diff --git a/DreamcoderShell/.config/fish/conf.d/05-dreamcoder-theme.fish b/DreamcoderShell/.config/fish/conf.d/05-dreamcoder-theme.fish
index a6d349d5..24728345 100644
--- a/DreamcoderShell/.config/fish/conf.d/05-dreamcoder-theme.fish
+++ b/DreamcoderShell/.config/fish/conf.d/05-dreamcoder-theme.fish
@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@
 # Sources generated theme files from themes/dreamcoder/ (synced from tokens.json).
 # No hardcoded colors — the .sh files are the single source of truth.
 
+# The persisted live mode wins over an inherited value: a long-lived parent
+# (e.g. a Herdr server started before the last mode switch) exports a stale one.
+set -l mode_cache "$HOME/.cache/dreamcoder/cursor-cli.env"
+if test -f "$mode_cache"
+    set -l persisted (string match -rg '^(?:export )?DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE="?(light|dark)"?$' <"$mode_cache")
+    test -n "$persisted"; and set -gx DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE $persisted[1]
+end
 set -q DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE; or set -gx DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE dark
 set -q COLORTERM; or set -gx COLORTERM truecolor
 set -gx FORCE_COLOR 3
diff --git a/DreamcoderThemes/dreamcoder/ls-colors-dreamcoder-dark.sh b/DreamcoderThemes/dreamcoder/ls-colors-dreamcoder-dark.sh
index 32d5d3e9..948d96d8 100644
--- a/DreamcoderThemes/dreamcoder/ls-colors-dreamcoder-dark.sh
+++ b/DreamcoderThemes/dreamcoder/ls-colors-dreamcoder-dark.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 set -euo pipefail
 # Dreamcoder Dark — LS_COLORS / eza
-export LS_COLORS='di=38;2;165;180;252:ex=38;2;212;181;253:ln=38;2;125;211;252:or=48;2;251;191;36;38;2;230;230;230:so=38;2;52;211;153:pi=38;2;251;191;36:bd=38;2;251;133;133:cd=38;2;251;133;133:su=48;2;0;0;0;38;2;212;181;253:sg=48;2;0;0;0;38;2;212;181;253:tw=38;2;165;180;252;48;2;11;11;11:ow=38;2;165;180;252;48;2;11;11;11:st=38;2;165;180;252;48;2;13;13;15:*.sh=38;2;212;181;253:*.bash=38;2;212;181;253:*.zsh=38;2;212;181;253:*.fish=38;2;212;181;253:*.py=38;2;212;181;253:*.rb=38;2;212;181;253:*.rs=38;2;212;181;253:*.go=38;2;212;181;253:*.ts=38;2;212;181;253:*.js=38;2;212;181;253:*.jpg=38;2;216;180;254:*.jpeg=38;2;216;180;254:*.png=38;2;216;180;254:*.gif=38;2;216;180;254:*.bmp=38;2;216;180;254:*.svg=38;2;216;180;254:*.webp=38;2;216;180;254:*.ico=38;2;216;180;254:*.mp3=38;2;216;180;254:*.wav=38;2;216;180;254:*.flac=38;2;216;180;254:*.ogg=38;2;216;180;254:*.m4a=38;2;216;180;254:*.mp4=38;2;216;180;254:*.mkv=38;2;216;180;254:*.webm=38;2;216;180;254:*.mov=38;2;216;180;254:*.pdf=38;2;199;199;199:*.doc=38;2;199;199;199:*.docx=38;2;199;199;199:*.odt=38;2;199;199;199:*.xls=38;2;199;199;199:*.xlsx=38;2;199;199;199:*.ppt=38;2;199;199;199:*.pptx=38;2;199;199;199:*.txt=38;2;199;199;199:*.cfg=38;2;199;199;199:*.conf=38;2;199;199;199:*.json=38;2;199;199;199:*.yaml=38;2;199;199;199:*.yml=38;2;199;199;199:*.toml=38;2;199;199;199:*.xml=38;2;199;199;199:*.css=38;2;199;199;199:*.html=38;2;199;199;199:*.c=38;2;199;199;199:*.h=38;2;199;199;199:*.cpp=38;2;199;199;199:*.hpp=38;2;199;199;199:*.swp=38;2;199;199;199:*.swo=38;2;199;199;199:*.bak=38;2;199;199;199:*.orig=38;2;199;199;199:*.md=#A5B4FC'
+export LS_COLORS='di=38;2;165;180;252:ex=38;2;212;181;253:ln=38;2;125;211;252:or=48;2;251;191;36;38;2;0;0;0:so=38;2;52;211;153:pi=38;2;251;191;36:bd=38;2;251;133;133:cd=38;2;251;133;133:su=48;2;0;0;0;38;2;212;181;253:sg=48;2;0;0;0;38;2;212;181;253:tw=38;2;165;180;252;48;2;11;11;11:ow=38;2;165;180;252;48;2;11;11;11:st=38;2;165;180;252;48;2;11;11;11:*.sh=38;2;212;181;253:*.bash=38;2;212;181;253:*.zsh=38;2;212;181;253:*.fish=38;2;212;181;253:*.py=38;2;212;181;253:*.rb=38;2;212;181;253:*.rs=38;2;212;181;253:*.go=38;2;212;181;253:*.ts=38;2;212;181;253:*.js=38;2;212;181;253:*.jpg=38;2;216;180;254:*.jpeg=38;2;216;180;254:*.png=38;2;216;180;254:*.gif=38;2;216;180;254:*.bmp=38;2;216;180;254:*.svg=38;2;216;180;254:*.webp=38;2;216;180;254:*.ico=38;2;216;180;254:*.mp3=38;2;216;180;254:*.wav=38;2;216;180;254:*.flac=38;2;216;180;254:*.ogg=38;2;216;180;254:*.m4a=38;2;216;180;254:*.mp4=38;2;216;180;254:*.mkv=38;2;216;180;254:*.webm=38;2;216;180;254:*.mov=38;2;216;180;254:*.pdf=38;2;199;199;199:*.doc=38;2;199;199;199:*.docx=38;2;199;199;199:*.odt=38;2;199;199;199:*.xls=38;2;199;199;199:*.xlsx=38;2;199;199;199:*.ppt=38;2;199;199;199:*.pptx=38;2;199;199;199:*.txt=38;2;199;199;199:*.cfg=38;2;199;199;199:*.conf=38;2;199;199;199:*.json=38;2;199;199;199:*.yaml=38;2;199;199;199:*.yml=38;2;199;199;199:*.toml=38;2;199;199;199:*.xml=38;2;199;199;199:*.css=38;2;199;199;199:*.html=38;2;199;199;199:*.c=38;2;199;199;199:*.h=38;2;199;199;199:*.cpp=38;2;199;199;199:*.hpp=38;2;199;199;199:*.swp=38;2;199;199;199:*.swo=38;2;199;199;199:*.bak=38;2;199;199;199:*.orig=38;2;199;199;199:*.md=#A5B4FC'
 export EZA_COLORS='di=38;2;165;180;252:ex=38;2;212;181;253:ln=38;2;125;211;252:so=38;2;52;211;153:pi=38;2;251;191;36:bd=38;2;251;133;133:cd=38;2;251;133;133:uw=38;2;251;191;36:ux=38;2;251;133;133:gwx=38;2;251;191;36:*.md=#A5B4FC'
diff --git a/DreamcoderThemes/dreamcoder/ls-colors-dreamcoder-light.sh b/DreamcoderThemes/dreamcoder/ls-colors-dreamcoder-light.sh
index 9e6313c5..15cf0ad1 100644
--- a/DreamcoderThemes/dreamcoder/ls-colors-dreamcoder-light.sh
+++ b/DreamcoderThemes/dreamcoder/ls-colors-dreamcoder-light.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 set -euo pipefail
 # Dreamcoder Light — LS_COLORS / eza
-export LS_COLORS='di=38;2;130;79;22:ex=38;2;167;71;28:ln=38;2;13;74;104:or=48;2;101;67;0;38;2;23;18;13:so=38;2;49;91;49:pi=38;2;101;67;0:bd=38;2;132;47;36:cd=38;2;132;47;36:su=48;2;243;234;220;38;2;167;71;28:sg=48;2;243;234;220;38;2;167;71;28:tw=38;2;130;79;22;48;2;255;247;234:ow=38;2;130;79;22;48;2;255;247;234:st=38;2;130;79;22;48;2;222;203;177:*.tar=38;2;87;71;139:*.tgz=38;2;87;71;139:*.gz=38;2;87;71;139:*.bz2=38;2;87;71;139:*.xz=38;2;87;71;139:*.zst=38;2;87;71;139:*.zip=38;2;87;71;139:*.7z=38;2;87;71;139:*.rar=38;2;87;71;139:*.iso=38;2;87;71;139:*.dmg=38;2;87;71;139:*.jpg=38;2;125;62;100:*.jpeg=38;2;125;62;100:*.png=38;2;125;62;100:*.gif=38;2;125;62;100:*.bmp=38;2;125;62;100:*.svg=38;2;125;62;100:*.webp=38;2;125;62;100:*.ico=38;2;125;62;100:*.mp3=38;2;125;62;100:*.wav=38;2;125;62;100:*.flac=38;2;125;62;100:*.ogg=38;2;125;62;100:*.m4a=38;2;125;62;100:*.mp4=38;2;125;62;100:*.mkv=38;2;125;62;100:*.webm=38;2;125;62;100:*.mov=38;2;125;62;100:*.pdf=38;2;53;46;34:*.doc=38;2;53;46;34:*.docx=38;2;53;46;34:*.odt=38;2;53;46;34:*.xls=38;2;53;46;34:*.xlsx=38;2;53;46;34:*.ppt=38;2;53;46;34:*.pptx=38;2;53;46;34:*.txt=38;2;53;46;34:*.cfg=38;2;53;46;34:*.conf=38;2;53;46;34:*.json=38;2;53;46;34:*.yaml=38;2;53;46;34:*.yml=38;2;53;46;34:*.toml=38;2;53;46;34:*.xml=38;2;53;46;34:*.css=38;2;53;46;34:*.html=38;2;53;46;34:*.c=38;2;53;46;34:*.h=38;2;53;46;34:*.cpp=38;2;53;46;34:*.hpp=38;2;53;46;34:*.swp=38;2;53;46;34:*.swo=38;2;53;46;34:*.bak=38;2;53;46;34:*.orig=38;2;53;46;34:*.sh=38;2;167;71;28:*.bash=38;2;167;71;28:*.zsh=38;2;167;71;28:*.fish=38;2;167;71;28:*.py=38;2;167;71;28:*.rb=38;2;167;71;28:*.rs=38;2;167;71;28:*.go=38;2;167;71;28:*.ts=38;2;167;71;28:*.js=38;2;167;71;28:*.md=#824f16'
