diff --git a/agent/BACKLOG.md b/agent/BACKLOG.md
index 6b2db11..905d19c 100644
--- a/agent/BACKLOG.md
+++ b/agent/BACKLOG.md
@@ -83,10 +83,6 @@ the *same* outputs. **Plan (designed 2026-07-05, iteration #27):**
 - **Non-goals:** no kanshi (fights Hyprland's output management —
   decided in ROADMAP), nwg-displays stays a find-the-values helper.
 
-### 16. Greeter theming from the JSON
-ROADMAP § Greeter. tuigreet themed from theme-state.json at system
-rebuild (same model as Plymouth's tint). Scope: tuigreet only (no SDDM).
-
 ### 17. Launch-or-focus UX scripts
 ROADMAP § launch-or-focus. Hyprland dispatch scripts: a bind launches an
 app or focuses its existing window. Curate which apps get binds;
diff --git a/agent/HARDWARE-QUEUE.md b/agent/HARDWARE-QUEUE.md
index fd5efca..2c3944b 100644
--- a/agent/HARDWARE-QUEUE.md
+++ b/agent/HARDWARE-QUEUE.md
@@ -153,6 +153,13 @@ QA machine), the **T14s** (webcam case).
       applies the matching profile within ~3s (toast names it);
       unplugging switches back; Auto-switch off stops that; with two
       profiles naming the same outputs, no flapping (ties do nothing).
+- [ ] **Themed greeter + console (item 16)** — after `sys-rebuild` +
+      logout: tuigreet renders in theme colors (dark container, accent
+      border, themed prompt/time) and a raw tty (CTRL+ALT+F2) shows the
+      theme's ANSI palette; on a LUKS machine the passphrase prompt
+      follows too. Then switch theme + `sys-rebuild` + logout → the
+      greeter follows the new palette. (tuigreet can't run under the
+      VM harness — see MEMORY.md — so rendering is hardware-tier.)
 - [ ] **Color picker (item 13, final slice)** — SUPER+CTRL+P (or Tools ›
       Color picker): hyprpicker's zoom loupe appears; click a pixel →
       toast shows the hex and `wl-paste` yields it; Esc cancels with no
diff --git a/agent/JOURNAL.md b/agent/JOURNAL.md
index b2863e6..67ff795 100644
--- a/agent/JOURNAL.md
+++ b/agent/JOURNAL.md
@@ -17,6 +17,26 @@ Template:
 
 ---
 
+## 2026-07-05 — greeter theming from the JSON (iteration #30, item 16)
+- **Task:** BACKLOG NEXT#16 — tuigreet themed from theme-state.json at
+  system rebuild (the Plymouth model). Item deleted.
+- **Did:** new modules/nixos/greeter.nix owns the greetd block (moved
+  out of default.nix, one concern one file) + the theming: (1)
+  console.colors = the theme's ansi[] (mkDefault; lands as
+  vt.default_* kernel params — also themes raw ttys + LUKS prompt);
+  (2) tuigreet --theme on NAMED slots (its parser is ratatui
+  Color::from_str, verified in source; names hit the standard indexes
+  the retinted VT palette now serves). Sparse state w/o ansi → skips
+  cleanly.
+- **Verified:** V0; V1 — template-system toplevel: baked greetd.toml
+  carries the full --theme spec, kernel-params carry all three
+  vt.default_{red,grn,blu}. A checks.greeter VM test was attempted and
+  DROPPED: tuigreet dies under runNixOSTest even bare (harness limit,
+  not our flag — bisected; nixpkgs tests use agreety) → MEMORY.md.
+- **Pending:** V3 queued (rendering + theme-follows-rebuild).
+- **Next suggestion:** #17 launch-or-focus, or the new #28 UI-review
+  audit slice once Bernardo confirms its placement.
+
 ## 2026-07-05 — display profiles auto-switch (iteration #29, item 15b)
 - **Task:** BACKLOG NEXT#15 slice b — opt-in hotplug auto-switch.
 - **Did:** nomarchy-display-profile gains `match <outputs>` (exact set
diff --git a/agent/MEMORY.md b/agent/MEMORY.md
index e14849b..014417b 100644
--- a/agent/MEMORY.md
+++ b/agent/MEMORY.md
@@ -7,6 +7,14 @@ here the moment a debugging session teaches you something a future
 iteration would otherwise rediscover.
 
