diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f1199783c..a76e14184 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -19,13 +19,3 @@ plaintext/
 /result
 .wrangler/
 
-# cliamp's runtime files. Since 2026-09-13 ~/.config/cliamp is a real directory
-# with only config.toml and themes/ linked in (home/home.nix), so these no
-# longer land here; the lines stay so a stale checkout or a revert cannot
-# commit them again. resume.json carries a Navidrome stream URL with a Subsonic
-# token — never track it.
-home/dot_config/cliamp/cliamp.log
-home/dot_config/cliamp/cliamp.sock
-home/dot_config/cliamp/cliamp.sock.pid
-home/dot_config/cliamp/history.toml
-home/dot_config/cliamp/resume.json
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 3686dc7fe..4f14a3b2f 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,16 @@
+**Claude seats (2026-09-22).** Two Claude Code logins live on the coordinator
+and nowhere else: `cc` is `~/.claude` (the personal Claude Max login, config file
+`~/.claude.json`), `cc2` is `~/.claude-work` (the leger.run Claude Max login,
+config file `~/.claude-work/.claude.json`), selected only by `CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR`
+in the fish launchers (`home/dot_config/fish/config.fish`). Both share the same
+skills and settings links; login, history, sessions and trust are per seat, so a
+session id resumes only on the seat and from the cwd that created it
+(`claude-sessions` fans out over the seats). Claude never saves workspace trust
+for `$HOME`, so the launchers move into `$CLAUDE_ENVELOPE` (default `~/today`)
+when typed from `~`; never start a seat in the home directory. Logins are hand
+`/login`s, never a delivered secret (the old claude-credentials seed was removed
+this day). The seat meters are `~/.local/state/tally-rewrite/meters/<seat>.json`.
+
 **Physical seats (2026-09-16, supersedes older headless/client-only wording below).**
 Tom is returning the coordinator to primary-desktop duty with two upright LG
 5K displays side by side at scale 2. Both coordinator and client have
diff --git a/docs/theme-switcher-2026-09-17.md b/docs/theme-switcher-2026-09-17.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..63db2c7c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/theme-switcher-2026-09-17.md
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+# Theme switcher: noir, claude-dark, claude-light (2026-09-17)
+
+Three hand-curated themes, one palette source of truth in Nix, one symlink flipped
+at runtime. No palette generation from wallpapers (matugen/pywal), no Home Manager
+specialisations — see "Why not" below. Research report with the full option
+analysis and the light-theme ANSI derivation: `~/colors/theme-switcher-design.md`
+(not in this repo; ~/colors holds the colour investigation).
+
+## The three themes
+
+| theme | ground (terminal) | desktop | accents | source |
+|---|---|---|---|---|
+| `noir` | `#000000` | `#000000` | Claude Dark's 12-role syntax palette | Tom's catppuccin-noir; accents matched claude.ai's bundle bit for bit |
+| `claude-dark` | `#1A1A1A` (code-block ground) | `#20201F` (`--bg-000`) | same as noir | `~/colors/waves/capture/claude-code-theme/claude-tokens-dark.json` |
+| `claude-light` | `#F9F9F7` (`--bg-100`) | `#F0EFEC` (`--bg-300`) | Claude Light's 12-role palette | `claude-themes-SOURCE.json`, `claude-tokens-light.json` |
+
+noir and claude-dark differ only in grounds (`home/themes/claude-dark.nix` is
+`noir // { ground; muted; … }`). Claude ships no 16-slot ANSI palette, so
+claude-light's is designed: roles fill slots 1–6, `--warning-100` fills the yellow
+Claude has no role for, and `color0/7/15` are dark (punctuation / text-secondary /
+fg) because herdr's `terminal` theme uses `White`/`Gray` as foregrounds. Every slot
+passes WCAG AA on white. It is a proposal to tune in `~/colors/colorlab`.
+
+## How it is wired
+
+```
+home/themes/{noir,claude-dark,claude-light}.nix   palettes, keyed by ROLE
+home/themes/default.nix                            render: palette -> per-app fragments
+home/theme.nix                                     HM: ~/.config/themes/<name>/{kitty.conf,niri.kdl,colors.fish,theme.lua,meta}
+                                                       + activation: bootstrap/heal ~/.config/theme
+~/.config/theme  ->  ~/.config/themes/<name>       the pointer; the ONLY runtime state
+home/dot_local/bin/theme                           flip the pointer, fire reloads
+```
+
+Every RAW config keeps its body raw and joins its fragment through the app's own
+include of `~/.config/theme/<fragment>` — the same move as `kitty-scrollback-nix.conf`
+and `niri-local.kdl` (generated files at a neutral path, included from inside a
+whole-dir RAW symlink). Home Manager owns `themes/` (plural); the switcher owns
+`theme` (singular). Switching needs no rebuild; adding a theme or changing a
+palette value does.
+
+| consumer | joins via | live reload on `theme <name>` |
+|---|---|---|
+| kitty | `include ${HOME}/.config/theme/kitty.conf` (kitty.conf) | `kitten @ --to unix:@kitty-<pid> load-config` per instance (sockets from `/proc/net/unix`) |
+| ghostty (cmux Browser panes) | `config-file = ?/home/tom/.config/theme/ghostty` LAST in ghostty/config.ghostty (a config-file loads after its parent, so the fragment wins; absolute because Ghostty resolves relative paths against the symlinked config's dir) | nothing — libghostty reads the config when cmux opens a surface; new panes follow |
+| niri | `include optional=true "~/.config/theme/niri.kdl"` LAST in config.kdl; sections merge, later wins | `niri msg action load-config-file` |
+| herdr | `[theme] name = "terminal"`: every token is an ANSI slot | nothing — kitty reports the bg change via DEC 2031 (`CSI ?997;n`), herdr re-queries OSC 10/11/4 and repaints chrome + every pane |
+| nvim | `~/.local/bin/nvim-lua/theme.lua` dofile()s `theme.lua`; catppuccin/bufferline/lualine read it | `nvim --server <sock> --remote-expr` → `require('theme').reload()` per instance |
+| fish | `conf.d/colors.fish` sources the fragment; re-sources at the next prompt when the pointer moved | automatic (no universal variables: `fish_variables` is tracked) |
+| starship | already ANSI-named; the one `#F47B85` became `red` | follows kitty |
+| Claude Code | `theme` key in `~/.claude.json` ← `meta` `claude_code=` | written tmp+rename; takes effect on next start |
+| GTK3 | `gsettings gtk-theme` (`theme apply`) → MacTahoe-Dark-grey / MacTahoe-Claude-{Dark,Light}-orange | live: GTK3's Wayland backend reads org.gnome.desktop.interface from dconf and follows "changed". Needs the schema on XDG_DATA_DIRS (modules/common.nix) and no `GTK_THEME` env — both fixed in this PR |
+| GTK4 / libadwaita | `~/.config/gtk-4.0/{gtk.css,gtk-dark.css,assets}` → `~/.config/theme/gtk-4.0/` (home/theme.nix); `color-scheme` via gsettings | color-scheme live (portal); gtk.css on next app start |
+| icons / folder colour | `gsettings icon-theme MacTahoe[-<accent>]-{dark,light}` (`theme icons`) | live; accent from the wallpaper, polarity from the theme |
+| Chrome | follows `color-scheme` through the portal | live |
+| qt6ct | not yet | — |
+
+**GTK themes.** `pkgs/mactahoe-gtk-theme.nix` builds MacTahoe from source per
+`variant`: `oled` (noir, the existing OLED-black substitutions) and `claude` (both
+the light and the dark branch of `src/sass/_colors.scss` recoloured to claude.ai's
+tokens — bg-000/100/200, text-000/200/400, links = accent-100 — with the `orange`
+accent slot set to Anthropic clay `#D97757`). Theme dirs: `MacTahoe-Claude-{Dark,Light}[-solid]-orange[-(x)hdpi]`.
+`GTK_THEME` is gone from `environment.sessionVariables`: it pinned one theme for
+the whole session and could not change live. It had been load-bearing only
+because `gsettings-desktop-schemas` was never on XDG_DATA_DIRS, so GTK fell back
+to `settings.ini`; verified with `gtk-query-settings` before and after.
+
+**Wallpaper accents and folder colours.** `wallpaper <accent>` sets one of the
+seven claude.ai/imagine grounds (oat olive cactus sky fig heather coral, all
+rendered at 5120x2880 from the recovered SVG), remembers it in
+`~/.local/state/wallpaper/accent`, and calls `theme icons`.
+`pkgs/mactahoe-icon-theme.nix` prebuilds `MacTahoe-<accent>{,-light,-dark}` for all
+seven — folders in the accent's darker ground (`--bg-primary-dark`) — so every
+combination is on the system already; everything but the folder SVGs dedupes.
+
+`F2` opens an fzf picker for the theme, `Shift+F2` one for the accent (wallpaper +
+folder colour), both in the F1/F9/F10 prompt style; `Mod+Shift+T` cycles. `theme` prints the current name; `theme list`,
+`theme apply` (re-fire hooks, also run at login from startup.kdl), `theme toggle`,
+`theme icons`.
+
+## Testing before a switch
+
+`home/themes/default.nix` is pure (`{ lib }`), so a preview renders without a
+generation:
+
+```sh
+nix eval --json --impure --expr 'let lib = (builtins.getFlake (toString ./.)).inputs.nixpkgs.lib; in (import ./home/themes { inherit lib; }).fragments' \
+  | python3 -c 'import json,sys,os; [ (os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(p:=os.path.expanduser("~/.cache/theme-preview/"+k.split("/",1)[1])),exist_ok=True), open(p,"w").write(v)) for k,v in json.load(sys.stdin).items() ]'
+ln -sfn ~/.cache/theme-preview/noir ~/.config/theme
+THEMES_DIR=~/.cache/theme-preview theme claude-dark
+```
+
+`home.activation.themePointer` re-targets a pointer left outside `~/.config/themes/`
+to the live theme of the same name on the next switch.
+
+## Why not
+
+- **Home Manager specialisations**: HM runs as a NixOS module here
+  (`flake.nix`, `home-manager.nixosModules.home-manager`), so the base generation
+  re-activates at every boot and a specialisation does not survive a reboot; and
+  out-of-store symlinks are theme-invariant by construction, so every themed file
+  would have to leave the RAW doctrine.
+- **matugen / pywal / wallust / stylix**: generators for palettes derived from a
+  wallpaper; three fixed palettes need only their *template + include + reload*
+  mechanics, which is what `default.nix` + `theme` are.
+- **darkman**: two states, no "noir vs claude-dark". Could later *schedule*
+  `theme claude-light` / `theme <dark>` by time of day.
+
+## Hazards
+
+- A symlink retarget fires no watcher event: the explicit kitty/niri/nvim reloads
+  in `theme` are load-bearing.
+- kitty's `dynamic_background_opacity` stays in the RAW kitty.conf: it cannot be
+  changed by reload and must be present at startup.
+- herdr's in-app settings overlay upserts `[theme] name` and `auto_switch = false`
+  into the tracked `config.toml`. Do not use it; `terminal` is the one setting.
+- `~/.claude.json` is rewritten by Claude Code itself: the switcher writes tmp+rename
+  and accepts a lost update against a running instance. Running agents keep their
+  theme until restarted.
+- Client laptop: `git pull` ahead of `nixos-rebuild switch` leaves kitty/niri/fish/nvim
+  including a pointer that does not exist yet. niri's include is `optional`, nvim's
+  loader falls back to noir, fish and kitty fall back to their defaults — degraded,
+  not broken — until the switch renders `~/.config/themes/`.
+- Kitty windows reload in place; agents' TUIs and GTK4 apps restart.
+- Fonts (Anthropic Sans/Serif/Mono from ~/colors) are NOT part of this: another
+  session owns that spec; they are proprietary brand faces and must follow the
+  NAS `requireFile` pattern of pkgs/sf-pro.nix, never land in git.
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index fcae9c295..bc9518f46 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@
     # piri — niri IPC extension daemon (github.com/Asthestarsfalll/piri): one
     # Rust daemon that tails niri's event stream and layers plugins on top —
     # scratchpads, marks, window/workspace rules. We use it for the "music"
-    # auto-scratchpad (Mod+M toggles a right-side SoundCloud/cliamp pane).
+    # auto-scratchpad (Mod+M toggles a right-side SoundCloud pane).
     # Third-party but consumed exactly like tally: flake input pinned in
     # flake.lock, follows nixpkgs so the Rust build resolves against our one pin.
     # piri ships packages.default + a NixOS module, but NOT a home-manager
@@ -660,6 +660,7 @@
             # requiring the binaries to be installed on the caller's PATH.
             local-models-prune
             mactahoe-gtk-theme
+            mactahoe-claude-gtk-theme
             mactahoe-icon-theme
             music-acquire
             sfmono-liga
diff --git a/home/dot_config/cliamp/config.toml b/home/dot_config/cliamp/config.toml
deleted file mode 100644
index 36ce053a5..000000000
--- a/home/dot_config/cliamp/config.toml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,55 +0,0 @@
-# Requires cliamp >= 1.10 (we ship 1.63.2, pkgs/cliamp.nix). The v1.9.0 this
-# repo pinned until 2026-08-18 parsed config.toml with a flat key=value
-# scanner over ten hardcoded keys: it skipped [section] headers, matched
-# nothing below them, and did no ${VAR} expansion — so every section in this
-# file was silently inert on that build.
-#
-# GAIN IN dB, NOT PERCENT — 0 is the "100%" setting: unity gain, samples pass
-# through untouched, and the system mixer alone decides how loud things are.
-# Negative attenuates, positive boosts. The ceiling is always +6; the floor is
-# volume_min (default -50, itself clamped to [-90, 0]), and with no volume_min
-# set here the effective floor is -50. The -30 dB figure cliamp's own `--vol`
-# help text quotes belongs to other code paths entirely — the CLI flag, the Lua
-# plugin API and the MPRIS volume mapping — not to this key.
-# This read 70 until 2026-08-18, which clamped to +6 — a 2x boost applied
-# before the system volume ever saw the signal, with clipping on loud masters.
-volume   = 0
-repeat   = "off"
-shuffle  = false
-theme = ""
-provider = "navidrome"
-
-eq_preset = "Custom"
-eq = [-1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]
-speed = 1.00
-[navidrome]
-# Tailnet MagicDNS name, not localhost: this config is shared fleet-wide and
-# only the coordinator could reach localhost. It had a second reader, the
-# zenbook-duo, until that host left the fleet on 2026-08-30.
-url         = "http://coordinator.tail8dd1.ts.net:4533"
-user        = "${NAVIDROME_USER}"
-password    = "${NAVIDROME_PASSWORD}"
-browse_sort = "alphabeticalByName"
-scrobble    = true
-
-# SoundCloud: off by default upstream. yt-dlp-backed (no client_id/secret model —
-# SoundCloud closed OAuth signups in 2014). `user` swaps the curated genre browse
-# list for lemurisback's own Tracks/Likes/Reposts.
-[soundcloud]
-enabled = true
-user    = "lemurisback"
-# Go+ restored 2026-08-03 (dotfiles#70). cliamp shells to
-# `yt-dlp --cookies-from-browser chrome`, so Chrome must be signed into
-# SoundCloud as lemurisback on whichever box runs cliamp (the coordinator).
-# Note: SoundCloud now serves major-label/monetized catalog
-# over DRM-encrypted HLS that yt-dlp cannot decrypt (won't-fix upstream,
-# yt-dlp#17335) -- this unlocks the non-DRM Go+ subset (most indie/DJ
-# uploads), not the whole catalog.
-cookies_from = "chrome"
-
-# YouTube / YouTube Music: no config needed — works out of the box with cliamp's
-# built-in fallback OAuth client. Just select it in the provider browser (Esc/b).
-#
-# Bandcamp: no dedicated provider/config section exists in cliamp. It plays only
-# via direct yt-dlp URL handling — paste a bandcamp.com URL with `u` in the TUI,
-# or `cliamp https://artist.bandcamp.com/album/x` from the shell.
diff --git a/home/dot_config/cliamp/themes/catppuccin-noir.toml b/home/dot_config/cliamp/themes/catppuccin-noir.toml
deleted file mode 100644
index 4491d14c0..000000000
--- a/home/dot_config/cliamp/themes/catppuccin-noir.toml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-# catppuccin-noir — catppuccin mocha on pure OLED black (#000000),
-# with Claude Code accent colors layered on top.
-# Mirrors the exact overrides in dot_config/nvim/lua/plugins.lua
-# and the kitty palette in dot_config/kitty/kitty.conf.
-
-accent    = "#70B8FF"  # blue   — titles, seek bar, selection, interactive
-bright_fg = "#EAECF0"  # text   — primary text, time display
-fg        = "#818898"  # overlay1 — muted labels, help bar, inactive
-green     = "#9BE963"  # green  — playing indicator, volume bar, spectrum low
-yellow    = "#f9e2af"  # yellow — spectrum middle
-red       = "#F47B85"  # red    — spectrum high, errors
diff --git a/home/dot_config/fish/conf.d/colors.fish b/home/dot_config/fish/conf.d/colors.fish
index 947522117..a7af207a7 100644
--- a/home/dot_config/fish/conf.d/colors.fish
+++ b/home/dot_config/fish/conf.d/colors.fish
@@ -1,63 +1,28 @@
-# Color Palette (Claude-inspired, mapped from catppuccin mocha nvim overrides)
-set -l normal eaecf0
-set -l command 70b8ff
-set -l param 9be963
-set -l keyword f47b85
-set -l quote 9be963
-#set -l redirection f5c2e7 # catppuccin pink — no nvim override
-set -l end fbad60
-set -l comment 818898
-set -l error f47b85
-#set -l gray 6c7086 # catppuccin overlay0 — no nvim override
-#set -l selection 313244 # catppuccin surface0 — no nvim override
-#set -l search_match 313244 # catppuccin surface0 — no nvim override
-set -l option 9be963
-#set -l operator f5c2e7 # catppuccin pink — no nvim override
-#set -l escape eba0ac # catppuccin maroon — no nvim override
-#set -l autosuggestion 6c7086 # catppuccin overlay0 — no nvim override
-set -l cancel f47b85
-set -l cwd f9e2af
-set -l user 5eeded
-set -l host 70b8ff
-set -l host_remote 9be963
-#set -l status f38ba8
-#set -l pager_progress 6c7086 # catppuccin overlay0 — no nvim override
-#set -l pager_prefix f5c2e7 # catppuccin pink — no nvim override
-set -l pager_completion eaecf0
-#set -l pager_description 6c7086 # catppuccin overlay0 — no nvim override
-
-# Syntax Highlighting Colors
-set -g fish_color_normal $normal
-set -g fish_color_command $command
-set -g fish_color_param $param
-set -g fish_color_keyword $keyword
-set -g fish_color_quote $quote
-#set -g fish_color_redirection $redirection # no nvim override
-set -g fish_color_end $end
-set -g fish_color_comment $comment
-set -g fish_color_error $error
-#set -g fish_color_gray $gray # no nvim override
-#set -g fish_color_selection --background=$selection # no nvim override
-#set -g fish_color_search_match --background=$search_match # no nvim override
-set -g fish_color_option $option
-#set -g fish_color_operator $operator # no nvim override
-#set -g fish_color_escape $escape # no nvim override
-#set -g fish_color_autosuggestion $autosuggestion # no nvim override
-set -g fish_color_cancel $cancel
-set -g fish_color_cwd $cwd
-set -g fish_color_user $user
-set -g fish_color_host $host
-set -g fish_color_host_remote $host_remote
+# Colours come from the theme fragment ~/.config/theme/colors.fish, rendered by
+# home/theme.nix from home/themes/<name>.nix for whichever theme ~/.config/theme
+# points at (~/.local/bin/theme retargets it). This file only loads it — at
+# startup, and again at the next prompt after the pointer has moved, so running
+# shells follow a `theme` switch too. No universal variables: `set -U` would
+# write fish_variables, which is tracked in this repo.
+#
+# The theme-independent bits stay here.
 set -g fish_color_cwd_root red
 set -g fish_color_history_current --bold
 set -g fish_color_match --background=brblue
 set -g fish_color_valid_path --underline
+set -g fish_pager_color_selected_background -r
 
-set -g fish_color_status f47b85
+function __theme_load --description 'source ~/.config/theme/colors.fish if the pointer moved'
+    set -l target (readlink ~/.config/theme 2>/dev/null)
+    if test -n "$target" -a "$target" != "$__theme_loaded"
+        set -g __theme_loaded $target
+        if test -r ~/.config/theme/colors.fish
+            source ~/.config/theme/colors.fish
+        end
+    end
+end
+__theme_load
 
