## Problem
Diff lines used only foreground colors (green/red) with no background
tinting, making them hard to scan. The gutter (line numbers) also had no
theme awareness — dimmed text was fine on dark terminals but unreadable
on light ones.
## Mental model
Each diff line now has four styled layers: **gutter** (line number),
**sign** (`+`/`-`), **content** (text), and **line background** (full
terminal width). A `DiffTheme` enum (`Dark` / `Light`) is selected once
per render by probing the terminal's queried background via
`default_bg()`. A companion `DiffColorLevel` enum (`TrueColor` /
`Ansi256` / `Ansi16`) is derived from `stdout_color_level()` and gates
which palette is used. All style helpers dispatch on `(theme,
DiffLineType, color_level)` to pick the right colors.
| Theme Picker Wide | Theme Picker Narrow |
|---|---|
| <img width="1552" height="1012" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/231b21b7-32d4-4727-80ed-7d01924954be"
/> | <img width="795" height="1012" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/549cacdf-daec-43c9-ad64-2a28d16d140e"
/> |
| Dark BG - 16 colors | Dark BG - 256 colors | Dark BG - True Colors |
|---|---|---|
| <img width="1552" height="1012" alt="dark-16colors"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/fba36de3-c101-47d4-9e63-88cdd00410d0"
/> | <img width="1552" height="1012" alt="dark-256colors"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/f39e4307-c6b0-49c4-b4fe-bd26d3d8e41c"
/> | <img width="1552" height="1012" alt="dark-truecolor"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1af4ec57-04bf-4dfb-8a44-0ab5e5aaaf18"
/> |
| Light BG - 16 colors | Light BG - 256 colors | Light BG - True Colors
|
|---|---|---|
| <img width="1552" height="1012" alt="light-16colors"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/2b5423d1-74b4-4b1e-8123-7c2488ff436b"
/> | <img width="1552" height="1012" alt="light-256colors"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c94cff9a-8d3e-42c9-bbe7-079da39953a8"
/> | <img width="1552" height="1012" alt="light-truecolor"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/f73da626-725f-4452-99ee-69ef706df2c6"
/> |
## Non-goals
- No runtime theme switching beyond what `default_bg()` already
provides.
- No change to syntax highlighting theme selection or the highlight
module.
## Tradeoffs
- Three fixed palettes (truecolor RGB, 256-color indexed, 16-color
named) are maintained rather than using `best_color` nearest-match. This
is deliberate: `supports_color::on_cached(Stream::Stdout)` can misreport
capabilities once crossterm enters the alternate screen, so hand-picked
palette entries give better visual results than automatic quantization.
- Delete lines in the syntax-highlighted path get `Modifier::DIM` to
visually recede compared to insert lines. This trades some readability
of deleted code for scan-ability of additions.
- The theme picker's diff preview sets `preserve_side_content_bg: true`
on `ListSelectionView` so diff background tints survive into the side
panel. Other popups keep the default (`false`) to preserve their
reset-background look.
## Architecture
- **Color constants** are module-level `const` items grouped by palette
tier: `DARK_TC_*` / `LIGHT_TC_*` (truecolor RGB tuples), `DARK_256_*` /
`LIGHT_256_*` (xterm indexed), with named `Color` variants used for the
16-color tier.
- **`DiffTheme`** is a private enum; `diff_theme()` probes the terminal
and `diff_theme_for_bg()` is the testable pure-function version.
- **`DiffColorLevel`** is a private enum derived from `StdoutColorLevel`
via `diff_color_level()`.
- **Palette helpers** (`add_line_bg`, `del_line_bg`, `light_gutter_fg`,
`light_add_num_bg`, `light_del_num_bg`) each take `(DiffTheme,
DiffColorLevel)` or just `DiffColorLevel` and return a `Color`.
- **Style helpers** (`style_line_bg_for`, `style_gutter_for`,
`style_sign_add`, `style_sign_del`, `style_add`, `style_del`) each take
`(DiffLineType, DiffTheme, DiffColorLevel)` or `(DiffTheme,
DiffColorLevel)` and return a `Style`.
- **`push_wrapped_diff_line_inner_with_theme_and_color_level`** is the
innermost renderer, accepting both theme and color level so tests can
exercise any combination without depending on the terminal.
- **Line-level background** is applied via
`RtLine::from(...).style(line_bg)` so the tint extends across the full
terminal width, not just the text content.
- **Theme picker integration**: `ListSelectionView` gained a
`preserve_side_content_bg` flag. When `true`, the side panel skips
`force_bg_to_terminal_bg`, letting diff preview backgrounds render
faithfully.
## Observability
No new logging. Theme selection is deterministic from `default_bg()`,
which is already queried and cached at TUI startup.
## Tests
1. **`DiffTheme` is determined per `render_change` call** — if
`default_bg()` changes mid-render (e.g. `requery_default_colors()`
fires), different file chunks could render with different themes. Low
risk in practice since re-query only happens on explicit user action.
2. **16-color tier uses named `Color` variants** (`Color::Green`,
`Color::Red`, etc.) which the terminal maps to its own palette. On
unusual terminal themes these could clash with the background.
Acceptable since 16-color terminals already have unpredictable color
rendering.
3. **Light-theme `style_add` / `style_del` set bg but no fg** — on light
terminals, non-syntax-highlighted content uses the terminal's default
foreground against a pastel background. If the terminal's default fg
happens to be very light, contrast could suffer. This is an edge case
since light-terminal users typically have dark default fg.
4. **`preserve_side_content_bg` is a general-purpose flag but only used
by the theme picker** — if other popups start using side content with
intentional backgrounds they'll need to opt in explicitly. Not a real
risk today, just a note for future callers.
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