 ## Testing & VM recipes
+- **tuigreet dies silently under runNixOSTest** (even bare, no theme
+  flag: greetd sits as "(greetd)" with no child, nothing in the
+  journal — its stderr goes to the VT) — nixpkgs' own greetd test uses
+  agreety instead. Greeter *rendering* is interactive-ISO/hardware
+  tier; don't burn another session on a checks.greeter VM test.
+- In VM tests `pgrep -f PATTERN` can match the test backdoor's own
+  `bash -c` wrapper (the pattern is in its cmdline) — use `pgrep -x`
+  or a `[t]uigreet`-style bracket pattern.
 - A checks.* fixture CANNOT be a writeText/toFile state file read at
   eval time ("path … is not valid" — flake check's eval store won't
   realise it): extract the logic into a pure importable file and
diff --git a/modules/nixos/default.nix b/modules/nixos/default.nix
index 4c29f0a..c58c6e0 100644
--- a/modules/nixos/default.nix
+++ b/modules/nixos/default.nix
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ let
   '';
 in
 {
-  imports = [ ./options.nix ./plymouth.nix ./file-manager.nix ./power.nix ./services.nix ./hardware.nix ./timezone.nix ./oom.nix ];
+  imports = [ ./options.nix ./plymouth.nix ./greeter.nix ./file-manager.nix ./power.nix ./services.nix ./hardware.nix ./timezone.nix ./oom.nix ];
 
   config = {
     # Distro branding. distroName flows into /etc/os-release PRETTY_NAME,
@@ -99,22 +99,8 @@ in
       extraPortals = [ pkgs.xdg-desktop-portal-gtk ]; # file pickers, etc.
     };
 
-    services.greetd = lib.mkIf cfg.greeter.enable {
-      enable = lib.mkDefault true;
-      settings = {
-        default_session = {
-          # start-hyprland is Hyprland 0.55's watchdog launcher; running
-          # the bare binary makes every session print a warning.
-          command = lib.mkDefault "${pkgs.tuigreet}/bin/tuigreet --time --remember --greeting 'Welcome to ${distroName}' --cmd start-hyprland";
-          user = "greeter";
-        };
-        # Boot straight into the session once; logout → normal greeter.
-        initial_session = lib.mkIf (cfg.greeter.autoLogin != null) {
-          command = "start-hyprland";
-          user = cfg.greeter.autoLogin;
-        };
-      };
-    };
+    # The greetd/tuigreet login screen lives in ./greeter.nix — themed
+    # from the state JSON (console.colors + --theme) at system rebuild.
 
     # ── Audio: Pipewire ──────────────────────────────────────────────
     security.rtkit.enable = lib.mkDefault cfg.audio.enable;
diff --git a/modules/nixos/greeter.nix b/modules/nixos/greeter.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..54ea9ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/nixos/greeter.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+# Greeter — greetd/tuigreet, themed from the same theme-state.json that
+# drives the desktop (nomarchy.system.stateFile; the Plymouth model:
+# baked at SYSTEM rebuild, so it follows the theme as of the last
+# sys-update, not the last instant apply).
+#
+# tuigreet draws on the virtual console with the 16 ANSI slots, so the
+# theming is two-part:
+#   1. console.colors — the VT palette becomes the theme's ansi[] hexes
+#      (which also themes raw ttys and the LUKS passphrase prompt: the
+#      same JSON reaches every pre-session surface).
+#   2. --theme — tuigreet components on NAMED slots (its parser is
+#      ratatui Color::from_str; names map to the standard indexes, e.g.
+#      blue=4, gray=7, white=15, so the palette above hands them the
+#      theme's colors). ANSI "black" stays dark even in light themes —
+#      the greeter reads terminal-dark there, the same convention every
+#      terminal applies to ANSI colors.
+{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
+
+let
+  cfg = config.nomarchy.system;
+  distroName = config.system.nixos.distroName;
+
+  state =
+    if cfg.stateFile != null
+    then builtins.fromJSON (builtins.readFile cfg.stateFile)
+    else { };
+  # A sparse/hand-rolled state without a proper ansi block just skips the
+  # theming (stock tuigreet grey) — never an eval error.
+  ansi = state.ansi or [ ];
+  themed = builtins.isList ansi && builtins.length ansi == 16;
+
+  tuigreetTheme = lib.concatStringsSep ";" [
+    "container=black" # ansi[0] — the theme's terminal background
+    "border=blue"     # ansi[4] — the accent family in every shipped palette
+    "title=cyan"
+    "greet=cyan"
+    "prompt=green"
+    "input=white"     # ansi[15] — bright foreground
+    "action=blue"
+    "button=yellow"
+    "time=cyan"
+    "text=gray"       # ansi[7] — muted foreground
+  ];
+in
+{
+  config = {
+    # VT palette from the theme (RRGGBB, no #; lands as vt.default_* kernel
+    # params). mkDefault so a downstream console.colors wins.
+    console.colors = lib.mkIf themed (lib.mkDefault (map (lib.removePrefix "#") ansi));
+
+    services.greetd = lib.mkIf cfg.greeter.enable {
+      enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+      settings = {
+        default_session = {
+          # start-hyprland is Hyprland 0.55's watchdog launcher; running
+          # the bare binary makes every session print a warning.
+          command = lib.mkDefault ("${pkgs.tuigreet}/bin/tuigreet --time --remember --greeting 'Welcome to ${distroName}'"
+            + lib.optionalString themed " --theme '${tuigreetTheme}'"
+            + " --cmd start-hyprland");
+          user = "greeter";
+        };
+        # Boot straight into the session once; logout → normal greeter.
+        initial_session = lib.mkIf (cfg.greeter.autoLogin != null) {
+          command = "start-hyprland";
+          user = cfg.greeter.autoLogin;
+        };
+      };
+    };
+  };
+}