diff --git a/docs/MODULE-GUIDE.md b/docs/MODULE-GUIDE.md
index 0a88081..acaafe1 100644
--- a/docs/MODULE-GUIDE.md
+++ b/docs/MODULE-GUIDE.md
@@ -187,7 +187,10 @@ a module with a long show/hide checklist keeps the popover usable — see
 connections. The popover itself is a small window beside the tile — sized to
 its content, moved by the slim bar on top, closed by clicking anywhere else
 or pressing Escape — so a tile never has to be big enough to hold its own
-settings, and a change can be watched as it lands.
+settings, and a change can be watched as it lands. Under everything you
+offer, the shell adds **Tile tint** — a colour the operator can wash that
+tile's chrome in, saved with the layout. It is not yours to declare and it
+never remounts you; don't offer one of your own.
 
 A picker entry (see **Presenting multiple tiles**) may carry its own
 `instanceSchema` and `instanceGroups`: tiles added from that entry get those
@@ -315,7 +318,7 @@ export default function create({ root, moduleApi }) {
 | `instanceId` | Unique per tile — two tiles of the same module get different ids. Handy for keying anything per-tile. |
 | `variant` | For multi-tile modules: the id of the tile-list entry this tile was added as, `''` otherwise (see **Presenting multiple tiles**). |
 | `config` | Admin (server-wide) config, read-only, always current. Password fields are absent — they never reach the client. |
-| `instanceSettings` | This tile's settings: your `instanceSchema` defaults overlaid with whatever this tile has saved. Read it fresh whenever you render — don't cache it. |
+| `instanceSettings` | This tile's settings: your `instanceSchema` defaults overlaid with whatever this tile has saved. Read it fresh whenever you render — don't cache it. Keys beginning `__` are the shell's own (`__tint`, the tile's colour) — never use that prefix, and ignore the ones you find. |
 | `saveInstanceSettings(patch)` | Merge `patch` into this tile's settings and persist them with the layout. No restart happens — you made the change, you already know. Use it for state the user sets *inside* your tile (a toggled filter, a chosen tab). |
 | `fetch(path, opts)` | `fetch` scoped to your server routes: `fetch('/state')` hits `/api/modules/<id>/state`. |
 | `sse(path, handlers)` | An `EventSource` scoped the same way, **with auto-reconnect** (see below). Returns a handle with `close()`. |
diff --git a/public/shell.js b/public/shell.js
index a7f33df..d9d24d8 100644
--- a/public/shell.js
+++ b/public/shell.js
@@ -261,6 +261,7 @@ function buildTile(tile) {
   el.className = 'tile';
   el.dataset.tileId = tile.id;
   if (man) el.dataset.module = man.id;
+  applyTint(tile, el);
 
   const head = document.createElement('div');
   head.className = 'tile-head';
@@ -279,8 +280,9 @@ function buildTile(tile) {
 
   head.append(dot, title, controls);
 
-  const hasSettings = man && Object.keys(tileSchema(tile, man).schema).length;
-  if (hasSettings) {
+  // Every tile has something to set: its own settings when the module
+  // offers any, and the tint either way.
+  if (man) {
     const gear = document.createElement('button');
     gear.className = 'tile-btn';
     gear.title = 'Settings';
@@ -1133,6 +1135,23 @@ function unmountModule(tile) {
 /* ── per-tile settings popover ──────────────────────────────────────── */
 
 /** `<input type="color">` only accepts #rrggbb — anything else falls back. */
+/* ── the tile tint ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
+   Every tile can be washed in a colour of its own — a way to tell one
+   screen's tiles apart at a glance (this campus green, that one amber).
+   It is the shell's, not a module's: the key is reserved, it is offered in
+   every gear window, and it saves with the layout like any other tile
+   setting. A tile with no tint looks exactly as before. */
+const TINT_KEY = '__tint';
+
+/** Paint (or clear) a tile's tint on its element. */
+function applyTint(tile, el = tileEls.get(tile.id)?.el) {
+  if (!el) return;
+  const hex = colorHex(tile.settings?.[TINT_KEY], '');
+  if (hex) el.style.setProperty('--tile-tint', hex);
+  else el.style.removeProperty('--tile-tint');
+  el.classList.toggle('is-tinted', Boolean(hex));
+}
+
 function colorHex(value, fallback) {
   const s = String(value ?? '').trim();
   if (/^#[0-9a-fA-F]{6}$/.test(s)) return s.toLowerCase();
@@ -1267,8 +1286,8 @@ function toggleSettingsPopover(tile, el, button = null) {
   closeSettingsPopovers();
   if (existing) return;
   const man = registry.get(tile.module);
+  if (!man) return;
   const { schema, groups: groupMeta } = tileSchema(tile, man);
-  if (!man || !Object.keys(schema).length) return;
 