+export LS_COLORS='di=38;2;130;79;22:ex=38;2;167;71;28:ln=38;2;13;74;104:or=48;2;101;67;0;38;2;243;234;220:so=38;2;49;91;49:pi=38;2;101;67;0:bd=38;2;132;47;36:cd=38;2;132;47;36:su=48;2;243;234;220;38;2;167;71;28:sg=48;2;243;234;220;38;2;167;71;28:tw=38;2;130;79;22;48;2;255;247;234:ow=38;2;130;79;22;48;2;255;247;234:st=38;2;130;79;22;48;2;255;247;234:*.tar=38;2;87;71;139:*.tgz=38;2;87;71;139:*.gz=38;2;87;71;139:*.bz2=38;2;87;71;139:*.xz=38;2;87;71;139:*.zst=38;2;87;71;139:*.zip=38;2;87;71;139:*.7z=38;2;87;71;139:*.rar=38;2;87;71;139:*.iso=38;2;87;71;139:*.dmg=38;2;87;71;139:*.jpg=38;2;125;62;100:*.jpeg=38;2;125;62;100:*.png=38;2;125;62;100:*.gif=38;2;125;62;100:*.bmp=38;2;125;62;100:*.svg=38;2;125;62;100:*.webp=38;2;125;62;100:*.ico=38;2;125;62;100:*.mp3=38;2;125;62;100:*.wav=38;2;125;62;100:*.flac=38;2;125;62;100:*.ogg=38;2;125;62;100:*.m4a=38;2;125;62;100:*.mp4=38;2;125;62;100:*.mkv=38;2;125;62;100:*.webm=38;2;125;62;100:*.mov=38;2;125;62;100:*.pdf=38;2;53;46;34:*.doc=38;2;53;46;34:*.docx=38;2;53;46;34:*.odt=38;2;53;46;34:*.xls=38;2;53;46;34:*.xlsx=38;2;53;46;34:*.ppt=38;2;53;46;34:*.pptx=38;2;53;46;34:*.txt=38;2;53;46;34:*.cfg=38;2;53;46;34:*.conf=38;2;53;46;34:*.json=38;2;53;46;34:*.yaml=38;2;53;46;34:*.yml=38;2;53;46;34:*.toml=38;2;53;46;34:*.xml=38;2;53;46;34:*.css=38;2;53;46;34:*.html=38;2;53;46;34:*.c=38;2;53;46;34:*.h=38;2;53;46;34:*.cpp=38;2;53;46;34:*.hpp=38;2;53;46;34:*.swp=38;2;53;46;34:*.swo=38;2;53;46;34:*.bak=38;2;53;46;34:*.orig=38;2;53;46;34:*.sh=38;2;167;71;28:*.bash=38;2;167;71;28:*.zsh=38;2;167;71;28:*.fish=38;2;167;71;28:*.py=38;2;167;71;28:*.rb=38;2;167;71;28:*.rs=38;2;167;71;28:*.go=38;2;167;71;28:*.ts=38;2;167;71;28:*.js=38;2;167;71;28:*.md=#824f16'
 export EZA_COLORS='di=38;2;130;79;22:ex=38;2;167;71;28:ln=38;2;13;74;104:so=38;2;49;91;49:pi=38;2;101;67;0:bd=38;2;132;47;36:cd=38;2;132;47;36:uw=38;2;101;67;0:ux=38;2;132;47;36:gwx=38;2;101;67;0:*.md=#824f16'
diff --git a/DreamcoderThemes/dreamcoder/ls-colors-dreamcoder-night.sh b/DreamcoderThemes/dreamcoder/ls-colors-dreamcoder-night.sh
index 98ad6af4..8a5701dc 100644
--- a/DreamcoderThemes/dreamcoder/ls-colors-dreamcoder-night.sh
+++ b/DreamcoderThemes/dreamcoder/ls-colors-dreamcoder-night.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 set -euo pipefail
 # Dreamcoder Dark Night — LS_COLORS / eza
-export LS_COLORS='di=38;2;164;175;238:ex=38;2;180;140;233:ln=38;2;98;185;226:or=48;2;209;161;38;38;2;198;198;198:so=38;2;67;180;139:pi=38;2;209;161;38:bd=38;2;232;132;132:cd=38;2;232;132;132:su=48;2;0;0;0;38;2;180;140;233:sg=48;2;0;0;0;38;2;180;140;233:tw=38;2;164;175;238;48;2;9;9;9:ow=38;2;164;175;238;48;2;9;9;9:st=38;2;164;175;238;48;2;11;11;13:*.sh=38;2;180;140;233:*.bash=38;2;180;140;233:*.zsh=38;2;180;140;233:*.fish=38;2;180;140;233:*.py=38;2;180;140;233:*.rb=38;2;180;140;233:*.rs=38;2;180;140;233:*.go=38;2;180;140;233:*.ts=38;2;180;140;233:*.js=38;2;180;140;233:*.jpg=38;2;185;139;235:*.jpeg=38;2;185;139;235:*.png=38;2;185;139;235:*.gif=38;2;185;139;235:*.bmp=38;2;185;139;235:*.svg=38;2;185;139;235:*.webp=38;2;185;139;235:*.ico=38;2;185;139;235:*.mp3=38;2;185;139;235:*.wav=38;2;185;139;235:*.flac=38;2;185;139;235:*.ogg=38;2;185;139;235:*.m4a=38;2;185;139;235:*.mp4=38;2;185;139;235:*.mkv=38;2;185;139;235:*.webm=38;2;185;139;235:*.mov=38;2;185;139;235:*.pdf=38;2;171;171;171:*.doc=38;2;171;171;171:*.docx=38;2;171;171;171:*.odt=38;2;171;171;171:*.xls=38;2;171;171;171:*.xlsx=38;2;171;171;171:*.ppt=38;2;171;171;171:*.pptx=38;2;171;171;171:*.txt=38;2;171;171;171:*.cfg=38;2;171;171;171:*.conf=38;2;171;171;171:*.json=38;2;171;171;171:*.yaml=38;2;171;171;171:*.yml=38;2;171;171;171:*.toml=38;2;171;171;171:*.xml=38;2;171;171;171:*.css=38;2;171;171;171:*.html=38;2;171;171;171:*.c=38;2;171;171;171:*.h=38;2;171;171;171:*.cpp=38;2;171;171;171:*.hpp=38;2;171;171;171:*.swp=38;2;171;171;171:*.swo=38;2;171;171;171:*.bak=38;2;171;171;171:*.orig=38;2;171;171;171:*.md=#a4afee'
+export LS_COLORS='di=38;2;164;175;238:ex=38;2;180;140;233:ln=38;2;98;185;226:or=48;2;209;161;38;38;2;0;0;0:so=38;2;67;180;139:pi=38;2;209;161;38:bd=38;2;232;132;132:cd=38;2;232;132;132:su=48;2;0;0;0;38;2;180;140;233:sg=48;2;0;0;0;38;2;180;140;233:tw=38;2;164;175;238;48;2;9;9;9:ow=38;2;164;175;238;48;2;9;9;9:st=38;2;164;175;238;48;2;9;9;9:*.sh=38;2;180;140;233:*.bash=38;2;180;140;233:*.zsh=38;2;180;140;233:*.fish=38;2;180;140;233:*.py=38;2;180;140;233:*.rb=38;2;180;140;233:*.rs=38;2;180;140;233:*.go=38;2;180;140;233:*.ts=38;2;180;140;233:*.js=38;2;180;140;233:*.jpg=38;2;185;139;235:*.jpeg=38;2;185;139;235:*.png=38;2;185;139;235:*.gif=38;2;185;139;235:*.bmp=38;2;185;139;235:*.svg=38;2;185;139;235:*.webp=38;2;185;139;235:*.ico=38;2;185;139;235:*.mp3=38;2;185;139;235:*.wav=38;2;185;139;235:*.flac=38;2;185;139;235:*.ogg=38;2;185;139;235:*.m4a=38;2;185;139;235:*.mp4=38;2;185;139;235:*.mkv=38;2;185;139;235:*.webm=38;2;185;139;235:*.mov=38;2;185;139;235:*.pdf=38;2;171;171;171:*.doc=38;2;171;171;171:*.docx=38;2;171;171;171:*.odt=38;2;171;171;171:*.xls=38;2;171;171;171:*.xlsx=38;2;171;171;171:*.ppt=38;2;171;171;171:*.pptx=38;2;171;171;171:*.txt=38;2;171;171;171:*.cfg=38;2;171;171;171:*.conf=38;2;171;171;171:*.json=38;2;171;171;171:*.yaml=38;2;171;171;171:*.yml=38;2;171;171;171:*.toml=38;2;171;171;171:*.xml=38;2;171;171;171:*.css=38;2;171;171;171:*.html=38;2;171;171;171:*.c=38;2;171;171;171:*.h=38;2;171;171;171:*.cpp=38;2;171;171;171:*.hpp=38;2;171;171;171:*.swp=38;2;171;171;171:*.swo=38;2;171;171;171:*.bak=38;2;171;171;171:*.orig=38;2;171;171;171:*.md=#a4afee'
 export EZA_COLORS='di=38;2;164;175;238:ex=38;2;180;140;233:ln=38;2;98;185;226:so=38;2;67;180;139:pi=38;2;209;161;38:bd=38;2;232;132;132:cd=38;2;232;132;132:uw=38;2;209;161;38:ux=38;2;232;132;132:gwx=38;2;209;161;38:*.md=#a4afee'
diff --git a/DreamcoderThemes/ls-colors-dreamcoder.sh b/DreamcoderThemes/ls-colors-dreamcoder.sh
