diff --git a/bin/omarchy-menu-images b/bin/omarchy-menu-images
index fe5aa14a..11862d2c 100755
--- a/bin/omarchy-menu-images
+++ b/bin/omarchy-menu-images
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # omarchy:summary=Open a generic image selector menu
-# omarchy:args=[--selected <image>] [--colors-file <path>] [--print-name] [--show-labels] [--filterable] [--lazy-thumbnails] [--cache-only] <image-dir>...
+# omarchy:args=[--selected <image>] [--print-name] [--show-labels] [--filterable] [--lazy-thumbnails] [--cache-only] <image-dir>...
 
 OMARCHY_PATH=${OMARCHY_PATH:-$HOME/.local/share/omarchy}
 
 selected_image=""
-colors_file=""
 print_name=false
 show_labels=false
 filterable=false
@@ -16,7 +15,7 @@ cache_only=false
 image_dirs=()
 
 usage() {
-  echo "Usage: omarchy-menu-images [--selected <image>] [--colors-file <path>] [--print-name] [--show-labels] [--filterable] [--lazy-thumbnails] [--cache-only] <image-dir>..."
+  echo "Usage: omarchy-menu-images [--selected <image>] [--print-name] [--show-labels] [--filterable] [--lazy-thumbnails] [--cache-only] <image-dir>..."
 }
 
 while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
@@ -30,15 +29,6 @@ while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
       selected_image="$2"
       shift 2
       ;;
-    --colors-file)
-      if (( $# < 2 )); then
-        usage >&2
-        exit 1
-      fi
-
-      colors_file="$2"
-      shift 2
-      ;;
     --print-name)
       print_name=true
       shift
@@ -212,22 +202,14 @@ else
   fi
 fi
 
-colors_file=${colors_file:-$HOME/.config/omarchy/current/theme/image-picker-colors.json}
-colors_payload=""
-
-if [[ -f $colors_file ]]; then
-  colors_payload=$(<"$colors_file")
-fi
-
 if [[ $cache_only == true || $prepare_only == true ]]; then
   exit 0
 fi
 
-# Image rows and the raw colors blob can contain newlines and tabs, which
-# don't survive a positional bash argv into `quickshell ipc call`. Base64
-# them; the ImagePicker plugin Qt.atob()s on the other side.
+# Image rows can contain newlines and tabs, which don't survive a positional
+# bash argv into `quickshell ipc call`. Base64-encode for transit; the
+# ImagePicker plugin Qt.atob()s on the other side.
 rows_b64=$(printf '%s' "$rows" | base64 -w 0)
-colors_b64=$(printf '%s' "$colors_payload" | base64 -w 0)
 
 if ! omarchy-shell-ipc image-selector open \
      "" \
@@ -235,8 +217,6 @@ if ! omarchy-shell-ipc image-selector open \
      "$selected_list_image" \
      "$selection_file" \
      "$done_file" \
-     "" \
-     "$colors_b64" \
      "$show_labels" \
      "$filterable" >/dev/null; then
   echo "Image selector failed to accept request" >&2
diff --git a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/Commons/Color.qml b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/Commons/Color.qml
index fc3d35ec..a812eef6 100644
--- a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/Commons/Color.qml
+++ b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/Commons/Color.qml
@@ -3,27 +3,63 @@ import QtQuick
 import Quickshell
 import Quickshell.Io
 
-// Noctalia compat shim. Plugins import `qs.Commons` and reach for these
-// palette tokens / helpers. Values stream from the Omarchy theme file; the
-// shell wires this singleton up at startup via setHostBar()/setHostShell().
-//
-// We don't try to replicate Noctalia's full Material You resolver — for the
-// fields plugins actually read, a flat token table is enough.
+// Single source of truth for shell color surfaces. Top-level tokens
+// (foreground/background/accent/urgent) come from the theme's colors.toml.
+// Per-surface roles (Color.bar.*, Color.popups.*, Color.notifications.*,
+// Color.menu.*, Color.imagePicker.*) come from shell.toml, which is generated
+// per theme from default/themed/shell.toml.tpl (or shipped directly by a
+// theme to override). Surfaces that don't appear in shell.toml fall back to
+// the foundational palette, so themes can ship partial overrides.
 QtObject {
   id: root
 
-  // Live updated from theme/colors.toml via the FileView below.
+  // Foundational palette. Live updated from theme/colors.toml.
   property color foreground: "#cacccc"
   property color background: "#101315"
   property color accent: "#cacccc"
   property color urgent: "#a55555"
-  // The theme's Hyprland active border color (`$activeBorderColor` in the
-  // theme's hyprland.conf). Most themes set this to the accent; some themes
-  // (e.g. aether, oodle) override it to a neutral. Streamed from the theme
-  // file alongside colors.toml so notification surfaces stay in sync.
-  property color border: accent
 
