diff --git a/apps/web/src/modules/mesh/topic-chat-panel.tsx b/apps/web/src/modules/mesh/topic-chat-panel.tsx
index 5256a84..012c83f 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/modules/mesh/topic-chat-panel.tsx
+++ b/apps/web/src/modules/mesh/topic-chat-panel.tsx
@@ -2,9 +2,7 @@
 
 import { useCallback, useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from "react";
 
-import { Badge } from "@turbostarter/ui-web/badge";
 import { Button } from "@turbostarter/ui-web/button";
-import { Card, CardContent, CardHeader, CardTitle } from "@turbostarter/ui-web/card";
 
 const POLL_INTERVAL_MS = 5000;
 
@@ -71,6 +69,16 @@ function fmtTime(iso: string): string {
   }
 }
 
+function fmtRelative(iso: string): string {
+  const ms = Date.now() - new Date(iso).getTime();
+  if (ms < 60_000) return `${Math.floor(ms / 1000)}s ago`;
+  if (ms < 3_600_000) return `${Math.floor(ms / 60_000)}m ago`;
+  if (ms < 86_400_000) return `${Math.floor(ms / 3_600_000)}h ago`;
+  return new Date(iso).toLocaleDateString();
+}
+
+const monoStyle = { fontFamily: "var(--cm-font-mono)" } as const;
+
 export function TopicChatPanel({
   topicName,
   meshSlug,
@@ -81,6 +89,8 @@ export function TopicChatPanel({
   const [draft, setDraft] = useState("");
   const [error, setError] = useState<string | null>(null);
   const [sending, setSending] = useState(false);
+  const [isFetching, setIsFetching] = useState(false);
+  const [lastPollAt, setLastPollAt] = useState<number | null>(null);
   const scrollRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
 
   const headers = useMemo(
@@ -92,6 +102,7 @@ export function TopicChatPanel({
   );
 
   const refresh = useCallback(async () => {
+    setIsFetching(true);
     try {
       const res = await fetch(
         `/api/v1/topics/${encodeURIComponent(topicName)}/messages?limit=100`,
@@ -104,8 +115,11 @@ export function TopicChatPanel({
       const json = (await res.json()) as { messages: TopicMessage[] };
       setMessages(json.messages.slice().reverse());
       setError(null);
+      setLastPollAt(Date.now());
     } catch (e) {
       setError((e as Error).message);
+    } finally {
+      setIsFetching(false);
     }
   }, [headers, topicName]);
 
@@ -148,56 +162,83 @@ export function TopicChatPanel({
     }
   };
 
+  const secondsSincePoll = lastPollAt
+    ? Math.max(0, Math.floor((Date.now() - lastPollAt) / 1000))
+    : null;
+
   return (
-    <Card className="flex h-[70vh] flex-col">
-      <CardHeader className="flex-row items-center justify-between border-b py-3">
-        <CardTitle className="text-base font-medium">
-          <span className="text-muted-foreground">#</span>
-          {topicName}
-        </CardTitle>
-        <div className="flex items-center gap-2 text-xs">
-          <Badge variant="outline" className="font-mono">
-            {meshSlug}
-          </Badge>
-          <span className="text-muted-foreground">
-            key expires {fmtTime(apiKeyExpiresAt)}
+    <div className="flex h-[70vh] flex-col overflow-hidden rounded-[var(--cm-radius-lg)] border border-[var(--cm-border)] bg-[var(--cm-bg)]">
+      {/* Header — mono strip, clay-pulse dot, metadata right */}
+      <div
+        className="flex items-center justify-between border-b border-[var(--cm-border)] bg-[var(--cm-bg-elevated)]/60 px-4 py-3"
+        style={monoStyle}
+      >
+        <div className="flex items-center gap-3">
+          <span
+            className={
+              "inline-block h-2 w-2 rounded-full " +
+              (isFetching
+                ? "bg-[var(--cm-clay)] animate-pulse"
+                : "bg-emerald-500")
+            }
+          />
+          <span className="text-[11px] text-[var(--cm-fg-secondary)]">
+            #{topicName}
           </span>
         </div>
-      </CardHeader>
+        <span className="text-[10px] text-[var(--cm-fg-tertiary)]">
+          {messages.length} msg ·{" "}
+          {isFetching
+            ? "polling…"
+            : `${secondsSincePoll ?? "—"}s ago`}
+        </span>
+      </div>
 
