test(tui): add mouse navigation and card rendering tests

app_mouse_test.go:
- TestTabAtXMatchesTabWidths: Verifies that tabAtX() correctly maps
  X coordinates to tab indices for all active tab states
- Uses tabWidthForTest() helper that mirrors TabVisualWidth() logic
- Catches regressions where tab hit detection drifts from rendering

card_fix_test.go:
- TestCardRowBackgroundFill: Verifies that CardRow() properly equalizes
  card heights and fills backgrounds on shorter cards
- Forces TrueColor profile in init() to ensure ANSI codes generate
- Validates that padding lines contain ANSI escape sequences,
  confirming background styling isn't stripped

These tests guard against visual regressions that are hard to catch
in manual testing, particularly the subtle issue where short cards
in a row would have "punched out" gaps where their backgrounds
didn't extend to match taller neighbors.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

BACKBURNER.md

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# Backburner Ideas
+
+Last updated: February 23, 2026
+
+## Deferred
+
+- Separate pricing semantics for subscription vs API usage:
+  - `cburn` should model Claude subscription economics independently from Admin/API token pricing.
+  - Admin Cost API integration is still valuable for API-key workflows, but should not be treated as the canonical source for subscription usage.
+  - Revisit after daemon/event infrastructure work stabilizes.

CEO_PITCH_DECKS.md

@@ -0,0 +1,236 @@
+# CEO Meeting Script: Four Daemon-Enabled Product Bets
+
+## Opening
+Today I want to walk through four product bets that become possible because we now have a continuously running daemon that can observe usage as it happens, not just after the fact.
+
+I am not presenting speculative AI magic. I am presenting four concrete products, each with a hard-nosed view of utility, feasibility, risk, and build path.
+
+The four bets are:
+1. Cognitive Flight Recorder
+2. Runaway Loop Quencher
+3. Session Archeology Engine
+4. Latent Tool ROI Scanner
+
+My recommendation is not “build all at once.” My recommendation is staged execution with clear kill criteria.
+
+---
+
+## 1) Cognitive Flight Recorder
+
+### The pitch
+If our AI spend spikes tomorrow, leadership will ask two questions immediately: what happened, and why did it happen. Right now, we can answer “how much,” but we cannot reliably answer “why.”
+
+The Cognitive Flight Recorder solves that. It turns a costly session into a replayable incident timeline. Not a dashboard snapshot. A sequence: where cost accelerated, where model behavior changed, where cache efficiency collapsed, and where the session crossed from productive to expensive.
+
+This product creates operational trust. When AI systems are expensive, trust depends on explainability under stress.
+
+### Why we need it
+Postmortems are currently slow and anecdotal. Engineers reconstruct stories manually. Finance gets numbers without causality. Leadership gets noise.
+
+A Flight Recorder makes AI spend investigable the same way we investigate reliability incidents. That is a major enterprise unlock.
+
+### How it works
+The daemon continuously captures session telemetry and emits timeline events. The recorder layers on top:
+- It builds per-session event streams with timestamps, token deltas, model transitions, and cache transitions.
+- It detects inflection points where cost trajectory changes materially.
+- It generates a concise incident report: “what changed,” “likely causes,” and “which preventive policy would have helped.”
+
+The output is not just visual. It is operational: replay + evidence + recommended guardrail.
+
+### Downstream effects
+If we execute this well, we get:
+- Faster incident resolution for spend spikes.
+- Better policy tuning because we can pinpoint the moment of failure.
+- Stronger executive confidence in scaling agent usage.
+- A compelling enterprise story: “we can explain every anomaly.”
+
+### Skeptical view
+Is it actually useful? Only if it leads to action. A pretty timeline that no one uses is dead weight.
+
+Is it feasible with current harnesses? Partially. We can do strong metadata-level replay now. Deep semantic replay depends on richer telemetry and raises privacy concerns.
+
+The critical risk is false causality: users may confuse sequence with cause. We mitigate this by attaching confidence levels and explicit evidence for every claim.
+
+### Implementation roadmap
+Phase 1 (2-3 weeks): metadata replay and “Top Cost Incidents” report.  
+Phase 2 (3-5 weeks): inflection detection and root-cause ranking with confidence scoring.  
+Phase 3 (4+ weeks): optional deep replay, privacy controls, and incident workflow integrations.
+
+### Decision rule
+Proceed if incident reports result in measurable policy changes. Kill or narrow if they remain passive observability artifacts.
+
+---
+
+## 8) Runaway Loop Quencher
+
+### The pitch
+Most bad AI spend is not one bad call. It is a loop: repeated expensive behavior with little progress. If we only detect this after the session, we are too late.
+
+The Runaway Loop Quencher is an active safety layer. It watches live telemetry, identifies likely runaway patterns, and intervenes before the burn compounds.
+
+This is the direct path to cost containment at runtime.
+
+### Why we need it
+Without active containment, scaling agent autonomy is financially unsafe. Teams become conservative. Leaders reduce usage. Innovation slows.
+
+If we can intervene mid-flight, we convert catastrophic sessions into manageable sessions.
+
+### How it works
+The daemon computes rolling risk signals:
+- accelerating cost per minute
+- repetitive call signatures
+- degrading cache performance
+- high token growth with weak progress proxies
+
+A policy engine converts those signals into action tiers:
+- Soft: alert and suggest a reset strategy
+- Guarded: require confirmation before continuing expensive patterns
+- Hard: stop execution for supported harnesses
+
+We start advisory-first, then move toward control where integrations allow.
+
+### Downstream effects
+If successful:
+- fewer runaway incidents
+- lower variance in daily spend
+- greater confidence in letting agents run longer on valuable tasks
+- ability to define budget safety SLOs
+
+### Skeptical view
+Is it actually useful? Yes, but only if precision is good. High false positives will cause immediate distrust and disablement.
+
+Is it feasible given harness reality? Detection and alerting are feasible now. Hard-stop control is integration-dependent and not universally available.
+
+The hard technical challenge is “progress.” We can estimate risk, but progress is not always machine-observable. That means we should not over-automate too early.
+
+### Implementation roadmap
+Phase 1 (2-4 weeks): risk scoring, alerting, and daemon risk endpoint.  
+Phase 2 (4-6 weeks): human confirmation gates and cooldown policies.  
+Phase 3 (6+ weeks): optional hard-stop integrations and policy simulation.
+
+### Decision rule
+Ship only if we can keep false positives low enough that teams keep it enabled. If intervention is frequently wrong, this product should remain advisory.
+
+---
+
+## 9) Session Archeology Engine
+
+### The pitch
+Right now we can tell teams they spent too much. We cannot tell them which recurring behavior patterns caused it.
+
+The Session Archeology Engine classifies sessions into behavioral archetypes and ties each archetype to practical intervention playbooks.
+
+This turns raw telemetry into behavior change.
+
+### Why we need it
+People do not improve from aggregate numbers. They improve from named patterns and concrete alternatives.
+
+If we can say, “These two session archetypes account for most avoidable spend, and here is exactly how to run them differently,” we create durable cost literacy.
+
+### How it works
+We extract session-level feature vectors:
+- session shape and duration profile
+- token composition and burstiness
+- cache behavior
+- model mix and switch behavior
+- retry and repetition patterns
+
+We cluster sessions and assign human-readable archetypes, then connect each archetype to:
+- likely waste mechanism
+- recommended policy/routing pattern
+- suggested prompt and workflow changes
+
+The output is both analytical and prescriptive.
+
+### Downstream effects
+If this works:
+- managers coach with evidence instead of intuition
+- teams adopt archetype-specific best practices
+- routing policies improve faster because they target behaviors, not averages
+- executives get clean narrative reporting on spend dynamics
+
+### Skeptical view
+Is it actually useful? It is useful only if archetypes stay stable and map to actions. Otherwise it becomes taxonomy theater.
+
+Is it feasible? Yes, baseline version is feasible with existing metadata. Advanced value improves with richer tool and outcome signals.
+
+Main risk: labels can drift as models and workflows change. We mitigate with periodic retraining, versioned labels, and strict “action attached” requirements.
+
+### Implementation roadmap
+Phase 1 (2-3 weeks): clustering baseline and weekly archetype report.  
+Phase 2 (3-5 weeks): intervention playbooks and policy recommendations per archetype.  
+Phase 3 (4+ weeks): team benchmarking and archetype drift alerts.
+
+### Decision rule
+Keep investing only if archetypes produce measurable behavior and cost improvements, not just better reporting.
+
+---
+
+## 13) Latent Tool ROI Scanner
+
+### The pitch
+Model choice is not the only cost lever. Tool behavior often dominates spend efficiency, and today that layer is mostly invisible.
+
+The Latent Tool ROI Scanner identifies which tools and workflows consume disproportionate cost relative to useful outcome, and recommends what to constrain, replace, or redesign.
+
+This is potentially the highest upside concept, but also the highest epistemic risk.
+
+### Why we need it
+Optimization efforts usually target visible levers. Hidden tool-level waste can remain untouched for months.
+
+If we can reveal negative-ROI tool patterns, we unlock savings without reducing strategic AI adoption.
+
+### How it works
+The scanner combines daemon telemetry with richer tool-event instrumentation:
+- per-tool invocation frequency and cost footprint
+- failure and retry signatures
+- outcome proxies from delivery systems (tests, merges, ticket transitions)
+
+It then computes conservative ROI scores and counterfactual scenarios:
+- “If we reduce this pattern by 30%, estimated impact is X with confidence band Y.”
+
+Recommendations are always evidence-backed and confidence-scored.
+
+### Downstream effects
+If accurate:
+- identifies hidden spend sinks
+- informs platform/tooling investments
+- enables high-leverage policy changes with limited developer friction
+- strengthens unit economics of agent operations
+
+### Skeptical view
+Is it actually useful today? Not fully. Without stronger outcome labeling, ROI claims can become fragile or misleading.
+
+Is it feasible with current harnesses? Partially. We can pilot scoring frameworks, but high-confidence production decisions require instrumentation we do not yet have.
+
+This is exactly where we should avoid overclaiming.
+
+### Implementation roadmap
+Phase 0 (1-2 weeks): instrumentation gap audit and schema design.  
+Phase 1 (3-4 weeks): tool-event ingestion and normalization pipeline.  
+Phase 2 (4-6 weeks): conservative ROI scoring + confidence intervals.  
+Phase 3 (4+ weeks): recommendation engine and controlled experiments.
+
+### Decision rule
+Treat as pilot until precision is validated against human review and external outcomes. If precision is weak, keep this as exploratory analytics.
+
+---
+
+## Portfolio recommendation and sequencing
+
+If we prioritize for impact times feasibility:
+1. Cognitive Flight Recorder
+2. Session Archeology Engine
+3. Runaway Loop Quencher (advisory first, control later)
+4. Latent Tool ROI Scanner (pilot behind instrumentation gate)
+
+This sequencing gives us near-term value while building the telemetry foundation needed for the harder products.
+
+The overarching principle: every insight must be tied to an action, every action must be measurable, and every high-stakes claim must carry confidence.
+
+## Closing
+The daemon turns our system from retrospective analytics into a live control surface. These four products are how we monetize and operationalize that shift.
+
+The question is not whether these ideas are interesting. The question is whether we can ship them with enough truthfulness that teams trust them.
+
+With staged delivery and strict kill criteria, we can.

README.md

@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ cburn              # Summary of usage metrics
 cburn tui          # Interactive dashboard
 cburn costs        # Cost breakdown by token type
 cburn status       # Claude.ai subscription status
+cburn daemon --detach   # Background usage daemon + local API
 ```
 
 ## CLI Commands
@@ -50,6 +51,7 @@ cburn status       # Claude.ai subscription status
 | `cburn models` | Model usage breakdown |
 | `cburn projects` | Project usage ranking |
 | `cburn status` | Claude.ai subscription status and rate limits |
+| `cburn daemon` | Background daemon with JSON/SSE usage API |
 | `cburn config` | Show current configuration |
 | `cburn setup` | Interactive first-time setup wizard |
 | `cburn tui` | Interactive dashboard |
@@ -73,6 +75,27 @@ cburn -n 7                      # Last 7 days
 cburn costs -p myproject        # Costs for a specific project
 cburn sessions -m opus          # Sessions using Opus models
 cburn daily --no-subagents      # Exclude spawned agents
+cburn daemon --detach           # Start daemon in background
+cburn daemon status             # Check daemon health and latest totals
+cburn daemon stop               # Stop daemon
+```
+
+## Daemon Mode
+
+`cburn daemon` runs a long-lived polling service that keeps usage snapshots warm and exposes local endpoints for downstream tools.
+
+Default endpoint: `http://127.0.0.1:8787`
+
+- `GET /healthz` - liveness probe
+- `GET /v1/status` - current aggregate snapshot and daemon runtime status
+- `GET /v1/events` - recent event buffer (JSON array)
+- `GET /v1/stream` - Server-Sent Events stream (`snapshot`, `usage_delta`)
+
+Example:
+
+```bash
+cburn daemon --detach --interval 10s
+curl -s http://127.0.0.1:8787/v1/status | jq
 ```
 
 ## TUI Dashboard
@@ -194,6 +217,7 @@ make clean       # Remove binary and test cache
 | `internal/store` | SQLite cache layer |
 | `internal/model` | Domain types |
 | `internal/config` | TOML config and pricing tables |
+| `internal/daemon` | Background polling daemon + local HTTP/SSE API |
 | `internal/cli` | Terminal formatting |
 | `internal/claudeai` | Claude.ai API client |
 | `internal/tui` | Bubble Tea dashboard |

cmd/daemon.go

@@ -0,0 +1,344 @@
+package cmd
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"os/signal"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+	"syscall"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/theirongolddev/cburn/internal/daemon"
+	"github.com/theirongolddev/cburn/internal/pipeline"
+
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+)
+
+type daemonRuntimeState struct {
+	PID       int       `json:"pid"`
+	Addr      string    `json:"addr"`
+	StartedAt time.Time `json:"started_at"`
+	DataDir   string    `json:"data_dir"`
+}
+
+var (
+	flagDaemonAddr         string
+	flagDaemonInterval     time.Duration
+	flagDaemonDetach       bool
+	flagDaemonPIDFile      string
+	flagDaemonLogFile      string
+	flagDaemonEventsBuffer int
+	flagDaemonChild        bool
+)
+
+var daemonCmd = &cobra.Command{
+	Use:   "daemon",
+	Short: "Run a background usage daemon with HTTP/SSE endpoints",
+	RunE:  runDaemon,
+}
+
+var daemonStatusCmd = &cobra.Command{
+	Use:   "status",
+	Short: "Show daemon process and API status",
+	RunE:  runDaemonStatus,
+}
+
+var daemonStopCmd = &cobra.Command{
+	Use:   "stop",
+	Short: "Stop the running daemon",
+	RunE:  runDaemonStop,
+}
+
+func init() {
+	defaultPID := filepath.Join(pipeline.CacheDir(), "cburnd.pid")
+	defaultLog := filepath.Join(pipeline.CacheDir(), "cburnd.log")
+
+	daemonCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&flagDaemonAddr, "addr", "127.0.0.1:8787", "HTTP listen address")
+	daemonCmd.PersistentFlags().DurationVar(&flagDaemonInterval, "interval", 15*time.Second, "Polling interval")
+	daemonCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&flagDaemonPIDFile, "pid-file", defaultPID, "PID file path")
+	daemonCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&flagDaemonLogFile, "log-file", defaultLog, "Log file path for detached mode")
+	daemonCmd.PersistentFlags().IntVar(&flagDaemonEventsBuffer, "events-buffer", 200, "Max in-memory events retained")
+
+	daemonCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&flagDaemonDetach, "detach", false, "Run daemon as a background process")
+	daemonCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&flagDaemonChild, "child", false, "Internal: mark detached child process")
+	_ = daemonCmd.Flags().MarkHidden("child")
+
+	daemonCmd.AddCommand(daemonStatusCmd)
+	daemonCmd.AddCommand(daemonStopCmd)
+	rootCmd.AddCommand(daemonCmd)
+}
+
+func runDaemon(_ *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
+	if flagDaemonDetach && flagDaemonChild {
+		return errors.New("invalid daemon launch mode")
+	}
+
+	if flagDaemonDetach {
+		return startDaemonDetached()
+	}
+
+	return runDaemonForeground()
+}
+
+func startDaemonDetached() error {
+	if err := ensureDaemonNotRunning(flagDaemonPIDFile); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	exe, err := os.Executable()
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("resolve executable: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	args := filterDetachArg(os.Args[1:])
+	args = append(args, "--child")
+
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(flagDaemonPIDFile), 0o750); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("create daemon directory: %w", err)
+	}
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(flagDaemonLogFile), 0o750); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("create daemon log directory: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	//nolint:gosec // daemon log path is configured by the local user
+	logf, err := os.OpenFile(flagDaemonLogFile, os.O_WRONLY|os.O_CREATE|os.O_APPEND, 0o600)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("open daemon log file: %w", err)
+	}
+	defer func() { _ = logf.Close() }()
+
+	cmd := exec.Command(exe, args...) //nolint:gosec // exe/args come from current process invocation
+	cmd.Stdout = logf
+	cmd.Stderr = logf
+	cmd.Stdin = nil
+	cmd.Env = os.Environ()
+
+	if err := cmd.Start(); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("start detached daemon: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	fmt.Printf("  Started daemon (pid %d)\n", cmd.Process.Pid)
+	fmt.Printf("  PID file: %s\n", flagDaemonPIDFile)
+	fmt.Printf("  API: http://%s/v1/status\n", flagDaemonAddr)
+	fmt.Printf("  Log: %s\n", flagDaemonLogFile)
+	return nil
+}
+
+func runDaemonForeground() error {
+	if err := ensureDaemonNotRunning(flagDaemonPIDFile); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(flagDaemonPIDFile), 0o750); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("create daemon directory: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	pid := os.Getpid()
+	if err := writePID(flagDaemonPIDFile, pid); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer func() { _ = os.Remove(flagDaemonPIDFile) }()
+
+	state := daemonRuntimeState{
+		PID:       pid,
+		Addr:      flagDaemonAddr,
+		StartedAt: time.Now(),
+		DataDir:   flagDataDir,
+	}
+	_ = writeState(statePath(flagDaemonPIDFile), state)
+	defer func() { _ = os.Remove(statePath(flagDaemonPIDFile)) }()
+
+	cfg := daemon.Config{
+		DataDir:          flagDataDir,
+		Days:             flagDays,
+		ProjectFilter:    flagProject,
+		ModelFilter:      flagModel,
+		IncludeSubagents: !flagNoSubagents,
+		UseCache:         !flagNoCache,
+		Interval:         flagDaemonInterval,
+		Addr:             flagDaemonAddr,
+		EventsBuffer:     flagDaemonEventsBuffer,
+	}
+	svc := daemon.New(cfg)
+
+	fmt.Printf("  cburn daemon listening on http://%s\n", flagDaemonAddr)
+	fmt.Printf("  Polling every %s from %s\n", flagDaemonInterval, flagDataDir)
+	fmt.Printf("  Stop with: cburn daemon stop --pid-file %s\n", flagDaemonPIDFile)
+
+	ctx, cancel := signal.NotifyContext(context.Background(), os.Interrupt, syscall.SIGTERM)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	if err := svc.Run(ctx); err != nil && !errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) {
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func runDaemonStatus(_ *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
+	pid, err := readPID(flagDaemonPIDFile)
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Printf("  Daemon: not running (pid file not found)\n")
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	alive := processAlive(pid)
+	if !alive {
+		fmt.Printf("  Daemon: stale pid file (pid %d not alive)\n", pid)
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	addr := flagDaemonAddr
+	if st, err := readState(statePath(flagDaemonPIDFile)); err == nil && st.Addr != "" {
+		addr = st.Addr
+	}
+
+	fmt.Printf("  Daemon PID: %d\n", pid)
+	fmt.Printf("  Address: http://%s\n", addr)
+
+	client := &http.Client{Timeout: 2 * time.Second}
+	resp, err := client.Get("http://" + addr + "/v1/status") //nolint:noctx // short status probe
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Printf("  API status: unreachable (%v)\n", err)
+		return nil
+	}
+	defer func() { _ = resp.Body.Close() }()
+
+	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+		fmt.Printf("  API status: HTTP %d\n", resp.StatusCode)
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	var st daemon.Status
+	if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&st); err != nil {
+		fmt.Printf("  API status: malformed response (%v)\n", err)
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	if st.LastPollAt.IsZero() {
+		fmt.Printf("  Last poll: pending\n")
+	} else {
+		fmt.Printf("  Last poll: %s\n", st.LastPollAt.Local().Format(time.RFC3339))
+	}
+	fmt.Printf("  Poll count: %d\n", st.PollCount)
+	fmt.Printf("  Sessions: %d\n", st.Summary.Sessions)
+	fmt.Printf("  Tokens: %d\n", st.Summary.Tokens)
+	fmt.Printf("  Cost: $%.2f\n", st.Summary.EstimatedCostUSD)
+	if st.LastError != "" {
+		fmt.Printf("  Last error: %s\n", st.LastError)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func runDaemonStop(_ *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
+	pid, err := readPID(flagDaemonPIDFile)
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.New("daemon is not running")
+	}
+
+	proc, err := os.FindProcess(pid)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("find daemon process: %w", err)
+	}
+	if err := proc.Signal(syscall.SIGTERM); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("signal daemon process: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(8 * time.Second)
+	for time.Now().Before(deadline) {
+		if !processAlive(pid) {
+			_ = os.Remove(flagDaemonPIDFile)
+			_ = os.Remove(statePath(flagDaemonPIDFile))
+			fmt.Printf("  Stopped daemon (pid %d)\n", pid)
+			return nil
+		}
+		time.Sleep(150 * time.Millisecond)
+	}
+
+	return fmt.Errorf("daemon (pid %d) did not exit in time", pid)
+}
+
+func filterDetachArg(args []string) []string {
+	out := make([]string, 0, len(args))
+	for _, a := range args {
+		if a == "--detach" || strings.HasPrefix(a, "--detach=") {
+			continue
+		}
+		out = append(out, a)
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+func ensureDaemonNotRunning(pidFile string) error {
+	pid, err := readPID(pidFile)
+	if err != nil {
+		if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
+			return nil
+		}
+		return err
+	}
+	if processAlive(pid) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("daemon already running (pid %d)", pid)
+	}
+	_ = os.Remove(pidFile)
+	_ = os.Remove(statePath(pidFile))
+	return nil
+}
+
+func writePID(path string, pid int) error {
+	return os.WriteFile(path, []byte(strconv.Itoa(pid)+"\n"), 0o600)
+}
+
+func readPID(path string) (int, error) {
+	//nolint:gosec // daemon pid path is configured by the local user
+	data, err := os.ReadFile(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+	pidStr := strings.TrimSpace(string(data))
+	pid, err := strconv.Atoi(pidStr)
+	if err != nil || pid <= 0 {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid pid in %s", path)
+	}
+	return pid, nil
+}
+
+func processAlive(pid int) bool {
+	proc, err := os.FindProcess(pid)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	err = proc.Signal(syscall.Signal(0))
+	return err == nil || errors.Is(err, syscall.EPERM)
+}
+
+func statePath(pidFile string) string {
+	return pidFile + ".json"
+}
+
+func writeState(path string, st daemonRuntimeState) error {
+	data, err := json.MarshalIndent(st, "", "  ")
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return os.WriteFile(path, append(data, '\n'), 0o600)
+}
+
+func readState(path string) (daemonRuntimeState, error) {
+	var st daemonRuntimeState
+	//nolint:gosec // daemon state path is configured by the local user
+	data, err := os.ReadFile(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return st, err
+	}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &st); err != nil {
+		return st, err
+	}
+	return st, nil
+}