-  // Noctalia palette tokens. We map them onto our theme colors.
+  // Flat dictionary of "section.key" -> "#rrggbb" parsed from shell.toml.
+  // Reassigning this whole property is what makes surface bindings below
+  // re-evaluate when the theme swaps; mutating it in place would not.
+  property var shellValues: ({})
+
+  function pick(key, fallback) {
+    var v = shellValues[key]
+    return (typeof v === "string" && v.length > 0) ? v : fallback
+  }
+
+  // Surface roles. Each property reads its shell.toml override if set,
+  // otherwise falls back to a foundational palette token.
+  readonly property QtObject bar: QtObject {
+    property color background: root.pick("bar.background", root.background)
+    property color text: root.pick("bar.text", root.foreground)
+    property color active: root.pick("bar.active", root.urgent)
+  }
+  readonly property QtObject popups: QtObject {
+    property color background: root.pick("popups.background", root.background)
+    property color border: root.pick("popups.border", root.foreground)
+  }
+  readonly property QtObject notifications: QtObject {
+    property color background: root.pick("notifications.background", root.background)
+    property color text: root.pick("notifications.text", root.foreground)
+    property color border: root.pick("notifications.border", root.accent)
+    property color countdown: root.pick("notifications.countdown", root.accent)
+  }
+  readonly property QtObject menu: QtObject {
+    property color background: root.pick("menu.background", root.background)
+    property color text: root.pick("menu.text", root.foreground)
+    property color selected: root.pick("menu.selected", root.accent)
+  }
+  readonly property QtObject imagePicker: QtObject {
+    property color background: root.pick("image-picker.background", root.background)
+    property color text: root.pick("image-picker.text", root.foreground)
+    property color selectedBorder: root.pick("image-picker.selected-border", root.accent)
+    property color unselectedBorder: root.pick("image-picker.unselected-border", root.foreground)
+  }
+
+  // Noctalia palette tokens used by the compat widgets. Mapped onto the
+  // foundational palette; not exposed in shell.toml.
   readonly property color mPrimary: accent
   readonly property color mSecondary: Qt.darker(accent, 1.2)
   readonly property color mTertiary: Qt.lighter(accent, 1.3)
@@ -89,12 +125,10 @@ QtObject {
       case "urgent":
       case "red": return urgent
     }
-    // Anything else, treat as a literal CSS color string (the QML color type
-    // does this conversion implicitly when assigned).
     return Qt.color(k)
   }
 
-  function loadTheme(raw) {
+  function loadColors(raw) {
     var lines = String(raw || "").split("\n")
     var foundAccent = false
     var color4Value = ""
@@ -114,39 +148,52 @@ QtObject {
     if (!foundAccent && color4Value.length > 0) accent = color4Value
   }
 
-  // Parse `$activeBorderColor = rgb(XXXXXX)` from the theme's hyprland.conf.
-  function loadHyprlandTheme(raw) {
-    var match = String(raw || "").match(/\$activeBorderColor\s*=\s*rgba?\(([0-9A-Fa-f]{6,8})\)/)
-    if (!match) { border = accent; return }
-    var hex = match[1]
-    // Hyprland rgba() is RRGGBBAA; strip the AA suffix and use RGB.
-    if (hex.length === 8) hex = hex.substring(0, 6)
-    border = "#" + hex
+  // Walk shell.toml line-by-line. We only need string values for color keys,
+  // and the file is small, so no proper TOML parser. Accepts double- or
+  // single-quoted values and tolerates trailing inline comments.
+  function loadShell(raw) {
+    var parsed = {}
+    var text = String(raw || "")
+    if (text) {
+      var lines = text.split("\n")
+      var section = ""
+      for (var i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) {
+        var line = lines[i].replace(/^\s+|\s+$/g, "")
+        if (!line || line.charAt(0) === "#") continue
+        var sectionMatch = line.match(/^\[([A-Za-z0-9_-]+)\]\s*(#.*)?$/)
+        if (sectionMatch) { section = sectionMatch[1]; continue }
+        var kv = line.match(/^([A-Za-z0-9_-]+)\s*=\s*["']([^"']+)["']\s*(#.*)?$/)
+        if (!kv || !section) continue
+        parsed[section + "." + kv[1]] = kv[2]
+      }
+    }
+    shellValues = parsed
   }
 
