Colloid GTK Theme Installation and Variant Guide

Colloid's Scope Across GTK Applications

Colloid addresses Linux users who want a consistent appearance across applications built with GTK. The repository describes it as a "Colloid gtk theme for linux." Its primary target is GTK 3, while a documented installer option extends theme installation to applications using Libadwaita and GTK 4.

This project does not present itself as a complete desktop environment theme package. The README lists a separate Colloid icon theme repository under "Icon theme," and the GTK installation section does not say that `install.sh` installs those icons. Consequently, matching application icons are not part of the confirmed default GTK installation described by the README.

There is also a Firefox theme under `src/other/firefox`, linked separately in the README. The documentation does not connect that browser theme to `install.sh`, so it should not be treated as an automatically installed component.

Colloid is aimed at users whose applications use GTK and who want to choose colors, sizes, color-scheme behavior, and visible window tweaks. It is less suitable for a user who wants one installation procedure to cover icons, browser integration, desktop shell components, and application-specific assets.

Colloid's SCSS Sources and Installer Layout

The repository identifies SCSS as its primary language and includes a `src/` directory containing the theme source tree. The top-level files include `build.sh`, `assets.sh`, `install.sh`, `gtkrc.sh`, and `gnome-theme-switcher`. There are also `release/` and `nix/` directories, together with Nix configuration files at the repository root.

Based on this layout, Colloid is not limited to a collection of screenshots. Its implementation includes theme sources, scripts for processing assets, a main installation script, GTK configuration handling, and files associated with packaged or released output. The README does not describe the internal execution order of `build.sh` or `assets.sh`, so that pipeline cannot be stated more precisely.

The documented installation interface is `install.sh`. Its options cover the destination directory, theme name, color variant, color-scheme variant, size, Libadwaita installation, optional tweaks, and removal. This makes one repository script responsible for producing multiple named forms of the theme.

Two dependency roles should remain distinct. The README names `sassc` as a build dependency, while Murrine is the GTK engine required to render the resulting Murrine-based theme. A successful source build does not replace the need for the engine package in the desktop environment.

Installing GTK, Theme, Murrine, and sassc

Colloid requires GTK `>=3.20`. The README also requires either `gnome-themes-extra` or `gnome-themes-standard`. The Murrine package name depends on the distribution, which means there is no single package name that can be presented as universally correct.

The README maps the engine to `gtk-engine-murrine` on Arch Linux, `gtk-murrine-engine` on Fedora, `gtk2-engine-murrine` on openSUSE, and `gtk2-engines-murrine` on Debian, Ubuntu, and similar distributions. Package management for these dependencies is left to the user's distribution.

The repository includes `flake.nix`, `flake.lock`, and a `nix/` directory, but the README does not provide a Nix installation procedure. It would be incorrect to invent a `nix build` or `nix run` command based only on those filenames. A Nix user must inspect the repository's Nix files or use the commands documented there.

A basic installation begins only after the GTK and theme dependencies are available. Missing Murrine support is a rendering-layer problem, not a color-selection problem. Changing from blue to another Colloid variant will not remove the stated Murrine requirement.

Running the Default Colloid Installation

The README documents a short manual installation that runs `install.sh` from a terminal. With no arguments, the option descriptions state that the destination is `~/.themes`, the theme name is `Colloid`, the selected color is `blue`, all color-scheme variants are used by default, and the standard size is selected.

./install.sh

The reader should expect the installer to add Colloid under its documented destination unless the script reports a filesystem or dependency error. The README does not identify the exact Settings panel or theme-selection command used to apply the installed theme, so that application step cannot be documented here.

For users who need another installed theme name, the README provides `-n` or `--name`. For users who want a different destination directory, it provides `-d` or `--dest`. These are useful when several GTK themes coexist or when a system expects themes in a nondefault location.

The project also accepts color values of `default`, `purple`, `pink`, `red`, `orange`, `yellow`, `green`, `teal`, `grey`, and `all`. Size can be `standard` or `compact`. These choices affect the installed output, so recording the chosen options is a practical way to reproduce a setup later.

Selecting Color, Size, and GTK Tweaks

Colloid exposes several visual variations through the installer rather than treating the theme as one fixed skin. Its color-scheme options are `standard`, `light`, and `dark`, with all color-scheme variants selected by default. The size option accepts `standard` or `compact`, with standard used by default.