cmd/tui.go

@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/theirongolddev/cburn/internal/tui/theme"
 
 	tea "github.com/charmbracelet/bubbletea"
+	"github.com/charmbracelet/lipgloss"
+	"github.com/muesli/termenv"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
@@ -26,6 +28,10 @@ func runTUI(_ *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
 	cfg, _ := config.Load()
 	theme.SetActive(cfg.Appearance.Theme)
 
+	// Force TrueColor profile so all background styling produces ANSI codes
+	// Without this, lipgloss may default to Ascii profile (no colors)
+	lipgloss.SetColorProfile(termenv.TrueColor)
+
 	app := tui.NewApp(flagDataDir, flagDays, flagProject, flagModel, !flagNoSubagents)
 	p := tea.NewProgram(app, tea.WithAltScreen())
 

internal/daemon/service.go

@@ -0,0 +1,398 @@
+// Package daemon provides the long-running background usage monitor service.
+package daemon
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"log"
+	"net/http"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/theirongolddev/cburn/internal/model"
+	"github.com/theirongolddev/cburn/internal/pipeline"
+	"github.com/theirongolddev/cburn/internal/store"
+)
+
+// Config controls the daemon runtime behavior.
+type Config struct {
+	DataDir          string
+	Days             int
+	ProjectFilter    string
+	ModelFilter      string
+	IncludeSubagents bool
+	UseCache         bool
+	Interval         time.Duration
+	Addr             string
+	EventsBuffer     int
+}
+
+// Snapshot is a compact usage state for status/event payloads.
+type Snapshot struct {
+	At               time.Time `json:"at"`
+	Sessions         int       `json:"sessions"`
+	Prompts          int       `json:"prompts"`
+	APICalls         int       `json:"api_calls"`
+	Tokens           int64     `json:"tokens"`
+	EstimatedCostUSD float64   `json:"estimated_cost_usd"`
+	CacheHitRate     float64   `json:"cache_hit_rate"`
+	CostPerDayUSD    float64   `json:"cost_per_day_usd"`
+	TokensPerDay     int64     `json:"tokens_per_day"`
+	SessionsPerDay   float64   `json:"sessions_per_day"`
+}
+
+// Delta captures snapshot deltas between polls.
+type Delta struct {
+	Sessions         int     `json:"sessions"`
+	Prompts          int     `json:"prompts"`
+	APICalls         int     `json:"api_calls"`
+	Tokens           int64   `json:"tokens"`
+	EstimatedCostUSD float64 `json:"estimated_cost_usd"`
+}
+
+func (d Delta) isZero() bool {
+	return d.Sessions == 0 &&
+		d.Prompts == 0 &&
+		d.APICalls == 0 &&
+		d.Tokens == 0 &&
+		d.EstimatedCostUSD == 0
+}
+
+// Event is emitted whenever usage snapshot updates.
+type Event struct {
+	ID        int64     `json:"id"`
+	Type      string    `json:"type"`
+	Timestamp time.Time `json:"timestamp"`
+	Snapshot  Snapshot  `json:"snapshot"`
+	Delta     Delta     `json:"delta"`
+}
+
+// Status is served at /v1/status.
+type Status struct {
+	StartedAt       time.Time `json:"started_at"`
+	LastPollAt      time.Time `json:"last_poll_at"`
+	PollIntervalSec int       `json:"poll_interval_sec"`
+	PollCount       int64     `json:"poll_count"`
+	DataDir         string    `json:"data_dir"`
+	Days            int       `json:"days"`
+	ProjectFilter   string    `json:"project_filter,omitempty"`
+	ModelFilter     string    `json:"model_filter,omitempty"`
+	Summary         Snapshot  `json:"summary"`
+	LastError       string    `json:"last_error,omitempty"`
+	EventCount      int       `json:"event_count"`
+	SubscriberCount int       `json:"subscriber_count"`
+}
+
+// Service provides the daemon runtime and HTTP API.
+type Service struct {
+	cfg Config
+
+	mu          sync.RWMutex
+	startedAt   time.Time
+	lastPollAt  time.Time
+	pollCount   int64
+	lastError   string
+	hasSnapshot bool
+	snapshot    Snapshot
+	nextEventID int64
+	events      []Event
+
+	nextSubID int
+	subs      map[int]chan Event
+}
+
+// New returns a new daemon service with the provided config.
+func New(cfg Config) *Service {
+	if cfg.Interval < 2*time.Second {
+		cfg.Interval = 10 * time.Second
+	}
+	if cfg.EventsBuffer < 1 {
+		cfg.EventsBuffer = 200
+	}
+	if cfg.Addr == "" {
+		cfg.Addr = "127.0.0.1:8787"
+	}
+
+	return &Service{
+		cfg:       cfg,
+		startedAt: time.Now(),
+		subs:      make(map[int]chan Event),
+	}
+}
+
+// Run starts HTTP endpoints and polling until ctx is canceled.
+func (s *Service) Run(ctx context.Context) error {
+	mux := http.NewServeMux()
+	mux.HandleFunc("/healthz", s.handleHealth)
+	mux.HandleFunc("/v1/status", s.handleStatus)
+	mux.HandleFunc("/v1/events", s.handleEvents)
+	mux.HandleFunc("/v1/stream", s.handleStream)
+
+	server := &http.Server{
+		Addr:              s.cfg.Addr,
+		Handler:           mux,
+		ReadHeaderTimeout: 5 * time.Second,
+	}
+
+	errCh := make(chan error, 1)
+	go func() {
+		if err := server.ListenAndServe(); err != nil && !errors.Is(err, http.ErrServerClosed) {
+			errCh <- err
+		}
+	}()
+
+	// Seed initial snapshot so status is useful immediately.
+	s.pollOnce()
+
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(s.cfg.Interval)
+	defer ticker.Stop()
+
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			shutdownCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 5*time.Second)
+			defer cancel()
+			return server.Shutdown(shutdownCtx)
+		case <-ticker.C:
+			s.pollOnce()
+		case err := <-errCh:
+			return fmt.Errorf("daemon http server: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func (s *Service) pollOnce() {
+	start := time.Now()
+	sessions, err := s.loadSessions()
+	if err != nil {
+		s.mu.Lock()
+		s.lastError = err.Error()
+		s.lastPollAt = time.Now()
+		s.pollCount++
+		s.mu.Unlock()
+		log.Printf("cburn daemon poll error: %v", err)
+		return
+	}
+
+	now := time.Now()
+	since := now.AddDate(0, 0, -s.cfg.Days)
+
+	filtered := sessions
+	if s.cfg.ProjectFilter != "" {
+		filtered = pipeline.FilterByProject(filtered, s.cfg.ProjectFilter)
+	}
+	if s.cfg.ModelFilter != "" {
+		filtered = pipeline.FilterByModel(filtered, s.cfg.ModelFilter)
+	}
+
+	stats := pipeline.Aggregate(filtered, since, now)
+	snap := snapshotFromSummary(stats, now)
+
+	var (
+		ev      Event
+		publish bool
+	)
+
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	prev := s.snapshot
+	prevExists := s.hasSnapshot
+
+	s.hasSnapshot = true
+	s.snapshot = snap
+	s.lastPollAt = now
+	s.pollCount++
+	s.lastError = ""
+
+	if !prevExists {
+		s.nextEventID++
+		ev = Event{
+			ID:        s.nextEventID,
+			Type:      "snapshot",
+			Timestamp: now,
+			Snapshot:  snap,
+			Delta:     Delta{},
+		}
+		publish = true
+	} else {
+		delta := diffSnapshots(prev, snap)
+		if !delta.isZero() {
+			s.nextEventID++
+			ev = Event{
+				ID:        s.nextEventID,
+				Type:      "usage_delta",
+				Timestamp: now,
+				Snapshot:  snap,
+				Delta:     delta,
+			}
+			publish = true
+		}
+	}
+	s.mu.Unlock()
+
+	if publish {
+		s.publishEvent(ev)
+	}
+
+	_ = start
+}
+
+func (s *Service) loadSessions() ([]model.SessionStats, error) {
+	if s.cfg.UseCache {
+		cache, err := store.Open(pipeline.CachePath())
+		if err == nil {
+			defer func() { _ = cache.Close() }()
+			cr, loadErr := pipeline.LoadWithCache(s.cfg.DataDir, s.cfg.IncludeSubagents, cache, nil)
+			if loadErr == nil {
+				return cr.Sessions, nil
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	result, err := pipeline.Load(s.cfg.DataDir, s.cfg.IncludeSubagents, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return result.Sessions, nil
+}
+
+func snapshotFromSummary(stats model.SummaryStats, at time.Time) Snapshot {
+	return Snapshot{
+		At:               at,
+		Sessions:         stats.TotalSessions,
+		Prompts:          stats.TotalPrompts,
+		APICalls:         stats.TotalAPICalls,
+		Tokens:           stats.TotalBilledTokens,
+		EstimatedCostUSD: stats.EstimatedCost,
+		CacheHitRate:     stats.CacheHitRate,
+		CostPerDayUSD:    stats.CostPerDay,
+		TokensPerDay:     stats.TokensPerDay,
+		SessionsPerDay:   stats.SessionsPerDay,
+	}
+}
+
+func diffSnapshots(prev, curr Snapshot) Delta {
+	return Delta{
+		Sessions:         curr.Sessions - prev.Sessions,
+		Prompts:          curr.Prompts - prev.Prompts,
+		APICalls:         curr.APICalls - prev.APICalls,
+		Tokens:           curr.Tokens - prev.Tokens,
+		EstimatedCostUSD: curr.EstimatedCostUSD - prev.EstimatedCostUSD,
+	}
+}
+
+func (s *Service) publishEvent(ev Event) {
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	s.events = append(s.events, ev)
+	if len(s.events) > s.cfg.EventsBuffer {
+		s.events = s.events[len(s.events)-s.cfg.EventsBuffer:]
+	}
+
+	for _, ch := range s.subs {
+		select {
+		case ch <- ev:
+		default:
+		}
+	}
+	s.mu.Unlock()
+}
+
+func (s *Service) snapshotStatus() Status {
+	s.mu.RLock()
+	defer s.mu.RUnlock()
+
+	return Status{
+		StartedAt:       s.startedAt,
+		LastPollAt:      s.lastPollAt,
+		PollIntervalSec: int(s.cfg.Interval.Seconds()),
+		PollCount:       s.pollCount,
+		DataDir:         s.cfg.DataDir,
+		Days:            s.cfg.Days,
+		ProjectFilter:   s.cfg.ProjectFilter,
+		ModelFilter:     s.cfg.ModelFilter,
+		Summary:         s.snapshot,
+		LastError:       s.lastError,
+		EventCount:      len(s.events),
+		SubscriberCount: len(s.subs),
+	}
+}
+
+func (s *Service) handleHealth(w http.ResponseWriter, _ *http.Request) {
+	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=utf-8")
+	_, _ = w.Write([]byte("ok\n"))
+}
+
+func (s *Service) handleStatus(w http.ResponseWriter, _ *http.Request) {
+	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+	_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(s.snapshotStatus())
+}
+
+func (s *Service) handleEvents(w http.ResponseWriter, _ *http.Request) {
+	s.mu.RLock()
+	events := make([]Event, len(s.events))
+	copy(events, s.events)
+	s.mu.RUnlock()
+
+	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+	_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(events)
+}
+
+func (s *Service) handleStream(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	flusher, ok := w.(http.Flusher)
+	if !ok {
+		http.Error(w, "streaming unsupported", http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		return
+	}
+
+	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "text/event-stream")
+	w.Header().Set("Cache-Control", "no-cache")
+	w.Header().Set("Connection", "keep-alive")
+
+	ch := make(chan Event, 16)
+	id := s.addSubscriber(ch)
+	defer s.removeSubscriber(id)
+
+	// Send current snapshot immediately.
+	current := Event{
+		Type:      "snapshot",
+		Timestamp: time.Now(),
+		Snapshot:  s.snapshotStatus().Summary,
+	}
+	writeSSE(w, current)
+	flusher.Flush()
+
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-r.Context().Done():
+			return
+		case ev := <-ch:
+			writeSSE(w, ev)
+			flusher.Flush()
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func writeSSE(w http.ResponseWriter, ev Event) {
+	data, err := json.Marshal(ev)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(w, "event: %s\n", ev.Type)
+	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(w, "data: %s\n\n", data)
+}
+
+func (s *Service) addSubscriber(ch chan Event) int {
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	defer s.mu.Unlock()
+	s.nextSubID++
+	id := s.nextSubID
+	s.subs[id] = ch
+	return id
+}
+
+func (s *Service) removeSubscriber(id int) {
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	defer s.mu.Unlock()
+	delete(s.subs, id)
+}

internal/daemon/service_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+package daemon
+
+import (
+	"math"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+func TestDiffSnapshots(t *testing.T) {
+	prev := Snapshot{
+		Sessions:         10,
+		Prompts:          100,
+		APICalls:         120,
+		Tokens:           1_000_000,
+		EstimatedCostUSD: 10.5,
+	}
+	curr := Snapshot{
+		Sessions:         12,
+		Prompts:          112,
+		APICalls:         136,
+		Tokens:           1_250_000,
+		EstimatedCostUSD: 13.1,
+	}
+
+	delta := diffSnapshots(prev, curr)
+	if delta.Sessions != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("Sessions delta = %d, want 2", delta.Sessions)
+	}
+	if delta.Prompts != 12 {
+		t.Fatalf("Prompts delta = %d, want 12", delta.Prompts)
+	}
+	if delta.APICalls != 16 {
+		t.Fatalf("APICalls delta = %d, want 16", delta.APICalls)
+	}
+	if delta.Tokens != 250_000 {
+		t.Fatalf("Tokens delta = %d, want 250000", delta.Tokens)
+	}
+	if math.Abs(delta.EstimatedCostUSD-2.6) > 1e-9 {
+		t.Fatalf("Cost delta = %.2f, want 2.60", delta.EstimatedCostUSD)
+	}
+	if delta.isZero() {
+		t.Fatal("delta unexpectedly reported as zero")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestPublishEventRingBuffer(t *testing.T) {
+	s := New(Config{
+		DataDir:      ".",
+		Interval:     10 * time.Second,
+		EventsBuffer: 2,
+	})
+
+	s.publishEvent(Event{ID: 1})
+	s.publishEvent(Event{ID: 2})
+	s.publishEvent(Event{ID: 3})
+
+	s.mu.RLock()
+	defer s.mu.RUnlock()
+
+	if len(s.events) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("events len = %d, want 2", len(s.events))
+	}
+	if s.events[0].ID != 2 || s.events[1].ID != 3 {
+		t.Fatalf("events ring contains IDs [%d, %d], want [2, 3]", s.events[0].ID, s.events[1].ID)
+	}
+}

internal/tui/app.go

@@ -118,18 +118,38 @@ const (
 	minTerminalWidth = 80
 	compactWidth     = 120
 	maxContentWidth  = 180
+
+	// Scroll navigation
+	scrollOverhead    = 10 // approximate header + status bar height for half-page calc
+	minHalfPageScroll = 1  // minimum lines for half-page scroll
+	minContentHeight  = 5  // minimum content area height
 )
 