   // `omarchy-theme-set` recreates the theme/ directory via rm+mv, which kills
   // the inotify watch on colors.toml. Use theme.name (overwritten in place) as
   // a tripwire that forces a fresh reload after each swap.
-  property FileView themeFile: FileView {
-    id: themeColorsFile
+  property FileView colorsFile: FileView {
+    id: colorsFile
     path: Quickshell.env("HOME") + "/.config/omarchy/current/theme/colors.toml"
     watchChanges: true
     printErrors: false
-    onLoaded: root.loadTheme(text())
+    onLoaded: root.loadColors(text())
+    onFileChanged: reload()
+  }
+  property FileView shellFile: FileView {
+    id: shellFile
+    path: Quickshell.env("HOME") + "/.config/omarchy/current/theme/shell.toml"
+    watchChanges: true
+    printErrors: false
+    onLoaded: root.loadShell(text())
+    onLoadFailed: root.loadShell("")
     onFileChanged: reload()
   }
   property FileView themeNameFile: FileView {
     path: Quickshell.env("HOME") + "/.config/omarchy/current/theme.name"
     watchChanges: true
     printErrors: false
-    onFileChanged: { themeColorsFile.reload(); themeHyprlandFile.reload() }
-  }
-  property FileView themeHyprlandFile: FileView {
-    id: themeHyprlandFile
-    path: Quickshell.env("HOME") + "/.config/omarchy/current/theme/hyprland.conf"
-    watchChanges: true
-    printErrors: false
-    onLoaded: root.loadHyprlandTheme(text())
-    onFileChanged: reload()
+    onFileChanged: { colorsFile.reload(); shellFile.reload() }
   }
 }
diff --git a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/README.md b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/README.md
index c4d235be..0184f91e 100644
--- a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/README.md
+++ b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/README.md
@@ -47,12 +47,13 @@ Two ways to drive it:
 
 - Shell-level summon: `omarchy-shell-ipc shell summon omarchy.image-picker '<jsonPayload>'`.
   The payload can carry `imageDirs`, `imageRows`, `selectedImage`,
-  `selectionFile`, `doneFile`, `colorsFile`, `colorsRaw`, `showLabels`,
-  `filterable`. Best for in-shell callers that already speak JSON.
-- Direct IPC target: `omarchy-shell-ipc image-selector open <imageDirs> <imageRowsB64> <selectedImage> <selectionFile> <doneFile> <colorsFile> <colorsRawB64> <showLabels> <filterable>`.
-  Positional args; `imageRowsB64` and `colorsRawB64` are base64-encoded so
-  embedded newlines / tabs survive the bash argv handoff. This is what
-  `omarchy-menu-images` uses.
+  `selectionFile`, `doneFile`, `showLabels`, `filterable`. Best for
+  in-shell callers that already speak JSON.
+- Direct IPC target: `omarchy-shell-ipc image-selector open <imageDirs> <imageRowsB64> <selectedImage> <selectionFile> <doneFile> <showLabels> <filterable>`.
+  Positional args; `imageRowsB64` is base64-encoded so embedded newlines /
+  tabs survive the bash argv handoff. This is what `omarchy-menu-images`
+  uses. Colors come from the central shell theme singleton; there is no
+  per-call override surface.
 
 The selection round-trip remains file-based: callers create a
 `selection_file` and `done_file` (both `mktemp`), pass the paths, and
diff --git a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/bar/Bar.qml b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/bar/Bar.qml
index 867fd112..23d6c4ff 100644
--- a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/bar/Bar.qml
+++ b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/bar/Bar.qml
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import Quickshell.Wayland
 import Quickshell.Widgets
 import QtQuick
 import QtQuick.Layouts
+import qs.Commons
 import "common" as BarCommon
 
 Item {
@@ -49,9 +50,11 @@ Item {
   // "monospace" resolves through fontconfig at paint time, so changing the
   // system font (via `omarchy-font-set`) updates the bar without a reload.
   property string fontFamily: "monospace"
-  property color foreground: "#cacccc"
-  property color background: "#101315"
-  property color urgent: "#a55555"
+  // Bound to the central Color singleton so the bar tracks shell.toml's
+  // [bar] section. Property names kept for the rest of this file's bindings.
+  property color foreground: Color.bar.text
+  property color background: Color.bar.background
+  property color urgent: Color.bar.active
   property string weatherText: ""
   property string weatherClass: ""
   property bool updateAvailable: false
@@ -438,18 +441,6 @@ Item {
     }
   }
 
-  function loadTheme(raw) {
-    var lines = String(raw || "").split("\n")
-    for (var i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) {
-      var match = lines[i].match(/^\s*([A-Za-z0-9_-]+)\s*=\s*["']?(#[0-9A-Fa-f]{6})/)
-      if (!match) continue
-
-      if (match[1] === "foreground") foreground = match[2]
-      else if (match[1] === "background") background = match[2]
-      else if (match[1] === "red") urgent = match[2]
-    }
-  }
-
   function updateWeather(raw) {
     var data = parseModuleJson(raw)
     weatherText = data.text || ""
@@ -723,26 +714,6 @@ Item {
     onTriggered: root.tooltipShown = true
   }
 
