zimablue.nvim

A dark Neovim colorscheme inspired by the iconic color from the Love, Death & Robots episode — Zima Blue.

The exact hex code for Zima Blue is #5BC2E7 (PANTONE 2985 C).

Inspiration

In the episode Zima Blue, the mysterious artist Zima reveals his origin as a small pool-cleaning robot, and the blue tile that defined his existence becomes the symbol of his journey — from simple function to cosmic art, and back again.

This colorscheme captures that atmosphere: a deep, dark void of space punctuated by that unmistakable cyan-blue glow. Not harsh, not clinical — just a calm, focused coding environment with the Zima Blue as its soul.

Features

• 5 scene-inspired variants — from deep space to volcanic eruptions
• Full Treesitter support (@keyword, @function, @string, etc.)
• LSP semantic token highlighting (@lsp.type.*, @lsp.mod.*)
• Plugin support: Telescope, WhichKey, Neo-tree/NvimTree, Gitsigns, Lazy, Noice, DAP, Blink/Cmp, and more
• Terminal ANSI 16-color support (per variant)
• Generated CUI/TUI/terminal themes for 34 tools
• Vim help docs via :help zimablue.nvim
• Configurable transparent background, dim inactive windows, italics, bold, and style overrides
• on_colors and on_highlights callbacks for complete customization

Variants

Each variant is a distinct color palette inspired by a scene from the episode. Use them directly via :colorscheme — no setup required.

Colorscheme	Scene	Vibe
zimablue	Deep space (default)	Dark blue-black void, classic Zima Blue
zimablue-sunset	Golden horizon	Warm orange-gold tones against dusk
zimablue-pool	The tiled swimming pool	Teal water, pale ceramic reflections
zimablue-volcano	Volcanic eruption	Lava reds, molten oranges, black rock
zimablue-storm	Abyssal ocean depths	Moody teals, deep grays, foam white

vim.cmd.colorscheme("zimablue-sunset")

Palette

Zima Blue Core

Color	Hex	Description
	#5BC2E7	Zima Blue (PANTONE 2985 C) — primary accent
	#16B8F3	Zima Blue Light — special methods, headings
	#28C5F4	Zima Blue Bold — operators, active selection

Backgrounds

Color	Hex	Description
	#0A0F1A	Deep space blue-black — main editor background
	#111827	Sidebars, panels, float windows
	#182340	Cursor line, hover, selection backgrounds
	#1E3555	Search matches, visual selection
	#0D1423	Line comment background

Foregrounds

Color	Hex	Description
	#D4D6E0	Primary text
	#8B92A8	Secondary / dim text
	#565E78	Inactive / placeholder text

Comments

Color	Hex	Description
	#5A6380	Muted blue-gray comments

UI Elements

Color	Hex	Description
	#2E3852	Non-text characters, line numbers, folds
	#1E2740	Split borders, float borders

Syntax Colors

Color	Hex	Description
	#61AFEF	Blue — keywords, control flow, types
	#56B6C2	Cyan — support types, special characters
	#98C379	Green — strings, additions, success
	#E5C07B	Yellow — numbers, modifications, warnings
	#D19A66	Orange — debug, log levels, danger
	#E06C75	Red — errors, deletions, diffs
	#C678DD	Purple — preprocessor, special keywords

Scene-Inspired Accents

Color	Hex	Description
	#4A90D9	Nebula Blue — secondary UI elements
	#7C5FBF	Nebula Purple — space keywords
	#FF8C42	Sunset Orange — warm warnings
	#FF5370	Lava Red — bright errors
	#5FD7A0	Aurora Green — success / UI
	#2E3440	Volcanic Gray — UI alternative
	#ECEFF4	Star White — bright foreground emphasis

Installation

lazy.nvim

{ "tan-wei/zimablue.nvim", lazy = true }

Then add the colorscheme to your theme selector or set it directly:

vim.cmd.colorscheme("zimablue")

Configuration

Basic

require("zimablue").setup({
  transparent = false,    -- Enable transparent background
  terminal_colors = true, -- Enable terminal ANSI colors
  dim_inactive = false,   -- Dim inactive windows
  italic      = true,     -- Enable italics for comments
  bold        = true,     -- Enable bold for some keywords
})

vim.cmd.colorscheme("zimablue")

Variant via setup

You can also set the variant from your config using the variant option:

require("zimablue").setup({
  variant = "sunset",
  transparent = false,
})

vim.cmd.colorscheme("zimablue")