index 32d5d3e9..948d96d8 100644
--- a/DreamcoderThemes/ls-colors-dreamcoder.sh
+++ b/DreamcoderThemes/ls-colors-dreamcoder.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 set -euo pipefail
 # Dreamcoder Dark — LS_COLORS / eza
-export LS_COLORS='di=38;2;165;180;252:ex=38;2;212;181;253:ln=38;2;125;211;252:or=48;2;251;191;36;38;2;230;230;230:so=38;2;52;211;153:pi=38;2;251;191;36:bd=38;2;251;133;133:cd=38;2;251;133;133:su=48;2;0;0;0;38;2;212;181;253:sg=48;2;0;0;0;38;2;212;181;253:tw=38;2;165;180;252;48;2;11;11;11:ow=38;2;165;180;252;48;2;11;11;11:st=38;2;165;180;252;48;2;13;13;15:*.sh=38;2;212;181;253:*.bash=38;2;212;181;253:*.zsh=38;2;212;181;253:*.fish=38;2;212;181;253:*.py=38;2;212;181;253:*.rb=38;2;212;181;253:*.rs=38;2;212;181;253:*.go=38;2;212;181;253:*.ts=38;2;212;181;253:*.js=38;2;212;181;253:*.jpg=38;2;216;180;254:*.jpeg=38;2;216;180;254:*.png=38;2;216;180;254:*.gif=38;2;216;180;254:*.bmp=38;2;216;180;254:*.svg=38;2;216;180;254:*.webp=38;2;216;180;254:*.ico=38;2;216;180;254:*.mp3=38;2;216;180;254:*.wav=38;2;216;180;254:*.flac=38;2;216;180;254:*.ogg=38;2;216;180;254:*.m4a=38;2;216;180;254:*.mp4=38;2;216;180;254:*.mkv=38;2;216;180;254:*.webm=38;2;216;180;254:*.mov=38;2;216;180;254:*.pdf=38;2;199;199;199:*.doc=38;2;199;199;199:*.docx=38;2;199;199;199:*.odt=38;2;199;199;199:*.xls=38;2;199;199;199:*.xlsx=38;2;199;199;199:*.ppt=38;2;199;199;199:*.pptx=38;2;199;199;199:*.txt=38;2;199;199;199:*.cfg=38;2;199;199;199:*.conf=38;2;199;199;199:*.json=38;2;199;199;199:*.yaml=38;2;199;199;199:*.yml=38;2;199;199;199:*.toml=38;2;199;199;199:*.xml=38;2;199;199;199:*.css=38;2;199;199;199:*.html=38;2;199;199;199:*.c=38;2;199;199;199:*.h=38;2;199;199;199:*.cpp=38;2;199;199;199:*.hpp=38;2;199;199;199:*.swp=38;2;199;199;199:*.swo=38;2;199;199;199:*.bak=38;2;199;199;199:*.orig=38;2;199;199;199:*.md=#A5B4FC'
+export LS_COLORS='di=38;2;165;180;252:ex=38;2;212;181;253:ln=38;2;125;211;252:or=48;2;251;191;36;38;2;0;0;0:so=38;2;52;211;153:pi=38;2;251;191;36:bd=38;2;251;133;133:cd=38;2;251;133;133:su=48;2;0;0;0;38;2;212;181;253:sg=48;2;0;0;0;38;2;212;181;253:tw=38;2;165;180;252;48;2;11;11;11:ow=38;2;165;180;252;48;2;11;11;11:st=38;2;165;180;252;48;2;11;11;11:*.sh=38;2;212;181;253:*.bash=38;2;212;181;253:*.zsh=38;2;212;181;253:*.fish=38;2;212;181;253:*.py=38;2;212;181;253:*.rb=38;2;212;181;253:*.rs=38;2;212;181;253:*.go=38;2;212;181;253:*.ts=38;2;212;181;253:*.js=38;2;212;181;253:*.jpg=38;2;216;180;254:*.jpeg=38;2;216;180;254:*.png=38;2;216;180;254:*.gif=38;2;216;180;254:*.bmp=38;2;216;180;254:*.svg=38;2;216;180;254:*.webp=38;2;216;180;254:*.ico=38;2;216;180;254:*.mp3=38;2;216;180;254:*.wav=38;2;216;180;254:*.flac=38;2;216;180;254:*.ogg=38;2;216;180;254:*.m4a=38;2;216;180;254:*.mp4=38;2;216;180;254:*.mkv=38;2;216;180;254:*.webm=38;2;216;180;254:*.mov=38;2;216;180;254:*.pdf=38;2;199;199;199:*.doc=38;2;199;199;199:*.docx=38;2;199;199;199:*.odt=38;2;199;199;199:*.xls=38;2;199;199;199:*.xlsx=38;2;199;199;199:*.ppt=38;2;199;199;199:*.pptx=38;2;199;199;199:*.txt=38;2;199;199;199:*.cfg=38;2;199;199;199:*.conf=38;2;199;199;199:*.json=38;2;199;199;199:*.yaml=38;2;199;199;199:*.yml=38;2;199;199;199:*.toml=38;2;199;199;199:*.xml=38;2;199;199;199:*.css=38;2;199;199;199:*.html=38;2;199;199;199:*.c=38;2;199;199;199:*.h=38;2;199;199;199:*.cpp=38;2;199;199;199:*.hpp=38;2;199;199;199:*.swp=38;2;199;199;199:*.swo=38;2;199;199;199:*.bak=38;2;199;199;199:*.orig=38;2;199;199;199:*.md=#A5B4FC'
 export EZA_COLORS='di=38;2;165;180;252:ex=38;2;212;181;253:ln=38;2;125;211;252:so=38;2;52;211;153:pi=38;2;251;191;36:bd=38;2;251;133;133:cd=38;2;251;133;133:uw=38;2;251;191;36:ux=38;2;251;133;133:gwx=38;2;251;191;36:*.md=#A5B4FC'
diff --git a/docs/configuration/ml4w.md b/docs/configuration/ml4w.md
index ae3fb566..e17f97d5 100644
--- a/docs/configuration/ml4w.md
+++ b/docs/configuration/ml4w.md
@@ -131,6 +131,27 @@ one of those files silently disappears on the next upgrade. The rule:
   wallpaper app calls with `$IMAGE_PATH`) between
   `# >>> Dreamcoder wallpaper hook >>>` markers. Each run replaces the block, so
   re-running it after an ML4W upgrade restores the hook without duplicates.
+- **The GTK theme listener is hooked the same way.** ML4W 2.16 runs
+  `~/.config/ml4w/listeners/gtk-theme-switcher.sh`, which watches
+  `~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini`. Dreamcoder's own light/dark switch writes
+  that file, so the listener then runs Matugen over the wallpaper and
+  overwrites Dreamcoder's colour files (`waybar/colors.css`, `hypr/colors.lua`,
+  `hypr/colors.conf`, rofi colours) before reloading Quickshell, Waybar, GTK and
+  swaync. `scripts/apply-ml4w-hooks.sh` inserts a block between
+  `# >>> Dreamcoder listener hook >>>` markers right after each Matugen call.
+  The block runs `scripts/dreamcoder sync` synchronously
+  (`DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE` taken from the branch's `matugen -m dark|light`, or
+  read from `settings.ini` when the call has no `-m`; `DREAMCODER_WRITE_REPO=0`;
+  streams to
+  `~/.cache/dreamcoder/ml4w-listener-sync.log`, 120 s timeout), so the reloads
+  that follow pick up Dreamcoder colours. The sync never writes `settings.ini`,
+  so the listener cannot loop. When the file changes, the running listener is
+  restarted with `~/.config/ml4w/listeners.sh --restart gtk-theme-switcher`
+  (it keeps the body it parsed at start). A listener without a Matugen call is
+  left untouched with a warning; a missing listener is skipped. Override the
+  paths with `ML4W_GTK_LISTENER` and `ML4W_LISTENERS_SCRIPT`. Known gap: with
+  the Night render profile persisted, `sync` only regenerates repository
+  artifacts, so the block does not restore live Night colours.
 - **waypaper is optional.** ML4W 2.16 no longer installs it; its
   `post_command` is hooked only when `~/.config/waypaper/config.ini` exists.
 - **Colour files may be regular files.** ML4W 2.16 ships
@@ -144,7 +165,7 @@ After every ML4W upgrade:
 
 ```bash
 ./scripts/generate-custom-lua.sh      # custom.lua (keybinds + colour loader)
-./scripts/apply-ml4w-hooks.sh         # re-hook the wallpaper runner
+./scripts/apply-ml4w-hooks.sh         # re-hook the wallpaper runner + GTK listener
 ./scripts/dreamcoder sync             # rewrite colors.lua / colors.conf
 ./scripts/verify-ml4w-setup.sh
 ```
@@ -200,7 +221,7 @@ DreamcoderProfiles/dreamcoder/
 └── asus-vivobook15.json       # ASUS VivoBook 15 profile (all Fn keys)
 
