Fix keyword color too similar to function color in 2026 themes

[srikanthananthula (srikanthananthula63053)]

Problem

Fixes #331622.

In the 2026 Dark Theme, keywords (if, import, try, except, for, while, etc.) are visually hard to distinguish from function names, as reported with a screenshot in the issue.

Root cause

2026-dark.json defines its own tokenColors rule for the generic "keyword" scope (#ff7b72, coral-red). However, dark_plus.json (an ancestor via the theme include chain: 2026-dark.json → dark_modern.json → dark_plus.json) already defines a more specific rule for "keyword.control" (#C586C0, magenta).

VS Code's TextMate scope matching always prefers the most specific matching selector, regardless of which theme in the include chain defined it. Since most real keywords use scopes like keyword.control.flow.python or keyword.control.import.python, they match keyword.control (2 segments) rather than the theme's own keyword (1 segment) rule — so the inherited #C586C0 wins over the theme's intended #ff7b72.

#C586C0 (magenta) sits visually very close to the theme's entity.name.function color (#D2A8FF, lavender) — both are pastel purple/magenta tones on the same near-black background, which is exactly the collision reported in the issue.

I confirmed this by downloading the screenshot attached to the issue and sampling its pixels directly: import/from/as render as #C586C0, while the called/imported function name renders as #D2A8FF.

The same issue exists in 2026-light.json (keyword = #cf222e, shadowed by light_plus.json's keyword.control = #AF00DB, close to that theme's entity.name.function = #8250df), so I fixed both for consistency.

Fix

Minimal, one rule changed per theme: add "keyword.control" alongside "keyword" in each theme's own tokenColors, so the theme's intended color wins for control-flow keywords too — the same pattern the theme already uses elsewhere (e.g. its storage.modifier.* overrides).

 {
-    "scope": "keyword",
+    "scope": [
+        "keyword",
+        "keyword.control"
+    ],
     "settings": {
         "foreground": "#ff7b72"
     }
 },

(analogous change in 2026-light.json with #cf222e)

Validation

There are no existing automated tests asserting specific theme color values in this repo, so none were added — theme color changes are conventionally validated visually. To verify without a full Electron build, I wrote a small script that replicates the actual theme include-merge and TextMate scope-specificity resolution logic from colorThemeData.ts, and confirmed:

Scope	Before	After
keyword.control.flow.python	#C586C0	#ff7b72
keyword.control.import.python	#C586C0	#ff7b72
entity.name.function	#D2A8FF (unchanged)	#D2A8FF (unchanged)

I also rendered a before/after swatch confirming the visual improvement, and re-verified the equivalent scopes/colors for the light theme fix.

Test plan

• Confirmed root cause via pixel-sampling the issue's screenshot
• Confirmed fix via scope-resolution simulation matching production merge logic
• git diff reviewed — only the two theme JSON files touched, one rule each

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Note

Copilot was unable to run its full agentic suite in this review.

Updates the 2026 default themes to ensure control-flow keywords receive the same keyword coloring as other keywords.

Changes:

• Expanded the scope selector for keyword styling from a single "keyword" scope to an array including "keyword.control" in both light and dark themes.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated no comments.

File	Description
extensions/theme-defaults/themes/2026-light.json	Adds keyword.control to the keyword color scope list for the light theme.
extensions/theme-defaults/themes/2026-dark.json	Adds keyword.control to the keyword color scope list for the dark theme.

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[Mohammad javad Dianat (dianatofficial)]

Great catch on this edge case. Fallback logic is robust.