---
id: pygments-styles
version: "0.3.0"
license: BSD-3-Clause
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# pygments-styles — A curated collection of Pygments styles based on VS Code themes.

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 185.1K/mo

## What it is and what it does

pygments-styles is a theme package that extends pygments with a curated set of color schemes derived from VS Code themes. It's designed to make code blocks in documentation and other tools visually consistent with modern editor aesthetics. The package depends only on pygments and supports Python 3.9 through 3.14, making it compatible with current Python versions.

You install it alongside pygments and then reference its themes when configuring Sphinx, MkDocs, or other tools that use pygments for syntax highlighting. The package is actively maintained with recent commits and carries no known security vulnerabilities, making it a low-risk addition to documentation toolchains.

Use it for:

- Configure Sphinx documentation projects to use VS Code-inspired syntax highlighting themes for code examples
- Apply consistent, modern color schemes to MkDocs sites without manually defining custom Pygments styles
- Enhance code block appearance in static site generators that rely on Pygments for syntax coloring
- Standardize syntax highlighting across multiple documentation projects using familiar VS Code aesthetics

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Provides a curated collection of Pygments syntax-highlighting color schemes based on VS Code themes for use in documentation and code display tools.

Yes, if you use Sphinx or MkDocs and want modern syntax highlighting without manual theme configuration. The package is lightweight, actively maintained, has no vulnerabilities, and carries a permissive license. Install it only if you actually need one of its themes; it adds no value if you're not using Pygments-based documentation tools.

## Install

pip install pygments-styles
uv add pygments-styles
poetry add pygments-styles

## Installing pygments-styles

Before you install: Low friction install with a single runtime dependency on pygments. Active maintenance with recent commits and no known vulnerabilities.

License in practice: BSD-3-Clause is permissive; you can use, modify, and distribute this package with minimal restrictions, provided you include the license notice.

Quickstart:

pip install pygments-styles

from pygments.styles import get_style_by_name
style = get_style_by_name('vs-code-theme-name')

Verify before relying:

- How many distinct VS Code-based themes are included in the collection
- Whether themes are automatically synchronized with VS Code upstream or manually curated
- Integration complexity with Sphinx and MkDocs beyond the linked guides

## Package facts

- License: BSD-3-Clause (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 185.1K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

pygments color schemes, syntax highlighting themes, vs code pygments styles, code highlighting themes, documentation syntax colors, sphinx highlighting themes, mkdocs syntax styles, syntax-highlighting, documentation-tools, themes

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/pygments-styles) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/pygments-styles/)