 tests/ml4w/
-├── apply_ml4w_hooks.bats      # wallpaper hook (ML4W 2.16 runner fixture)
+├── apply_ml4w_hooks.bats      # wallpaper + GTK listener hooks (ML4W 2.16 fixtures)
 ├── args.bats                  # script argument handling
 ├── generate_custom_lua.bats   # generator, incl. the dreamcoder-colors loader
 ├── keybindings_variant.bats   # dreamcoder.lua vs ML4W 2.16 and the profile
diff --git a/lib/hyprland.sh b/lib/hyprland.sh
index 76b272e3..df004636 100644
--- a/lib/hyprland.sh
+++ b/lib/hyprland.sh
@@ -13,7 +13,9 @@ restart_waybar() {
         pkill waybar 2>/dev/null || true
         sleep 0.3
         local launch_script="${HOME}/.config/waybar/launch.sh"
-        [[ -f "${launch_script}" ]] && "${launch_script}" 2>/dev/null || true
+        # Detach every stream: the relaunched bar outlives us, and an inherited
+        # stdout pipe would block any caller capturing our output (theme apply).
+        [[ -f "${launch_script}" ]] && "${launch_script}" </dev/null >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
     fi
 }
 
diff --git a/odd/tasks/ml4w-2.16-gentleman-sync.md b/odd/tasks/ml4w-2.16-gentleman-sync.md
index 798b3b10..d2656fa2 100644
--- a/odd/tasks/ml4w-2.16-gentleman-sync.md
+++ b/odd/tasks/ml4w-2.16-gentleman-sync.md
@@ -120,8 +120,23 @@ injected into ML4W-owned files.
     systemd unit links (absolute repo links), `.config/systemd/user/dreamcoder-env.conf`
     (identical regular file), warp settings/theme links. ML4W's `fish_variables`
     (universal vars incl. `fish_user_paths`) is not migrated — report to the user.
-- [ ] T6 — Relink the live system through `dreamcoder repair`, confirm a new
+- [x] T6 — Relink the live system through `dreamcoder repair`, confirm a new
   interactive fish starts Herdr. Route: inline.
+  - Evidence: `./scripts/dreamcoder repair` (backup id `20260928-133204-402020`,
+    conflicts moved to
+    `~/.local/share/dreamcoder/install-conflicts/20260928-133204-402020/`) relinked
+    fish, kitty, fastfetch, `.bashrc`, `.zshrc` and the other Dreamcoder stow
+    targets; fish loads the Dreamcoder config; an interactive fish in a pty
+    autostarted the Herdr 0.9.1 server.
+  - Fixes found while relinking: `a7c925a` (Herdr panes spawned zsh: `SHELL`
+    pinned to fish), `702751f` (`restart_waybar` leaked the caller's stdout, so the
+    theme apply hung), `a107ff0` (ML4W reset btop `color_theme` to matugen; the
+    Dreamcoder theme is re-selected on every apply).
+  - Not migrated: ML4W's `fish_variables` (universal vars); the only effective
+    difference is `/usr/lib/ccache/bin` missing from `PATH`.
+  - Found: during `repair` (13:33:12) ML4W's GTK theme listener re-ran Matugen and
+    overwrote `waybar/colors.css` and `hypr/colors.lua`; `verify-ml4w-setup.sh`
+    failed until `dreamcoder sync` — addressed by T8.
 - [x] T7 — Herdr 0.9.1: live binary updated with `herdr update` (0.9.0 → 0.9.1),
   integrations reinstalled, `herdr config check` ok. Onboard a `herdr-0.9.1` profile
   per `docs/herdr.md` (installed-binary evidence, generated variants, verify-repo-sync).
@@ -142,6 +157,35 @@ injected into ML4W-owned files.
     `pane run` from inside a Herdr pane (`HERDR_ENV`).
   - Not observed: live `server reload-config` (server not running at capture).
 
+- [x] T8 — Hook ML4W 2.16's GTK theme listener
+  (`~/.config/ml4w/listeners/gtk-theme-switcher.sh`): on every gtk `settings.ini`
+  change (every Dreamcoder mode switch, including the 07:00/16:00/18:00 timer) it
+  runs Matugen over the wallpaper and overwrites Dreamcoder colour files before
+  reloading Quickshell, Waybar, GTK and swaync. `scripts/apply-ml4w-hooks.sh` now
+  inserts a marked block after each Matugen call that runs `dreamcoder sync`
+  synchronously, and restarts the listener through ML4W's `listeners.sh` when the
+  file changes. Route: delegated writer.
+  - Evidence: commit `fix(ml4w): restore Dreamcoder colours after ML4W's GTK
+    listener runs Matugen`; `bats tests/ml4w/ tests/shell/` 143/144 (only the known
+    kanagawa failure); `tests/ml4w/apply_ml4w_hooks.bats` 25/25 (10 new listener
+    tests on a read-only copy of the installed 2.16 listener); `python -m pytest
+    tests/` 694 passed; `bash -n` + shellcheck clean.
+  - Rationale: same philosophy as the runner hook (marked, byte-identical on
+    re-run, stale blocks replaced, write-through keeps symlink/mode, missing
+    listener skipped, no Matugen call → untouched with a warning, overrides
+    `ML4W_GTK_LISTENER` / `ML4W_LISTENERS_SCRIPT`). The block passes the branch's
+    own `matugen -m dark|light` as `DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE` (fallback: read
+    `settings.ini`), because `sync` defaulted to Dark without it; it sets
+    `DREAMCODER_WRITE_REPO=0` so a background listener never dirties the repo,
+    logs to `~/.cache/dreamcoder/ml4w-listener-sync.log`, and is bounded by a
+    120 s timeout. `sync` writes no gtk `settings.ini`, so the listener cannot
+    loop. The restart runs in the foreground with detached streams so the
+    `theme-auto.sh` apply that follows never races a half-restarted listener.
+  - Known gap: with the Night render profile persisted, `sync` only regenerates
+    repository artifacts, so live Night colours are not restored by the block.
+  - Pending: live apply (hook the live listener, toggle dark/light, verify) —
+    run by the parent after the persisted-mode fix.
+
 ## Acceptance criteria
 
 - `bats tests/ml4w/` and `python -m pytest tests/` pass.
@@ -157,5 +201,15 @@ injected into ML4W-owned files.
 
