diff --git a/bin/qcms b/bin/qcms
index b7e06f0..72b6001 100755
--- a/bin/qcms
+++ b/bin/qcms
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ INVALID_FOLDER = """
 #
 # handling cli interface
 cli = typer.Typer()
+cli_theme = typer.Typer()
 
 def to_Table(df: pd.DataFrame):
     """Displays a Pandas DataFrame as a rich table."""
@@ -359,10 +360,77 @@ def bootup (
     #     manifest = os.sep.join([manifest,'qcms-manifest.json'])
     manifest = get_manifest(manifest)
     index.start(manifest,port)
-@cli.command(name='theme')
+@cli_theme .command(name='list')
+def theme_list (
+    manifest:Annotated[str,typer.Argument(help="path of the manifest file")],
+    # manifest:str= typer.Option(default=None,help="Optional path to a site, otherwise remote themes will be listed"),
+    url:str=typer.Option(default="https://dev.the-phi.com/git/qcms/themes.git", help="git/github site where the themes live")
+    # remote:bool = typer.Option("--remote/--local",help="print list of themes available (remotely)"),
+              ) :
+    """
+    This function will list themes available remotely in contrast to those installed for a given qcms site
+    """
+    # if not manifest :
+    _available = themes.List(url)
+        # _available = [100]
+    # else:
+    manifest = get_manifest(manifest)
+    _layout = cms.engine.config.get(manifest) ['layout']  
+    # if manifest.endswith('.json') :
+    manifest = os.sep.join(manifest.split(os.sep)[:-1])
+    
+    path = os.sep.join([manifest, _layout['root']])#,'_assets/themes'])
+    _installed = themes.Installed(path)
+    _df = pd.DataFrame()
+    if _available :
+        _intCount = len(list(set(_installed) - set(_available)))
+        
+        _installed = [PASSED if _name in _installed else FAILED for _name in _available ]
+        _df = pd.DataFrame({'available':_available,'installed':_installed}) 
+        
+        print ( to_Table(_df))
+        if _intCount :
+            print (f"{PASSED} found {_intCount } custom theme{'' if _intCount == 1 else 's'} in [bold]{_layout['header']['title']}[/bold]")
+    else:
+        print (f"{FAILED} unable to list themes, insure the {url} and qcms-site is valid")
+    return _df
+@cli_theme .command(name='set')
+def theme_set (    
+    manifest:Annotated[str,typer.Argument(help="path of the manifest file")],
+    name:str = typer.Option(default='default',help='name of the theme to apply'),
+    url:str=typer.Option(default="https://dev.the-phi.com/git/qcms/themes.git", help="git/github site where the themes live")
+    ) :
+    manifest = get_manifest(manifest)
+    _config = cms.engine.config.get(manifest)
+    _layout = _config['layout']
+    path = os.sep.join([os.sep.join(manifest.split(os.sep)[:-1]), _layout['root']])#,'_assets/themes'])
+    task = []
+    # _msg = ""
+    try:
+        
+        # _df = theme_list(manifest)
+        _installed = themes.Installed(path)
+        
+        if name not in _installed :
+            themes.Get(name,path)
+            _config['system']['theme'] = name
+            cms.engine.config.write(_config,manifest)
+            task.append("installed")
+            
+        else:
+            task.append( "updated")
+            themes.UpdateTheme (path,name,url)
+        _msg = f"{PASSED} successfully {'/'.join(task)} [bold] {name} [/bold] to [bold] {_layout['header']['title']}[/bold]"
+        
+    except Exception as e:
+        print (e)
+        _msg = f"{FAILED} unable to set theme [bold] {name} [/bold] to {_layout['header']['title']}"
+        pass
+    print (_msg)        
+    pass
 def handle_theme (
     manifest:Annotated[str,typer.Argument(help="path of the manifest file")],
-    show:bool = typer.Option(default=False,help="print list of themes available"),
+    show:bool = typer.Option(default=False,help="print list of themes available (remotely)"),
     name:str = typer.Option(default='default',help='name of the theme to apply')
     ) :
     """
@@ -375,6 +443,7 @@ def handle_theme (
 
     if show :
         _available = themes.List()
+        
         _df = pd.DataFrame({"available":_available})
         # if _df.shape[0] > 0 :
         if _available :
@@ -427,4 +496,5 @@ def handle_theme (
 