The `--tweaks` option adds a second layer of presentation changes. Listed color-scheme tweaks include `nord`, `dracula`, `gruvbox`, `everforest`, `catppuccin`, and `all`. Other documented choices are `black` for a blackness color version, `rimless` to remove the one-pixel border around windows and menus, `normal` for window buttons resembling the GNOME default style, and `float` for a floating GNOME Shell panel style.

These options alter different GTK surfaces. A color variant changes the selected palette, while `rimless`, `normal`, and `float` change window or panel presentation. An application may not expose every GTK drawing surface, so successful installation does not guarantee that every application will visibly reflect a selected tweak.

The README displays screenshots for colorschemes and tweaks, but it does not document a compatibility matrix covering desktop environments, shell versions, icon themes, or application releases. Users adopting Colloid for a mixed desktop should verify the visible result in the applications they actually use.

Extending Colloid to Libadwaita and Flatpak

The `-l` option installs a `gtk-4.0` theme into `$HOME/.config/gtk-4.0` for GTK 4 applications that use Libadwaita. This is distinct from the default `~/.themes` destination. The README says the default color-scheme versions follow the system style when switching between light and dark mode.

./install.sh -l

For the default Libadwaita color-scheme handling, the documented choices are `system` and `fixed`. `system` uses system colors for light and dark mode switching. `fixed` keeps fixed theme colors and therefore does not follow that switching behavior. The README also warns that all color-scheme versions do not support the default behavior.

Flatpak applications can have a separate sandbox visibility problem. The README provides overrides for the host GTK 3 and GTK 4 configuration directories:

sudo flatpak override --filesystem=xdg-config/gtk-3.0 && sudo flatpak override --filesystem=xdg-config/gtk-4.0

These commands expose `xdg-config/gtk-3.0` and `xdg-config/gtk-4.0` to Flatpak applications. They do not install Colloid by themselves. For GTK 3 Flatpak installation, the README instead points users to the separate `pakitheme` project, which automatically installs the host GTK theme as a Flatpak.

Colloid, pakitheme, and Theme Compatibility

The most direct alternative named by the README is `pakitheme`, but it addresses a narrower task. Colloid provides the GTK theme and an installer with color, size, color-scheme, tweak, name, destination, Libadwaita, and removal options. The Colloid-specific Flatpak command changes configuration visibility, while the documented `pakitheme` route focuses on automatically installing the host GTK theme as a Flatpak.

That difference matters when diagnosing a problem. If the goal is to select a Colloid color or apply `rimless`, `pakitheme` does not replace Colloid's variant installer. If the goal is specifically to package the host GTK 3 theme for Flatpak installation, the README directs GTK 3 users to `pakitheme` instead.

A distribution-provided GTK theme can also satisfy the general need for a theme without adding Colloid. However, the README does not identify a particular distribution theme or document how it compares with Colloid, so no claim about its variants, maintenance, or appearance would be supportable.

Colloid is the wrong choice when GTK or Murrine requirements cannot be installed, when applications do not honor the relevant GTK theme configuration, or when the desired result needs one package to cover icons and browser integration. It is more relevant when named Colloid variants and separate GTK 3 and Libadwaita installation paths are part of the requirement.

Colloid Maintenance, GPL-3.0, and Upgrade Checks

The repository is not archived. Its last push was on 2026-08-22, and the recorded release dates are 2026-08-08, 2025-07-31, and 2024-11-16. These facts show recent repository activity, but the README does not publish a formal support policy or a compatibility table for future GTK and desktop releases.

The repository uses the `GPL-3.0` license and includes a `LICENSE` file. That confirms the declared license identifier, but this review does not interpret redistribution requirements or provide legal advice. Anyone distributing modified theme files or combining them into a larger package should examine the license directly.

Upgrades may require more than copying a new directory. A distribution can change the appropriate Murrine package, GTK can change its supported theme interfaces, and the installer can gain or alter variants. The README does not document whether local modifications survive reinstalling or whether an older installed variant is migrated automatically.

Before upgrading, record the options used with `install.sh`, compare the new `install.sh --help` output with those options, and check whether the existing GTK 3 and Libadwaita applications still use the intended variants. This is particularly important for users relying on `fixed` versus `system` color behavior.

Editorial conclusion

Adopt Colloid if you use Linux desktop applications that support its GTK theme stack and need configurable GTK 3 or Libadwaita appearances. Do not adopt it if you expect it to provide application icons or a separate Firefox installation by default. Verify GTK version, the correct Murrine package for your distribution, the selected color and size variants, and Libadwaita light and dark behavior before committing the configuration.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. Issues
2. License: GPL-3.0
3. README
4. Releases
5. vinceliuice/Colloid-gtk-theme on GitHub