CmdPal: Light, dark, pink, and unicorns by jiripolasek · Pull Request #43505 · microsoft/PowerToys

jiripolasek · 2025-11-12T17:32:05Z

Summary of the Pull Request

This PR introduces user settings for app mode themes (dark, light, or system) and background customization options, including custom colors, system accent colors, or custom images.

Adds a new page to the Settings window with new appearance settings and moves some existing settings there as well.
Introduces a new core-level service abstraction, IThemeService, that holds the state for the current theme.
Uses the helper class ResourceSwapper to update application-level XAML resources. The way WinUI / XAML handles these is painful, and XAML Hot Reload is pain². Initialization must be lazy, as XAML resources can only be accessed after the window is activated.
ThemeService takes app and system settings and selects one of the registered IThemeProviders to calculate visuals and choose the appropriate XAML resources.
- At the moment, there are two:
  - NormalThemeProvider
    - Provides the current uncolorized light and dark styles
    - ms-appx:///Styles/Theme.Normal.xaml
  - ColorfulThemeProvider
    - Style that matches the Windows 11 visual style (based on the Start menu) and colors
    - ms-appx:///Styles/Theme.Colorful.xaml
    - Applied when the background is colorized or a background image is selected
The app theme is applied only on the main window (WindowThemeSynchronizer helper class can be used to synchronize other windows if needed).
Adds a new dependency on Microsoft.Graphics.Win2D.
Adds a custom color picker popup; the one from the Community Toolkit occasionally loses the selected color.
Flyby: separates the keyword tag and localizable label for pages in the Settings window navigation.

Pictures? Pictures!

Matching Windows accent color and tint:

PR Checklist

Detailed Description of the Pull Request / Additional comments

Validation Steps Performed

niels9001 · 2025-11-19T13:35:56Z

Tried it out, loving it :)!

One question to consider is whether to create a separate settings card for the background image or simply add it as another background option alongside the colors.

Yeah, this came to mind when I was playing with the settings - I wonder if we should combine this with the color combobox? Depending on the selection we'd show the right settings?

jiripolasek · 2025-11-21T22:05:55Z

Tried it out, loving it :)!

One question to consider is whether to create a separate settings card for the background image or simply add it as another background option alongside the colors.

Yeah, this came to mind when I was playing with the settings - I wonder if we should combine this with the color combobox? Depending on the selection we'd show the right settings?

@niels9001 Here's a branch that combines them, plus adds blur and brightness controls along with improved tint adjustment for the background image. I planned to include this later, but added it now to give us a better perspective on what needs to be in UI.

Moving pictures included inside: jiripolasek#15

Edit: merged

…fects (blur, brightness, tint) directly to the image control using composition. Combines Background Colors and Background Image into a single expander. The sub-controls have changed slightly: previously, the custom color drop-down was always visible, and selecting it would automatically switch to custom color mode. However, after merging the image controls into it, the process no longer feels intuitive. Uses the Visual layer and Win2D effects for image processing. Introduces a new custom control that encapsulates Visual layer effects applied to an image. It chains the following effects and provides user control over them: Brightness – makes the image brighter or darker Blur – softens the image to reduce contrast and fine details Tint – tint color and intensity are now applied as a blended effect on top of the previous ones

src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.CmdPal.UI/Strings/en-us/Resources.resw

jiripolasek · 2025-11-24T20:50:04Z

/azp run

azure-pipelines · 2025-11-24T20:50:14Z

Azure Pipelines successfully started running 1 pipeline(s).

niels9001

AMAZING WORK!!! 🔥🔥🔥

michaeljolley · 2025-11-29T21:16:15Z

@jiripolasek, I can't get this to build locally. Not sure what's going on.

jiripolasek · 2025-11-29T21:19:40Z

@michaeljolley: on it

michaeljolley · 2025-11-29T21:42:43Z

@michaeljolley: on it

Disregard. It's on my end.

jiripolasek · 2025-11-29T21:45:37Z

@michaeljolley: on it

Disregard. It's on my end.

