RocketChat / RocketChat/Rocket.Chat

CodeMirror editor does not adapt to dark mode in Admin → Layout → Custom Scripts

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TypeScript
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Description

Description:

The CodeMirror editor used in Administration → Layout → Custom Scripts does not adapt to Rocket.Chat’s dark mode.

When the application is switched to dark theme, the surrounding UI updates correctly, but the CodeMirror editor continues to appear with a light background. This creates a noticeable visual inconsistency and makes the editor uncomfortable to use in dark mode.

Summary: CodeMirror editor remains light-themed when Rocket.Chat is in dark mode.

Steps to reproduce:
  1. Start Rocket.Chat
  2. Enable dark mode
  3. Navigate to:
    Administration → Layout → Custom Scripts
  4. Observe the CodeMirror editor appearance
Expected behavior:

When Rocket.Chat is in dark mode, the CodeMirror editor should also use a dark-compatible theme or background so that it visually aligns with the rest of the UI.

Actual behavior:

The CodeMirror editor always appears with a light background, even when the application is in dark mode.

Image

Investigation Details

While investigating this issue, I found that:

  • The editor is implemented using CodeMirror v5
  • CodeMirror is always initialized with the default theme (cm-s-default)
  • No dark CodeMirror theme is loaded or applied
  • CodeMirror theme imports exist but are commented out
  • Rocket.Chat does not currently pass any theme context (light/dark) to CodeMirror
  • CSS-only overrides are insufficient because the default CodeMirror theme is designed for light backgrounds.

Because of this, the editor does not visually respond to theme changes.

Server Setup Information:
  • Version of Rocket.Chat Server: develop (local development setup)
  • License Type: Community (default local license)
  • Number of Users: Local development instance (single user)
  • Operating System: Linux
  • Deployment Method: Local development (Meteor)
  • Number of Running Instances: 1
  • DB Replicaset Oplog: Enabled (default local MongoDB setup)
  • NodeJS Version: v22.x (as required by current develop branch)
  • MongoDB Version: MongoDB 7.x (local)
Client Setup Information
  • Desktop App or Browser Version: Google Chrome (latest)
  • Operating System: Linux
Additional context

Code investigation details:

The editor is implemented using CodeMirror v5 and is located at:

apps/meteor/client/views/admin/settings/Setting/inputs/CodeMirror/

Key files involved:

  • CodeMirror.tsx (CodeMirror initialization)
  • CodeMirrorBox.tsx (wrapper component)

CodeMirror addons and modes are imported from:
apps/meteor/app/ui/client/lib/codeMirror/codeMirror.ts

Observations:

  • CodeMirror is always initialized with the default theme (cm-s-default)
  • No dark CodeMirror theme is loaded or applied
  • Theme imports exist but are commented out
  • Rocket.Chat does not currently pass light/dark theme context into CodeMirror
  • CSS-only overrides are insufficient because the default CodeMirror theme is inherently light

This issue was raised to discuss the preferred approach before attempting a larger architectural change.

Relevant logs:

No relevant server logs. This issue appears to be purely UI-related.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reading apps/meteor/client/views/admin/settings/Setting/inputs/CodeMirror/CodeMirror.tsx and CodeMirrorBox.tsx, then inspect the CodeMirror imports in apps/meteor/app/ui/client/lib/codeMirror/codeMirror.ts. Confirm how the editor is initialized and how theme changes are represented; the work is done when the Custom Scripts editor follows Rocket.Chat's dark and light modes.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
typescript
Domain
frontend
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
42/100

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