MultiTerm is an Astro blog theme for coders that lets you theme an entire website with Shiki color schemes and renders prose with a raw-markdown aesthetic.
What is MultiTerm?
MultiTerm is an open-source Astro blog theme created by Stel Clementine, distributed under the MIT License and currently at version 2.0.0. It takes Markdown and MDX content from the src/content directory and turns it into a static site (or dynamically rendered one), with the design built around letting you pick your favorite editor color scheme. The theme notably supports up to 59 Shiki themes, either as a single theme, a light/dark pair, or a multi-theme mode where readers choose from a dialog.
Key Features
- Theme selection — Choose from all 59 Shiki themes bundled with Expressive Code, set them in the config, and switch between them interactively via CSS variables.
- Dark/Light/Auto mode — Pick two Shiki themes and let the site automatically adapt to reader preferences, with a manual toggle button in the site header.
- Multi-theme mode — Offer three or all 59 themes and let each visitor pick their favorite from a dialog opened from the header button.
- GitHub comment section — Reader comments, discussions, and reactions are powered by Giscus, which stores comments in GitHub Discussions and is themed to match your site.
- GitHub activity widget — An optional statically generated contribution calendar appears on the homepage and follows the active color scheme.
- Markdown extensions — Admonitions, auto-generated sticky table of contents, emoji shortcodes, KaTeX math, MDX support, and reading-time estimates are built in.
- RSS and sitemap — Both are generated automatically with no extra configuration.
- SEO and social cards — The theme includes SEO best practices and auto-generates OpenGraph social card images for every page using Satori.
Who is it for?
- Developers starting a personal blog who want the look of their own editor (VSCode, etc.) and prefer a markdown-first writing flow.
- Technical writers and open-source maintainers who need a blog with GitHub-native comments, a contribution calendar, and RSS feeds for changelogs or docs.
- Astro users who want a Tailwind v4-styled starter with MDX, KaTeX math, and static-first rendering without building the design system themselves.
What can you do with MultiTerm?
- Indie developers: clone the repo, add Markdown posts under
src/content, and set site-wide options insrc/site.config.tsto launch a personal blog. - Open-source projects: embed the GitHub activity widget on the homepage and enable Giscus so contributors can start discussions directly on posts.
- Design-conscious writers: let your readers switch among all 59 Shiki color schemes from a header dialog, matching their own preferences.
How does MultiTerm work?
You start by cloning the repository with git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/stelcodes/multiterm-astro my-new-blog, then install dependencies with npm install. During development you run npm run dev; for production you run npm run build && npm run preview. All configuration is centralized in src/site.config.ts, and blog content is added to the src/content directory.
Pricing
MultiTerm is free and open source under the MIT License. The author accepts optional sponsorship donations through a Ko-fi page to support continued development.
Alternatives
Two themes cited as inspiration are hugo-theme-terminal for Hugo sites and astro-theme-cactus, another Astro blog theme that pairs well with a minimal setup.
FAQ
Is MultiTerm free?
Yes, MultiTerm is released under the MIT License, so it is free to use for personal and commercial projects. You may also sponsor the author via Ko-fi, but that is optional.
How many color schemes does MultiTerm support?
MultiTerm supports up to 59 Shiki themes available through Expressive Code. You can configure one theme, two for light/dark modes, or enable a multi-theme dialog that lets readers choose from all 59.
Does MultiTerm include a comment system?
Yes, it ships with Giscus, which connects to a GitHub repository and uses GitHub Discussions for comments. The comment UI is themed to match whichever color scheme is active.
What content formats are supported?
The theme supports standard Markdown and MDX. It also processes emoji shortcodes, KaTeX math expressions, admonitions, and generates a table of contents automatically for longer posts.
Can I build a static site with MultiTerm?
The default build is a static site, but because it runs on Astro you can switch to dynamic rendering if your content or integrations require it. The Tailwind v4-based design is responsive across devices.