-  // The host owns shell.json loading and injects `barConfig`. Bar still keeps
-  // its own theme FileView since theme colors are independent of shell.json.
-  // `omarchy-theme-set` recreates the entire theme/ directory via rm+mv, which
-  // invalidates the inotify watch on colors.toml. Use theme.name (overwritten
-  // in place) to force a fresh reload after each swap.
-  FileView {
-    id: themeColorsFile
-    path: root.home + "/.config/omarchy/current/theme/colors.toml"
-    watchChanges: true
-    printErrors: false
-    onLoaded: root.loadTheme(text())
-    onFileChanged: reload()
-  }
-  FileView {
-    path: root.home + "/.config/omarchy/current/theme.name"
-    watchChanges: true
-    printErrors: false
-    onFileChanged: themeColorsFile.reload()
-  }
-
   // Presence of the `bar-off` flag = bar hidden. Watching the parent toggles
   // directory because FileView can't observe a file that doesn't exist yet,
   // and the flag is created/removed by `omarchy-toggle-bar`.
diff --git a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/bar/common/PopupCard.qml b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/bar/common/PopupCard.qml
index de45bae4..1f6cd155 100644
--- a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/bar/common/PopupCard.qml
+++ b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/bar/common/PopupCard.qml
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import QtQuick
 import Quickshell
 import Quickshell.Hyprland
+import qs.Commons
 
 PopupWindow {
   id: root
@@ -89,8 +90,8 @@ PopupWindow {
   Rectangle {
     id: card
     anchors.fill: parent
-    color: root.bar ? root.bar.background : "#101315"
-    border.color: root.bar ? root.bar.foreground : "#cacccc"
+    color: Color.popups.background
+    border.color: Color.popups.border
     border.width: 1
     radius: 0
     opacity: root.open ? 1.0 : 0
diff --git a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/image-picker/ImagePicker.qml b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/image-picker/ImagePicker.qml
index 25f5b2cd..96054960 100644
--- a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/image-picker/ImagePicker.qml
+++ b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/image-picker/ImagePicker.qml
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import Quickshell.Wayland
 import QtQuick
 import QtQuick.Effects
 import QtQuick.Shapes
+import qs.Commons
 
 Item {
   id: root
@@ -22,7 +23,6 @@ Item {
   property string imageRows: ""
   property string selectionFile: Quickshell.env("OMARCHY_IMAGE_SELECTOR_SELECTION_FILE") || Quickshell.env("OMARCHY_BACKGROUND_SELECTION_FILE")
   property string selectedImage: Quickshell.env("OMARCHY_IMAGE_SELECTOR_SELECTED")
-  property string colorsFile: Quickshell.env("OMARCHY_IMAGE_SELECTOR_COLORS_FILE") || (Quickshell.env("HOME") + "/.config/omarchy/current/theme/image-picker-colors.json")
   property int selectedIndex: 0
   property bool imagesLoaded: false
   property bool opened: false
@@ -34,9 +34,11 @@ Item {
   property string doneFile: ""
   property string filterText: ""
   property var doneFilesToRelease: []
-  property color accent: "#798186"
-  property color background: "#101315"
-  property color foreground: "#cacccc"
+  // Bound to the central [image-picker] section in shell.toml via Color.qml.
+  property color background: Color.imagePicker.background
+  property color foreground: Color.imagePicker.text
+  property color selectedBorder: Color.imagePicker.selectedBorder
+  property color unselectedBorder: Color.imagePicker.unselectedBorder
   property int expandedWidth: 768
   property int expandedHeight: 475
   property int sliceWidth: 108
@@ -250,7 +252,7 @@ Item {
     carousel.forceActiveFocus()
   }
 
-  function openSelector(nextImageDirs, nextImageRows, nextSelectedImage, nextSelectionFile, nextDoneFile, nextColorsFile, nextColorsRaw, nextShowLabels, nextFilterable) {
+  function openSelector(nextImageDirs, nextImageRows, nextSelectedImage, nextSelectionFile, nextDoneFile, nextShowLabels, nextFilterable) {
     if (requestActive && doneFile && doneFile !== nextDoneFile)
       finishDoneFile(doneFile)
 
@@ -265,9 +267,6 @@ Item {
     showLabels = nextShowLabels === true || nextShowLabels === "true"
     filterable = nextFilterable === true || nextFilterable === "true"
     filterText = ""
-    colorsFile = nextColorsFile || (Quickshell.env("HOME") + "/.config/omarchy/current/theme/image-picker-colors.json")
-    if (nextColorsRaw)
-      loadColors(nextColorsRaw)
     imageArray = []
     selectedIndex = 0
     imagesLoaded = false
@@ -320,11 +319,9 @@ Item {
     var sel = String(args.selectedImage || selectedImage)
     var selFile = String(args.selectionFile || "")
     var doneF = String(args.doneFile || "")
-    var colors = String(args.colorsFile || colorsFile)
-    var colorsRaw = String(args.colorsRaw || "")
     var labels = args.showLabels === true || args.showLabels === "true"
     var filter = args.filterable === true || args.filterable === "true"
-    openSelector(dirs, rows, sel, selFile, doneF, colors, colorsRaw, labels, filter)
+    openSelector(dirs, rows, sel, selFile, doneF, labels, filter)
   }
 
   function close() {
@@ -332,9 +329,9 @@ Item {
   }
 
   // IPC surface. All arguments are strings (Quickshell IPC marshalling).
-  // imageRows and colorsRaw can contain newlines/tabs, so the CLI caller
-  // base64-encodes them; everything else passes through verbatim. The two
-  // boolean-like fields use the literal strings "true" or "false".
+  // imageRows can contain newlines/tabs, so the CLI caller base64-encodes
+  // it; everything else passes through verbatim. The two boolean-like
+  // fields use the literal strings "true" or "false".
   IpcHandler {
     target: "image-selector"
 