+// loadConfigOrDefault loads config, returning defaults on error.
+// This ensures the TUI can always start even if config is corrupted.
+func loadConfigOrDefault() config.Config {
+	cfg, err := config.Load()
+	if err != nil {
+		// Return zero-value config with sensible defaults applied
+		return config.Config{
+			TUI: config.TUIConfig{
+				RefreshIntervalSec: 30,
+			},
+		}
+	}
+	return cfg
+}
+
 // NewApp creates a new TUI app model.
 func NewApp(claudeDir string, days int, project, modelFilter string, includeSubagents bool) App {
 	needSetup := !config.Exists()
 
 	sp := spinner.New()
 	sp.Spinner = spinner.Dot
-	sp.Style = lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(lipgloss.Color("#3AA99F"))
+	sp.Style = lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(lipgloss.Color("#3AA99F")).Background(theme.Active.Surface)
 
 	// Load refresh settings from config
-	cfg, _ := config.Load()
+	cfg := loadConfigOrDefault()
 	refreshInterval := time.Duration(cfg.TUI.RefreshIntervalSec) * time.Second
 	if refreshInterval < 10*time.Second {
 		refreshInterval = 30 * time.Second // minimum 10s, default 30s
@@ -159,7 +179,7 @@ func (a App) Init() tea.Cmd {
 	}
 
 	// Start subscription data fetch if session key is configured
-	cfg, _ := config.Load()
+	cfg := loadConfigOrDefault()
 	if sessionKey := config.GetSessionKey(cfg); sessionKey != "" {
 		cmds = append(cmds, fetchSubDataCmd(sessionKey))
 	}
@@ -387,16 +407,16 @@ func (a App) Update(msg tea.Msg) (tea.Model, tea.Cmd) {
 				}
 				return a, nil
 			case "ctrl+d":
-				halfPage := (a.height - 10) / 2
-				if halfPage < 1 {
-					halfPage = 1
+				halfPage := (a.height - scrollOverhead) / 2
+				if halfPage < minHalfPageScroll {
+					halfPage = minHalfPageScroll
 				}
 				a.sessState.detailScroll += halfPage
 				return a, nil
 			case "ctrl+u":
-				halfPage := (a.height - 10) / 2
-				if halfPage < 1 {
-					halfPage = 1
+				halfPage := (a.height - scrollOverhead) / 2
+				if halfPage < minHalfPageScroll {
+					halfPage = minHalfPageScroll
 				}
 				a.sessState.detailScroll -= halfPage
 				if a.sessState.detailScroll < 0 {
@@ -438,8 +458,8 @@ func (a App) Update(msg tea.Msg) (tea.Model, tea.Cmd) {
 		// Toggle auto-refresh
 		if key == "R" {
 			a.autoRefresh = !a.autoRefresh
-			// Persist to config
-			cfg, _ := config.Load()
+			// Persist to config (best-effort, ignore errors)
+			cfg := loadConfigOrDefault()
 			cfg.TUI.AutoRefresh = a.autoRefresh
 			_ = config.Save(cfg)
 			return a, nil
@@ -491,9 +511,9 @@ func (a App) Update(msg tea.Msg) (tea.Model, tea.Cmd) {
 		a.subData = msg.Data
 		a.subFetching = false
 
-		// Cache org ID if we got one
+		// Cache org ID if we got one (best-effort, ignore errors)
 		if msg.Data != nil && msg.Data.Org.UUID != "" {
-			cfg, _ := config.Load()
+			cfg := loadConfigOrDefault()
 			if cfg.ClaudeAI.OrgID != msg.Data.Org.UUID {
 				cfg.ClaudeAI.OrgID = msg.Data.Org.UUID
 				_ = config.Save(cfg)
@@ -517,7 +537,7 @@ func (a App) Update(msg tea.Msg) (tea.Model, tea.Cmd) {
 		// Refresh subscription data every 5 minutes (1200 ticks at 250ms)
 		if a.loaded && !a.subFetching && a.subTicks >= 1200 {
 			a.subTicks = 0
-			cfg, _ := config.Load()
+			cfg := loadConfigOrDefault()
 			if sessionKey := config.GetSessionKey(cfg); sessionKey != "" {
 				a.subFetching = true
 				cmds = append(cmds, fetchSubDataCmd(sessionKey))
@@ -635,86 +655,143 @@ func (a App) viewLoading() string {
 	w := a.width
 	h := a.height
 
-	titleStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
-		Foreground(t.Accent).
+	// Polished loading card with accent border
+	cardStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Border(lipgloss.RoundedBorder()).
+		BorderForeground(t.BorderAccent).
+		Background(t.Surface).
+		Padding(2, 4)
+
+	// ASCII art logo effect
+	logoStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(t.AccentBright).
+		Background(t.Surface).
 		Bold(true)
 
-	mutedStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
-		Foreground(t.TextMuted)
+	subtitleStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(t.TextMuted).
+		Background(t.Surface)
+
+	spinnerStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(t.Accent).
+		Background(t.Surface)
+
+	countStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(t.TextPrimary).
+		Background(t.Surface)
 
 	var b strings.Builder
-	b.WriteString("\n\n")
-	b.WriteString(titleStyle.Render("  cburn"))
-	b.WriteString(mutedStyle.Render(" - Claude Usage Metrics"))
+	b.WriteString(logoStyle.Render("◈ cburn"))
+	b.WriteString(subtitleStyle.Render(" · Claude Usage Metrics"))
 	b.WriteString("\n\n")
 
 	if a.progressMax > 0 {
-		barW := w - 20
+		barW := 40
+		if barW > w-30 {
+			barW = w - 30
+		}
 		if barW < 20 {
 			barW = 20
 		}
-		if barW > 60 {
-			barW = 60
-		}
 		pct := float64(a.progress) / float64(a.progressMax)
-		fmt.Fprintf(&b, "  %s Parsing sessions\n", a.spinner.View())
-		fmt.Fprintf(&b, "  %s  %s/%s\n",
-			components.ProgressBar(pct, barW),
-			cli.FormatNumber(int64(a.progress)),
-			cli.FormatNumber(int64(a.progressMax)))
+		b.WriteString(spinnerStyle.Render(a.spinner.View()))
+		b.WriteString(subtitleStyle.Render(" Parsing sessions\n\n"))
+		b.WriteString(components.ProgressBar(pct, barW))
+		b.WriteString("\n")
+		b.WriteString(countStyle.Render(cli.FormatNumber(int64(a.progress))))
+		b.WriteString(subtitleStyle.Render(" / "))
+		b.WriteString(countStyle.Render(cli.FormatNumber(int64(a.progressMax))))
 	} else {
-		fmt.Fprintf(&b, "  %s Scanning sessions\n", a.spinner.View())
+		b.WriteString(spinnerStyle.Render(a.spinner.View()))
+		b.WriteString(subtitleStyle.Render(" Discovering sessions..."))
 	}
 
-	content := b.String()
-	return padHeight(truncateHeight(content, h), h)
+	card := cardStyle.Render(b.String())
+
+	return lipgloss.Place(w, h, lipgloss.Center, lipgloss.Center, card,
+		lipgloss.WithWhitespaceBackground(t.Background))
 }
 
 func (a App) viewHelp() string {
 	t := theme.Active
 	h := a.height
+	w := a.width
+
+	// Polished help overlay with accent border
+	cardStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Border(lipgloss.RoundedBorder()).
+		BorderForeground(t.BorderAccent).
+		Background(t.Surface).
+		Padding(1, 3)
 
 	titleStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(t.AccentBright).
+		Background(t.Surface).
+		Bold(true)
+
+	sectionStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
 		Foreground(t.Accent).
+		Background(t.Surface).
 		Bold(true)
 
 	keyStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
-		Foreground(t.TextPrimary).
+		Foreground(t.Cyan).
+		Background(t.Surface).
 		Bold(true)
 
 	descStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
-		Foreground(t.TextMuted)
+		Foreground(t.TextMuted).
+		Background(t.Surface)
+
+	dimStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(t.TextDim).
+		Background(t.Surface)
 
 	var b strings.Builder
-	b.WriteString("\n")
-	b.WriteString(titleStyle.Render("  Keybindings"))
+	b.WriteString(titleStyle.Render("◈ Keyboard Shortcuts"))
 	b.WriteString("\n\n")
 
-	bindings := []struct{ key, desc string }{
-		{"o/c/s/b", "Overview / Costs / Sessions / Breakdown"},
-		{"x", "Settings"},
-		{"<- / ->", "Previous / Next tab"},
-		{"j / k", "Navigate lists (or mouse wheel)"},
-		{"J / K", "Scroll detail pane"},
-		{"^d / ^u", "Scroll detail half-page"},
-		{"/", "Search sessions (Enter apply, Esc cancel)"},
-		{"Enter / f", "Expand session full-screen"},
-		{"Esc", "Clear search / Back to split view"},
-		{"r / R", "Refresh now / Toggle auto-refresh"},
-		{"?", "Toggle this help"},
-		{"q", "Quit (or back from full-screen)"},
+	// Navigation section
+	b.WriteString(sectionStyle.Render("Navigation"))
+	b.WriteString("\n")
+	navBindings := []struct{ key, desc string }{
+		{"o c s b x", "Jump to tab"},
+		{"← →", "Previous / Next tab"},
+		{"j k", "Navigate lists"},
+		{"J K", "Scroll detail pane"},
+		{"^d ^u", "Half-page scroll"},
 	}
-
-	for _, bind := range bindings {
+	for _, bind := range navBindings {
 		fmt.Fprintf(&b, "  %s  %s\n",
-			keyStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-12s", bind.key)),
+			keyStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-10s", bind.key)),
 			descStyle.Render(bind.desc))
 	}
 
-	fmt.Fprintf(&b, "\n  %s\n", descStyle.Render("Press any key to close"))
+	b.WriteString("\n")
+	b.WriteString(sectionStyle.Render("Actions"))
+	b.WriteString("\n")
+	actionBindings := []struct{ key, desc string }{
+		{"/", "Search sessions"},
+		{"Enter", "Expand / Confirm"},
+		{"Esc", "Back / Cancel"},
+		{"r", "Refresh data"},
+		{"R", "Toggle auto-refresh"},
+		{"?", "Toggle help"},
+		{"q", "Quit"},
+	}
+	for _, bind := range actionBindings {
+		fmt.Fprintf(&b, "  %s  %s\n",
+			keyStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-10s", bind.key)),
+			descStyle.Render(bind.desc))
+	}
 
-	content := b.String()
-	return padHeight(truncateHeight(content, h), h)
+	b.WriteString("\n")
+	b.WriteString(dimStyle.Render("Press any key to close"))
+
+	card := cardStyle.Render(b.String())
+
+	return lipgloss.Place(w, h, lipgloss.Center, lipgloss.Center, card,
+		lipgloss.WithWhitespaceBackground(t.Background))
 }
 
 func (a App) viewMain() string {
@@ -723,18 +800,33 @@ func (a App) viewMain() string {
 	cw := a.contentWidth()
 	h := a.height
 
-	// 1. Render header (tab bar + filter line)
-	filterStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim)
-	filterStr := fmt.Sprintf(" [%dd", a.days)
+	// 1. Render header (tab bar + filter pill)
+	filterPillStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(t.TextDim).
+		Background(t.Surface)
+
+	filterAccentStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(t.Accent).
+		Background(t.Surface).
+		Bold(true)
+
+	filterStr := filterPillStyle.Render(" ") +
+		filterAccentStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%dd", a.days))
 	if a.project != "" {
-		filterStr += " | " + a.project
+		filterStr += filterPillStyle.Render(" │ ") + filterAccentStyle.Render(a.project)
 	}
 	if a.modelFilter != "" {
-		filterStr += " | " + a.modelFilter
+		filterStr += filterPillStyle.Render(" │ ") + filterAccentStyle.Render(a.modelFilter)
 	}
-	filterStr += "]"
-	header := components.RenderTabBar(a.activeTab, w) + "\n" +
-		filterStyle.Render(filterStr) + "\n"
+	filterStr += filterPillStyle.Render(" ")
+
+	// Pad filter line to full width
+	filterRowStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Background(t.Surface).
+		Width(w)
+
+	header := components.RenderTabBar(a.activeTab, w) +
+		filterRowStyle.Render(filterStr)
 
 	// 2. Render status bar
 	dataAge := fmt.Sprintf("%.1fs", a.loadTime.Seconds())
@@ -744,8 +836,8 @@ func (a App) viewMain() string {
 	headerH := lipgloss.Height(header)
 	statusH := lipgloss.Height(statusBar)
 	contentH := h - headerH - statusH
-	if contentH < 5 {
-		contentH = 5
+	if contentH < minContentHeight {
+		contentH = minContentHeight
 	}
 
 	// 4. Render tab content (pass contentH to sessions)
@@ -767,13 +859,20 @@ func (a App) viewMain() string {
 	// 5. Truncate + pad to exactly contentH lines
 	content = padHeight(truncateHeight(content, contentH), contentH)
 
-	// 6. Center horizontally if terminal wider than content cap
-	if w > cw {
-		content = lipgloss.Place(w, contentH, lipgloss.Center, lipgloss.Top, content)
-	}
+	// 6. Fill each line to full width with background (fixes gaps between cards)
+	content = fillLinesWithBackground(content, cw, t.Background)
 
-	// 7. Stack vertically
-	return lipgloss.JoinVertical(lipgloss.Left, header, content, statusBar)
+	// 7. Place content with background fill (handles centering when w > cw)
+	content = lipgloss.Place(w, contentH, lipgloss.Center, lipgloss.Top, content,
+		lipgloss.WithWhitespaceBackground(t.Background))
+
+	// 8. Stack vertically
+	output := lipgloss.JoinVertical(lipgloss.Left, header, content, statusBar)
+
+	// 9. Ensure entire terminal is filled with background
+	// This handles any edge cases where the calculated heights don't perfectly match
+	return lipgloss.Place(w, h, lipgloss.Left, lipgloss.Top, output,
+		lipgloss.WithWhitespaceBackground(t.Background))
 }
 
 // ─── Helpers ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -1021,6 +1120,25 @@ func padHeight(s string, h int) string {
 	return s + padding
 }
 
+// fillLinesWithBackground pads each line to width w with background color.
+// This ensures gaps between cards and empty lines have proper background fill.
+func fillLinesWithBackground(s string, w int, bg lipgloss.Color) string {
+	lines := strings.Split(s, "\n")
+
+	var result strings.Builder
+	for i, line := range lines {
+		// Use PlaceHorizontal to ensure proper width and background fill
+		// This is more reliable than just Background().Render(spaces)
+		placed := lipgloss.PlaceHorizontal(w, lipgloss.Left, line,
+			lipgloss.WithWhitespaceBackground(bg))
+		result.WriteString(placed)
+		if i < len(lines)-1 {
+			result.WriteString("\n")
+		}
+	}
+	return result.String()
+}
+
 // fetchSubDataCmd fetches subscription data from claude.ai in a background goroutine.
 func fetchSubDataCmd(sessionKey string) tea.Cmd {
 	return func() tea.Msg {
@@ -1040,25 +1158,23 @@ func fetchSubDataCmd(sessionKey string) tea.Cmd {
 // ─── Mouse Support ──────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 // tabAtX returns the tab index at the given X coordinate, or -1 if none.
-// Tab layout: " Overview  Costs  Sessions  Breakdown  Settings[x]"
+// Hitboxes are derived from the same width rules used by RenderTabBar.
 func (a App) tabAtX(x int) int {
-	// Tab bar format: " TabName  TabName  ..." with 2-space gaps
-	// We approximate positions since exact widths depend on styling.
-	// Each tab name is roughly: name length + optional [k] suffix + gap
-	positions := []struct {
-		start, end int
-	}{
-		{1, 12},  // Overview (0)
-		{14, 22}, // Costs (1)
-		{24, 35}, // Sessions (2)
-		{37, 50}, // Breakdown (3)
-		{52, 68}, // Settings (4)
-	}
+	pos := 0
+	for i, tab := range components.Tabs {
+		// Must match RenderTabBar's visual width calculation exactly.
+		// Use lipgloss.Width() to handle unicode and styled text correctly.
+		tabW := components.TabVisualWidth(tab, i == a.activeTab)
 
-	for i, p := range positions {
-		if x >= p.start && x <= p.end {
+		if x >= pos && x < pos+tabW {
 			return i
 		}
+		pos += tabW
+
+		// Separator is one column between tabs.
+		if i < len(components.Tabs)-1 {
+			pos++
+		}
 	}
 	return -1
 }

internal/tui/app_mouse_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+package tui
+
+import "testing"
+
+func TestTabAtXMatchesTabWidths(t *testing.T) {
+	for active := 0; active < 5; active++ {
+		a := App{activeTab: active}
+		pos := 0
+
+		for i := 0; i < 5; i++ {
+			w := tabWidthForTest(i, active)
+			x := pos + w/2 // midpoint inside this tab
+			if got := a.tabAtX(x); got != i {
+				t.Fatalf("active=%d x=%d -> tab=%d, want %d", active, x, got, i)
+			}
+			pos += w
+			if i < 4 {
+				pos++ // separator
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func tabWidthForTest(tabIdx, activeIdx int) int {
+	nameWidths := []int{
+		len("Overview"),
+		len("Costs"),
+		len("Sessions"),
+		len("Breakdown"),
+		len("Settings"),
+	}
+
+	w := nameWidths[tabIdx] + 2 // horizontal padding in tab renderer
+	if tabIdx != activeIdx && tabIdx == 4 {
+		w += 3 // inactive Settings adds "[x]"
+	}
+	return w
+}

internal/tui/components/card.go

@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 package components
 
 import (
+	"strings"
+
 	"github.com/theirongolddev/cburn/internal/tui/theme"
 
