diff --git a/bb.edn b/bb.edn
index adc7a02..e95c7c3 100644
--- a/bb.edn
+++ b/bb.edn
@@ -16,7 +16,15 @@
              (let [adapter (slurp "dev/theme-adapter.js")]
                (spit "dev/replicant/public/theme-adapter.js" adapter)
                (spit "dev/squint/public/theme-adapter.js" adapter)
-               (println "Copied theme-adapter.js to dev targets")))}
+               (println "Copied theme-adapter.js to dev targets"))
+             (let [lr (slurp "dev/css-live-reload.js")]
+               (spit "dev/replicant/public/css-live-reload.js" lr)
+               (spit "dev/squint/public/css-live-reload.js" lr)
+               (println "Copied css-live-reload.js to dev targets")))}
+
+  watch-theme
+  {:doc "Watch src/ui/*.css and tokens.edn, rebuild theme on changes"
+   :task (load-file "scripts/watch-theme.bb")}
 
   test
   {:doc "Run all unit tests"
@@ -125,7 +133,7 @@
                session "ui-dev"]
            (shell {:continue true} "tmux kill-session -t" session)
            (shell "tmux new-session -d -s" session
-                  (str "PORT=" hport " bb dev-hiccup"))
+                  (str "bash -c 'bb watch-theme & PORT=" hport " bb dev-hiccup'"))
            (shell "tmux split-window -h -t" session
                   (str "bash -c 'cd dev/replicant && SHADOW_HTTP_PORT=" rport " npx shadow-cljs watch app'"))
            (shell "tmux split-window -v -t" session
diff --git a/dev/css-live-reload.js b/dev/css-live-reload.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b8891dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev/css-live-reload.js
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+// CSS Live Reload — polls /theme.css and hot-swaps the stylesheet on change.
+// No full page reload needed. Included automatically in dev pages.
+(function() {
+  'use strict';
+  var POLL_MS = 500;
+  var link = document.querySelector('link[rel="stylesheet"][href*="theme"]');
+  if (!link) return;
+
+  var prevHash = 0;
+
+  function djb2(str) {
+    var h = 5381;
+    for (var i = 0; i < str.length; i++) {
+      h = ((h << 5) + h + str.charCodeAt(i)) | 0;
+    }
+    return h;
+  }
+
+  function check() {
+    fetch('/theme.css', { cache: 'no-store' })
+      .then(function(r) { return r.text(); })
+      .then(function(css) {
+        var h = djb2(css);
+        if (prevHash && h !== prevHash) {
+          // Clone link and swap — avoids FOUC
+          var next = link.cloneNode();
+          next.href = '/theme.css?t=' + Date.now();
+          link.parentNode.insertBefore(next, link.nextSibling);
+          next.onload = function() {
+            link.parentNode.removeChild(link);
+            link = next;
+          };
+          console.log('[css-live-reload] theme.css updated');
+        }
+        prevHash = h;
+      })
+      .catch(function() { /* ignore network errors */ });
+  }
+
+  check();
+  setInterval(check, POLL_MS);
+})();
diff --git a/dev/hiccup/src/dev/hiccup.clj b/dev/hiccup/src/dev/hiccup.clj
index da9d0f2..da6a4b9 100644
--- a/dev/hiccup/src/dev/hiccup.clj
+++ b/dev/hiccup/src/dev/hiccup.clj
@@ -503,6 +503,7 @@
           [:script (h/raw theme-persistence-script)]]
          [:body
           [:script {:src "/theme-adapter.js" :defer true}]
+          [:script {:src "/css-live-reload.js" :defer true}]
           (sidebar/sidebar-layout {}
             (app-sidebar active-page port)
             (sidebar/sidebar-overlay {})
@@ -534,6 +535,11 @@
        :headers {"Content-Type" "application/javascript"}
        :body (slurp "dev/theme-adapter.js")}
 
+      (= path "/css-live-reload.js")
+      {:status 200
+       :headers {"Content-Type" "application/javascript"}
+       :body (slurp "dev/css-live-reload.js")}
+
       (resolve-page path)
       {:status 200
        :headers {"Content-Type" "text/html; charset=utf-8"}
diff --git a/dev/replicant/public/index.html b/dev/replicant/public/index.html
index 2e0b2a2..00c75ed 100644
--- a/dev/replicant/public/index.html
+++ b/dev/replicant/public/index.html
@@ -47,5 +47,6 @@
   <div id="app"></div>
   <script src="/js/main.js"></script>
   <script src="/theme-adapter.js" defer></script>
+  <script src="/css-live-reload.js" defer></script>
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/dev/squint/index.html b/dev/squint/index.html
index 4024506..1da024d 100644
--- a/dev/squint/index.html
+++ b/dev/squint/index.html
@@ -47,5 +47,6 @@
   <div id="app"></div>
   <script type="module" src=".compiled/dev/squint.mjs"></script>
   <script src="/theme-adapter.js" defer></script>
+  <script src="/css-live-reload.js" defer></script>
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/scripts/watch-theme.bb b/scripts/watch-theme.bb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d5d94f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/watch-theme.bb
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bb
+;; Watch src/ui/*.css and src/theme/tokens.edn for changes.
+;; On change, rebuild dist/theme.css and copy to dev targets.
+
+(require '[babashka.fs :as fs]
+         '[clojure.java.io :as io]
+         '[clojure.string :as str]
+         '[ui.css.gen :as gen])
+
+(defn source-files []
+  (concat (map str (fs/glob "src/ui" "*.css"))
+          ["src/theme/tokens.edn"]))
+
+(defn get-mtimes []
+  (into {}
+    (keep (fn [p]
+            (when (fs/exists? p)
+              [p (fs/last-modified-time p)])))
+    (source-files)))
+
+(defn rebuild! []
+  (gen/build-theme! {:input "src/theme/tokens.edn" :output "dist/theme.css"})
+  (let [css (slurp "dist/theme.css")]
+    (spit "dev/replicant/public/theme.css" css)
+    (io/make-parents "dev/squint/public/theme.css")
+    (spit "dev/squint/public/theme.css" css)))
+
+(defn changed-filenames [prev curr]
+  (->> (keys curr)
+       (filter (fn [p] (not= (get prev p) (get curr p))))
+       (map (fn [p] (last (str/split p #"/"))))))
+
+(println "[watch-theme] Watching src/ui/*.css and src/theme/tokens.edn ...")
+(loop [prev (get-mtimes)]
+  (Thread/sleep 500)
+  (let [curr (get-mtimes)]
+    (when (not= prev curr)
+      (println (str "[watch-theme] Changed: " (str/join ", " (changed-filenames prev curr))))
+      (try
+        (rebuild!)
+        (println "[watch-theme] Rebuilt and copied.")
+        (catch Exception e
+          (println (str "[watch-theme] ERROR: " (.getMessage e))))))
+    (recur curr)))