-# Completion Pager Colors
-#set -g fish_pager_color_progress $pager_progress # no nvim override
-#set -g fish_pager_color_prefix $pager_prefix # no nvim override
-set -g fish_pager_color_completion $pager_completion
-#set -g fish_pager_color_description $pager_description # no nvim override
-set -g fish_pager_color_selected_background -r
+function __theme_on_prompt --on-event fish_prompt
+    __theme_load
+end
diff --git a/home/dot_config/fish/config.fish b/home/dot_config/fish/config.fish
index 86fcedec8..5fa17cde4 100644
--- a/home/dot_config/fish/config.fish
+++ b/home/dot_config/fish/config.fish
@@ -42,36 +42,51 @@ alias l.="eza -a | grep -E \"^\.\""
 alias cd='z'
 # zi command
 
-# Claude Code
-alias cc='claude --dangerously-skip-permissions'
-alias cac='claude --continue --dangerously-skip-permissions'
-# Second Claude account (work). CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR isolates login, history and
-# state in ~/.claude-work; skills/settings are the same dotfiles links (home.nix).
-alias cc2='env CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=$HOME/.claude-work claude --dangerously-skip-permissions'
-alias cac2='env CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=$HOME/.claude-work claude --continue --dangerously-skip-permissions'
+# Claude Code: two seats, one launcher shape (2026-09-22).
+#   cc  / cac   -> ~/.claude       the personal Claude Max login (gmail org)
+#   cc2 / cac2  -> ~/.claude-work  the leger.run Claude Max login
+# CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR isolates login, history and state per seat; skills and
+# settings are the same dotfiles links for both (home.nix). TALLY_SEAT names the
+# seat to hooks and receipts. Claude Code never saves workspace trust for $HOME
+# (docs, security: "trust acceptance is held for the current session only and
+# is not written to disk"), so a seat started in ~ shows "Accessing workspace"
+# on every launch. Both launchers therefore move into the desk envelope when
+# typed from ~; the shell stays there afterwards, which is where the desk
+# session's files belong (~/today/CLAUDE.md section 4).
+set -q CLAUDE_ENVELOPE; or set -gx CLAUDE_ENVELOPE $HOME/today
+function __claude_seat --description 'start one Claude seat outside $HOME'
+    set -l seat $argv[1]
+    set -l config_dir $argv[2]
+    set -l args $argv[3..]
+    if test (pwd) = $HOME
+        if not test -d $CLAUDE_ENVELOPE
+            echo "$seat: \$CLAUDE_ENVELOPE ($CLAUDE_ENVELOPE) does not exist; cd into a project first" >&2
+            return 1
+        end
+        builtin cd $CLAUDE_ENVELOPE
+        echo "($seat: started in $CLAUDE_ENVELOPE, not in ~)" >&2
+    end
+    # A terminal opened from inside a cc2 session already carries
+    # CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR, so `cc` must clear it explicitly or it silently starts
+    # cc2 (measured 2026-09-22). Each seat sets its own value or none.
+    if test -n "$config_dir"
+        env CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=$config_dir TALLY_SEAT=$seat claude --dangerously-skip-permissions $args
+    else
+        env -u CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR TALLY_SEAT=$seat claude --dangerously-skip-permissions $args
+    end
+end
+function cc;   __claude_seat cc  "" $argv; end
+function cac;  __claude_seat cc  "" --continue $argv; end
+function cc2;  __claude_seat cc2 $HOME/.claude-work $argv; end
+function cac2; __claude_seat cc2 $HOME/.claude-work --continue $argv; end
 # Third Claude account (2026-09-05), same rotation: state in ~/.claude-3.
 alias cc3='env CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=$HOME/.claude-3 claude --dangerously-skip-permissions'
 alias cac3='env CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=$HOME/.claude-3 claude --continue --dangerously-skip-permissions'
 
 # ── Music ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-# The library lives on the NAS and is served by Navidrome; cliamp is the client.
-# `cliamp` here is the wrapper function in functions/cliamp.fish, which injects
-# the server and credentials from agenix — so bare cliamp opens straight into
-# the Navidrome browser with no argument needed. Inside the TUI: Shift+N opens
-# Browse (By Album / By Artist / By Artist-Album), Ctrl+F searches, Q quits.
-alias m='cliamp'                                 # open the library browser
-alias music='cliamp'                             # same, spelled out
-alias mshuffle='cliamp --shuffle --auto-play'    # open it with shuffle already on
-
-# Transport control from outside the TUI. cliamp registers MPRIS as
-# org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.cliamp, so -p cliamp addresses it specifically rather
-# than whatever player playerctl happens to enumerate first (Chrome also
-# registers, and would otherwise swallow these).
-alias mp='playerctl -p cliamp play-pause'        # play/pause  (F3 does this too)
-alias mn='playerctl -p cliamp next'              # next track
-alias mb='playerctl -p cliamp previous'          # back a track
-alias mnow='playerctl -p cliamp metadata --format "{{artist}} — {{title}}"'  # what's playing
-
+# The library lives on the NAS and is served by Navidrome (hosts/nas/media.nix).
+# The cliamp TUI client and its m/music/mp/mn/mb/mnow aliases were removed
+# 2026-09-17 (unused).
 alias mscan='navidrome-scan'                     # reindex after a beets pass (--full for tag-only edits)
 
 type -q atuin || exit
diff --git a/home/dot_config/fish/functions/cliamp.fish b/home/dot_config/fish/functions/cliamp.fish
deleted file mode 100644
index 73e988589..000000000
--- a/home/dot_config/fish/functions/cliamp.fish
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,40 +0,0 @@
-function cliamp --wraps cliamp --description "cliamp wired to the NAS Navidrome (credentials from agenix)"
-    # Every variable here is declared at function scope BEFORE the if, then
-    # assigned inside it. fish scopes `set -l` to the enclosing block, so
-    # exporting from within the `if` would drop the values before the final
-    # `command cliamp` ever runs — the provider would silently vanish and cliamp
-    # would fall back to the radio browser.
-    set -l url $NAVIDROME_URL
-    set -l user ""
-    set -l pass ""
-
-    # URL is the coordinator's tailnet name, never localhost or `nas`: Navidrome
-    # runs on the NAS (hosts/nas/media.nix), reached from the coordinator over
-    # the LAN (the 10.77.0.0/30 tether is retired, #264), so the coordinator's
-    # navidrome-relay socket (hosts/coordinator/nas-client.nix) is the sole
-    # front door for every box.
-    test -n "$url"; or set url http://coordinator.tail8dd1.ts.net:4533
-
-    set -l creds /run/agenix/navidrome-credentials
-    if test -r $creds
-        set user (grep '^NAVIDROME_USER=' $creds | string replace 'NAVIDROME_USER=' '')
-        set pass (grep '^NAVIDROME_PASSWORD=' $creds | string replace 'NAVIDROME_PASSWORD=' '')
-    else
-        # Only the coordinator gets the secret (secrets.nix). Anywhere else,
-        # say so instead of opening a silently Navidrome-less browser.
-        echo "cliamp: $creds unreadable — Navidrome disabled, local files only" >&2
-    end
-
-    # config.toml's [navidrome] block interpolates ${NAVIDROME_USER} and
-    # ${NAVIDROME_PASSWORD}, so those two names must match its placeholders
-    # exactly. NAVIDROME_URL/USER/PASS feed navidrome.NewFromEnv(), the
-    # config-less fallback main.go tries second — it needs all three non-empty
-    # or it returns nil. Exporting both sets means cliamp connects whether or
-    # not config.toml is present, and both paths name the same server.
-    set -lx NAVIDROME_URL $url
-    set -lx NAVIDROME_USER $user
-    set -lx NAVIDROME_PASSWORD $pass
-    set -lx NAVIDROME_PASS $pass
-
-    command cliamp $argv
-end
diff --git a/home/dot_config/fish/functions/navidrome-scan.fish b/home/dot_config/fish/functions/navidrome-scan.fish
index 5ffe7cadc..ae2b5b5d5 100644
--- a/home/dot_config/fish/functions/navidrome-scan.fish
+++ b/home/dot_config/fish/functions/navidrome-scan.fish
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ function navidrome-scan --description "Trigger a Navidrome library rescan and wa
 
     set -l url $NAVIDROME_URL
     test -n "$url"; or set url http://coordinator.tail8dd1.ts.net:4533
-    set -l auth "u=$user&p=$pass&v=1.16.1&c=cliamp&f=json"
+    set -l auth "u=$user&p=$pass&v=1.16.1&c=navidrome-scan&f=json"
 
     # First contact wakes the relay and the sleeping NAS service; the HDD may
     # also have to spin up, so allow a generous timeout here.
diff --git a/home/dot_config/ghostty/config.ghostty b/home/dot_config/ghostty/config.ghostty
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bbca8b32f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/home/dot_config/ghostty/config.ghostty
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+# ghostty — kitty.conf's twin (2026-09-17).
+#
+# The only Ghostty on the fleet today is libghostty inside cmux Browser's
+# terminal panes (cmux-tui; ~/.local/opt/cmux-browser-nightly, not packaged yet).
+# Its settings page's "Use Ghostty config" reads THIS file,
+# $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ghostty/config.ghostty. Every value below mirrors kitty.conf
+# key for key, so a cmux pane looks like a kitty window — a kitty change
+# belongs here too. Where Ghostty has no equivalent, the kitty key is named
+# and the gap stated. The colours are NOT here: they join through the theme
+# fragment at the bottom, like kitty's `include ${HOME}/.config/theme/kitty.conf`.
+
+# shell fish — kitty.conf says why: the login shell is bash fleet-wide (#236),
+# fish stays the terminal UI.
+command = fish
+shell-integration = fish
+
+# Font — kitty's EXPLICIT families (2026-08-21): Liga SFMono Nerd Font, bold is
+# SemiBold on purpose (the weight the fontconfig fallback actually served).
+# Ghostty takes family + style, where kitty takes the full face name.
+font-family = Liga SFMono Nerd Font
+font-family-bold = Liga SFMono Nerd Font
+font-style-bold = SemiBold
+font-family-italic = Liga SFMono Nerd Font
+font-style-italic = Italic
+font-family-bold-italic = Liga SFMono Nerd Font
+font-style-bold-italic = SemiBold Italic
+# font_size 16.0 (2026-09-16): 14 + one legacy ctrl+= press.
+font-size = 16
+# disable_ligatures never: ligatures are Ghostty's default, nothing to set.
+
+# Cursor: cursor_blink_interval 0. kitty's cursor_trail has no Ghostty
+# equivalent (cursor_trail_color in the fragment is kitty-only).
+cursor-style = block
+cursor-style-blink = false
+
+# window_padding_width 10
+window-padding-x = 10
+window-padding-y = 10
+
+# detect_urls yes / open_url_with default (xdg-open here too).
+# underline_hyperlinks always: Ghostty underlines a link on hover only.
+link-url = true
+# confirm_os_window_close 0
+confirm-close-surface = false
+# scrollback_lines 100000 — Ghostty caps scrollback in BYTES per surface
+# (lazily allocated, compressed when idle): 100 MB ≈ 100k lines of 1 KB.
+scrollback-limit = 100000000
+# enable_audio_bell no — Ghostty's default rings the system bell; cmux may
+# still flag the surface (attention/title), never sound.
+bell-features = no-system,no-audio
+# copy_on_select clipboard
+copy-on-select = clipboard
+# THE THIN-CLIENT CLIPBOARD CONTRACT (kitty.conf, 2026-09-11), the OSC 52
+# half: a remote program may WRITE this seat's clipboard (write-clipboard) and
+# a remote READ prompts (read-clipboard-ask). `clipboard-read = allow` would
+# let anything the coordinator runs exfiltrate the clipboard silently, so it
+# must never be set.
+clipboard-write = allow
+clipboard-read = ask
+
+# map ctrl+equal / ctrl+minus — kitty's legacy increase_font_size step is a
+# fixed +2.0pt (0.48.0 boss.py); Ghostty's default step is 1, so pass the amount.
+keybind = ctrl+equal=increase_font_size:2
+keybind = ctrl+minus=decrease_font_size:2
+# kitty_mod+h / kitty_mod+g (kitty-scrollback.nvim) and enabled_layouts splits
+# have no Ghostty side: cmux owns splits, tabs and the scrollback viewer.
+
+# Frosted terminal (2026-09-16): background_opacity 0.96. The compositor blur
+# rides on the kitty app-ids in niri's window-rules.kdl; cmux is a different
+# app-id, so its panes are translucent without the frost until a rule lands.
+background-opacity = 0.96
+# kitty does not dim inactive splits; Ghostty's default is 0.7.
+unfocused-split-opacity = 1
+
+# Colours: the theme fragment home/theme.nix renders from home/themes/*.nix
+# under ~/.config/themes/<name>/ghostty, joined through the ~/.config/theme
+# pointer that ~/.local/bin/theme retargets. Ghostty resolves a relative
+# config-file against the directory of THIS file — which is a symlink into the
+# checkout — so the path is absolute; $HOME is /home/tom on every host
+# (home.homeDirectory). `?` = no error while the fragment is not rendered yet.
+# A config-file loads AFTER the file that names it, so the fragment wins.
+# No live reload: cmux reads the config when it opens a surface.
+config-file = ?/home/tom/.config/theme/ghostty
diff --git a/home/dot_config/herdr/config.toml b/home/dot_config/herdr/config.toml
index d5a97ec7e..1c589c1c9 100644
--- a/home/dot_config/herdr/config.toml
+++ b/home/dot_config/herdr/config.toml
@@ -25,6 +25,20 @@ onboarding = false
 # default prefix can't silently move every binding under it.
 prefix = "ctrl+b"
 
+[theme]
+# "terminal" (2026-09-17): every token is an ANSI slot or Reset
+# (src/app/state.rs Palette::terminal), so kitty paints herdr — chrome AND every
+# pane — in whatever theme ~/.local/bin/theme has selected, and re-paints it
+# live: herdr enables DEC mode 2031 on the host (src/terminal_theme.rs), kitty
+# reports a changed default background as CSI ?997;n on reload, and herdr
+# answers with a full OSC 10/11/4 re-query. Nothing here ever changes again for
+# a theme switch. Before this there was no [theme] section at all, i.e. herdr's
+# default catppuccin — not noir. Do NOT pick a theme from herdr's in-app
+# settings overlay: it upserts `name` and `auto_switch = false` into THIS
+# tracked file (src/config/write.rs). auto_switch stays off — it only chooses
+# between two built-in names and ignores `name` while on.
+name = "terminal"
+
 [terminal]
 # fish is the terminal UI here; bash is only the LOGIN shell (#236). herdr's
 # default for this key is empty, which means "$SHELL, then /bin/sh" — and the
diff --git a/home/dot_config/kitty/kitty.conf b/home/dot_config/kitty/kitty.conf
index bf6a52741..5ec24c5f7 100644
--- a/home/dot_config/kitty/kitty.conf
+++ b/home/dot_config/kitty/kitty.conf
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ cursor_blink_interval 0
 cursor_trail 1
 cursor_trail_decay 0.15 0.4
 cursor_trail_start_threshold 3
-cursor_trail_color #70B8FF
+# cursor_trail_color comes from the theme fragment (include below).
 
 # Padding around the text area
 window_padding_width 10
@@ -197,74 +197,20 @@ mouse_map ctrl+shift+right press ungrabbed combine : mouse_select_command_output
 #map ctrl+shift+backspace restore_font_size
 #map ctrl+shift+f11      toggle_fullscreen
 #
-# Claude palette on OLED black
-# The basic colors
-background #000000
-foreground #EAECF0
-# Selection blue matches Claude Code's internal renderer selection highlight
-# (sampled #264F78 from its TUI — also VS Code's default editor.selectionBackground).
-selection_background #264F78
-selection_foreground #EAECF0
-cursor_text_color #000000
-url_color #70B8FF
-
-# black
-color0 #000000
-color8 #818898
-
-# red
-color1 #F47B85
-color9 #F47B85
-
-# green
-color2  #9BE963
-color10 #9BE963
-
-# yellow
-color3  #f9e2af
-color11 #f9e2af
-
-# blue
-color4  #70B8FF
-color12 #70B8FF
-
-# magenta
-color5  #CC7BF4
-color13 #CC7BF4
-
-# cyan
-color6  #5EEDED
-color14 #5EEDED
-
-# white
-color7  #D3D7DE
-color15 #EAECF0
-
-# cursor
-cursor #EAECF0
-
-# tabs
-active_tab_background #000000
-active_tab_foreground #EAECF0
-inactive_tab_background #000000
-inactive_tab_foreground #818898
-tab_bar_background #000000
+# Colours (2026-09-17): every colour key lives in the theme fragment
+# ~/.config/theme/kitty.conf — the symlink ~/.local/bin/theme retargets between
+# the themes home/theme.nix renders under ~/.config/themes/ (palettes in
+# home/themes/*.nix: noir = the Claude palette on OLED black, claude-dark,
+# claude-light). kitty expands env vars in include paths; the symlink flip
+# fires no watcher event, so `theme` also calls `kitten @ load-config` on every
+# instance. The tab bar edge stays here: it is layout, not colour.
+include ${HOME}/.config/theme/kitty.conf
 tab_bar_edge top
 
-# marks
-mark1_foreground #000000
-mark1_background #CC7BF4
-
-# splits/windows
-# Split divider: match niri's INACTIVE window border (#373735, layout.kdl:30)
-# instead of the pink focus accent, so a kitty split reads as a quiet
-# niri-native divider rather than a loud highlight (Tom 2026-07-15).
-active_border_color #373735
-inactive_border_color #000000
-
-# Opaque, always (Tom 2026-09-11): the seat is the Zenbook's OLED, and a
-# true-black terminal on a true-black backdrop is the point. No blur rule in
-# niri, no wallpaper behind it, and dynamic_ stays off so nothing can dial the
-# opacity back at runtime.
-background_opacity 1.0
-dynamic_background_opacity no
+# Frosted terminal (Tom 2026-09-16): a slightly translucent background pairs
+# with the niri blur rule for the kitty app-ids (window-rules.kdl), so the
+# compositor frosts the Imagine olive wallpaper behind it — frosted glass, not
+# transparency; text stays opaque. dynamic_ allows live
+# `kitty @ set-background-opacity`. Was 1.0 / no from 2026-09-11 (OLED black).
+background_opacity 0.96
+dynamic_background_opacity yes
diff --git a/home/dot_config/niri/binds.kdl b/home/dot_config/niri/binds.kdl
index 954584c2d..329ace992 100644
--- a/home/dot_config/niri/binds.kdl
+++ b/home/dot_config/niri/binds.kdl
@@ -69,6 +69,11 @@ binds {
     // scroll: bindsym $mod+E exec thunar
     Mod+E hotkey-overlay-title="File Manager" { spawn "nautilus"; }
 
+    // Cycle noir -> claude-dark -> claude-light (~/.local/bin/theme, 2026-09-17):
+    // one symlink flip plus live reloads of kitty, niri and nvim; herdr and
+    // fish follow on their own. Mod+T is still free.
+    Mod+Shift+T hotkey-overlay-title="Theme (cycle)" { spawn-sh "~/.local/bin/theme toggle"; }
+
     // scroll: bindsym Ctrl+N exec flatpak run com.google.Chrome
     // scroll: bindsym Ctrl+Shift+N exec flatpak run com.google.Chrome --incognito
     // Chrome is installed from nixpkgs; invoke its stable binary directly.
@@ -131,6 +136,11 @@ binds {
     // F1 opens the Alexa wake listener menu. F1/F2 no
     // longer carry brightness; the Duo keyboard's XF86MonBrightness keys do.
     F1 repeat=false hotkey-overlay-title="Alexa Wake On/Off" { spawn-sh "kitty --class wake-prompt -e ~/.local/bin/wake-toggle menu"; }
+    // F2 (2026-09-17): pick the theme — noir / claude-dark / claude-light.
+    // Shift+F2: pick the colour accent — one of the seven claude.ai/imagine
+    // grounds, as wallpaper AND matching folder colour (bin/wallpaper).
+    F2 repeat=false hotkey-overlay-title="Theme" { spawn-sh "kitty --class theme-prompt -e ~/.local/bin/theme-prompt theme"; }
+    Shift+F2 repeat=false hotkey-overlay-title="Accent (wallpaper + folders)" { spawn-sh "kitty --class theme-prompt -e ~/.local/bin/theme-prompt accent"; }
     F3 hotkey-overlay-title="Play/Pause" { spawn-sh "~/.local/bin/media play"; }
     F4 hotkey-overlay-title="Previous" { spawn-sh "~/.local/bin/media prev"; }
     F5 hotkey-overlay-title="Next" { spawn-sh "~/.local/bin/media next"; }
@@ -159,9 +169,8 @@ binds {
     // [scratchpads.music]; daemon: home/piri.nix). Mod+M toggles it: first press
     // (nothing captured) spawns the SoundCloud PWA pinned to the right, later
     // presses show/hide. Mod+Shift+M captures whatever window is focused INTO the
-    // music pane — the "mark this as my music window" move, for the coming
-    // cliamp-in-kitty setup (focus the cliamp window, Mod+Shift+M, then Mod+M
-    // toggles it thereafter).
+    // music pane — the "mark this as my music window" move (focus it,
+    // Mod+Shift+M, then Mod+M toggles it thereafter).
     Mod+M hotkey-overlay-title="Music (toggle)" { spawn "piri" "scratchpads" "music" "toggle"; }
     Mod+Shift+M hotkey-overlay-title="Music (capture focused)" { spawn "piri" "scratchpads" "music" "add" "fromRight"; }
     // SUPERSEDED by the music scratchpad above (Mod+M was YouTube-Music-focus).
diff --git a/home/dot_config/niri/config.kdl b/home/dot_config/niri/config.kdl
index d10a22af4..44ab7a7ee 100644
--- a/home/dot_config/niri/config.kdl
+++ b/home/dot_config/niri/config.kdl
@@ -35,15 +35,26 @@ include "window-rules.kdl"
 include "misc.kdl"
 include "startup.kdl"
 
