diff --git a/template/AGENTS.md b/template/AGENTS.md
index 34ce154..1bc4fa1 100644
--- a/template/AGENTS.md
+++ b/template/AGENTS.md
@@ -199,17 +199,42 @@ a subscription callback, or `Promise.resolve().then(() => sig.set(…))`.
 `"fit"`, `"50vw"`, `Size.min/max/clamp/add/sub(...)`. **Frame the root with
 `1fr` or a fixed size or the tree collapses to 0.**
 
-**Color & faces** — combinators wrap a string (innermost wins):
-`fg(color)`, `bg(color)`, `bold`, `dim`, `italic`, `underline`, `reverse`,
-`strike`. Colors: `idx(0..255)`, `rgb(0xRRGGBB)` / `rgb(r,g,b)`,
-`rgba(...,a)`, `color("#ff0080")`, `DEFAULT`.
+**Color & faces** — a `<Text>`'s bare attributes *are* its face: `fg`, `bg`,
+and the boolean SGR flags `bold`/`dim`/`italic`/`underline`/`reverse`/`strike`.
+Colors: a hex string anywhere (`"#ff0080"`, `"#f08"`, `"#ff0080cc"`), or
+`idx(0..255)`, `rgb(0xRRGGBB)` / `rgb(r,g,b)`, `rgba(...,a)`, `DEFAULT`.
 
 ```jsx
-<Text>{() => bold(fg(idx(2))(`${pct(frac.get())}`))}</Text>
+<Text bold fg={idx(2)}>{() => pct(frac.get())}</Text>
+```
+
+**Uniform style → bare attrs. Per-span → nest. Runtime-computed → `face()`.**
+Bare attrs face the *whole* Text, so a line with per-span colors nests `<Text>`
+runs as children — the inner face merges over the outer, so it wins:
+
+```jsx
+<Text>
+  <Text fg={out}>↑</Text>
+  <Text fg={idx(8)}>{n}</Text>
+  <Text fg={role}>{name}</Text>
+</Text>
+```
+
+When the face itself is computed at runtime, `face(patch)` applies a patch
+object to content — the programmatic form behind `<Text>`, and the escape hatch
+when bare attrs can't carry a dynamic value:
+
+```jsx
+import { face } from "yeet:tui";
+<Text>{() => face({ fg: heat(frac.get()), bold: frac.get() > 0.9 })(label)}</Text>
 ```
 
 (There's also a separate `style.red(s)` / `style.bold(s)` global — that's for
-raw `tty.write` line-mode tools, *not* the JSX tree. Use face combinators here.)
+raw `tty.write` line-mode tools, *not* the JSX tree.)
+
+> The named combinators `fg(c)(s)` / `bold(s)` / `dim(s)` … are **deprecated**,
+> kept only for back-compat. Reach for bare attrs, nested `<Text>`, or
+> `face(patch)` instead.
 
 ## Data sources
 
@@ -296,7 +321,9 @@ writes atomically. `yeet.exit()` tears the script down.
 3. **Set-during-render throws** — defer signal writes out of the render path.
 4. **`column` is the default Box direction** (Yoga, not CSS) — set
    `direction="row"` explicitly for horizontal.
-5. **Use `fg`/`bg`/`bold`** in the tree — never `color`/`style`/`backgroundColor`.
+5. **Style with bare `<Text>` attrs** (`fg`/`bg`/`bold`/…) — never
+   `color`/`style`/`backgroundColor`, and not the deprecated `fg(c)(s)`/`bold(s)`
+   combinators (use `face(patch)` when the style is computed at runtime).
 6. **Ring-buffer events are wrapped** under the `btf_struct` name — unwrap with
    `w?.<struct> ?? w`.
 7. **`@/` and `#/` are bundle-time only** — the runtime resolver doesn't know
@@ -333,7 +360,7 @@ widths read `frac`, so each fill is a thunk child that re-mints its Box when
 
 ```jsx
 // components/gauge.jsx
-import { Box, Text, bold, fg, idx } from "yeet:tui";
+import { Box, Text, idx } from "yeet:tui";
 
 const RAIL = idx(238);
 const heat = (f) => (f < 0.6 ? idx(2) : f < 0.85 ? idx(3) : idx(1));
@@ -343,10 +370,10 @@ const lpad = (s, n) => `${s}`.padStart(n);
 export default function Gauge({ frac, label }) {
   return (
     <Box height="1" direction="row">
-      <Text width="8">{fg(idx(244))(label)}</Text>
+      <Text width="8" fg={idx(244)}>{label}</Text>
       {() => <Box width={`${1 + Math.round(frac.get() * 998)}fr`} bg={heat(frac.get())} />}
       {() => <Box width={`${1 + Math.round((1 - frac.get()) * 998)}fr`} bg={RAIL} />}
-      <Text width="5">{() => bold(lpad(pct(frac.get()), 5))}</Text>
+      <Text width="5" bold>{() => lpad(pct(frac.get()), 5)}</Text>
     </Box>
   );
 }
@@ -390,7 +417,7 @@ export const cpuPct = computed(() => Math.round(cpu.get() * 100));
 
