dank16 generates low-contrast color5 and identical color5/color13 in light mode

[musaad-sharikh]

Compositor

Niri

Distribution

Fedora

If Other, please specify

No response

Select your Installation Method

Distro Packaging

Was this your original Installation method?

Yes

If no, specify

No response

dms doctor -vC

dms doctor -v (home directory shortened to ~)

                           
██████╗ ███╗   ███╗███████╗
██╔══██╗████╗ ████║██╔════╝
██║  ██║██╔████╔██║███████╗
██║  ██║██║╚██╔╝██║╚════██║
██████╔╝██║ ╚═╝ ██║███████║
╚═════╝ ╚═╝     ╚═╝╚══════╝

 System Health Check
                    
──────────────────────────────────────

  System
    ● Operating System ····· Fedora Linux 44 (Forty Four)
      └─ ID: fedora, Version: 44, Arch: amd64
    ● Architecture ········· amd64
    ● Display Server ······· Wayland
      └─ WAYLAND_DISPLAY=wayland-1

  Versions
    ● DMS CLI ·············· dms v1.6.1
      └─ /usr/bin/dms
    ● Quickshell ··········· Quickshell 0.3.1 (revision , distributed by Fedora COPR (avengemedia/quickshell))
      └─ /usr/bin/qs
    ● DMS Shell ············ v1.6.1
      └─ /run/user/1000/danklinux-shell/d83248ba9119b48a

  Installation
    ● DMS Configuration ···· Found
      └─ /run/user/1000/danklinux-shell/d83248ba9119b48a
    ● shell.qml ············ Present
      └─ /run/user/1000/danklinux-shell/d83248ba9119b48a/shell.qml
    ○ Install Type ········· Unknown
      └─ /run/user/1000/danklinux-shell/d83248ba9119b48a

  Compositor
    ● niri ················· 26.04
      └─ /usr/bin/niri
    ○ Active ··············· niri
    ● Background Blur ······ Supported
      └─ Compositor supports ext-background-effect-v1

  Quickshell Features
    ● Polkit ··············· Available
      └─ Authentication prompts
    ● IdleMonitor ·········· Available
      └─ Idle detection
    ● IdleInhibitor ········ Available
      └─ Prevent idle/sleep
    ● ShortcutInhibitor ···· Available
      └─ Allow shortcut management (niri)
    ● BackgroundBlur ······· Available
      └─ Background blur API support in Quickshell

  Optional Features
    ● accountsservice ······ Available
      └─ User accounts
    ● power-profiles-daemon  Available
      └─ Power profile management
    ● logind ··············· Available
      └─ Session management
    ● cups-pk-helper ······· Available
      └─ Printer management
    ○ I2C/DDC ·············· No monitors detected
      └─ External monitor brightness control
    ● qt6-imageformats ····· Installed (5 formats)
      └─ Formats: WebP, TIFF, GIF, JP2, ICNS (/usr/lib64/qt6/plugins/imageformats)
    ● kimageformats ········ Installed (4 formats)
      └─ Formats: AVIF, HEIF, JXL, EXR (/usr/lib64/qt6/plugins/imageformats)
    ● Terminal ············· kitty
    ● Network ·············· NetworkManager
      └─ NetworkManager present. Using NM API.
    ● matugen ·············· Installed
      └─ Dynamic theming
    ● cava ················· Installed
      └─ Audio visualizer
    ○ khal ················· Not installed
      └─ Calendar events
    ● danksearch ··········· Installed
      └─ File search
    ○ dankcalendar ········· Not installed
      └─ Calendar app
    ○ fprintd ·············· Not installed
      └─ Fingerprint auth
    ● adw-gtk3 ············· Installed
      └─ GTK3 dynamic theming (user copy)

