diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/build.mjs b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/build.mjs
index 4e680219..7c4874cf 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/build.mjs
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/build.mjs
@@ -5,10 +5,17 @@
 //   dist/static/main.js          served at /static/main.js (ESM bundle,
 //                                 Preact + wouter-preact)
 //   dist/static/main.js.map      source map sibling
+//   dist/static/main.css         every component's own `import
+//                                 './Foo.css'` (Shell.css, Panel.css, …),
+//                                 folded by esbuild into one companion
+//                                 output alongside main.js — no separate
+//                                 build step, this falls out of bundling
+//                                 main.tsx with `bundle: true`
 //   dist/static/colors.css       served at /static/colors.css
 //   dist/static/theme.css        served at /static/theme.css
-//   dist/static/swarm-ui.css     served at /static/swarm-ui.css (@import
-//                                 resolved from @hive/shared)
+//   dist/static/swarm-ui.css     served at /static/swarm-ui.css — just the
+//                                 shared base reset now (@import resolved
+//                                 from @hive/shared), NOT component styles
 //
 // Not yet wired into any Rust binary's `ServeDir` — swarm-controller
 // only serves `/health` today (see swarm-controller/README.md); this
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/App.tsx b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/App.tsx
index 5430dffb..6909ef8c 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/App.tsx
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/App.tsx
@@ -1,35 +1,34 @@
-// Root shell component. Empty start page for now — functionality
-// (swarm roster, target-state view, whatever the swarm-controller
-// epic eventually needs) is out of scope until auth against authelia
-// is figured out. What's here IS in scope: a real router + deep-link
-// shape that the per-hive dashboard's vanilla-JS + custom-element MPA
-// doesn't have, so later work has a shell to land routes into instead
-// of bolting routing on after the fact.
+// Root shell component. Real route (`/`) is still a placeholder — the
+// swarm's hive roster is the next piece of work to land into it — but
+// it now mounts inside <Shell> and uses the ui/ primitives, so that
+// page lands as a content change, not a structural one.
 import { Route, Switch } from 'wouter-preact';
+import { Shell } from './shell/Shell.js';
+import { Panel } from './ui/panel/Panel.js';
 
 function Home() {
   return (
-    <main class="swarm-ui-empty">
-      <h1>swarm ui</h1>
-      <p>nothing here yet — project-bootstrap placeholder.</p>
-    </main>
+    <Panel title="overview">
+      <p>hive roster lands here, sequenced after this shell.</p>
+    </Panel>
   );
 }
 
 function NotFound() {
   return (
-    <main class="swarm-ui-empty">
-      <h1>404</h1>
+    <Panel title="404">
       <p>no route here.</p>
-    </main>
+    </Panel>
   );
 }
 
 export function App() {
   return (
-    <Switch>
-      <Route path="/" component={Home} />
-      <Route component={NotFound} />
-    </Switch>
+    <Shell>
+      <Switch>
+        <Route path="/" component={Home} />
+        <Route component={NotFound} />
+      </Switch>
+    </Shell>
   );
 }
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/css.d.ts b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/css.d.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8597bb2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/css.d.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+// Ambient module for `import './Foo.css'` side-effect imports (esbuild
+// resolves these directly, see build.mjs; tsc otherwise has no idea what
+// a `.css` specifier is and refuses the whole side-effect import).