 ```jsx
 // main.jsx
-import { Box, Text, bold, mount } from "yeet:tui";
+import { Box, Text, mount } from "yeet:tui";
 import { cpu } from "@/probes/sysload.js";
 import Gauge from "@/components/gauge.jsx";
 
@@ -400,7 +427,7 @@ tty.on("keydown", (e) => {
 
 const Root = () => (
   <Box>
-    <Text height="1">{bold(" sysload  —  q to quit")}</Text>
+    <Text height="1" bold>{" sysload  —  q to quit"}</Text>
     <Box height="1fr" overflow="hidden">
       <Gauge frac={cpu} label="cpu" />
     </Box>
@@ -557,7 +584,7 @@ The other egress: the kernel aggregates into an array map, JS just reads slots.
 
 ```jsx
 // components/histogram.jsx — `latency` is a signal of per-bucket counts
-import { Box, Text, fg, idx } from "yeet:tui";
+import { Box, Text, idx } from "yeet:tui";
 
 const BARS = "▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█";
 const lo = (i) => (i === 0 ? 0 : 1 << (i - 1));     // log2 bucket lower bound (ns)
@@ -571,7 +598,7 @@ export default function Histogram({ latency }) {
         return slots.map((n, i) => (
           <Text height="1">
             {`${String(lo(i)).padStart(12)}ns `}
-            {fg(idx(4))(BARS[Math.min(7, Math.floor((n / peak) * 7.99))].repeat(Math.ceil((n / peak) * 40)))}
+            <Text fg={idx(4)}>{BARS[Math.min(7, Math.floor((n / peak) * 7.99))].repeat(Math.ceil((n / peak) * 40))}</Text>
             {`  ${n}`}
           </Text>
         ));
@@ -637,7 +664,7 @@ The crash screen itself is just a `bg`-filled box — no special API:
 
 ```jsx
 // components/bsod.jsx
-import { Box, Text, bold, fg, idx } from "yeet:tui";
+import { Box, Text, idx } from "yeet:tui";
 
 const BLUE = idx(20);
 const WHITE = idx(15);
@@ -646,11 +673,11 @@ export default function Bsod({ error }) {
   const lines = String(error?.stack ?? error?.message ?? error).split("\n");
   return (
     <Box bg={BLUE} width="1fr" height="1fr" padding={2}>
-      <Text height="1">{bold(fg(WHITE)(":(  your dashboard hit an error"))}</Text>
+      <Text height="1" bold fg={WHITE}>{":(  your dashboard hit an error"}</Text>
       <Text height="1">{" "}</Text>
-      {lines.map((l) => <Text height="1">{fg(WHITE)(l)}</Text>)}
+      {lines.map((l) => <Text height="1" fg={WHITE}>{l}</Text>)}
       <Text height="1">{" "}</Text>
-      <Text height="1">{fg(idx(250))("press q to quit")}</Text>
+      <Text height="1" fg={idx(250)}>{"press q to quit"}</Text>
     </Box>
   );
 }
diff --git a/template/src/components/detail.jsx b/template/src/components/detail.jsx
index 2a25afe..aac49b2 100644
--- a/template/src/components/detail.jsx
+++ b/template/src/components/detail.jsx
@@ -1,27 +1,25 @@
 // The selected CPU's recent context switches, streamed live: prev -> next
 // with the outgoing task's on-CPU slice. Reads `cpus` + `selected`.
-import { Box, Text, bold, fg, idx } from "yeet:tui";
+import { Box, Text, idx } from "yeet:tui";
 import { fmtDuration, lpad, pad } from "@/lib/format.js";
 
