diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6db0dac..860119d 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -13,3 +13,6 @@
 # Python helper bytecode is local runtime state.
 __pycache__/
 *.py[cod]
+
+# Generated from the colour scheme; machine state, not configuration.
+/config/dot/kitty/current-theme.conf
diff --git a/config/dot/kitty/kitty.conf b/config/dot/kitty/kitty.conf
index 05116ec..f28b611 100644
--- a/config/dot/kitty/kitty.conf
+++ b/config/dot/kitty/kitty.conf
@@ -183,7 +183,6 @@ font_size 14.0
 
 #: Cursor customization {{{
 
-cursor #c8d3f5
 
 #: Default cursor color. If set to the special value none the cursor
 #: will be rendered with a "reverse video" effect. It's color will be
@@ -193,7 +192,6 @@ cursor #c8d3f5
 #: precedence. Also, the cursor colors are modified if the cell
 #: background and foreground colors have very low contrast.
 
-cursor_text_color #111325
 
 #: The color of text under the cursor. If you want it rendered with
 #: the background color of the cell underneath instead, use the
@@ -312,7 +310,6 @@ cursor_shape block
 #: robustly with the ever-changing sea of bugs that is Cocoa is too
 #: much effort.
 
-url_color #4fd6be
 # url_style curly
 
 #: The color and style for highlighting URLs on mouse-over. url_style
@@ -734,12 +731,10 @@ window_border_width 1pt
 #: placed centrally. A value of top-left means the padding will be
 #: only at the bottom and right edges.
 
-active_border_color #82aaff
 
 #: The color for the border of the active window. Set this to none to
 #: not draw borders around the active window.
 
-inactive_border_color #2f334d
 
 #: The color for the border of inactive windows.
 
@@ -960,16 +955,11 @@ tab_powerline_style round
 #: Template to use for active tabs. If not specified falls back to
 #: tab_title_template.
 
-active_tab_foreground   #1e2030
-active_tab_background   #82aaff
 # active_tab_font_style   bold-italic
-inactive_tab_foreground #c8d3f5
-inactive_tab_background #42465a
 # inactive_tab_font_style normal
 
 #: Tab bar colors and styles.
 
-tab_bar_background #222436
 
 #: Background color for the tab bar. Defaults to using the terminal
 #: background color.
@@ -983,8 +973,8 @@ tab_bar_margin_color none
 
 #: Color scheme {{{
 
-foreground #c8d3f5
-background #222436
+
+include current-theme.conf
 
 #: The foreground and background colors.
 
@@ -1043,8 +1033,6 @@ dim_opacity 1
 #: How much to dim text that has the DIM/FAINT attribute set. One
 #: means no dimming and zero means fully dimmed (i.e. invisible).
 
-selection_foreground #2d3f76
-selection_background #c8d3f5
 
 #: The foreground and background colors for text selected with the
 #: mouse. Setting both of these to none will cause a "reverse video"
@@ -1060,47 +1048,29 @@ selection_background #c8d3f5
 #: dull and bright version, for the first 16 colors. You can set the
 #: remaining 240 colors as color16 to color255.
 
