ReTheme for AutoHotkey v2

ReTheme is a skinning and custom theme engine for AutoHotkey v2 GUI windows. It supports dark mode, custom color schemes, system menu integrations, and an interactive live Theme Editor.

See - https://www.autohotkey.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=83&t=140841

Basic Usage

To apply the default theme (Default Dark) to a GUI window, include the script and call Apply with the window's HWND:

#Include ReTheme.ahk ; immediately applies hooks
RT.Apply(MainGui.Hwnd) ; optional - removes initial window flicker

Configuration Properties

You can customize ReTheme by modifying the static properties in the RT.Config class before calling RT.Apply() or RT.Init():

; Disable the automatic hotkey
RT.Config.EnableEditorHotkey := false

; Change the theme editor shortcut key combination
RT.Config.EditorHotkey := "^+e" ; Ctrl+Shift+E

; Apply a different default theme from themes.ini
RT.Config.DefaultTheme := "Midnight Purple"

; Disable automatic "Themes" menu generation
RT.Config.AddThemesMenu := false

Configuration Reference

Property	Default Value	Description
`RT.Config.Robust`	`true`	Safeguards subclass callback depths to prevent message loops.
`RT.Config.AutoInheritBg`	`true`	Controls automatic background color inheritance for Static and Link controls inside container controls (e.g. GroupBoxes).
`RT.Config.EnableEditorHotkey`	`true`	If true, enables the hotkey to open the live Theme Editor.
`RT.Config.EditorHotkey`	`^+t`	The AutoHotkey key combination pattern for the Theme Editor hotkey (Default: Ctrl+Shift+T).
`RT.Config.DefaultTheme`	`"Default Dark"`	The default theme name from `themes.ini` or custom map to apply.
`RT.Config.AddThemesMenu`	`true`	Injects a "Themes" dropdown into the window menu bar (if the window has a MenuBar).
`RT.Config.AddEditorToMenu`	`true`	Appends "Theme Editor..." to the bottom of the generated Themes menu.
`RT.Config.ButtonCursor`	`"Hand"`	Hover cursor for push buttons, checkboxes, radios, and tab buttons.
`RT.Config.InputCursor`	`"IBeam"`	Hover cursor for standard edits and hotkeys.
`RT.Config.DropdownCursor`	`"Hand"`	Hover cursor for dropdown ComboBoxes and dropdown list items.
`RT.Config.SliderCursor`	`"Hand"`	Hover cursor for sliders/trackbars.
`RT.Config.MenuCursor`	`"Hand"`	Hover cursor for the window MenuBar.

Initialization & Overrides (`RT.Init`)

You can initialize ReTheme with custom theme presets, rule maps, and configuration overrides via RT.Init:

; Signature:
RT.Init(themeOrPalette := "", rulesArray := "", configMap := "")

Examples

1. Initialize with a specific theme name:

RT.Init("Dracula")

2. Initialize with a custom color preset map:

PresetMap := Map(
    "BaseBg",  "1A1B26",
    "Surface", "24283B",
    "Text",    "A9B1D6",
    "Accent",  "7AA2F7",
    "Border",  "383E56",
    "Header",  "1F2335",
    "FgDim",   "565F89"
)
RT.Init(PresetMap)

3. Initialize with configuration overrides:

Overrides := Map(
    "EnableEditorHotkey", true,
    "EditorHotkey", "+!t" ; Shift+Alt+T
)
RT.Init("Ocean Dark", "", Overrides)

Theme Editor Shortcut

By default, pressing Ctrl+Shift+T (^+t) launches the interactive Theme Editor.

This hotkey is context-sensitive and only triggers when a themed GUI window is active.
The editor lets you preview and choose colors in real-time using native Windows Color Picker dialogs, and save them back to themes.ini.

Menu Integration APIs

While the Theme Editor is automatically added to the window's main MenuBar by default (controlled by RT.Config.AddEditorToMenu), you can manually integrate it into other menus:

Custom or Context Menus

To append the Theme Editor option to custom menu objects or context (right-click) menus:

MyMenu := Menu()
MyMenu.Add("My Action", (*) => MsgBox())

RT.AddThemeEditorToMenu(MyMenu)

Window System Menu

To add the Theme Editor to the window's native system menu (accessed by right-clicking the window title bar):

RT.AddThemeEditorToSystemMenu(MainGui.Hwnd)

Custom Cursors & Rule Customization

ReTheme allows you to control hover cursors and apply customized styles dynamically.

Global Cursors

You can configure global hover cursor styles by modifying the RT.Config options before initializing or applying themes:

RT.Config.ButtonCursor := "Hand"
RT.Config.InputCursor := "IBeam"

Available named cursors: "Hand", "Arrow", "IBeam", "Wait", "Cross", "UpArrow", "Size", "No", "Help", etc. Set to "" to disable custom cursors for that category.