-// Shared local overrides. Keep this include mandatory: the pinned niri 26.04 does
-// not know `optional=true`, and local.kdl is always deployed with this directory.
+// Shared local overrides. local.kdl is always deployed with this directory, so
+// the include stays mandatory. (Earlier comments here claimed the pinned niri
+// 26.04 knows neither `optional=true` nor `~` in include paths; both work —
+// verified with `niri validate` 2026-09-17. The "error parsing KDL" people hit
+// is what a MISSING non-optional include reports.)
 include "local.kdl"
 
 // Per-HOST niri config, generated by home.nix (xdg.configFile."niri-local.kdl").
 // Absolute path: this file lives OUTSIDE the whole-dir out-of-store symlink so it
-// can differ per host; niri include does NOT expand ~ or $HOME, and `optional` is
-// unavailable on the pinned niri, so home.nix writes it on EVERY host. It is
-// inert on every host but the client (2026-09-11), whose touch mapping and
-// chord overrides live there; see home/home.nix. The slot stays because it is
-// the only real per-host niri hook. See dotfiles#67.
+// can differ per host; home.nix writes it on EVERY host. It is inert on every
+// host but the client (2026-09-11), whose touch mapping and chord overrides
+// live there; see home/home.nix. The slot stays because it is the only real
+// per-host niri hook. See dotfiles#67.
 include "/home/tom/.config/niri-local.kdl"
+
+// Theme colours, LAST so they merge over layout.kdl / misc.kdl (niri merges
+// sections across includes, later wins per property). ~/.config/theme is the
+// symlink ~/.local/bin/theme retargets between the themes home/theme.nix
+// renders (home/themes/*.nix). `optional`: a checkout pulled ahead of its
+// switch must not take niri down — without the fragment niri falls back to
+// its own default colours, nothing worse. A symlink retarget fires no watcher
+// event, so `theme` also runs `niri msg action load-config-file`.
+include optional=true "~/.config/theme/niri.kdl"
diff --git a/home/dot_config/niri/layout.kdl b/home/dot_config/niri/layout.kdl
index 59ac88439..3561c97b0 100644
--- a/home/dot_config/niri/layout.kdl
+++ b/home/dot_config/niri/layout.kdl
@@ -21,12 +21,11 @@ layout {
     }
 
     // scroll: default_border pixel 1
+    // Colours (active/inactive/urgent) come from the theme fragment included
+    // last in config.kdl (~/.config/theme/niri.kdl); geometry lives here.
     border {
         on
         width 1
-        active-color "#555451"
-        inactive-color "#373735"
-        urgent-color "#F47B85"
     }
 
     center-focused-column "on-overflow"
@@ -54,17 +53,7 @@ layout {
     // scroll: layout_default_height 1.0
     // ^ NO NIRI EQUIVALENT
 
-    tab-indicator {
-        active-color "#CC7BF4"
-        inactive-color "#818898"
-        urgent-color "#F47B85"
-    }
-
-    insert-hint {
-        color "#CC7BF480"
-    }
-
-    background-color "#000000"
+    // tab-indicator, insert-hint and background-color: theme fragment.
 
     struts {}
 
diff --git a/home/dot_config/niri/misc.kdl b/home/dot_config/niri/misc.kdl
index da6a57640..a685d408f 100644
--- a/home/dot_config/niri/misc.kdl
+++ b/home/dot_config/niri/misc.kdl
@@ -90,9 +90,7 @@ cursor {
 // scroll: exec hash dbus-update-activation-environment 2>/dev/null && \
 // scroll:         dbus-update-activation-environment --systemd DISPLAY WAYLAND_DISPLAY SWAYSOCK XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=sway
 // ^ DELETE: niri-session handles env export and D-Bus activation natively
-overview {
-    backdrop-color "#000000"
-}
+// overview { backdrop-color } is set by the theme fragment (see config.kdl).
 
 gestures {
     hot-corners {
diff --git a/home/dot_config/niri/piri.toml b/home/dot_config/niri/piri.toml
index 0b1ae750e..18aa70859 100644
--- a/home/dot_config/niri/piri.toml
+++ b/home/dot_config/niri/piri.toml
@@ -25,10 +25,9 @@ default_margin = 0
 # "music" — the right-side music pane (Mod+M toggles it; see binds.kdl).
 # First toggle with no captured window spawns `command` and pins it to the
 # right; subsequent toggles show/hide it. Today that's the SoundCloud PWA
-# (app_id confirmed live: chrome-soundcloud.com__-Default). Later this becomes a
-# cliamp-in-kitty pane — swap `command`/`app_id` here (hot-reloads), or capture
-# any focused window into it at runtime with `piri scratchpads music add
-# fromRight` (bound to Mod+Shift+M).
+# (app_id confirmed live: chrome-soundcloud.com__-Default). Swap `command`/`app_id`
+# here (hot-reloads), or capture any focused window into it at runtime with
+# `piri scratchpads music add fromRight` (bound to Mod+Shift+M).
 [scratchpads.music]
 direction = "fromRight"
 command = "google-chrome-stable --app=https://soundcloud.com"
diff --git a/home/dot_config/niri/startup.kdl b/home/dot_config/niri/startup.kdl
index 2c27724de..51088297c 100644
--- a/home/dot_config/niri/startup.kdl
+++ b/home/dot_config/niri/startup.kdl
@@ -16,32 +16,30 @@ spawn-at-startup "sh" "-c" "sleep 0.5 && kanshi"
 // boot. Mod+D is ~/.local/bin/launcher now — an fzf script in a floating kitty,
 // with no daemon to start.
 
-// No wallpaper daemon (Tom 2026-09-11): the backdrop is layout.kdl's
-// background-color #000000, which the Zenbook's OLED renders as panel-off
-// black. ~/.local/bin/wallpaper still exists for a one-off swaybg, and nothing
-// restarts one at login.
+// Wallpaper (Tom 2026-09-16): the claude.ai/imagine "olive" ribbons, rendered
+// at 5120x2880 for the PA27JCV from the recovered source SVG (~/colors/waves).
+// ~/.local/bin/wallpaper starts swaybg with that file as its default; run it
+// with a path to swap the image at runtime. layout.kdl's background-color
+// #000000 stays as the fallback under it.
+spawn-at-startup "wallpaper"
 
 
 // ── gsettings ────────────────────────────────────────────────
 // scroll: exec_always {
 // scroll:         gsettings set $gnome-schema cursor-theme 'Bibata-Modern-Classic'
 spawn-at-startup "gsettings" "set" "org.gnome.desktop.interface" "cursor-theme" "Bibata-Modern-Classic"
-// scroll:         gsettings set $gnome-schema color-scheme 'prefer-dark'
-spawn-at-startup "gsettings" "set" "org.gnome.desktop.interface" "color-scheme" "prefer-dark"
 // scroll:         gsettings set $gnome-schema cursor-size '48'
 spawn-at-startup "gsettings" "set" "org.gnome.desktop.interface" "cursor-size" "48"
 // scroll:         gsettings set $gnome-schema text-scaling-factor '1.0'
 spawn-at-startup "gsettings" "set" "org.gnome.desktop.interface" "text-scaling-factor" "1.0"
-// scroll:         gsettings set $gnome-schema gtk-theme 'Catppuccin-Noir-Standard-Green-Dark'
-// ^ scroll-era catppuccin dropped 2026-07-04 — MacTahoe OLED end-to-end, matching home.nix gtk.theme
-spawn-at-startup "gsettings" "set" "org.gnome.desktop.interface" "gtk-theme" "MacTahoe-Dark-grey"
-// scroll:         gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface.wm.preferences theme 'Catppuccin-Noir-Standard-Green-Dark'
-// ^ corrected schema: org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences (not .interface.wm.preferences)
-spawn-at-startup "gsettings" "set" "org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences" "theme" "MacTahoe-Dark-grey"
 // scroll:         gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences button-layout ""
 spawn-at-startup "gsettings" "set" "org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences" "button-layout" ""
-// scroll:         #gsettings set $gnome-schema icon-theme 'Your icon theme'
-spawn-at-startup "gsettings" "set" "org.gnome.desktop.interface" "icon-theme" "MacTahoe-dark"
+// gtk-theme, wm theme, icon-theme and color-scheme (2026-09-17): set by
+// `theme apply` from the selected theme + wallpaper accent, idempotently, so a
+// login re-asserts whatever ~/.config/theme points at. (The four gsettings
+// lines that were here had been failing silently — no gsettings on the session
+// PATH; GTK_THEME did the theming. Both fixed in modules/common.nix.)
+spawn-at-startup "theme" "apply"
 // scroll: }
 // ^ note: exec_always re-ran on reload. spawn-at-startup runs once. gsettings persist, so fine.
 
diff --git a/home/dot_config/niri/window-rules.kdl b/home/dot_config/niri/window-rules.kdl
index 2d88522de..874bd4ff6 100644
--- a/home/dot_config/niri/window-rules.kdl
+++ b/home/dot_config/niri/window-rules.kdl
@@ -40,6 +40,20 @@ window-rule {
     }
 }
 
+// F2 theme picker / Shift+F2 accent picker: the same compact floating prompt.
+window-rule {
+    match app-id="theme-prompt"
+    open-floating true
+    open-focused true
+    default-column-width { fixed 640; }
+    default-window-height { fixed 300; }
+    border {
+        width 2
+        active-color "#DA7756"
+        inactive-color "#DA7756"
+    }
+}
+
 // F1 Alexa wake picker: the same compact floating prompt as F9/F10.
 window-rule {
     match app-id="wake-prompt"
@@ -157,6 +171,22 @@ window-rule {
     default-column-width {}
 }
 
+// Frosted kitty (Tom 2026-09-16, restored for the Imagine olive wallpaper):
+// kitty's background_opacity (0.96, kitty.conf) makes only the terminal bg
+// translucent; this niri-side blur frosts the wallpaper behind it so the
+// window reads as frosted glass, not see-through, and text stays crisp.
+// One rule for every kitty-derived app-id: the plain terminal, the herdr
+// projector (`kitty --class herdr-projector`), and the fzf *-prompt popups —
+// kitty.conf's opacity applies to all of them, so all of them get the blur.
+// Deleted 2026-09-11 for the Zenbook's true-black OLED; back now that the
+// coordinator has a wallpaper again.
+window-rule {
+    match app-id=r#"^(kitty|herdr-projector|[a-z-]+-prompt)$"#
+    background-effect {
+        blur true
+    }
+}
+
 // Frosted Nautilus: MacTahoe's "normal" (non -solid) gtk-4.0 variant already
 // ships semi-transparent headerbar/sidebar surfaces meant for compositor blur
 // behind them (home.nix links MacTahoe-Dark-grey's gtk-4.0 CSS) — this rule
diff --git a/home/dot_config/nvim/lua/plugins.lua b/home/dot_config/nvim/lua/plugins.lua
deleted file mode 100644
index d4e7f78de..000000000
--- a/home/dot_config/nvim/lua/plugins.lua
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,398 +0,0 @@
-local fn = vim.fn
-local opt = vim.opt
-local g = vim.g
-
-local lazypath = fn.stdpath("data") .. "/lazy/lazy.nvim"
-if not vim.uv.fs_stat(lazypath) then
-  fn.system({
-    "git",
-    "clone",
-    "--filter=blob:none",
-    "https://github.com/folke/lazy.nvim.git",
-    "--branch=stable", -- latest stable release
-    lazypath,
-  })
-end
-
-opt.rtp:prepend(lazypath)
-
-g.mapleader = " "
-
-require("lazy").setup({
-  {
-    'mikesmithgh/kitty-scrollback.nvim',
-    enabled = true,
-    lazy = true,
-    cmd = { 'KittyScrollbackGenerateKittens', 'KittyScrollbackCheckHealth' },
-    event = { 'User KittyScrollbackLaunch' },
-    -- version = '*', -- latest stable version, may have breaking changes if major version changed
-    -- version = '^5.0.0', -- pin major version, include fixes and features that do not have breaking changes
-    config = function()
-      require('kitty-scrollback').setup()
-    end,
-  },
-  {
-    'tpope/vim-repeat', -- Required for leap.nvim dot-repeats
-  },
-  {
-    url = 'https://codeberg.org/andyg/leap.nvim',
-    config = function()
-      vim.keymap.set({'n', 'x', 'o'}, 's',  '<Plug>(leap-forward)')
-      vim.keymap.set({'n', 'x', 'o'}, 'S',  '<Plug>(leap-backward)')
-      vim.keymap.set({'n', 'x', 'o'}, 'gs', '<Plug>(leap-from-window)')
-    end
-  },
-  {
-    'catgoose/nvim-colorizer.lua',
-    config = function()
-      require('colorizer').setup()
-    end
-  },
-  {
-    "lukas-reineke/indent-blankline.nvim",
-    main = "ibl",
-    opts = {},
-    config = function()
-      require('plugins.indent_blankline')
-    end
-  },
-  {
-    'nvim-treesitter/nvim-treesitter',
-    lazy = false,
-    build = ':TSUpdate',
-    config = function()
-      require('nvim-treesitter').install({ 'markdown', 'markdown_inline' })
-      vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd('FileType', {
-        pattern = { 'markdown_inline' },
-        callback = function() vim.treesitter.start() end,
-      })
-    end
-  },
-  {
-    'nvim-tree/nvim-tree.lua',
-    config = function()
-      require('plugins.nvim-tree')
-    end
-  },
-  {
-    'lewis6991/gitsigns.nvim',
-    dependencies = { 'nvim-lua/plenary.nvim' },
-    config = function()
-      require('plugins.gitsigns')
-    end
-  },
-  {
-    'nvim-telescope/telescope.nvim',
-    dependencies = { 'nvim-lua/plenary.nvim' },
-    config = function()
-      require('plugins.telescope')
-    end
-  },
-  {
-    'akinsho/bufferline.nvim',
-    config = function()
-      require('bufferline').setup({
-        options = {
-          hover = {
-            enabled = true,
-            delay = 200,
-            reveal = {'close'}
-          }
-        },
-        highlights = {
-          fill = {
-            bg = "#000000"
-          },
-          background = {
-            bg = "#000000"
-          }
-        }
-      })
-    end
-  },
-  {
-   'catppuccin/nvim',
-   name = 'catppuccin',
-   config = function()
-     require('catppuccin').setup({
-       flavour = "mocha",
-       transparent_background = true,
-       color_overrides = {
-         mocha = {
-           base = "#000000",
-           mantle = "#000000",
-           crust = "#000000",
-           text = "#EAECF0",
-           subtext1 = "#D3D7DE",
-           overlay1 = "#818898",
-           red = "#F47B85",
-           green = "#9BE963",
-           blue = "#70B8FF",
-           mauve = "#CC7BF4",
-           peach = "#FBAD60",
-           teal = "#5EEDED",
-         },
-       },
-       custom_highlights = function(colors)
-         local U = require("catppuccin.utils.colors")
-         local bg_amount = 0.095
-         local rainbow = {
-           colors.blue,   -- rainbow1 (H1)
-           colors.peach,  -- rainbow2 (H2)
-           colors.green,  -- rainbow3 (H3)
-           colors.teal,   -- rainbow4 (H4)
-           colors.yellow, -- rainbow5 (H5)
-           colors.mauve,  -- rainbow6 (H6)
-         }
-         local highlights = {}
-         for i, color in ipairs(rainbow) do
-           highlights["rainbow" .. i] = { fg = color }
-           highlights["RenderMarkdownH" .. i] = { fg = color, bold = true }
-           highlights["RenderMarkdownH" .. i .. "Bg"] = { bg = U.darken(color, bg_amount, colors.base) }
-         end
-         highlights["RenderMarkdownCode"] = { bg = U.darken(colors.text, 0.05, colors.base) }
-         highlights["RenderMarkdownCodeInline"] = { fg = colors.peach }
-         highlights["RenderMarkdownBullet"] = { fg = colors.blue }
-         highlights["RenderMarkdownDash"] = { fg = colors.overlay1 }
-         highlights["RenderMarkdownQuote"] = { fg = colors.overlay1 }
-         highlights["RenderMarkdownLink"] = { fg = colors.blue }
-         highlights["RenderMarkdownChecked"] = { fg = colors.green }
-         highlights["RenderMarkdownUnchecked"] = { fg = colors.overlay1 }
-         highlights["RenderMarkdownTableHead"] = { fg = colors.blue }
-         highlights["RenderMarkdownTableRow"] = { fg = colors.subtext1 }
-         return highlights
-       end,
-       integrations = {
-         render_markdown = true,
-       },
-     })
-     vim.cmd.colorscheme "catppuccin"
-   end
-  },
-  {
-    'windwp/nvim-autopairs',
-    config = function()
-      require('nvim-autopairs').setup()
-    end
-  },
-  {
-    "folke/twilight.nvim",
-    config = function()
-      require("twilight").setup()
-    end
-  },
-  {
-    "folke/zen-mode.nvim",
-    config = function()
-      require("zen-mode").setup({
-        window = {
-          width = 90,
-          options = {
-            signcolumn = "no",
-            number = false,
-            relativenumber = false,
-            cursorline = false,
-          },
-        },
-        plugins = {
-          twilight = { enabled = true },  -- auto-enable twilight in zen
-          kitty = {
-            enabled = true,
-            font = "+2",  -- bump kitty font by 2pt in zen mode
-          },
-          gitsigns = { enabled = false },  -- hide git signs in zen
-        },
-      })
-    end
-  },
-  {
-    'MeanderingProgrammer/render-markdown.nvim',
-    dependencies = { 
-      'nvim-treesitter/nvim-treesitter',
-      'nvim-tree/nvim-web-devicons'
-    },
-    ft = {'markdown'},
-    opts = {
-      file_types = { 'markdown' },
-    }
-  },
-  -- Git integration stack (ordered by dependency)
-  {
-    "sindrets/diffview.nvim",
-    dependencies = { 
-      "nvim-lua/plenary.nvim",
-      "nvim-tree/nvim-web-devicons",
-    },
-    cmd = { "DiffviewOpen", "DiffviewClose", "DiffviewToggleFiles", "DiffviewFocusFiles" },
-    config = function()
-      require("diffview").setup({
-        default_args = {
-          DiffviewOpen = { '--imply-local' },
-        },
-        keymaps = {
-          view = {
-            { 'n', 'q', '<cmd>DiffviewClose<cr>', { desc = 'Close diffview' } },
-          },
-          file_panel = {
-            { 'n', 'q', '<cmd>DiffviewClose<cr>', { desc = 'Close diffview' } },
-          },
-          file_history_panel = {
-            { 'n', 'q', '<cmd>DiffviewClose<cr>', { desc = 'Close diffview' } },
-          },
-        },
-      })
-      vim.opt.fillchars:append { diff = "╱" }
-      vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd('User', {
-        pattern = 'DiffviewViewLeave',
-        callback = function()
-          vim.cmd ':DiffviewClose'
-        end,
-      })
-    end
-  },
-  {
-    "NeogitOrg/neogit",
-    dependencies = {
-      "nvim-lua/plenary.nvim",
-      "sindrets/diffview.nvim",
-      "nvim-telescope/telescope.nvim",
-    },
-    cmd = "Neogit",
-    config = function()
-      require('plugins.neogit')
-    end
-  },
-  {
-    "pwntester/octo.nvim",
-    dependencies = {
-      "nvim-lua/plenary.nvim",
-      "nvim-telescope/telescope.nvim",
-      "nvim-tree/nvim-web-devicons",
-    },
-    cmd = "Octo",
-    config = function()
-      require("octo").setup()
-      vim.treesitter.language.register('markdown', 'octo')
-    end
-  },
-  {
-    "HakonHarnes/img-clip.nvim",
-    event = "BufEnter",
-    opts = {
-      default = {
-        -- Save images relative to the current markdown file
-        relative_to_current_file = true,
-        -- Create an 'images' directory next to the markdown file
-        dir_path = function()
-          -- Gets the directory of the current file
-          local file_dir = vim.fn.expand('%:p:h')
-          local images_dir = file_dir .. '/images'
-          -- Create the images directory if it doesn't exist
-          vim.fn.mkdir(images_dir, 'p')
-          return 'images'  -- Return relative path
-        end,
-        extension = "png",
-        prompt_for_file_name = true,
-      },
-      filetypes = {
-        markdown = {
-          url_encode_path = true,
-          template = "![$CURSOR]($FILE_PATH)",
-          download_images = true,  -- Enable downloading images from URLs
-        },
-      },
-    }
-  },
-  {
-    "3rd/image.nvim",
-    build = false,
-    opts = {
-        backend = "kitty",
-        processor = "magick_cli",
-        integrations = {
-            markdown = {
-                enabled = true,
-                clear_in_insert_mode = false,
-                download_remote_images = true,
-                only_render_image_at_cursor = false,
-            }
-        },
-        -- max_height_window_percentage = 80,  -- uncomment to set max height to 80% of window
-        editor_only_render_when_focused = false, 
-        window_overlap_clear_enabled = false,
-        hijack_file_patterns = { "*.png", "*.jpg", "*.jpeg", "*.gif", "*.webp", "*.avif" }, 
-    },
-  },
-  {
-    "karb94/neoscroll.nvim",
-    event = "BufRead",
-    config = function()
-      require('plugins.neoscroll')
-    end
-  },
-  {
-    'nvim-lualine/lualine.nvim',
-    dependencies = { 'nvim-tree/nvim-web-devicons', 'catppuccin/nvim' },
-    config = function()
-      require('plugins.lualine').setup()
-    end,
-    event = 'VeryLazy',
-  },
-
-  -- ===== NEW PLUGINS ADDED BELOW =====
-  
-  -- IMPROVED: pipeline.nvim - CI/CD pipeline viewer (using yq instead of make)
-  {
-    "topaxi/pipeline.nvim",
-    keys = {
-      { "<leader>ci", "<cmd>Pipeline<cr>", desc = "Open pipeline.nvim" },
-    },
-    -- Removed build step since yq is already installed
-    opts = {
-      -- You can customize pipeline.nvim options here if needed
-      -- For example:
-      -- refresh_interval = 30,
-      -- browser = "firefox",
-    },
-  },
-
-  -- NEW: diagram.nvim - Live diagram rendering (mermaid, plantuml, d2, gnuplot)
-  {
-    "3rd/diagram.nvim",
-    dependencies = { "3rd/image.nvim" },  -- Already have image.nvim above
-    opts = {
-      events = {
-        render_buffer = { "InsertLeave", "BufWinEnter", "TextChanged" },
-        clear_buffer = { "BufLeave" },
-      },
-      renderer_options = {
-        mermaid = { theme = "default", scale = 1 },
-        plantuml = { charset = "utf-8" },
-        d2 = {},
-        gnuplot = {},
-      },
-    },
-  },
-
-  -- NEW: Mason + marksman LSP
-  {
-    "williamboman/mason.nvim",
-    dependencies = {
-      "williamboman/mason-lspconfig.nvim",
-      "neovim/nvim-lspconfig",
-    },
-    ft = { "markdown", "md" },
-    config = function()
-      require("mason").setup()
-      require("mason-lspconfig").setup({
-        ensure_installed = { "marksman" },
-        handlers = {
-          function(server_name)
-            require("lspconfig")[server_name].setup({})
-          end,
-        },
-      })
-    end,
-  },
-
-})
diff --git a/home/dot_config/nvim/lua/plugins/bufferline.lua b/home/dot_config/nvim/lua/plugins/bufferline.lua
deleted file mode 100644
index 23b7c961e..000000000
--- a/home/dot_config/nvim/lua/plugins/bufferline.lua
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,72 +0,0 @@
-local ok, bufferline = pcall(require, "bufferline")
-if not ok then
-  return
-end
-
-bufferline.setup {
-  options = {
-    offsets = { { filetype = "NvimTree", text = "Explorer", highlight = "Normal"  } },
-    separator_style = { "", ""},
-    show_tab_indicators = false,
-  },
-  highlights = {
-    fill = {
-      fg = "#000000",
-      bg = "#000000",
-    },
-    background = {
-      fg = "#45475a",
-      bg = "#000000",
-    },
-
-    -- buffers
-    buffer_selected = {
-      fg = "#EAECF0",
-      bg = "#000000",
-      italic = false,
-    },
-    buffer_visible = {
-      fg = "#45475a",
-      bg = "#000000",
-    },
-
-    -- close buttons
-    close_button = {
-      fg = "#45475a",
-      bg = "#000000",
-    },
-    close_button_visible = {
-      fg = "#45475a",
-      bg = "#000000",
-    },
-    close_button_selected = {
-      fg = "#F47B85",
-      bg = "#000000",
-    },
-
-    indicator_selected = {
-      fg = "#000000",
-      bg = "#000000",
-    },
-
-    -- modified
-    modified = {
-      fg = "#45475a",
-      bg = "#000000",
-    },
-    modified_visible = {
-      fg = "#000000",
-      bg = "#000000",
-    },
-    modified_selected = {
-      fg = "#9BE963",
-      bg = "#000000",
-    },
-
-    -- tabs
-    tab_close = {
-      fg = "#000000",
-      bg = "#000000",
-    },
-  },
-}
diff --git a/home/dot_config/nvim/lua/plugins/lualine.lua b/home/dot_config/nvim/lua/plugins/lualine.lua
index 9082cb329..c8b2bf9e5 100644
--- a/home/dot_config/nvim/lua/plugins/lualine.lua
+++ b/home/dot_config/nvim/lua/plugins/lualine.lua
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ components.filename = {
 -- External changes indicator
 components.external_changes = {
   require('external-changes').lualine_component,
-  color = { fg = '#9BE963', gui = 'bold' },
+  color = { gui = 'bold' }, -- fg set in setup() from the theme palette
 }
 