@@ -343,14 +340,11 @@ Item {
                   selectedImage: string,
                   selectionFile: string,
                   doneFile: string,
-                  colorsFile: string,
-                  colorsRawB64: string,
                   showLabels: string,
                   filterable: string): string {
       var rows = root.decodeBase64(imageRowsB64)
-      var colorsRaw = root.decodeBase64(colorsRawB64)
       root.openSelector(imageDirs, rows, selectedImage, selectionFile, doneFile,
-                        colorsFile, colorsRaw, showLabels, filterable)
+                        showLabels, filterable)
       return "ok"
     }
 
@@ -363,25 +357,6 @@ Item {
     }
   }
 
-  // Tolerate the file being absent (e.g. theme templates not yet re-rendered
-  // after the rename) without a startup warning.
-  FileView {
-    path: root.colorsFile
-    watchChanges: true
-    printErrors: false
-    onLoaded: root.loadColors(text())
-    onFileChanged: reload()
-  }
-
-  function loadColors(raw) {
-    try {
-      var colors = JSON.parse(raw || "{}")
-      root.accent = colors.primary || root.accent
-      root.background = colors.background || root.background
-      root.foreground = colors.backgroundText || root.foreground
-    } catch (e) {}
-  }
-
   Process {
     id: applyProc
     onExited: {
@@ -557,7 +532,7 @@ Item {
               preferredRendererType: Shape.CurveRenderer
               ShapePath {
                 fillColor: "transparent"
-                strokeColor: item.selected ? root.accent : root.withAlpha(root.foreground, 0.28)
+                strokeColor: item.selected ? root.selectedBorder : root.withAlpha(root.unselectedBorder, 0.28)
                 strokeWidth: item.selected ? 3 : 1
                 startX: item.topLeft; startY: 0
                 PathLine { x: item.topRight; y: 0 }
diff --git a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/menu/Menu.qml b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/menu/Menu.qml
index 2d374795..0fc4be28 100644
--- a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/menu/Menu.qml
+++ b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/menu/Menu.qml
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import Quickshell
 import Quickshell.Io
 import Quickshell.Wayland
 import QtQuick
+import qs.Commons
 
 Item {
   id: root
@@ -15,22 +16,13 @@ Item {
   // Plugin lifecycle hooks. The host calls open(payloadJson) after
   // `omarchy-shell-ipc shell summon omarchy.menu ...` and close() when hidden.
   property string pendingInitialMenu: "root"
-  property string pendingColorsRaw: ""
-
-  function decodeBase64(value) {
-    var s = String(value || "")
-    if (!s) return ""
-    try { return Qt.atob(s) } catch (e) { return s }
-  }
 
   function open(payloadJson) {
     var payload = ({})
     try { payload = JSON.parse(payloadJson || "{}") } catch (e) { payload = ({}) }
 
     root.pendingInitialMenu = payload.initialMenu || payload.menu || "root"
-    root.pendingColorsRaw = payload.colorsRawBase64 ? root.decodeBase64(payload.colorsRawBase64) : (payload.colorsRaw || "")
     if (payload.fontFamily) root.fontFamily = payload.fontFamily
-    if (root.pendingColorsRaw) root.loadColors(root.pendingColorsRaw)
 
     root.openExistingMenu(root.pendingInitialMenu)
   }
@@ -40,7 +32,6 @@ Item {
   }
 
   property string fontFamily: Quickshell.env("OMARCHY_MENU_FONT") || "monospace"
-  property string colorsFile: Quickshell.env("OMARCHY_MENU_COLORS_FILE") || (Quickshell.env("HOME") + "/.config/omarchy/current/theme/colors.toml")
   property string styleFile: Quickshell.env("OMARCHY_MENU_STYLE_FILE") || (Quickshell.env("HOME") + "/.local/state/omarchy/toggles/quickshell-menu.json")
   // JSONC menu definitions. The shell parses both at startup and merges
   // the user file on top of the defaults, so the keybind → IPC → visible
@@ -61,9 +52,10 @@ Item {
   property var navStack: []
   property var providersLoaded: ({})
   property var providerQueue: []
-  property color accent: "#89b4fa"
-  property color background: "#101315"
-  property color foreground: "#cacccc"
+  // Bound to the central [menu] section in shell.toml via Color.qml.
+  property color accent: Color.menu.selected
+  property color background: Color.menu.background
+  property color foreground: Color.menu.text
   property color border: foreground
   property int cornerRadius: 0
   property int contentMargin: 18
@@ -624,18 +616,6 @@ Item {
     Qt.callLater(function() { keyCatcher.forceActiveFocus() })
   }
 