-color0 #1b1d2b
-color8 #444a73
 
 #: black
 
-color1 #ff757f
-color9 #ff757f
 
 #: red
 
-color2  #a5e8b5
-color10 #a5e8b5
 
 #: green
-color3  #ffc777
-color11 #ffc777
 
 #: yellow
 
-color4  #82aaff
-color12 #82aaff
 
 #: blue
 
-color5  #c099ff
-color13 #c099ff
 
 #: magenta
 
-color6  #86e1fc
-color14 #86e1fc
 
 #: cyan
 
-color7  #828bb8
-color15 #c8d3f5
 
 #: white
 
-color16 #ff966c
-color17 #c53b53
 
 # mark1_foreground black
 
diff --git a/config/dot/kitty/themes/tokyonight-day.conf b/config/dot/kitty/themes/tokyonight-day.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..532a7f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/dot/kitty/themes/tokyonight-day.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+# Tokyo Night Day — the palette's own light variant.
+#
+# The same hues as Moon at a different lightness, so a terminal in light mode
+# still belongs to this desktop rather than looking like a different machine.
+# Kept in the same order as tokyonight-moon.conf so the two can be diffed.
+
+cursor #3760bf
+cursor_text_color #e1e2e7
+url_color #118c74
+active_border_color #2e7de9
+inactive_border_color #c4c8da
+active_tab_foreground   #e1e2e7
+active_tab_background   #2e7de9
+inactive_tab_foreground #3760bf
+inactive_tab_background #c4c8da
+tab_bar_background #e1e2e7
+foreground #3760bf
+background #e1e2e7
+selection_foreground #e1e2e7
+selection_background #99a7df
+color0 #e9e9ed
+color8 #a1a6c5
+color1 #f52a65
+color9 #f52a65
+color2  #587539
+color10 #587539
+color3  #8c6c3e
+color11 #8c6c3e
+color4  #2e7de9
+color12 #2e7de9
+color5  #9854f1
+color13 #9854f1
+color6  #007197
+color14 #007197
+color7  #6172b0
+color15 #3760bf
+color16 #b15c00
+color17 #c64343
diff --git a/config/dot/kitty/themes/tokyonight-moon.conf b/config/dot/kitty/themes/tokyonight-moon.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ca70424
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/dot/kitty/themes/tokyonight-moon.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+# Tokyo Night Moon — the dark theme Panama ships.
+#
+# Extracted from kitty.conf so the two schemes can be swapped. kitty.conf
+# includes current-theme.conf, which Panama generates from the colour scheme
+# setting; that generated file is gitignored because it is machine state.
+#
+# Live changes go through `kitty @ set-colors`, which is why kitty.conf enables
+# remote control. Without it a scheme change would only reach terminals opened
+# afterwards.
+
+cursor #c8d3f5
+cursor_text_color #111325
+url_color #4fd6be
+active_border_color #82aaff
+inactive_border_color #2f334d
+active_tab_foreground #1e2030
+active_tab_background #82aaff
+inactive_tab_foreground #c8d3f5
+inactive_tab_background #42465a
+tab_bar_background #222436
+foreground #c8d3f5
+background #222436
+selection_foreground #2d3f76
+selection_background #c8d3f5
+color0 #1b1d2b
+color8 #444a73
+color1 #ff757f
+color9 #ff757f
+color2 #a5e8b5
+color10 #a5e8b5
+color3 #ffc777
+color11 #ffc777
+color4 #82aaff
+color12 #82aaff
+color5 #c099ff
+color13 #c099ff
+color6 #86e1fc
+color14 #86e1fc
+color7 #828bb8
+color15 #c8d3f5
+color16 #ff966c
+color17 #c53b53
diff --git a/config/dot/nvim/lua/config/autocmds.lua b/config/dot/nvim/lua/config/autocmds.lua
index 5cf7dbc..037718f 100644
--- a/config/dot/nvim/lua/config/autocmds.lua
+++ b/config/dot/nvim/lua/config/autocmds.lua
@@ -10,3 +10,6 @@ vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd("BufWritePre", {
     vim.fn.winrestview(view)
   end,
 })
+
+-- Follow the desktop's light/dark setting while running, not only at startup.
+require("config.panama").watch()
diff --git a/config/dot/nvim/lua/config/panama.lua b/config/dot/nvim/lua/config/panama.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bd43fb0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/dot/nvim/lua/config/panama.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+-- Panama desktop integration.
+--
+-- Neovim is the one application here that neither reads the desktop portal nor
+-- has a control socket open by default, so it reads the shared settings file
+-- directly -- the same ~/.config/panama/settings.json that the shell and the
+-- Hyprland config read.
+--
+-- Nothing here may raise. A missing or malformed settings file must cost the
+-- user their colour scheme preference and nothing else; editing text is more
+-- important than matching the desktop.
+
+local M = {}
+
+local function settings_path()
+  local config_home = os.getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME")
+  if config_home == nil or config_home == "" then
+    local home = os.getenv("HOME")
