diff --git a/src/gateway/terminal/intro-banner.test.ts b/src/gateway/terminal/intro-banner.test.ts
index c93ea812c1b1..8eafcccd860d 100644
--- a/src/gateway/terminal/intro-banner.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/terminal/intro-banner.test.ts
@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@ describe("composeTerminalIntroBanner", () => {
     const banner = composeTerminalIntroBanner();
 
     expect(banner).toBe(
-      `\r\n\x1b[38;5;223mWelcome to the Claw.\x1b[0m\r\n\r\n\x1b[38;5;216m${EXPECTED_ART.join("\r\n")}\r\n\r\n\x1b[0m`,
+      `\r\n\x1b[33mWelcome to the Claw.\x1b[0m\r\n\r\n\x1b[91m${EXPECTED_ART.join("\r\n")}\r\n\r\n\x1b[0m`,
     );
-    expect(banner.startsWith("\r\n\x1b[38;5;223mWelcome to the Claw.\x1b[0m")).toBe(true);
+    expect(banner.startsWith("\r\n\x1b[33mWelcome to the Claw.\x1b[0m")).toBe(true);
     expect(banner.endsWith("\r\n\r\n\x1b[0m")).toBe(true);
     expect(banner.replaceAll("\r\n", "")).not.toContain("\n");
   });
diff --git a/src/gateway/terminal/intro-banner.ts b/src/gateway/terminal/intro-banner.ts
index 95b225651c9c..0e8b6c6d3005 100644
--- a/src/gateway/terminal/intro-banner.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/terminal/intro-banner.ts
@@ -22,8 +22,11 @@ const TERMINAL_INTRO_ART = [
 // Always full art: open-time request.cols is the pre-fit boot grid (the client
 // resizes immediately after open), so width gating keyed on it suppressed the
 // art on real, wide terminals.
+// ANSI-16 colors only: the server can't know the client's light/dark mode, and
+// fixed 256-color indices (223/216) bypass the client theme and vanish on light
+// backgrounds. Yellow/bright-red stay warm on dark and darken on light.
 export function composeTerminalIntroBanner(): string {
-  const headline = `\x1b[38;5;223mWelcome to the Claw.${RESET}`;
-  const art = `\x1b[38;5;216m${TERMINAL_INTRO_ART.join("\r\n")}\r\n\r\n`;
+  const headline = `\x1b[33mWelcome to the Claw.${RESET}`;
+  const art = `\x1b[91m${TERMINAL_INTRO_ART.join("\r\n")}\r\n\r\n`;
   return `\r\n${headline}\r\n\r\n${art}${RESET}`;
 }
diff --git a/ui/src/components/terminal/terminal-theme.ts b/ui/src/components/terminal/terminal-theme.ts
index a756432658c3..ac8b9bbaeaf0 100644
--- a/ui/src/components/terminal/terminal-theme.ts
+++ b/ui/src/components/terminal/terminal-theme.ts
@@ -8,9 +8,10 @@ type TerminalTheme = NonNullable<
   NonNullable<CreateGhosttyTerminalOptions["terminalOptions"]>["theme"]
 >;
 
-// ANSI palette tuned to sit on the Control UI's near-black / near-white surfaces.
-// Shared 8 + bright 8; foreground/background/cursor are overridden per mode below.
-const ANSI = {
+// ANSI palettes tuned per mode: colors that read on the near-black surface sit
+// at 1.4-2.6:1 on the light surface, so light gets its own darkened set
+// (>=4.5:1 on #f7f8fa) instead of sharing the dark palette.
+const DARK_ANSI = {
   black: "#1b1e26",
   red: "#ff6b6b",
   green: "#4ec9a8",
@@ -29,6 +30,29 @@ const ANSI = {
   brightWhite: "#ffffff",
 } as const;
 
+// Same hue identities as DARK_ANSI, darkened for the light surface. Bright
+// variants go darker than normal ones so bold/bright text stays emphatic
+// instead of washing out; brightWhite maps to the strongest ink, matching
+// the light-theme convention in Ghostty/iTerm paired themes.
+const LIGHT_ANSI = {
+  black: "#3a3f4b",
+  red: "#c62f3d",
+  green: "#177a5e",
+  yellow: "#8f6400",
+  blue: "#1e66d0",
+  magenta: "#94439c",
+  cyan: "#0f7487",
+  white: "#1b1e26",
+  brightBlack: "#5c6370",
+  brightRed: "#a3242f",
+  brightGreen: "#0f664e",
+  brightYellow: "#755200",
+  brightBlue: "#1a55ab",
+  brightMagenta: "#7c3382",
+  brightCyan: "#0c6070",
+  brightWhite: "#0a0c10",
+} as const;
+
 // Dark mirrors the claw tokens in styles/base.css (`--bg` #0e1015,
 // `--accent` #ff5c5c) — keep them in sync when the tokens change. Light is a
 // deliberate neutral cool white: the light theme families diverge (ivory,
@@ -47,16 +71,14 @@ export function terminalTheme(mode: "dark" | "light"): TerminalTheme {
   const colors = terminalDynamicColors(mode);
   if (mode === "light") {
     return {
-      ...ANSI,
+      ...LIGHT_ANSI,
       ...colors,
       cursorAccent: "#f7f8fa",
-      selectionBackground: "rgba(90, 162, 255, 0.30)",
-      black: "#3a3f4b",
-      white: "#1b1e26",
+      selectionBackground: "rgba(30, 102, 208, 0.30)",
     };
   }
   return {
-    ...ANSI,
+    ...DARK_ANSI,
     ...colors,
     cursorAccent: "#0e1015",
     selectionBackground: "rgba(90, 162, 255, 0.32)",