 export default ({ cpus, selected, rows }) => (
   <Box>
-    <Text height="1">
-      {() => bold(fg(idx(214))(` ▸ CPU ${selected.get()}`))}
+    <Text height="1" bold fg={idx(214)}>
+      {() => ` ▸ CPU ${selected.get()}`}
     </Text>
     <Box>
       {() => {
         const cpu = cpus.get()[selected.get()];
         const recent = cpu ? cpu.recent : [];
         const n = Math.max(1, rows);
-        if (!recent.length) return [<Text height="1">{fg(idx(240))("   (idle — no switches in window)")}</Text>];
+        if (!recent.length) return [<Text height="1" fg={idx(240)}>{"   (idle — no switches in window)"}</Text>];
         return recent.slice(0, n).map((s) => (
           <Text height="1" break="none">
-            {[
-              fg(idx(252))(`   ${pad(s.prev, 16)}`),
-              fg(idx(240))(" → "),
-              fg(idx(45))(pad(s.next, 16)),
-              fg(idx(244))(lpad(fmtDuration(s.slice), 8)),
-            ]}
+            <Text fg={idx(252)}>{`   ${pad(s.prev, 16)}`}</Text>
+            <Text fg={idx(240)}>{" → "}</Text>
+            <Text fg={idx(45)}>{pad(s.next, 16)}</Text>
+            <Text fg={idx(244)}>{lpad(fmtDuration(s.slice), 8)}</Text>
           </Text>
         ));
       }}
diff --git a/template/src/components/footer.jsx b/template/src/components/footer.jsx
index 9cb5427..2fc13b3 100644
--- a/template/src/components/footer.jsx
+++ b/template/src/components/footer.jsx
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 // strips as trailing break-whitespace). Each shortcut is a raised key-cap —
 // the key glyph in bold gold on a tile a shade lighter than the rail —
 // followed by a dimmed label, so the keys pop out of the line.
-import { Box, Text, bg, bold, fg, idx } from "yeet:tui";
+import { Box, Text, idx } from "yeet:tui";
 
 const RAIL = idx(235); // hint-rail background
 const CAP = idx(238); // key-cap tile, a shade lighter than the rail
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ const GLYPH = idx(222); // bright gold key text
 const LABEL = idx(247); // dimmed description
 
 const hint = (keys, label) => [
-  bg(CAP)(bold(fg(GLYPH)(` ${keys} `))),
-  fg(LABEL)(` ${label}   `),
+  <Text bg={CAP} bold fg={GLYPH}>{` ${keys} `}</Text>,
+  <Text fg={LABEL}>{` ${label}   `}</Text>,
 ];
 
 export default () => (
diff --git a/template/src/components/heatmap.jsx b/template/src/components/heatmap.jsx
index 80f99dd..b7a95db 100644
--- a/template/src/components/heatmap.jsx
+++ b/template/src/components/heatmap.jsx
@@ -4,18 +4,18 @@
 // brighter than quiet ones. `gridCols`/`maxRows` come from the responsive
 // layout: it renders the most recent `gridCols` of history and, when there
 // are more cores than rows, windows the list to keep the selection in view.
-import { Box, Text, bold, fg, idx } from "yeet:tui";
+import { Box, Text, idx } from "yeet:tui";
 import { heat } from "@/lib/format.js";
 
 const HEADER = "  cores × time   (newest → right)   brightness = switch rate";
 
