diff --git a/docs/web-ui/css-vars.md b/docs/web-ui/css-vars.md
index a7d42f22..fa17eaaa 100644
--- a/docs/web-ui/css-vars.md
+++ b/docs/web-ui/css-vars.md
@@ -17,19 +17,6 @@ reference the **semantic** names and must **not** redeclare them or reach
 for the raw `--baseNN` slots directly. (`base.css` holds only the shared
 `body` typography — it references the palette but no longer defines it.)
 
-`colors.css` ships two rows of the same 16 slots: an unconditional
-Catppuccin Mocha (dark) default, and a Catppuccin-Latte-derived (light)
-row gated behind `@media (prefers-color-scheme: light)` — both use the
-identical slot mapping, so which row is active never changes what a slot
-means. The light row's `base00`-`base07` (surfaces/foreground) are stock
-Latte hexes; `base08`-`base0F` (the eight chromatic slots) are darkened
-from stock Latte to actually clear WCAG AA against how this app uses
-them (real contrast failures found in review — see the comment above
-those declarations in `colors.css` for the numbers and why). This is the
-OS/browser-level default only; it's what a client with no more specific
-theme decision gets (see "Theme swapping" below for how a stylix
-deployment or a future per-user override supersede it).
-
 Both are deliberately standalone, not `@import`ed into the page bundles:
 each package re-exports them (`src/{colors,theme}.css` →
 `@import "@hive/shared/…"`) so esbuild emits its own
@@ -127,14 +114,7 @@ to `theme.css` (the "Derives from" column above) — a generator never
 needs to know our var names, and `theme.css` + the page bundles stay
 untouched.
 
-**Two rows, one contract.** `colors.css` ships both a dark default
-(Catppuccin Mocha, unconditional) and a light default (Catppuccin Latte,
-behind `@media (prefers-color-scheme: light)`) — a theme generator that
-overrides the file wholesale (e.g. the stylix path, which writes a single
-unconditional `:root` block with no media query) supersedes both rows at
-once, same as today.
-
-`colors.css` base16 slot defaults (Catppuccin Mocha, dark default):
+`colors.css` base16 slot defaults (Catppuccin Mocha):
 
 | Slot     | Default   | Standard base16 role | Mapped to                                           |
 | -------- | --------- | -------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
diff --git a/frontend/packages/shared/src/colors.css b/frontend/packages/shared/src/colors.css
index 25181d13..3fa8ca51 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/shared/src/colors.css
+++ b/frontend/packages/shared/src/colors.css
@@ -29,71 +29,3 @@
   --base0E: #cba6f7; /* magenta / mauve */
   --base0F: #f5c2e7; /* extra accent — pink */
 }
-
-/* Light-mode default. base00-07 (surfaces/foreground) are stock
-   Catppuccin Latte — no contrast issue there, they're the ends of the
-   bg/fg scale. base08-0F (the eight chromatic "tone" slots: red through
-   pink) are deliberately NOT stock Latte hexes — see the comment right
-   above those declarations below for why; don't reuse stock Catppuccin
-   Latte's own accent hexes there if this ever gets regenerated.
-
-   This is a *default*, not a user preference store: it only applies
-   when nothing more specific has already decided the palette. A
-   stylix-generated colors.css (nix/host-modules/hive-c0re/theme.nix)
-   replaces this entire file wholesale — a fixed, unconditional `:root`
-   block with no media query in it at all — so a stylix-themed
-   deployment is naturally unaffected by, and never fights, this block.
-   Some people need light for low-vision/contrast reasons, others need
-   dark for photosensitivity, so respect the OS/browser signal by
-   default the same way `prefers-reduced-motion` already is elsewhere —
-   rather than always forcing the bundled dark palette on a client with
-   no stylix session of its own (e.g. a phone browser hitting swarm-ui
-   directly). A future per-user override takes precedence over this
-   media query by simply setting the vars later in the cascade (e.g.
-   via an inline `style` on `:root`, which always outranks a
-   stylesheet rule). */
-@media (prefers-color-scheme: light) {
-  :root {
-    --base00: #eff1f5; /* default bg */
-    --base01: #e6e9ef; /* lighter bg (elevated surfaces) */
-    --base02: #ccd0da; /* selection / surface — borders */
-    --base03: #bcc0cc; /* comments / dim surface */
-    --base04: #acb0be; /* dark foreground */
-    --base05: #4c4f69; /* default foreground */
-    --base06: #dc8a78; /* light foreground */
-    --base07: #7287fd; /* lightest */
-    /* base08-0F: darkened from stock Catppuccin Latte's own accent
-       hexes (same hue/saturation, lower HSL lightness), not a literal
-       upstream port like base00-07 above. argus's review on this PR
-       computed real WCAG contrast ratios and found the literal Latte
-       accents fail badly as `StatusChip` fill-text (green/amber/red/
-       yellow on `--purple-dim`/base03: 1.4:1-3:1, need 4.5:1) and even
-       as plain text on `--bg`/base00 in the agent/dashboard packages
-       that also consume this same file (2.3:1-4.8:1). Root cause:
-       Latte's own accent colors are calibrated against Latte's
-       near-white `base`/`crust`, not against a mid-gray `surface1` —
-       the Mocha row doesn't have this problem because Mocha's pastel
-       accents are already *light*, so they contrast fine against a
-       *dark* surface1; Latte's saturated-but-mid-brightness accents
-       don't have the equivalent headroom against Latte's own
-       (much lighter) surface1. Each value below was picked by holding
-       the stock Latte hue+saturation fixed and binary-searching HSL
-       lightness down to the point real contrast against base03 clears
-       4.5:1 with a small margin (also verified against base00: all
-       land above 7:1 there) — same hue identity, same base16 role,
-       just dark/saturated enough to actually be legible as filled-chip
-       or plain text either way. Yellow and peach read closer to
-       olive/brown than a bright yellow/orange once darkened this far —
-       an inherent property of darkening a warm hue in sRGB (Bezold-
-       Brücke shift), not a mapping mistake; boosting saturation
-       further didn't rescue it (verified). */
-    --base08: #9c0b2a; /* red */
-    --base09: #883201; /* orange / peach */
-    --base0A: #6d450e; /* yellow */
-    --base0B: #235818; /* green */
-    --base0C: #025374; /* cyan (our sky — note: Catppuccin's base0C is teal) */
-    --base0D: #0843b8; /* blue */
-    --base0E: #6311ce; /* magenta / mauve */
-    --base0F: #8f166e; /* extra accent — pink */
-  }
-}