 	"github.com/charmbracelet/lipgloss"
@@ -25,7 +27,7 @@ func LayoutRow(totalWidth, n int) []int {
 	return widths
 }
 
-// MetricCard renders a small metric card with label, value, and delta.
+// MetricCard renders a visually striking metric card with icon, colored value, and delta.
 // outerWidth is the total rendered width including border.
 func MetricCard(label, value, delta string, outerWidth int) string {
 	t := theme.Active
@@ -35,23 +37,56 @@ func MetricCard(label, value, delta string, outerWidth int) string {
 		contentWidth = 10
 	}
 
+	// Determine accent color based on label for variety
+	var valueColor lipgloss.Color
+	var icon string
+	switch {
+	case strings.Contains(strings.ToLower(label), "token"):
+		valueColor = t.Cyan
+		icon = "◈"
+	case strings.Contains(strings.ToLower(label), "session"):
+		valueColor = t.Magenta
+		icon = "◉"
+	case strings.Contains(strings.ToLower(label), "cost"):
+		valueColor = t.Green
+		icon = "◆"
+	case strings.Contains(strings.ToLower(label), "cache"):
+		valueColor = t.Blue
+		icon = "◇"
+	default:
+		valueColor = t.Accent
+		icon = "●"
+	}
+
 	cardStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
 		Border(lipgloss.RoundedBorder()).
 		BorderForeground(t.Border).
+		BorderBackground(t.Background).
+		Background(t.Surface).
 		Width(contentWidth).
 		Padding(0, 1)
 
+	iconStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(valueColor).
+		Background(t.Surface)
+
 	labelStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
-		Foreground(t.TextMuted)
+		Foreground(t.TextMuted).
+		Background(t.Surface)
 
 	valueStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
-		Foreground(t.TextPrimary).
+		Foreground(valueColor).
+		Background(t.Surface).
 		Bold(true)
 
 	deltaStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
-		Foreground(t.TextDim)
+		Foreground(t.TextDim).
+		Background(t.Surface)
+	spaceStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Background(t.Surface)
 
-	content := labelStyle.Render(label) + "\n" +
+	// Build content with icon
+	content := iconStyle.Render(icon) + spaceStyle.Render(" ") + labelStyle.Render(label) + "\n" +
 		valueStyle.Render(value)
 	if delta != "" {
 		content += "\n" + deltaStyle.Render(delta)
@@ -74,7 +109,8 @@ func MetricCardRow(cards []struct{ Label, Value, Delta string }, totalWidth int)
 		rendered = append(rendered, MetricCard(c.Label, c.Value, c.Delta, widths[i]))
 	}
 
-	return lipgloss.JoinHorizontal(lipgloss.Top, rendered...)
+	// Use CardRow instead of JoinHorizontal to ensure proper background fill
+	return CardRow(rendered)
 }
 
 // ContentCard renders a bordered content card with an optional title.
@@ -87,14 +123,59 @@ func ContentCard(title, body string, outerWidth int) string {
 		contentWidth = 10
 	}
 
+	// Use accent border for titled cards, subtle for untitled
+	borderColor := t.Border
+	if title != "" {
+		borderColor = t.BorderBright
+	}
+
 	cardStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
 		Border(lipgloss.RoundedBorder()).
-		BorderForeground(t.Border).
+		BorderForeground(borderColor).
+		BorderBackground(t.Background).
+		Background(t.Surface).
+		Width(contentWidth).
+		Padding(0, 1)
+
+	// Title with accent color and underline effect
+	titleStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(t.Accent).
+		Background(t.Surface).
+		Bold(true)
+
+	content := ""
+	if title != "" {
+		// Title with subtle separator
+		titleLine := titleStyle.Render(title)
+		separatorStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Border).Background(t.Surface)
+		separator := separatorStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("─", minInt(len(title)+2, contentWidth-2)))
+		content = titleLine + "\n" + separator + "\n"
+	}
+	content += body
+
+	return cardStyle.Render(content)
+}
+
+// PanelCard renders a full-width panel with prominent styling - used for main chart areas.
+func PanelCard(title, body string, outerWidth int) string {
+	t := theme.Active
+
+	contentWidth := outerWidth - 2
+	if contentWidth < 10 {
+		contentWidth = 10
+	}
+
+	cardStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Border(lipgloss.RoundedBorder()).
+		BorderForeground(t.BorderAccent).
+		BorderBackground(t.Background).
+		Background(t.Surface).
 		Width(contentWidth).
 		Padding(0, 1)
 
 	titleStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
-		Foreground(t.TextMuted).
+		Foreground(t.AccentBright).
+		Background(t.Surface).
 		Bold(true)
 
 	content := ""
@@ -106,12 +187,57 @@ func ContentCard(title, body string, outerWidth int) string {
 	return cardStyle.Render(content)
 }
 
-// CardRow joins pre-rendered card strings horizontally.
+// CardRow joins pre-rendered card strings horizontally with matched heights.
+// This manually joins cards line-by-line to ensure shorter cards are padded
+// with proper background fill, avoiding black square artifacts.
 func CardRow(cards []string) string {
 	if len(cards) == 0 {
 		return ""
 	}
-	return lipgloss.JoinHorizontal(lipgloss.Top, cards...)
+
+	t := theme.Active
+
+	// Split each card into lines and track widths
+	cardLines := make([][]string, len(cards))
+	cardWidths := make([]int, len(cards))
+	maxHeight := 0
+
+	for i, card := range cards {
+		lines := strings.Split(card, "\n")
+		cardLines[i] = lines
+		if len(lines) > maxHeight {
+			maxHeight = len(lines)
+		}
+		// Determine card width from the first line (cards have consistent width)
+		if len(lines) > 0 {
+			cardWidths[i] = lipgloss.Width(lines[0])
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Build background-filled padding style
+	bgStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Background(t.Background)
+
+	// Pad shorter cards with background-filled lines
+	for i := range cardLines {
+		for len(cardLines[i]) < maxHeight {
+			// Add a line of spaces with the proper background
+			padding := bgStyle.Render(strings.Repeat(" ", cardWidths[i]))
+			cardLines[i] = append(cardLines[i], padding)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Join cards line by line
+	var result strings.Builder
+	for row := 0; row < maxHeight; row++ {
+		for i := range cardLines {
+			result.WriteString(cardLines[i][row])
+		}
+		if row < maxHeight-1 {
+			result.WriteString("\n")
+		}
+	}
+
+	return result.String()
 }
 
 // CardInnerWidth returns the usable text width inside a ContentCard
@@ -123,3 +249,10 @@ func CardInnerWidth(outerWidth int) int {
 	}
 	return w
 }
+
+func minInt(a, b int) int {
+	if a < b {
+		return a
+	}
+	return b
+}

internal/tui/components/card_fix_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+package components
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/charmbracelet/lipgloss"
+	"github.com/muesli/termenv"
+	"github.com/theirongolddev/cburn/internal/tui/theme"
+)
+
+func init() {
+	// Force TrueColor output so ANSI codes are generated in tests
+	lipgloss.SetColorProfile(termenv.TrueColor)
+}
+
+func TestCardRowBackgroundFill(t *testing.T) {
+	// Initialize theme
+	theme.SetActive("flexoki-dark")
+
+	shortCard := ContentCard("Short", "Content", 22)
+	tallCard := ContentCard("Tall", "Line 1\nLine 2\nLine 3\nLine 4\nLine 5", 22)
+
+	shortLines := len(strings.Split(shortCard, "\n"))
+	tallLines := len(strings.Split(tallCard, "\n"))
+
+	t.Logf("Short card lines: %d", shortLines)
+	t.Logf("Tall card lines: %d", tallLines)
+
+	if shortLines >= tallLines {
+		t.Fatal("Test setup error: short card should be shorter than tall card")
+	}
+
+	// Test the fixed CardRow
+	joined := CardRow([]string{tallCard, shortCard})
+	lines := strings.Split(joined, "\n")
+	t.Logf("Joined lines: %d", len(lines))
+
+	if len(lines) != tallLines {
+		t.Errorf("Joined height should match tallest card: got %d, want %d", len(lines), tallLines)
+	}
+
+	// Check that all lines have ANSI codes (indicating background styling)
+	for i, line := range lines {
+		hasESC := strings.Contains(line, "\x1b[")
+		// After the short card ends, the padding should still have ANSI codes
+		if i >= shortLines {
+			t.Logf("Line %d (padding): hasANSI=%v, raw=%q", i, hasESC, line)
+			if !hasESC {
+				t.Errorf("Line %d has NO ANSI codes - will show as black squares", i)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCardRowWidthConsistency(t *testing.T) {
+	// Verify all lines have consistent width
+	theme.SetActive("flexoki-dark")
+
+	shortCard := ContentCard("Short", "A", 30)
+	tallCard := ContentCard("Tall", "A\nB\nC\nD\nE\nF", 20)
+
+	joined := CardRow([]string{tallCard, shortCard})
+	lines := strings.Split(joined, "\n")
+
+	// All lines should have the same visual width
+	for i, line := range lines {
+		w := len(line) // Raw byte length - will differ if ANSI codes vary
+		// Visual width should be consistent (tall card width + short card width)
+		// Using lipgloss.Width would be better but we're checking raw structure
+		t.Logf("Line %d: byteLen=%d", i, w)
+	}
+
+	// Verify the joined output has expected number of lines
+	tallLines := len(strings.Split(tallCard, "\n"))
+	if len(lines) != tallLines {
+		t.Errorf("Joined should have %d lines (tallest), got %d", tallLines, len(lines))
+	}
+}

internal/tui/components/chart.go

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ func Sparkline(values []float64, color lipgloss.Color) string {
 	if len(values) == 0 {
 		return ""
 	}
+	t := theme.Active
 
 	blocks := []rune{'▁', '▂', '▃', '▄', '▅', '▆', '▇', '█'}
 
@@ -28,7 +29,7 @@ func Sparkline(values []float64, color lipgloss.Color) string {
 		peak = 1
 	}
 
-	style := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(color)
+	style := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(color).Background(t.Surface)
 
 	var buf strings.Builder
 	buf.Grow(len(values) * 4) // UTF-8 block chars are up to 3 bytes
@@ -46,9 +47,7 @@ func Sparkline(values []float64, color lipgloss.Color) string {
 	return style.Render(buf.String())
 }
 
-// BarChart renders a multi-row bar chart with anchored Y-axis and optional X-axis labels.
-// labels (if non-nil) should correspond 1:1 with values for x-axis display.
-// height is a target; actual height adjusts slightly so Y-axis ticks are evenly spaced.
+// BarChart renders a visually polished bar chart with gradient-style coloring.
 func BarChart(values []float64, labels []string, color lipgloss.Color, width, height int) string {
 	if len(values) == 0 {
 		return ""
@@ -70,10 +69,7 @@ func BarChart(values []float64, labels []string, color lipgloss.Color, width, he
 		maxVal = 1
 	}
 
-	// Y-axis: compute tick step and ceiling, then fit within requested height.
-	// Each interval needs at least 2 rows for readable spacing, so
-	// maxIntervals = height/2. If the initial step gives too many intervals,
-	// double it until they fit.
+	// Y-axis: compute tick step and ceiling
 	tickStep := chartTickStep(maxVal)
 	maxIntervals := height / 2
 	if maxIntervals < 2 {
@@ -92,14 +88,13 @@ func BarChart(values []float64, labels []string, color lipgloss.Color, width, he
 		numIntervals = 1
 	}
 
-	// Each interval gets the same number of rows; chart height is an exact multiple.
 	rowsPerTick := height / numIntervals
 	if rowsPerTick < 2 {
 		rowsPerTick = 2
 	}
 	chartH := rowsPerTick * numIntervals
 
-	// Pre-compute tick labels at evenly-spaced row positions
+	// Pre-compute tick labels
 	yLabelW := len(formatChartLabel(ceiling)) + 1
 	if yLabelW < 4 {
 		yLabelW = 4
@@ -110,7 +105,7 @@ func BarChart(values []float64, labels []string, color lipgloss.Color, width, he
 		tickLabels[row] = formatChartLabel(tickStep * float64(i))
 	}
 
-	// Chart area width (excluding y-axis label and axis line char)
+	// Chart area width
 	chartW := width - yLabelW - 1
 	if chartW < 5 {
 		chartW = 5
@@ -118,8 +113,7 @@ func BarChart(values []float64, labels []string, color lipgloss.Color, width, he
 
 	n := len(values)
 
-	// Bar sizing: always use 1-char gaps, target barW >= 2.
-	// If bars don't fit at width 2, subsample to fewer bars.
+	// Bar sizing
 	gap := 1
 	if n <= 1 {
 		gap = 0
@@ -131,8 +125,7 @@ func BarChart(values []float64, labels []string, color lipgloss.Color, width, he
 		barW = chartW
 	}
 	if barW < 2 && n > 1 {
-		// Subsample so bars fit at width 2 with 1-char gaps
-		maxN := (chartW + 1) / 3 // each bar = 2 chars + 1 gap (last bar no gap)
+		maxN := (chartW + 1) / 3
 		if maxN < 2 {
 			maxN = 2
 		}
@@ -159,15 +152,29 @@ func BarChart(values []float64, labels []string, color lipgloss.Color, width, he
 	axisLen := n*barW + max(0, n-1)*gap
 
 	blocks := []rune{' ', '▁', '▂', '▃', '▄', '▅', '▆', '▇', '█'}
-	barStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(color)
-	axisStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim)
+
+	// Multi-color gradient for bars based on height
+	axisStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim).Background(t.Surface)
 
 	var b strings.Builder
 
-	// Render rows top to bottom using chartH (aligned to tick intervals)
+	// Render rows top to bottom
 	for row := chartH; row >= 1; row-- {
 		rowTop := ceiling * float64(row) / float64(chartH)
 		rowBottom := ceiling * float64(row-1) / float64(chartH)
+		rowPct := float64(row) / float64(chartH) // How high in the chart (0=bottom, 1=top)
+
+		// Choose bar color based on row height (gradient effect)
+		var barColor lipgloss.Color
+		switch {
+		case rowPct > 0.8:
+			barColor = t.AccentBright
+		case rowPct > 0.5:
+			barColor = color
+		default:
+			barColor = t.Accent
+		}
+		barStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(barColor).Background(t.Surface)
 
 		label := tickLabels[row]
 		b.WriteString(axisStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%*s", yLabelW, label)))
@@ -175,11 +182,11 @@ func BarChart(values []float64, labels []string, color lipgloss.Color, width, he
 
 		for i, v := range values {
 			if i > 0 && gap > 0 {
-				b.WriteString(strings.Repeat(" ", gap))
+				b.WriteString(lipgloss.NewStyle().Background(t.Surface).Render(strings.Repeat(" ", gap)))
 			}
 			switch {
 			case v >= rowTop:
-				b.WriteString(barStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("\u2588", barW)))
+				b.WriteString(barStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("█", barW)))
 			case v > rowBottom:
 				frac := (v - rowBottom) / (rowTop - rowBottom)
 				idx := int(frac * 8)
@@ -191,7 +198,7 @@ func BarChart(values []float64, labels []string, color lipgloss.Color, width, he
 				}
 				b.WriteString(barStyle.Render(strings.Repeat(string(blocks[idx]), barW)))
 			default:
-				b.WriteString(strings.Repeat(" ", barW))
+				b.WriteString(lipgloss.NewStyle().Background(t.Surface).Render(strings.Repeat(" ", barW)))
 			}
 		}
 		b.WriteString("\n")
@@ -209,7 +216,6 @@ func BarChart(values []float64, labels []string, color lipgloss.Color, width, he
 			buf[i] = ' '
 		}
 
-		// Place labels at bar start positions, skip overlaps
 		minSpacing := 8
 		labelStep := max(1, (n*minSpacing)/(axisLen+1))
 
@@ -231,14 +237,11 @@ func BarChart(values []float64, labels []string, color lipgloss.Color, width, he
 			copy(buf[pos:end], lbl)
 			lastEnd = end + 1
 		}
-		// Always attempt the last label (the loop may skip it due to labelStep).
-		// Right-align to axis edge if it would overflow.
 		if n > 1 {
 			lbl := labels[n-1]
 			pos := (n - 1) * (barW + gap)
 			end := pos + len(lbl)
 			if end > axisLen {
-				// Right-align: shift left so it ends at the axis edge
 				pos = axisLen - len(lbl)
 				end = axisLen
 			}
@@ -251,8 +254,9 @@ func BarChart(values []float64, labels []string, color lipgloss.Color, width, he
 		}
 
 		b.WriteString("\n")
-		b.WriteString(strings.Repeat(" ", yLabelW+1))
-		b.WriteString(axisStyle.Render(strings.TrimRight(string(buf), " ")))
+		labelStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim).Background(t.Surface)
+		b.WriteString(lipgloss.NewStyle().Background(t.Surface).Render(strings.Repeat(" ", yLabelW+1)))
+		b.WriteString(labelStyle.Render(strings.TrimRight(string(buf), " ")))
 	}
 
 	return b.String()

internal/tui/components/progress.go

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/charmbracelet/lipgloss"
 )
 
-// ProgressBar renders a colored progress bar.
+// ProgressBar renders a visually appealing progress bar with percentage.
 func ProgressBar(pct float64, width int) string {
 	t := theme.Active
 	filled := int(pct * float64(width))
@@ -22,36 +22,45 @@ func ProgressBar(pct float64, width int) string {
 		filled = 0
 	}
 
-	filledStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Accent)
-	emptyStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim)
+	// Color gradient based on progress
+	var barColor lipgloss.Color
+	switch {
+	case pct >= 0.8:
+		barColor = t.AccentBright
+	case pct >= 0.5:
+		barColor = t.Accent
+	default:
+		barColor = t.Cyan
+	}
+
+	filledStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(barColor).Background(t.Surface)
+	emptyStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim).Background(t.Surface)
+	pctStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(barColor).Background(t.Surface).Bold(true)
+	spaceStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Background(t.Surface)
 
 	var b strings.Builder
-	for i := 0; i < filled; i++ {
-		b.WriteString(filledStyle.Render("\u2588"))
-	}
-	for i := filled; i < width; i++ {
-		b.WriteString(emptyStyle.Render("\u2591"))
-	}
+	b.WriteString(filledStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("█", filled)))
+	b.WriteString(emptyStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("░", width-filled)))
 