A trained squad of squirrels went nuts and managed to resolve the merge conflict 🐿️🐿️🐿️

michaeljolley · 2025-11-30T00:00:33Z

Any ideas why it freezes when I click Browse for the background image? No explorer or file picker appears.

jiripolasek · 2025-11-30T00:15:42Z

Any ideas why it freezes when I click Browse for the background image? No explorer or file picker appears.

Nope, that’s never happened to me so far. What configuration are you using -- Debug or Release -- and is the debugger attached?

michaeljolley · 2025-11-30T00:48:17Z

Any ideas why it freezes when I click Browse for the background image? No explorer or file picker appears.

Nope, that’s never happened to me so far. What configuration are you using -- Debug or Release -- and is the debugger attached?

In debug. Never gets a return from var file = await picker.PickSingleFileAsync()!; and no picker appears.

jiripolasek · 2025-11-30T01:08:59Z

Any ideas why it freezes when I click Browse for the background image? No explorer or file picker appears.

Nope, that’s never happened to me so far. What configuration are you using -- Debug or Release -- and is the debugger attached?

In debug. Never gets a return from var file = await picker.PickSingleFileAsync()!; and no picker appears.

Thanks. I can’t replicate the issue, so I’ll need to investigate further.
Could you try copying that method into a new WinUI 3 app, so we can exclude a local environment?

jiripolasek · 2025-12-01T23:44:52Z

@michaeljolley So far now luck. I can't replicate the problem with picker anywhere :(

jiripolasek · 2025-12-01T23:46:24Z

/azp run

Weill be added later, stay tuned

zadjii-msft

okay 58/58. Couple last comments.

If you don't want to do the move out of Core thing, then I can as a follow-up

src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.CmdPal.UI/Controls/ColorPalette.xaml

src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.CmdPal.UI/Controls/ColorPickerButton.xaml.cs

src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.CmdPal.UI/Helpers/ColorExtensions.cs

zadjii-msft · 2025-12-09T12:22:18Z

src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.CmdPal.UI/Helpers/TextBoxCaretColor.cs

+            try
+            {
+                rect.Fill = brush;
+                rect.CompositeMode = ElementCompositeMode.SourceOver;


u wot m8

you just hijacked the cursor rectangle from the textbox

you're telling me we could have done this all along

we spent a week trying to figure out how to add just enough shading to the background of cmdpal, so that the cursor would show up on HDR displays

and you just

hijacked the cursor

/cc @niels9001 cause this will make him cry

also great work

src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.CmdPal.UI/Helpers/VisualTreeExtensions.cs

src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.CmdPal.UI/Services/ColorfulThemeProvider.cs

src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.CmdPal.UI.ViewModels/MainWindowViewModel.cs

jiripolasek · 2025-12-09T13:21:23Z

okay 58/58. Couple last comments.

If you don't want to do the move out of Core thing, then I can as a follow-up

@zadjii-msft Actually, I want to, with extreme pleasure. Pushed. It's a bit rough, I've got to properly re-test everything a bit more, and some things could be smoothed out, but I think it's stable enough to go ahead with the review.

zadjii-msft

🚢

…encies feed

jiripolasek · 2025-12-09T19:23:41Z

@zadjii-msft Can we add Microsoft.Graphics.Win2D to PowerToysPublicDependencies feed? It looked like it's there when I tried to query it from there, but CI can't see it.

I think I’ve covered all the notes, and the last step is to merge in the main, just to be sure

DHowett · 2025-12-09T20:12:13Z

@jiripolasek done! all versions 1.3.0 to 1.3.2 are now in-feed

DHowett · 2025-12-09T20:12:17Z

/azp run

azure-pipelines · 2025-12-09T20:12:29Z

Azure Pipelines successfully started running 1 pipeline(s).

jiripolasek · 2025-12-09T20:14:52Z

@jiripolasek done! all versions 1.3.0 to 1.3.2 are now in-feed

@DHowett Many thanks!

jiripolasek · 2025-12-10T01:00:14Z

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR adds comprehensive theme customization to CmdPal, including dark/light/system theme modes, custom background colors (including system accent), background images with blur/brightness controls, and color tinting. The implementation introduces a service-based architecture with IThemeService, multiple theme providers, and dynamic resource swapping.

