Reloading config with SIGUSR1 replaces dark/light theme with default theme

[martenlienen]

Describe the bug
When I pkill -SIGUSR1 kitty to reload the configuration, all kitty windows switch to the default theme from the currently activated, preference-specific theme as defined by dark-theme.auto.conf and light-theme.auto.conf.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Specify non-default themes as dark-theme.auto.conf and light-theme.auto.conf
2. Reload config with pkill -SIGUSR1 kitty
3. See your kitty windows switch to the default theme

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

Environment details

kitty 0.41.1 created by Kovid Goyal
Linux tuxedo 6.12.23-1-lts #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu, 10 Apr 2025 13:28:36 +0000 x86_64
S{PRETTY_NAME} 6.12.23-1-lts (/dev/tty)

DISTRIB_ID="EndeavourOS"
DISTRIB_RELEASE="rolling"
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="EndeavourOS Linux"
DISTRIB_CODENAME="rolling"
Running under: Wayland (sway version 1.10.1) missing: blur icon window-state-suspended
OpenGL: '4.6 (Core Profile) Mesa 25.0.3-arch1.1' Detected version: 4.6
Frozen: False
Fonts:
  medium: NotoSansMono-Regular: /usr/share/fonts/noto/NotoSansMono-Regular.ttf:0
          Features: ()
    bold: NotoSansMono-Bold: /usr/share/fonts/noto/NotoSansMono-Bold.ttf:0
          Features: ()
  italic: NotoSansMono-Regular: /usr/share/fonts/noto/NotoSansMono-Regular.ttf:0
          Features: ()
      bi: NotoSansMono-Bold: /usr/share/fonts/noto/NotoSansMono-Bold.ttf:0
          Features: ()
Paths:
  kitty: /usr/bin/kitty
  base dir: /usr/lib/kitty
  extensions dir: /usr/lib/kitty/kitty
  system shell: /bin/zsh
System color scheme: light. Applied color theme type: light

Config options different from defaults:
Colors:
	active_tab_background   #f2e9e1   
	active_tab_foreground   #575279   
	background              #faf4ed   
	color0                  #f2e9e1   
	color1                  #b4637a   
	color10                 #286983   
	color11                 #ea9d34   
	color12                 #56949f   
	color13                 #907aa9   
	color14                 #d7827e   
	color15                 #575279   
	color2                  #286983   
	color3                  #ea9d34   
	color4                  #56949f   
	color5                  #907aa9   
	color6                  #d7827e   
	color7                  #575279   
	color8                  #9893a5   
	color9                  #b4637a   
	cursor                  #cecacd   
	cursor_text_color       #575279   
	foreground              #575279   
	inactive_tab_background #faf4ed   
	inactive_tab_foreground #9893a5   
	selection_background    #dfdad9   
	selection_foreground    #575279   
	url_color               #907aa9   

Important environment variables seen by the kitty process:
	PATH                                /home/marten/.local/bin:/home/marten/.pixi/bin:/home/marten/.cargo/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/var/lib/flatpak/exports/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/default/bin:/usr/bin/site_perl:/usr/bin/vendor_perl:/usr/bin/core_perl:/home/marten/.antigen/bundles/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting:/home/marten/.antigen/bundles/zsh-users/zsh-completions:/home/marten/.antigen/bundles/zsh-users/zsh-history-substring-search
	LANG                                en_US.UTF-8
	EDITOR                              vim
	SHELL                               /bin/zsh
	DISPLAY                             :0
	WAYLAND_DISPLAY                     wayland-1
	USER                                marten
	XCURSOR_SIZE                        24
	LC_ADDRESS                          de_DE.UTF-8
	LC_NAME                             de_DE.UTF-8
	LC_MONETARY                         de_DE.UTF-8
	XDG_SEAT                            seat0
	XDG_SESSION_TYPE                    wayland
	LC_PAPER                            de_DE.UTF-8
	XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP                 sway
	LC_IDENTIFICATION                   de_DE.UTF-8
	LC_TELEPHONE                        de_DE.UTF-8
	LC_MEASUREMENT                      de_DE.UTF-8
	XDG_VTNR                            1
	XDG_SESSION_ID                      1
	XDG_RUNTIME_DIR                     /run/user/1000
	LC_TIME                             en_US.utf-8
	XDG_DATA_DIRS                       /home/marten/.local/share/flatpak/exports/share:/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share:/usr/local/share:/usr/share
	LC_NUMERIC                          de_DE.UTF-8