Style Overrides

Fine-tune syntax group styles (italic, bold, underline, etc.):

require("zimablue").setup({
  styles = {
    comments  = { italic = true },
    keywords  = { italic = true },
    functions = { bold = true },
    variables = {},
  },
})

Callbacks

Fully customize any color or highlight group:

require("zimablue").setup({
  on_colors = function(colors)
    -- Override any color in the palette
    colors.zima_blue = "#16B8F3"
    colors.line_nr_above = "#5C89B8"
    colors.line_nr_below = "#8A7258"
  end,
  on_highlights = function(highlights, colors)
    -- Set or override any highlight group
    highlights.Normal = { fg = colors.fg, bg = colors.bg }
  end,
})

Supported Plugins

zimablue.nvim includes highlight groups for common editor, LSP, completion, Git, testing, Markdown, AI completion, terminal UI, and navigation plugins.

Category	Plugins
Completion	blink.cmp, nvim-cmp, Codeium, Copilot, Supermaven
File trees and navigation	Neo-tree, NvimTree, Aerial, Navic, Telescope, FzfLua, Snacks picker, MiniPick
Git	Gitsigns, vim-gitgutter, Neogit, Octo, Diffview-style groups
Diagnostics and LSP UI	ALE, Trouble, Noice, Notify, Lspsaga, Illuminate
Debug and test	nvim-dap, Dap UI, Neotest, Overseer
Statusline and buffers	lualine, bufferline.nvim, barbar.nvim, mini.statusline
Startup and dashboard	alpha-nvim, dashboard-nvim, snacks.nvim dashboard, mini.starter
Motion and search	Flash, Hop, Leap, Sneak, GrugFar
Indent and context	indent-blankline.nvim, indentmini.nvim, mini.indentscope, Treesitter Context
Markdown and writing	render-markdown.nvim, headlines.nvim, Vimwiki
UI helpers	WhichKey, Lazy.nvim, Scrollbar, Rainbow Delimiters, glyph-palette.nvim, Yanky
Terminal	ToggleTerm
Mini.nvim modules	animate, clue, completion, cursorword, deps, diff, files, hipatterns, icons, jump, jump2d, map, notify, pick, starter, statusline, surround, tabline, test, trailspace
Misc	Sidekick, SnipRun

Extras

Generated themes are available under extras/ for each variant: zimablue, zimablue-sunset, zimablue-pool, zimablue-volcano, and zimablue-storm.

Tool	Path
Aerc	extras/aerc/
Aider	extras/aider/
Alacritty	extras/alacritty/
Btop	extras/btop/
Delta	extras/delta/
eza	extras/eza/
Fish	extras/fish/
Fish themes	extras/fish_themes/
Foot	extras/foot/
Fzf	extras/fzf/
Ghostty	extras/ghostty/
GitUI	extras/gitui/
GNOME Terminal	extras/gnome_terminal/
Helix	extras/helix/
iSH	extras/ish/
Kitty	extras/kitty/
Konsole	extras/konsole/
Lazygit	extras/lazygit/
process-compose	extras/process_compose/
QTerminal	extras/qterminal/
st	extras/st/
Spotify Player	extras/spotify_player/
Terminator	extras/terminator/
Termux	extras/termux/
Tilix	extras/tilix/
Tmux	extras/tmux/
Vim	extras/vim/
WezTerm	extras/wezterm/
Windows Terminal	extras/windows_terminal/
Xfce Terminal	extras/xfceterm/
Xresources	extras/xresources/
Yazi	extras/yazi/
Zathura	extras/zathura/
Zellij	extras/zellij/

Regenerate extras after changing palette values:

nvim --headless -u NONE -l scripts/generate_extras.lua

Development

Run the spec suite:

nvim --headless -u NONE -l tests/minit.lua

Run the smoke test:

nvim --headless -u NONE -l tests/smoke.lua

Check generated extras:

nvim --headless -u NONE -l scripts/generate_extras.lua --check

Check help docs:

nvim --headless -u NONE --cmd 'set rtp+=.' --cmd 'helptags doc' --cmd 'qa!'

License

MIT

TODO

• Screenshots — Add side-by-side screenshots of each variant (default, sunset, pool, volcano, storm) showing syntax highlighting in common languages
• Generated extras — Add palette-driven themes for terminal and CUI/TUI tools
• Tests and CI — Add specs, smoke tests, generated extras checks, and help docs checks
• More plugin support — Add highlight groups for community-requested plugins as requests come in

Credits

• Inspired by the Love, Death & Robots episode Zima Blue
• Architecture inspired by tokyonight.nvim