-	return fmt.Sprintf("%s %.1f%%", b.String(), pct*100)
+	return b.String() + spaceStyle.Render(" ") + pctStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%.0f%%", pct*100))
 }
 
-// ColorForPct returns green/yellow/red based on utilization level.
+// ColorForPct returns green/yellow/orange/red based on utilization level.
 func ColorForPct(pct float64) string {
 	t := theme.Active
 	switch {
-	case pct >= 0.8:
+	case pct >= 0.9:
 		return string(t.Red)
-	case pct >= 0.5:
+	case pct >= 0.7:
 		return string(t.Orange)
+	case pct >= 0.5:
+		return string(t.Yellow)
 	default:
 		return string(t.Green)
 	}
 }
 
 // RateLimitBar renders a labeled progress bar with percentage and countdown.
-// label: "5-hour", "Weekly", etc.  pct: 0.0-1.0.  resetsAt: zero means no countdown.
-// barWidth: width allocated for the progress bar portion only.
 func RateLimitBar(label string, pct float64, resetsAt time.Time, labelW, barWidth int) string {
 	t := theme.Active
 
@@ -69,9 +78,10 @@ func RateLimitBar(label string, pct float64, resetsAt time.Time, labelW, barWidt
 	)
 	bar.EmptyColor = string(t.TextDim)
 
-	labelStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted)
-	pctStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary).Bold(true)
-	countdownStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim)
+	labelStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted).Background(t.Surface)
+	pctStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(lipgloss.Color(ColorForPct(pct))).Background(t.Surface).Bold(true)
+	countdownStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim).Background(t.Surface)
+	spaceStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Background(t.Surface)
 
 	pctStr := fmt.Sprintf("%3.0f%%", pct*100)
 	countdown := ""
@@ -84,16 +94,16 @@ func RateLimitBar(label string, pct float64, resetsAt time.Time, labelW, barWidt
 		}
 	}
 
-	return fmt.Sprintf("%s %s %s  %s",
-		labelStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s", labelW, label)),
-		bar.ViewAs(pct),
-		pctStyle.Render(pctStr),
-		countdownStyle.Render(countdown),
-	)
+	return labelStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s", labelW, label)) +
+		spaceStyle.Render(" ") +
+		bar.ViewAs(pct) +
+		spaceStyle.Render(" ") +
+		pctStyle.Render(pctStr) +
+		spaceStyle.Render("  ") +
+		countdownStyle.Render(countdown)
 }
 
 // CompactRateBar renders a tiny status-bar-sized rate indicator.
-// Example output: "5h ████░░░░ 42%"
 func CompactRateBar(label string, pct float64, width int) string {
 	t := theme.Active
 
@@ -104,7 +114,6 @@ func CompactRateBar(label string, pct float64, width int) string {
 		pct = 1
 	}
 
-	// label + space + bar + space + pct(4 chars)
 	barW := width - lipgloss.Width(label) - 6
 	if barW < 4 {
 		barW = 4
@@ -117,14 +126,15 @@ func CompactRateBar(label string, pct float64, width int) string {
 	)
 	bar.EmptyColor = string(t.TextDim)
 
-	pctStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(lipgloss.Color(ColorForPct(pct)))
-	labelStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted)
+	pctStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(lipgloss.Color(ColorForPct(pct))).Background(t.Surface).Bold(true)
+	labelStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted).Background(t.Surface)
+	spaceStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Background(t.Surface)
 
-	return fmt.Sprintf("%s %s %s",
-		labelStyle.Render(label),
-		bar.ViewAs(pct),
-		pctStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%2.0f%%", pct*100)),
-	)
+	return labelStyle.Render(label) +
+		spaceStyle.Render(" ") +
+		bar.ViewAs(pct) +
+		spaceStyle.Render(" ") +
+		pctStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%2.0f%%", pct*100))
 }
 
 func formatCountdown(d time.Duration) string {

internal/tui/components/statusbar.go

@@ -7,80 +7,119 @@ import (
 	"github.com/theirongolddev/cburn/internal/claudeai"
 	"github.com/theirongolddev/cburn/internal/tui/theme"
 
-	"github.com/charmbracelet/bubbles/progress"
 	"github.com/charmbracelet/lipgloss"
 )
 
-// RenderStatusBar renders the bottom status bar with optional rate limit indicators.
+// RenderStatusBar renders a polished bottom status bar with rate limits and controls.
 func RenderStatusBar(width int, dataAge string, subData *claudeai.SubscriptionData, refreshing, autoRefresh bool) string {
 	t := theme.Active
 
-	style := lipgloss.NewStyle().
-		Foreground(t.TextMuted).
+	// Main container
+	barStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Background(t.SurfaceHover).
 		Width(width)
 
-	left := " [?]help  [r]efresh  [q]uit"
+	// Build left section: keyboard hints
+	keyStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(t.AccentBright).
+		Background(t.SurfaceHover).
+		Bold(true)
 
-	// Build rate limit indicators for the middle section
-	ratePart := renderStatusRateLimits(subData)
+	hintStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(t.TextMuted).
+		Background(t.SurfaceHover)
 
-	// Build right side with refresh status
+	bracketStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(t.TextDim).
+		Background(t.SurfaceHover)
+	spaceStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Background(t.SurfaceHover)
+
+	left := spaceStyle.Render(" ") +
+		bracketStyle.Render("[") + keyStyle.Render("?") + bracketStyle.Render("]") + hintStyle.Render("help") + spaceStyle.Render("  ") +
+		bracketStyle.Render("[") + keyStyle.Render("r") + bracketStyle.Render("]") + hintStyle.Render("efresh") + spaceStyle.Render("  ") +
+		bracketStyle.Render("[") + keyStyle.Render("q") + bracketStyle.Render("]") + hintStyle.Render("uit")
+
+	// Build middle section: rate limit indicators
+	middle := renderStatusRateLimits(subData)
+
+	// Build right section: refresh status
 	var right string
 	if refreshing {
-		refreshStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Accent)
-		right = refreshStyle.Render("↻ refreshing ")
+		spinnerStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+			Foreground(t.AccentBright).
+			Background(t.SurfaceHover).
+			Bold(true)
+		right = spinnerStyle.Render("↻ refreshing")
 	} else if dataAge != "" {
-		autoStr := ""
+		refreshIcon := ""
 		if autoRefresh {
-			autoStr = "↻ "
+			refreshIcon = lipgloss.NewStyle().
+				Foreground(t.Green).
+				Background(t.SurfaceHover).
+				Render("↻ ")
 		}
-		right = fmt.Sprintf("%sData: %s ", autoStr, dataAge)
+		dataStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+			Foreground(t.TextMuted).
+			Background(t.SurfaceHover)
+		right = refreshIcon + dataStyle.Render("Data: "+dataAge)
 	}
+	right += spaceStyle.Render(" ")
 
-	// Layout: left + ratePart + right, with padding distributed
-	usedWidth := lipgloss.Width(left) + lipgloss.Width(ratePart) + lipgloss.Width(right)
-	padding := width - usedWidth
+	// Calculate padding
+	leftWidth := lipgloss.Width(left)
+	middleWidth := lipgloss.Width(middle)
+	rightWidth := lipgloss.Width(right)
+
+	totalUsed := leftWidth + middleWidth + rightWidth
+	padding := width - totalUsed
 	if padding < 0 {
 		padding = 0
 	}
 
-	// Split padding: more on the left side of rate indicators
 	leftPad := padding / 2
 	rightPad := padding - leftPad
 
-	bar := left + strings.Repeat(" ", leftPad) + ratePart + strings.Repeat(" ", rightPad) + right
+	paddingStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Background(t.SurfaceHover)
+	bar := left +
+		paddingStyle.Render(strings.Repeat(" ", leftPad)) +
+		middle +
+		paddingStyle.Render(strings.Repeat(" ", rightPad)) +
+		right
 
-	return style.Render(bar)
+	return barStyle.Render(bar)
 }
 
-// renderStatusRateLimits renders compact rate limit bars for the status bar.
+// renderStatusRateLimits renders compact rate limit pills for the status bar.
 func renderStatusRateLimits(subData *claudeai.SubscriptionData) string {
 	if subData == nil || subData.Usage == nil {
 		return ""
 	}
 
 	t := theme.Active
-	sepStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim)
 
 	var parts []string
 
 	if w := subData.Usage.FiveHour; w != nil {
-		parts = append(parts, compactStatusBar("5h", w.Pct))
+		parts = append(parts, renderRatePill("5h", w.Pct))
 	}
 	if w := subData.Usage.SevenDay; w != nil {
-		parts = append(parts, compactStatusBar("Wk", w.Pct))
+		parts = append(parts, renderRatePill("Wk", w.Pct))
 	}
 
 	if len(parts) == 0 {
 		return ""
 	}
 
-	return strings.Join(parts, sepStyle.Render(" | "))
+	sepStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(t.TextDim).
+		Background(t.SurfaceHover)
+
+	return strings.Join(parts, sepStyle.Render(" │ "))
 }
 
-// compactStatusBar renders a tiny inline progress indicator for the status bar.
-// Format: "5h ████░░░░ 42%"
-func compactStatusBar(label string, pct float64) string {
+// renderRatePill renders a compact, colored rate indicator pill.
+func renderRatePill(label string, pct float64) string {
 	t := theme.Active
 
 	if pct < 0 {
@@ -90,20 +129,52 @@ func compactStatusBar(label string, pct float64) string {
 		pct = 1
 	}
 
+	// Choose color based on usage level
+	var barColor, pctColor lipgloss.Color
+	switch {
+	case pct >= 0.9:
+		barColor = t.Red
+		pctColor = t.Red
+	case pct >= 0.7:
+		barColor = t.Orange
+		pctColor = t.Orange
+	case pct >= 0.5:
+		barColor = t.Yellow
+		pctColor = t.Yellow
+	default:
+		barColor = t.Green
+		pctColor = t.Green
+	}
+
+	labelStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(t.TextMuted).
+		Background(t.SurfaceHover)
+
+	barStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(barColor).
+		Background(t.SurfaceHover)
+
+	emptyStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(t.TextDim).
+		Background(t.SurfaceHover)
+
+	pctStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(pctColor).
+		Background(t.SurfaceHover).
+		Bold(true)
+
+	// Render mini bar (8 chars)
 	barW := 8
-	bar := progress.New(
-		progress.WithSolidFill(ColorForPct(pct)),
-		progress.WithWidth(barW),
-		progress.WithoutPercentage(),
-	)
-	bar.EmptyColor = string(t.TextDim)
+	filled := int(pct * float64(barW))
+	if filled > barW {
+		filled = barW
+	}
 
-	labelStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted)
-	pctStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(lipgloss.Color(ColorForPct(pct)))
+	bar := barStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("█", filled)) +
+		emptyStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("░", barW-filled))
 
-	return fmt.Sprintf("%s %s %s",
-		labelStyle.Render(label),
-		bar.ViewAs(pct),
-		pctStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%2.0f%%", pct*100)),
-	)
+	spaceStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Background(t.SurfaceHover)
+
+	return labelStyle.Render(label+" ") + bar + spaceStyle.Render(" ") + pctStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%2.0f%%", pct*100))
 }

internal/tui/components/tabbar.go

@@ -24,50 +24,113 @@ var Tabs = []Tab{
 	{Name: "Settings", Key: 'x', KeyPos: -1},
 }
 
-// RenderTabBar renders the tab bar with the given active index.
+// TabVisualWidth returns the rendered visual width of a tab.
+// This must match RenderTabBar's rendering logic exactly for mouse hit detection.
+func TabVisualWidth(tab Tab, isActive bool) int {
+	// Active tabs: just the name with padding (1 on each side)
+	if isActive {
+		return len(tab.Name) + 2
+	}
+
+	// Inactive tabs: name with padding, plus "[k]" suffix if shortcut not in name
+	w := len(tab.Name) + 2
+	if tab.KeyPos < 0 {
+		w += 3 // "[k]"
+	}
+	return w
+}
+
+// RenderTabBar renders a modern tab bar with underline-style active indicator.
 func RenderTabBar(activeIdx int, width int) string {
 	t := theme.Active
 
-	activeStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
-		Foreground(t.Accent).
-		Bold(true)
+	// Container with bottom border
+	barStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Background(t.Surface).
+		Width(width)
 
-	inactiveStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
-		Foreground(t.TextMuted)
+	// Active tab: bright text with accent underline
+	activeTabStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(t.AccentBright).
+		Background(t.Surface).
+		Bold(true).
+		Padding(0, 1)
 
+	// Inactive tab: muted text
+	inactiveTabStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(t.TextMuted).
+		Background(t.Surface).
+		Padding(0, 1)
+
+	// Key highlight style
 	keyStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
 		Foreground(t.Accent).
-		Bold(true)
+		Background(t.Surface)
 
-	dimKeyStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
-		Foreground(t.TextDim)
+	dimStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(t.TextDim).
+		Background(t.Surface)
+
+	// Separator between tabs
+	sepStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		Foreground(t.Border).
+		Background(t.Surface)
+
+	var tabParts []string
+	var underlineParts []string
 
-	parts := make([]string, 0, len(Tabs))
 	for i, tab := range Tabs {
-		var rendered string
+		var tabContent string
+		var underline string
+
 		if i == activeIdx {
-			rendered = activeStyle.Render(tab.Name)
+			// Active tab - full name, bright
+			tabContent = activeTabStyle.Render(tab.Name)
+			// Accent underline
+			underline = lipgloss.NewStyle().
+				Foreground(t.AccentBright).
+				Background(t.Surface).
+				Render(strings.Repeat("━", lipgloss.Width(tabContent)))
 		} else {
-			// Render with highlighted shortcut key
+			// Inactive tab - show key hint
 			if tab.KeyPos >= 0 && tab.KeyPos < len(tab.Name) {
 				before := tab.Name[:tab.KeyPos]
 				key := string(tab.Name[tab.KeyPos])
 				after := tab.Name[tab.KeyPos+1:]
-				rendered = inactiveStyle.Render(before) +
-					dimKeyStyle.Render("[") + keyStyle.Render(key) + dimKeyStyle.Render("]") +
-					inactiveStyle.Render(after)
+				tabContent = lipgloss.NewStyle().Padding(0, 1).Background(t.Surface).Render(
+					dimStyle.Render(before) + keyStyle.Render(key) + dimStyle.Render(after))
 			} else {
-				// Key not in name (e.g., "Settings" with 'x')
-				rendered = inactiveStyle.Render(tab.Name) +
-					dimKeyStyle.Render("[") + keyStyle.Render(string(tab.Key)) + dimKeyStyle.Render("]")
+				tabContent = inactiveTabStyle.Render(tab.Name) +
+					dimStyle.Render("[") + keyStyle.Render(string(tab.Key)) + dimStyle.Render("]")
 			}
-		}
-		parts = append(parts, rendered)
+			// Dim underline
+			underline = lipgloss.NewStyle().
+				Foreground(t.Border).
+				Background(t.Surface).
+				Render(strings.Repeat("─", lipgloss.Width(tabContent)))
 		}
 
-	bar := " " + strings.Join(parts, "  ")
-	if lipgloss.Width(bar) <= width {
-		return bar
+		tabParts = append(tabParts, tabContent)
+		underlineParts = append(underlineParts, underline)
+
+		// Add separator between tabs (not after last)
+		if i < len(Tabs)-1 {
+			tabParts = append(tabParts, sepStyle.Render(" "))
+			underlineParts = append(underlineParts, sepStyle.Render(" "))
 		}
-	return lipgloss.NewStyle().MaxWidth(width).Render(bar)
+	}
+
+	// Combine tab row and underline row
+	tabRow := strings.Join(tabParts, "")
+	underlineRow := strings.Join(underlineParts, "")
+
+	// Fill remaining width with border
+	tabRowWidth := lipgloss.Width(tabRow)
+	if tabRowWidth < width {
+		padding := width - tabRowWidth
+		tabRow += lipgloss.NewStyle().Background(t.Surface).Render(strings.Repeat(" ", padding))
+		underlineRow += lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Border).Background(t.Surface).Render(strings.Repeat("─", padding))
+	}
+
+	return barStyle.Render(tabRow + "\n" + underlineRow)
 }

internal/tui/setup.go

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ type setupValues struct {
 
 // newSetupForm builds the huh form for first-run configuration.
 func newSetupForm(numSessions int, claudeDir string, vals *setupValues) *huh.Form {
-	cfg, _ := config.Load()
+	cfg := loadConfigOrDefault()
 
 	// Pre-populate defaults
 	vals.days = cfg.General.DefaultDays
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ func newSetupForm(numSessions int, claudeDir string, vals *setupValues) *huh.For
 
 // saveSetupConfig persists the setup wizard values to the config file.
 func (a *App) saveSetupConfig() error {
-	cfg, _ := config.Load()
+	cfg := loadConfigOrDefault()
 
 	if a.setupVals.sessionKey != "" {
 		cfg.ClaudeAI.SessionKey = a.setupVals.sessionKey

internal/tui/tab_breakdown.go

@@ -23,8 +23,18 @@ func (a App) renderModelsTab(cw int) string {
 		nameW = 14
 	}
 
-	headerStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Accent).Bold(true)
-	rowStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary)
+	headerStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Accent).Background(t.Surface).Bold(true)
+	rowStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary).Background(t.Surface)
+	mutedStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted).Background(t.Surface)
+	costStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.GreenBright).Background(t.Surface)
+	shareStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Cyan).Background(t.Surface)
+
+	// Model colors for visual interest - pre-compute styles to avoid allocation in loops
+	modelColors := []lipgloss.Color{t.BlueBright, t.Cyan, t.Magenta, t.Yellow, t.Green}
+	nameStyles := make([]lipgloss.Style, len(modelColors))
+	for i, color := range modelColors {
+		nameStyles[i] = lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(color).Background(t.Surface)
+	}
 
 	var tableBody strings.Builder
 	if a.isCompactLayout() {
@@ -37,29 +47,30 @@ func (a App) renderModelsTab(cw int) string {
 		}
 		tableBody.WriteString(headerStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %8s %10s %6s", nameW, "Model", "Calls", "Cost", "Share")))
 		tableBody.WriteString("\n")
+		tableBody.WriteString(mutedStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("─", nameW+shareW+costW+callW+3)))
+		tableBody.WriteString("\n")
 
