diff --git a/docs/ui/UI_AUDIT.md b/docs/ui/UI_AUDIT.md
index 5c73f26..4b715ac 100644
--- a/docs/ui/UI_AUDIT.md
+++ b/docs/ui/UI_AUDIT.md
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ Quick Actions block fixed in commit `343ffb4`. 28 inline-style blocks remain —
 
 8. **Refactor OverviewTab + HomeView + MyStrategiesTab** to extract inline styles into `home.css` / `overview.css` / `strategies.css` partials. Highest user impact (these are landing pages).
 9. **Component primitives audit:** add a `<CardButton>` primitive in `@bytelyst/ui` (or an `as="card"` variant on `<Button>`) that drops `whitespace-nowrap` and `h-{size}` constraints. Document the difference. Pushes the Pattern A fix to the design system rather than the consumers.
-10. **Theme token sweep:** the trading app uses `--bl-*` and `--ml-*` CSS variables. Verify no hardcoded hex values remain in `web/src/**/*.{ts,tsx,css}` (excluding token-default fallbacks like `var(--bl-accent, #5A8CFF)` which are correct per `AGENTS.md`).
+10. **Theme token sweep:** ✅ done. `node scripts/audit-css.mjs` (or `npm run audit:css`) now also reports hardcoded hex outside `--name: #xxx;` token defs and `var(--x, #xxx)` fallbacks. Initial run on `index.css + App.css + layout-fixes.css` reports **4 known intentional violations** (pre-cascade body color/background-color in `:root` and `html.dark`, mirroring `--foreground`/`--background`). These are annotated with explanatory comments in `index.css:12-14` and `:88`. New violations will surface immediately. Re-run after refactoring to confirm zero new hex.
 
 ---
 
diff --git a/web/scripts/audit-css.mjs b/web/scripts/audit-css.mjs
index 78e4b4b..4e03ac6 100644
--- a/web/scripts/audit-css.mjs
+++ b/web/scripts/audit-css.mjs
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 // Audit CSS files in src/ for:
 //   - Class selectors defined more than once (rule duplication / drift)
 //   - Per-class !important counts (specificity-fight indicators)
+//   - Hardcoded hex colors outside CSS custom-property definitions
+//     and outside `var(--token, #fallback)` token-default fallbacks
+//     (which are explicitly allowed per repo design-system rules)
 //
 // Outputs a report to stdout. Exits 0 always; this is informational.
 //
@@ -10,7 +13,7 @@
 //   node scripts/audit-css.mjs --threshold 2   # only show classes with >= N defs
 //   node scripts/audit-css.mjs --json          # machine-readable output
 //
-// See docs/ui/UI_AUDIT.md §5 #7 and Pattern G.
+// See docs/ui/UI_AUDIT.md §5 #7/#10 and Patterns G.
 
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
@@ -37,6 +40,31 @@ function lineOf(content, idx) {
   return content.slice(0, idx).split('\n').length;
 }
 
+// --- Hex-color audit ----------------------------------------------------
+const HEX_RE = /#(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{3,4}|[0-9A-Fa-f]{6}|[0-9A-Fa-f]{8})\b/g;
+const TOKEN_FALLBACK_RE = /var\([^)]*?#[0-9A-Fa-f]{3,8}[^)]*?\)/g;
+const CUSTOM_PROP_DEF_RE = /^\s*--[\w-]+\s*:/;
+
+function findHexViolations(content) {
+  // Mask out var(--x, #xxx) so hex inside fallbacks doesn't count.
+  const masked = content.replace(TOKEN_FALLBACK_RE, '___TOKEN___');
+  const violations = [];
+  const lines = masked.split('\n');
+  for (let i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) {
+    const line = lines[i];
+    const matches = line.match(HEX_RE);
+    if (!matches) continue;
+    // Allowed: hex in a CSS custom-property definition (--name: #xxx;)
+    if (CUSTOM_PROP_DEF_RE.test(line)) continue;
+    // Allowed: comments
+    if (/^\s*\*|^\s*\/\//.test(line)) continue;
+    for (const hex of matches) {
+      violations.push({ line: i + 1, hex, snippet: line.trim().slice(0, 100) });
+    }
+  }
+  return violations;
+}
+
 function audit(filePath) {
   const content = readSafe(filePath);
   if (content == null) return null;
@@ -66,7 +94,8 @@ function audit(filePath) {
   }
   // Total !important
   const totalImportant = (content.match(/!important/g) || []).length;
-  return { filePath, defs, totalImportant };
+  const hexViolations = findHexViolations(content);
+  return { filePath, defs, totalImportant, hexViolations };
 }
 
 const reports = [];
@@ -79,12 +108,14 @@ for (const p of opts.paths) {
 // Merge defs across files
 const merged = new Map();
 let totalImportant = 0;
+const allHexViolations = [];
 for (const r of reports) {
   totalImportant += r.totalImportant;
   for (const [cls, locs] of r.defs.entries()) {
     if (!merged.has(cls)) merged.set(cls, []);
     merged.get(cls).push(...locs);
   }
+  for (const v of r.hexViolations) allHexViolations.push({ file: r.filePath, ...v });
 }
 
 // Filter to classes with >= threshold definitions
@@ -103,6 +134,7 @@ if (opts.json) {
     totalImportant,
     duplicateSelectors: dups.map(([cls, locs]) => ({ class: cls, count: locs.length, locations: locs })),
     importantByClass: importantPerClass.map(([cls, n]) => ({ class: cls, count: n })),
+    hexViolations: allHexViolations,
   }, null, 2));
   exit(0);
 }
@@ -126,4 +158,14 @@ for (const [cls, n] of importantPerClass.slice(0, 15)) {
   console.log(`  ${String(n).padStart(5)}  .${cls}`);
 }
 console.log('');
-console.log('See docs/ui/UI_AUDIT.md Pattern G for fix guidance.');
+console.log('');
+console.log(`Hardcoded hex colors outside token defs / fallbacks: ${allHexViolations.length}`);
+if (allHexViolations.length > 0) {
+  console.log('  (allowed: hex inside `--name: #xxx;` defs and `var(--x, #xxx)` fallbacks)');
+  for (const v of allHexViolations.slice(0, 20)) {
+    console.log(`  ${path.basename(v.file)}:${v.line}  ${v.hex}  ${v.snippet}`);
+  }
+  if (allHexViolations.length > 20) console.log(`  ... ${allHexViolations.length - 20} more`);
+}
+console.log('');
+console.log('See docs/ui/UI_AUDIT.md Pattern G + §5 #7/#10 for fix guidance.');
diff --git a/web/src/index.css b/web/src/index.css
index 376dba4..3c80bb0 100644
--- a/web/src/index.css
+++ b/web/src/index.css
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@
   line-height: 1.5;
   font-weight: 400;
   color-scheme: light;
+  /* Pre-cascade body defaults — must be literal hex (no var()) so the page
+     renders the right colors before the cascade resolves the custom props
+     defined just below. Values intentionally mirror --foreground / --background. */
   color: #111827;
   background-color: #f7f9fc;
   --background: #f7f9fc;
@@ -83,6 +86,7 @@
 
 html.dark {
   color-scheme: dark;
+  /* Pre-cascade body defaults — see :root note. Mirrors --foreground / --background. */
   color: #e5edf7;
   background-color: #111827;
   --background: #111827;