 export default ({ cpus, selected, gridCols, maxRows }) => (
   <Box>
-    <Text height="1">
+    <Text height="1" fg={idx(244)}>
       {() => {
         const total = cpus.get().length;
         const shown = Math.min(maxRows, total);
-        return fg(idx(244))(total > shown ? `${HEADER}   · ${total} cores` : HEADER);
+        return total > shown ? `${HEADER}   · ${total} cores` : HEADER;
       }}
     </Text>
     <Box>
@@ -39,10 +39,13 @@ export default ({ cpus, selected, gridCols, maxRows }) => (
           const label = `${on ? "▸" : " "} cpu ${String(i).padStart(2)} `;
           const cells = c.hist
             .slice(-gridCols)
-            .map((v) => fg(heat(v <= 0 ? 0 : Math.sqrt(v / peak)))("█"));
+            .map((v) => <Text fg={heat(v <= 0 ? 0 : Math.sqrt(v / peak))}>{"█"}</Text>);
+          const head = on
+            ? <Text bold fg={idx(231)}>{label}</Text>
+            : <Text fg={idx(245)}>{label}</Text>;
           return (
             <Text height="1" break="none">
-              {[on ? bold(fg(idx(231))(label)) : fg(idx(245))(label), ...cells]}
+              {[head, ...cells]}
             </Text>
           );
         });
diff --git a/template/src/components/histogram.jsx b/template/src/components/histogram.jsx
index 18208cc..b54bbd2 100644
--- a/template/src/components/histogram.jsx
+++ b/template/src/components/histogram.jsx
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // Run-queue latency as a log2 histogram. Reads the polled `latency` signal
 // (cumulative counts per bucket) and draws a bar per bucket, the label
 // being the bucket's lower bound.
-import { Box, Text, fg, idx } from "yeet:tui";
+import { Box, Text, idx } from "yeet:tui";
 import { fmtDuration, lpad } from "@/lib/format.js";
 
 const LO = 8; // 2^8 ns = 256ns
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ const BARW = 16;
 
 export default ({ latency, maxRows }) => (
   <Box>
-    <Text height="1">{fg(idx(244))(" runqueue latency")}</Text>
-    <Text height="1">{fg(idx(244))(" (wakeup → on-cpu)")}</Text>
+    <Text height="1" fg={idx(244)}>{" runqueue latency"}</Text>
+    <Text height="1" fg={idx(244)}>{" (wakeup → on-cpu)"}</Text>
     <Box>
       {() => {
         const slots = latency.get();
@@ -36,11 +36,9 @@ export default ({ latency, maxRows }) => (
           const w = Math.round((n / peak) * BARW);
           rows.push(
             <Text height="1" break="none">
-              {[
-                fg(idx(244))(`${lpad(fmtDuration(2 ** i), 7)} `),
-                fg(idx(75))("█".repeat(w)),
-                fg(idx(240))(n ? ` ${n}` : ""),
-              ]}
+              <Text fg={idx(244)}>{`${lpad(fmtDuration(2 ** i), 7)} `}</Text>
+              <Text fg={idx(75)}>{"█".repeat(w)}</Text>
+              <Text fg={idx(240)}>{n ? ` ${n}` : ""}</Text>
             </Text>,
           );
         }
diff --git a/template/src/components/procs.jsx b/template/src/components/procs.jsx
index 3d9aa58..26e1a60 100644
--- a/template/src/components/procs.jsx
+++ b/template/src/components/procs.jsx
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 // heatmap's inferno ramp; the label is the command and its share of total CPU
 // time. Only switches the kernel emitted are counted, so sub-`min-slice` tasks
 // don't show — it tracks CPU hogs, not every wakeup.
-import { Box, Text, bold, fg, idx } from "yeet:tui";
+import { Box, Text, idx } from "yeet:tui";
 import { heat, lpad, pad } from "@/lib/format.js";
 
 const NAMEW = 15; // command column width
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ const PCTW = 7; // "100.0%" + a space
 
 export default ({ procs, width, maxRows }) => (
   <Box>
-    <Text height="1">
-      {fg(idx(244))("  top processes · on-cpu time   (per 500ms window)")}
+    <Text height="1" fg={idx(244)}>
+      {"  top processes · on-cpu time   (per 500ms window)"}
     </Text>
     <Box>
       {() => {
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ export default ({ procs, width, maxRows }) => (
         const barW = Math.max(6, width - NAMEW - PCTW - 3);
         const shown = list.slice(0, maxRows);
         if (!shown.length) {
-          return [<Text height="1">{fg(idx(240))("   (idle — no qualifying switches yet)")}</Text>];
+          return [<Text height="1" fg={idx(240)}>{"   (idle — no qualifying switches yet)"}</Text>];
         }
         const top = shown[0].pct || 1; // scale bars to the busiest process
 
