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Want to do some actions automatically when you switch desktop theme to light or dark style? Here’s a new application can do the job for GNOME Desktop.<\/p>\n
It’s switchcraft<\/a>, a free open-source Vala written application that provides a modern simple interface, allowing to add custom commands to run automatically when the theme changes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The app monitors the It can be useful for doing the following things automatically when switching desktop between light and dark style:<\/p>\n Simply add your desired commands in the “Light” and “Dark” tabs, and turn on “Enable Monitor<\/b>” option in Preferences<\/i>.<\/p>\n Then, it will auto-run the Besides that, it supports adding reusable constants for common variables in commands. And, it support exporting all the commands and importing to other systems.<\/p>\n Switchcraft provides official installer packages which are available to download in the link below:<\/p>\n They include For other Linux, it also provides non-install NOTE:<\/b> switchcraft requires GNOME 40+, GLib >= 2.66, and For those who are new to Linux, here are some example commands that may help.<\/p>\n 1. change legacy GTK3\/Icon theme<\/b><\/p>\n NOTE:<\/b> The commands are written for Debian, Fedora, etc Linux Distributions, as Ubuntu automatically set Yaru and its variants as legacy GTK3 theme.<\/p>\n This command changes the GTK3 theme to adw-gtk3<\/a> dark mode. You need to replace org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme<\/code> key value and executes commands instantly when it’s changed to “prefer-dark” or “prefer-light”.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/switchcraft-light-700x512.webp\")
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<\/p>\nswitchcraft-monitor.sh<\/code> script under .local\/bin<\/code> folder in next login, monitoring your desktop color scheme and running the commands automatically.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/constants-700x409.webp\")
<\/a><\/p>\nInstall switchcraft<\/h3>\n
\nDownload Switchcraft (under “Assets”)<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n.rpm<\/code> package for Fedora\/RHEL and .deb<\/code> package for Debian\/Ubuntu, which can be installed by system software app (e.g., Gnome Software and App Center).<\/p>\nAppImage<\/code> package that can be run directly to launch to the app, though you need to add executable permission from file properties dialog.<\/p>\njq<\/code> command-line JSON processor.<\/p>\nExample Commands:<\/h3>\n
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme 'adw-gtk3-dark'<\/pre>\n
adw-gtk3-dark<\/code> depends on which theme you want to set.<\/p>\ngsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface icon-theme 'MacTahoe-light'<\/pre>\n
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