Cinder

A terminal-native dark theme for Zed. Near-black surfaces, hairline rules, one ember accent (#e0632a), and a deliberately quiet seven-color syntax palette.

Install

Once published: zed: extensions → search Cinder.

Manually (single theme file):

mkdir -p ~/.config/zed/themes
curl -o ~/.config/zed/themes/cinder.json \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nguyenhaiduc06/cinder/main/themes/cinder.json

Then pick Cinder Dark via cmd-k cmd-t.

As a dev extension: clone this repo, then zed: install dev extension from the command palette and point it at the directory.

Palette

Role	Hex	Used for
Chrome	`#070708`	title bar, window background
Sidebar / panels	`#0b0b0d`	project panel, terminal panel surface
Editor	`#0a0a0b`	editor + gutter background
Tab bar / status bar	`#0c0c0e`	inactive tabs, status bar, terminal
Popover	`#101013`	elevated surfaces, pickers, inputs
Selected row	`#17171a`	element.selected / active
Border	`#1c1c20`	hairline rules
Widget border	`#26262b`	inputs, popovers, scrollbar thumb
Text	`#e8e6e3` → `#c8c6c3` → `#8a8a92` → `#5a5a62` → `#3a3a40`	never pure white
Ember	`#e0632a` / `#f0834f`	cursor, focus, accents, active line number
Green	`#4ea672`	created / success
Red	`#d1495b`	deleted / error
Yellow	`#e0c07a`	modified / warning
Blue	`#7fb3e0`	info, selection tint (22%)
Purple	`#c98cd9`	conflict, keywords

Syntax scope map

Seven colors, no more:

Color	Zed keys
`#c98cd9`	`keyword`, `variable.special`, `preproc`
`#e0c07a`	`function`, `type`, `constructor`, `enum`, `variant`, `tag`, `title`
`#7fb3e0`	`variable`, `property`, `attribute`, `label`, `link_*`
`#8fbf7f`	`string*`, `text.literal`
`#e0632a`	`number`, `boolean`, `constant`, `string.escape`, `punctuation.special`
`#6b6b74`	`punctuation*`, `operator`
`#5a5a62`	`comment` (italic), `hint`

Identifiers stay near-foreground — only callables and keywords earn hue. Numbers borrow the accent. No bold anywhere; comments are the only italic (plus emphasis / link_text).

Design notes

Brackets — matching-bracket highlights stay a neutral #26262b rather than a color cycle. Zed's accents key (used for indent-guide/bracket cycling) is set to the same seven-color syntax palette, but the muted highlight is a deliberate choice to keep brackets quiet.
Scrollbar / minimap — untinted on purpose: #26262b at 40 / 60 / 80% for rest / hover / active. Ember there reads as an error.
terminal.ansi.cyan is #8fbf7f (the string green), keeping the terminal inside the seven-color budget instead of introducing an eighth hue.

License

MIT