diff --git a/web/src/App.tsx b/web/src/App.tsx
index 419939329c3..9a599f66eb0 100644
--- a/web/src/App.tsx
+++ b/web/src/App.tsx
@@ -486,6 +486,13 @@ export default function App() {
     >
       <SelectionSwitcher />
 
+      <div
+        aria-hidden
+        className="pointer-events-none fixed inset-0 z-0"
+      >
+        <PluginSlot name="backdrop" />
+      </div>
+
       <header
         className={cn(
           "lg:hidden fixed top-0 left-0 right-0 z-40 min-h-14",
diff --git a/web/src/components/ThemeSwitcher.tsx b/web/src/components/ThemeSwitcher.tsx
index 350dc652bf7..109acf22536 100644
--- a/web/src/components/ThemeSwitcher.tsx
+++ b/web/src/components/ThemeSwitcher.tsx
@@ -317,12 +317,6 @@ function FontSection({ fontChoices, fontId, setFont }: FontSectionProps) {
 }
 
 function ThemeSwatch({ theme }: { theme: DashboardTheme }) {
-  // Inverted themes (Nous Blue / future lens themes) author their palette
-  // pre-inversion — `#FFAC02` reads as `#0053FD` blue once the foreground-
-  // difference layer flips the page. The picker can't replay that math
-  // cheaply, so themes opt-in to an explicit `swatchColors` triplet that
-  // mirrors the on-screen result. Falls back to the raw palette hexes for
-  // every other theme so existing dark-theme swatches are untouched.
   const [c1, c2, c3] = theme.swatchColors ?? [
     theme.palette.background.hex,
     theme.palette.midground.hex,
diff --git a/web/src/pages/ChatPage.tsx b/web/src/pages/ChatPage.tsx
index a2f1c189722..bb623cf2c6c 100644
--- a/web/src/pages/ChatPage.tsx
+++ b/web/src/pages/ChatPage.tsx
@@ -58,14 +58,19 @@ function generateChannelId(scope?: string): string {
 // with cream foreground — we intentionally don't pick monokai or a loud
 // theme, because the TUI's skin engine already paints the content; the
 // terminal chrome just needs to sit quietly inside the dashboard.
-// `background` is omitted here — it's supplied dynamically from the active
-// theme's `terminalBackground` field so users can control it via YAML themes.
-const TERMINAL_THEME_STATIC = {
-  foreground: "#f0e6d2",
-  cursor: "#f0e6d2",
-  cursorAccent: "#0d2626",
-  selectionBackground: "#f0e6d244",
-};
+const DEFAULT_TERMINAL_BACKGROUND = "#000000";
+const DEFAULT_TERMINAL_FOREGROUND = "#f0e6d2";
+
+function buildTerminalTheme(background: string, foreground: string) {
+  return {
+    background,
+    foreground,
+    cursor: foreground,
+    cursorAccent: background,
+    selectionBackground:
+      foreground.length === 7 ? `${foreground}44` : foreground,
+  };
+}
 
 /**
  * CSS width for xterm font tiers.
@@ -193,10 +198,11 @@ export default function ChatPage({ isActive = true }: { isActive?: boolean }) {
   );
 
   const { theme } = useTheme();
-  const terminalBg = theme.terminalBackground ?? "#000000";
+  const terminalBg = theme.terminalBackground ?? DEFAULT_TERMINAL_BACKGROUND;
+  const terminalFg = theme.terminalForeground ?? DEFAULT_TERMINAL_FOREGROUND;
   const terminalTheme = useMemo(
-    () => ({ ...TERMINAL_THEME_STATIC, background: terminalBg }),
-    [terminalBg],
+    () => buildTerminalTheme(terminalBg, terminalFg),
+    [terminalBg, terminalFg],
   );
 
   // The dashboard keeps ChatPage mounted persistently so the PTY survives tab
@@ -897,12 +903,12 @@ export default function ChatPage({ isActive = true }: { isActive?: boolean }) {
   }, [isActive]);
 
   // Keep the live xterm theme in sync when the active theme's terminal
-  // background changes (e.g. user switches to a custom YAML theme mid-session).
+  // colors change (e.g. user switches to a custom YAML theme mid-session).
   useEffect(() => {
     const term = termRef.current;
     if (!term) return;
-    term.options.theme = { ...TERMINAL_THEME_STATIC, background: terminalBg };
-  }, [terminalBg]);
+    term.options.theme = terminalTheme;
+  }, [terminalTheme]);
 
   // Layout:
   //   outer flex column — sits inside the dashboard's content area
@@ -1065,7 +1071,7 @@ export default function ChatPage({ isActive = true }: { isActive?: boolean }) {
               "bottom-2 right-2 px-2 py-1 text-xs sm:bottom-3 sm:right-3 sm:px-2.5 sm:py-1.5",
               "lg:bottom-4 lg:right-4",
             )}
-            style={{ color: TERMINAL_THEME_STATIC.foreground }}
+            style={{ color: terminalFg }}
           >
             <span className="inline-flex items-center gap-1.5">
               <Copy className="h-3 w-3 shrink-0" />
diff --git a/web/src/plugins/slots.ts b/web/src/plugins/slots.ts
index 72d382bce75..f040a589a03 100644
--- a/web/src/plugins/slots.ts
+++ b/web/src/plugins/slots.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ import React, { Fragment, useEffect, useState } from "react";
  *  these in their manifest's `slots` field get wired in automatically.
  *
  *  Shell-wide slots:
- *  - `backdrop`         — optional full-viewport background decoration
+ *  - `backdrop`         — optional full-viewport background decoration;
+ *                         mounted behind shell chrome at z-0
  *  - `header-left`      — injected before the Hermes brand in the top bar
  *  - `header-right`     — injected before the theme/language switchers
  *  - `header-banner`    — injected below the top nav bar, full-width
diff --git a/web/src/themes/context.tsx b/web/src/themes/context.tsx
index 3cf2d97b48b..b991d8a4184 100644
--- a/web/src/themes/context.tsx
+++ b/web/src/themes/context.tsx
@@ -82,8 +82,6 @@ function paletteVars(palette: ThemePalette): Record<string, string> {
     ...layerVars("background", palette.background),
     ...layerVars("midground", palette.midground),
     ...layerVars("foreground", palette.foreground),
-    "--warm-glow": palette.warmGlow,
-    "--noise-opacity-mul": String(palette.noiseOpacity),
   };
 }
 