 ## Next step
 
-T6 (inline live relink). Pending user decisions: SUPER+SHIFT+arrows
+T8 live apply (parent). Pending user decisions: SUPER+SHIFT+arrows
 overlap (resize vs move), the pre-existing kanagawa bridge test, push/PR of the branch.
+
+## Live evidence (T8, 2026-09-28)
+
+- `./scripts/apply-ml4w-hooks.sh`: listener hooked (markers present) and restarted.
+- Dark → Light toggle through the listener: final waybar/hypr colours carry the
+  Dreamcoder light palette; `verify-ml4w-setup.sh` 20 passed / 0 failed.
+- Also fixed during this pass: `b9f8c50` theme_mode() falls back to the persisted
+  live mode; `bd8e5b5` fish starts in the persisted mode; `4b04f3e` ls colours `or`/`st`
+  lifted to WCAG AA with a 4.5:1 gate.
+- Follow-up feature: `odd/tasks/remove-night-profile.md` (user decision: Light + Dark only).
diff --git a/scripts/apply-ml4w-hooks.sh b/scripts/apply-ml4w-hooks.sh
index ec2bed22..268b451a 100755
--- a/scripts/apply-ml4w-hooks.sh
+++ b/scripts/apply-ml4w-hooks.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 # ============================================================================
-# apply-ml4w-hooks.sh — (re)install Dreamcoder's wallpaper hook into ML4W
+# apply-ml4w-hooks.sh — (re)install Dreamcoder's hooks into ML4W
 # ============================================================================
 # Primary target: ML4W's wallpaper runner (~/.config/ml4w/scripts/ml4w-wallpaper,
 # which receives the image as $IMAGE_PATH). ML4W 2.16 drives it directly from
@@ -12,8 +12,20 @@
 # never duplicated; the unmarked block older releases of this script appended
 # is migrated to the marked form.
 #
+# Second target: ML4W's GTK theme listener
+# (~/.config/ml4w/listeners/gtk-theme-switcher.sh). It watches
+# ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini and, on every change (including Dreamcoder's
+# own light/dark switch), runs Matugen over the wallpaper, which overwrites
+# Dreamcoder's colour files, then reloads Quickshell, Waybar, GTK and swaync.
+# A marked block after each Matugen call re-applies Dreamcoder colours
+# synchronously through `dreamcoder sync`, so those reloads pick up Dreamcoder
+# colours. The sync never writes settings.ini, so the listener cannot loop.
+# The running listener already parsed the old body, so it is restarted through
+# ML4W's listeners.sh whenever the file changes.
+#
 # Overrides: ML4W_WALLPAPER_SCRIPT, ML4W_WALLPAPER_VAR (older ML4W releases used
-# ~/.config/hypr/scripts/wallpaper.sh with $used_wallpaper), WAYPAPER_CONFIG.
+# ~/.config/hypr/scripts/wallpaper.sh with $used_wallpaper), WAYPAPER_CONFIG,
+# ML4W_GTK_LISTENER, ML4W_LISTENERS_SCRIPT.
 # ============================================================================
 set -euo pipefail
 
@@ -26,6 +38,10 @@ HOOK_SCRIPT="${DREAMCODER_DOTS_DIR}/scripts/wallpaper-hook.sh"
 BEGIN_MARK='# >>> Dreamcoder wallpaper hook >>>'
 END_MARK='# <<< Dreamcoder wallpaper hook <<<'
 LEGACY_MARK='# Dreamcoder final wallpaper/theme sync'
+ML4W_GTK_LISTENER="${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER:-${HOME}/.config/ml4w/listeners/gtk-theme-switcher.sh}"
+ML4W_LISTENERS_SCRIPT="${ML4W_LISTENERS_SCRIPT:-${HOME}/.config/ml4w/listeners.sh}"
+LISTENER_BEGIN_MARK='# >>> Dreamcoder listener hook >>>'
+LISTENER_END_MARK='# <<< Dreamcoder listener hook <<<'
 
 # Print the runner without any Dreamcoder block (marked or legacy) and without
 # trailing blank lines, so re-appending always yields the same bytes.
@@ -69,6 +85,90 @@ ${END_MARK}"
   printf '✓ ML4W wallpaper runner hooked: %s\n' "${ML4W_WALLPAPER_SCRIPT}"
 }
 
+# Print the listener with a fresh Dreamcoder block after every Matugen call
+# (existing blocks are dropped first, so re-running yields the same bytes).
+# The sync mode is the branch's own `-m dark|light`; a Matugen call without
+# one falls back to reading gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme at run time,
+# because `dreamcoder sync` renders Dark when DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE is unset.
+# Exits 3 when no Matugen call is found, leaving the decision to the caller.
+render_listener_hook() {
+  awk -v begin="${LISTENER_BEGIN_MARK}" -v end="${LISTENER_END_MARK}" \
+    -v dispatcher="${DREAMCODER_DOTS_DIR}/scripts/dreamcoder" '
+    function trim(s) { sub(/^[[:space:]]+/, "", s); sub(/[[:space:]]+$/, "", s); return s }
+    trim($0) == begin { skip = 1; next }
+    skip && trim($0) == end { skip = 0; next }
+    skip { next }
+    {
+      print
+      if ($0 ~ /^[[:space:]]*[^#]*(\$MATUGEN_BIN|\$\{MATUGEN_BIN\}|(^|[[:space:]])matugen)[[:space:]]+image([[:space:]]|$)/) {
+        found++
+        match($0, /^[[:space:]]*/)
+        pad = substr($0, 1, RLENGTH)
+        print pad begin
+        print pad "# Managed by dreamcoder-dots scripts/apply-ml4w-hooks.sh; re-run it after ML4W upgrades."
+        print pad "# Matugen just rewrote the colour files from the wallpaper: restore Dreamcoder"
+        print pad "# colours before the reloads below. The sync never writes gtk settings.ini."
+        print pad "if [[ -x \"" dispatcher "\" ]]; then"
+        if (match($0, /-m[[:space:]]+"?(dark|light)"?/)) {
+          # The branch passes its mode to Matugen: reuse it verbatim.
+          mode = substr($0, RSTART, RLENGTH)
+          sub(/^-m[[:space:]]+"?/, "", mode)
+          sub(/"$/, "", mode)
+          print pad "    _dreamcoder_mode=" mode
+        } else {
+          print pad "    _dreamcoder_mode=light"
+          print pad "    grep -Eq \"^gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme=(1|true)$\" \"${SETTINGS_FILE:-$HOME/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini}\" && _dreamcoder_mode=dark"
+        }
+        print pad "    mkdir -p \"$HOME/.cache/dreamcoder\""
+        print pad "    DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE=\"$_dreamcoder_mode\" DREAMCODER_WRITE_REPO=0 timeout 120 \"" dispatcher "\" sync </dev/null >\"$HOME/.cache/dreamcoder/ml4w-listener-sync.log\" 2>&1 || true"
+        print pad "fi"
+        print pad end
+      }
+    }
+    END { if (!found) exit 3 }
+  ' "$1"
+}
+
+hook_gtk_listener() {
+  if [[ ! -f "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}" ]]; then
+    printf '⚠ ML4W GTK theme listener not found, skipped: %s\n' "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}" >&2
+    return 0
+  fi
+  local current desired rc=0
+  current="$(cat "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}")"
+  desired="$(render_listener_hook "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}")" || rc=$?
+  if [[ "${rc}" -eq 3 ]]; then
+    printf '⚠ no Matugen call found in the ML4W GTK theme listener, left untouched: %s\n' "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}" >&2
+    return 0
+  elif [[ "${rc}" -ne 0 ]]; then
+    return "${rc}"
+  fi
+  if [[ "${current}" == "${desired}" ]]; then
+    printf '✓ ML4W GTK theme listener hook already current\n'
+    return 0
+  fi
+  # Write through the path, like the runner hook (keeps symlink and mode).
+  printf '%s\n' "${desired}" >"${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}"
+  printf '✓ ML4W GTK theme listener hooked: %s\n' "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}"
+  restart_gtk_listener
+}
+
+# The live listener keeps the body it parsed at start, so restart it through
+# ML4W's own control script. Runs in the foreground (listeners.sh returns after
+# ~1s) so the theme apply below never races a half-restarted listener; every
+# stream is detached so the relaunched listener cannot hold the caller's pipes.
+restart_gtk_listener() {
+  if [[ ! -x "${ML4W_LISTENERS_SCRIPT}" ]]; then
+    printf '⚠ ML4W listeners.sh not found, restart the GTK theme listener manually: %s\n' "${ML4W_LISTENERS_SCRIPT}" >&2
+    return 0
+  fi
+  if timeout 30 "${ML4W_LISTENERS_SCRIPT}" --restart gtk-theme-switcher </dev/null >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    printf '✓ ML4W GTK theme listener restarted\n'
+  else
+    printf '⚠ ML4W GTK theme listener restart failed; run: %s --restart gtk-theme-switcher\n' "${ML4W_LISTENERS_SCRIPT}" >&2
+  fi
+}
+
 hook_waypaper() {
   if [[ ! -f "${WAYPAPER_CONFIG}" ]]; then
     printf '✓ waypaper config absent (not used by ML4W 2.16), skipped\n'
@@ -87,6 +187,7 @@ hook_waypaper() {
 }
 
 hook_ml4w_runner
+hook_gtk_listener
 hook_waypaper
 
 "${DREAMCODER_DOTS_DIR}/scripts/theme-auto.sh"
diff --git a/scripts/apply-theme-mode.sh b/scripts/apply-theme-mode.sh
index 2d625757..687e18e3 100755
--- a/scripts/apply-theme-mode.sh
+++ b/scripts/apply-theme-mode.sh
@@ -294,6 +294,12 @@ BTOP_THEME="${HOME}/.config/btop/themes/dreamcoder.theme"
 if [[ -L "${BTOP_THEME}" ]]; then
   ln -sf "dreamcoder-${VARIANT}.theme" "${BTOP_THEME}"
 fi
+# btop.conf is ML4W-owned and upgrades reset color_theme (to "matugen"), so
+# re-select the Dreamcoder theme on every apply; a no-op when already set.
+BTOP_CONF="${HOME}/.config/btop/btop.conf"
+if [[ -f "${BTOP_THEME}" && -f "${BTOP_CONF}" ]] && ! grep -q '^color_theme = "dreamcoder"$' "${BTOP_CONF}"; then
+  sed -i 's/^color_theme = .*/color_theme = "dreamcoder"/' "${BTOP_CONF}"
+fi
 
