B*tchwork My AI Did for Me - Part 8: Made a Program Follow My Computer's Light and Dark Mode

Key Takeaways

• AI-generated script syncs VS Code theme with macOS light/dark mode
• Eliminates manual theme toggling, boosting developer workflow efficiency
• Uses macOS system preferences API accessed via Node.js
• Demonstrates AI's ability to automate repetitive UI tasks

Pulse Analysis

Artificial intelligence is moving beyond code suggestions to delivering end‑to‑end automation for everyday developer chores. In Liz Elliott’s latest “B*tchwork” series, an AI was tasked with creating a tiny program that mirrors the operating system’s light‑and‑dark mode inside Visual Studio Code on a Mac. The resulting script reads the macOS appearance setting and updates VS Code’s color theme without user intervention. This hands‑free approach illustrates how AI can translate a simple natural‑language request into a functional utility that saves time and reduces context‑switching.

The solution hinges on macOS’s System Preferences API, which can be queried from a Node.js process using the ‘defaults read -g AppleInterfaceStyle’ command. The AI‑generated JavaScript watches for changes, then writes the appropriate theme identifier to VS Code’s settings.json file, triggering an immediate UI refresh. By leveraging existing command‑line tools and VS Code’s extensible configuration, the program avoids heavyweight extensions while remaining portable across other Electron‑based editors. The codebase is under 50 lines, demonstrating that AI can produce concise, production‑ready scripts for niche automation.

For enterprises and solo developers alike, such micro‑automation translates into measurable productivity gains. Eliminating manual theme toggles reduces cognitive load, especially for teams that enforce dark‑mode policies for eye‑strain mitigation. Moreover, the workflow showcases a repeatable pattern: describe a repetitive UI task, let an AI draft the script, then fine‑tune and deploy. As AI‑driven development tools mature, we can expect a surge in custom utilities that integrate with corporate policy engines, CI pipelines, and cross‑platform environments, turning what was once “b*tchwork” into scalable, low‑code solutions.