+    if home == nil or home == "" then
+      return nil
+    end
+    config_home = home .. "/.config"
+  end
+  return config_home .. "/panama/settings.json"
+end
+
+-- "dark" or "light". Defaults to dark, which is what Panama ships.
+function M.color_scheme()
+  local path = settings_path()
+  if not path then
+    return "dark"
+  end
+
+  local ok, contents = pcall(function()
+    local file = io.open(path, "r")
+    if not file then
+      return nil
+    end
+    local text = file:read("*a")
+    file:close()
+    return text
+  end)
+  if not ok or not contents or contents == "" then
+    return "dark"
+  end
+
+  local decoded_ok, decoded = pcall(vim.json.decode, contents)
+  if not decoded_ok or type(decoded) ~= "table" then
+    return "dark"
+  end
+
+  return decoded.colorScheme == "light" and "light" or "dark"
+end
+
+function M.is_light()
+  return M.color_scheme() == "light"
+end
+
+-- tokyonight ships a light variant in the same family, so light mode stays the
+-- same identity rather than becoming a different editor theme.
+function M.tokyonight_style()
+  return M.is_light() and "day" or "moon"
+end
+
+-- Re-apply the scheme when the window regains focus.
+--
+-- Neovim reads the setting once at startup and has no control socket open by
+-- default, so an editor already running when the desktop scheme flips would
+-- otherwise stay on the old palette until it was restarted. FocusGained is
+-- cheap, happens exactly when you would notice the mismatch, and does nothing
+-- at all unless the scheme actually changed.
+function M.watch()
+  local applied = M.color_scheme()
+
+  vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd("FocusGained", {
+    group = vim.api.nvim_create_augroup("PanamaColorScheme", { clear = true }),
+    callback = function()
+      local current = M.color_scheme()
+      if current == applied then
+        return
+      end
+      applied = current
+      vim.o.background = current
+      pcall(vim.cmd.colorscheme, current == "light" and "tokyonight-day" or "tokyonight-moon")
+    end,
+  })
+end
+
+return M
diff --git a/config/dot/nvim/lua/plugins/colorscheme.lua b/config/dot/nvim/lua/plugins/colorscheme.lua
index 976220c..236ee5b 100644
--- a/config/dot/nvim/lua/plugins/colorscheme.lua
+++ b/config/dot/nvim/lua/plugins/colorscheme.lua
@@ -1,31 +1,68 @@
+-- Tokyo Night, following the desktop's colour scheme.
+--
+-- Moon when Panama is dark, Day when it is light. Same theme family either way,
+-- so the editor keeps the identity the rest of the desktop has rather than
+-- becoming a different-looking application when the scheme flips.
+--
+-- The readability fixes below are deliberately dark-only. They were written
+-- against Moon's palette -- a pale comment colour, a mid-grey gutter -- and
+-- applying them to Day would put light grey text on a light background, which
+-- is exactly the legibility problem they exist to solve, inverted.
+
+local panama = require("config.panama")
+
 return {
   {
     "folke/tokyonight.nvim",
-    opts = {
-      style = "moon",
-      transparent = true,
-      on_colors = function(colors)
-        colors.comment = "#a0a7c5"
-        colors.fg_gutter = "#787f93"
-        colors.terminal_black = "#828bb8"
-      end,
-      on_highlights = function(highlights, colors)
-        -- Fix inline code visibility in markdown
-        highlights["@markup.raw.markdown_inline"] = {
-          bg = colors.terminal_black,
-          fg = colors.fg,
-        }
-        highlights["RenderMarkdownCodeInline"] = {
-          bg = colors.terminal_black,
-          fg = colors.fg,
-        }
-        -- Fix LspReference* readability: DiagnosticUnnecessary dims fg for unused
-        -- imports, making text nearly invisible against LspReferenceText's background
-        highlights["LspReferenceText"] = { bg = colors.fg_gutter, fg = colors.fg }
-        highlights["LspReferenceRead"] = { bg = colors.fg_gutter, fg = colors.fg }
-        highlights["LspReferenceWrite"] = { bg = colors.fg_gutter, fg = colors.fg }
-      end,
-    },
+    opts = function()
+      local light = panama.is_light()
+
+      return {
+        style = panama.tokyonight_style(),
+        light_style = "day",
+        transparent = true,
+
+        on_colors = function(colors)
+          if light then
+            -- Day's defaults are tuned for a light ground and mostly need no
+            -- help. Comments are the exception: the shipped #848cb5 measures
+            -- 2.54:1 against the #e1e2e7 background, well under the 3:1 floor
+            -- for secondary text. This is 3.25:1 -- readable, and still clearly
