gtk3

Generates a per-user CSS override for GTK 3 applications (GIMP, Inkscape, Pidgin, and most non-libadwaita GNOME 3-era apps). The file defines the adw-gtk3 / libadwaita-compatible @define-color symbols — window_bg_color, accent_bg_color, sidebar_bg_color, and so on — so any GTK 3 app that respects those palette names picks up tinct's colours.

Installation

Built into tinct — nothing to install separately. tinct generate -o gtk3 works out of the box.

To actually see the colours applied you also need the adw-gtk-theme (a.k.a. adw-gtk3) installed and selected as the GTK 3 theme — see Integration.

Quick start

tinct generate -i image -p ~/Pictures/wallpaper.jpg -o gtk3

Generated files

File	Path	Role
tinct-gtk3.css	~/.config/gtk-3.0/tinct-gtk3.css	Palette overrides; defines @define-color for the libadwaita-style colour names

Integration

GTK 3 does not auto-discover files dropped into ~/.config/gtk-3.0/. Two manual steps are required, both of which the plugin will print at the end of generation if missing:

1. Import the palette from ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css (create the file if it doesn't exist):

   @import url("tinct-gtk3.css");

2. Install the adw-gtk3 theme and select it in ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini. The colour overrides only take effect when the active theme actually consults the libadwaita palette names tinct sets; the default Adwaita GTK 3 theme does not.

   # Arch / CachyOS
   sudo pacman -S adw-gtk-theme
   
   # Debian / Ubuntu
   sudo apt install adw-gtk3

   # ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini
   [Settings]
   gtk-theme-name=adw-gtk3-dark

The plugin's PostExecute inspects both files: if either the @import line is missing or the theme isn't adw-gtk3-something, it prints a banner explaining what to add. There is no automatic edit — both files belong to the user.

Reload behaviour

Automatic

None. GTK 3 reads gtk.css and settings.ini once at application start; there is no per-process or system-wide reload mechanism for them.

Manual fallback

Close and reopen any running GTK 3 application to pick up the new palette. The colours are baked into the GtkStyleContext at app launch.

Uninstall / revert

1. Remove the include line from ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css:

   sed -i '/@import url("tinct-gtk3.css")/d' ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css

   If gtk.css is now empty, delete it.

2. Delete the generated file:

   rm ~/.config/gtk-3.0/tinct-gtk3.css

3. Reload to drop the theme — close and reopen each GTK 3 app, or restart your session.

4. External state: optionally revert your GTK 3 theme back to the default Adwaita by editing ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini (gtk-theme-name=Adwaita) and uninstalling adw-gtk-theme if you no longer want it. The tinct plugin itself never writes to settings.ini — that was a manual step you took during Integration and only you know whether to undo it.

Flags

Flag	Default	Description
--gtk3.output-dir	~/.config/gtk-3.0	Override the output directory

Colour role mapping

@define-color name	Tinct role
window_bg_color	background
window_fg_color	foreground
view_bg_color	surface
view_fg_color	onSurface
accent_bg_color / accent_color	accent1
accent_fg_color	onAccent1
headerbar_bg_color	surface
headerbar_fg_color	onSurface
headerbar_backdrop_color	surfaceVariant
headerbar_shade_color	border
card_bg_color / popover_bg_color / dialog_bg_color	surface
card_fg_color / popover_fg_color / dialog_fg_color	onSurface
card_shade_color	border
sidebar_bg_color / sidebar_backdrop_color	surfaceVariant
sidebar_fg_color	onSurfaceVariant
sidebar_shade_color	border
warning_bg_color / warning_color	warning
warning_fg_color	onWarning
error_bg_color / error_color / destructive_bg_color / destructive_color	danger
error_fg_color / destructive_fg_color	onDanger
success_bg_color / success_color	success
success_fg_color	onSuccess

Customising the template

tinct plugins templates dump -o gtk3 -l ~/.config/tinct/templates/gtk3

This creates ~/.config/tinct/templates/gtk3/tinct-gtk3.css.tmpl. Tinct uses your version in preference to the embedded default.

See the templating reference for the available functions and palette accessors.

Troubleshooting

Plugin printed GTK3 Theme Configuration Required banner

PostExecute ran but detected that either gtk.css doesn't @import the palette, or settings.ini isn't using an adw-gtk3* theme. Apply both fixes in the Integration section and re-run tinct generate -o gtk3. The banner will disappear once both conditions are satisfied.

Colours look slightly off / only partly applied

The default GNOME Adwaita GTK 3 theme ignores the libadwaita palette names. You need adw-gtk3-dark (or the light variant) selected in settings.ini. Verify with:

grep gtk-theme-name ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini

If that still doesn't help, the app you're looking at may be running through Flatpak with its own bundled GTK 3 stack — Flatpak apps don't read ~/.config/gtk-3.0 by default. Use flatpak override --user --filesystem=~/.config/gtk-3.0:ro to expose the host config.

Plugin skipped: gtk3 config directory does not exist

Hooks.RequiredDirs requires ~/.config/gtk-3.0 to already exist (taken as a signal that GTK 3 is installed). Create it: mkdir -p ~/.config/gtk-3.0 and re-run.

Related plugins

• gtk4 — sibling plugin for the GTK 4 stack.
• libadwaita — for the modern libadwaita-only apps; writes alongside gtk4.
• gnome-shell — themes the GNOME compositor itself.