diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 3ea0c88..0dbca88 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@ mod selection;
 mod shadow;
 mod sound;
 mod stack;
+// The theme lands in pieces; Task 2 of the theme plan removes this.
+#[allow(dead_code)]
+mod theme;
 mod thumbnail;
 mod toolbar;
 mod wayland;
diff --git a/src/theme/mod.rs b/src/theme/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..445c5f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/theme/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,250 @@
+//! valw's colours: palettes for the paint shader and the overlays, from
+//! Noctalia's theme, from an image, or a built-in default.
+
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+use std::process::{Command, Stdio};
+use std::time::{Duration, Instant};
+
+use image::RgbaImage;
+
+/// Three colours, dark to light, as linear 0–1 RGB.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq)]
+pub struct Palette {
+    pub base: [f32; 3],
+    pub body: [f32; 3],
+    pub highlight: [f32; 3],
+}
+
+impl Palette {
+    pub const DEFAULT: Palette = Palette {
+        base: [0.106, 0.122, 0.165],
+        body: [0.180, 0.227, 0.322],
+        highlight: [0.561, 0.651, 0.788],
+    };
+
+    pub fn lerp(&self, other: &Palette, t: f32) -> Palette {
+        let t = t.clamp(0.0, 1.0);
+        let mix = |a: [f32; 3], b: [f32; 3]| [0, 1, 2].map(|i| a[i] + (b[i] - a[i]) * t);
+        Palette {
+            base: mix(self.base, other.base),
+            body: mix(self.body, other.body),
+            highlight: mix(self.highlight, other.highlight),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+pub fn hex(s: &str) -> Option<[f32; 3]> {
+    let s = s.trim().trim_start_matches('#');
+    if s.len() != 6 {
+        return None;
+    }
+    let v = |i: usize| {
+        u8::from_str_radix(&s[i..i + 2], 16)
+            .ok()
+            .map(|v| v as f32 / 255.0)
+    };
+    Some([v(0)?, v(2)?, v(4)?])
+}
+
+/// A Noctalia community palette file at `mode`.
+pub fn from_noctalia_file(text: &str, mode: &str) -> Option<Palette> {
+    let json: serde_json::Value = serde_json::from_str(text).ok()?;
+    let m = json.get(mode)?;
+    let get = |k: &str| hex(m.get(k)?.as_str()?);
+    Some(Palette {
+        base: get("mSurface")?,
+        body: get("mSecondary")?,
+        highlight: get("mPrimary")?,
+    })
+}
+
+/// The dominant colours of `img`, dark to light. Icons skip transparent and
+/// near-grey pixels so the brand colour wins.
+pub fn from_image(img: &RgbaImage, icon: bool) -> Palette {
+    let step = ((img.width() * img.height()) as usize / 4096).max(1);
+    let mut buckets = std::collections::HashMap::<(u8, u8, u8), (u32, [u64; 3])>::new();
+    for p in img.pixels().step_by(step) {
+        let [r, g, b, a] = p.0;
+        if icon {
+            let (max, min) = (r.max(g).max(b), r.min(g).min(b));
+            if a < 128 || max - min < 24 {
+                continue;
+            }
+        }
+        let e = buckets.entry((r >> 5, g >> 5, b >> 5)).or_default();
+        e.0 += 1;
+        for (s, v) in e.1.iter_mut().zip([r, g, b]) {
+            *s += v as u64;
+        }
+    }
+    let mut groups: Vec<_> = buckets.into_values().collect();
+    groups.sort_by_key(|g| std::cmp::Reverse(g.0));
+    let mut pick: Vec<[f32; 3]> = Vec::new();
+    for (n, sum) in groups {
+        let c = sum.map(|s| s as f32 / n as f32 / 255.0);
+        if pick
+            .iter()
+            .all(|p| (0..3).map(|i| (p[i] - c[i]).abs()).sum::<f32>() > 0.3)
+        {
+            pick.push(c);
+        }
+        if pick.len() == 3 {
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+    match pick.len() {
+        0 => return Palette::DEFAULT,
+        1 => {
+            let c = pick[0];
+            pick = vec![c.map(|v| v * 0.45), c, c.map(|v| v + (1.0 - v) * 0.5)];
+        }
+        2 => {
+            let c = pick[1];
+            pick.push(c.map(|v| v + (1.0 - v) * 0.5));
+        }
+        _ => {}
+    }
+    pick.sort_by(|a, b| (a[0] + a[1] + a[2]).total_cmp(&(b[0] + b[1] + b[2])));
+    Palette {
+        base: pick[0],
+        body: pick[1],
+        highlight: pick[2],
+    }
+}
+
+/// `noctalia msg <args>`'s output, or None (not installed, failing, or
+/// slower than a second).