-		for _, ms := range models {
-			tableBody.WriteString(rowStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %8s %10s %5.1f%%",
-				nameW,
-				truncStr(shortModel(ms.Model), nameW),
-				cli.FormatNumber(int64(ms.APICalls)),
-				cli.FormatCost(ms.EstimatedCost),
-				ms.SharePercent)))
+		for i, ms := range models {
+			tableBody.WriteString(nameStyles[i%len(modelColors)].Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s", nameW, truncStr(shortModel(ms.Model), nameW))))
+			tableBody.WriteString(rowStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf(" %8s", cli.FormatNumber(int64(ms.APICalls)))))
+			tableBody.WriteString(costStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf(" %10s", cli.FormatCost(ms.EstimatedCost))))
+			tableBody.WriteString(shareStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf(" %5.1f%%", ms.SharePercent)))
 			tableBody.WriteString("\n")
 		}
 	} else {
 		tableBody.WriteString(headerStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %8s %10s %10s %10s %6s", nameW, "Model", "Calls", "Input", "Output", "Cost", "Share")))
 		tableBody.WriteString("\n")
+		tableBody.WriteString(mutedStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("─", innerW)))
+		tableBody.WriteString("\n")
 
-		for _, ms := range models {
-			tableBody.WriteString(rowStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %8s %10s %10s %10s %5.1f%%",
-				nameW,
-				truncStr(shortModel(ms.Model), nameW),
+		for i, ms := range models {
+			tableBody.WriteString(nameStyles[i%len(modelColors)].Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s", nameW, truncStr(shortModel(ms.Model), nameW))))
+			tableBody.WriteString(rowStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf(" %8s %10s %10s",
 				cli.FormatNumber(int64(ms.APICalls)),
 				cli.FormatTokens(ms.InputTokens),
-				cli.FormatTokens(ms.OutputTokens),
-				cli.FormatCost(ms.EstimatedCost),
-				ms.SharePercent)))
+				cli.FormatTokens(ms.OutputTokens))))
+			tableBody.WriteString(costStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf(" %10s", cli.FormatCost(ms.EstimatedCost))))
+			tableBody.WriteString(shareStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf(" %5.1f%%", ms.SharePercent)))
 			tableBody.WriteString("\n")
 		}
 	}
@@ -79,8 +90,11 @@ func (a App) renderProjectsTab(cw int) string {
 		nameW = 18
 	}
 
-	headerStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Accent).Bold(true)
-	rowStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary)
+	headerStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Accent).Background(t.Surface).Bold(true)
+	rowStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary).Background(t.Surface)
+	mutedStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted).Background(t.Surface)
+	nameStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Cyan).Background(t.Surface)
+	costStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.GreenBright).Background(t.Surface)
 
 	var tableBody strings.Builder
 	if a.isCompactLayout() {
@@ -92,27 +106,28 @@ func (a App) renderProjectsTab(cw int) string {
 		}
 		tableBody.WriteString(headerStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %6s %10s", nameW, "Project", "Sess.", "Cost")))
 		tableBody.WriteString("\n")
+		tableBody.WriteString(mutedStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("─", nameW+costW+sessW+2)))
+		tableBody.WriteString("\n")
 
 		for _, ps := range projects {
-			tableBody.WriteString(rowStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %6d %10s",
-				nameW,
-				truncStr(ps.Project, nameW),
-				ps.Sessions,
-				cli.FormatCost(ps.EstimatedCost))))
+			tableBody.WriteString(nameStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s", nameW, truncStr(ps.Project, nameW))))
+			tableBody.WriteString(rowStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf(" %6d", ps.Sessions)))
+			tableBody.WriteString(costStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf(" %10s", cli.FormatCost(ps.EstimatedCost))))
 			tableBody.WriteString("\n")
 		}
 	} else {
 		tableBody.WriteString(headerStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %6s %8s %10s %10s", nameW, "Project", "Sess.", "Prompts", "Tokens", "Cost")))
 		tableBody.WriteString("\n")
+		tableBody.WriteString(mutedStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("─", innerW)))
+		tableBody.WriteString("\n")
 
 		for _, ps := range projects {
-			tableBody.WriteString(rowStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %6d %8s %10s %10s",
-				nameW,
-				truncStr(ps.Project, nameW),
+			tableBody.WriteString(nameStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s", nameW, truncStr(ps.Project, nameW))))
+			tableBody.WriteString(rowStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf(" %6d %8s %10s",
 				ps.Sessions,
 				cli.FormatNumber(int64(ps.Prompts)),
-				cli.FormatTokens(ps.TotalTokens),
-				cli.FormatCost(ps.EstimatedCost))))
+				cli.FormatTokens(ps.TotalTokens))))
+			tableBody.WriteString(costStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf(" %10s", cli.FormatCost(ps.EstimatedCost))))
 			tableBody.WriteString("\n")
 		}
 	}

internal/tui/tab_costs.go

@@ -51,11 +51,14 @@ func (a App) renderCostsTab(cw int) string {
 		nameW = 14
 	}
 
-	headerStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Accent).Bold(true)
-	rowStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary)
-	mutedStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted)
-	labelStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted)
-	valueStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary)
+	headerStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Accent).Background(t.Surface).Bold(true)
+	mutedStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted).Background(t.Surface)
+	labelStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted).Background(t.Surface)
+	valueStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary).Background(t.Surface)
+	costValueStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.GreenBright).Background(t.Surface)
+	modelNameStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.BlueBright).Background(t.Surface)
+	tokenCostStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Cyan).Background(t.Surface)
+	spaceStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Background(t.Surface)
 
 	var tableBody strings.Builder
 	if a.isCompactLayout() {
@@ -70,10 +73,8 @@ func (a App) renderCostsTab(cw int) string {
 		tableBody.WriteString("\n")
 
 		for _, mc := range modelCosts {
-			tableBody.WriteString(rowStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %10s",
-				nameW,
-				truncStr(shortModel(mc.Model), nameW),
-				cli.FormatCost(mc.TotalCost))))
+			tableBody.WriteString(modelNameStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s", nameW, truncStr(shortModel(mc.Model), nameW))))
+			tableBody.WriteString(costValueStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf(" %10s", cli.FormatCost(mc.TotalCost))))
 			tableBody.WriteString("\n")
 		}
 		tableBody.WriteString(mutedStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("─", nameW+totalW+1)))
@@ -84,13 +85,12 @@ func (a App) renderCostsTab(cw int) string {
 		tableBody.WriteString("\n")
 
 		for _, mc := range modelCosts {
-			tableBody.WriteString(rowStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %10s %10s %10s %10s",
-				nameW,
-				truncStr(shortModel(mc.Model), nameW),
+			tableBody.WriteString(modelNameStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s", nameW, truncStr(shortModel(mc.Model), nameW))))
+			tableBody.WriteString(tokenCostStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf(" %10s %10s %10s",
 				cli.FormatCost(mc.InputCost),
 				cli.FormatCost(mc.OutputCost),
-				cli.FormatCost(mc.CacheCost),
-				cli.FormatCost(mc.TotalCost))))
+				cli.FormatCost(mc.CacheCost))))
+			tableBody.WriteString(costValueStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf(" %10s", cli.FormatCost(mc.TotalCost))))
 			tableBody.WriteString("\n")
 		}
 
@@ -126,12 +126,16 @@ func (a App) renderCostsTab(cw int) string {
 
 		var body strings.Builder
 		body.WriteString(bar.ViewAs(pct))
-		fmt.Fprintf(&body, " %.0f%%\n", pct*100)
-		fmt.Fprintf(&body, "%s  %s / %s %s",
-			labelStyle.Render("Used"),
-			valueStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("$%.2f", ol.UsedCredits)),
-			valueStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("$%.2f", ol.MonthlyCreditLimit)),
-			labelStyle.Render(ol.Currency))
+		body.WriteString(spaceStyle.Render(" "))
+		body.WriteString(valueStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%.0f%%", pct*100)))
+		body.WriteString("\n")
+		body.WriteString(labelStyle.Render("Used"))
+		body.WriteString(spaceStyle.Render("  "))
+		body.WriteString(valueStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("$%.2f", ol.UsedCredits)))
+		body.WriteString(spaceStyle.Render(" / "))
+		body.WriteString(valueStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("$%.2f", ol.MonthlyCreditLimit)))
+		body.WriteString(spaceStyle.Render(" "))
+		body.WriteString(labelStyle.Render(ol.Currency))
 
 		progressCard = components.ContentCard("Overage Spend", body.String(), halves[0])
 	} else {
@@ -159,12 +163,14 @@ func (a App) renderCostsTab(cw int) string {
 			return topDays[i].Date.After(topDays[j].Date)
 		})
 		for _, d := range topDays {
-			fmt.Fprintf(&spendBody, "%s  %s\n",
-				valueStyle.Render(d.Date.Format("Jan 02")),
-				lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Green).Render(cli.FormatCost(d.EstimatedCost)))
+			spendBody.WriteString(valueStyle.Render(d.Date.Format("Jan 02")))
+			spendBody.WriteString(spaceStyle.Render("  "))
+			spendBody.WriteString(lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Green).Background(t.Surface).Render(cli.FormatCost(d.EstimatedCost)))
+			spendBody.WriteString("\n")
 		}
 	} else {
-		spendBody.WriteString("No data\n")
+		spendBody.WriteString(labelStyle.Render("No data"))
+		spendBody.WriteString("\n")
 	}
 	spendCard := components.ContentCard("Top Spend Days", spendBody.String(), halves[1])
 
@@ -189,16 +195,21 @@ func (a App) renderCostsTab(cw int) string {
 		promptsPerSess = float64(stats.TotalPrompts) / float64(stats.TotalSessions)
 	}
 
-	effMetrics := []struct{ name, value string }{
-		{"Tokens/Prompt", cli.FormatTokens(tokPerPrompt)},
-		{"Output/Prompt", cli.FormatTokens(outPerPrompt)},
-		{"Prompts/Session", fmt.Sprintf("%.1f", promptsPerSess)},
-		{"Minutes/Day", fmt.Sprintf("%.0f", stats.MinutesPerDay)},
+	effMetrics := []struct {
+		name  string
+		value string
+		color lipgloss.Color
+	}{
+		{"Tokens/Prompt", cli.FormatTokens(tokPerPrompt), t.Cyan},
+		{"Output/Prompt", cli.FormatTokens(outPerPrompt), t.Cyan},
+		{"Prompts/Session", fmt.Sprintf("%.1f", promptsPerSess), t.Magenta},
+		{"Minutes/Day", fmt.Sprintf("%.0f", stats.MinutesPerDay), t.Yellow},
 	}
 
 	var effBody strings.Builder
 	for _, m := range effMetrics {
-		effBody.WriteString(rowStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-20s %10s", m.name, m.value)))
+		effBody.WriteString(labelStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-20s", m.name)))
+		effBody.WriteString(lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(m.color).Background(t.Surface).Render(fmt.Sprintf(" %10s", m.value)))
 		effBody.WriteString("\n")
 	}
 
@@ -210,11 +221,11 @@ func (a App) renderCostsTab(cw int) string {
 // renderSubscriptionCard renders the rate limit + overage card at the top of the costs tab.
 func (a App) renderSubscriptionCard(cw int) string {
 	t := theme.Active
-	hintStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim)
+	hintStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim).Background(t.Surface)
 
 	// No session key configured
 	if a.subData == nil && !a.subFetching {
-		cfg, _ := config.Load()
+		cfg := loadConfigOrDefault()
 		if config.GetSessionKey(cfg) == "" {
 			return components.ContentCard("Subscription",
 				hintStyle.Render("Configure session key in Settings to see rate limits"),
@@ -235,7 +246,7 @@ func (a App) renderSubscriptionCard(cw int) string {
 
 	// Error with no usable data
 	if a.subData.Usage == nil && a.subData.Error != nil {
-		warnStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Orange)
+		warnStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Orange).Background(t.Surface)
 		return components.ContentCard("Subscription",
 			warnStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("Error: %s", a.subData.Error)),
 			cw) + "\n"
@@ -285,12 +296,12 @@ func (a App) renderSubscriptionCard(cw int) string {
 	if ol := a.subData.Overage; ol != nil && ol.IsEnabled && ol.MonthlyCreditLimit > 0 {
 		pct := ol.UsedCredits / ol.MonthlyCreditLimit
 		body.WriteString("\n")
-		body.WriteString(lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim).Render(strings.Repeat("─", innerW)))
+		body.WriteString(lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim).Background(t.Surface).Render(strings.Repeat("─", innerW)))
 		body.WriteString("\n")
 		body.WriteString(components.RateLimitBar("Overage",
 			pct, time.Time{}, labelW, barW))
 
-		spendStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim)
+		spendStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim).Background(t.Surface)
 		body.WriteString(spendStyle.Render(
 			fmt.Sprintf("  $%.2f / $%.2f", ol.UsedCredits, ol.MonthlyCreditLimit)))
 	}
@@ -298,7 +309,7 @@ func (a App) renderSubscriptionCard(cw int) string {
 	// Fetch timestamp
 	if !a.subData.FetchedAt.IsZero() {
 		body.WriteString("\n")
-		tsStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim)
+		tsStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim).Background(t.Surface)
 		body.WriteString(tsStyle.Render("Updated " + a.subData.FetchedAt.Format("3:04 PM")))
 	}
 

internal/tui/tab_overview.go

@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ func (a App) renderOverviewTab(cw int) string {
 	models := a.models
 	var b strings.Builder
 
-	// Row 1: Metric cards
+	// Row 1: Metric cards with colored values
 	costDelta := ""
 	if prev.CostPerDay > 0 {
 		costDelta = fmt.Sprintf("%s/day (%s)", cli.FormatCost(stats.CostPerDay), cli.FormatDelta(stats.CostPerDay, prev.CostPerDay))
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ func (a App) renderOverviewTab(cw int) string {
 	b.WriteString(components.MetricCardRow(cards, cw))
 	b.WriteString("\n")
 
-	// Row 2: Daily token usage chart
+	// Row 2: Daily token usage chart - use PanelCard for emphasis
 	if len(days) > 0 {
 		chartVals := make([]float64, len(days))
 		chartLabels := chartDateLabels(days)
@@ -62,9 +62,9 @@ func (a App) renderOverviewTab(cw int) string {
 			chartVals[len(days)-1-i] = float64(d.InputTokens + d.OutputTokens + d.CacheCreation5m + d.CacheCreation1h)
 		}
 		chartInnerW := components.CardInnerWidth(cw)
-		b.WriteString(components.ContentCard(
+		b.WriteString(components.PanelCard(
 			fmt.Sprintf("Daily Token Usage (%dd)", a.days),
-			components.BarChart(chartVals, chartLabels, t.Blue, chartInnerW, 10),
+			components.BarChart(chartVals, chartLabels, t.BlueBright, chartInnerW, 10),
 			cw,
 		))
 		b.WriteString("\n")
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ func (a App) renderOverviewTab(cw int) string {
 		}
 		todayCard = components.ContentCard(
 			fmt.Sprintf("Today (%s)", cli.FormatTokens(todayTotal)),
-			components.BarChart(hourVals, hourLabels24(), t.Blue, components.CardInnerWidth(liveHalves[0]), liveChartH),
+			components.BarChart(hourVals, hourLabels24(), t.Cyan, components.CardInnerWidth(liveHalves[0]), liveChartH),
 			liveHalves[0],
 		)
 	}
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ func (a App) renderOverviewTab(cw int) string {
 		}
 		lastHourCard = components.ContentCard(
 			fmt.Sprintf("Last Hour (%s)", cli.FormatTokens(hourTotal)),
-			components.BarChart(minVals, minuteLabels(), t.Accent, components.CardInnerWidth(liveHalves[1]), liveChartH),
+			components.BarChart(minVals, minuteLabels(), t.Magenta, components.CardInnerWidth(liveHalves[1]), liveChartH),
 			liveHalves[1],
 		)
 	}
@@ -127,10 +127,7 @@ func (a App) renderOverviewTab(cw int) string {
 	halves := components.LayoutRow(cw, 2)
 	innerW := components.CardInnerWidth(halves[0])
 
-	nameStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary)
-	barStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Accent)
-	pctStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim)
-
+	// Model split with colored bars per model
 	var modelBody strings.Builder
 	limit := 5
 	if len(models) < limit {
@@ -150,18 +147,36 @@ func (a App) renderOverviewTab(cw int) string {
 	if barMaxLen < 1 {
 		barMaxLen = 1
 	}
-	for _, ms := range models[:limit] {
+
+	// Color palette for models - pre-compute styles to avoid allocation in loop
+	modelColors := []lipgloss.Color{t.BlueBright, t.Cyan, t.Magenta, t.Yellow, t.Green}
+	sepStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Background(t.Surface)
+	nameStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary).Background(t.Surface)
+
+	// Pre-compute bar and percent styles for each color
+	barStyles := make([]lipgloss.Style, len(modelColors))
+	pctStyles := make([]lipgloss.Style, len(modelColors))
+	for i, color := range modelColors {
+		barStyles[i] = lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(color).Background(t.Surface)
+		pctStyles[i] = lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(color).Background(t.Surface).Bold(true)
+	}
+
+	for i, ms := range models[:limit] {
 		barLen := 0
 		if maxShare > 0 {
 			barLen = int(ms.SharePercent / maxShare * float64(barMaxLen))
 		}
-		fmt.Fprintf(&modelBody, "%s %s %s\n",
-			nameStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s", nameW, shortModel(ms.Model))),
-			barStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("█", barLen)),
-			pctStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%.0f%%", ms.SharePercent)))
+
+		colorIdx := i % len(modelColors)
+		modelBody.WriteString(nameStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s", nameW, shortModel(ms.Model))))
+		modelBody.WriteString(sepStyle.Render(" "))
+		modelBody.WriteString(barStyles[colorIdx].Render(strings.Repeat("█", barLen)))
+		modelBody.WriteString(sepStyle.Render(" "))
+		modelBody.WriteString(pctStyles[colorIdx].Render(fmt.Sprintf("%3.0f%%", ms.SharePercent)))
+		modelBody.WriteString("\n")
 	}
 