-  function loadColors(raw) {
-    var lines = String(raw || "").split("\n")
-    for (var i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) {
-      var match = lines[i].match(/^\s*([A-Za-z0-9_-]+)\s*=\s*["']?(#[0-9A-Fa-f]{6})/)
-      if (!match) continue
-      if (match[1] === "foreground") foreground = match[2]
-      else if (match[1] === "background") background = match[2]
-      else if (match[1] === "color4" || match[1] === "accent") accent = match[2]
-    }
-    border = foreground
-  }
-
   function loadStyle(raw) {
     try {
       var style = JSON.parse(raw || "{}")
@@ -811,13 +791,6 @@ Item {
     }
   }
 
-  FileView {
-    path: root.colorsFile
-    watchChanges: true
-    onLoaded: root.loadColors(text())
-    onFileChanged: { reload(); root.loadColors(text()) }
-  }
-
   FileView {
     path: root.styleFile
     watchChanges: true
diff --git a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/notifications/Service.qml b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/notifications/Service.qml
index 90887dfd..70a005dd 100644
--- a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/notifications/Service.qml
+++ b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/notifications/Service.qml
@@ -33,17 +33,6 @@ Item {
   readonly property string cacheDir: home + "/.cache/omarchy/"
   readonly property string imageCacheDir: cacheDir + "notification-images/"
   readonly property string styleStatePath: home + "/.local/state/omarchy/toggles/quickshell-menu.json"
-  // Optional per-theme override file. Themes that want notification colors
-  // to diverge from the rest of the palette can ship this file. Schema:
-  //   {
-  //     "borderColor":     "#hex",
-  //     "backgroundColor": "#hex",
-  //     "textColor":       "#hex",
-  //     "countdownColor":  "#hex"   // progress bar at bottom of popup
-  //   }
-  // All keys optional; unset keys fall back to the live Color.* tokens.
-  readonly property string themeOverridePath: home + "/.config/omarchy/current/theme/notifications.json"
-  readonly property string themeNamePath: home + "/.config/omarchy/current/theme.name"
 
   // Corner radius is shared with omarchy-shell menu and settings panel —
   // `omarchy style corners <sharp|round>` writes this file once and every
@@ -78,57 +67,6 @@ Item {
     onFileChanged: reload()
   }
 
-  // ----------------------------------------------- per-theme color overrides
-
-  property string overrideBorder: ""
-  property string overrideBackground: ""
-  property string overrideText: ""
-  property string overrideCountdown: ""
-
-  // Match the compact mako-style layout, but keep colors live-bound to the
-  // current Omarchy theme unless a theme explicitly ships notifications.json.
-  readonly property color effectiveBorder: overrideBorder.length > 0 ? overrideBorder : Color.accent
-  readonly property color effectiveBackground: overrideBackground.length > 0 ? overrideBackground : Color.background
-  readonly property color effectiveText: overrideText.length > 0 ? overrideText : Color.foreground
-  readonly property color effectiveCountdown: overrideCountdown.length > 0 ? overrideCountdown : Color.accent
-
-  function loadThemeOverride(raw) {
-    try {
-      var parsed = JSON.parse(raw || "{}")
-      overrideBorder = typeof parsed.borderColor === "string" ? parsed.borderColor : ""
-      overrideBackground = typeof parsed.backgroundColor === "string" ? parsed.backgroundColor : ""
-      overrideText = typeof parsed.textColor === "string" ? parsed.textColor : ""
-      overrideCountdown = typeof parsed.countdownColor === "string" ? parsed.countdownColor : ""
-    } catch (e) {
-      overrideBorder = ""
-      overrideBackground = ""
-      overrideText = ""
-      overrideCountdown = ""
-    }
-  }
-
-  FileView {
-    id: themeOverrideFile
-    path: service.themeOverridePath
-    watchChanges: true
-    printErrors: false
-    onLoaded: service.loadThemeOverride(text())
-    onLoadFailed: service.loadThemeOverride("")
-    onFileChanged: reload()
-  }
-
-  // Theme switching recreates ~/.config/omarchy/current/theme, which can leave
-  // the notifications.json watcher attached to the old symlink target. Watch
-  // theme.name (overwritten in place) as the stable tripwire and force a fresh
-  // override reload; if the new theme has no override, onLoadFailed clears the
-  // old colors instead of leaving stale theme-specific notification styling.
-  FileView {
-    path: service.themeNamePath
-    watchChanges: true
-    printErrors: false
-    onFileChanged: themeOverrideFile.reload()
-  }
-
   // Fired by IPC (`omarchy-shell-ipc notifications showHistory`) so the
   // bar widget can drop its PopupCard from the same anchor a click would.
   signal historyOpenRequested()
@@ -948,10 +886,6 @@ Item {
               urgency: cardSlot.urgency
               timestamp: cardSlot.timestamp
               cornerRadius: service.cornerRadius
-              borderColorOverride: service.effectiveBorder
-              backgroundColorOverride: service.effectiveBackground
-              textColorOverride: service.effectiveText
-              countdownColorOverride: service.effectiveCountdown
               fontFamily: service.shell && service.shell.bar ? service.shell.bar.fontFamily : ""
               glyph: cardSlot.glyph
               progress: cardSlot.progress
diff --git a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/notifications/components/NotificationCard.qml b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/notifications/components/NotificationCard.qml
index c004f9b3..88f1dd33 100644
--- a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/notifications/components/NotificationCard.qml
+++ b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/notifications/components/NotificationCard.qml
@@ -27,13 +27,6 @@ Rectangle {
   property real progress: 1.0
   property bool showProgress: false
 
