getScssVariables not evaluated in defaults.php

andreas · February 18, 2026, 5:33pm

I’ve installed and configured a custom theme with a modified defaults.php. Most values are picked up, but getScssVariables() is not:

When “grep -R getScssVariables” in the nextcloud directory, I only see some “public function getScssVariables()”, but nobody calling them.

So has this been dropped silently some while ago? Sample code is still present in themes/example/defaults.php.

christianlupus · February 18, 2026, 5:55pm

I did not find anything in a quick search on the GitHub organization. Maybe open an issue on the server repo asking for help? Or going on the community chat asking for advice?

I fear, here not many (good) answers will be present, to be honest (I would be glad if there were someone pointing into a good direction).

Chris

andreas · February 19, 2026, 11:00am

reported here: getScssVariables() not picked up from custom server-specified theme · Issue #58426 · nextcloud/server · GitHub

jtr · February 19, 2026, 10:08pm

My understanding is that that is the legacy theming/customization approach. These days that method is deprecated and is no longer documented.

Most support today is via the integrated Theming configuration within Admin settings.

andreas · February 20, 2026, 8:05am

Well this does not support runtime dependent theme modifications, which is why I wanted to use getScssVariables.