Selector & Control Name Rules

When initializing the engine with RT.Init(Palette, MyRules), you can provide a list of rule maps to match controls by class or by their AutoHotkey variable/control Name:

MyRules := [
    ; Target by Win32 Class Name
    Map("Selector", "Edit", "Bg", "Surface", "Fg", "Text", "Border", "Accent", "Cursor", "IBeam"),
    
    ; Target specifically by the control name tag (v-variable)
    Map("Selector", "submitBtn", "Bg", "Accent", "Fg", "BaseBg")
]
RT.Init(RT.Palette(MyConfig), MyRules)

Specific HWND Rule Customization (CtlCache Overriding)

For runtime styling overrides of individual controls, you can write directly to RT.CtlCache using the control's Hwnd before calling RT.Apply(MainGui.Hwnd):

customBtn := MainGui.Add("Button", "w200 h40", "Click Me")

RT.CtlCache[customBtn.Hwnd] := Map(
    "Bg", "FF003C",
    "Fg", "00FFEA",
    "Border", "333344",
    "HoverBg", "FFFFFF",
    "HoverFg", "000000",
    "HoverBorder", "000000",
    "PressedBg", "00FF00",
    "PressedFg", "FF0000",
    "PressedBorder", "000000",
    "CheckedBg", "FF00FF",
    "CheckedFg", "000000",
    "CheckedBorder", "FF00FF",
    "DisabledBg", "000000",
    "DisabledFg", "FF0000",
    "DisabledBorder", "000000",
    "Cursor", "Hand"
)

RT.Apply(MainGui.Hwnd)

Style Override Keys Reference

Here are all the keys you can specify in your custom rule maps (for MyRules or RT.CtlCache HWND overrides):

Key	Description	Applicable Controls
`Bg`	Default background color.	All subclassed controls
`Fg`	Default text (foreground) color.	All subclassed controls
`Border`	Default border color.	All subclassed controls with borders
`HoverBg`	Background color when mouse hovers.	Buttons, Checkboxes, Radios
`HoverFg`	Text color when mouse hovers.	Buttons, Checkboxes, Radios
`HoverBorder`	Border color when mouse hovers.	Buttons, Checkboxes, Radios
`PressedBg`	Background color when clicked/pressed.	Buttons, Checkboxes, Radios
`PressedFg`	Text/Icon color when clicked/pressed.	Buttons, Checkboxes, Radios
`PressedBorder`	Border color when clicked/pressed.	Buttons, Checkboxes, Radios
`CheckedBg`	Background color when checked/toggled.	Checkboxes, Radios, Toggled Buttons
`CheckedFg`	Dot/Checkmark/Text color when checked.	Checkboxes, Radios, Toggled Buttons
`CheckedBorder`	Border color when checked/toggled.	Checkboxes, Radios, Toggled Buttons
`DisabledBg`	Background color when disabled.	Buttons, Checkboxes, Radios
`DisabledFg`	Text/Icon color when disabled.	Buttons, Checkboxes, Radios
`DisabledBorder`	Border color when disabled.	Buttons, Checkboxes, Radios
`FocusedBg`	Background color when focused.	Buttons
`FocusedFg`	Text color when focused.	Buttons
`FocusedBorder`	Border color when focused.	Edits, ComboBoxes, ListBoxes, Hotkeys, Buttons
`Cursor`	Custom hover mouse cursor (name or Resource ID).	All subclassed controls

Cursors Reference List

You can assign these named string cursors (or a custom Win32 Resource ID integer) globally to RT.Config properties or to the "Cursor" rule key:

Cursor Name	Win32 Identifier	Visual Indicator
`"Hand"`	`IDC_HAND` (32649)	Clicking hand pointer (typically for links/buttons)
`"Arrow"`	`IDC_ARROW` (32512)	Standard selection arrow
`"IBeam"`	`IDC_IBEAM` (32513)	Text editing insertion point cursor
`"Wait"`	`IDC_WAIT` (32514)	Hourglass / spinning wheel (busy cursor)
`"Cross"`	`IDC_CROSS` (32515)	Crosshair pointer
`"UpArrow"`	`IDC_UPARROW` (32516)	Vertical arrow pointing straight up
`"Size"` / `"SizeAll"`	`IDC_SIZEALL` (32646)	Four-pointed moving arrow
`"SizeNWSE"`	`IDC_SIZENWSE` (32642)	Double-pointed diagonal resizing arrow (NW to SE)
`"SizeNESW"`	`IDC_SIZENESW` (32643)	Double-pointed diagonal resizing arrow (NE to SW)
`"SizeWE"`	`IDC_SIZEWE` (32644)	Double-pointed horizontal resizing arrow (W to E)
`"SizeNS"`	`IDC_SIZENS` (32645)	Double-pointed vertical resizing arrow (N to S)
`"No"`	`IDC_NO` (32648)	Slashing "Not Allowed" circle
`"AppStarting"`	`IDC_APPSTARTING` (32650)	Arrow pointer with a small busy hourglass
`"Help"`	`IDC_HELP` (32651)	Arrow pointer with a question mark

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Example-ComponentShowcase.ahk		Example-ComponentShowcase.ahk
Example-CustomButton.ahk		Example-CustomButton.ahk
README.md		README.md
ReTheme.ahk		ReTheme.ahk
example.png		example.png

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ReTheme for AutoHotkey v2

Basic Usage

Configuration Properties

Configuration Reference

Initialization & Overrides (`RT.Init`)

Examples

Theme Editor Shortcut

Menu Integration APIs

Custom or Context Menus

Window System Menu

Custom Cursors & Rule Customization

Global Cursors

Selector & Control Name Rules

Specific HWND Rule Customization (CtlCache Overriding)

Style Override Keys Reference

Cursors Reference List

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ReTheme for AutoHotkey v2

Basic Usage

Configuration Properties

Configuration Reference

Initialization & Overrides (RT.Init)

Examples

Theme Editor Shortcut

Menu Integration APIs

Custom or Context Menus

Window System Menu

Custom Cursors & Rule Customization

Global Cursors

Selector & Control Name Rules

Specific HWND Rule Customization (CtlCache Overriding)

Style Override Keys Reference

Cursors Reference List

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Initialization & Overrides (`RT.Init`)