Changes:

New Appearance settings page with live preview of customizations
Theme service architecture with Normal and Colorful theme providers
Background image support with blur, brightness, and tint effects using Win2D
Custom color picker controls and system accent color integration

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 57 out of 58 changed files in this pull request and generated 5 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
AppearancePage.xaml/.cs	New settings page for theme customization
ThemeService.cs	Core service managing theme state and provider selection
ResourceSwapper.cs	Dynamic XAML resource dictionary switching
BlurImageControl.cs	Composition-based image effects control
WallpaperHelper.cs	COM interop for desktop wallpaper access
ColorExtensions.cs	HSV color manipulation utilities
Theme.Normal.xaml / Theme.Colorful.xaml	Theme resource dictionaries
MainWindow.xaml/.cs	Integration of theme service and background rendering
SettingsModel.cs	New theme-related settings properties
AppearanceSettingsViewModel.cs	ViewModel for appearance settings

Files not reviewed (1)

src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.CmdPal.UI.ViewModels/Properties/Resources.Designer.cs: Language not supported

Copilot · 2026-01-12T10:29:07Z

src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.CmdPal.UI.ViewModels/AppearanceSettingsViewModel.cs

+    public int ColorIntensity
+    {
+        get => _settings.CustomThemeColorIntensity;
+        set
+        {
+            _settings.CustomThemeColorIntensity = value;
+            OnPropertyChanged();
+            Save();
+        }
+    }


The ColorIntensity setter updates the property value but doesn't validate the range before setting. This could allow invalid values to be stored. Consider clamping the value to the valid range [0, 100] before assignment, similar to how other properties handle bounds checking.

Copilot · 2026-01-12T10:29:07Z

src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.CmdPal.UI/Controls/BlurImageControl.cs

+    private void LoadImageAsync(ImageSource imageSource)
+    {
+        try
+        {
+            if (imageSource is Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Media.Imaging.BitmapImage bitmapImage)
+            {
+                _imageBrush ??= _compositor?.CreateSurfaceBrush();
+                if (_imageBrush is null)
+                {
+                    return;
+                }
+
+                var loadedSurface = LoadedImageSurface.StartLoadFromUri(bitmapImage.UriSource);
+                loadedSurface.LoadCompleted += (_, _) =>
+                {
+                    if (_imageBrush is not null)
+                    {
+                        _imageBrush.Surface = loadedSurface;
+                        _imageBrush.Stretch = ConvertStretch(ImageStretch);
+                        _imageBrush.BitmapInterpolationMode = CompositionBitmapInterpolationMode.Linear;
+                    }
+                };
+
+                _effectBrush?.SetSourceParameter(ImageSourceParameterName, _imageBrush);
+            }
+        }
+        catch (Exception ex)
+        {
+            Logger.LogError("Failed to load image for BlurImageControl: {0}", ex);
+        }
+    }


The async method LoadImageAsync doesn't use the async/await pattern correctly. The method name suggests it's async, but it doesn't return a Task and doesn't use await. The LoadCompleted event handler runs on a callback thread that may not be the UI thread. Consider renaming to LoadImage or ensuring proper thread marshaling for the brush update.

Copilot · 2026-01-12T10:29:08Z

src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.CmdPal.UI/Helpers/WallpaperHelper.cs

+internal sealed partial class WallpaperHelper
+{
+    private readonly IDesktopWallpaper? _desktopWallpaper;
+
+    public WallpaperHelper()
+    {
+        try
+        {
+            var desktopWallpaper = ComHelper.CreateComInstance<IDesktopWallpaper>(
+                ref Unsafe.AsRef(in CLSID.DesktopWallpaper),
+                CLSCTX.ALL);
+
+            _desktopWallpaper = desktopWallpaper;
+        }
+        catch (Exception ex)
+        {
+            // If COM initialization fails, keep helper usable with safe fallbacks
+            Logger.LogError("Failed to initialize DesktopWallpaper COM interface", ex);
+            _desktopWallpaper = null;
+        }
+    }


The WallpaperHelper constructor initializes a COM interface but doesn't implement IDisposable to clean up the COM reference. This could lead to COM object leaks. The _desktopWallpaper field should be released when no longer needed.