+fn noctalia(args: &[&str]) -> Option<String> {
+    let mut child = Command::new("noctalia")
+        .arg("msg")
+        .args(args)
+        .stdin(Stdio::null())
+        .stdout(Stdio::piped())
+        .stderr(Stdio::null())
+        .spawn()
+        .ok()?;
+    let deadline = Instant::now() + Duration::from_secs(1);
+    loop {
+        match child.try_wait() {
+            Ok(Some(status)) if status.success() => break,
+            Ok(Some(_)) | Err(_) => return None,
+            Ok(None) if Instant::now() >= deadline => {
+                let _ = child.kill();
+                let _ = child.wait();
+                return None;
+            }
+            Ok(None) => std::thread::sleep(Duration::from_millis(10)),
+        }
+    }
+    let mut out = String::new();
+    std::io::Read::read_to_string(&mut child.stdout.take()?, &mut out).ok()?;
+    Some(out.trim().to_string())
+}
+
+/// Noctalia's current palette, or the default.
+pub fn current() -> Palette {
+    noctalia_palette().unwrap_or_else(|| {
+        tracing::debug!("using the default palette");
+        Palette::DEFAULT
+    })
+}
+
+fn noctalia_palette() -> Option<Palette> {
+    let scheme = noctalia(&["color-scheme-get"])?; // "<source> <name>"
+    let (source, name) = scheme.split_once(' ')?;
+    if source != "community" {
+        return None;
+    }
+    let mode = noctalia(&["theme-mode-get"])?;
+    let dir = std::env::var_os("XDG_STATE_HOME")
+        .map(PathBuf::from)
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| crate::config::home().join(".local/state"));
+    let file = dir
+        .join("noctalia/community-palettes")
+        .join(format!("{}.json", name.replace(' ', "%20")));
+    from_noctalia_file(&std::fs::read_to_string(file).ok()?, &mode)
+}
+
+/// The wallpaper Noctalia shows on `connector`.
+pub fn wallpaper(connector: &str) -> Option<PathBuf> {
+    noctalia(&["wallpaper-get", connector])
+        .map(PathBuf::from)
+        .filter(|p| p.exists())
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use image::{Rgba, RgbaImage};
+
+    const FILE: &str = r##"{"dark":{"mPrimary":"#cabaaa","mSecondary":"#73685F","mSurface":"#1e1d1b"},
+                           "light":{"mPrimary":"#262524","mSecondary":"#736B5E","mSurface":"#D4C1A8"}}"##;
+
+    fn close(a: [f32; 3], b: [f32; 3]) -> bool {
+        (0..3).all(|i| (a[i] - b[i]).abs() < 0.01)
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn hex_parses() {
+        assert!(close(hex("#ff8000").unwrap(), [1.0, 0.502, 0.0]));
+        assert!(close(hex("D4C1A8").unwrap(), [0.831, 0.757, 0.659]));
+        assert_eq!(hex("#12"), None);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn noctalia_palette_per_mode() {
+        let light = from_noctalia_file(FILE, "light").unwrap();
+        assert!(close(light.base, hex("#D4C1A8").unwrap()));
+        assert!(close(light.body, hex("#736B5E").unwrap()));
+        assert!(close(light.highlight, hex("#262524").unwrap()));
+        let dark = from_noctalia_file(FILE, "dark").unwrap();
+        assert!(close(dark.base, hex("#1e1d1b").unwrap()));
+        assert_eq!(from_noctalia_file(FILE, "sepia"), None);
+        assert_eq!(from_noctalia_file("{}", "light"), None);
+        assert_eq!(from_noctalia_file("not json", "light"), None);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn image_palette_is_dark_to_light() {
+        let img = RgbaImage::from_fn(30, 30, |x, _| match x / 10 {
+            0 => Rgba([250, 240, 20, 255]),
+            1 => Rgba([20, 30, 160, 255]),
+            _ => Rgba([200, 30, 30, 255]),
+        });
+        let p = from_image(&img, false);
+        let lum = |c: [f32; 3]| c[0] + c[1] + c[2];
+        assert!(
+            lum(p.base) < lum(p.body) && lum(p.body) < lum(p.highlight),
+            "{p:?}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn icon_palettes_ignore_transparent_and_grey() {
+        let img = RgbaImage::from_fn(30, 30, |x, y| {
+            if x < 15 {
+                Rgba([0, 0, 0, 0])
+            } else if y < 10 {
+                Rgba([128, 128, 128, 255])
+            } else {
+                Rgba([30, 160, 220, 255])
+            }
+        });
+        let p = from_image(&img, true);
+        for c in [p.base, p.body, p.highlight] {
+            assert!(c[2] > c[0], "blue family, not grey or black: {p:?}");
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn lerp_eases() {
+        let a = Palette::DEFAULT;
+        let b = Palette {
+            base: [1.0; 3],
+            body: [1.0; 3],
+            highlight: [1.0; 3],
+        };
+        assert_eq!(a.lerp(&b, 0.0), a);
+        assert_eq!(a.lerp(&b, 1.0), b);
+    }
+}