   const pop = document.createElement('div');
   pop.className = 'tile-settings';
@@ -1588,6 +1607,43 @@ function toggleSettingsPopover(tile, el, button = null) {
     }
   }
 
+  /* The tint sits on its own at the foot of the window, under a hairline —
+     it is the shell's setting, not one of the module's. Unlike those, a
+     change needs no remount: nothing but the tile's own chrome reads it. */
+  {
+    const field = document.createElement('div');
+    field.className = 'field color-field tint-field'; // the swatch reads like a module's colour field
+    const text = document.createElement('span');
+    text.textContent = 'Tile tint';
+    const input = document.createElement('input');
+    input.type = 'color';
+    input.setAttribute('aria-label', 'Tile tint');
+    const clear = document.createElement('button');
+    clear.type = 'button';
+    clear.className = 'tint-clear';
+    clear.textContent = 'Clear';
+    clear.title = 'No tint';
+    const paint = () => {
+      const hex = colorHex(tile.settings[TINT_KEY], '');
+      // With no tint the swatch opens on the panel colour, so the picker
+      // starts somewhere sane rather than at black.
+      input.value = hex || colorHex(getComputedStyle(document.documentElement).getPropertyValue('--panel'), '#1a1d21');
+      clear.hidden = !hex;
+    };
+    const set = (hex) => {
+      if (hex) tile.settings[TINT_KEY] = hex;
+      else delete tile.settings[TINT_KEY];
+      applyTint(tile);
+      paint();
+      saveLayout();
+    };
+    input.addEventListener('input', () => set(colorHex(input.value, '')));
+    clear.addEventListener('click', () => set(''));
+    paint();
+    field.append(text, clear, input);
+    body.appendChild(field);
+  }
+
   // "Short day" appears once "Date" is on: a field with showWhen:"K" follows
   // K's switch, live — the same rule the admin page applies.
   if (shownWhen.length) {
diff --git a/public/style.css b/public/style.css
index b10f060..dfb8491 100644
--- a/public/style.css
+++ b/public/style.css
@@ -234,6 +234,18 @@ body.menu-hidden #topbar {
   overflow: hidden;
 }
 
+/* A tile the user gave a colour: a wash over the panel, a stronger edge and
+   a tinted title bar. Module content keeps its own colours — this is the
+   tile's chrome, so a tinted tile still reads like every other one. */
+.tile.is-tinted {
+  background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--tile-tint) 14%, var(--panel));
+  border-color: color-mix(in srgb, var(--tile-tint) 45%, var(--border));
+}
+.tile.is-tinted > .tile-head {
+  background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--tile-tint) 20%, transparent);
+  border-bottom-color: color-mix(in srgb, var(--tile-tint) 35%, var(--border));
+}
+
 .tile.dragging,
 .tile.resizing {
   z-index: 40;
@@ -599,6 +611,26 @@ body.fullscreen #grid { padding-bottom: 0; }
 }
 .tile-settings-bar:hover::before { opacity: 1; }
 .tile-settings .field[hidden] { display: none; }
+/* the tint, the shell's own setting, under a hairline at the foot */
+.tile-settings .tint-field {
+  margin: 8px 0 0;
+  padding-top: 9px;
+  border-top: 1px solid var(--border);
+  gap: 8px;
+}
+.tile-settings .tint-clear {
+  flex: none;
+  padding: 1px 7px;
+  border: 1px solid var(--border);
+  border-radius: 999px;
+  background: none;
+  color: var(--muted);
+  font: inherit;
+  font-size: 11px;
+  cursor: pointer;
+}
+.tile-settings .tint-clear:hover { color: var(--text); background: var(--border); }
+.tile-settings .tint-clear[hidden] { display: none; }
 .tile-settings-bar:active { cursor: grabbing; }
 .tile-settings-body {
   flex: 1;