 -- Search count
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ components.recording = {
     end
     return ' REC @' .. reg
   end,
-  color = { fg = '#F47B85', gui = 'bold' },
+  color = { gui = 'bold' }, -- fg set in setup() from the theme palette
   cond = function()
     return vim.fn.reg_recording() ~= ''
   end,
@@ -139,6 +139,14 @@ components.location = {
 
 -- Setup function
 function M.setup()
+  -- Palette colours are resolved here, not at module load, so theme.reload()
+  -- can call setup() again after a `theme` switch.
+  -- pcall: a missing theme module must never cost the status line (noir
+  -- fallback values, the same as theme.lua's own).
+  local ok, theme = pcall(require, 'theme')
+  local T = ok and theme.palette() or { green = '#9BE963', red = '#F47B85' }
+  components.external_changes.color.fg = T.green
+  components.recording.color.fg = T.red
   require('lualine').setup({
     options = {
       theme = 'auto',
diff --git a/home/dot_config/starship/starship.toml b/home/dot_config/starship/starship.toml
index debc8b743..ad6ef8420 100644
--- a/home/dot_config/starship/starship.toml
+++ b/home/dot_config/starship/starship.toml
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ format = "[$branch]($style)"
 style = "bright-black"
 
 [git_status]
-format = "[[(*$conflicted$untracked$modified$staged$renamed$deleted)](#F47B85) ($ahead_behind$stashed)]($style)"
+format = "[[(*$conflicted$untracked$modified$staged$renamed$deleted)](red) ($ahead_behind$stashed)]($style)"
 style = "cyan"
 conflicted = "​"
 untracked = "​"
diff --git a/home/dot_config/zathura/zathurarc b/home/dot_config/zathura/zathurarc
deleted file mode 100644
index dd6b81918..000000000
--- a/home/dot_config/zathura/zathurarc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-# vim: set filetype=conf :
-
-set default-fg                "#CDD6F4"
-set default-bg 			          "#000000"
-
-set completion-bg		          "#313244"
-set completion-fg		          "#CDD6F4"
-set completion-highlight-bg	  "#575268"
-set completion-highlight-fg	  "#CDD6F4"
-set completion-group-bg		    "#313244"
-set completion-group-fg		    "#89B4FA"
-
-set statusbar-fg		          "#CDD6F4"
-set statusbar-bg		          "#313244"
-
-set notification-bg		        "#313244"
-set notification-fg		        "#CDD6F4"
-set notification-error-bg	    "#313244"
-set notification-error-fg	    "#F38BA8"
-set notification-warning-bg	  "#313244"
-set notification-warning-fg	  "#FAE3B0"
-
-set inputbar-fg			          "#CDD6F4"
-set inputbar-bg 		          "#313244"
-
-set recolor-lightcolor		    "#000000"
-set recolor-darkcolor		      "#CDD6F4"
-
-set index-fg			            "#CDD6F4"
-set index-bg			            "#000000"
-set index-active-fg		        "#CDD6F4"
-set index-active-bg		        "#313244"
-
-set render-loading-bg		      "#000000"
-set render-loading-fg		      "#CDD6F4"
-
-set highlight-color		        "#575268"
-set highlight-fg              "#F5C2E7"
-set highlight-active-color	  "#F5C2E7"
diff --git a/home/dot_local/bin/media b/home/dot_local/bin/media
index ab7c3020e..7935b48dd 100755
--- a/home/dot_local/bin/media
+++ b/home/dot_local/bin/media
@@ -1,19 +1,11 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-# media -- MPRIS playback control (bound to F1-F10 in niri/binds.kdl)
+# media -- MPRIS playback control (bound to F3-F5 in niri/binds.kdl)
 #
-# Prefer cliamp when it is running. Bare `playerctl` acts on the first player it
-# enumerates, and Chrome registers an MPRIS player too — so with a browser open
-# the media keys would drive a background tab instead of the music player.
-# Falls back to playerctl's default pick when cliamp is not running.
-# ^cliamp, not an exact match: MPRIS names may carry an .instanceNNN suffix.
-player=()
-if playerctl -l 2>/dev/null | grep -q '^cliamp'; then
-    player=(-p cliamp)
-fi
-
+# Acts on playerctl's default player. (Until 2026-09-17 this preferred cliamp
+# when it was running; cliamp was removed, unused.)
 case "$1" in
-    play|toggle)  playerctl "${player[@]}" play-pause ;;
-    next)         playerctl "${player[@]}" next ;;
-    prev)         playerctl "${player[@]}" previous ;;
+    play|toggle)  playerctl play-pause ;;
+    next)         playerctl next ;;
+    prev)         playerctl previous ;;
     *)            echo "Usage: $0 {play|next|prev}"; exit 1 ;;
 esac
diff --git a/home/dot_local/bin/nvim-lua/theme.lua b/home/dot_local/bin/nvim-lua/theme.lua
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..44acfa176
--- /dev/null
+++ b/home/dot_local/bin/nvim-lua/theme.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,154 @@
+-- theme.lua — the palette every colour in the nvim config comes from.
+--
+-- Home Manager renders ~/.config/themes/<name>/theme.lua for each theme
+-- (home/themes/*.nix); ~/.config/theme is the symlink ~/.local/bin/theme
+-- retargets. This module dofile()s the current fragment and applies it to
+-- catppuccin, bufferline and lualine — at startup from plugins.lua.in, and
+-- again on `theme <name>`, which calls reload() over --remote-expr on every
+-- running nvim.
+--
+-- Lives in ~/.local/bin/nvim-lua/, not ~/.config/nvim/lua/ (2026-09-17): that
+-- directory is ONE out-of-store link into the checkout (home.nix
+-- `home.file.".local/bin"`) and init.lua adds it to package.path before
+-- plugins load, so require('theme') resolves the moment the checkout has this
+-- file. Under nvim/lua/ it needed its own per-file link from a rebuild, and
+-- lualine.lua (already linked) failed with "module 'theme' not found" on any
+-- machine whose checkout was ahead of its switch.
+local M = {}
+
+local FRAGMENT = vim.fn.expand('~/.config/theme/theme.lua')
+
+-- noir, verbatim, so nvim still looks right when the pointer is missing
+-- (a checkout ahead of its switch on the client laptop).
+local fallback = {
+  name = 'noir', polarity = 'dark', catppuccinFlavour = 'mocha',
+  ground = { base = '#000000', dim = '#000000', raised = '#000000', desktop = '#000000' },
+  fg = '#EAECF0', fgDim = '#D3D7DE', comment = '#818898', muted = '#45475a',
+  red = '#F47B85', green = '#9BE963', yellow = '#f9e2af', blue = '#70B8FF',
+  magenta = '#CC7BF4', cyan = '#5EEDED', orange = '#FBAD60',
+  accent = '#70B8FF', brand = '#D97757',
+  selection = { bg = '#264F78', fg = '#EAECF0' },
+  border = { active = '#555451', inactive = '#373735', urgent = '#F47B85' },
+}
+
+function M.palette()
+  local ok, t = pcall(dofile, FRAGMENT)
+  if ok and type(t) == 'table' and t.fg then
+    return t
+  end
+  return fallback
+end
+
+-- catppuccin: flavour + colour overrides from the palette. transparent_background
+-- keeps kitty's ground as the editor ground, so noir -> claude-dark needs no
+-- editor change at all; only claude-light flips the flavour to latte.
+function M.catppuccin_opts(T)
+  T = T or M.palette()
+  return {
+    flavour = T.catppuccinFlavour,
+    transparent_background = true,
+    color_overrides = {
+      [T.catppuccinFlavour] = {
+        base = T.ground.base,
+        mantle = T.ground.dim,
+        crust = T.ground.dim,
+        text = T.fg,
+        subtext1 = T.fgDim,
+        overlay1 = T.comment,
+        red = T.red,
+        green = T.green,
+        yellow = T.yellow,
+        blue = T.blue,
+        mauve = T.magenta,
+        peach = T.orange,
+        teal = T.cyan,
+      },
+    },
+    custom_highlights = function(colors)
+      local U = require('catppuccin.utils.colors')
+      local bg_amount = 0.095
+      local rainbow = {
+        colors.blue,   -- rainbow1 (H1)
+        colors.peach,  -- rainbow2 (H2)
+        colors.green,  -- rainbow3 (H3)
+        colors.teal,   -- rainbow4 (H4)
+        colors.yellow, -- rainbow5 (H5)
+        colors.mauve,  -- rainbow6 (H6)
+      }
+      local highlights = {}
+      for i, color in ipairs(rainbow) do
+        highlights['rainbow' .. i] = { fg = color }
+        highlights['RenderMarkdownH' .. i] = { fg = color, bold = true }
+        highlights['RenderMarkdownH' .. i .. 'Bg'] = { bg = U.darken(color, bg_amount, colors.base) }
+      end
+      highlights['RenderMarkdownCode'] = { bg = U.darken(colors.text, 0.05, colors.base) }
+      highlights['RenderMarkdownCodeInline'] = { fg = colors.peach }
+      highlights['RenderMarkdownBullet'] = { fg = colors.blue }
+      highlights['RenderMarkdownDash'] = { fg = colors.overlay1 }
+      highlights['RenderMarkdownQuote'] = { fg = colors.overlay1 }
+      highlights['RenderMarkdownLink'] = { fg = colors.blue }
+      highlights['RenderMarkdownChecked'] = { fg = colors.green }
+      highlights['RenderMarkdownUnchecked'] = { fg = colors.overlay1 }
+      highlights['RenderMarkdownTableHead'] = { fg = colors.blue }
+      highlights['RenderMarkdownTableRow'] = { fg = colors.subtext1 }
+      -- catppuccin's default Underlined has no fg (just the underline style),
+      -- so man pages, :help tags, etc. render in plain text color instead of
+      -- the Claude-blue used everywhere else for links/URLs.
+      highlights['Underlined'] = { fg = colors.blue, style = { 'underline' } }
+      return highlights
+    end,
+    integrations = {
+      render_markdown = true,
+    },
+  }
+end
+
+function M.apply_catppuccin(T)
+  require('catppuccin').setup(M.catppuccin_opts(T))
+  vim.cmd.colorscheme('catppuccin')
+end
+
+-- bufferline: the fill and the inactive-buffer strip take the theme ground.
+function M.bufferline_opts(T)
+  T = T or M.palette()
+  return {
+    options = {
+      hover = {
+        enabled = true,
+        delay = 200,
+        reveal = { 'close' },
+      },
+    },
+    highlights = {
+      fill = { bg = T.ground.base },
+      background = { bg = T.ground.base },
+    },
+  }
+end
+
+-- Re-read the fragment and re-apply everything. catppuccin's setup() does not
+-- purge its own modules (that is what :CatppuccinCompile is for), so purge
+-- first, then setup, recompile, and re-run the two plugins that consumed
+-- palette values at their own setup time.
+function M.reload()
+  local T = M.palette()
+  for name, _ in pairs(package.loaded) do
+    if name == 'catppuccin' or name:match('^catppuccin%.') then
+      package.loaded[name] = nil
+    end
+  end
+  require('catppuccin').setup(M.catppuccin_opts(T))
+  pcall(vim.cmd, 'CatppuccinCompile')
+  vim.cmd.colorscheme('catppuccin')
+  local ok_b, bufferline = pcall(require, 'bufferline')
+  if ok_b then
+    pcall(bufferline.setup, M.bufferline_opts(T))
+  end
+  local ok_l, lualine = pcall(require, 'plugins.lualine')
+  if ok_l and type(lualine) == 'table' and lualine.setup then
+    pcall(lualine.setup)
+  end
+  vim.notify('theme: ' .. T.name, vim.log.levels.INFO)
+end
+
+return M
diff --git a/home/dot_local/bin/theme b/home/dot_local/bin/theme
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..e469b4250
--- /dev/null
+++ b/home/dot_local/bin/theme
@@ -0,0 +1,181 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# theme -- switch the dotfiles-wide colour theme at runtime, no rebuild.
+#
+#   theme                  print the current theme
+#   theme list             list the themes this generation rendered
+#   theme <name>           switch to <name> (noir | claude-dark | claude-light)
+#   theme toggle           cycle to the next theme in `theme list` order
+#   theme apply            re-fire the reload hooks for the current theme
+#   theme icons            re-pick the icon theme (polarity × wallpaper accent)
+#
+# Design: docs/theme-switcher-2026-09-17.md. Home Manager renders every theme's
+# colour fragments under ~/.config/themes/<name>/ (home/theme.nix, palettes in
+# home/themes/*.nix). The RAW config files include ~/.config/theme/<fragment>,
+# where ~/.config/theme is a plain symlink this script retargets. A symlink
+# retarget fires no file-watcher event, so every reload below is load-bearing.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+cfg="${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}"
+link="$cfg/theme"
+themes_dir="${THEMES_DIR:-$cfg/themes}" # THEMES_DIR: preview a render before its switch
+
+die() { printf 'theme: %s\n' "$*" >&2; exit 1; }
+
+# one switch at a time (F2 mashing, a login `apply` racing a manual switch)
+exec 9> "${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR:-/tmp}/theme.lock"
+flock -w 5 9 || die "another theme switch is still running"
+
+current() {
+    [[ -L "$link" ]] || return 1
+    basename "$(readlink "$link")"
+}
+
+list() {
+    [[ -d "$themes_dir" ]] || die "no rendered themes at $themes_dir (switch a generation with home/theme.nix first)"
+    find "$themes_dir" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d -printf '%f\n' | sort
+}
+
+# meta is key=value, one per line, written by home/themes/default.nix. Read,
+# never sourced.
+meta() {
+    local key="$1" k v
+    while IFS='=' read -r k v; do
+        [[ "$k" == "$key" ]] && { printf '%s\n' "$v"; return 0; }
+    done < "$link/meta"
+    return 1
+}
+
+# --- reload hooks -----------------------------------------------------------
+
+reload_kitty() {
+    # One abstract socket per instance: kitty.conf's `listen_on unix:@kitty-{kitty_pid}`.
+    # `load-config` with no file re-reads the running config, includes and all.
+    local sock n=0
+    while read -r sock; do
+        kitten @ --to "unix:$sock" load-config >/dev/null 2>&1 && n=$((n + 1)) || true
+    done < <(awk '$NF ~ /^@kitty-[0-9]+$/ { print $NF }' /proc/net/unix | sort -u)
+    # a kitty without our listen_on (other config, mid-pull on the client) still
+    # reloads on SIGUSR1 — the Omarchy way; the socket path is just more precise.
+    if (( n == 0 )) && pkill -x -USR1 .kitty-wrapped 2>/dev/null; then
+        echo '  kitty: reloaded via SIGUSR1'
+    else
+        printf '  kitty: %d instance(s) reloaded\n' "$n"
+    fi
+}
+
+reload_niri() {
+    if [[ -n "${NIRI_SOCKET:-}" ]] || compgen -G "${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR:-/run/user/$UID}/niri.*.sock" >/dev/null; then
+        if niri msg action load-config-file >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo '  niri: config reloaded'
+        else
+            echo '  niri: reload failed (is a session running?)' >&2
+        fi
+    fi
+}
+
+reload_nvim() {
+    # nvim >= 0.9 listens on $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/nvim.<pid>.0. lua/theme.lua's
+    # reload() re-applies catppuccin, bufferline and lualine from the new fragment.
+    local sock n=0
+    for sock in "${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR:-/run/user/$UID}"/nvim.*.0; do
+        [[ -S "$sock" ]] || continue
+        nvim --server "$sock" --remote-expr 'luaeval("require(\"theme\").reload() or \"ok\"")' >/dev/null 2>&1 && n=$((n + 1)) || true
+    done
+    printf '  nvim: %d instance(s) reloaded\n' "$n"
+}
+
+# herdr: nothing to do. Its [theme] name = "terminal" paints every token from
+# kitty's ANSI palette, and kitty reports the background change to it through
+# DEC mode 2031 (CSI ?997;n) on reload, whereupon herdr re-queries OSC 10/11/4
+# and re-themes its chrome and every pane. Fish: conf.d/colors.fish re-sources
+# the fragment at the next prompt when the pointer has moved.
+
+set_claude_code() {
+    # Claude Code reads ~/.claude.json at start, and rewrites it itself, so:
+    # tmp + rename, and a lost update against a running instance is accepted.
+    local want="$1" f="$HOME/.claude.json" tmp
+    [[ -f "$f" ]] || return 0
+    command -v jq >/dev/null || return 0
+    tmp="$(mktemp "$f.XXXXXX")"
+    if jq --arg t "$want" '.theme = $t' "$f" > "$tmp"; then
+        mv -T "$tmp" "$f"
+        printf '  claude code: theme=%s (takes effect on next start)\n' "$want"
+    else
+        rm -f "$tmp"
+    fi
+}
+
+# GTK. GTK3 follows org.gnome.desktop.interface live (its Wayland backend reads
+# gsettings/dconf — the schema is on XDG_DATA_DIRS since modules/common.nix
+# 2026-09-17). libadwaita apps take color-scheme live and their gtk.css on
+# next start (~/.config/gtk-4.0 points through ~/.config/theme, home/theme.nix).
