Theme for no-preference mode is overwritten when reloading kitty.conf

[Anthony-Fiddes]

Describe the bug

no-preference mode theme is overwritten when reloading an empty kitty.conf. The expected behavior for me would be that the no-preference theme would remain unchanged (I might be missing something in the docs?).

To Reproduce

Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Open kitty --config NONE
2. Use kitten themes to set different themes for light, dark, and no-preference modes
3. Close kitty and reopen while computer is in dark mode (not sure if this matters, but this is what I had selected)
4. Reload kitty config and see that the no-preference theme is not the one that is set (I believe it might be the default theme).

The no-preference theme seems to be set correctly if Kitty is killed and reopened, but if you reload the config, it's not set correctly.

Screenshots
If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem.

Environment details

kitty 0.38.1 (fa6ae712a3) created by Kovid Goyal
Darwin Anthonys-MBP 23.6.0 Darwin Kernel Version 23.6.0: Mon Jul 29 21:14:30 PDT 2024; root:xnu-10063.141.2~1/RELEASE_ARM64_T6000 arm64
ProductName:		macOS ProductVersion:		14.6.1 BuildVersion:		23G93
OpenGL: '4.1 Metal - 88.1' Detected version: 4.1
Frozen: True
Fonts:
  medium: Menlo-Regular: /System/Library/Fonts/Menlo.ttc
          Features: ()
    bold: Menlo-Bold: /System/Library/Fonts/Menlo.ttc
          Features: ()
  italic: Menlo-Italic: /System/Library/Fonts/Menlo.ttc
          Features: ()
      bi: Menlo-BoldItalic: /System/Library/Fonts/Menlo.ttc
          Features: ()
Paths:
  kitty: /Applications/kitty.app/Contents/MacOS/kitty
  base dir: /Applications/kitty.app/Contents/Resources/kitty
  extensions dir: /Applications/kitty.app/Contents/Resources/Python/lib/kitty-extensions
  system shell: /opt/homebrew/bin/fish
System color scheme: dark. Applied color theme type: dark

Config options different from defaults:
Changed shortcuts:
	cmd+k →  clear_terminal_and_scrollback
	ctrl+cmd+, →  reload_config
	opt+cmd+r →  reset_terminal
	shift+cmd+/ →  open_kitty_website

Important environment variables seen by the kitty process:
	PATH                                /opt/homebrew/bin:/opt/homebrew/sbin:/Users/anthonyfiddes/.cargo/bin:/Users/anthonyfiddes/.local/share/nvm/v22.12.0/bin:/Users/anthonyfiddes/perl5/bin:/Users/anthonyfiddes/.local/bin:/Users/anthonyfiddes/bin:/usr/local/bin:/System/Cryptexes/App/usr/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/local/bin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/bin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/appleinternal/bin:/Applications/kitty.app/Contents/MacOS
	LANG                                en_US.UTF-8
	EDITOR                              nvim
	SHELL                               /opt/homebrew/bin/fish
	USER                                anthonyfiddes
	XDG_DATA_HOME                       /Users/anthonyfiddes/.local/share
	XDG_CONFIG_HOME                     /Users/anthonyfiddes/.config

Additional context
Try to reproduce the problem with kitty --config NONE if you cannot then post a minimal kitty.conf that reproduces the problem. If the problem involves interaction with some other terminal program post a minimal config for that program to reproduce the problem as well.

[kovidgoyal]

The *.auto themes apply on system color changes, they don't apply on config file
reloads, IIRC. Why are you reloading config? The main usecase for that
is changing colors, which becomes useless with the auto facility.

[Anthony-Fiddes]

In this case I was trying to understand if I needed a theme included in my kitty.conf in addition to specifying a config for all three modes. I assumed I shouldn't include one, but I noticed this behavior while checking.

I usually tend to reload the config while tweaking settings, changing keymaps, or resetting the font size. Is there a better way?

[kovidgoyal]

Most config options can be set dynamically via remote control so you
don't typically need to reload config unless you are actually trying to
change the config permanently. If that is your goal then reloading
config is fine. In anycase I have fixed it to re-apply the auto color
schemes after reloading config.

[Anthony-Fiddes]

I noticed, and I appreciated it! Thanks for pointing out the remote control features too, I'll definitely take a look!

…

-------- Ursprüngliche Nachricht -------- Am 08.01.25 09:20 um Kovid Goyal schrieb : Most config options can be set dynamically via remote control so you don't typically need to reload config unless you are actually trying to change the config permanently. If that is your goal then reloading config is fine. In anycase I have fixed it to re-apply the auto color schemes after reloading config. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe. You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>