titleBar.inactiveForeground is overridden by additional opacity when the window is unfocused

Type: Bug

Type of issue

Bug

Description

When a VS Code window loses focus, the text and controls rendered in the custom title bar are additionally dimmed using opacity.

This affects the main menu labels, such as File, Edit, Selection, View, Go, and Run.

As a result, titleBar.inactiveForeground does not represent the final rendered foreground color. Even when titleBar.activeForeground and titleBar.inactiveForeground are configured with exactly the same value, the menu text becomes noticeably lighter when the window loses focus.

This makes it impossible for a color theme or user customization to request a specific foreground color for the inactive title bar.

Steps to reproduce

1. Use the Light Modern theme.
2. Add the following settings:

{
    "workbench.colorTheme": "Light Modern",
    "workbench.colorCustomizations": {
        "[Light Modern]": {
            "titleBar.activeForeground": "#0a0a0a",
            "titleBar.inactiveForeground": "#0a0a0a",

            "titleBar.activeBackground": "#f8f8f8",
            "titleBar.inactiveBackground": "#cccccc"
        }
    }
}

VS Code version: Code 1.138.0 (7debcd0e2acdea1c52de81bf9ee1620444407dda, 2026-09-15T07:24:32Z)
OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26200
Modes:

<details>
<summary>System Info</summary>

|Item|Value|
|---|---|
|CPUs|11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1185G7 @ 3.00GHz (8 x 2995)|
|GPU Status|2d_canvas: enabled<br>GPU0: VENDOR= 0x8086, DEVICE=0x9a49 [Intel(R) Iris(R) Xe Graphics], DRIVER_VENDOR=Intel, DRIVER_VERSION=32.0.101.7084 *ACTIVE*<br>GPU1: VENDOR= 0x1414, DEVICE=0x008c [Microsoft Basic Render Driver], DRIVER_VERSION=10.0.26100.9278<br>Machine model name: <br>Machine model version: <br>direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok<br>gpu_compositing: enabled<br>multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on<br>opengl: enabled_on<br>rasterization: enabled<br>raw_draw: disabled_off_ok<br>skia_graphite: disabled_off<br>trees_in_viz: disabled_off<br>video_decode: enabled<br>video_encode: enabled<br>webgl: enabled<br>webgpu: enabled<br>webnn: disabled_off|
|Load (avg)|undefined|
|Memory (System)|15.69GB (3.17GB free)|
|Process Argv|--crash-reporter-id f1ec00b0-738e-450d-82a1-f0a708cdb4ff|
|Screen Reader|no|
|VM|0%|
</details><details><summary>Extensions (3)</summary>

Name|Identifier|Author|Version
---|---|---|---
C# Dev Kit|ms-dotnettools.csdevkit|ms-dotnettools|3.40.204
C#|ms-dotnettools.csharp|ms-dotnettools|2.160.4
.NET Install Tool|ms-dotnettools.vscode-dotnet-runtime|ms-dotnettools|3.1.0

</details><details>
<summary>A/B Experiments</summary>

vsliv368cf:30146710
binariesv615:30325510
nativeloc1:31344060
dwcopilot:31170013
dwoutputs:31242946
copilot_t_ci:31333650
e5gg6876:31282496
pythonrdcb7:31342333
6518g693:31463988
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envsactivate1:31551504
gh487529:31544284
cloudbuttont:31379625
3efgi100_wstrepl:31403338
ec5jj548:31422691
cp_cls_t_966_ss:31526232
4je02754:31466945
c3h7c220:31478652
cp_cls_c_1081:31454833
conptydll_true:31498968
e9c30283:31461165
c9b86496:31447327
capico_bxe_098a3278:31582665
ei9d7968:31496641
chat:31457767
8hig5102:31480529
89g7j272:31518289
i2gc6536:31499202
52612955:31516516
ec1eg703:31520046
ddid_t:31478206
hmra_i5g22:31518061
7df3h592:31512476
cp_cls_t_1082:31535311
logging_enabled_new:31498466
db5d2638:31499441
jb_cp_cls_t_632:31543129
56dj4588:31512888
32d76977:31512328
ha629193:31508444
jh5f2457_c:31540921
jbcp_cls_pctr_t:31531130
cp_intellij_t_nes:31548657
jf4hg949:31526829
ahp-both-windows:31556933
ihg5j128:31534457
9gg7f176:31542112
nes-ex-cf-euporie-03:31542868
enable_editor_pane_layout:31569726
allow-none:31555437
ac562147:31564510
c7c27ce7:31554789
1h923230:31564177
treatment-23-1:31555779
unuse_dynamic_mcp:31555281
0d8dfbc3:31570291
0c1h4866:31566224
session-mark-done:31558131
5b8j3302:31564601
autotiers:31584978
mangle-name-control:31572633
allow-signed-out:31584137
intellij_nes_preview_t:31580086
multiv2:31574985
2bfb8b39:31585911
soft:31581111
aw-autom-on:31583758
revealsession_treatment_7ed7e840:31582194
4ab0b639:31584543
codex-agent-host-stable-control:31585316
66c8a39e-e7a5-4b4c-a3c0-41b161c795c4:31586113
permission_prompt_treatment:1332566
ccr_pr_nudge_auto_review:1319472
vsc_wsm_c:1340633
1g5a5742:1379227
3aced641:1389836

</details>

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