+# Chrome follows color-scheme through the portal.
+gset() { gsettings set "$@" 2>/dev/null || printf '  gsettings: set %s failed\n' "$*" >&2; }
+
+apply_gtk() {
+    command -v gsettings >/dev/null || { echo '  gtk: no gsettings on PATH (pre-switch?)' >&2; return 0; }
+    local gtk_theme scheme
+    gtk_theme="$(meta gtk_theme || true)"; scheme="$(meta color_scheme || true)"
+    [[ -n "$gtk_theme" ]] || return 0
+    gset org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme "$gtk_theme"
+    gset org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences theme "$gtk_theme"
+    gset org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme "$scheme"
+    printf '  gtk: %s, %s\n' "$gtk_theme" "$scheme"
+    apply_icons
+}
+
+# MacTahoe[-<accent>]-{dark,light}: polarity from the theme, accent from the
+# wallpaper (~/.local/state/wallpaper/accent, written by ~/.local/bin/wallpaper).
+# Falls back to the stock blue folders when the accent variant is not installed.
+apply_icons() {
+    command -v gsettings >/dev/null || return 0
+    local suffix accent="" icons
+    suffix="$(meta icon_suffix || echo dark)"
+    [[ -r "${XDG_STATE_HOME:-$HOME/.local/state}/wallpaper/accent" ]] \
+        && read -r accent < "${XDG_STATE_HOME:-$HOME/.local/state}/wallpaper/accent"
+    icons="MacTahoe-$suffix"
+    if [[ -n "$accent" ]]; then
+        local d
+        for d in "${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}" ${XDG_DATA_DIRS//:/ }; do
+            [[ -d "$d/icons/MacTahoe-$accent-$suffix" ]] && { icons="MacTahoe-$accent-$suffix"; break; }
+        done
+    fi
+    gset org.gnome.desktop.interface icon-theme "$icons"
+    printf '  icons: %s\n' "$icons"
+}
+
+apply() {
+    local name; name="$(current)" || die "no theme selected ($link missing)"
+    echo "theme: $name"
+    reload_kitty
+    reload_niri
+    reload_nvim
+    apply_gtk
+    set_claude_code "$(meta claude_code || echo dark)"
+}
+
+switch_to() {
+    local name="$1"
+    [[ -d "$themes_dir/$name" && -f "$themes_dir/$name/meta" ]] \
+        || die "unknown theme '$name' — try: $(list | tr '\n' ' ')"
+    # atomic retarget: build the new link beside the old one, then rename over it
+    ln -sfn "$themes_dir/$name" "$link.tmp"
+    mv -T "$link.tmp" "$link"
+    apply
+}
+
+case "${1:-}" in
+    "")       current || die "no theme selected" ;;
+    list)     list ;;
+    apply)    apply ;;
+    icons)    [[ -L "$link" ]] || die "no theme selected"; apply_icons ;;
+    toggle)
+        mapfile -t names < <(list)
+        cur="$(current || true)"; next="${names[0]}"
+        for i in "${!names[@]}"; do
+            if [[ "${names[$i]}" == "$cur" ]]; then next="${names[$(( (i + 1) % ${#names[@]} ))]}"; fi
+        done
+        switch_to "$next" ;;
+    -h|--help) sed -n '2,11p' "$0" ;;
+    *)        switch_to "$1" ;;
+esac
diff --git a/home/dot_local/bin/theme-prompt b/home/dot_local/bin/theme-prompt
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..1265ad639
--- /dev/null
+++ b/home/dot_local/bin/theme-prompt
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# F2 / Shift+F2 -> the theme picker and the accent picker: compact floating fzf
+# prompts in the F1 (wake) / F9 (audio route) / F10 (sleep monitors) style.
+# niri/binds.kdl runs `kitty --class theme-prompt -e ~/.local/bin/theme-prompt
+# <mode>`, window-rules.kdl floats it.
+#
+#   theme-prompt theme     noir | claude-dark | claude-light  -> ~/.local/bin/theme <name>
+#   theme-prompt accent    oat olive cactus sky fig heather coral
+#                          -> ~/.local/bin/wallpaper <accent> (wallpaper + folder colour)
+#
+# Esc is a clean cancel. Everything a pick triggers is live (kitty, niri,
+# herdr, fish, GTK3, folder colours); GTK4 apps and agent TUIs re-theme on
+# their next start.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+mode="${1:-theme}"
+
+mark() { [[ "$1" == "$2" ]] && echo '●' || echo ' '; }
+
+case "$mode" in
+    theme)
+        cur="$(theme 2>/dev/null || echo '-')"
+        rows() {
+            local t
+            for t in $(theme list 2>/dev/null || printf 'noir\nclaude-dark\nclaude-light\n'); do
+                printf '%-13s %s\n' "$t" "$(mark "$t" "$cur")"
+            done
+        }
+        prompt='theme ❯ ' ;;
+    accent)
+        cur="olive"
+        [[ -r "${XDG_STATE_HOME:-$HOME/.local/state}/wallpaper/accent" ]] \
+            && read -r cur < "${XDG_STATE_HOME:-$HOME/.local/state}/wallpaper/accent"
+        rows() {
+            local a
+            for a in $(wallpaper list); do
+                printf '%-13s %s\n' "$a" "$(mark "$a" "$cur")"
+            done
+        }
+        prompt='accent ❯ ' ;;
+    *) printf 'theme-prompt: theme | accent\n' >&2; exit 1 ;;
+esac
+
+pick="$(rows | fzf --prompt="$prompt" --header='● = current   Esc cancels' --no-info --reverse --no-sort || true)"
+[[ -n "$pick" ]] || exit 0
+name="$(awk '{print $1}' <<< "$pick")"
+
+case "$mode" in
+    theme)  theme "$name" ;;
+    accent) wallpaper "$name" ;;
+esac
diff --git a/home/dot_local/bin/wallpaper b/home/dot_local/bin/wallpaper
index c23ec33b5..aa4425494 100755
--- a/home/dot_local/bin/wallpaper
+++ b/home/dot_local/bin/wallpaper
@@ -1,14 +1,52 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-# wallpaper -- set desktop wallpaper
-# Uses swaybg. Home Manager deploys the default repository wallpaper to
-# ~/.local/share/wallpapers; this script re-points it at runtime.
-DEFAULT="$HOME/.local/share/wallpapers/wallpaper.jpg"
-path="${1:-$DEFAULT}"
-
-if [[ ! -f "$path" ]]; then
-    echo "File not found: $path" >&2
-    exit 1
-fi
-
-pkill -x swaybg
-setsid -f swaybg -i "$path" -m fill
+# wallpaper -- set the desktop wallpaper (swaybg) and remember it.
+#
+#   wallpaper                 restore the remembered wallpaper (login; default: olive)
+#   wallpaper <accent>        one of the claude.ai/imagine themes rendered at 5120x2880:
+#                             oat olive cactus sky fig heather coral
+#   wallpaper <path>          any image file, one-off (not an accent)
+#   wallpaper list
+#
+# The seven accents are the exact recovered claude.ai/imagine artwork
+# (~/colors/waves/capture/imagine-background.svg) rasterised under Anthropic's
+# own CSS recipe on each theme's ground (~/colors/waves/STATE.md). Home Manager
+# deploys them to ~/.local/share/wallpapers. The accent is remembered in
+# ~/.local/state/wallpaper/accent and also drives the folder colour: `theme
+# icons` picks the MacTahoe-<accent>-{dark,light} icon variant whose folders
+# are that wallpaper's darker ground (pkgs/mactahoe-icon-theme.nix).
+set -euo pipefail
+
+dir="$HOME/.local/share/wallpapers"
+state="${XDG_STATE_HOME:-$HOME/.local/state}/wallpaper"
+accents=(oat olive cactus sky fig heather coral)
+default_accent="olive"
+
+die() { printf 'wallpaper: %s\n' "$*" >&2; exit 1; }
+is_accent() { local a; for a in "${accents[@]}"; do [[ "$a" == "$1" ]] && return 0; done; return 1; }
+accent_path() { printf '%s/imagine-%s-5120x2880.png\n' "$dir" "$1"; }
+
+show() {
+    local path="$1"
+    [[ -f "$path" ]] || die "file not found: $path"
+    pkill -x swaybg || true
+    setsid -f swaybg -i "$path" -m fill
+}
+
+case "${1:-}" in
+    list) printf '%s\n' "${accents[@]}" ;;
+    "")
+        accent="$default_accent"
+        [[ -r "$state/accent" ]] && read -r accent < "$state/accent"
+        is_accent "$accent" || accent="$default_accent"
+        show "$(accent_path "$accent")" ;;
+    *)
+        if is_accent "$1"; then
+            show "$(accent_path "$1")"
+            mkdir -p "$state"
+            printf '%s\n' "$1" > "$state/accent.tmp" && mv -T "$state/accent.tmp" "$state/accent"
+            # folders follow the wallpaper (no-op until the switch that ships `theme`)
+            command -v theme >/dev/null && theme icons || true
+        else
+            show "$1"
+        fi ;;
+esac
diff --git a/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-cactus-5120x2880.png b/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-cactus-5120x2880.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1bff4a8a9
Binary files /dev/null and b/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-cactus-5120x2880.png differ
diff --git a/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-coral-5120x2880.png b/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-coral-5120x2880.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6507b87ef
Binary files /dev/null and b/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-coral-5120x2880.png differ
diff --git a/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-fig-5120x2880.png b/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-fig-5120x2880.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fbd7987f0
Binary files /dev/null and b/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-fig-5120x2880.png differ
diff --git a/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-heather-5120x2880.png b/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-heather-5120x2880.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1b79c799c
Binary files /dev/null and b/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-heather-5120x2880.png differ
diff --git a/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-oat-5120x2880.png b/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-oat-5120x2880.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..40edab649
Binary files /dev/null and b/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-oat-5120x2880.png differ
diff --git a/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-olive-5120x2880.png b/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-olive-5120x2880.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fc441e7c0
Binary files /dev/null and b/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-olive-5120x2880.png differ
diff --git a/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-sky-5120x2880.png b/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-sky-5120x2880.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..64f7ce92c
Binary files /dev/null and b/home/dot_local/share/wallpapers/imagine-sky-5120x2880.png differ
diff --git a/home/home.nix b/home/home.nix
index 9d1c0988b..023f07d84 100644
--- a/home/home.nix
+++ b/home/home.nix
@@ -69,17 +69,12 @@ let
   configDirs = [
     "niri"
     "kitty"
+    "ghostty" # kitty.conf's twin, read by libghostty in cmux Browser's panes
     "fish"
     "starship"
-    "zathura"
     "yt-dlp"
     "kanshi"
     "qt6ct"
-    # NOT cliamp: it writes its control socket, pidfile, log, play history and
-    # resume state beside its config, so a whole-dir link put all of that into
-    # the working tree (resume.json, carrying a Navidrome stream URL with its
-    # Subsonic token, was even committed). ~/.config/cliamp is a real directory
-    # now and only its config is linked, file by file, below. (2026-09-13)
   ];
 
   # Python interpreter backing the niri helper bin/ scripts (wifi-menu, fzf-nmcli, …).
@@ -133,6 +128,7 @@ in
     ./seat-feeder.nix
     ./ssh.nix
     ./tally.nix
+    ./theme.nix
     ./tally-filler.nix
     ./tally-pump.nix
     ./tally-uplink.nix
@@ -160,44 +156,11 @@ in
   # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   # RAW configs (whole-dir per ~/.config/<name>).
   # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-  # cliamp's one-time move from a whole-dir link to a real directory
-  # (2026-09-14). Home Manager cannot make that move by itself: its cleanup
-  # keeps the old ~/.config/cliamp link (the new generation still has a
-  # .config/cliamp path), and its link step then backs up config.toml and
-  # themes/ THROUGH that link, i.e. inside the repo checkout, and writes
-  # store symlinks there that resolve back to themselves. Reproduced with this
-  # Home Manager's own check-link-targets/cleanup/link scripts in a scratch
-  # HOME. So before linkGeneration, drop the old link when it points into a
-  # Home Manager generation, create the real directory, and carry cliamp's
-  # history.toml and resume.json across so nothing is lost. Idempotent: once
-  # ~/.config/cliamp is a real directory the test is false. Removable once
-  # every host has switched past it.
-  home.activation.cliampRealDir = lib.hm.dag.entryBetween [ "linkGeneration" ] [ "writeBoundary" ] ''
-    cliamp_dir="$HOME/.config/cliamp"
-    if [[ -L "$cliamp_dir" && "$(readlink "$cliamp_dir")" == $(readlink -e /nix/store)/*-home-manager-files/* ]]; then
-      cliamp_old="$(readlink -e "$cliamp_dir" || true)"
-      run rm $VERBOSE_ARG "$cliamp_dir"
-      run mkdir -p $VERBOSE_ARG "$cliamp_dir"
-      if [[ -n "$cliamp_old" ]]; then
-        for f in history.toml resume.json; do
-          if [[ -f "$cliamp_old/$f" && ! -e "$cliamp_dir/$f" ]]; then
-            run cp -p $VERBOSE_ARG "$cliamp_old/$f" "$cliamp_dir/$f"
-          fi
-        done
-      fi
-    fi
-  '';
-
   xdg.configFile =
     lib.genAttrs configDirs (d: {
       source = link "dot_config/${d}";
     })
     // {
-      # cliamp: config and themes only, so the directory itself stays writable
-      # for the runtime files (see the note in configDirs above).
-      "cliamp/config.toml".source = link "dot_config/cliamp/config.toml";
-      "cliamp/themes".source = link "dot_config/cliamp/themes";
-
       # kitty/ is a whole-dir out-of-store symlink, so the store-path fragment can't
       # nest inside it — emit at a neutral path; kitty.conf includes it by absolute
       # (env-expanded) path.
@@ -271,26 +234,18 @@ in
           ''
             // GENERATED per-host (home.nix). No host-specific niri config on ${hostName}.
           '';
-    }
-    // (
-      # GTK4 / libadwaita apps (Nautilus) ignore gtk-theme-name; the only override
-      # they honor is user CSS at ~/.config/gtk-4.0/. Link MacTahoe's gtk-4.0 assets
-      # there so Nautilus renders the theme from first boot — home-manager's gtk
-      # module does not do this, which is why nwg-look was needed before.
-      let
-        theme4 = "${pkgs.mactahoe-gtk-theme}/share/themes/MacTahoe-Dark-grey/gtk-4.0";
-      in
-      {
-        "gtk-4.0/gtk.css".source = "${theme4}/gtk.css";
-        "gtk-4.0/gtk-dark.css".source = "${theme4}/gtk-dark.css";
-        "gtk-4.0/assets".source = "${theme4}/assets";
-      }
-    );
-
-  # Belt-and-suspenders for any gsettings-aware app (agrees with GTK_THEME env).
+    };
+  # (The gtk-4.0/{gtk.css,gtk-dark.css,assets} links that used to sit here — a
+  # store symlink of MacTahoe-Dark-grey's gtk-4.0 — moved to home/theme.nix,
+  # where they point through the ~/.config/theme pointer at whichever theme's
+  # MacTahoe variant is selected. 2026-09-17.)
+
+  # gtk-theme / icon-theme / color-scheme are deliberately NOT pinned here any
+  # more (2026-09-17): the theme switcher owns them at runtime (`theme apply`
+  # → gsettings, docs/theme-switcher-2026-09-17.md), and a pinned value would
+  # snap a light session back to Dark on every switch. dconf keeps whatever
+  # `theme` last wrote. Fonts stay.
   dconf.settings."org/gnome/desktop/interface" = {
-    gtk-theme = "MacTahoe-Dark-grey";
-    color-scheme = "prefer-dark";
     # Interface fonts for Nautilus and every other GTK app that reads
     # font-name. sf-pro ships system-wide via modules/common.nix fonts.packages
     # (the one Apple family kept in the 2026-08-21 sweep — "too good to
@@ -553,7 +508,6 @@ in
       mpv
       imv
       vlc
-      zathura
       ffmpeg-full
       ffmpegthumbnailer
 
@@ -591,7 +545,6 @@ in
       pkgs.crm # vendored personal CRM CLI; data stays at its built-in notes path
       pkgs.dcal # vendored calendar CLI; data lives under XDG, nothing in git
       music-acquire # evidence-gated SoundCloud → YouTube → capture acquisition
-      cliamp # terminal music player → navidrome. overlay pkg, see pkgs/cliamp.nix
       uv # Astral Python pkg/project manager. "hot" overlay pkg — rides nixpkgs-fresh HEAD (flake.nix), so it stays latest independent of the main pin.
 
