diff --git a/kitty/cell_defines.glsl b/kitty/cell_defines.glsl
index 7bc0fe619..9add9a638 100644
--- a/kitty/cell_defines.glsl
+++ b/kitty/cell_defines.glsl
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@
 #define MARK_MASK {MARK_MASK}
 #define USE_SELECTION_FG
 #define NUM_COLORS 256
+#define COLOR_NOT_SET {COLOR_NOT_SET}
+#define COLOR_IS_SPECIAL {COLOR_IS_SPECIAL}
+#define COLOR_IS_RGB {COLOR_IS_RGB}
+#define COLOR_IS_INDEX {COLOR_IS_INDEX}
 
 #if {ONLY_BACKGROUND} == 1
 #define ONLY_BACKGROUND
diff --git a/kitty/data-types.c b/kitty/data-types.c
index 999e61d0d..687dccd87 100644
--- a/kitty/data-types.c
+++ b/kitty/data-types.c
@@ -860,6 +860,10 @@ PyInit_fast_data_types(void) {
     PyModule_AddIntMacro(m, ESC_DCS);
     PyModule_AddIntMacro(m, ESC_PM);
     PyModule_AddIntMacro(m, TEXT_SIZE_CODE);
+    PyModule_AddIntMacro(m, COLOR_NOT_SET);
+    PyModule_AddIntMacro(m, COLOR_IS_SPECIAL);
+    PyModule_AddIntMacro(m, COLOR_IS_INDEX);
+    PyModule_AddIntMacro(m, COLOR_IS_RGB);
 #ifdef __APPLE__
     // Apple says its SHM_NAME_MAX but SHM_NAME_MAX is not actually declared in typical CrApple style.
     // This value is based on experimentation and from qsharedmemory.cpp in Qt
diff --git a/kitty/fast_data_types.pyi b/kitty/fast_data_types.pyi
index de5687029..4d4ef0799 100644
--- a/kitty/fast_data_types.pyi
+++ b/kitty/fast_data_types.pyi
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ from kitty.typing_compat import EdgeLiteral, NotRequired, ReadableBuffer, Writea
 SCALE_BITS: int
 WIDTH_BITS: int
 SUBSCALE_BITS: int
+COLOR_IS_SPECIAL: int
+COLOR_NOT_SET: int
+COLOR_IS_RGB: int
+COLOR_IS_INDEX: int
 GLFW_LAYER_SHELL_NONE: int
 GLFW_LAYER_SHELL_PANEL: int
 GLFW_LAYER_SHELL_TOP: int
diff --git a/kitty/shaders.py b/kitty/shaders.py
index c8dcb875a..625a34d42 100644
--- a/kitty/shaders.py
+++ b/kitty/shaders.py
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@
     CELL_BG_PROGRAM,
     CELL_FG_PROGRAM,
     CELL_PROGRAM,
+    COLOR_IS_INDEX,
+    COLOR_IS_RGB,
+    COLOR_IS_SPECIAL,
+    COLOR_NOT_SET,
     DECORATION,
     DECORATION_MASK,
     DIM,
@@ -178,6 +182,10 @@ def __call__(self, allow_recompile: bool = False) -> None:
                 MARK_SHIFT=MARK,
                 MARK_MASK=MARK_MASK,
                 DECORATION_MASK=DECORATION_MASK,
+                COLOR_NOT_SET=COLOR_NOT_SET,
+                COLOR_IS_SPECIAL=COLOR_IS_SPECIAL,
+                COLOR_IS_INDEX=COLOR_IS_INDEX,
+                COLOR_IS_RGB=COLOR_IS_RGB,
             )
 
         def resolve_cell_defines(only_fg: int, only_bg: int, src: str) -> str: