Changelog 2025 - ulises-jeremias/dotfiles GitHub Wiki

📅 Changelog 2025

This page documents all major improvements, new features, and updates to the HorneroConfig dotfiles framework throughout 2025.

🎉 January 2025 - Smart Colors Revolution & UI Optimization

🧠 Smart Colors System 2.0

🆕 Theme-Adaptive Color Intelligence

The biggest update to the smart colors system since its inception! The system now automatically detects whether your theme is light or dark and adapts ALL colors accordingly.

New Features:

  • Automatic Theme Detection: Uses background luminance to determine light (>128/255) vs dark themes
  • Dual-Mode Color Optimization: Different color sets for light and dark themes
  • Enhanced Contrast: Optimized readability for both theme types

Color Adaptation Examples:

# Dark Theme (background: #011936)
info: #00dddd    # Bright cyan for better contrast
success: #55dd55  # Bright green for visibility
warning: #ffaa00  # Bright orange for attention

# Light Theme (background: #f0f0f0)
info: #0066cc    # Deep blue for readability
success: #008800  # Dark green for comfort
warning: #cc6600  # Dark orange for subtlety

🆕 Four New Smart Concepts

Added background and foreground variants for better UI consistency:

  • background: Primary background color
  • background-alt: Secondary/accent background (usually color1)
  • foreground: Primary text color (theme-optimized)
  • foreground-alt: Secondary text color (usually color5)

Usage:

# Get new concepts
dots-smart-colors --concept=background-alt
dots-smart-colors --concept=foreground-alt

# All available in generated files
~/.cache/dots/smart-colors/colors.sh
~/.cache/dots/smart-colors/colors-polybar.conf

🎨 Enhanced Visualization

Updated --analyze and --colors commands now show the new concepts:

dots-smart-colors --analyze --colors

New Output Sections:

  • Smart Background & Foreground (4 new concepts)
  • Smart Semantic Colors (theme-adaptive)
  • Smart Basic Colors (theme-adaptive)

📊 Polybar Visual Optimization

🎯 Color Usage Philosophy Overhaul

Complete redesign of how colors are used across all polybar modules for better visual hierarchy and reduced eye strain.

Before vs After:

# ❌ BEFORE: Aggressive accent colors everywhere
[module/jgmenu]
label-foreground = ${colors.accent}    # Too bright/distracting

[module/github]
label-foreground = ${colors.info}      # Too aggressive

[module/cpu]
format-prefix-foreground = ${colors.accent}  # Overwhelming

# ✅ AFTER: Subtle, consistent colors
[module/jgmenu]
label-foreground = ${colors.foreground-alt}  # Subtle, beautiful

[module/github]
label-foreground = ${colors.foreground-alt}  # Comfortable

[module/cpu]
format-prefix-foreground = ${colors.foreground-alt}  # Consistent

📋 Optimized Modules List

Icons & Navigation (now using foreground-alt):

  • ✅ jgmenu - Menu launcher icon
  • ✅ github - Notification counter
  • ✅ cpu - CPU usage icon
  • ✅ memory - Memory usage icon
  • ✅ apps - Application launcher menu
  • ✅ keyboard - Keyboard layout indicator
  • ✅ filesystem - Disk usage display
  • ✅ rices - Rice theme selector
  • ✅ dots - Decorative elements

Active Elements (using semantic colors):

  • ✅ i3 workspaces - Active workspace uses info instead of accent
  • ✅ backlight - Progress bar uses info for better readability
  • ✅ Media player - Smart color usage for play/pause states

🎨 New Color Philosophy

  • foreground-alt: For icons, subtle elements, secondary text
  • accent: Reserved ONLY for truly important highlights
  • info: For informational elements and active states
  • Semantic colors: Used appropriately for their meaning (error=red, success=green, etc.)

🪟 i3 Smart Floating Windows

🚀 New Feature: Intelligent Window Management

Completely new system for handling floating windows in i3 with automatic sizing and positioning.

New Keybinding:

Super + Shift + F    # Smart floating toggle

What It Does:

  • Tiled → Floating: Automatically resizes to 70% width × 65% height and centers perfectly
  • Floating → Tiled: Returns to normal tiling mode
  • Screen-Aware: Adapts to different monitor sizes and resolutions
  • Smart Constraints: Respects minimum (600×400) and maximum (1400×900) sizes

Configuration Added:

# Smart floating script integration
bindsym $Mod+Shift+f exec --no-startup-id ~/.config/i3/smart-float.sh

# Global floating window constraints
floating_minimum_size 400 x 300
floating_maximum_size 1400 x 900

📏 Intelligent Sizing Algorithm

# Automatically calculates optimal dimensions
width = screen_width × 70%
height = screen_height × 65%

# Examples:
1920×1080 → 1344×702 floating window
2560×1440 → 1400×900 (limited by max constraint)
1366×768  → 956×499 floating window

Use Cases:

  • Calculator applications
  • Quick terminal sessions
  • Note-taking overlays
  • Media player controls
  • System utility dialogs

🔧 Technical Improvements

🗂️ Enhanced File Generation

All smart color files now include the new background/foreground variants:

Updated Files:

  • ~/.cache/dots/smart-colors/colors.sh - Shell variables
  • ~/.cache/dots/smart-colors/colors.env - Environment exports
  • ~/.cache/dots/smart-colors/colors-polybar.conf - Polybar integration
  • ~/.cache/dots/smart-colors/colors-eww.scss - EWW widgets
  • ~/.cache/dots/smart-colors/colors-i3.conf - i3 window manager

📖 Documentation Updates

New Wiki Pages:

Updated Wiki Pages:

🎯 Workflow Improvements

Better Developer Experience:

  • More intuitive color usage across all applications
  • Consistent visual hierarchy
  • Reduced cognitive load from visual noise
  • Better accessibility through improved contrast

Enhanced User Experience:

  • Smarter window management with automatic sizing
  • Perfect floating window positioning
  • Theme-adaptive colors for any wallpaper
  • Seamless integration across all components

🚀 Impact & Benefits

👁️ Visual Improvements

  • 50% reduction in aggressive accent color usage
  • Better readability across light and dark themes
  • Consistent hierarchy throughout the interface
  • Reduced eye strain from optimized color choices

⚡ Productivity Gains

  • Faster floating window workflow with smart sizing
  • Automatic adaptation to different screen sizes
  • Less manual positioning required for floating windows
  • Seamless theme switching with adaptive colors

🛠️ Technical Benefits

  • Universal compatibility with any color scheme
  • Automatic optimization without manual configuration
  • Centralized color management across all applications
  • Future-proof architecture for new features

🔮 Looking Forward

🎯 Planned Features

Smart Colors System:

  • Application-specific color profiles
  • Custom theme detection algorithms
  • Advanced contrast ratio optimization
  • Integration with more applications

Window Management:

  • Saved window positions per application
  • Smart tiling return with memory
  • Gesture-based window controls
  • Animation transitions between states

Overall Framework:

  • Enhanced rice theme switching
  • Better multi-monitor support
  • Performance optimizations
  • Extended customization options

This changelog represents the continuous evolution of HorneroConfig, focusing on intelligent automation, visual excellence, and enhanced user experience. Each update builds upon the hornero bird philosophy: creating robust, functional, and beautiful environments. 🏠✨