Environment post config reload:

kitty 0.41.1 created by Kovid Goyal
Linux tuxedo 6.12.23-1-lts #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu, 10 Apr 2025 13:28:36 +0000 x86_64
S{PRETTY_NAME} 6.12.23-1-lts (/dev/tty)

DISTRIB_ID="EndeavourOS"
DISTRIB_RELEASE="rolling"
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="EndeavourOS Linux"
DISTRIB_CODENAME="rolling"
Running under: Wayland (sway version 1.10.1) missing: blur icon window-state-suspended
OpenGL: '4.6 (Core Profile) Mesa 25.0.3-arch1.1' Detected version: 4.6
Frozen: False
Fonts:
  medium: NotoSansMono-Regular: /usr/share/fonts/noto/NotoSansMono-Regular.ttf:0
          Features: ()
    bold: NotoSansMono-Bold: /usr/share/fonts/noto/NotoSansMono-Bold.ttf:0
          Features: ()
  italic: NotoSansMono-Regular: /usr/share/fonts/noto/NotoSansMono-Regular.ttf:0
          Features: ()
      bi: NotoSansMono-Bold: /usr/share/fonts/noto/NotoSansMono-Bold.ttf:0
          Features: ()
Paths:
  kitty: /usr/bin/kitty
  base dir: /usr/lib/kitty
  extensions dir: /usr/lib/kitty/kitty
  system shell: /bin/zsh
System color scheme: light. Applied color theme type: light

Config options different from defaults:

Important environment variables seen by the kitty process:
	PATH                                /home/marten/.local/bin:/home/marten/.pixi/bin:/home/marten/.cargo/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/var/lib/flatpak/exports/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/default/bin:/usr/bin/site_perl:/usr/bin/vendor_perl:/usr/bin/core_perl:/home/marten/.antigen/bundles/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting:/home/marten/.antigen/bundles/zsh-users/zsh-completions:/home/marten/.antigen/bundles/zsh-users/zsh-history-substring-search
	LANG                                en_US.UTF-8
	EDITOR                              vim
	SHELL                               /bin/zsh
	DISPLAY                             :0
	WAYLAND_DISPLAY                     wayland-1
	USER                                marten
	XCURSOR_SIZE                        24
	LC_ADDRESS                          de_DE.UTF-8
	LC_NAME                             de_DE.UTF-8
	LC_MONETARY                         de_DE.UTF-8
	XDG_SEAT                            seat0
	XDG_SESSION_TYPE                    wayland
	LC_PAPER                            de_DE.UTF-8
	XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP                 sway
	LC_IDENTIFICATION                   de_DE.UTF-8
	LC_TELEPHONE                        de_DE.UTF-8
	LC_MEASUREMENT                      de_DE.UTF-8
	XDG_VTNR                            1
	XDG_SESSION_ID                      1
	XDG_RUNTIME_DIR                     /run/user/1000
	LC_TIME                             en_US.utf-8
	XDG_DATA_DIRS                       /home/marten/.local/share/flatpak/exports/share:/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share:/usr/local/share:/usr/share
	LC_NUMERIC                          de_DE.UTF-8

Additional context
This is reproducible with kitty --config NONE and only the two *.auto.conf files.

[kovidgoyal]

You need to fill in all the information asked for in the issue template.

[kovidgoyal]

dup of #8203

[martenlienen]

Thanks for the quick response and your excellent work on kitty! Sorry for leaving out some information. I added the missing sections. In #8203 you wrote on Jan 8 that you fixed this already, but I am running the newest released version and it is still happening for me. I have added two environments from a kitty --config NONE, one before reloading and one after. There, we can see that kitty still thinks that the light theme is applied when in fact the color options have been reset to default.