       # artifact system (md-artifact / presentation-beta / publish-artifact skills;
diff --git a/home/nvim.nix b/home/nvim.nix
index 6a45206b0..7d2b15649 100644
--- a/home/nvim.nix
+++ b/home/nvim.nix
@@ -179,8 +179,10 @@ let
     "lua/plugins/neoscroll.lua"
     "lua/plugins/nvim-tree.lua"
     "lua/plugins/telescope.lua"
-    "lua/plugins/bufferline.lua"
     "lua/plugins/lualine.lua"
+    # NOT lua/theme.lua: the theme switcher's palette loader lives in
+    # ~/.local/bin/nvim-lua/ (a whole-dir RAW link on init.lua's package.path),
+    # so a checkout pulled ahead of its switch still finds it. See its header.
   ];
 
   # every binary the nvim config shells out to (replaces mason; covers all plugin CLIs)
diff --git a/home/nvim/plugins.lua.in b/home/nvim/plugins.lua.in
index fc22f4eed..21e656dde 100644
--- a/home/nvim/plugins.lua.in
+++ b/home/nvim/plugins.lua.in
@@ -121,23 +121,8 @@ require("lazy").setup({
     'akinsho/bufferline.nvim',
     dir = dir('bufferline.nvim'),
     config = function()
-      require('bufferline').setup({
-        options = {
-          hover = {
-            enabled = true,
-            delay = 200,
-            reveal = {'close'}
-          }
-        },
-        highlights = {
-          fill = {
-            bg = "#000000"
-          },
-          background = {
-            bg = "#000000"
-          }
-        }
-      })
+      -- options + theme-ground highlights from lua/theme.lua (see catppuccin above)
+      require('bufferline').setup(require('theme').bufferline_opts())
     end
   },
   {
@@ -145,63 +130,10 @@ require("lazy").setup({
    name = 'catppuccin',
    dir = dir('catppuccin'),
    config = function()
-     require('catppuccin').setup({
-       flavour = "mocha",
-       transparent_background = true,
-       color_overrides = {
-         mocha = {
-           base = "#000000",
-           mantle = "#000000",
-           crust = "#000000",
-           text = "#EAECF0",
-           subtext1 = "#D3D7DE",
-           overlay1 = "#818898",
-           red = "#F47B85",
-           green = "#9BE963",
-           blue = "#70B8FF",
-           mauve = "#CC7BF4",
-           peach = "#FBAD60",
-           teal = "#5EEDED",
-         },
-       },
-       custom_highlights = function(colors)
-         local U = require("catppuccin.utils.colors")
-         local bg_amount = 0.095
-         local rainbow = {
-           colors.blue,   -- rainbow1 (H1)
-           colors.peach,  -- rainbow2 (H2)
-           colors.green,  -- rainbow3 (H3)
-           colors.teal,   -- rainbow4 (H4)
-           colors.yellow, -- rainbow5 (H5)
-           colors.mauve,  -- rainbow6 (H6)
-         }
-         local highlights = {}
-         for i, color in ipairs(rainbow) do
-           highlights["rainbow" .. i] = { fg = color }
-           highlights["RenderMarkdownH" .. i] = { fg = color, bold = true }
-           highlights["RenderMarkdownH" .. i .. "Bg"] = { bg = U.darken(color, bg_amount, colors.base) }
-         end
-         highlights["RenderMarkdownCode"] = { bg = U.darken(colors.text, 0.05, colors.base) }
-         highlights["RenderMarkdownCodeInline"] = { fg = colors.peach }
-         highlights["RenderMarkdownBullet"] = { fg = colors.blue }
-         highlights["RenderMarkdownDash"] = { fg = colors.overlay1 }
-         highlights["RenderMarkdownQuote"] = { fg = colors.overlay1 }
-         highlights["RenderMarkdownLink"] = { fg = colors.blue }
-         highlights["RenderMarkdownChecked"] = { fg = colors.green }
-         highlights["RenderMarkdownUnchecked"] = { fg = colors.overlay1 }
-         highlights["RenderMarkdownTableHead"] = { fg = colors.blue }
-         highlights["RenderMarkdownTableRow"] = { fg = colors.subtext1 }
-         -- catppuccin's default Underlined has no fg (just the underline style),
-         -- so man pages, :help tags, etc. render in plain text color instead of
-         -- the Claude-blue used everywhere else for links/URLs.
-         highlights["Underlined"] = { fg = colors.blue, style = { "underline" } }
-         return highlights
-       end,
-       integrations = {
-         render_markdown = true,
-       },
-     })
-     vim.cmd.colorscheme "catppuccin"
+     -- flavour, colour overrides and custom highlights all come from the RAW
+     -- lua/theme.lua, which reads ~/.config/theme/theme.lua (the theme
+     -- switcher's fragment) and can re-apply it live via reload().
+     require('theme').apply_catppuccin()
    end
   },
   {
diff --git a/home/theme.nix b/home/theme.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6b985b431
--- /dev/null
+++ b/home/theme.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+{
+  config,
+  lib,
+  pkgs,
+  ...
+}:
+# Theme switcher — the Nix half (2026-09-17, docs/theme-switcher-2026-09-17.md).
+#
+# Every theme's color fragments are written under ~/.config/themes/<name>/ in
+# one generation (store-managed, re-emitted on switch). The RAW config files
+# include ~/.config/theme/<fragment> — `theme`, singular, a plain symlink into
+# `themes/` that ~/.local/bin/theme retargets at runtime and Home Manager never
+# writes. Disjoint namespaces: HM owns the plural, the switcher owns the
+# singular, so HM's cleanup can never eat the pointer and the pointer can never
+# confuse HM's link step. Switching a theme therefore needs no rebuild; only
+# adding a theme or changing a palette value does.
+#
+# The two precedents this copies: kitty-scrollback-nix.conf and niri-local.kdl
+# (home.nix), generated files at a neutral ~/.config path pulled in by an
+# absolute include from inside a whole-dir RAW symlink.
+let
+  themes = import ./themes { inherit lib; };
+  cfgHome = config.xdg.configHome;
+  # GTK4 / libadwaita apps ignore gtk-theme-name; the only override they honour
+  # is user CSS at ~/.config/gtk-4.0/. Each theme dir carries its MacTahoe
+  # variant's gtk-4.0/ (a store path), and ~/.config/gtk-4.0/{gtk.css,
+  # gtk-dark.css,assets} point THROUGH the ~/.config/theme pointer at it, so
+  # the one symlink flip re-themes GTK4 too (on the app's next start; GTK4
+  # reads gtk.css once). GTK3 follows `gsettings gtk-theme` live instead.
+  gtk4Dirs = lib.mapAttrs' (
+    name: t:
+    lib.nameValuePair "themes/${name}/gtk-4.0" {
+      source = "${pkgs.${t.gtk.package}}/share/themes/${t.gtk.theme}/gtk-4.0";
+    }
+  ) themes.checked;
+  viaPointer = f: {
+    source = config.lib.file.mkOutOfStoreSymlink "${cfgHome}/theme/gtk-4.0/${f}";
+  };
+in
+{
+  xdg.configFile =
+    lib.mapAttrs (_: text: { inherit text; }) themes.fragments
+    // gtk4Dirs
+    // {
+      "gtk-4.0/gtk.css" = viaPointer "gtk.css";
+      "gtk-4.0/gtk-dark.css" = viaPointer "gtk-dark.css";
+      "gtk-4.0/assets" = viaPointer "assets";
+    };
+
+  # Every theme's GTK package must be on the profile so GTK finds
+  # share/themes/<dir> through XDG_DATA_DIRS (home.nix's gtk.theme.package
+  # covers noir's; the claude variants ride along here).
+  # (unique on the attr NAMES: lib.unique on derivations compares attrsets and
+  # recurses forever.)
+  home.packages = map (n: pkgs.${n}) (lib.unique (lib.mapAttrsToList (_: t: t.gtk.package) themes.checked));
+
+  # Bootstrap and self-heal the pointer, never override a choice:
+  #  - missing or dangling  → noir
+  #  - pointing outside ~/.config/themes/ (a pre-switch preview render) → the
+  #    theme of the same name if it exists, else noir
+  #  - already a live theme → untouched
+  home.activation.themePointer = lib.hm.dag.entryAfter [ "writeBoundary" ] ''
+    theme_link="${cfgHome}/theme"
+    themes_dir="${cfgHome}/themes"
+    want=""
+    if [[ ! -e "$theme_link" ]]; then
+      want="noir"
+    elif [[ "$(readlink -f "$theme_link")" != "$themes_dir"/* ]]; then
+      want="$(basename "$(readlink "$theme_link")")"
+      [[ -d "$themes_dir/$want" ]] || want="noir"
+    fi
+    if [[ -n "$want" ]]; then
+      run ln -sfn $VERBOSE_ARG "$themes_dir/$want" "$theme_link.tmp"
+      run mv -T $VERBOSE_ARG "$theme_link.tmp" "$theme_link"
+    fi
+  '';
+}
diff --git a/home/themes/claude-dark.nix b/home/themes/claude-dark.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c83fb56ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/home/themes/claude-dark.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+# claude-dark — Claude's own dark mode, as claude.ai ships it.
+#
+# Same 12-role accent palette as noir (they are the same palette — Claude Dark
+# was recovered from the app bundle and Tom's hand-sampled noir accents matched
+# it bit for bit, ~/colors/waves/capture/claude-code-theme/README-THEMES.md).
+# What changes is the ground: claude.ai's code blocks sit on #1A1A1A (--bg-000
+# at 50% over the page) and the page itself on #20201F (--bg-000 dark), with
+# #151515 (--bg-100) one step below. Sources: claude-tokens-dark.json.
+let
+  noir = import ./noir.nix;
+in
+noir
+// {
+  name = "claude-dark";
+  ground = {
+    base = "#1A1A1A"; # code-block ground: the closest analogue to a terminal
+    dim = "#151515"; # --bg-100
+    raised = "#20201F"; # --bg-000
+    desktop = "#20201F"; # the desktop reads one step above the terminal
+  };
+  muted = "#52514E"; # --_gray-600
+  cursorText = "#1A1A1A";
+  ansi = noir.ansi // {
+    black = "#1A1A1A";
+  };
+
+  # GTK: MacTahoe recoloured to Claude's dark tokens, clay accent
+  # (pkgs/mactahoe-gtk-theme.nix, variant claude).
+  gtk = {
+    package = "mactahoe-claude-gtk-theme";
+    theme = "MacTahoe-Claude-Dark-orange";
+    colorScheme = "prefer-dark";
+  };
+}
diff --git a/home/themes/claude-light.nix b/home/themes/claude-light.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b627fa929
--- /dev/null
+++ b/home/themes/claude-light.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+# claude-light — Claude's own light mode, as claude.ai ships it.
+#
+# Accents are the Claude Light 12-role syntax palette from the app bundle
+# (~/colors/waves/capture/claude-code-theme/claude-themes-SOURCE.json); grounds
+# and chrome are the light-mode CSS tokens (claude-tokens-light.json). Claude's
+# theme defines NO terminal.ansi* colors, so the 16-slot mapping below is
+# designed, not copied — every slot passes WCAG AA for normal text on #FFFFFF
+# (~/colors/theme-switcher-design.md §5). Tune in ~/colors/colorlab.
+#
+# color0/color7/color15 follow the noir convention (dark text slots, since herdr's
+# `terminal` theme uses White/Gray as FOREGROUNDS) rather than Solarized's
+# light-grey convention. The price, inherent to every light terminal theme:
+# anything that paints bright-white-on-black gets #131313 on #2B303B.
+{
+  name = "claude-light";
+  polarity = "light";
+  catppuccinFlavour = "latte";
+  claudeCode = "light";
+
+  ground = {
+    base = "#F9F9F7"; # --bg-100, the app's main surface
+    dim = "#F3F3F0"; # --bg-200
+    raised = "#FFFFFF"; # --bg-000
+    desktop = "#F0EFEC"; # --bg-300
+  };
+
+  fg = "#131313"; # --text-000 (Claude Light syntax fg is #14181F, one step away)
+  fgDim = "#52514E"; # --cds-text-secondary light
+  comment = "#6E7687"; # Claude Light `comment`
+  muted = "#A5A49A"; # --_gray-300
+
+  red = "#B80A18"; # property
+  green = "#008000"; # string
+  yellow = "#A66A00"; # --warning-100 — the palette has no yellow role
+  blue = "#0051C2"; # function
+  magenta = "#8100C2"; # keyword
+  cyan = "#007F80"; # number
+  orange = "#B24A00"; # variable
+
+  accent = "#0051C2";
+  brand = "#D97757";
+
+  ansi = {
+    black = "#2B303B"; # punctuation
+    white = "#52514E"; # --cds-text-secondary
+    brightBlack = "#6E7687"; # comment
+    brightWhite = "#131313"; # fg
+  };
+
+  selection = {
+    bg = "#CDE2FB"; # --accent-900 light: Claude's own selection tint
+    fg = "#131313";
+  };
+  cursor = "#131313";
+  cursorText = "#F9F9F7";
+
+  border = {
+    active = "#A5A49A"; # --_gray-300
+    inactive = "#D2D1C7"; # --_gray-150
+    urgent = "#B80A18";
+  };
+  tabIndicator = {
+    active = "#8100C2";
+    inactive = "#97958D"; # --text-400 light
+  };
+  insertHint = "#8100C280";
+
+  # GTK: MacTahoe recoloured to Claude's light tokens, clay accent
+  # (pkgs/mactahoe-gtk-theme.nix, variant claude).
+  gtk = {
+    package = "mactahoe-claude-gtk-theme";
+    theme = "MacTahoe-Claude-Light-orange";
+    colorScheme = "prefer-light";
+  };
+}
diff --git a/home/themes/default.nix b/home/themes/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9d87628bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/home/themes/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,223 @@
+# The palette source of truth and the per-consumer renderers.
+#
+# Three hand-curated themes, no generation from wallpapers: each *.nix here is a
+# plain attrset keyed by ROLE (fg, comment, red, ground.base, …), never by
+# consumer. `render` turns one palette into the color FRAGMENT each app
+# includes; home/theme.nix writes every fragment for every theme under
+# ~/.config/themes/<name>/ and the RAW config files join theirs through the
+# app's own include of ~/.config/theme/<fragment>, a symlink ~/.local/bin/theme
+# flips at runtime. Design: docs/theme-switcher-2026-09-17.md.
+#
+# Pure: `{ lib }` only, so a preview can be rendered with a bare `nix eval`
+# before any switch (see the doc's "Testing before a switch").
+{ lib }:
+let
+  header = t: mark: "${mark} GENERATED by home/theme.nix from home/themes/${t.name}.nix — edit the palette, not this file.";
+
+  kitty = t: ''
+    ${header t "#"}
+    # Joined by kitty.conf's `include ''${HOME}/.config/theme/kitty.conf`.
+    background ${t.ground.base}
+    foreground ${t.fg}
+    selection_background ${t.selection.bg}
+    selection_foreground ${t.selection.fg}
+    cursor ${t.cursor}
+    cursor_text_color ${t.cursorText}
+    cursor_trail_color ${t.accent}
+    url_color ${t.accent}
+
+    # black
+    color0 ${t.ansi.black}
+    color8 ${t.ansi.brightBlack}
+    # red
+    color1 ${t.red}
+    color9 ${t.red}
+    # green
+    color2 ${t.green}
+    color10 ${t.green}
+    # yellow
+    color3 ${t.yellow}
+    color11 ${t.yellow}
+    # blue
+    color4 ${t.blue}
+    color12 ${t.blue}
+    # magenta
+    color5 ${t.magenta}
+    color13 ${t.magenta}
+    # cyan
+    color6 ${t.cyan}
+    color14 ${t.cyan}
+    # white
+    color7 ${t.ansi.white}
+    color15 ${t.ansi.brightWhite}
+
+    # tabs
+    active_tab_background ${t.ground.base}
+    active_tab_foreground ${t.fg}
+    inactive_tab_background ${t.ground.dim}
+    inactive_tab_foreground ${t.comment}
+    tab_bar_background ${t.ground.dim}
+
+    # marks
+    mark1_foreground ${t.ground.base}
+    mark1_background ${t.magenta}
+
+    # splits: the divider matches niri's INACTIVE window border, so a kitty
+    # split reads as a quiet niri-native divider (Tom 2026-07-15).
+    active_border_color ${t.border.inactive}
+    inactive_border_color ${t.ground.base}
+  '';
+
+  # Ghostty (libghostty inside cmux Browser's terminal panes): the kitty
+  # fragment, key for key, in Ghostty's `key = value` grammar.
+  ghostty = t: ''
+    ${header t "#"}
+    # Joined by ghostty/config.ghostty's `config-file = ?/home/tom/.config/theme/ghostty`.
+    background = ${t.ground.base}
+    foreground = ${t.fg}
+    selection-background = ${t.selection.bg}
+    selection-foreground = ${t.selection.fg}
+    cursor-color = ${t.cursor}
+    cursor-text = ${t.cursorText}
+
+    # black
+    palette = 0=${t.ansi.black}
+    palette = 8=${t.ansi.brightBlack}
+    # red
+    palette = 1=${t.red}
+    palette = 9=${t.red}
+    # green
+    palette = 2=${t.green}
+    palette = 10=${t.green}
+    # yellow
+    palette = 3=${t.yellow}
+    palette = 11=${t.yellow}
+    # blue
+    palette = 4=${t.blue}
+    palette = 12=${t.blue}
+    # magenta
+    palette = 5=${t.magenta}
+    palette = 13=${t.magenta}
+    # cyan
+    palette = 6=${t.cyan}
+    palette = 14=${t.cyan}
+    # white
+    palette = 7=${t.ansi.white}
+    palette = 15=${t.ansi.brightWhite}
+
+    # splits: as kitty, the divider is niri's INACTIVE window border.
+    split-divider-color = ${t.border.inactive}
+    unfocused-split-fill = ${t.ground.base}
+  '';
+
+  niri = t: ''
+    ${header t "//"}
+    // Joined by niri/config.kdl's `include optional=true "~/.config/theme/niri.kdl"`,
+    // LAST, so these merge over layout.kdl / misc.kdl (niri merges sections
+    // across includes; later wins per property — wiki, Configuration: Include).
+    layout {
+        border {
+            on
+            active-color "${t.border.active}"
+            inactive-color "${t.border.inactive}"
+            urgent-color "${t.border.urgent}"
+        }
+        tab-indicator {
+            active-color "${t.tabIndicator.active}"
+            inactive-color "${t.tabIndicator.inactive}"
+            urgent-color "${t.border.urgent}"
+        }
+        insert-hint {
+            color "${t.insertHint}"
+        }
+        background-color "${t.ground.desktop}"
+    }
+    overview {
+        backdrop-color "${t.ground.desktop}"
+    }
+  '';
+
+  # fish wants bare hex, no '#'.
+  bare = c: lib.removePrefix "#" c;
+  fish = t: ''
+    ${header t "#"}
+    # Sourced by fish/conf.d/colors.fish (which also re-sources it when the
+    # ~/.config/theme symlink moves). Roles follow the nvim/kitty mapping.
+    set -g fish_color_normal ${bare t.fg}
+    set -g fish_color_command ${bare t.blue}
+    set -g fish_color_param ${bare t.green}
+    set -g fish_color_keyword ${bare t.red}
+    set -g fish_color_quote ${bare t.green}
+    set -g fish_color_end ${bare t.orange}
+    set -g fish_color_comment ${bare t.comment}
+    set -g fish_color_error ${bare t.red}
+    set -g fish_color_option ${bare t.green}
+    set -g fish_color_cancel ${bare t.red}
+    set -g fish_color_cwd ${bare t.yellow}
+    set -g fish_color_user ${bare t.cyan}
+    set -g fish_color_host ${bare t.blue}
+    set -g fish_color_host_remote ${bare t.green}
+    set -g fish_color_status ${bare t.red}
+    set -g fish_pager_color_completion ${bare t.fg}
+  '';
+
+  q = s: ''"${s}"'';
+  lua = t: ''
+    ${header t "--"}
+    -- dofile()'d by nvim/lua/theme.lua; returns the palette as a Lua table.
+    return {
+      name = ${q t.name},
+      polarity = ${q t.polarity},
+      catppuccinFlavour = ${q t.catppuccinFlavour},
+      ground = { base = ${q t.ground.base}, dim = ${q t.ground.dim}, raised = ${q t.ground.raised}, desktop = ${q t.ground.desktop} },
+      fg = ${q t.fg}, fgDim = ${q t.fgDim}, comment = ${q t.comment}, muted = ${q t.muted},
+      red = ${q t.red}, green = ${q t.green}, yellow = ${q t.yellow}, blue = ${q t.blue},
+      magenta = ${q t.magenta}, cyan = ${q t.cyan}, orange = ${q t.orange},
+      accent = ${q t.accent}, brand = ${q t.brand},
+      selection = { bg = ${q t.selection.bg}, fg = ${q t.selection.fg} },
+      border = { active = ${q t.border.active}, inactive = ${q t.border.inactive}, urgent = ${q t.border.urgent} },
+    }
+  '';
+
+  # key=value, read by ~/.local/bin/theme with `read`, never sourced.
+  # icon_suffix: the MacTahoe icon dirs are MacTahoe[-<accent>]-{dark,light};
+  # the accent comes from `wallpaper`, the polarity from here.
+  meta = t: ''
+    name=${t.name}
+    polarity=${t.polarity}
+    claude_code=${t.claudeCode}
+    gtk_theme=${t.gtk.theme}
+    color_scheme=${t.gtk.colorScheme}
+    icon_suffix=${if t.polarity == "light" then "light" else "dark"}
+  '';
+in
+rec {
+  themes = {
+    noir = import ./noir.nix;
+    claude-dark = import ./claude-dark.nix;
+    claude-light = import ./claude-light.nix;
+  };
+
+  # Every theme must fill every role: a missing key would surface as a Nix
+  # eval error deep in a string interpolation, so check up front.
+  roles = [ "name" "polarity" "catppuccinFlavour" "claudeCode" "ground" "fg" "fgDim" "comment" "muted"
+    "red" "green" "yellow" "blue" "magenta" "cyan" "orange" "accent" "brand" "ansi" "selection"
+    "cursor" "cursorText" "border" "tabIndicator" "insertHint" "gtk" ];
+  checked = lib.mapAttrs (n: t:
+    let missing = lib.filter (r: !(t ? ${r})) roles;
+    in if missing == [ ] && t.name == n then t
+       else throw "home/themes/${n}.nix: name=${t.name}, missing roles: ${toString missing}") themes;
+
+  render = t: {
+    "kitty.conf" = kitty t;
+    "ghostty" = ghostty t;
+    "niri.kdl" = niri t;
+    "colors.fish" = fish t;
+    "theme.lua" = lua t;
+    "meta" = meta t;
+  };
+
+  # { "themes/<name>/<fragment>" = text; } for every theme — what theme.nix emits.
+  fragments = lib.concatMapAttrs (name: t:
+    lib.mapAttrs' (f: text: lib.nameValuePair "themes/${name}/${f}" text) (render t)) checked;
+}
diff --git a/home/themes/noir.nix b/home/themes/noir.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2df31e362
--- /dev/null
+++ b/home/themes/noir.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+# noir — Tom's catppuccin-noir: Claude Dark's accents on pure OLED black.
+#
+# The accents are Claude Dark's 12-role syntax palette, bit for bit
+# (~/colors/waves/capture/claude-code-theme/claude-themes-SOURCE.json, extracted
+# from the claude.ai bundle). The grounds are #000000 — panel-off black on the
+# Zenbook's OLED, and the habit the whole colorscheme investigation started from
+# (~/colors/HANDOFF.md §1). noir differs from claude-dark ONLY in `ground` and
+# `muted`; everything else is shared by construction, see claude-dark.nix.
+{
+  name = "noir";
+  polarity = "dark";
+  catppuccinFlavour = "mocha";
+  claudeCode = "dark"; # ~/.claude.json "theme"
+
+  ground = {
+    base = "#000000"; # terminal / editor background
+    dim = "#000000"; # tab bar, one step below base
+    raised = "#000000"; # popups, one step above base
+    desktop = "#000000"; # niri background-color + overview backdrop
+  };
+
+  fg = "#EAECF0"; # Claude Dark `fg`
+  fgDim = "#D3D7DE"; # Claude Dark `punctuation`
+  comment = "#818898"; # Claude Dark `comment`
+  muted = "#45475a"; # inactive UI text (catppuccin mocha surface1, as bufferline had it)
+
+  red = "#F47B85"; # property
+  green = "#9BE963"; # string
+  yellow = "#f9e2af"; # catppuccin mocha yellow — Claude's palette has no yellow role
+  blue = "#70B8FF"; # function
+  magenta = "#CC7BF4"; # keyword
+  cyan = "#5EEDED"; # number
+  orange = "#FBAD60"; # variable
+
+  accent = "#70B8FF"; # URLs, cursor trail
+  brand = "#D97757"; # Anthropic clay — identical in Claude's light and dark tokens
+
+  # The 16 ANSI slots. Bright 1–6 equal normal 1–6: Claude's palette has exactly
+  # one hue per role, and that is how kitty.conf has always been.
+  ansi = {
+    black = "#000000";
+    white = "#D3D7DE";
+    brightBlack = "#818898";
+    brightWhite = "#EAECF0";
+  };
+
+  selection = {
+    bg = "#264F78"; # Claude Code's TUI selection highlight (also VS Code's default)
+    fg = "#EAECF0";
+  };
+  cursor = "#EAECF0";
+  cursorText = "#000000";
+
+  border = {
+    active = "#555451";
+    inactive = "#373735";
+    urgent = "#F47B85";
+  };
+  tabIndicator = {
+    active = "#CC7BF4";
+    inactive = "#818898";
+  };
+  insertHint = "#CC7BF480";
+
+  # GTK: the OLED-black MacTahoe (pkgs/mactahoe-gtk-theme.nix, variant oled).
+  gtk = {
+    package = "mactahoe-gtk-theme"; # pkgs attr, resolved in home/theme.nix
+    theme = "MacTahoe-Dark-grey";
+    colorScheme = "prefer-dark";
+  };
+}
diff --git a/hosts/coordinator/disko.nix b/hosts/coordinator/disko.nix
index 7140edc8e..e0f067d0d 100644
--- a/hosts/coordinator/disko.nix
+++ b/hosts/coordinator/disko.nix
@@ -64,6 +64,17 @@
   # Wiped blank before the physical move (no partition table, no bootloader),
   # then laid out here.
   #
+  # ── OWNERSHIP (Tom, 2026-09-19) ─────────────────────────────────────────────
+  # THIS DISK BELONGS TO SODIMO. It is one of exactly two sodimo-owned items in
+  # the fleet, the other being the `worker` chassis. It is here only because the
+  # 2026-08-30 transition fitted Tom's own 1TB (26051Y809195) into worker and
+  # moved this one across.
+  #
+  # It LEAVES with worker (2+ months out as of 2026-09-19; per FRONT-10 no agent
+  # invents or enforces that date). /home lives on it, so that departure is a
+  # migration off this disk, not an unplug — plan it as one. Afterwards the
+  # coordinator runs on its own 1TB anchor 25140U804698 with no secondary.
+  #
   # ── The rule this disk exists to enforce ────────────────────────────────────
   # The 1TB anchor holds the OS and only the OS: the nix store and everything
   # NixOS derives from it, /etc, /var, and the local-models weight collection.
diff --git a/hosts/coordinator/services.nix b/hosts/coordinator/services.nix
index 572a545d4..0ed3e5eca 100644
--- a/hosts/coordinator/services.nix
+++ b/hosts/coordinator/services.nix
@@ -43,9 +43,8 @@ in
 # satisfied WITHOUT a password file and the old immich-db.age secret is retired.
 # services.immich also subsumes the redis + machine-learning sidecars natively.
 # The navidrome-credentials secret is unrelated to the server — it is consumed
-# client-side by the cliamp fish function — and is delivered in
-# modules/secrets.nix (coordinator only since the zenbook-duo left the fleet,
-# 2026-08-30; it was the second cliamp host).
+# client-side by the navidrome-scan fish function — and is delivered in
+# modules/secrets.nix (coordinator only).
 #
 # Reachability: both bind 0.0.0.0, but the firewall opens their ports ONLY on
 # tailscale0 (the trust model the wayvnc door used until the 2026-09-11 flip
@@ -225,9 +224,7 @@ in
 