+declare module '*.css';
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/index.html b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/index.html
index 9ed89442..6766527b 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/index.html
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/index.html
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
   <link rel="stylesheet" href="static/colors.css">
   <link rel="stylesheet" href="static/theme.css">
   <link rel="stylesheet" href="static/swarm-ui.css">
+  <link rel="stylesheet" href="static/main.css">
 </head>
 <body>
   <div id="root"></div>
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/shell/Shell.css b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/shell/Shell.css
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4a6de52c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/shell/Shell.css
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/* <Shell> — header bar + nav row + the content column every route
+   renders into. Colour vars come from ../theme.css (same base16 slots
+   the per-hive dashboard uses, so this reads as recognizably
+   hyperhive) — the layout itself is this package's own, not
+   @hive/shared's chrome.css. */
+.shell-header {
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 1.5em;
+  padding: 0.75em 1.25em;
+  border-bottom: 1px solid var(--border);
+  background: var(--bg-elev);
+}
+.shell-brand {
+  font-weight: 600;
+  color: var(--purple);
+  letter-spacing: 0.02em;
+}
+.shell-nav {
+  display: flex;
+  gap: 1em;
+}
+.shell-nav-link {
+  color: var(--muted);
+  text-decoration: none;
+  padding: 0.25em 0;
+  border-bottom: 2px solid transparent;
+}
+.shell-nav-link:hover {
+  color: var(--fg);
+}
+.shell-nav-link-active {
+  color: var(--fg);
+  border-bottom-color: var(--purple);
+}
+.shell-body {
+  max-width: 60em;
+  margin: 0 auto;
+  padding: 1.5em 1.25em;
+}
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/shell/Shell.tsx b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/shell/Shell.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9a25878e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/shell/Shell.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+// <Shell> — page chrome every swarm-ui route mounts inside: a header
+// bar (swarm branding) plus a nav row linking the app's real routes.
+// Preact-native styling — `./Shell.css` imported right here, not
+// wired centrally, so the component and its styles travel together
+// (esbuild folds every imported `.css` reachable from `main.tsx` into
+// one `main.css` companion output, see build.mjs) — deliberately not
+// @hive/shared's chrome.css page-header pattern, which is the per-hive
+// MPA dashboard's visual language. This package is a clean field, not
+// an inheritor of that look.
+//
+// Route list lives here, not prop-drilled from App — one small SPA
+// has exactly one place that needs to know its own nav, and this is
+// it. Grows additively as real routes land (a swarm-wide agent roster
+// is next); no speculative entries.
+import type { ComponentChildren } from 'preact';
+import { Link, useRoute } from 'wouter-preact';
+import './Shell.css';
+
+const NAV_ITEMS: { href: string; label: string }[] = [{ href: '/', label: 'overview' }];
+
+function NavLink({ href, label }: { href: string; label: string }) {
+  const [active] = useRoute(href);
+  return (
+    <Link href={href} className={'shell-nav-link' + (active ? ' shell-nav-link-active' : '')}>
+      {label}
+    </Link>
+  );
+}
+
+export function Shell({ children }: { children: ComponentChildren }) {
+  return (
+    <div class="shell">
+      <header class="shell-header">
+        <span class="shell-brand">hyperhive swarm</span>
+        <nav class="shell-nav">
+          {NAV_ITEMS.map((item) => (
+            <NavLink key={item.href} href={item.href} label={item.label} />
+          ))}
+        </nav>
+      </header>
+      <div class="shell-body">{children}</div>
+    </div>
+  );
+}
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/swarm-ui.css b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/swarm-ui.css
index 43134567..5289a7a2 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/swarm-ui.css
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/swarm-ui.css
@@ -1,12 +1,7 @@
+/* Page-level base only — component styles are colocated with their
+   component (`./Shell.css` imported by shell/Shell.tsx, etc.) and
+   land in the `main.css` companion esbuild emits alongside `main.js`
+   (see build.mjs), not here. This file stays just the shared reset
+   every page needs regardless of which components a route happens to
+   use. */
 @import "@hive/shared/base.css";
-
-/* Bootstrap placeholder only — real layout comes with the first
-   route that actually needs one. */
-.swarm-ui-empty {
-  max-width: 40em;
-  margin: 4em auto;
-  padding: 0 1em;
-}
-.swarm-ui-empty h1 {
-  color: var(--purple);
-}
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/panel/Panel.css b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/panel/Panel.css
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..23a40980
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/panel/Panel.css
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+.ui-panel {
+  border: 1px solid var(--border);
+  border-radius: 0.5em;
+  background: var(--bg-elev);
+}
+.ui-panel-title {
+  margin: 0;
+  padding: 0.75em 1em;
+  font-size: 1em;
+  font-weight: 600;
+  border-bottom: 1px solid var(--border);
+}
+.ui-panel-body {
+  padding: 1em;
+}
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/panel/Panel.tsx b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/panel/Panel.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..de8f88db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/panel/Panel.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+// <Panel> — the one generic container primitive every route needs: a
+// bordered surface with an optional title, no other opinions. Not a
+// card-with-actions/footer/whatever kit — those get added the first
+// time a real page actually needs one, not speculatively ahead of it.
