Is there a way to use $boost, $accent, $panel inside of python code?

[edward-jazzhands]

So I noticed that when I try to use $boost, $panel, or $accent inside of a widget, for instance:

self.set_styles("background: $boost;")

self.styles.background = "$boost"

I get an error saying $boost / $panel / $accent is not a color.

I was wondering if there's a way to do this properly?

[TomJGooding]

The problem is that the background style expects a <color> format, which doesn't include Textual's CSS variables.

I don't know if this is the "proper" way, but using the App.get_css_variables method seems to work for most Textual colors, apart from the $boost due to the alpha channel.

from textual.app import App, ComposeResult
from textual.containers import Grid
from textual.widgets import Static

COLOR_NAMES = [
    "primary",
    "secondary",
    "background",
    "primary-background",
    "secondary-background",
    "surface",
    "panel",
    "boost",
    "warning",
    "error",
    "success",
    "accent",
]


class ExampleApp(App):
    CSS = """
    Static {
        height: 3;
        color: $text;
        content-align: center middle;
    }

    Grid {
        grid-size: 2;
        height: 36;
    }

    #primary { background: $primary }
    #secondary { background: $secondary }
    #background { background: $background }
    #primary-background { background: $primary-background }
    #secondary-background { background: $secondary-background }
    #surface { background: $surface }
    #panel { background: $panel }
    #boost { background: $boost }
    #warning { background: $warning }
    #error {background: $error }
    #success {background: $success }
    #accent {background: $accent }
    """

    def compose(self) -> ComposeResult:
        with Grid():
            for color in COLOR_NAMES:
                yield Static(f"${color}", id=f"{color}")
                yield Static(f"${color}", id=f"{color}-test")

    def on_mount(self) -> None:
        css_variables = self.get_css_variables()
        for color in COLOR_NAMES:
            self.query_one(f"#{color}-test").styles.background = css_variables[color]


if __name__ == "__main__":
    app = ExampleApp()
    app.run()