-  // Container can override the theme defaults per-card. Defaults bind to
-  // the live Color.* tokens, so when the container leaves them alone the
-  // card still tracks the theme.
-  property color borderColorOverride: Color.border
-  property color backgroundColorOverride: Color.background
-  property color textColorOverride: Color.foreground
-  property color countdownColorOverride: Color.accent
   // System font from shell.json bar.fontFamily, injected by the container.
   property string fontFamily: ""
 
@@ -77,10 +70,10 @@ Rectangle {
   readonly property bool hasGlyph: glyph.length > 0
   readonly property bool hasSmallIcon: !mediaMode && (smallIconSource.length > 0 || hasGlyph)
 
-  readonly property color dimColor: Qt.darker(textColorOverride, 1.4)
-  readonly property color bodyColor: Qt.darker(textColorOverride, 1.15)
-  readonly property color hoverColor: Qt.rgba(textColorOverride.r, textColorOverride.g, textColorOverride.b, 0.14)
-  readonly property color accentColor: urgency === 2 ? Color.urgent : (urgency === 0 ? dimColor : countdownColorOverride)
+  readonly property color dimColor: Qt.darker(Color.notifications.text, 1.4)
+  readonly property color bodyColor: Qt.darker(Color.notifications.text, 1.15)
+  readonly property color hoverColor: Qt.rgba(Color.notifications.text.r, Color.notifications.text.g, Color.notifications.text.b, 0.14)
+  readonly property color accentColor: urgency === 2 ? Color.urgent : (urgency === 0 ? dimColor : Color.notifications.countdown)
 
   function sanitizeBody(s) {
     return String(s).replace(/<img[^>]*>/gi, "")
@@ -92,8 +85,8 @@ Rectangle {
   // for symmetry except when the progress bar replaces it.
   implicitHeight: mainColumn.implicitHeight + border.width * 2
   radius: cornerRadius
-  color: backgroundColorOverride
-  border.color: urgency === 2 ? Color.urgent : borderColorOverride
+  color: Color.notifications.background
+  border.color: urgency === 2 ? Color.urgent : Color.notifications.border
   border.width: 2
   clip: true
 
@@ -145,7 +138,7 @@ Rectangle {
         anchors.right: parent.right
         anchors.bottom: parent.bottom
         height: root.border.width
-        color: root.urgency === 2 ? Color.urgent : root.borderColorOverride
+        color: root.urgency === 2 ? Color.urgent : Color.notifications.border
       }
 
       MouseArea {
@@ -194,7 +187,7 @@ Rectangle {
           anchors.centerIn: parent
           visible: root.hasGlyph && smallIconImage.status !== Image.Ready
           text: root.glyph
-          color: root.textColorOverride
+          color: Color.notifications.text
           font.family: root.fontFamily
           font.pixelSize: 18
         }
@@ -210,7 +203,7 @@ Rectangle {
           visible: root.summary.length > 0
           text: root.summary
           font.family: root.fontFamily
-          color: root.textColorOverride
+          color: Color.notifications.text
           font.pixelSize: 13
           font.bold: true
           wrapMode: Text.WordWrap
@@ -243,7 +236,7 @@ Rectangle {
     anchors.right: parent.right
     anchors.bottom: parent.bottom
     height: 3
-    color: root.borderColorOverride
+    color: Color.notifications.border
     visible: false
 
     Rectangle {
diff --git a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/settings/SettingsPanel.qml b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/settings/SettingsPanel.qml
index bf684db4..bce83d22 100644
--- a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/settings/SettingsPanel.qml
+++ b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/settings/SettingsPanel.qml
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import QtQuick.Controls
 import QtQuick.Layouts
 import Quickshell
 import Quickshell.Io
+import qs.Commons
 
 import "../../ui/settings" as SettingsUi
 import "./components" as Cmp
@@ -59,10 +60,12 @@ Item {
   readonly property string styleStatePath: home + "/.local/state/omarchy/toggles/quickshell-menu.json"
 
   // ---------------- theme --------------------------------------------------
-  property color foreground: "#cacccc"
-  property color background: "#101315"
-  property color accent: "#cacccc"
-  property color urgent: "#a55555"
+  // Settings panel deliberately isn't a themable surface in shell.toml —
+  // it tracks the foundational palette so every theme renders consistently.
+  property color foreground: Color.foreground
+  property color background: Color.background
+  property color accent: Color.accent
+  property color urgent: Color.urgent
   property string fontFamily: "monospace"
 