     global SYS_ARGS
 if __name__ == '__main__':
+    cli.add_typer(cli_theme,name="themes",help="manage themes associated with a site")
     cli()
diff --git a/cms/engine/themes/__init__.py b/cms/engine/themes/__init__.py
index 8af40ee..ac78e67 100644
--- a/cms/engine/themes/__init__.py
+++ b/cms/engine/themes/__init__.py
@@ -9,9 +9,10 @@ default themes will be stored in layout.root._assets.themes, The expected files
 If the following are not available then we should load the default one. 
 This would avoid crashes but would come at the expense of a lack of consistent visual layout (alas)
 """
+import git
 import requests
 import os
-URL = os.environ['QCMS_HOST_URL'] if 'QCMS_HOST_URL' in os.environ else 'https://dev.the-phi.com/qcms'
+URL = os.environ['QCMS_HOST_URL'] if 'QCMS_HOST_URL' in os.environ else 'https://dev.the-phi.com/git/qcms/themes.git'
 def current (_system) :
     return _system['theme']
 def List (_url = URL) :
@@ -19,30 +20,51 @@ def List (_url = URL) :
     calling qcms to list the available URL
     """
     try:
-        _url = '/'.join([_url,'api','themes','List'])
-        return requests.get(_url).json()
+        # _url = '/'.join([_url,'api','themes','List'])
+        # return requests.get(_url).json()
+
+        remote_refs  = git.cmd.Git().ls_remote(_url, heads=True)
+        
+        return [ref.split("\t")[1].replace("refs/heads/", "") for ref in remote_refs.splitlines()]
+
     except Exception as e:
         
         pass
     return []
-def Get(theme,_url= URL) :
+def Get(theme,path,_url= URL) :
     """
     This function retrieves a particular theme from a remote source
     The name should be in the list provided by the above function
     """
     try:
-        _url = '/'.join([_url,'api','themes','Get']) +f'?theme={theme}'
+        # _url = '/'.join([_url,'api','themes','Get']) +f'?theme={theme}'
         try:
-            return requests.get(_url).json()
+            # return requests.get(_url).json()
+            path  = path if '_assets/themes' in path else os.sep.join([path,'_assets','themes'])
+            if not os.path.exists(path) :
+                os.makedirs(path)
+            
+            if not os.path.exists ( os.sep.join([path,theme]) ) :
+                _loc = os.sep.join([path,theme])
+                repo = git.Repo.clone_from(_url, _loc,branch=theme,depth=1)
         except Exception as e:
+            print(e)
             pass
         return None
     except Exception as e:
         pass
     return {}
-def installed (path):
+def Installed (path):
     return os.listdir(os.sep.join([path,'_assets','themes']))
-
+def UpdateTheme(path,name,url) :
+    """
+    :path   root folder of the qcms app/site
+    :name   name of the theme bing updated
+    :url    url of the git repository
+    """
+    _themerepo = os.sep.join([path,'_assets','themes',name])
+    repo = git.Repo(_themerepo)
+    repo.remotes.origin.pull()
 def Set(theme,_system) :
     _system['theme'] = theme
     return _system
diff --git a/meta/__init__.py b/meta/__init__.py
index e009248..800fec4 100644
--- a/meta/__init__.py
+++ b/meta/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 __author__ = "Steve L. Nyemba"
-__version__= "2.2.12"
+__version__= "2.2.14"
 __email__ = "steve@the-phi.com"
 __license__="""
 Copyright 2010 - 2024, Steve L. Nyemba, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 74df723..634c93a 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ args    = {
 
     "packages": find_packages(include=['meta','cms', 'cms.*','.'])}
 args["keywords"]=['cms','www','https','flask','data-transport']
-args["install_requires"] = ['flask','gitpython','termcolor','flask-session','mistune','typer','data-transport@git+https://github.com/lnyemba/data-transport.git']
+args["install_requires"] = ['flask','gitpython','termcolor','gitpython','flask-session','mistune','typer','data-transport@git+https://github.com/lnyemba/data-transport.git']
 args['classifiers'] = ['Topic :: utilities', 'License :: MIT']
 args['include_package_data'] = True
 # args['data_files'] = {