diff --git a/frontend/src/index.css b/frontend/src/index.css
index 2a202f9..4b09812 100644
--- a/frontend/src/index.css
+++ b/frontend/src/index.css
@@ -63,6 +63,22 @@ body {
     0 14px 30px -14px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5);
 }
 
+/* Dark mode: the ambient accent pools are faint over a near-black bg, so the docked frosted
+   chrome (nav/header) barely reads — there's no content behind it to refract, unlike dialogs
+   which sit over the feed. Strengthen the pools and let a touch more bleed through the glass.
+   (The full "videos behind glass everywhere" effect is Phase 2 / end-of-project polish.) */
+html[data-theme="dark"] body {
+  background:
+    radial-gradient(1100px 620px at 10% -10%, color-mix(in srgb, var(--accent) 34%, transparent), transparent 60%),
+    radial-gradient(1000px 720px at 115% 10%, color-mix(in srgb, var(--accent) 24%, transparent), transparent 55%),
+    radial-gradient(900px 640px at 50% 118%, color-mix(in srgb, var(--accent) 18%, transparent), transparent 60%),
+    var(--bg);
+  background-attachment: fixed;
+}
+html[data-theme="dark"] .glass {
+  background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--surface) 66%, transparent);
+}
+
 /* Performance mode (Settings → Appearance) drops the expensive blur + soft shadows. */
 html[data-perf="1"] .glass,
 html[data-perf="1"] .glass-card {