Best approach to customize colors in ERPNext v16?

ERPNext Customize ERPNext
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1

Hi all,
I’m running ERPNext v16 and want to customize the color scheme to match our brand (primary color, sidebar, buttons) for both Desk and the website portal.
Options I’ve looked at: custom app CSS, Website Theme Doctype, CSS variable overrides, and editing source + bench build.
Questions:

  1. What’s the recommended/best practice approach in v16?
  2. Is overriding CSS variables the cleanest way, or is a custom theme better?
  3. How do I make changes upgrade-safe (survive bench migrate/build)?
  4. Any v16-specific gotchas (Frappe UI, dark mode, RTL)?
    Thanks in advance!
2

Hi,

I would recommend creating a new theme that matches your brand identity instead of modifying the core styles. This approach is cleaner, easier to maintain, and more upgrade-safe, as your customization’s remain separate from the frameworks source code.

Thank you!