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[BUG/FEATURE] Light Mode doesn't work in Zellij #4464
Description
Description
when using https://zellij.dev/ opencode is always in dark mode. This alone could be a bug in how zellij reports system theme or something, however it would be nice to be able to manually select light/dark mode instead of only the 'theme' and have light-dark auto detected. 'system' seems to not actually follow the system in this case (only opencode has this issue for me)
OpenCode version
1.0.57
Steps to reproduce
- install zellij
- set light mode in zellij (catppuccin-latte)
- start zellij (its light mode)
- start opencode (its dark mode)
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Operating System
Arch
Terminal
Ghostty 1.2.3
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rekram1-node commentedon Nov 18, 2025
will fix
benodiwal commentedon Jan 5, 2026
@rekram1-node can i work on this issue ?
linuxmobile commentedon Jan 6, 2026
Light mode is working fine in zellij, the issue with zellij is the cache zellij-org/zellij#3590 (comment)
pureboys commentedon Jan 12, 2026
upgrade zellij 0.43.1 is work for me
smeijer commentedon Jan 12, 2026
Same issue inside Jetbrains IDE's. Does anyone know a fix?
Br1an67 commentedon Mar 1, 2026
I'd like to work on this. Added a
theme_modeoption (light/dark/system) totui.jsonthat overrides terminal background color detection — set"theme_mode": "light"to force light mode in Zellij or other terminals that misreport the system theme.PR: #15612
JuliaKalder commentedon Mar 14, 2026
Research Summary
Root Cause
The issue is caused by a Zellij cache bug (zellij-org/zellij#3590): OSC 10/11 queries return incorrect colors (always black) due to a caching problem. This causes opencode to incorrectly detect dark mode.
Terminal Detection Flow
Affected Modules
Proposed Solution (PR #15612)
Add config option to :
Valid values: , , (default)
Priority Order
Alternative Fix
Upgrade Zellij to 0.43.1+ which fixes the underlying cache issue.
Risks
Full research: logs/issues/4464/research.md
fix: detect light mode in Zellij terminal multiplexer
kommander commentedon May 3, 2026
Does it work with ctrl+p command palette and then choose "light mode" manually? That should also lock it in so it always starts up in light mode.
not-reed commentedon May 4, 2026
yes, switching manually with the palette seems to work fine now! (still would be nice if it followed the system theme though - but yes, seems this is might be a zellij cache bug at its core)
with ghostty -> opencode, i can switch my system between light and dark and opencode follows the theme correctly.
with ghostty -> zellij -> opencode, it is always dark unless i manually change it with the palette as you suggested
i am using zellij 0.44.1 so the previous comments "Research Summary" doesn't seem to work for me
github-actions commentedon Jul 5, 2026
To stay organized issues are automatically closed after 60 days of no activity. If the issue is still relevant please open a new one.