 # Zellij: update theme in config.kdl
 ZELLIJ_CONF="${HOME}/.config/zellij/config.kdl"
diff --git a/src/dreamcoder_theme/renderers_extra_shell.py b/src/dreamcoder_theme/renderers_extra_shell.py
index db321ccf..df5dd5a1 100644
--- a/src/dreamcoder_theme/renderers_extra_shell.py
+++ b/src/dreamcoder_theme/renderers_extra_shell.py
@@ -83,7 +83,8 @@ def g(key: str) -> str:
         "di": _fg(g("accent")),
         "ex": _fg(g("accent_2")),
         "ln": _fg(g("diagnostic")),
-        "or": f"{_bg(c['warning'])};{_fg(g('text'))}",
+        # Broken links invert onto the warning swatch: base bg text keeps AA.
+        "or": f"{_bg(c['warning'])};{_fg(bg)}",
         "so": _fg(g("sage")),
         "pi": _fg(g("warning")),
         "bd": _fg(g("error")),
@@ -92,7 +93,7 @@ def g(key: str) -> str:
         "sg": f"{_bg(bg)};{_fg(g('accent_2'))}",
         "tw": f"{_fg(g('accent'))};{_bg(c['surface0'])}",
         "ow": f"{_fg(g('accent'))};{_bg(c['surface0'])}",
-        "st": f"{_fg(g('accent'))};{_bg(c['surface1'])}",
+        "st": f"{_fg(g('accent'))};{_bg(c['surface0'])}",
     }
     groups = {
         _fg(g("lavender")): [
diff --git a/src/dreamcoder_theme/settings.py b/src/dreamcoder_theme/settings.py
index 323fecec..fd2c7545 100644
--- a/src/dreamcoder_theme/settings.py
+++ b/src/dreamcoder_theme/settings.py
@@ -75,10 +75,34 @@ class ThemePaths:
     )
 
 
+def persisted_theme_mode() -> str | None:
+    """Return the base mode apply-theme-mode.sh persisted, or None.
+
+    ``~/.cache/dreamcoder/cursor-cli.env`` is the live mode record every
+    mode switch writes (Neovim reads the same file as its fallback).
+    """
+    cache_home = Path(os.environ.get("XDG_CACHE_HOME", Path.home() / ".cache"))
+    try:
+        lines = (cache_home / "dreamcoder" / "cursor-cli.env").read_text().splitlines()
+    except OSError:
+        return None
+    for line in lines:
+        key, _, value = line.removeprefix("export ").partition("=")
+        if key.strip() == "DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE":
+            mode = value.strip().strip("\"'").lower()
+            return mode if mode in {"dark", "light"} else None
+    return None
+
+
 def theme_mode() -> str:
-    # Dreamcoder Dark is the repo default; a clean env (CI, fresh
-    # shell) must not silently regenerate the legacy light palette.
-    mode = os.environ.get("DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE", "dark").lower()
+    # Precedence: explicit env override, then the persisted live mode, then
+    # Dreamcoder Dark as the repo default. Without the persisted fallback a
+    # bare `dreamcoder sync` rendered Dark over a system running Light; a clean
+    # env (CI, fresh shell) still never regenerates the legacy light palette.
+    env_mode = os.environ.get("DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE")
+    if env_mode is None:
+        return persisted_theme_mode() or "dark"
+    mode = env_mode.lower()
     if mode not in {"dark", "light"}:
         raise SystemExit("DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE must be 'dark' or 'light'")
     return mode
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/ml4w/gtk-theme-switcher-2.16 b/tests/fixtures/ml4w/gtk-theme-switcher-2.16
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1ae8dbe5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/ml4w/gtk-theme-switcher-2.16
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# This script monitors changes to the GTK settings.ini file
+# and automatically switches the 'matugen' theme between light and dark
+# based on the 'gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme' setting.
+
+# Path to the GTK settings file
+SETTINGS_FILE="$HOME/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini"
+SETTINGS_DIR="$HOME/.config/gtk-3.0"
+SETTINGS_BASENAME=$(basename "$SETTINGS_FILE")
+
+# Ensure inotify-tools is installed
+if ! command -v inotifywait &> /dev/null
+then
+    echo "Error: inotifywait is not installed."
+    echo "Please install inotify-tools (e.g., sudo apt install inotify-tools on Debian/Ubuntu)"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "Monitoring $SETTINGS_FILE for changes..."
+echo "Press Ctrl+C to stop."
+
+# Function to apply the theme based on the current settings
+apply_theme() {
+    # Check if the settings file exists
+    if [ ! -f "$SETTINGS_FILE" ]; then
+        echo "Error: $SETTINGS_FILE not found. Please ensure the file exists."
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    # Determine matugen binary path
+    if [ -f $HOME/.cargo/bin/matugen ]; then
+        MATUGEN_BIN="$HOME/.cargo/bin/matugen"
+    elif [ -f $HOME/.local/bin/matugen ]; then
+        MATUGEN_BIN="$HOME/.local/bin/matugen"
+    else
+        MATUGEN_BIN="matugen"
+    fi
+
+    # Extract the value of gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme
+    # We use grep to find the line and awk to get the value after the '='
+    THEME_PREF=$(grep -E '^gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme=' "$SETTINGS_FILE" | awk -F'=' '{print $2}')
+
+    if [ -z "$THEME_PREF" ]; then
+        echo "Warning: 'gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme' setting not found in $SETTINGS_FILE. Skipping theme application."
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    if [[ "$THEME_PREF" == "1" || "$THEME_PREF" == "true" ]]; then
+        echo "Detected dark theme preference (gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme=1/true). Applying dark matugen theme..."
+        $MATUGEN_BIN image $(cat ~/.cache/ml4w/hyprland-dotfiles/current_wallpaper) --source-color-index 0 -m "dark"
+
+        # Update Quickshell theme
+        qs ipc call theme-manager reload
+        echo "Quickshell Theme updated"
+
+        # Update ML4W Dotfiles Settings theme
+        qs -p $HOME/.local/share/ml4w-dotfiles-settings/quickshell ipc call theme-manager reload
+        echo "ML4W Dotfiles Settings Theme updated"
+
+        # Reload Waybar
+        nohup bash -c "$HOME/.config/waybar/launch.sh" > /dev/null 2>&1 &
+        disown
+
+        $HOME/.config/hypr/scripts/gtk.sh &
+
+        swaync-client -rs
+    elif [[ "$THEME_PREF" == "0" || "$THEME_PREF" == "false" ]]; then
+        echo "Detected light theme preference (gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme=0/false). Applying light matugen theme..."
+        $MATUGEN_BIN image $(cat ~/.cache/ml4w/hyprland-dotfiles/current_wallpaper) --source-color-index 0 -m "light"
+
+        # Update Quickshell theme
+        qs ipc call theme-manager reload
+        echo "Quickshell Theme updated"
+
+        # Reload Waybar
+        nohup bash -c "$HOME/.config/waybar/launch.sh" > /dev/null 2>&1 &
+        disown
+
+        $HOME/.config/hypr/scripts/gtk.sh &
+
+        swaync-client -rs
+    else
+        echo "Warning: Unexpected value for gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme: $THEME_PREF. Expected 0/1/true/false. Skipping theme application."
+    fi
+}
+
+# Loop indefinitely, reading output from inotifywait
+inotifywait -m -q -e close_write,moved_to "$SETTINGS_DIR" | while read -r dir events filename; do
+    if [[ "$filename" == "$SETTINGS_BASENAME" ]]; then
+        echo "Change detected in $SETTINGS_FILE. Re-applying theme..."
+        apply_theme
+    fi
+done
diff --git a/tests/ml4w/apply_ml4w_hooks.bats b/tests/ml4w/apply_ml4w_hooks.bats
index 8e0797f2..2137843d 100644
--- a/tests/ml4w/apply_ml4w_hooks.bats
+++ b/tests/ml4w/apply_ml4w_hooks.bats
@@ -10,8 +10,14 @@
 # The optional waypaper injection goes through `sed`. In a sed replacement, `&`
 # expands to the whole match, and the injected hook text contains `2>&1`, so an
 # unescaped `&` re-inserts the matched line and corrupts the config.
+#
+# The GTK theme listener fixture is a read-only copy of ML4W 2.16's installed
+# ~/.config/ml4w/listeners/gtk-theme-switcher.sh. It runs Matugen over the
+# wallpaper on every gtk settings.ini change; the hook restores Dreamcoder
+# colours right after each Matugen call.
 