+            -- dimmer than Normal's 4.52:1 so it does not compete with code.
+            colors.comment = "#7079a8"
+            return
+          end
+
+          colors.comment = "#a0a7c5"
+          colors.fg_gutter = "#787f93"
+          colors.terminal_black = "#828bb8"
+        end,
+
+        on_highlights = function(highlights, colors)
+          -- Inline code in markdown is invisible at both lightnesses without
+          -- an explicit background, because the theme leaves it unset.
+          highlights["@markup.raw.markdown_inline"] = {
+            bg = light and colors.bg_highlight or colors.terminal_black,
+            fg = colors.fg,
+          }
+          highlights["RenderMarkdownCodeInline"] = {
+            bg = light and colors.bg_highlight or colors.terminal_black,
+            fg = colors.fg,
+          }
+
+          -- LspReference* readability: DiagnosticUnnecessary dims fg for unused
+          -- imports, making text nearly invisible against LspReferenceText's
+          -- background.
+          local reference = {
+            bg = light and colors.bg_visual or colors.fg_gutter,
+            fg = colors.fg,
+          }
+          highlights["LspReferenceText"] = reference
+          highlights["LspReferenceRead"] = reference
+          highlights["LspReferenceWrite"] = reference
+        end,
+      }
+    end,
   },
   {
     "LazyVim/LazyVim",
diff --git a/config/dot/quickshell/scripts/panama-theme-apps b/config/dot/quickshell/scripts/panama-theme-apps
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..8b2708e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/dot/quickshell/scripts/panama-theme-apps
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# Propagates the colour scheme to applications that do not read the desktop
+# portal.
+#
+# Most modern applications DO follow org.freedesktop.portal.Settings and need
+# nothing from us: GTK4/libadwaita, Qt6, Chromium and Electron all read
+# org.freedesktop.appearance color-scheme, which xdg-desktop-portal-gtk serves
+# from gsettings. Panama sets that, so those follow automatically.
+#
+# Terminals are the notable exception -- they predate the standard and carry
+# their own palettes. kitty is handled here.
+#
+#   panama-theme-apps dark|light
+#
+# kitty gets it twice: the generated include file so terminals opened later
+# start correct, and a live `set-colors` over its control socket so terminals
+# already open change now. Without the second, a scheme change appears to do
+# nothing until you open a new window.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+scheme="${1:-dark}"
+case "$scheme" in
+    dark|light) ;;
+    *) printf 'usage: panama-theme-apps [dark|light]\n' >&2; exit 2 ;;
+esac
+
+kitty_dir="${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/kitty"
+theme_file="$kitty_dir/themes/tokyonight-moon.conf"
+[[ "$scheme" == "light" ]] && theme_file="$kitty_dir/themes/tokyonight-day.conf"
+
+status_kitty="skipped"
+if [[ -r "$theme_file" ]]; then
+    # Written atomically: kitty may read this while a new window is starting.
+    if cp "$theme_file" "$kitty_dir/current-theme.conf.tmp" 2>/dev/null \
+        && mv "$kitty_dir/current-theme.conf.tmp" "$kitty_dir/current-theme.conf" 2>/dev/null; then
+        status_kitty="written"
+    fi
+
+    # Live-apply to running terminals. kitty appends its PID to the socket name
+    # from listen_on, so there is one socket per instance -- "unix:@mykitty"
+    # alone reaches nothing, which is exactly how this looked like remote
+    # control being disabled when it was not.
+    if command -v kitty >/dev/null 2>&1 && command -v ss >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        applied=0
+        while read -r socket; do
+            [[ -n "$socket" ]] || continue
+            if kitty @ --to "unix:@${socket#@}" set-colors --all --configured "$theme_file" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+                applied=$((applied + 1))
+            fi
+        done < <(ss -xl 2>/dev/null | grep -oE '@mykitty[^[:space:]]*' | sort -u)
+        (( applied > 0 )) && status_kitty="applied to $applied"
+    fi
+fi
+
+printf '{"scheme":"%s","kitty":"%s"}\n' "$scheme" "$status_kitty"
diff --git a/config/dot/quickshell/services/ColorScheme.qml b/config/dot/quickshell/services/ColorScheme.qml
index 4353142..4f09838 100644
--- a/config/dot/quickshell/services/ColorScheme.qml
+++ b/config/dot/quickshell/services/ColorScheme.qml
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ import qs.config
 Singleton {
     id: root
 