     # navidrome-credentials delivery moved to modules/secrets.nix (2026-07-13):
     # it's NOT consumed by the navidrome server here — only read client-side by
-    # the cliamp fish function. It moved there when cliamp gained a second host
-    # (zenbook-duo, retired 2026-08-30) and a single host-agnostic block beat
-    # duplicating the delivery; it stays there now that the coordinator is the
-    # only recipient again, because that is where secret delivery belongs.
+    # the navidrome-scan fish function. It stays there because that is where
+    # secret delivery belongs.
   };
 }
diff --git a/hosts/nas/disko.nix b/hosts/nas/disko.nix
index 87df34a1e..6736258f4 100644
--- a/hosts/nas/disko.nix
+++ b/hosts/nas/disko.nix
@@ -42,6 +42,16 @@
   # generated media (media.nix). Random-I/O state belongs here: it would be
   # wear on the eMMC and seek chatter on the HDD. The mountpoint move was
   # non-destructive — same filesystem, never reformatted.
+  #
+  # ── In the 2026-09-19 disk shuffle ──────────────────────────────────────────
+  # This Fanxiang is Tom's and is a CANDIDATE TO MOVE to the fanless desk NUC:
+  # 256GB is ample for a seat that only runs Chromium. In that option the 1TB
+  # freed by the worker return lands here instead, taking /mnt/fast to 1TB.
+  # The alternative sends the freed 1TB straight to the NUC and leaves this
+  # disk alone. Undecided as of 2026-09-19; either way nothing is purchased.
+  # If this disk does move, /mnt/fast is offline in the interim — it was 49%
+  # of 234G at the 2026-09-18 census and carries PostgreSQL, Navidrome state,
+  # Immich generated media and the remote journal. Check those before moving.
   disko.devices.disk.journal = {
     type = "disk";
     device = "/dev/disk/by-id/nvme-Fanxiang_S500Pro_256GB_26040259615000015";
diff --git a/hosts/nas/media.nix b/hosts/nas/media.nix
index f83d96420..315d0cb51 100644
--- a/hosts/nas/media.nix
+++ b/hosts/nas/media.nix
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ in
           # Enabled && ScanOnStartup). Upstream defaults this to TRUE, and this
           # is what was actually firing: the service is socket-activated,
           # StopWhenUnneeded, behind a proxy that exits after 15 min idle, so
-          # it restarts constantly and every cliamp launch or web-UI visit
+          # it restarts constantly and every client connect or web-UI visit
           # after a quiet spell triggered a full 34k-file walk. One was watched
           # taking 9+ minutes on 2026-08-18.
           ScanOnStartup = false;
diff --git a/hosts/worker/disko.nix b/hosts/worker/disko.nix
index 0f8f06405..9fd20028d 100644
--- a/hosts/worker/disko.nix
+++ b/hosts/worker/disko.nix
@@ -6,6 +6,22 @@
   # 500GB paired against the coordinator's 1TB was the fleet's dual-node
   # capacity ceiling.
   #
+  # ── OWNERSHIP (Tom, 2026-09-19) ─────────────────────────────────────────────
+  # THIS DISK IS TOM'S, NOT SODIMO'S. sodimo owns exactly two items in this
+  # fleet: the `worker` chassis and the 500GB SN7100 260538801482 — and that
+  # 500GB is fitted in the COORDINATOR today, not here. When worker goes back
+  # (2+ months out as of 2026-09-19; per FRONT-10 no agent invents or enforces
+  # that date), the 500GB returns to this chassis and THIS 1TB COMES OUT.
+  #
+  # Do not read "worker's boot disk" as "unavailable". That is a filesystem
+  # fact, not an ownership fact, and conflating the two sent the silent-desk
+  # planning down a wrong path until it was corrected on 2026-09-19.
+  #
+  # The freed 1TB is the fleet's ENTIRE NVMe surplus. It is spoken for: either
+  # it becomes the fanless desk NUC's disk, or it upgrades the NAS /mnt/fast
+  # (256GB -> 1TB) and the NAS's Fanxiang 256GB goes to the NUC instead.
+  # Undecided. Standing constraint (Tom, 2026-09-19): NO NEW M.2 IS PURCHASED.
+  #
   # ── Why the attr is `w1t` and NOT `main` ────────────────────────────────────
   # disko derives GPT partition NAMES from the attr: `main` yields
   # `disk-main-ESP` / `disk-main-root`. The coordinator's anchor uses those same
diff --git a/modules/common.nix b/modules/common.nix
index 2fcaa0bba..822b601a5 100644
--- a/modules/common.nix
+++ b/modules/common.nix
@@ -413,11 +413,15 @@
   # --- env (qt + gtk theming) ---
   environment.sessionVariables = {
     QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME = "qt6ct";
-    # GTK reads GTK_THEME with the highest priority. niri has no XSettings/settings
-    # daemon, so this system-wide export (reaching GUI apps via the PAM session) is
-    # what makes GTK3 apps like Nautilus honor the theme without nwg-look. It must be
-    # here, not home.sessionVariables (which only reaches interactive shells).
-    GTK_THEME = "MacTahoe-Dark-grey";
+    # GTK_THEME is gone (2026-09-17). It pinned MacTahoe-Dark-grey for every GTK
+    # app because niri has no settings daemon — but GTK3's Wayland backend reads
+    # org.gnome.desktop.interface straight from gsettings/dconf and follows it
+    # LIVE, provided the schema is installed; it never was (no gschemas.compiled
+    # with that schema anywhere on XDG_DATA_DIRS), which is the actual reason
+    # gsettings-driven theming looked dead here. gsettings-desktop-schemas is in
+    # systemPackages below, and ~/.local/bin/theme sets gtk-theme / icon-theme /
+    # color-scheme per theme. An env var cannot change under a running session,
+    # so it had to go for the theme switcher to work without a re-login.
     # Chromium/Electron (google-chrome + PWA launchers) only run native Wayland
     # under niri with this set; otherwise they fall back to X11 and blur/fail.
     NIXOS_OZONE_WL = "1";
@@ -434,6 +438,19 @@
 
   # --- base system packages (the rest are user packages in home/) ---
   environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
+    # --- gsettings-driven GTK theming (theme switcher, 2026-09-17) ---
+    # glib: the `gsettings` CLI ~/.local/bin/theme calls (it was on no PATH in
+    # the session, so startup.kdl's old `spawn-at-startup "gsettings" …` lines
+    # had been failing silently). The schemas: nixpkgs installs them under
+    # share/gsettings-schemas/<pkg>/, which only wrapped apps see; GTK's own
+    # lookup is $XDG_DATA_DIRS/glib-2.0/schemas, so re-home them there
+    # (precompiled — no glib-compile-schemas pass depends on glib.dev).
+    glib
+    (runCommand "gsettings-desktop-schemas-on-xdg-data-dirs" { } ''
+      mkdir -p $out/share/glib-2.0/schemas
+      cp ${gsettings-desktop-schemas}/share/gsettings-schemas/*/glib-2.0/schemas/* $out/share/glib-2.0/schemas/
+      test -f $out/share/glib-2.0/schemas/gschemas.compiled
+    '')
     git
     vim
     wl-clipboard
diff --git a/modules/secrets.nix b/modules/secrets.nix
index 20e6ede9f..135c0bd19 100644
--- a/modules/secrets.nix
+++ b/modules/secrets.nix
@@ -23,35 +23,12 @@ in
 
   config = lib.mkIf cfg.enable (
     lib.mkMerge [
-      # Claude Code OAuth credential — coordinator ONLY, and the recipient tier in
-      # ../secrets.nix now matches (aug04 ruling), so this MUST stay host-gated:
-      # no other host can decrypt the ciphertext, and declaring an undecryptable
-      # secret fails activation. The zenbook was already excluded (jul12 ruling:
-      # the laptop is a standalone backup operator for when the coordinator is
-      # unreachable, so it logs in with its OWN fresh OAuth session instead of
-      # inheriting the coordinator's token — two devices refreshing one shared
-      # token can race and sign each other out); the nas joined it aug04 for the
-      # simpler reason that it has no `claude` and never spent the token.
-      (lib.mkIf (config.networking.hostName == "coordinator") {
-        age.secrets.claude-credentials = {
-          file = ../secrets/claude-credentials.age;
-          owner = "tom";
-          group = "users";
-          mode = "600";
-        };
-
-        # Seed the Claude Code OAuth credential once into a WRITABLE path Claude owns —
-        # agenix delivers a read-only /run/agenix symlink, but Claude must rewrite the
-        # file on token refresh, so copy rather than link, and only if absent.
-        system.userActivationScripts.seedClaudeCreds.text = ''
-          cred="$HOME/.claude/.credentials.json"
-          if [ ! -e "$cred" ] && [ -r "${config.age.secrets.claude-credentials.path}" ]; then
-            mkdir -p "$HOME/.claude"
-            cp "${config.age.secrets.claude-credentials.path}" "$cred"
-            chmod 600 "$cred"
-          fi
-        '';
-      })
+      # (claude-credentials — the Claude Code OAuth token seeded into
+      # ~/.claude/.credentials.json — was declared and copied here until
+      # 2026-09-22. The token had been dead since its August 4 rotation, and a
+      # seed that fires whenever the file is absent can only ever revert a fresh
+      # `/login` after a rebuild. Both Claude seats now log in by hand, once,
+      # on the coordinator: cc into ~/.claude, cc2 into ~/.claude-work.)
 
       # NOT ungated any more (2026-08-28). This block delivers ssh-user-key and
       # atuin-key, whose ciphertexts are encrypted to the `delivered` tier — and
@@ -323,12 +300,10 @@ in
 
       # navidrome-credentials: NOT consumed by the navidrome server (which now
       # runs on the NAS, hosts/nas/media.nix, reached through the coordinator's
-      # navidrome-relay) — read client-side by the cliamp fish function, on
-      # whichever box cliamp runs from. Coordinator-only since the zenbook left
-      # the fleet (2026-08-30), matching the recipient tier in secrets.nix. The wrapper exports the
-      # file's NAVIDROME_PASSWORD under both that name (which config.toml's
-      # ${NAVIDROME_PASSWORD} placeholder interpolates) and NAVIDROME_PASS
-      # (which cliamp's config-less env fallback reads).
+      # navidrome-relay) — read client-side by the navidrome-scan fish function
+      # (NAVIDROME_USER / NAVIDROME_PASSWORD). Coordinator-only, matching the
+      # recipient tier in secrets.nix. (Its first reader, the cliamp TUI client,
+      # was removed 2026-09-17.)
       (lib.mkIf (config.networking.hostName == "coordinator") {
           age.secrets.navidrome-credentials = {
             file = ../secrets/navidrome-credentials.age;
@@ -394,8 +369,7 @@ in
       })
 
       # soundcloud-cookies: consumed by the music-consolidation drain's yt-dlp
-      # invocations (systemd user units, coordinator-only). NOT for cliamp — see
-      # secrets.nix for why cliamp needs no secret here.
+      # invocations (systemd user units, coordinator-only).
       (lib.mkIf (config.networking.hostName == "coordinator") {
         age.secrets.soundcloud-cookies = {
           file = ../secrets/soundcloud-cookies.age;
diff --git a/overlays/default.nix b/overlays/default.nix
index 7586ddccf..eec5f8be1 100644
--- a/overlays/default.nix
+++ b/overlays/default.nix
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ final: prev: {
   # the mactahoe-oled staging repo (since deleted 2026-07-04); pkgs/ is the home.
   # Icons: stock default (blue folders); GTK: light+dark grey, dark OLED-patched.
   mactahoe-gtk-theme = final.callPackage ../pkgs/mactahoe-gtk-theme.nix { };
+  # the same source build recoloured to claude.ai's light/dark tokens, for the
+  # theme switcher's claude-dark / claude-light (home/themes/, docs/theme-switcher-2026-09-17.md)
+  mactahoe-claude-gtk-theme = final.callPackage ../pkgs/mactahoe-gtk-theme.nix { variant = "claude"; };
   mactahoe-icon-theme = final.callPackage ../pkgs/mactahoe-icon-theme.nix { };
 
   # Backlog.md — markdown-native task manager CLI (`backlog`). Not in nixpkgs;
@@ -65,10 +68,6 @@ final: prev: {
   # Replaces paper-intake (paper-print-flush). See home/paper.nix.
   paper-daemon = final.callPackage ../pkgs/paper-daemon { };
 
-  # cliamp — terminal music player (Winamp-inspired TUI). Not in nixpkgs (2026-07-06).
-  # Connects to navidrome via Subsonic API. Config at home/dot_config/cliamp/.
-  # CGO on Linux via ebitengine/oto → ALSA. See pkgs/cliamp.nix.
-  cliamp = final.callPackage ../pkgs/cliamp.nix { };
 