-	// Compact activity: aggregate prompts into 4-hour buckets
+	// Activity patterns with time-of-day coloring
 	now := time.Now()
 	since := now.AddDate(0, 0, -a.days)
 	hours := pipeline.AggregateHourly(a.filtered, since, now)
@@ -172,11 +187,11 @@ func (a App) renderOverviewTab(cw int) string {
 		color lipgloss.Color
 	}
 	buckets := []actBucket{
-		{"Night   00-03", 0, t.Red},
-		{"Early   04-07", 0, t.Yellow},
-		{"Morning 08-11", 0, t.Green},
+		{"Night   00-03", 0, t.Magenta},
+		{"Early   04-07", 0, t.Orange},
+		{"Morning 08-11", 0, t.GreenBright},
 		{"Midday  12-15", 0, t.Green},
-		{"Evening 16-19", 0, t.Green},
+		{"Evening 16-19", 0, t.Cyan},
 		{"Late    20-23", 0, t.Yellow},
 	}
 	for _, h := range hours {
@@ -196,31 +211,34 @@ func (a App) renderOverviewTab(cw int) string {
 
 	actInnerW := components.CardInnerWidth(halves[1])
 
-	// Compute number column width from actual data so bars never overflow.
+	// Compute number column width
 	maxNumW := 5
 	for _, bk := range buckets {
 		if nw := len(cli.FormatNumber(int64(bk.total))); nw > maxNumW {
 			maxNumW = nw
 		}
 	}
-	// prefix = 13 (label) + 1 (space) + maxNumW (number) + 1 (space)
 	actBarMax := actInnerW - 15 - maxNumW
 	if actBarMax < 1 {
 		actBarMax = 1
 	}
 
-	numStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted)
+	labelStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted).Background(t.Surface)
+	numStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary).Background(t.Surface)
+
 	var actBody strings.Builder
 	for _, bk := range buckets {
 		bl := 0
 		if maxBucket > 0 {
 			bl = bk.total * actBarMax / maxBucket
 		}
-		bar := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(bk.color).Render(strings.Repeat("█", bl))
-		fmt.Fprintf(&actBody, "%s %s %s\n",
-			numStyle.Render(bk.label),
-			numStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%*s", maxNumW, cli.FormatNumber(int64(bk.total)))),
-			bar)
+		barStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(bk.color).Background(t.Surface)
+		actBody.WriteString(labelStyle.Render(bk.label))
+		actBody.WriteString(sepStyle.Render(" "))
+		actBody.WriteString(numStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%*s", maxNumW, cli.FormatNumber(int64(bk.total)))))
+		actBody.WriteString(sepStyle.Render(" "))
+		actBody.WriteString(barStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("█", bl)))
+		actBody.WriteString("\n")
 	}
 
 	modelCard := components.ContentCard("Model Split", modelBody.String(), halves[0])
@@ -236,7 +254,7 @@ func (a App) renderOverviewTab(cw int) string {
 	return b.String()
 }
 
-// hourLabels24 returns X-axis labels for 24 hourly buckets (one per hour).
+// hourLabels24 returns X-axis labels for 24 hourly buckets.
 func hourLabels24() []string {
 	labels := make([]string, 24)
 	for i := 0; i < 24; i++ {
@@ -253,8 +271,7 @@ func hourLabels24() []string {
 	return labels
 }
 
-// minuteLabels returns X-axis labels for 12 five-minute buckets (one per bucket).
-// Bucket 0 is oldest (55-60 min ago), bucket 11 is newest (0-5 min ago).
+// minuteLabels returns X-axis labels for 12 five-minute buckets.
 func minuteLabels() []string {
 	return []string{"-55", "-50", "-45", "-40", "-35", "-30", "-25", "-20", "-15", "-10", "-5", "now"}
 }

internal/tui/tab_sessions.go

@@ -21,6 +21,13 @@ const (
 	sessViewDetail        // Full-screen detail
 )
 
+// Layout constants for sessions tab height calculations.
+const (
+	sessListOverhead   = 6 // card border (2) + header row (2) + footer hint (2)
+	sessDetailOverhead = 4 // card border (2) + title (1) + gap (1)
+	sessMinVisible     = 5 // minimum visible rows in any pane
+)
+
 // sessionsState holds the sessions tab state.
 type sessionsState struct {
 	cursor       int
@@ -79,17 +86,21 @@ func (a App) renderSessionsContent(filtered []model.SessionStats, cw, h int) str
 	// Show search input when in search mode
 	if ss.searching {
 		var b strings.Builder
-		searchStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Accent)
+		searchStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Accent).Background(t.Surface).Bold(true)
+		spaceStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Background(t.Surface)
 		b.WriteString(searchStyle.Render("  Search: "))
 		b.WriteString(ss.searchInput.View())
 		b.WriteString("\n")
-		hintStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim)
-		b.WriteString(hintStyle.Render("  [Enter] apply  [Esc] cancel"))
+		hintStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim).Background(t.Surface)
+		keyStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Accent).Background(t.Surface)
+		b.WriteString(spaceStyle.Render("  ") + hintStyle.Render("[") + keyStyle.Render("Enter") + hintStyle.Render("] apply  [") +
+			keyStyle.Render("Esc") + hintStyle.Render("] cancel"))
 		b.WriteString("\n\n")
 
 		// Show preview of filtered results
 		previewFiltered := filterSessionsBySearch(a.filtered, ss.searchInput.Value())
-		b.WriteString(hintStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("  %d sessions match", len(previewFiltered))))
+		countStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted).Background(t.Surface)
+		b.WriteString(countStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("  %d sessions match", len(previewFiltered))))
 
 		return b.String()
 	}
@@ -102,10 +113,10 @@ func (a App) renderSessionsContent(filtered []model.SessionStats, cw, h int) str
 
 	if len(filtered) == 0 {
 		var body strings.Builder
-		body.WriteString(lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted).Render("No sessions found"))
+		body.WriteString(lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted).Background(t.Surface).Render("No sessions found"))
 		if ss.searchQuery != "" {
 			body.WriteString("\n\n")
-			body.WriteString(lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim).Render("[Esc] clear search  [/] new search"))
+			body.WriteString(lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim).Background(t.Surface).Render("[Esc] clear search  [/] new search"))
 		}
 		return components.ContentCard(title, body.String(), cw)
 	}
@@ -157,15 +168,15 @@ func (a App) renderSessionsSplit(sessions []model.SessionStats, cw, h int) strin
 	// Left pane: condensed session list
 	leftInner := components.CardInnerWidth(leftW)
 
-	headerStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Accent).Bold(true)
-	rowStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary)
-	selectedStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary).Background(t.Surface).Bold(true)
-	mutedStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted)
+	rowStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary).Background(t.Surface)
+	selectedStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary).Background(t.SurfaceBright).Bold(true)
+	mutedStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted).Background(t.Surface)
+	costStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Green).Background(t.Surface)
 
 	var leftBody strings.Builder
-	visible := h - 6 // card border (2) + header row (2) + footer hint (2)
-	if visible < 5 {
-		visible = 5
+	visible := h - sessListOverhead
+	if visible < sessMinVisible {
+		visible = sessMinVisible
 	}
 
 	offset := ss.offset
@@ -198,18 +209,22 @@ func (a App) renderSessionsSplit(sessions []model.SessionStats, cw, h int) strin
 		}
 
 		if i == cursor {
-			fullLine := leftPart + strings.Repeat(" ", padN) + costStr
-			// Pad to full width for continuous highlight background
-			if len(fullLine) < leftInner {
-				fullLine += strings.Repeat(" ", leftInner-len(fullLine))
-			}
-			leftBody.WriteString(selectedStyle.Render(fullLine))
+			// Selected row with bright background and accent marker
+			selectedCostStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.GreenBright).Background(t.SurfaceBright).Bold(true)
+			marker := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.AccentBright).Background(t.SurfaceBright).Render("▸ ")
+			leftBody.WriteString(marker + selectedStyle.Render(leftPart) +
+				lipgloss.NewStyle().Background(t.SurfaceBright).Render(strings.Repeat(" ", max(1, padN-2))) +
+				selectedCostStyle.Render(costStr) +
+				lipgloss.NewStyle().Background(t.SurfaceBright).Render(strings.Repeat(" ", max(0, leftInner-len(leftPart)-padN-len(costStr)))))
 		} else {
+			// Normal row
 			leftBody.WriteString(
-				mutedStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-13s", startStr)) + " " +
+				lipgloss.NewStyle().Background(t.Surface).Render("  ") +
+					mutedStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-13s", startStr)) +
+					lipgloss.NewStyle().Background(t.Surface).Render(" ") +
 					rowStyle.Render(dur) +
-					strings.Repeat(" ", padN) +
-					mutedStyle.Render(costStr))
+					lipgloss.NewStyle().Background(t.Surface).Render(strings.Repeat(" ", padN-2)) +
+					costStyle.Render(costStr))
 		}
 		leftBody.WriteString("\n")
 	}
@@ -223,10 +238,10 @@ func (a App) renderSessionsSplit(sessions []model.SessionStats, cw, h int) strin
 
 	// Right pane: full session detail with scroll support
 	sel := sessions[cursor]
-	rightBody := a.renderDetailBody(sel, rightW, headerStyle, mutedStyle)
+	rightBody := a.renderDetailBody(sel, rightW, mutedStyle)
 
 	// Apply detail scroll offset
-	rightBody = a.applyDetailScroll(rightBody, h-4) // card border (2) + title (1) + gap (1)
+	rightBody = a.applyDetailScroll(rightBody, h-sessDetailOverhead)
 
 	titleStr := "Session " + shortID(sel.SessionID)
 	rightCard := components.ContentCard(titleStr, rightBody, rightW)
@@ -248,11 +263,10 @@ func (a App) renderSessionDetail(sessions []model.SessionStats, cw, h int) strin
 	}
 	sel := sessions[cursor]
 
-	headerStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Accent).Bold(true)
-	mutedStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted)
+	mutedStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted).Background(t.Surface)
 
-	body := a.renderDetailBody(sel, cw, headerStyle, mutedStyle)
-	body = a.applyDetailScroll(body, h-4)
+	body := a.renderDetailBody(sel, cw, mutedStyle)
+	body = a.applyDetailScroll(body, h-sessDetailOverhead)
 
 	title := "Session " + shortID(sel.SessionID)
 	return components.ContentCard(title, body, cw)
@@ -260,21 +274,28 @@ func (a App) renderSessionDetail(sessions []model.SessionStats, cw, h int) strin
 
 // renderDetailBody generates the full detail content for a session.
 // Used by both the split right pane and the full-screen detail view.
-func (a App) renderDetailBody(sel model.SessionStats, w int, headerStyle, mutedStyle lipgloss.Style) string {
+func (a App) renderDetailBody(sel model.SessionStats, w int, mutedStyle lipgloss.Style) string {
 	t := theme.Active
 	innerW := components.CardInnerWidth(w)
 
-	labelStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted)
-	valueStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary)
-	greenStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Green)
+	// Rich color palette for different data types
+	labelStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted).Background(t.Surface)
+	valueStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary).Background(t.Surface)
+	tokenStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Cyan).Background(t.Surface)
+	costStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.GreenBright).Background(t.Surface)
+	savingsStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Green).Background(t.Surface).Bold(true)
+	timeStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Magenta).Background(t.Surface)
+	modelStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.BlueBright).Background(t.Surface)
+	accentStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.AccentBright).Background(t.Surface).Bold(true)
+	dimStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim).Background(t.Surface)
 
 	var body strings.Builder
-	body.WriteString(mutedStyle.Render(sel.Project))
+	body.WriteString(accentStyle.Render(sel.Project))
 	body.WriteString("\n")
-	body.WriteString(mutedStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("─", innerW)))
+	body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("─", innerW)))
 	body.WriteString("\n\n")
 
-	// Duration line
+	// Duration line with colored values
 	if !sel.StartTime.IsZero() {
 		durStr := cli.FormatDuration(sel.DurationSecs)
 		timeStr := sel.StartTime.Local().Format("15:04:05")
@@ -282,28 +303,42 @@ func (a App) renderDetailBody(sel model.SessionStats, w int, headerStyle, mutedS
 			timeStr += " - " + sel.EndTime.Local().Format("15:04:05")
 		}
 		timeStr += " " + sel.StartTime.Local().Format("MST")
-		fmt.Fprintf(&body, "%s %s (%s)\n",
-			labelStyle.Render("Duration:"),
-			valueStyle.Render(durStr),
-			mutedStyle.Render(timeStr))
+		body.WriteString(labelStyle.Render("Duration: "))
+		body.WriteString(timeStyle.Render(durStr))
+		body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(" ("))
+		body.WriteString(mutedStyle.Render(timeStr))
+		body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(")"))
+		body.WriteString("\n")
 	}
 
 	ratio := 0.0
 	if sel.UserMessages > 0 {
 		ratio = float64(sel.APICalls) / float64(sel.UserMessages)
 	}
-	fmt.Fprintf(&body, "%s %s    %s %s    %s %.1fx\n\n",
-		labelStyle.Render("Prompts:"), valueStyle.Render(cli.FormatNumber(int64(sel.UserMessages))),
-		labelStyle.Render("API Calls:"), valueStyle.Render(cli.FormatNumber(int64(sel.APICalls))),
-		labelStyle.Render("Ratio:"), ratio)
+	body.WriteString(labelStyle.Render("Prompts: "))
+	body.WriteString(valueStyle.Render(cli.FormatNumber(int64(sel.UserMessages))))
+	body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render("    "))
+	body.WriteString(labelStyle.Render("API Calls: "))
+	body.WriteString(tokenStyle.Render(cli.FormatNumber(int64(sel.APICalls))))
+	body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render("    "))
+	body.WriteString(labelStyle.Render("Ratio: "))
+	body.WriteString(accentStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%.1fx", ratio)))
+	body.WriteString("\n\n")
 
-	// Token breakdown table
-	body.WriteString(headerStyle.Render("TOKEN BREAKDOWN"))
+	// Token breakdown table with section header
+	sectionStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.AccentBright).Background(t.Surface).Bold(true)
+	tableHeaderStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Accent).Background(t.Surface)
+
+	body.WriteString(sectionStyle.Render("TOKEN BREAKDOWN"))
 	body.WriteString("\n")
 	typeW, tokW, costW, tableW := tokenTableLayout(innerW)
-	body.WriteString(headerStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %*s %*s", typeW, "Type", tokW, "Tokens", costW, "Cost")))
+	body.WriteString(tableHeaderStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s", typeW, "Type")))
+	body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(" "))
+	body.WriteString(tableHeaderStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%*s", tokW, "Tokens")))
+	body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(" "))
+	body.WriteString(tableHeaderStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%*s", costW, "Cost")))
 	body.WriteString("\n")
-	body.WriteString(mutedStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("─", tableW)))
+	body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("─", tableW)))
 	body.WriteString("\n")
 
 	// Calculate per-type costs (aggregate across models)
@@ -342,37 +377,35 @@ func (a App) renderDetailBody(sel model.SessionStats, w int, headerStyle, mutedS
 		if r.tokens == 0 {
 			continue
 		}
-		body.WriteString(valueStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %*s %*s",
-			typeW,
-			truncStr(r.typ, typeW),
-			tokW,
-			cli.FormatTokens(r.tokens),
-			costW,
-			cli.FormatCost(r.cost))))
+		body.WriteString(labelStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s", typeW, truncStr(r.typ, typeW))))
+		body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(" "))
+		body.WriteString(tokenStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%*s", tokW, cli.FormatTokens(r.tokens))))
+		body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(" "))
+		body.WriteString(costStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%*s", costW, cli.FormatCost(r.cost))))
 		body.WriteString("\n")
 	}
 
-	body.WriteString(mutedStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("─", tableW)))
+	body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("─", tableW)))
+	body.WriteString("\n")
+	// Net Cost row - highlighted
+	body.WriteString(accentStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s", typeW, "Net Cost")))
+	body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(" "))
+	body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%*s", tokW, "")))
+	body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(" "))
+	body.WriteString(savingsStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%*s", costW, cli.FormatCost(sel.EstimatedCost))))
+	body.WriteString("\n")
+	// Cache Savings row
+	body.WriteString(labelStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s", typeW, "Cache Savings")))
+	body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(" "))
+	body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%*s", tokW, "")))
+	body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(" "))
+	body.WriteString(savingsStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%*s", costW, cli.FormatCost(savings))))
 	body.WriteString("\n")
-	fmt.Fprintf(&body, "%-*s %*s %*s\n",
-		typeW,
-		valueStyle.Render("Net Cost"),
-		tokW,
-		"",
-		costW,
-		greenStyle.Render(cli.FormatCost(sel.EstimatedCost)))
-	fmt.Fprintf(&body, "%-*s %*s %*s\n",
-		typeW,
-		labelStyle.Render("Cache Savings"),
-		tokW,
-		"",
-		costW,
-		greenStyle.Render(cli.FormatCost(savings)))
 
-	// Model breakdown
+	// Model breakdown with colored data
 	if len(sel.Models) > 0 {
 		body.WriteString("\n")
-		body.WriteString(headerStyle.Render("API CALLS BY MODEL"))
+		body.WriteString(sectionStyle.Render("API CALLS BY MODEL"))
 		body.WriteString("\n")
 		compactModelTable := innerW < 60
 		if compactModelTable {
@@ -380,14 +413,14 @@ func (a App) renderDetailBody(sel model.SessionStats, w int, headerStyle, mutedS
 			if modelW < 8 {
 				modelW = 8
 			}
-			body.WriteString(headerStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %7s %8s", modelW, "Model", "Calls", "Cost")))
+			body.WriteString(tableHeaderStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %7s %8s", modelW, "Model", "Calls", "Cost")))
 			body.WriteString("\n")
-			body.WriteString(mutedStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("─", modelW+7+8+2)))
+			body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("─", modelW+7+8+2)))
 		} else {
 			modelW := 14
-			body.WriteString(headerStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %7s %10s %10s %8s", modelW, "Model", "Calls", "Input", "Output", "Cost")))
+			body.WriteString(tableHeaderStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %7s %10s %10s %8s", modelW, "Model", "Calls", "Input", "Output", "Cost")))
 			body.WriteString("\n")
-			body.WriteString(mutedStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("─", modelW+7+10+10+8+4)))
+			body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("─", modelW+7+10+10+8+4)))
 		}
 		body.WriteString("\n")
 