@@ -391,11 +389,15 @@ function applyTheme(theme: DashboardTheme) {
   applyCustomCSS(theme.customCSS);
   applyLayoutVariant(theme.layoutVariant);
 
-  // Terminal background — read by ChatPage via useTheme(); also available as CSS var.
+  // Terminal colors — read by ChatPage via useTheme(); also available as CSS vars.
   root.style.setProperty(
     "--theme-terminal-background",
     theme.terminalBackground ?? "#000000",
   );
+  root.style.setProperty(
+    "--theme-terminal-foreground",
+    theme.terminalForeground ?? "#f0e6d2",
+  );
 
   // Re-assert the font override last: theme application just rewrote
   // --theme-font-sans/-display, so an active override has to win again.
diff --git a/web/src/themes/presets.ts b/web/src/themes/presets.ts
index 6ae7e9f94e2..fdf1593fe86 100644
--- a/web/src/themes/presets.ts
+++ b/web/src/themes/presets.ts
@@ -199,6 +199,7 @@ export const nousBlueTheme: DashboardTheme = {
   typography: DEFAULT_TYPOGRAPHY,
   layout: DEFAULT_LAYOUT,
   terminalBackground: "#f5f8fc",
+  terminalForeground: "#170d02",
   seriesColors: {
     inputTokenAccent: "#001934",
     outputTokenAccent: "#0053fd",
diff --git a/web/src/themes/types.ts b/web/src/themes/types.ts
index 8a1462c48e4..ebf9476c51b 100644
--- a/web/src/themes/types.ts
+++ b/web/src/themes/types.ts
@@ -80,7 +80,8 @@ export type ThemeLayoutVariant = "standard" | "cockpit" | "tiled";
  *  emitted as a CSS var (`--theme-asset-<name>`). Plugin slots and
  *  shell chrome may consume these via CSS. */
 export interface ThemeAssets {
-  /** Full-viewport background image URL. */
+  /** Full-viewport background image URL. Exposed as `--theme-asset-bg` for
+   *  the `backdrop` plugin slot or theme `customCSS`. */
   bg?: string;
   /** Hero render (Gundam, mascot, wallpaper) — for plugin sidebars/overlays. */
   hero?: string;
@@ -120,13 +121,7 @@ export interface ThemeComponentStyles {
  *  `--series-input-token` / `--series-output-token` CSS vars consumed
  *  inline by pages that render input-vs-output token flows. Themes can
  *  omit either field to inherit the default token defined in
- *  `index.css` (Hermes-teal `#ffe6cb` for input, `#34d399` for output).
- *
- *  Inverted-lens themes (e.g. Nous Blue) must pre-invert these hex
- *  values so they read as their intended visual color after the FG
- *  difference layer flips them (`out = 255 − channel`). E.g. to make
- *  output paint as Nous-blue `#0053FD` on screen, set
- *  `outputTokenAccent: "#FFAC02"` — the difference math reverses it. */
+ *  `index.css` (Hermes-teal `#ffe6cb` for input, `#34d399` for output). */
 export interface ThemeSeriesColors {
   /** Input-tokens series accent (Analytics chart bars + table values). */
   inputTokenAccent?: string;
@@ -177,18 +172,17 @@ export interface DashboardTheme {
   /** Per-component CSS-var overrides. See `ThemeComponentStyles`. */
   componentStyles?: ThemeComponentStyles;
   colorOverrides?: ThemeColorOverrides;
-  /** Data-series accent colors for Analytics/Models token charts.
-   *  See `ThemeSeriesColors` for inversion-aware values. */
+  /** Data-series accent colors for Analytics/Models token charts. */
   seriesColors?: ThemeSeriesColors;
-  /** Explicit 3-color swatch override for the theme picker. Use when the
-   *  palette's raw hex values don't reflect what users see on screen —
-   *  e.g. inverted "lens" themes whose foreground-difference layer flips
-   *  the authored colors to their visual complements. Order matches the
+  /** Explicit 3-color swatch override for the theme picker. Order matches the
    *  default swatch cells: [background, midground, warmGlow]. */
   swatchColors?: [string, string, string];
   /** Background color for the embedded terminal pane (xterm.js).
    *  Hex string. Defaults to `"#000000"` when absent. */
   terminalBackground?: string;
+  /** Default text/cursor color for the embedded terminal pane (xterm.js).
+   *  Hex string. Defaults to `"#f0e6d2"` when absent. */
+  terminalForeground?: string;
 }
 
 /**