   # CLI-Anything — pinned cli-hub Python app plus immutable Codex/Claude/Pi
   # integrations. Upstream has no flake; see modules/cli-anything.nix.
diff --git a/pkgs/cliamp.nix b/pkgs/cliamp.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 68a2192f5..000000000
--- a/pkgs/cliamp.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,85 +0,0 @@
-{
-  lib,
-  fetchFromGitHub,
-  buildGoModule,
-  pkg-config,
-  alsa-lib,
-  libogg,
-  libvorbis,
-  flac,
-  makeWrapper,
-  yt-dlp,
-  ffmpeg,
-}:
-
-# cliamp — terminal music player (Winamp-inspired TUI).
-# Packaged from source: not in nixpkgs (verified 2026-07-06).
-# Uses CGO on Linux via ebitengine/oto → ALSA (libasound).
-#
-# Was pinned at v1.9.0 from 2026-07-06 until 2026-08-18. That release's
-# Navidrome client was 143 lines exposing exactly three Subsonic endpoints —
-# getPlaylists, getPlaylist, stream — so the library could only ever be browsed
-# as playlists; there was no artist or album browsing at all. Its config loader
-# was likewise a flat key=value scanner over ten hardcoded keys, which silently
-# dropped every [navidrome]/[soundcloud] section and did no ${VAR} expansion,
-# leaving the server configurable only through NAVIDROME_URL/USER/PASS.
-#
-# v1.63.2 fixes both: NavidromeClient now implements provider.ArtistBrowser and
-# provider.AlbumBrowser over getArtists/getArtist/getAlbum/getAlbumList2/search3,
-# and the config parser understands real sections plus ${VAR} interpolation from
-# the environment. home/dot_config/cliamp/config.toml depends on both.
-#
-# vendorHash: from `go mod vendor` on the v1.63.2 source. If it drifts on a
-# version bump, rebuild with lib.fakeHash and take the value from the error.
-buildGoModule rec {
-  pname = "cliamp";
-  version = "1.63.2";
-
-  src = fetchFromGitHub {
-    owner = "bjarneo";
-    repo = "cliamp";
-    rev = "v${version}";
-    hash = "sha256-HqFDT8jGvrKqb6bupvXqZ5ECpvColRB5dXPwcKCX4RQ=";
-  };
-
-  vendorHash = "sha256-WYyv0w5KFA15axb+NA9tClfc1H4Znj8kI2boR8XziXg=";
-
-  nativeBuildInputs = [
-    pkg-config
-    makeWrapper
-  ];
-  # alsa-lib for the oto audio backend; the ogg/vorbis/flac trio arrived with
-  # v1.63.2's go-librespot (Spotify) dependency, which cgo-links them via
-  # pkg-config and fails the build outright when they are absent.
-  buildInputs = [
-    alsa-lib
-    libogg
-    libvorbis
-    flac
-  ];
-
-  ldflags = [
-    "-s"
-    "-w"
-    "-X main.version=v${version}"
-  ];
-
-  # cliamp shells out to these by bare name for non-native formats (aac/opus/wma
-  # go through ffmpeg) and for SoundCloud/YouTube/Bandcamp URLs. Wrapping keeps
-  # it working regardless of what happens to be on the ambient PATH.
-  postInstall = ''
-    wrapProgram $out/bin/cliamp \
-      --prefix PATH : ${lib.makeBinPath [ yt-dlp ffmpeg ]}
-  '';
-
-  meta = with lib; {
-    description = "Terminal music player (Winamp-inspired) with Navidrome/Subsonic, Spotify, and local file support";
-    homepage = "https://www.cliamp.stream/";
-    license = licenses.mit;
-    mainProgram = "cliamp";
-    platforms = [
-      "x86_64-linux"
-      "aarch64-linux"
-    ];
-  };
-}
diff --git a/pkgs/mactahoe-gtk-theme.nix b/pkgs/mactahoe-gtk-theme.nix
index 4fb01032f..abb6a4ab7 100644
--- a/pkgs/mactahoe-gtk-theme.nix
+++ b/pkgs/mactahoe-gtk-theme.nix
@@ -1,19 +1,28 @@
-# MacTahoe GTK theme — light + dark, grey accent, with the custom OLED-black
-# surfaces on the dark variants.
+# MacTahoe GTK theme, recoloured at the SCSS source for the theme switcher.
 #
 # Built from upstream source (vinceliuice/MacTahoe-gtk-theme), NOT vendored.
-# The ONLY customization is OLED black: upstream's dark surface colors in
-# src/sass/_colors.scss (#242424 base/backdrop, #333333 bg/headerbar) forced to
-# pure black ("rgba(5,5,5,0.96) → #000000 for true OLED black"). The
-# swapped values sit in the dark-only branch of the if(...)s, so the Light
-# variants are 100% stock. The grey accent and the solid opacity variant are
-# STOCK install.sh flags, not customizations.
+# One derivation per `variant`; the only customisation is a set of colour
+# substitutions in src/sass/_colors.scss (and, for claude, the accent in
+# _colors-palette.scss), applied with --replace-fail so upstream drift is
+# caught at build time. The grey/orange accent and the solid opacity variant
+# are STOCK install.sh flags, not customisations.
+#
+#   oled   (default) — Tom's noir: upstream's dark surfaces (#242424
+#          base/backdrop, #333333 bg/headerbar) forced to pure black
+#          ("rgba(5,5,5,0.96) → #000000 for true OLED black"). Dark-only
+#          branch of the if(...)s, so its Light variants are 100% stock.
+#          Theme dirs: MacTahoe-{Dark,Light}[-solid]-grey[-(x)hdpi].
+#   claude — both branches recoloured to claude.ai's own light and dark
+#          tokens (~/colors/waves/capture/claude-code-theme/claude-tokens-
+#          {light,dark}.json), accent = Anthropic clay #D97757 via the
+#          `orange` slot. Theme dirs: MacTahoe-Claude-{Dark,Light}[-solid]-
+#          orange[-(x)hdpi]. Consumed by home/themes/claude-{dark,light}.nix.
 #
 # Modeled on nixpkgs' whitesur-gtk-theme derivation — MacTahoe's install.sh is a
 # direct fork of WhiteSur's, so the same sudo/$HOME/shebang fixups apply.
 #
 # Builds once, then content-addressed: a normal `switch` reuses the store path
-# (0s); it only rebuilds when `rev`/the OLED swap changes, and CI→cache means
+# (0s); it only rebuilds when `rev`/a substitution changes, and CI→cache means
 # other devices substitute the result instead of building.
 {
   lib,
@@ -25,10 +34,62 @@
   libxml2,
   sassc,
   util-linux,
+  variant ? "oled",
 }:
-
+let
+  variants = {
+    oled = {
+      pname = "mactahoe-gtk-theme-oled-grey";
+      themeName = "MacTahoe";
+      accent = "grey";
+      description = "MacTahoe GTK theme, light + dark, grey accent, custom OLED-black dark surfaces";
+      # Dark variant only; $darker is off so only the 3rd value in each
+      # if(...) matters. base/backdrop → pure black, bg/headerbar → near-black
+      # so surfaces stay distinguishable.
+      colorsPatch = ''
+        substituteInPlace src/sass/_colors.scss \
+          --replace-fail '#1f1f1f, #242424))' '#1f1f1f, #000000))' \
+          --replace-fail '#282828, #333333))' '#282828, #0a0a0a))' \
+          --replace-fail '#1e1e1e, #333333))' '#1e1e1e, #0a0a0a))'
+      '';
+    };
+    claude = {
+      pname = "mactahoe-gtk-theme-claude";
+      themeName = "MacTahoe-Claude";
+      accent = "orange";
+      description = "MacTahoe GTK theme recoloured to claude.ai's light and dark tokens, clay accent";
+      # Light = 1st value of each if(...), dark = 3rd. Tokens: bg-000/100/200
+      # (#FFFFFF/#F9F9F7/#F3F3F0 light; #20201F/#151515 dark), text-000/200/400,
+      # cds-text-secondary, accent-100 (links). Dark page = bg-100 #151515 with
+      # bg-000 #20201F as the raised surface (headerbar, bg, sidebar), the
+      # relation MacTahoe's stock dark already has (base darker than bg).
+      colorsPatch = ''
+        substituteInPlace src/sass/_colors.scss \
+          --replace-fail '#1f1f1f, #242424))' '#1f1f1f, #151515))' \
+          --replace-fail "'light', #f5f5f5, if(" "'light', #F9F9F7, if(" \
+          --replace-fail '#282828, #333333)' '#282828, #20201F)' \
+          --replace-fail "'light', #f2f2f2," "'light', #F3F3F0," \
+          --replace-fail "'light', #363636, #dadada)" "'light', #131313, #F9F9F7)" \
+          --replace-fail "'light', #242424, #dedede)" "'light', #131313, #F9F9F7)" \
+          --replace-fail "'light', #424242, #afafaf)" "'light', #383835, #C3C2B7)" \
+          --replace-fail "'light', #565656, #999999)" "'light', #7B7974, #97958D)" \
+          --replace-fail "'light', #ffffff, if(\$darker == 'true', #1e1e1e, #333333))" "'light', #F9F9F7, if(\$darker == 'true', #1e1e1e, #20201F))" \
+          --replace-fail '#242424, #404040), #f5f5f5)' '#242424, #383835), #F3F3F0)' \
+          --replace-fail "'light', #575757, #FDFDFD)" "'light', #52514E, #F9F9F7)" \
+          --replace-fail '#eeeff2, #fefefe)' '#eeeff2, #F3F3F0)' \
+          --replace-fail '#1a1a1a, #2a2a2a)' '#1a1a1a, #151515)' \
+          --replace-fail '#5e81ac, #3484e2)' "#5e81ac, if(\$variant == 'light', #256ABF, #5598E7))"
+        # accent: the `orange` slot becomes Anthropic clay (--accent-brand, the
+        # same hex in Claude's light and dark tokens); built with --theme orange.
+        substituteInPlace src/sass/_colors-palette.scss \
+          --replace-fail '$theme_color_orange:  #E9873A;' '$theme_color_orange:  #D97757;'
+      '';
+    };
+  };
+  v = variants.${variant};
+in
 stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation {
-  pname = "mactahoe-gtk-theme-oled-grey";
+  pname = v.pname;
   # Pinned rev (2026-06-19); bump deliberately to take upstream updates — then
   # `nix build` prints the new hash to paste below. The dark-only build was
   # verified in a nixos/nix container 2026-06-19 (6 variants, OLED-black
@@ -71,14 +132,8 @@ stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation {
       --replace-fail 'prepare_deps() {' 'prepare_deps() { return 0;' \
       --replace-fail 'installation_sorry() {' 'installation_sorry() { return 0;'
 
-    # ── the OLED customization (the whole reason this isn't just nixpkgs) ──
-    # Dark variant only; $darker is off so only the 3rd value in each
-    # if(...) matters. base/backdrop → pure black, bg/headerbar → near-black
-    # so surfaces stay distinguishable. --replace-fail catches upstream drift.
-    substituteInPlace src/sass/_colors.scss \
-      --replace-fail '#1f1f1f, #242424))' '#1f1f1f, #000000))' \
-      --replace-fail '#282828, #333333))' '#282828, #0a0a0a))' \
-      --replace-fail '#1e1e1e, #333333))' '#1e1e1e, #0a0a0a))'
+    # ── the recolouring (the whole reason this isn't just nixpkgs) ──
+    ${v.colorsPatch}
   '';
 
   dontBuild = true;
@@ -89,8 +144,8 @@ stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation {
     # -c light/dark : both colors   -t grey : grey accent   -o normal/solid :
     # both opacities. install.sh also emits the -hdpi/-xhdpi variants
     # automatically, so all 6 dark directories are produced
-    # (MacTahoe-Dark-grey, -Dark-solid-grey, each + -hdpi/-xhdpi) plus the
-    # matching 6 Light dirs.
+    # (<name>-Dark-<accent>, -Dark-solid-<accent>, each + -hdpi/-xhdpi) plus
+    # the matching 6 Light dirs.
     # MacTahoe's no-gnome-shell branch leaves SHELL_VERSION empty (upstream bug),
     # generating invalid SCSS ($GNOME_SHELL: ;). gnome-shell is never present in a
     # build sandbox, so set it explicitly — the overwriting line is gated behind
@@ -100,8 +155,9 @@ stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation {
     # NB: --opacity/--color take ONE value per flag (install.sh does `shift 2`),
     # so multi-value variants must be passed as repeated flags, not space-listed.
     ./install.sh \
+      --name ${v.themeName} \
       --color light --color dark \
-      --theme grey \
+      --theme ${v.accent} \
       --opacity normal --opacity solid \
       --dest $out/share/themes
     jdupes --quiet --link-soft --recurse $out/share
@@ -109,7 +165,7 @@ stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "MacTahoe GTK theme, light + dark, grey accent, custom OLED-black dark surfaces";
+    description = v.description;
     homepage = "https://github.com/vinceliuice/MacTahoe-gtk-theme";
     license = lib.licenses.gpl3Only;
     platforms = lib.platforms.linux;
diff --git a/pkgs/mactahoe-icon-theme.nix b/pkgs/mactahoe-icon-theme.nix
index 24f821a6f..289022b46 100644
--- a/pkgs/mactahoe-icon-theme.nix
+++ b/pkgs/mactahoe-icon-theme.nix
@@ -1,17 +1,20 @@
-# MacTahoe icon theme — stock default (blue folders).
+# MacTahoe icon theme — stock default (blue folders) plus one folder-colour
+# variant per claude.ai/imagine wallpaper accent.
 #
-# 100% STOCK, zero flags beyond --name. Previously this built the `-t grey`
-# variant (grey #686868 folders, itself also stock upstream); reverted to the
-# default blue folder color 2026-07-04. The only reason this derivation exists
-# at all is that MacTahoe (unlike its siblings whitesur-icon-theme /
-# colloid-icon-theme) isn't in nixpkgs yet — re-check occasionally and drop
-# this file when it lands.
+# Stock build otherwise: MacTahoe (unlike whitesur-icon-theme / colloid-icon-theme)
+# isn't in nixpkgs yet — re-check occasionally. Modeled on nixpkgs'
+# whitesur-icon-theme derivation (same upstream author / same install.sh).
 #
-# The default build emits all three dirs (COLOR_VARIANTS=('' '-light' '-dark')):
-# MacTahoe, MacTahoe-light, MacTahoe-dark.
-#
-# Modeled on nixpkgs' whitesur-icon-theme derivation (same upstream author /
-# same install.sh). No patch — so this could even be upstreamed to nixpkgs.
+# The default build emits COLOR_VARIANTS=('' '-light' '-dark'): MacTahoe,
+# MacTahoe-light, MacTahoe-dark. Folder colours are install.sh "themes": each
+# stock one is a directory colors/color-<name>/ of 18 folder SVGs drawn in ONE
+# hex (grey = #686868) over white/black overlays, copied over places/scalable.
+# The accents below add colors/color-<accent>/ generated from the grey set with
+# that hex swapped for the wallpaper's own ground — the darker of the two
+# grounds Anthropic ships per theme (~/colors/waves/capture/imagine-background.css
+# --bg-primary-dark) — so `wallpaper olive` can put olive folders in Nautilus.
+# Emitted as MacTahoe-<accent>{,-light,-dark}; everything but the folders
+# dedupes to one copy under jdupes. Consumed by ~/.local/bin/theme (`theme icons`).
 {
   lib,
   stdenvNoCC,
@@ -20,7 +23,24 @@
   hicolor-icon-theme,
   jdupes,
 }:
-
+let
+  # accent → folder hex: the imagine theme's --bg-primary-dark.
+  accents = {
+    oat = "#d9d1c3";
+    olive = "#697751";
+    cactus = "#b6c8c1";
+    sky = "#6488b4";
+    fig = "#a55b74";
+    heather = "#c0bed2";
+    coral = "#dec4c4";
+  };
+  accentVariants = lib.concatMapStringsSep " " (a: "'-${a}'") (lib.attrNames accents);
+  mkAccent = a: hex: ''
+    cp -r colors/color-grey colors/color-${a}
+    sed -i "s/#686868/${hex}/g" colors/color-${a}/*.svg
+    grep -q "${hex}" colors/color-${a}/folder.svg
+  '';
+in
 stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation {
   pname = "mactahoe-icon-theme";
   version = "0-unstable-2026-06-19";
@@ -46,13 +66,18 @@ stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation {
 
   postPatch = ''
     patchShebangs install.sh
+    # the accent folder sets, then make install.sh's `--theme all` mean
+    # "default + the accents" (the stock colours are not built).
+    ${lib.concatStrings (lib.mapAttrsToList mkAccent accents)}
+    substituteInPlace install.sh \
+      --replace-fail "THEME_VARIANTS=(''' '-blue' '-purple' '-green' '-red' '-orange' '-yellow' '-grey' '-nord')" \
+                     "THEME_VARIANTS=(''' ${accentVariants})"
   '';
 
   installPhase = ''
     runHook preInstall
     # --name is required: without it the theme dirs inherit the build-dir name.
-    # No --theme flag: default = blue folders.
-    ./install.sh --dest $out/share/icons --name MacTahoe
+    ./install.sh --dest $out/share/icons --name MacTahoe --theme all
     jdupes --link-soft --recurse $out/share
     runHook postInstall
   '';
@@ -60,10 +85,14 @@ stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation {
   # drop dangling symlinks upstream ships (same as nixpkgs whitesur-icon-theme)
   postFixup = ''
     find $out/share/icons -xtype l -delete
+    # every accent came out
+    for a in ${lib.concatStringsSep " " (lib.attrNames accents)}; do
+      test -d $out/share/icons/MacTahoe-$a-dark
+    done
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "MacTahoe icon theme (stock vinceliuice build, default blue folders)";
+    description = "MacTahoe icon theme (stock vinceliuice build, default blue folders + imagine-accent folder variants)";
     homepage = "https://github.com/vinceliuice/MacTahoe-icon-theme";
     license = lib.licenses.gpl3Plus;
     platforms = lib.platforms.linux;
diff --git a/secrets.nix b/secrets.nix
index 03f43d3aa..5d94f6b0b 100644
--- a/secrets.nix
+++ b/secrets.nix
@@ -130,9 +130,7 @@ in
 
   # SoundCloud Go+ cookies.txt (Netscape format), consumed by the music-consolidation
   # drain's yt-dlp invocations (systemd user units on coordinator only — see that
-  # repo's docs/SPEC-2026-07-06-original.md). NOT for cliamp: cliamp shells to
-  # `yt-dlp --cookies-from-browser chrome` directly against a live signed-in browser
-  # and has no file-based cookie mode, so it needs no secret at all (dotfiles#70).
+  # repo's docs/SPEC-2026-07-06-original.md).
   "secrets/soundcloud-cookies.age".publicKeys = editors ++ coordinatorOnly;
 
   # YouTube Music cookies.txt (Netscape format), exported same sitting as the
@@ -141,9 +139,9 @@ in
   # by DRM. Coordinator-only, same reasoning as soundcloud-cookies.
   "secrets/youtube-music-cookies.age".publicKeys = editors ++ coordinatorOnly;
 
-  # cliamp (client) reads this on the coordinator, where navidrome's relay
-  # lives. The zenbook was the second consumer until it left the fleet
-  # (2026-08-30); the laptops tier went with it.
+  # Read client-side on the coordinator, where navidrome's relay lives, by the
+  # navidrome-scan fish function (Subsonic API). Its first consumer, the cliamp
+  # TUI client, was removed 2026-09-17; the zenbook left the fleet 2026-08-30.
   "secrets/navidrome-credentials.age".publicKeys = editors ++ coordinatorOnly;
 
   # Immich full-permissions API key (photos.internal), read client-side by agent
@@ -152,14 +150,8 @@ in
   # cleanup — as agenix ciphertext it survives reflash and never needs re-minting.
   "secrets/immich-api-key.age".publicKeys = editors ++ coordinatorOnly;
 
-  # Claude Code OAuth credential. Demoted from the common tier to coordinator-only
-  # (2026-08-04, Tom's ruling): the nas holds no `claude` binary and never ran an
-  # agent, so it had no use for the token; zenbook-duo was already excluded from
-  # delivery (jul12 ruling — it logs in with its OWN session, since two devices
-  # refreshing one shared token race and sign each other out). That left the
-  # coordinator as the only real consumer, so the recipient tier now says so —
-  # a token this wide should not be decryptable by boxes that never spend it.
-  "secrets/claude-credentials.age".publicKeys = editors ++ coordinatorOnly;
+  # (claude-credentials.age removed 2026-09-22: the seat logins are hand
+  # `/login`s on the coordinator, never a delivered secret; see modules/secrets.nix.)
 
   # Brother HL-L2445DW Web Based Management admin password, set 2026-08-21 when
   # the printer's forced default-password change gated its move onto the thomas
diff --git a/secrets/claude-credentials.age b/secrets/claude-credentials.age
deleted file mode 100644
index 8d0a443d1..000000000
Binary files a/secrets/claude-credentials.age and /dev/null differ