diff --git a/app/src/App.tsx b/app/src/App.tsx
index feb9b08..07f592c 100644
--- a/app/src/App.tsx
+++ b/app/src/App.tsx
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import { Wizard } from "./Wizard";
 import { ConfirmDelete } from "./ConfirmDelete";
 import { EventCenter } from "./EventCenter";
 import { maybeNotify } from "./notify";
-import { COLORS, applyTheme } from "./theme";
+import { COLORS, applyTheme, resolvePalette } from "./theme";
 import { getStatusFull, applyPreset, onDaemonEvent, onDaemonRawEvent, setWorkspaceMeta, focusSurface, getEventLog, markEventsRead, getHealth, closeWorkspaceCmd, getConfig } from "./socketBridge";
 import type { EventRecord, DaemonHealth, ConfigView } from "./socketBridge";
 import { leafIds } from "./layoutTypes";
@@ -136,6 +136,9 @@ export function App() {
   const effectiveFocus = focusedId && leaves.includes(focusedId) ? focusedId : leaves[0] ?? null;
   effectiveFocusRef.current = effectiveFocus;
 
+  const termFont = config ? { family: config.font_family, size: config.font_size } : null;
+  const termPalette = config ? resolvePalette(config.theme, config.accent) : null;
+
   function selectWorkspace(id: string) {
     setActiveId(id);
     setFocusedId(null);
@@ -153,7 +156,7 @@ export function App() {
           )}
           <div style={{ flex: 1, minHeight: 0, position: "relative" }}>
             {active
-              ? <LayoutEngine workspaceId={active.id} layout={active.layout} running={running} states={states} surfaces={active.surfaces} focusedId={effectiveFocus} onFocus={setFocusedId} zoomed={active.zoomed} searchSurfaceId={searchSurfaceId} searchNonce={searchNonce} onCloseSearch={() => setSearchSurfaceId(null)} />
+              ? <LayoutEngine workspaceId={active.id} layout={active.layout} running={running} states={states} surfaces={active.surfaces} focusedId={effectiveFocus} onFocus={setFocusedId} zoomed={active.zoomed} searchSurfaceId={searchSurfaceId} searchNonce={searchNonce} onCloseSearch={() => setSearchSurfaceId(null)} font={termFont} palette={termPalette} />
               : <div style={{ color: COLORS.textMuted, padding: 24 }}>No workspace — create one to begin.</div>}
           </div>
         </div>
diff --git a/app/src/LayoutEngine.tsx b/app/src/LayoutEngine.tsx
index 21be0e3..74b6570 100644
--- a/app/src/LayoutEngine.tsx
+++ b/app/src/LayoutEngine.tsx
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ interface Props {
   searchSurfaceId: string | null;
   searchNonce: number;
   onCloseSearch: () => void;
+  font: { family: string; size: number } | null;
+  palette: Record<string, string> | null;
 }
 
 type Edge = "left" | "right" | "top" | "bottom";
@@ -40,7 +42,7 @@ function shortPath(cwd: string): string {
   return leaf ? `~/${leaf}` : cwd;
 }
 
-export function LayoutEngine({ workspaceId, layout, running, states, surfaces, focusedId, onFocus, zoomed, searchSurfaceId, searchNonce, onCloseSearch }: Props) {
+export function LayoutEngine({ workspaceId, layout, running, states, surfaces, focusedId, onFocus, zoomed, searchSurfaceId, searchNonce, onCloseSearch, font, palette }: Props) {
   // Panel drag-to-reorder. Implemented with raw pointer events rather than the
   // HTML5 drag API, which is unreliable in the macOS WKWebView Tauri uses.
   const [drop, setDrop] = useState<DropTarget | null>(null);
@@ -78,7 +80,7 @@ export function LayoutEngine({ workspaceId, layout, running, states, surfaces, f
   if (!layout) {
     return <div style={{ color: COLORS.textMuted, padding: 24 }}>Empty workspace — apply a preset to add panels.</div>;
   }
-  const shared = { workspaceId, running, states, surfaces, focusedId, onFocus, zoomed, drop, onStartPanelDrag: startPanelDrag, searchSurfaceId, searchNonce, onCloseSearch };
+  const shared = { workspaceId, running, states, surfaces, focusedId, onFocus, zoomed, drop, onStartPanelDrag: startPanelDrag, searchSurfaceId, searchNonce, onCloseSearch, font, palette };
   if (zoomed) {
     return (
       <div style={{ width: "100%", height: "100%", padding: 12, boxSizing: "border-box" }}>
@@ -103,6 +105,8 @@ interface NodeProps {
   searchSurfaceId: string | null;
   searchNonce: number;
   onCloseSearch: () => void;
+  font: { family: string; size: number } | null;
+  palette: Record<string, string> | null;
 }
 
 function Node({ node, path, ...rest }: NodeProps) {
@@ -112,7 +116,7 @@ function Node({ node, path, ...rest }: NodeProps) {
   return <SplitView split={node.split} path={path} {...rest} />;
 }
 
