diff --git a/.claude/context/styling.md b/.claude/context/styling.md
index 6e0c4ea..1f78a3e 100644
--- a/.claude/context/styling.md
+++ b/.claude/context/styling.md
@@ -29,6 +29,13 @@ widgets. Key points:
   whole app in `main.dart`. When available and `useDynamicColor` is on, the
   OS-provided `ColorScheme` wins over the seed color — always thread both
   `dynamicScheme` and `useDynamicColor` through when adding a theme knob.
+  `NooColors.fromDynamicScheme` keeps `bg` on the OS `surface` but picks
+  `surface` (cards, selection bar, rows) from the container roles so it
+  stays lighter than `bg`: `surfaceContainerLowest` (white) in light,
+  `surfaceContainer` in dark. The dynamic_color package seeds the container
+  roles from the primary color rather than the OS palette, and in light mode
+  `surfaceContainerLow` is slightly *darker* than the OS `surface`, which
+  made cards blend into the page ("the selection bar has no background").
 - **Font**: Inter via `google_fonts`, applied through
   `GoogleFonts.interTextTheme(...)`. Font files ship in
   `assets/google_fonts/` (Instrument Sans, Schibsted Grotesk) and
diff --git a/lib/theme/design_tokens.dart b/lib/theme/design_tokens.dart
index 4f2fbbe..672fbe4 100644
--- a/lib/theme/design_tokens.dart
+++ b/lib/theme/design_tokens.dart
@@ -139,11 +139,20 @@ class NooColors extends ThemeExtension<NooColors> {
   /// paints it, not painted directly - using it as-is for a sheet/dialog's
   /// `barrierColor` hid the screen behind completely instead of dimming it,
   /// so this uses the fixed palette's already-translucent scrim instead.
+  ///
+  /// `surface` (cards, bars, rows) has to read as lighter than `bg`, like
+  /// the fixed palettes' white-on-beige / lifted-on-near-black. In light
+  /// mode `surfaceContainerLow` is a hair *darker* than the OS-provided
+  /// `surface` that [bg] uses, so cards (the selection bar, list rows)
+  /// vanished into the page; `surfaceContainerLowest` (white) doesn't. Dark
+  /// mode uses `surfaceContainer` rather than `...Low` for a bigger step
+  /// off the page.
   factory NooColors.fromDynamicScheme(ColorScheme cs) {
-    final fixed = cs.brightness == Brightness.dark ? dark : light;
+    final dark = cs.brightness == Brightness.dark;
+    final fixed = dark ? NooColors.dark : NooColors.light;
     return NooColors(
       bg: cs.surface,
-      surface: cs.surfaceContainerLow,
+      surface: dark ? cs.surfaceContainer : cs.surfaceContainerLowest,
       surface2: cs.surfaceContainerHigh,
       surface3: cs.surfaceContainerHighest,
       line: cs.outlineVariant,
diff --git a/test/widgets/noo/core_test.dart b/test/widgets/noo/core_test.dart
index 0bd4af8..143d373 100644
--- a/test/widgets/noo/core_test.dart
+++ b/test/widgets/noo/core_test.dart
@@ -74,6 +74,30 @@ void main() {
     });
   });
 
+  group('NooColors.fromDynamicScheme surfaces', () {
+    for (final brightness in Brightness.values) {
+      test('cards are clearly lighter than the page (${brightness.name})', () {
+        // The OS palette overrides `surface` (what `bg` maps to) but not the
+        // seeded container roles - mimic that mismatch.
+        final seeded = ColorScheme.fromSeed(
+          seedColor: const Color(0xFF3F6B8F),
+          brightness: brightness,
+        );
+        final os = seeded.copyWith(
+          surface: brightness == Brightness.light
+              ? const Color(0xFFF7F9FC)
+              : const Color(0xFF101417),
+        );
+        final c = NooColors.fromDynamicScheme(os);
+        // WCAG-style contrast ratio between the card and the page.
+        final hi = c.surface.computeLuminance();
+        final lo = c.bg.computeLuminance();
+        expect(hi, greaterThan(lo));
+        expect((hi + 0.05) / (lo + 0.05), greaterThan(1.04));
+      });
+    }
+  });
+
   group('NooAvatar', () {
     testNooWidgets('current user uses accent-soft/accent-text', (
       tester,