-      <CardContent
-        ref={scrollRef}
-        className="flex-1 overflow-y-auto p-4"
-      >
+      {/* Message stream */}
+      <div ref={scrollRef} className="flex-1 overflow-y-auto px-4 py-4">
         {messages.length === 0 ? (
-          <p className="text-muted-foreground py-8 text-center text-sm">
-            No messages yet. Be the first.
+          <p
+            className="py-12 text-center text-[11px] text-[var(--cm-fg-tertiary)]"
+            style={monoStyle}
+          >
+            no envelopes on this topic yet
           </p>
         ) : (
-          <ol className="flex flex-col gap-3">
+          <ol className="flex flex-col gap-4">
             {messages.map((m) => (
-              <li key={m.id} className="flex flex-col gap-0.5">
-                <div className="text-muted-foreground flex items-baseline gap-2 text-xs">
-                  <span className="font-medium text-foreground">
+              <li key={m.id} className="flex flex-col gap-1">
+                <div
+                  className="flex items-baseline gap-2 text-[10px]"
+                  style={monoStyle}
+                >
+                  <span className="text-[var(--cm-fg)] font-medium">
                     {m.senderName || m.senderPubkey.slice(0, 8)}
                   </span>
-                  <span className="font-mono">
-                    {m.senderPubkey.slice(0, 6)}…
+                  <span className="text-[var(--cm-fg-tertiary)]">
+                    {m.senderPubkey.slice(0, 8)}
+                  </span>
+                  <span className="text-[var(--cm-fg-tertiary)]">
+                    {fmtTime(m.createdAt)}
                   </span>
-                  <span>{fmtTime(m.createdAt)}</span>
                 </div>
-                <p className="text-sm whitespace-pre-wrap break-words">
+                <p className="text-[var(--cm-fg)] text-sm leading-relaxed whitespace-pre-wrap break-words">
                   {decodeIncoming(m.ciphertext)}
                 </p>
               </li>
             ))}
           </ol>
         )}
-      </CardContent>
+      </div>
 
-      <div className="border-t p-3">
+      {/* Compose */}
+      <div className="border-t border-[var(--cm-border)] bg-[var(--cm-bg-elevated)]/30 p-3">
         {error ? (
-          <p className="mb-2 text-xs text-destructive">{error}</p>
+          <p
+            className="mb-2 text-[10px] text-[#c46686]"
+            style={monoStyle}
+          >
+            error · {error}
+          </p>
         ) : null}
         <form
           className="flex gap-2"
@@ -209,9 +250,9 @@ export function TopicChatPanel({
           <textarea
             value={draft}
             onChange={(e) => setDraft(e.target.value)}
-            placeholder={`Message #${topicName}…`}
+            placeholder={`message #${topicName}…`}
             rows={1}
-            className="flex-1 resize-none rounded-md border bg-transparent px-3 py-2 text-sm focus:outline-none focus:ring-2 focus:ring-ring"
+            className="flex-1 resize-none rounded-[var(--cm-radius-md)] border border-[var(--cm-border)] bg-[var(--cm-bg)] px-3 py-2 text-sm text-[var(--cm-fg)] placeholder:text-[var(--cm-fg-tertiary)] focus:border-[var(--cm-border-hover)] focus:outline-none"
             onKeyDown={(e) => {
               if (e.key === "Enter" && !e.shiftKey) {
                 e.preventDefault();
@@ -220,10 +261,26 @@ export function TopicChatPanel({
             }}
           />
           <Button type="submit" disabled={sending || !draft.trim()}>
-            {sending ? "…" : "Send"}
+            {sending ? "…" : "send"}
           </Button>
         </form>
       </div>
-    </Card>
+
+      {/* Status footer — 9px mono, matches peer-graph + state-timeline footers */}
+      <div
+        className="flex flex-wrap items-center gap-x-5 gap-y-1 border-t border-[var(--cm-border)] bg-[var(--cm-bg-elevated)]/30 px-4 py-2 text-[9px] text-[var(--cm-fg-tertiary)]"
+        style={monoStyle}
+      >
+        <span className="flex items-center gap-1.5">
+          <span className="inline-block h-1.5 w-1.5 rounded-full bg-[var(--cm-clay)]" />
+          mesh · {meshSlug}
+        </span>
+        <span>polling every {POLL_INTERVAL_MS / 1000}s</span>
+        <span>key valid until {fmtTime(apiKeyExpiresAt)}</span>
+        <span className="ml-auto">
+          v0.2.0 · plaintext base64 · per-topic crypto in v0.3.0
+        </span>
+      </div>
+    </div>
   );
 }