 RUNNER_FIXTURE="${BATS_TEST_DIRNAME}/../fixtures/ml4w/ml4w-wallpaper-2.16"
+LISTENER_FIXTURE="${BATS_TEST_DIRNAME}/../fixtures/ml4w/gtk-theme-switcher-2.16"
 
 setup() {
     TEST_DIR="$(mktemp -d)"
@@ -26,6 +32,13 @@ setup() {
     printf '[Settings]\npost_command = ~/.config/ml4w/scripts/ml4w-wallpaper "$wallpaper" --skip > /dev/null 2>&1\n' >"${WAYPAPER_CONFIG}"
     cp "${RUNNER_FIXTURE}" "${ML4W_WALLPAPER_SCRIPT}"
     chmod +x "${ML4W_WALLPAPER_SCRIPT}"
+    # Exported so no invocation can reach the live ML4W listener or restart it.
+    export ML4W_GTK_LISTENER="${TEST_DIR}/gtk-theme-switcher.sh"
+    export ML4W_LISTENERS_SCRIPT="${TEST_DIR}/listeners.sh"
+    cp "${LISTENER_FIXTURE}" "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}"
+    chmod +x "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}"
+    printf '#!/usr/bin/env bash\necho "$*" >>"%s/restarts"\n' "${TEST_DIR}" >"${ML4W_LISTENERS_SCRIPT}"
+    chmod +x "${ML4W_LISTENERS_SCRIPT}"
 }
 
 teardown() {
@@ -47,6 +60,14 @@ count_blocks() {
     grep -c '^# >>> Dreamcoder wallpaper hook >>>$' "${ML4W_WALLPAPER_SCRIPT}" || true
 }
 
