diff --git a/frontend/eslint.config.mjs b/frontend/eslint.config.mjs
index ef9679a..bb4d9ca 100644
--- a/frontend/eslint.config.mjs
+++ b/frontend/eslint.config.mjs
@@ -25,17 +25,15 @@ const eslintConfig = [
         "error",
         { argsIgnorePattern: "^_", varsIgnorePattern: "^_" },
       ],
-      // react-hooks v7 (bundled by eslint-config-next 16) adds the React
-      // Compiler-era rules as errors. The codebase predates them and carries
-      // ~27 hits of deliberate pre-compiler idioms (latest-ref, sync-state-in
-      // -effect, render-scoped subcomponents). Warn — visible in editors and
-      // lint output, not a CI gate — while they're burned down incrementally.
-      // rules-of-hooks / exhaustive-deps stay errors, as ever.
-      "react-hooks/refs": "warn",
-      "react-hooks/set-state-in-effect": "warn",
-      "react-hooks/static-components": "warn",
-      "react-hooks/immutability": "warn",
-      "react-hooks/preserve-manual-memoization": "warn",
+      // react-hooks v7 (eslint-config-next 16) React Compiler-era rules, held at
+      // error so a new pre-compiler idiom can't slip in (the codebase's original
+      // hits were burned down in #38). Explicit rather than inherited so the CI
+      // gate is unambiguous.
+      "react-hooks/refs": "error",
+      "react-hooks/set-state-in-effect": "error",
+      "react-hooks/static-components": "error",
+      "react-hooks/immutability": "error",
+      "react-hooks/preserve-manual-memoization": "error",
     },
   },
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/app/(app)/admin/appearance/page.tsx b/frontend/src/app/(app)/admin/appearance/page.tsx
index 21a24fa..287cb28 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/(app)/admin/appearance/page.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/app/(app)/admin/appearance/page.tsx
@@ -64,11 +64,16 @@ export default function AdminAppearancePage() {
   }, [palette, accent]);
 
   // On leaving without saving, restore what the viewer actually sees (their own
-  // palette override, if any, over the saved site default).
+  // palette override, if any, over the saved site default). The unmount cleanup
+  // needs the *latest* saved settings + override, but must run only on unmount —
+  // so mirror them into refs from an effect (refs are written outside render)
+  // and read those in the mount-only cleanup.
   const savedRef = useRef(saved);
-  savedRef.current = saved;
   const overrideRef = useRef(paletteOverride);
-  overrideRef.current = paletteOverride;
+  useEffect(() => {
+    savedRef.current = saved;
+    overrideRef.current = paletteOverride;
+  });
   useEffect(() => {
     return () => {
       const s = savedRef.current;
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/app/route-progress.tsx b/frontend/src/components/app/route-progress.tsx
index 35ad4a9..a6d58f4 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/app/route-progress.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/app/route-progress.tsx
@@ -24,6 +24,15 @@ export function RouteProgress() {
     }
   }, []);
 
+  // Declared before `start` so it can be a real dependency there (rather than
+  // referenced before declaration behind a lint-disable).
+  const finish = React.useCallback(() => {
+    clearTimers();
+    // If the bar never showed (instant nav within the start delay), stay hidden.
+    setProgress((p) => (p <= 0 ? 0 : 100));
+    timers.current.push(setTimeout(() => setProgress(0), 240));
+  }, [clearTimers]);
+
   const start = React.useCallback(() => {
     clearTimers();
     // Delay before showing so a fast navigation doesn't blink a bar.
@@ -39,15 +48,7 @@ export function RouteProgress() {
     );
     // Never trickle forever if a navigation is cancelled.
     timers.current.push(setTimeout(() => finish(), 10_000));
-    // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
-  }, [clearTimers]);
-
-  const finish = React.useCallback(() => {
-    clearTimers();
-    // If the bar never showed (instant nav within the start delay), stay hidden.
-    setProgress((p) => (p <= 0 ? 0 : 100));
-    timers.current.push(setTimeout(() => setProgress(0), 240));
-  }, [clearTimers]);
+  }, [clearTimers, finish]);
 
   // Start on any left-click of an internal, same-origin link (Next <Link> renders
   // a plain <a>). Modified clicks and new-tab links open elsewhere — ignore them.
@@ -81,11 +82,14 @@ export function RouteProgress() {
     return () => document.removeEventListener("click", onClick, true);
   }, [pathname, start]);
 
-  // A committed pathname change means the navigation finished.
+  // A committed pathname change means the navigation finished. Finish on the
+  // next frame rather than synchronously in the effect body: it's a genuine
+  // react-to-external-event (the router committed), and deferring keeps the
+  // 100%-then-fade paint from being coalesced into the route's own render.
   React.useEffect(() => {
-    finish();
-    // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
-  }, [pathname]);
+    const raf = requestAnimationFrame(() => finish());
+    return () => cancelAnimationFrame(raf);
+  }, [pathname, finish]);
 
   React.useEffect(() => clearTimers, [clearTimers]);