diff --git a/src/app/theme/mappers/theme-css-vars.mapper.ts b/src/app/theme/mappers/theme-css-vars.mapper.ts
index 43a9e10..ba75c2d 100644
--- a/src/app/theme/mappers/theme-css-vars.mapper.ts
+++ b/src/app/theme/mappers/theme-css-vars.mapper.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,21 @@ import { ThemeConfig } from '../../shared/models/config';
 import { ThemeCssVariables } from '../tokens/theme-css-variable.model';
 import { THEME_VARIABLE_MAP } from '../tokens/theme-variable-map';
 
-export function mapThemeConfigToCssVariables(theme: ThemeConfig): ThemeCssVariables {
+/**
+ * Dark-mode neutral/surface overrides. Brand colors (primary/secondary/
+ * accent/success/warning/danger/info) are intentionally left as configured -
+ * only the background/text/border axis flips for dark mode, same as most
+ * dark-theme implementations.
+ */
+const DARK_MODE_OVERRIDES: ThemeCssVariables = {
+  [THEME_VARIABLE_MAP.backgroundPrimary]: '#091413',
+  [THEME_VARIABLE_MAP.backgroundSecondary]: '#285a48',
+  [THEME_VARIABLE_MAP.textPrimary]: '#b0e4cc',
+  [THEME_VARIABLE_MAP.textSecondary]: '#408a71',
+  [THEME_VARIABLE_MAP.border]: '#285a48',
+};
+
+export function mapThemeConfigToCssVariables(theme: ThemeConfig, effectiveMode: 'light' | 'dark' = 'light'): ThemeCssVariables {
   const spacingScale = Array.isArray(theme.spacing.scale) && theme.spacing.scale.length > 0
     ? theme.spacing.scale
     : [0.25, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2];
@@ -49,5 +63,5 @@ export function mapThemeConfigToCssVariables(theme: ThemeConfig): ThemeCssVariab
     vars[`--shadow-${key}`] = value;
   }
 
-  return vars;
+  return effectiveMode === 'dark' ? { ...vars, ...DARK_MODE_OVERRIDES } : vars;
 }
diff --git a/src/app/theme/runtime/theme-engine.service.ts b/src/app/theme/runtime/theme-engine.service.ts
index fbd11bf..d430b40 100644
--- a/src/app/theme/runtime/theme-engine.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/theme/runtime/theme-engine.service.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ export class ThemeEngineService {
   private readonly document = inject(DOCUMENT);
   private readonly configService = inject(ConfigService);
 
+  private systemDarkQuery?: MediaQueryList;
+  private systemDarkListener?: (event: MediaQueryListEvent) => void;
+
   initialize(): void {
     this.configService.loadBootstrap().pipe(take(1)).subscribe({
       next: (bootstrap) => this.applyTheme(bootstrap.theme),
@@ -20,7 +23,20 @@ export class ThemeEngineService {
   }
 
   applyTheme(theme: ThemeConfig): void {
-    const variables = mapThemeConfigToCssVariables(theme);
+    this.teardownSystemModeListener();
+
+    const effectiveMode = this.resolveEffectiveMode(theme.mode);
+    this.render(theme, effectiveMode);
+
+    if (theme.mode === 'system' && typeof window !== 'undefined' && window.matchMedia) {
+      this.systemDarkQuery = window.matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: dark)');
+      this.systemDarkListener = () => this.render(theme, this.resolveEffectiveMode('system'));
+      this.systemDarkQuery.addEventListener('change', this.systemDarkListener);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private render(theme: ThemeConfig, effectiveMode: 'light' | 'dark'): void {
+    const variables = mapThemeConfigToCssVariables(theme, effectiveMode);
     const root = this.document.documentElement;
 
     for (const [name, value] of Object.entries(variables)) {
@@ -28,7 +44,27 @@ export class ThemeEngineService {
     }
 
     root.setAttribute('data-theme-id', theme.themeId);
-    root.setAttribute('data-theme-mode', theme.mode);
+    root.setAttribute('data-theme-mode', effectiveMode);
     root.setAttribute('data-icon-set', theme.iconSet);
   }
+
+  private resolveEffectiveMode(mode: ThemeConfig['mode']): 'light' | 'dark' {
+    if (mode === 'dark') {
+      return 'dark';
+    }
+    if (mode === 'light') {
+      return 'light';
+    }
+    return typeof window !== 'undefined' && window.matchMedia?.('(prefers-color-scheme: dark)').matches
+      ? 'dark'
+      : 'light';
+  }
+
+  private teardownSystemModeListener(): void {
+    if (this.systemDarkQuery && this.systemDarkListener) {
+      this.systemDarkQuery.removeEventListener('change', this.systemDarkListener);
+    }
+    this.systemDarkQuery = undefined;
+    this.systemDarkListener = undefined;
+  }
 }