   // Source-of-truth for the shell-wide corner radius. Mirrors what the menu
@@ -353,18 +356,6 @@ Item {
     mutateSection(section, function(a) { a[index] = cloneJson(newEntry) })
   }
 
-  function loadTheme(raw) {
-    var lines = String(raw || "").split("\n")
-    for (var i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) {
-      var match = lines[i].match(/^\s*([A-Za-z0-9_-]+)\s*=\s*["']?(#[0-9A-Fa-f]{6})/)
-      if (!match) continue
-      if (match[1] === "foreground") foreground = match[2]
-      else if (match[1] === "background") background = match[2]
-      else if (match[1] === "color4" || match[1] === "accent") accent = match[2]
-      else if (match[1] === "red") urgent = match[2]
-    }
-  }
-
   function loadStyleState(raw) {
     try {
       var s = JSON.parse(raw || "{}")
@@ -559,26 +550,6 @@ Item {
     onFileChanged: reload()
   }
 
-  // `omarchy-theme-set` does `rm -rf current/theme && mv next-theme current/theme`.
-  // The atomic swap invalidates the inotify watch on colors.toml (the file's
-  // inode is gone), so onFileChanged never fires for theme switches. Use
-  // theme.name — a stable file overwritten in place — as the tripwire and
-  // force-reload colors.toml from its new path each time it changes.
-  FileView {
-    id: themeColorsFile
-    path: root.home + "/.config/omarchy/current/theme/colors.toml"
-    watchChanges: true
-    printErrors: false
-    onLoaded: root.loadTheme(text())
-    onFileChanged: reload()
-  }
-  FileView {
-    path: root.home + "/.config/omarchy/current/theme.name"
-    watchChanges: true
-    printErrors: false
-    onFileChanged: themeColorsFile.reload()
-  }
-
   FileView {
     path: root.styleStatePath
     watchChanges: true
diff --git a/default/themed/image-picker-colors.json.tpl b/default/themed/image-picker-colors.json.tpl
deleted file mode 100644
index 96a92436..00000000
--- a/default/themed/image-picker-colors.json.tpl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "primary": "{{ accent }}",
-  "background": "{{ background }}",
-  "backgroundText": "{{ foreground }}"
-}
diff --git a/default/themed/shell.toml.tpl b/default/themed/shell.toml.tpl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..63f23143
--- /dev/null
+++ b/default/themed/shell.toml.tpl
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+# Omarchy shell colors. Defaults below derive from colors.toml. Any theme
+# can ship its own shell.toml at themes/<name>/shell.toml to override
+# individual keys — anything left out falls back to the values here.
+
+[bar]
+# The bar strip itself
+background = "{{ background }}"
+# Clock, weather, workspace numbers, indicator glyphs
+text       = "{{ foreground }}"
+# Module in an "active" state: screen recording, voxtype listening,
+# weather alert, update available. Same color is used everywhere a
+# module wants to call attention to itself.
+active     = "{{ color1 }}"
+
+[popups]
+# Body fill for every flyout opened from the bar: wifi, bluetooth, audio,
+# calendar, weather, control-center, notification-center, media. Body text
+# inside the flyouts is not separately themable — it follows [bar].text.
+background = "{{ background }}"
+# 1px outline around the flyout
+border     = "{{ foreground }}"
+
+[notifications]
+# Toast card body
+background = "{{ background }}"
+# Title and message text
+text       = "{{ foreground }}"
+# Card outline. Most themes match this to their Hyprland active-window
+# border so notifications visually belong to the focused window.
+border     = "{{ accent }}"
+# Bottom countdown bar that drains while the toast is on screen
+countdown  = "{{ accent }}"
+
+[menu]
+# Omarchy menu surface (the launcher-style picker invoked by the menu key)
+background = "{{ background }}"
+# Unhighlighted menu items
+text       = "{{ foreground }}"
+# Currently hovered / keyboard-selected item
+selected   = "{{ accent }}"
+
+[image-picker]
+# Backdrop scrim behind the picker (the picker draws this at ~70% alpha)
+background        = "{{ background }}"
+# Tile labels (image filename / theme name)
+text              = "{{ foreground }}"
+# 3px stroke around the currently selected tile
+selected-border   = "{{ accent }}"
+# 1px stroke around every other tile (picker applies ~28% alpha)
+unselected-border = "{{ foreground }}"
diff --git a/themes/last-horizon/shell.toml b/themes/last-horizon/shell.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d0bea2a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/themes/last-horizon/shell.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# last-horizon preserves the historical behavior of matching notification
+# borders to the theme's Hyprland active-window border ($activeBorderColor
+# in hyprland.conf), rather than the accent.
+[notifications]
+border = "#8a8588"
diff --git a/themes/solitude/shell.toml b/themes/solitude/shell.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5f2e138b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/themes/solitude/shell.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# solitude preserves the historical behavior of matching notification
+# borders to the theme's Hyprland active-window border ($activeBorderColor
+# in hyprland.conf), rather than the accent.
+[notifications]
+border = "#798186"