+count_listener_blocks() {
+    grep -c '^[[:space:]]*# >>> Dreamcoder listener hook >>>$' "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}" || true
+}
+
+count_restarts() {
+    if [[ -f "${TEST_DIR}/restarts" ]]; then wc -l <"${TEST_DIR}/restarts" | tr -d ' '; else echo 0; fi
+}
+
 # ── ML4W runner (primary) ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 @test "apply-ml4w-hooks: the 2.16 runner gets exactly one marked block" {
@@ -170,3 +191,126 @@ LEGACY
     # The corrupt form repeats the original assignment inside the line.
     [ "$(count_in_post_command 'ml4w-wallpaper')" -eq 1 ]
 }
+
+# ── GTK theme listener (Matugen over Dreamcoder colours) ─────────────────────
+
+@test "apply-ml4w-hooks: a hook block follows each Matugen call in the listener" {
+    run run_hooks
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    [ "$(count_listener_blocks)" -eq 2 ]
+    local matugen_lines block_lines
+    matugen_lines="$(grep -n 'MATUGEN_BIN image' "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}" | cut -d: -f1 | tr '\n' ' ')"
+    block_lines="$(grep -n 'Dreamcoder listener hook >>>' "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}" | cut -d: -f1 | tr '\n' ' ')"
+    read -r m1 m2 <<<"${matugen_lines}"
+    read -r b1 b2 <<<"${block_lines}"
+    [ "${b1}" -eq $((m1 + 1)) ]
+    [ "${b2}" -eq $((m2 + 1)) ]
+    bash -n "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}"
+    [ -x "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}" ]
+}
+
+@test "apply-ml4w-hooks: the listener is restarted once when its hook changes" {
+    run_hooks
+    [ "$(count_restarts)" -eq 1 ]
+    grep -qx -- '--restart gtk-theme-switcher' "${TEST_DIR}/restarts"
+}
+
+@test "apply-ml4w-hooks: re-running leaves the listener byte-identical and running" {
+    run_hooks
+    cp "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}" "${TEST_DIR}/first-listener"
+    run run_hooks
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    [[ "$output" == *"listener hook already current"* ]]
+    cmp -s "${TEST_DIR}/first-listener" "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}"
+    [ "$(count_listener_blocks)" -eq 2 ]
+    [ "$(count_restarts)" -eq 1 ]
+}
+
+@test "apply-ml4w-hooks: a stale listener block is replaced, not duplicated" {
+    run_hooks
+    sed -i 's|timeout 120|timeout 5|' "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}"
+    run_hooks
+    [ "$(count_listener_blocks)" -eq 2 ]
+    run grep -q 'timeout 5 ' "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}"
+    [ "$status" -ne 0 ]
+}
+
+@test "apply-ml4w-hooks: a listener without a Matugen call is left untouched" {
+    grep -v 'MATUGEN_BIN image' "${LISTENER_FIXTURE}" >"${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}"
+    cp "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}" "${TEST_DIR}/no-matugen"
+    run run_hooks
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    [[ "$output" == *"no Matugen call found"* ]]
+    cmp -s "${TEST_DIR}/no-matugen" "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}"
+    [ "$(count_restarts)" -eq 0 ]
+}
+
+@test "apply-ml4w-hooks: a missing listener is skipped without failing" {
+    rm -f "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}"
+    run run_hooks
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    [[ "$output" == *"GTK theme listener not found"* ]]
+    [ ! -e "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}" ]
+    [ "$(count_blocks)" -eq 1 ]
+}
+
+@test "apply-ml4w-hooks: a symlinked listener stays a symlink" {
+    mv "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}" "${TEST_DIR}/listener-target"
+    ln -s "${TEST_DIR}/listener-target" "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}"
+    run_hooks
+    [ -L "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}" ]
+    [ "$(count_listener_blocks)" -eq 2 ]
+}
+
+@test "apply-ml4w-hooks: the listener block runs a colours-only dispatcher sync" {
+    run_hooks
+    # Stub dispatcher records its arguments and the environment it gets.
+    cat >"${TEST_DIR}/scripts/dreamcoder" <<STUB
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+printf '%s|%s|%s\n' "\$*" "\${DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE}" "\${DREAMCODER_WRITE_REPO}" >>"${TEST_DIR}/dispatched"
+STUB
+    chmod +x "${TEST_DIR}/scripts/dreamcoder"
+    mkdir -p "${TEST_DIR}/home"
+    extract_block() {
+        awk -v want="$1" '/# >>> Dreamcoder listener hook >>>/ { n++; on = (n == want) } on { print } on && /# <<< Dreamcoder listener hook <<</ { exit }' \
+            "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}"
+    }
+    extract_block 1 >"${TEST_DIR}/block-dark.sh"
+    extract_block 2 >"${TEST_DIR}/block-light.sh"
+    # The mode comes from each branch's Matugen call, not from settings.ini.
+    printf '[Settings]\ngtk-application-prefer-dark-theme=0\n' >"${TEST_DIR}/settings.ini"
+    HOME="${TEST_DIR}/home" SETTINGS_FILE="${TEST_DIR}/settings.ini" bash "${TEST_DIR}/block-dark.sh"
+    printf '[Settings]\ngtk-application-prefer-dark-theme=1\n' >"${TEST_DIR}/settings.ini"
+    HOME="${TEST_DIR}/home" SETTINGS_FILE="${TEST_DIR}/settings.ini" bash "${TEST_DIR}/block-light.sh"
+    [ "$(sed -n 1p "${TEST_DIR}/dispatched")" = "sync|dark|0" ]
+    [ "$(sed -n 2p "${TEST_DIR}/dispatched")" = "sync|light|0" ]
+    [ -f "${TEST_DIR}/home/.cache/dreamcoder/ml4w-listener-sync.log" ]
+    cat "${TEST_DIR}/block-dark.sh" "${TEST_DIR}/block-light.sh" >"${TEST_DIR}/block.sh"
+    # The block must never write the file the listener watches (no loop).
+    run grep -E 'settings\.ini"? *>|>>? *"?\$\{?SETTINGS_FILE' "${TEST_DIR}/block.sh"
+    [ "$status" -ne 0 ]
+}
+
+@test "apply-ml4w-hooks: without listeners.sh the hook is applied with a warning" {
+    rm -f "${ML4W_LISTENERS_SCRIPT}"
+    run run_hooks
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    [[ "$output" == *"listeners.sh not found"* ]]
+    [ "$(count_listener_blocks)" -eq 2 ]
+}
+
+@test "apply-ml4w-hooks: a Matugen call without -m falls back to settings.ini" {
+    sed 's| -m "dark"||; s| -m "light"||' "${LISTENER_FIXTURE}" >"${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}"
+    run_hooks
+    [ "$(count_listener_blocks)" -eq 2 ]
+    printf '#!/usr/bin/env bash\necho "${DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE}" >>"%s/dispatched"\n' "${TEST_DIR}" >"${TEST_DIR}/scripts/dreamcoder"
+    chmod +x "${TEST_DIR}/scripts/dreamcoder"
+    mkdir -p "${TEST_DIR}/home"
+    awk '/# >>> Dreamcoder listener hook >>>/ { on = 1 } on { print } /# <<< Dreamcoder listener hook <<</ { exit }' \
+        "${ML4W_GTK_LISTENER}" >"${TEST_DIR}/block.sh"
+    printf 'gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme=true\n' >"${TEST_DIR}/settings.ini"
+    HOME="${TEST_DIR}/home" SETTINGS_FILE="${TEST_DIR}/settings.ini" bash "${TEST_DIR}/block.sh"
+    printf 'gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme=0\n' >"${TEST_DIR}/settings.ini"
+    HOME="${TEST_DIR}/home" SETTINGS_FILE="${TEST_DIR}/settings.ini" bash "${TEST_DIR}/block.sh"
+    [ "$(tr '\n' ' ' <"${TEST_DIR}/dispatched")" = "dark light " ]
+}
diff --git a/tests/shell/test_apply_theme.bats b/tests/shell/test_apply_theme.bats
index d3a61f0c..7755a8eb 100644
--- a/tests/shell/test_apply_theme.bats
+++ b/tests/shell/test_apply_theme.bats
@@ -88,3 +88,12 @@ teardown() {
     run bash -n "$script"
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
 }
+
+@test "apply-theme-mode.sh re-selects the Dreamcoder btop theme after ML4W resets it" {
+    # ML4W upgrades rewrite btop.conf with color_theme = "matugen"; every apply
+    # must point it back at the Dreamcoder theme without rewriting it needlessly.
+    script="scripts/apply-theme-mode.sh"
+    grep -q 'BTOP_CONF="${HOME}/.config/btop/btop.conf"' "$script"
+    grep -qF "grep -q '^color_theme = \"dreamcoder\"\$' \"\${BTOP_CONF}\"" "$script"
+    grep -qF "sed -i 's/^color_theme = .*/color_theme = \"dreamcoder\"/' \"\${BTOP_CONF}\"" "$script"
+}
diff --git a/tests/shell/test_fish_theme_mode.bats b/tests/shell/test_fish_theme_mode.bats
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8578735e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/shell/test_fish_theme_mode.bats
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bats
+# ============================================================================
+# 05-dreamcoder-theme.fish must start in the persisted live mode, even when the
+# parent process exported a stale DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE.
+# ============================================================================
+
+setup() {
+    TEST_HOME="$(mktemp -d)"
+    mkdir -p "${TEST_HOME}/.cache/dreamcoder"
+    CONF="${PWD}/DreamcoderShell/.config/fish/conf.d/05-dreamcoder-theme.fish"
+}
+
+teardown() {
+    rm -rf "${TEST_HOME}"
+}
+
+mode_after_startup() {
+    HOME="${TEST_HOME}" DREAMCODER_DOTS_DIR="${PWD}" fish --no-config -c "source '${CONF}'; echo \$DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE"
+}
+
+@test "persisted light mode overrides a stale inherited dark mode" {
+    printf 'export DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE="light"\n' >"${TEST_HOME}/.cache/dreamcoder/cursor-cli.env"
+    DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE=dark run mode_after_startup
+    [ "$output" = "light" ]
+}
+
+@test "inherited mode is kept when nothing was persisted" {
+    DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE=light run mode_after_startup
+    [ "$output" = "light" ]
+}
+
+@test "defaults to dark without env or persisted mode" {
+    run env -u DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE bash -c "$(declare -f mode_after_startup); TEST_HOME='${TEST_HOME}' CONF='${CONF}' mode_after_startup"
+    [ "$output" = "dark" ]
+}
diff --git a/tests/shell/test_lib_hyprland.bats b/tests/shell/test_lib_hyprland.bats
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d42f3d3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/shell/test_lib_hyprland.bats
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bats
+# ============================================================================
+# Tests for lib/hyprland.sh
+# ============================================================================
+
+setup() {
+    TEST_HOME="$(mktemp -d)"
+    mkdir -p "${TEST_HOME}/.config/waybar" "${TEST_HOME}/bin"
+    # Fake launcher that leaves a long-lived background child, like waybar.
+    cat >"${TEST_HOME}/.config/waybar/launch.sh" <<'SH'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+sleep 30 &
+echo $! >"${HOME}/bar.pid"
+echo launched
+SH
+    chmod +x "${TEST_HOME}/.config/waybar/launch.sh"
+    printf '#!/bin/sh\nexit 0\n' >"${TEST_HOME}/bin/pkill"
+    chmod +x "${TEST_HOME}/bin/pkill"
+}
+
+teardown() {
+    [[ -f "${TEST_HOME}/bar.pid" ]] && kill "$(cat "${TEST_HOME}/bar.pid")" 2>/dev/null || true
+    rm -rf "${TEST_HOME}"
+}
+
+@test "restart_waybar never hands its stdout to the relaunched bar" {
+    # A caller capturing output (theme apply under Python/systemd) must not
+    # block until the bar exits because the bar inherited the capture pipe.
+    run timeout 10 bash -c '
+        export HOME="'"${TEST_HOME}"'" PATH="'"${TEST_HOME}"'/bin:${PATH}"
+        source lib/checks.sh; source lib/hyprland.sh
+        is_gui_session() { return 0; }
+        out="$(restart_waybar)"; echo "done:${out}"'
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    [ "$output" = "done:" ]
+}
diff --git a/tests/test_ls_colors_contrast.py b/tests/test_ls_colors_contrast.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..91627cd6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_ls_colors_contrast.py
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+"""Every coloured LS_COLORS entry must be readable in Dreamcoder Light and Dark.
+
+Broken symlinks (``or``) and sticky directories (``st``) used colour pairs below
+WCAG AA, which made them unreadable in the terminal listing.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import re
+
+import pytest
+
+from dreamcoder_theme.palette import load_variants
+from dreamcoder_theme.palette_tokens import VARIANTS as DEFAULT_VARIANTS
+from dreamcoder_theme.renderers_extra_shell import ls_colors_content
+from dreamcoder_theme.settings import theme_paths
+
+AA = 4.5
+
+
+def _luminance(hex_rgb: str) -> float:
+    channels = [int(hex_rgb[i : i + 2], 16) / 255 for i in (0, 2, 4)]
+    linear = [c / 12.92 if c <= 0.03928 else ((c + 0.055) / 1.055) ** 2.4 for c in channels]
+    return 0.2126 * linear[0] + 0.7152 * linear[1] + 0.0722 * linear[2]
+
+
+def _contrast(a: str, b: str) -> float:
+    hi, lo = sorted((_luminance(a), _luminance(b)), reverse=True)
+    return (hi + 0.05) / (lo + 0.05)
+
+
+def _truecolor(params: list[str], selector: str) -> str | None:
+    for i in range(len(params) - 4):
+        if params[i] == selector and params[i + 1] == "2":
+            return "".join(f"{int(v):02x}" for v in params[i + 2 : i + 5])
+    return None
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("mode", ["light", "dark"])
+def test_ls_colors_entries_meet_aa(mode):
+    palette = load_variants(DEFAULT_VARIANTS, theme_paths().tokens_file)[mode]
+    snippet = ls_colors_content(palette)
+    ls_colors = re.search(r"export LS_COLORS='([^']+)'", snippet).group(1)
+    base_bg = palette["bg"].lstrip("#").lower()
+    failures = []
+    for entry in ls_colors.split(":"):
+        key, _, value = entry.partition("=")
+        params = value.split(";")
+        fg = _truecolor(params, "38")
+        if fg is None:
+            continue
+        ratio = _contrast(fg, _truecolor(params, "48") or base_bg)
+        if ratio < AA:
+            failures.append(f"{key}={ratio:.2f}")
+    assert not failures, f"{mode}: entries below {AA}:1 -> {failures}"
diff --git a/tests/test_theme_mode_resolution.py b/tests/test_theme_mode_resolution.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9da2fe04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_theme_mode_resolution.py
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+"""theme_mode() must follow the persisted active mode when no env override exists.
+
+A bare ``dreamcoder sync`` (from a hook, a listener, or a shell that never
+exported DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE) used to render Dreamcoder Dark while the system
+was in Light, because the only fallback was the repo default.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import pytest
+
+from dreamcoder_theme.settings import theme_mode
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def cache_home(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.delenv("DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE", raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.setenv("XDG_CACHE_HOME", str(tmp_path))
+    return tmp_path
+
+
+def write_mode_cache(cache_home, body: str) -> None:
+    target = cache_home / "dreamcoder" / "cursor-cli.env"
+    target.parent.mkdir(parents=True)
+    target.write_text(body)
+
+
+def test_env_override_wins_over_persisted_mode(cache_home, monkeypatch):
+    write_mode_cache(cache_home, 'export DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE="light"\n')
+    monkeypatch.setenv("DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE", "dark")
+    assert theme_mode() == "dark"
+
+
+def test_persisted_mode_is_used_without_env(cache_home):
+    write_mode_cache(
+        cache_home,
+        'export COLORFGBG="0;15"\nexport DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE="light"\n',
+    )
+    assert theme_mode() == "light"
+
+
+def test_defaults_to_dark_without_env_or_cache(cache_home):
+    assert theme_mode() == "dark"
+
+
+def test_invalid_persisted_mode_falls_back_to_dark(cache_home):
+    write_mode_cache(cache_home, 'export DREAMCODER_THEME_MODE="sepia"\n')
+    assert theme_mode() == "dark"