  Config Files
    ● settings.json ········ Present
      └─ ~/.config/DankMaterialShell/settings.json
    ○ clsettings.json ······ Not yet created
      └─ ~/.config/DankMaterialShell/clsettings.json
    ● plugin_settings.json · Present
      └─ ~/.config/DankMaterialShell/plugin_settings.json
    ● session.json ········· Present
      └─ ~/.local/state/DankMaterialShell/session.json
    ● dms-colors.json ······ Present
      └─ ~/.cache/DankMaterialShell/dms-colors.json

  Services
    ● dms.service ·········· enabled, active
    ● greetd ··············· enabled

  Environment
    ○ QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME · qt6ct
    ● qt6ct plugin (Qt6) ··· Installed
      └─ /usr/lib64/qt6/plugins/platformthemes/libqt6ct.so
    ○ QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME…  Not set
    ○ QS_ICON_THEME ········ Not set
    ● XDG_MENU_PREFIX ······ plasma- (menu file not found)
      └─ Dolphin 'Open with…' dialog may be empty. Ensure /etc/xdg/menus/plasma-applications.menu exists.
      → https://danklinux.com/docs/dankmaterialshell/cli-doctor#xdg-menu-prefix

  Fonts
    ● Normal Font ·········· Rubik
      └─ Available via fontconfig
    ● Monospace Font ······· JetBrainsMono Nerd Font Mono
      └─ Available via fontconfig

  ──────────────────────────────────────
  1 warning(s), 36 ok

Description

dank16 assigns color5 and color13 without any contrast floor, so ANSI 35/95 is
effectively unreadable in both modes. In light mode the two slots are byte-identical, so
there is no normal/bright distinction at all. This is the generated palette rather than any
one tool's config, so every program that prints SGR 35/95 is affected.

Light mode — color5 and color13 are the same value, at 1.25–2.14:1 on the background:

#	background	color5	color13	on background	color5 vs color13
1	#fbfaed	#aab18a	#aab18a	2.14:1	1.00:1
2	#fdf7ff	#e4dcfd	#e4dcfd	1.25:1	1.00:1
3	#fbf8ff	#dbdfff	#dbdfff	1.25:1	1.00:1

Dark mode — color13 is fine, color5 is not:

#	background	color5	on background	color13	on background
1	#0f1417	#1c5070	2.15:1	#b6e3ff	13.61:1
2	#141218	#4d3e75	2.00:1	#ddd1ff	12.96:1

For comparison, color6 on the same backgrounds is 6.12–6.15:1 in light and 10.89–10.95:1 in
dark, so the other slots in the same hue family are fine.

Expected Behavior

color5 clears the same contrast target as the other normal slots, and color13 is a
distinct brighter value, as with every other normal/bright pair.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Set any wallpaper and let matugen regenerate the palette.
2. Read the generated ~/.config/kitty/dank-theme.conf (or dank16 in dms-colors.json).
3. Compare color5 and color13 against background, in light mode and again in dark.

Five samples across three unrelated wallpapers are in the tables above; all values were read
back from DMS's own generated output, with no user override for these slots.

Error Messages/Logs

Cause, read from core/internal/dank16/dank16.go at master f864dc2:

• Light: Color5 (L580–581) and Color13 (L607–608) both call
  DeriveContainer(primaryColor, true) with identical arguments, so the two slots are equal
  for every source colour.
• Dark: Color5 (L636–637) is DeriveContainer(primaryColor, false), which scales value by
  0.463 — a container tone used directly as a foreground on the dark background.
• Neither slot passes through ensureContrastAuto / ensureContrastBidirectional, unlike
  color1–color4 and color9–color12, so nothing enforces a floor on either.

Related but distinct slots: #3405, #3406, #2987.

Screenshots/Recordings

No response

[bbedward]

5 === 13 was fixed in the ref commit

The rest of it isn't exactly as clear. 5 and 6 are intended to be 1:1 equal with matugens primaryContainer and primary

[github-actions]

📦 A fix referencing this issue shipped in v1.6.2.

A New Release has been deployed! Please retest when you get a chance. If it's resolved, this issue can be closed. ~ Cheers, the DMS Team!