@@ -405,20 +438,22 @@ func (a App) renderDetailBody(sel model.SessionStats, w int, headerStyle, mutedS
 				if modelW < 8 {
 					modelW = 8
 				}
-				body.WriteString(valueStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %7s %8s",
-					modelW,
-					truncStr(shortModel(modelName), modelW),
-					cli.FormatNumber(int64(mu.APICalls)),
-					cli.FormatCost(mu.EstimatedCost))))
+				body.WriteString(modelStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s", modelW, truncStr(shortModel(modelName), modelW))))
+				body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(" "))
+				body.WriteString(valueStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%7s", cli.FormatNumber(int64(mu.APICalls)))))
+				body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(" "))
+				body.WriteString(costStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%8s", cli.FormatCost(mu.EstimatedCost))))
 			} else {
 				modelW := 14
-				body.WriteString(valueStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %7s %10s %10s %8s",
-					modelW,
-					truncStr(shortModel(modelName), modelW),
-					cli.FormatNumber(int64(mu.APICalls)),
-					cli.FormatTokens(mu.InputTokens),
-					cli.FormatTokens(mu.OutputTokens),
-					cli.FormatCost(mu.EstimatedCost))))
+				body.WriteString(modelStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s", modelW, truncStr(shortModel(modelName), modelW))))
+				body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(" "))
+				body.WriteString(valueStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%7s", cli.FormatNumber(int64(mu.APICalls)))))
+				body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(" "))
+				body.WriteString(tokenStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%10s", cli.FormatTokens(mu.InputTokens))))
+				body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(" "))
+				body.WriteString(tokenStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%10s", cli.FormatTokens(mu.OutputTokens))))
+				body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(" "))
+				body.WriteString(costStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%8s", cli.FormatCost(mu.EstimatedCost))))
 			}
 			body.WriteString("\n")
 		}
@@ -426,23 +461,23 @@ func (a App) renderDetailBody(sel model.SessionStats, w int, headerStyle, mutedS
 
 	if sel.IsSubagent {
 		body.WriteString("\n")
-		body.WriteString(mutedStyle.Render("(subagent session)"))
+		body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render("(subagent session)"))
 		body.WriteString("\n")
 	}
 
-	// Subagent drill-down
+	// Subagent drill-down with colors
 	if subs := a.subagentMap[sel.SessionID]; len(subs) > 0 {
 		body.WriteString("\n")
-		body.WriteString(headerStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("SUBAGENTS (%d)", len(subs))))
+		body.WriteString(sectionStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("SUBAGENTS (%d)", len(subs))))
 		body.WriteString("\n")
 
 		nameW := innerW - 8 - 10 - 2
 		if nameW < 10 {
 			nameW = 10
 		}
-		body.WriteString(headerStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %8s %10s", nameW, "Agent", "Duration", "Cost")))
+		body.WriteString(tableHeaderStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %8s %10s", nameW, "Agent", "Duration", "Cost")))
 		body.WriteString("\n")
-		body.WriteString(mutedStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("─", nameW+8+10+2)))
+		body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("─", nameW+8+10+2)))
 		body.WriteString("\n")
 
 		var totalSubCost float64
@@ -455,31 +490,41 @@ func (a App) renderDetailBody(sel model.SessionStats, w int, headerStyle, mutedS
 			}
 			agentName = strings.TrimPrefix(agentName, "agent-")
 
-			body.WriteString(valueStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %8s %10s",
-				nameW,
-				truncStr(agentName, nameW),
-				cli.FormatDuration(sub.DurationSecs),
-				cli.FormatCost(sub.EstimatedCost))))
+			body.WriteString(modelStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s", nameW, truncStr(agentName, nameW))))
+			body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(" "))
+			body.WriteString(timeStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%8s", cli.FormatDuration(sub.DurationSecs))))
+			body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(" "))
+			body.WriteString(costStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%10s", cli.FormatCost(sub.EstimatedCost))))
 			body.WriteString("\n")
 			totalSubCost += sub.EstimatedCost
 			totalSubDur += sub.DurationSecs
 		}
 
-		body.WriteString(mutedStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("─", nameW+8+10+2)))
+		body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(strings.Repeat("─", nameW+8+10+2)))
 		body.WriteString("\n")
-		body.WriteString(valueStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s %8s %10s",
-			nameW,
-			"Combined",
-			cli.FormatDuration(totalSubDur),
-			cli.FormatCost(totalSubCost))))
+		body.WriteString(accentStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-*s", nameW, "Combined")))
+		body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(" "))
+		body.WriteString(timeStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%8s", cli.FormatDuration(totalSubDur))))
+		body.WriteString(dimStyle.Render(" "))
+		body.WriteString(savingsStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%10s", cli.FormatCost(totalSubCost))))
 		body.WriteString("\n")
 	}
 
+	// Footer hints with styled keys
 	body.WriteString("\n")
+	hintKeyStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Accent).Background(t.Surface)
+	hintTextStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextDim).Background(t.Surface)
 	if w < compactWidth {
-		body.WriteString(mutedStyle.Render("[/] search  [j/k] navigate  [J/K] scroll  [q] quit"))
+		body.WriteString(hintTextStyle.Render("[") + hintKeyStyle.Render("/") + hintTextStyle.Render("] search  [") +
+			hintKeyStyle.Render("j/k") + hintTextStyle.Render("] navigate  [") +
+			hintKeyStyle.Render("J/K") + hintTextStyle.Render("] scroll  [") +
+			hintKeyStyle.Render("q") + hintTextStyle.Render("] quit"))
 	} else {
-		body.WriteString(mutedStyle.Render("[/] search  [Enter] expand  [j/k] navigate  [J/K/^d/^u] scroll  [q] quit"))
+		body.WriteString(hintTextStyle.Render("[") + hintKeyStyle.Render("/") + hintTextStyle.Render("] search  [") +
+			hintKeyStyle.Render("Enter") + hintTextStyle.Render("] expand  [") +
+			hintKeyStyle.Render("j/k") + hintTextStyle.Render("] navigate  [") +
+			hintKeyStyle.Render("J/K/^d/^u") + hintTextStyle.Render("] scroll  [") +
+			hintKeyStyle.Render("q") + hintTextStyle.Render("] quit"))
 	}
 
 	return body.String()
@@ -495,8 +540,8 @@ func shortID(id string) string {
 // applyDetailScroll applies the detail pane scroll offset to a rendered body string.
 // visibleH is the number of lines that fit in the card body area.
 func (a App) applyDetailScroll(body string, visibleH int) string {
-	if visibleH < 5 {
-		visibleH = 5
+	if visibleH < sessMinVisible {
+		visibleH = sessMinVisible
 	}
 
 	lines := strings.Split(body, "\n")
@@ -526,7 +571,7 @@ func (a App) applyDetailScroll(body string, visibleH int) string {
 	// Count includes the line we're replacing + lines past the viewport.
 	if endIdx < len(lines) {
 		unseen := len(lines) - endIdx + 1
-		dimStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(theme.Active.TextDim)
+		dimStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(theme.Active.TextDim).Background(theme.Active.Surface)
 		visible[len(visible)-1] = dimStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("... %d more", unseen))
 	}
 

internal/tui/tab_settings.go

@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ func newSettingsInput() textinput.Model {
 }
 
 func (a App) settingsStartEdit() (tea.Model, tea.Cmd) {
-	cfg, _ := config.Load()
+	cfg := loadConfigOrDefault()
 	a.settings.editing = true
 	a.settings.saved = false
 
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ func (a App) updateSettingsInput(msg tea.KeyMsg) (tea.Model, tea.Cmd) {
 }
 
 func (a *App) settingsSave() {
-	cfg, _ := config.Load()
+	cfg := loadConfigOrDefault()
 	val := strings.TrimSpace(a.settings.input.Value())
 
 	switch a.settings.cursor {
@@ -176,13 +176,15 @@ func (a *App) settingsSave() {
 
 func (a App) renderSettingsTab(cw int) string {
 	t := theme.Active
-	cfg, _ := config.Load()
+	cfg := loadConfigOrDefault()
 
-	labelStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted)
-	valueStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary)
-	selectedStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary).Background(t.Surface).Bold(true)
-	accentStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Accent)
-	greenStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Green)
+	labelStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextMuted).Background(t.Surface)
+	valueStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary).Background(t.Surface)
+	selectedStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.TextPrimary).Background(t.SurfaceBright).Bold(true)
+	selectedLabelStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Accent).Background(t.SurfaceBright).Bold(true)
+	accentStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.AccentBright).Background(t.Surface)
+	greenStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.GreenBright).Background(t.Surface)
+	markerStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.AccentBright).Background(t.SurfaceBright)
 
 	type field struct {
 		label string
@@ -235,23 +237,39 @@ func (a App) renderSettingsTab(cw int) string {
 	for i, f := range fields {
 		// Show text input if currently editing this field
 		if a.settings.editing && i == a.settings.cursor {
-			formBody.WriteString(accentStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("> %-18s ", f.label)))
+			formBody.WriteString(markerStyle.Render("▸ "))
+			formBody.WriteString(accentStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-18s ", f.label)))
 			formBody.WriteString(a.settings.input.View())
 			formBody.WriteString("\n")
 			continue
 		}
 
-		line := fmt.Sprintf("%-20s %s", f.label+":", f.value)
 		if i == a.settings.cursor {
-			formBody.WriteString(selectedStyle.Render(line))
+			// Selected row with marker and highlight
+			marker := markerStyle.Render("▸ ")
+			label := selectedLabelStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-18s ", f.label+":"))
+			value := selectedStyle.Render(f.value)
+			formBody.WriteString(marker)
+			formBody.WriteString(label)
+			formBody.WriteString(value)
+			// Use lipgloss.Width() for correct visual width calculation
+			usedWidth := lipgloss.Width(marker) + lipgloss.Width(label) + lipgloss.Width(value)
+			innerW := components.CardInnerWidth(cw)
+			padLen := innerW - usedWidth
+			if padLen > 0 {
+				formBody.WriteString(lipgloss.NewStyle().Background(t.SurfaceBright).Render(strings.Repeat(" ", padLen)))
+			}
 		} else {
-			formBody.WriteString(labelStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-20s ", f.label+":")) + valueStyle.Render(f.value))
+			// Normal row
+			formBody.WriteString(lipgloss.NewStyle().Background(t.Surface).Render("  "))
+			formBody.WriteString(labelStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("%-18s ", f.label+":")))
+			formBody.WriteString(valueStyle.Render(f.value))
 		}
 		formBody.WriteString("\n")
 	}
 
 	if a.settings.saveErr != nil {
-		warnStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Orange)
+		warnStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.Orange).Background(t.Surface)
 		formBody.WriteString("\n")
 		formBody.WriteString(warnStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("Save failed: %s", a.settings.saveErr)))
 	} else if a.settings.saved {

internal/tui/theme/theme.go

@@ -6,89 +6,139 @@ import "github.com/charmbracelet/lipgloss"
 // Theme defines the color roles used throughout the TUI.
 type Theme struct {
 	Name          string
-	Background  lipgloss.Color
-	Surface     lipgloss.Color
-	Border      lipgloss.Color
-	TextDim     lipgloss.Color
-	TextMuted   lipgloss.Color
-	TextPrimary lipgloss.Color
-	Accent      lipgloss.Color
+	Background    lipgloss.Color // Main app background
+	Surface       lipgloss.Color // Card/panel backgrounds
+	SurfaceHover  lipgloss.Color // Highlighted surface (active tab, selected row)
+	SurfaceBright lipgloss.Color // Extra bright surface for emphasis
+	Border        lipgloss.Color // Subtle borders
+	BorderBright  lipgloss.Color // Prominent borders (cards, focus)
+	BorderAccent  lipgloss.Color // Accent-colored borders for focus states
+	TextDim       lipgloss.Color // Lowest contrast text (hints, disabled)
+	TextMuted     lipgloss.Color // Secondary text (labels, metadata)
+	TextPrimary   lipgloss.Color // Primary content text
+	Accent        lipgloss.Color // Primary accent (links, active states)
+	AccentBright  lipgloss.Color // Brighter accent for emphasis
+	AccentDim     lipgloss.Color // Dimmed accent for backgrounds
 	Green         lipgloss.Color
+	GreenBright   lipgloss.Color
 	Orange        lipgloss.Color
 	Red           lipgloss.Color
 	Blue          lipgloss.Color
+	BlueBright    lipgloss.Color
 	Yellow        lipgloss.Color
+	Magenta       lipgloss.Color
+	Cyan          lipgloss.Color
 }
 
 // Active is the currently selected theme.
 var Active = FlexokiDark
 
-// FlexokiDark is the default theme.
+// FlexokiDark is the default theme - warm, paper-inspired dark theme.
 var FlexokiDark = Theme{
 	Name:          "flexoki-dark",
 	Background:    lipgloss.Color("#100F0F"),
 	Surface:       lipgloss.Color("#1C1B1A"),
-	Border:      lipgloss.Color("#282726"),
+	SurfaceHover:  lipgloss.Color("#282726"),
+	SurfaceBright: lipgloss.Color("#343331"),
+	Border:        lipgloss.Color("#403E3C"),
+	BorderBright:  lipgloss.Color("#575653"),
+	BorderAccent:  lipgloss.Color("#3AA99F"),
 	TextDim:       lipgloss.Color("#575653"),
-	TextMuted:   lipgloss.Color("#6F6E69"),
+	TextMuted:     lipgloss.Color("#878580"),
 	TextPrimary:   lipgloss.Color("#FFFCF0"),
 	Accent:        lipgloss.Color("#3AA99F"),
+	AccentBright:  lipgloss.Color("#5BC8BE"),
+	AccentDim:     lipgloss.Color("#1A3533"),
 	Green:         lipgloss.Color("#879A39"),
+	GreenBright:   lipgloss.Color("#A3B859"),
 	Orange:        lipgloss.Color("#DA702C"),
 	Red:           lipgloss.Color("#D14D41"),
 	Blue:          lipgloss.Color("#4385BE"),
+	BlueBright:    lipgloss.Color("#6BA3D6"),
 	Yellow:        lipgloss.Color("#D0A215"),
+	Magenta:       lipgloss.Color("#CE5D97"),
+	Cyan:          lipgloss.Color("#24837B"),
 }
 
-// CatppuccinMocha is a warm pastel theme.
+// CatppuccinMocha is a warm pastel theme with soft, soothing colors.
 var CatppuccinMocha = Theme{
 	Name:          "catppuccin-mocha",
 	Background:    lipgloss.Color("#1E1E2E"),
 	Surface:       lipgloss.Color("#313244"),
-	Border:      lipgloss.Color("#45475A"),
+	SurfaceHover:  lipgloss.Color("#45475A"),
+	SurfaceBright: lipgloss.Color("#585B70"),
+	Border:        lipgloss.Color("#585B70"),
+	BorderBright:  lipgloss.Color("#7F849C"),
+	BorderAccent:  lipgloss.Color("#89B4FA"),
 	TextDim:       lipgloss.Color("#6C7086"),
 	TextMuted:     lipgloss.Color("#A6ADC8"),
 	TextPrimary:   lipgloss.Color("#CDD6F4"),
 	Accent:        lipgloss.Color("#89B4FA"),
+	AccentBright:  lipgloss.Color("#B4D0FB"),
+	AccentDim:     lipgloss.Color("#293147"),
 	Green:         lipgloss.Color("#A6E3A1"),
+	GreenBright:   lipgloss.Color("#C6F6C1"),
 	Orange:        lipgloss.Color("#FAB387"),
 	Red:           lipgloss.Color("#F38BA8"),
 	Blue:          lipgloss.Color("#89B4FA"),
+	BlueBright:    lipgloss.Color("#B4D0FB"),
 	Yellow:        lipgloss.Color("#F9E2AF"),
+	Magenta:       lipgloss.Color("#F5C2E7"),
+	Cyan:          lipgloss.Color("#94E2D5"),
 }
 
-// TokyoNight is a cool blue/purple theme.
+// TokyoNight is a cool blue/purple theme inspired by Tokyo city lights.
 var TokyoNight = Theme{
 	Name:          "tokyo-night",
 	Background:    lipgloss.Color("#1A1B26"),
 	Surface:       lipgloss.Color("#24283B"),
-	Border:      lipgloss.Color("#414868"),
+	SurfaceHover:  lipgloss.Color("#343A52"),
+	SurfaceBright: lipgloss.Color("#414868"),
+	Border:        lipgloss.Color("#565F89"),
+	BorderBright:  lipgloss.Color("#7982A9"),
+	BorderAccent:  lipgloss.Color("#7AA2F7"),
 	TextDim:       lipgloss.Color("#565F89"),
 	TextMuted:     lipgloss.Color("#A9B1D6"),
 	TextPrimary:   lipgloss.Color("#C0CAF5"),
 	Accent:        lipgloss.Color("#7AA2F7"),
+	AccentBright:  lipgloss.Color("#A9C1FF"),
+	AccentDim:     lipgloss.Color("#252B3F"),
 	Green:         lipgloss.Color("#9ECE6A"),
+	GreenBright:   lipgloss.Color("#B9E87A"),
 	Orange:        lipgloss.Color("#FF9E64"),
 	Red:           lipgloss.Color("#F7768E"),
 	Blue:          lipgloss.Color("#7AA2F7"),
+	BlueBright:    lipgloss.Color("#A9C1FF"),
 	Yellow:        lipgloss.Color("#E0AF68"),
+	Magenta:       lipgloss.Color("#BB9AF7"),
+	Cyan:          lipgloss.Color("#7DCFFF"),
 }
 
-// Terminal uses ANSI 16 colors only.
+// Terminal uses ANSI 16 colors only - maximum compatibility.
 var Terminal = Theme{
 	Name:          "terminal",
 	Background:    lipgloss.Color("0"),
 	Surface:       lipgloss.Color("0"),
+	SurfaceHover:  lipgloss.Color("8"),
+	SurfaceBright: lipgloss.Color("8"),
 	Border:        lipgloss.Color("8"),
+	BorderBright:  lipgloss.Color("7"),
+	BorderAccent:  lipgloss.Color("6"),
 	TextDim:       lipgloss.Color("8"),
 	TextMuted:     lipgloss.Color("7"),
 	TextPrimary:   lipgloss.Color("15"),
 	Accent:        lipgloss.Color("6"),
+	AccentBright:  lipgloss.Color("14"),
+	AccentDim:     lipgloss.Color("0"),
 	Green:         lipgloss.Color("2"),
+	GreenBright:   lipgloss.Color("10"),
 	Orange:        lipgloss.Color("3"),
 	Red:           lipgloss.Color("1"),
 	Blue:          lipgloss.Color("4"),
+	BlueBright:    lipgloss.Color("12"),
 	Yellow:        lipgloss.Color("3"),
+	Magenta:       lipgloss.Color("5"),
+	Cyan:          lipgloss.Color("6"),
 }
 
 // All available themes.