@@ -31,12 +31,10 @@ export default ({ procs, width, maxRows }) => (
           const w = Math.max(1, Math.round(frac * barW));
           return (
             <Text height="1" break="none">
-              {[
-                fg(idx(252))(`  ${pad(p.comm, NAMEW)}`),
-                fg(heat(frac))("█".repeat(w)),
-                fg(idx(237))("·".repeat(Math.max(0, barW - w))),
-                bold(fg(idx(250))(lpad(`${p.pct.toFixed(1)}%`, PCTW))),
-              ]}
+              <Text fg={idx(252)}>{`  ${pad(p.comm, NAMEW)}`}</Text>
+              <Text fg={heat(frac)}>{"█".repeat(w)}</Text>
+              <Text fg={idx(237)}>{"·".repeat(Math.max(0, barW - w))}</Text>
+              <Text bold fg={idx(250)}>{lpad(`${p.pct.toFixed(1)}%`, PCTW)}</Text>
             </Text>
           );
         });
diff --git a/template/src/components/titlebar.jsx b/template/src/components/titlebar.jsx
index 39b0e5d..bc72f74 100644
--- a/template/src/components/titlebar.jsx
+++ b/template/src/components/titlebar.jsx
@@ -2,21 +2,21 @@
 // min-slice knob value (what +/- patches into the kernel). A one-row Box
 // tinted as the rail via the container's own bg — full width, no fragile
 // space-fill.
-import { Box, Text, bold, fg, idx } from "yeet:tui";
+import { Box, Text, idx } from "yeet:tui";
 import { fmtDuration, fmtRate } from "@/lib/format.js";
 
 const RAIL = idx(235);
+const sep = () => <Text fg={idx(240)}>{"  ▏  "}</Text>;
 
 export default ({ cpus, minSlice }) => (
   <Box height="1" direction="row" bg={RAIL}>
     <Text break="none">
       {() => {
         const total = cpus.get().reduce((s, c) => s + c.rate, 0);
-        const sep = fg(idx(240))("  ▏  ");
         return [
-          bold(fg(idx(214))(" ● cpusched ")), sep,
-          bold(`${fmtRate(total)}`), fg(idx(245))(" switches/s"), sep,
-          fg(idx(245))("min-slice ≥ "), bold(fmtDuration(minSlice.get() * 1000)), fg(idx(240))("  [ +/- ]"),
+          <Text bold fg={idx(214)}>{" ● cpusched "}</Text>, sep(),
+          <Text bold>{fmtRate(total)}</Text>, <Text fg={idx(245)}>{" switches/s"}</Text>, sep(),
+          <Text fg={idx(245)}>{"min-slice ≥ "}</Text>, <Text bold>{fmtDuration(minSlice.get() * 1000)}</Text>, <Text fg={idx(240)}>{"  [ +/- ]"}</Text>,
         ];
       }}
     </Text>
diff --git a/template/src/main.jsx b/template/src/main.jsx
index c76ee08..edfe702 100644
--- a/template/src/main.jsx
+++ b/template/src/main.jsx
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
  *
  * To ship a pure-JS script, delete src/bpf/, bin/, and probes/cpusched.js.
  */
-import { Box, Text, fg, idx, mount, signal } from "yeet:tui";
+import { Box, Text, idx, mount, signal } from "yeet:tui";
 import { numCpus } from "@/probes/probe.js";
 import { cpus, minSlice, procs, setMinSlice } from "@/probes/cpusched.js";
 import { latency } from "@/probes/runqlat.js";
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ tty.on?.("mousedown", (e) => {
   if (i >= 0 && i < numCpus) selected.set(i);
 });
 
-const Rule = () => <Text height="1">{fg(idx(238))("─".repeat(400))}</Text>;
+const Rule = () => <Text height="1" fg={idx(238)}>{"─".repeat(400)}</Text>;
 
 // One layout cell → its component, filled with the extents the layout chose.
 const cell = (c) => {