Copilot · 2026-01-12T10:29:08Z

src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.CmdPal.UI/Controls/ScreenPreview.xaml.cs

+    public ScreenPreview()
+    {
+        InitializeComponent();
+
+        var wallpaperHelper = new WallpaperHelper();
+        WallpaperImage!.Source = wallpaperHelper.GetWallpaperImage()!;
+        ScreenBorder!.Background = new SolidColorBrush(wallpaperHelper.GetWallpaperColor());
+    }


The ScreenPreview constructor accesses WallpaperImage and ScreenBorder with null-forgiving operator (!) but doesn't verify they're non-null before use. If InitializeComponent fails to create these elements, this will throw a NullReferenceException. Add null checks before accessing these properties.

Copilot · 2026-01-12T10:29:08Z

src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.CmdPal.UI.ViewModels/SettingsModel.cs

+
+    public int CustomThemeColorIntensity { get; set; } = 100;
+
+    public int BackgroundImageOpacity { get; set; } = 20;


The BackgroundImageOpacity default value is set to 20, which makes background images very transparent by default. This seems inconsistent with the typical user expectation that an opacity setting would default to 100 (fully opaque). Consider changing the default to 100 or adding a comment explaining this design decision.

moved

ab92a75

jiripolasek added the Product-Command Palette Refers to the Command Palette utility label Nov 12, 2025

jiripolasek mentioned this pull request Nov 13, 2025

CmdPal: Automatic go-home after inactivity #43355

Closed

jiripolasek marked this pull request as ready for review November 24, 2025 17:08

jiripolasek requested a review from a team as a code owner November 24, 2025 17:08

jiripolasek commented Nov 24, 2025

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src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.CmdPal.UI/Strings/en-us/Resources.resw Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

jiripolasek added 2 commits November 24, 2025 19:10

Merge branch 'main' into feature/38444-cmdpal-with-colors-and-unicorns

a2ac41a

Revert unintended change in Resources.resw

62e2f2b

Changes

dce44c2

niels9001 added the In for .97 label Nov 25, 2025

niels9001 approved these changes Nov 25, 2025

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Merge main

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jiripolasek added 2 commits November 30, 2025 00:39

Merge main

c469980

Merge branch 'main' into feature/38444-cmdpal-with-colors-and-unicorns

f18f269

Drop opacity slider

157746d

Weill be added later, stay tuned

zadjii-msft reviewed Dec 9, 2025

View reviewed changes

Evict themes out of the core

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github-advanced-security bot found potential problems Dec 9, 2025

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src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.CmdPal.UI.ViewModels/MainWindowViewModel.cs Fixed Show fixed Hide fixed

src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.CmdPal.UI.ViewModels/MainWindowViewModel.cs Fixed Show fixed Hide fixed

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Spell

556409b

Reformat XAML

389b77b

zadjii-msft approved these changes Dec 9, 2025

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jiripolasek added 4 commits December 9, 2025 16:01

Revert changes to nuget.config; Win2D is now in PowerToysPublicDepend…

499b494

…encies feed

Replace VisualTreeExtensions with DependencyObjectExtensions

8091abc

Refactor ColorExtensions around Community Tookit types

55bae8c

Nits, in color

cc9e05b

michaeljolley approved these changes Dec 10, 2025

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michaeljolley merged commit 97c1de8 into microsoft:main Dec 10, 2025
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yeelam-gordon added this to the PowerToys 0.97 milestone Jan 12, 2026

yeelam-gordon requested a review from Copilot January 12, 2026 10:14

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of yeelam-gordon January 12, 2026 10:15 View session

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yeelam-gordon requested a review from Copilot January 12, 2026 10:43

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of yeelam-gordon January 12, 2026 10:43 View session

zadjii-msft mentioned this pull request Jan 21, 2026

[CmdPal] Support running unpackaged #44901

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5 tasks

niels9001 mentioned this pull request Mar 10, 2026

CmdPal: Setting for opacity of list background #39785

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jiripolasek review requested due to automatic review settings March 23, 2026 21:41


		public int CustomThemeColorIntensity { get; set; } = 100;

		public int BackgroundImageOpacity { get; set; } = 20;

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Summary of the Pull Request

Pictures? Pictures!

PR Checklist

Detailed Description of the Pull Request / Additional comments

Validation Steps Performed

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