+    readonly property string appThemePath: Quickshell.shellDir + "/scripts/panama-theme-apps"
+
     readonly property bool dark: DesktopPreferences.get("colorScheme") !== "light"
     property string lastError: ""
 
@@ -92,6 +94,12 @@ Singleton {
         commands.push(["hyprctl", "eval",
             `hl.config({ general = { col = { inactive_border = "${inactive}" } } })`]);
 
+        // Applications that predate org.freedesktop.appearance and carry their
+        // own palettes -- terminals, chiefly. Everything that reads the portal
+        // (GTK4, Qt6, Chromium, Electron) is already handled by the gsettings
+        // write above and needs nothing here.
+        commands.push([root.appThemePath, root.dark ? "dark" : "light"]);
+
         root.enqueue(commands);
     }
 }
diff --git a/setup/scripts/link-dotfiles b/setup/scripts/link-dotfiles
index e3eb5a3..3ab8fd6 100755
--- a/setup/scripts/link-dotfiles
+++ b/setup/scripts/link-dotfiles
@@ -70,6 +70,27 @@ for dir in "${dirs[@]}"; do
   log "Linked $PANAMA_DOT/$dir → $CONFIG/$dir"
 done
 
+# kitty.conf ends with `include current-theme.conf`, and that file is generated
+# from the desktop colour scheme rather than committed -- it is machine state.
+# A fresh checkout therefore has no such file, and kitty starts by complaining
+# about a missing include and falling back to its stock colours. Seed it from
+# the scheme in settings.json (dark unless the user has chosen otherwise) so a
+# first launch is themed; ColorScheme.qml overwrites it on every change after.
+KITTY_THEME="$PANAMA_DOT/kitty/current-theme.conf"
+if [ -e "$KITTY_THEME" ]; then
+  log "Keeping existing kitty theme at $KITTY_THEME"
+else
+  scheme="dark"
+  settings="${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/panama/settings.json"
+  if [ -r "$settings" ]; then
+    stored="$(jq -r '.colorScheme // "dark"' "$settings" 2>/dev/null || echo dark)"
+    [ "$stored" = "light" ] && scheme="light"
+  fi
+  [ "$scheme" = "light" ] && theme="tokyonight-day" || theme="tokyonight-moon"
+  cp "$PANAMA_DOT/kitty/themes/$theme.conf" "$KITTY_THEME"
+  log "Seeded kitty $scheme theme ($theme) → $KITTY_THEME"
+fi
+
 # Vicinae 0.26 discovers user themes from its XDG data directory rather than
 # from ~/.config/vicinae. Keep the authored theme in Panama with the rest of
 # the launcher config and expose only that file at Vicinae's runtime path.