

## Subcommands

## Quick Start

```shell
# List all available themes
atmos theme list

# Show only recommended themes
atmos theme list --recommended

# Preview a specific theme
atmos theme show dracula

# Set a theme via environment variable
ATMOS_THEME=dracula atmos terraform plan

# Or configure permanently in atmos.yaml
settings:
  terminal:
    theme: dracula
```

## Theme Configuration

You can set a theme in two ways:

### Environment Variable

Set the `ATMOS_THEME` environment variable before running Atmos commands:

```shell
export ATMOS_THEME=dracula
atmos terraform plan
```

This is useful for testing themes or switching themes temporarily.

### Configuration File

Add the theme to your `atmos.yaml` configuration:

```yaml
settings:
  terminal:
    theme: dracula
```

This makes the theme setting persistent across all Atmos commands.

## Choosing a Theme

**[Browse all available themes →](/cli/commands/theme/browse)**

Browse our searchable theme gallery to explore all available themes with visual previews and color palettes.

- **Dark terminals**: Use themes like `dracula`, `github-dark`, `monokai`, or `solarized-dark`
- **Light terminals**: Use themes like `github-light`, `solarized-light`, or `vs`
- **Recommended themes** (marked with ★): Have been tested for optimal readability with Atmos
- **Preview before committing**: Use `atmos theme show <name>` to see how a theme looks

## Related Commands

- [`atmos list themes`](/cli/commands/list/themes) - Alternative command to list themes (shows recommended by default)