+import type { ComponentChildren } from 'preact';
+import './Panel.css';
+
+export function Panel({ title, children }: { title?: string; children: ComponentChildren }) {
+  return (
+    <section class="ui-panel">
+      {title ? <h2 class="ui-panel-title">{title}</h2> : null}
+      <div class="ui-panel-body">{children}</div>
+    </section>
+  );
+}
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/status-chip/StatusChip.css b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/status-chip/StatusChip.css
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c6908552
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/status-chip/StatusChip.css
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+.ui-chip {
+  display: inline-block;
+  padding: 0.15em 0.6em;
+  border-radius: 1em;
+  font-size: 0.85em;
+  line-height: 1.4;
+  background: var(--purple-dim);
+  color: var(--fg);
+}
+.ui-chip-neutral {
+  color: var(--muted);
+}
+.ui-chip-positive {
+  color: var(--green);
+}
+.ui-chip-warning {
+  color: var(--amber);
+}
+.ui-chip-negative {
+  color: var(--red);
+}
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/status-chip/StatusChip.tsx b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/status-chip/StatusChip.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..354c9459
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/status-chip/StatusChip.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+// <StatusChip> — a small labelled state indicator. Generic over
+// `tone` rather than a fixed status vocabulary (`online`/`offline`/…)
+// because the first real caller (the hive roster) starts with a
+// single static "configured" tone and grows real online/stale/offline
+// states once a status rollup lands server-side — same component,
+// richer data later, no rebuild.
+import './StatusChip.css';
+
+export type ChipTone = 'neutral' | 'positive' | 'warning' | 'negative';
+
+export function StatusChip({ tone = 'neutral', label }: { tone?: ChipTone; label: string }) {
+  return <span class={'ui-chip ui-chip-' + tone}>{label}</span>;
+}
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/table/Table.css b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/table/Table.css
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f990dae6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/table/Table.css
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+.ui-table {
+  width: 100%;
+  border-collapse: collapse;
+}
+.ui-table th {
+  text-align: left;
+  font-weight: 600;
+  color: var(--muted);
+  padding: 0.5em 0.75em;
+  border-bottom: 1px solid var(--border);
+}
+.ui-table td {
+  padding: 0.5em 0.75em;
+  border-bottom: 1px solid var(--border);
+}
+.ui-table tr:last-child td {
+  border-bottom: none;
+}
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/table/Table.tsx b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/table/Table.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3e852063
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/table/Table.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+// <Table> — a generic column-defined table, the shape the hive roster
+// (name / domain / status chip, one row per hive) needs. Columns own
+// their own cell rendering rather than this component knowing about
+// any particular row shape, so it stays reusable for the swarm-wide
+// agent roster later without a rewrite.
+import type { ComponentChildren } from 'preact';
+import './Table.css';
+
+export interface TableColumn<T> {
+  key: string;
+  header: string;
+  render: (row: T) => ComponentChildren;
+}
+
+export function Table<T>({
+  columns,
+  rows,
+  rowKey,
+}: {
+  columns: TableColumn<T>[];
+  rows: T[];
+  rowKey: (row: T) => string;
+}) {
+  return (
+    <table class="ui-table">
+      <thead>
+        <tr>
+          {columns.map((c) => (
+            <th key={c.key}>{c.header}</th>
+          ))}
+        </tr>
+      </thead>
+      <tbody>
+        {rows.map((row) => (
+          <tr key={rowKey(row)}>
+            {columns.map((c) => (
+              <td key={c.key}>{c.render(row)}</td>
+            ))}
+          </tr>
+        ))}
+      </tbody>
+    </table>
+  );
+}