LCARS-Inspired Obsidian theme

A minimalist Obsidian theme inspired by the LCARS (Library Computer Access/Retrieval System) interface design language created by Michael Okuda for Star Trek: The Next Generation. True-black canvas, elbow-framed panels, pill geometry, and a restrained two-hue accent system.

Design principles

• The writing surface stays clean.
• Two working hues. Orange (#ff9c00) marks structural elements like frames, headings, tags, the active file. Periwinkle (#9c9cff) marks interactivity like links, bold, selection, and scrollbars. Lilac, pale blue, and salmon play supporting, decorative roles.
• Readability tiers. Antonio (the canonical LCARS typeface, embedded in the theme—nothing to install) appears only on large display text: the note title, H1, and H2. Smaller headings and labels step down to a softer condensed face while body text and small UI use your default fonts, untouched.

Features

• Elbow frames every note pane opens with the classic Okuda-esque elbow: an orange sweep with a periwinkle echo, drawn in pure CSS and click-transparent.
• A full LCARS standby console on the New Tab page — a console popup floating over a procedurally generated "library scan" data-block stream, featuring the Obsidian gem redrawn as a glowing star constellation, a scanning header bar, a breathing standby light, pill-shaped actions, and a SUBSPACE LINK • STANDBY sign-off. All ambient motion respects your system's reduce-motion setting.
• Ribbon color-block stack — sidebar actions as solid LCARS color blocks with a hollow-pill settings cluster.
• Console chrome throughout — orange-ringed command palette and page previews, LCARS alert callouts with palette-mapped semantic colors, pill tags and checkboxes, segmented divider bars, a miniature elbow closing the status-bar corner, and a periwinkle-outlined Properties panel.
• Dark mode only. LCARS is a dark-room interface. The theme applies its black-canvas palette regardless of your base color scheme setting. Set your preferences to dark for the optimal expression of the theme.
• Desktop Optimized The theme is designed with a desktop in mind, and the quality of the theme on mobile cannot be guaranteed.

Install

Once published: Settings → Appearance → Themes → Manage → search "LCARS".

Manual: copy theme.css and manifest.json into <your vault>/.obsidian/themes/LCARS/, then select LCARS under Settings → Appearance → Themes.

Notes

• The Antonio typeface is embedded in theme.css as a base64 web font under the SIL Open Font License 1.1. A locally installed Antonio takes precedence if you have one.
• No images are loaded from the network; every graphic is inline SVG/CSS. The theme is fully self-contained.

Credits & disclaimer

• Interface language inspired by the LCARS design created by Michael Okuda for Star Trek: The Next Generation.
• Ribbon block treatment inspired by the Okudagram theme by Jalad.
• Star Trek and LCARS are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. / Paramount. This theme is a fan-made homage, is not affiliated with or endorsed by CBS/Paramount or Obsidian.md, and contains no copied assets from the shows.

License

MIT — see LICENSE. The embedded Antonio font remains under the SIL Open Font License 1.1.