yazi

Generates a Yazi flavor pack — Yazi's directory-based theme format. The output is a directory named <name>.yazi/ containing flavor.toml. Yazi loads flavor packs by name from ~/.config/yazi/flavors/ when its theme.toml references them.

Installation

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

Quick start

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

The first time, you also need to point Yazi at the flavor — see Integration.

Generated files

File	Path	Role
flavor.toml	~/.config/yazi/flavors/tinct.yazi/flavor.toml	Yazi flavor pack manifest. Defines colours for the manager pane, status bar, modes, selection, input/confirm/pick prompts, which-key, help, tasks, notifications, and per-filetype rules.

The flavor pack's directory name (tinct.yazi) must end in .yazi — that's part of Yazi's flavor pack naming convention. The directory name without the .yazi suffix is the value you put in theme.toml.

The flavor name defaults to tinct. With --yazi.theme-name=mything the output dir becomes ~/.config/yazi/flavors/mything.yazi/ and you reference it as "mything".

Integration

In ~/.config/yazi/theme.toml, activate the flavor:

[flavor]
dark = "tinct"
# light = "tinct"   # optional: use the same flavor in light mode

Yazi resolves "tinct" to ~/.config/yazi/flavors/tinct.yazi/. Restart any running Yazi instances to pick up the change.

Reload behaviour

Automatic

None — Hooks().Reload is nil. Yazi only reads its theme on startup; it does not watch the flavors directory for changes.

Manual fallback

Quit and relaunch Yazi (q, then yazi again). Running instances will continue using the previously loaded flavor until restarted.

Uninstall / revert

1. Remove the flavor reference from ~/.config/yazi/theme.toml: delete the dark = "tinct" (and/or light = "tinct") line, or change it to another flavor name (e.g. dark = "default-dark").

2. Delete the generated flavor pack:

   rm -rf ~/.config/yazi/flavors/tinct.yazi

   Note: the output directory is the flavor pack, not just flavor.toml. Use rm -rf against the whole .yazi directory.

3. Reload to drop the theme: quit and relaunch Yazi.

4. External state: this plugin only writes to ~/.config/yazi/flavors/<name>.yazi/. No further cleanup is required.

Flags

Flag	Default	Description
--yazi.output-dir	~/.config/yazi/flavors/tinct.yazi	Override the output directory (must end in .yazi)
--yazi.theme-name	tinct	Flavor name; output directory becomes <name>.yazi and you reference it as <name> in theme.toml

Colour role mapping

Yazi key	Tinct role	Notes
[mgr] cwd.fg	foreground	Current working directory text
[mgr] find_keyword, find_position	warning	Search highlights
[mgr] marker_copied	success	Yanked-to-copy marker
[mgr] marker_cut	danger	Yanked-to-cut marker
[mgr] marker_marked	info	Multi-selection marker
[mgr] marker_selected	accent1	Active selection marker
[mgr] count_copied/cut/selected	onSuccess/success, onDanger/danger, onAccent1/accent1	Selection counters
[mgr] border_style	outline	Pane borders
[mgr] hovered, tab_active	onAccent1 / accent1	Hover and active tab
[mgr] tab_inactive	foregroundMuted / surfaceContainer	Inactive tabs
[mgr.folder_offset], [mgr.symlink_offset]	accent1, accent2	Folder / symlink size column
[status] separator_style	surfaceContainerHigh / surfaceContainer	Powerline separators
[status] mode_normal	background / accent1	Normal mode badge
[status] mode_select	background / warning	Select mode badge
[status] mode_unset	background / danger	Unset mode badge
[status] progress_normal	accent1 / surfaceContainer	Progress bar (in-flight)
[status] progress_error	danger / surfaceContainer	Progress bar (failed)
[status] permissions_t/r/w/x/s	accent1, warning, danger, success, foregroundMuted	File-permission column
[select], [input], [confirm], [pick] borders/titles	accent1 (+ accent2 for pick active)	Prompt UI
[which] mask	surfaceContainerLow	Which-key overlay backdrop
[which] cand, desc, rest, separator_style	accent2, accent1, foregroundMuted, outline	Which-key text
[help] on/exec/desc/hovered/footer	accent1, accent2, foregroundMuted, surfaceContainerHigh, background/foreground	Help screen
[tasks] border	accent1	Task manager border
[notify] title_info/warn/error	info, warning, danger	Notification titles
[filetype] rules	accent2/3/4 + warning + accent1 + foreground	image/video/audio MIME, archives, dirs, fallback

Customising the template

Dump the default template to override it:

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

This writes ~/.config/tinct/templates/yazi/flavor.toml.tmpl. Tinct uses your version in preference to the embedded default.

See the templating reference for available functions.

Troubleshooting

Yazi shows the default theme

Two checks:

grep -A2 '^\[flavor\]' ~/.config/yazi/theme.toml
ls ~/.config/yazi/flavors/tinct.yazi/flavor.toml

If the theme.toml block is missing or points at a different name, fix it. If the flavor pack directory or flavor.toml is missing, re-run tinct generate -o yazi.

Restarting Yazi doesn't change anything

Yazi reads theme.toml and the flavor pack once at startup. If you have Yazi running across tmux panes, restart each instance. Multiplexers like tmux do not detach Yazi's already-loaded theme.

Wrong directory used

If you set --yazi.output-dir to a path that does not end in .yazi, Yazi will still load flavor.toml from it, but the activation key in theme.toml is the directory name minus .yazi. Keep the suffix; it's load-bearing.

Custom flavor name not found by Yazi

When using --yazi.theme-name=foo, the generated dir is foo.yazi and your theme.toml must say dark = "foo", not "tinct".

Related plugins

• neovim — editor theming for users who pair Yazi with Neovim as a file manager workflow.
• ghostty, kitty, wezterm — terminal themes for the host terminal Yazi runs inside.