-function Leaf({ id, workspaceId, running, states, surfaces, focusedId, onFocus, zoomed, drop, onStartPanelDrag, searchSurfaceId, searchNonce, onCloseSearch }: Omit<NodeProps, "node" | "path"> & { id: string }) {
+function Leaf({ id, workspaceId, running, states, surfaces, focusedId, onFocus, zoomed, drop, onStartPanelDrag, searchSurfaceId, searchNonce, onCloseSearch, font, palette }: Omit<NodeProps, "node" | "path"> & { id: string }) {
   const focused = focusedId === id;
   const dropEdge = drop && drop.id === id ? drop.edge : null;
 
@@ -181,7 +185,7 @@ function Leaf({ id, workspaceId, running, states, surfaces, focusedId, onFocus,
               onMouseDown={(e) => { e.stopPropagation(); onFocus(id); void setZoom(workspaceId, id); }} />}
       </div>
       <div style={{ flex: 1, minHeight: 0 }}>
-        <TerminalView key={id} surfaceId={id} />
+        <TerminalView key={id} surfaceId={id} font={font} palette={palette} />
       </div>
       {searchSurfaceId === id && (
         <SearchBar surfaceId={id} reopenNonce={searchNonce} onClose={onCloseSearch} />
diff --git a/app/src/TerminalView.tsx b/app/src/TerminalView.tsx
index f16ebb6..35c0361 100644
--- a/app/src/TerminalView.tsx
+++ b/app/src/TerminalView.tsx
@@ -9,15 +9,35 @@ import { registerSearch, unregisterSearch } from "./searchRegistry";
 const decoder = new TextDecoder();
 const encoder = new TextEncoder();
 
-export function TerminalView({ surfaceId }: { surfaceId: string }) {
+function xtermTheme(p: Record<string, string>) {
+  return {
+    background: p["bg-panel"],
+    foreground: p["text-primary"],
+    cursor: p["text-primary"],
+    selectionBackground: p["search-match"],
+  };
+}
+
+export function TerminalView({ surfaceId, font, palette }: { surfaceId: string; font: { family: string; size: number } | null; palette: Record<string, string> | null }) {
   const ref = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
+  const termRef = useRef<Terminal | null>(null);
+  const fitRef = useRef<FitAddon | null>(null);
 
   useEffect(() => {
     if (!ref.current) return;
     // allowProposedApi is required by the search addon: its match decorations
     // call registerMarker/registerDecoration (proposed API). Without it findNext
     // throws and the scrollback search counter never updates.
-    const term = new Terminal({ fontFamily: "'JetBrains Mono Variable', 'JetBrains Mono', monospace", fontSize: 13, convertEol: false, scrollback: 10000, allowProposedApi: true });
+    const term = new Terminal({
+      fontFamily: font ? `'${font.family}', monospace` : "'JetBrains Mono Variable', 'JetBrains Mono', monospace",
+      fontSize: font?.size ?? 13,
+      convertEol: false,
+      scrollback: 10000,
+      allowProposedApi: true,
+      theme: palette ? xtermTheme(palette) : undefined,
+    });
+    termRef.current = term;
+
     try {
       term.loadAddon(new WebglAddon());
     } catch {
@@ -31,6 +51,7 @@ export function TerminalView({ surfaceId }: { surfaceId: string }) {
 
     const fit = new FitAddon();
     term.loadAddon(fit);
+    fitRef.current = fit;
 
     // Fit the grid to the container and tell the daemon the new size. Coalesced
     // through rAF so a burst of resize callbacks yields one resize per frame.
@@ -76,8 +97,26 @@ export function TerminalView({ surfaceId }: { surfaceId: string }) {
       void detachSurface(surfaceId);
       unregisterSearch(surfaceId);
       term.dispose();
+      termRef.current = null;
+      fitRef.current = null;
     };
-  }, [surfaceId]);
+  }, [surfaceId]); // eslint-disable-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
+
+  // Live re-apply font and theme when config changes without remounting.
+  // palette is a new object each render so we depend on a stable key instead.
+  const paletteKey = palette
+    ? `${palette["bg-panel"]}|${palette["text-primary"]}|${palette["search-match"]}`
+    : null;
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const t = termRef.current;
+    if (!t) return;
+    if (font) {
+      t.options.fontFamily = `'${font.family}', monospace`;
+      t.options.fontSize = font.size;
+    }
+    if (palette) t.options.theme = xtermTheme(palette);
+    requestAnimationFrame(() => { try { fitRef.current?.fit(); } catch { /* ignore */ } });
+  }, [font?.family, font?.size, paletteKey]); // eslint-disable-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
 
   return <div ref={ref} style={{ width: "100%", height: "100%" }} />;
 }