ui: improve ultra mode colors, separators, and navigation

- Theme: SelectedBG changed from purple (57) to dark grey (238) so
  selected cards are clearly distinct from the status bar; priority
  badge colors switched to subtler dark variants (red/blue/green)
- Ultra header: ID bold white, urgency amber, age dim, status grey;
  no background on unselected cards (pure black terminal background)
- Priority badge: 3-char wide centred pill with white text
- Annotations: italic and dimmer (244) vs description (253)
- Card separator: full-width ─── line in dim grey (237) instead of
  a blank line, making task boundaries easier to scan
- u key in ultra mode toggles back to table view (syncs cursor);
  from --ultra startup mode u is a no-op since there is no table to
  return to
- q/esc from --ultra startup mode exits directly instead of dropping
  to the table view (ultraStartup flag tracks launch origin)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

4 files changed, 61 insertions, 25 deletions

diff --git a/internal/ui/keyhandlers.go b/internal/ui/keyhandlers.go
index e9235cd..d68a7f5 100644
--- a/internal/ui/keyhandlers.go
+++ b/internal/ui/keyhandlers.go
@@ -157,6 +157,11 @@ func (m *Model) handleQuitOrEscape() (tea.Model, tea.Cmd) {
 		return m, nil
 	}
 	if m.showUltra {
+		// When started via --ultra flag there is no table view to return to,
+		// so q/esc exits the application directly.
+		if m.ultraStartup {
+			return m, tea.Quit
+		}
 		m.ultraClearFocusedID()
 		m.showUltra = false
 		m.ultraSearchRegex = nil
diff --git a/internal/ui/table.go b/internal/ui/table.go
index ef81b9a..4cb918f 100644
--- a/internal/ui/table.go
+++ b/internal/ui/table.go
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ type detailViewState struct {
 // ultraState holds the state for the ultra mode task list and its search UI.
 type ultraState struct {
 	showUltra        bool
+	ultraStartup     bool // true when ultra was set via --ultra flag; q quits directly
 	ultraCursor      int
 	ultraOffset      int
 	ultraSearching   bool
@@ -1328,6 +1329,9 @@ func (m *Model) SetDisco(d bool) {
 
 // SetUltra enables or disables ultra mode, causing the UI to start directly
 // in the ultra task list view instead of the default table view.
+// When u is true, q/esc quits the application immediately rather than
+// returning to the table view, because there is no table view to return to.
 func (m *Model) SetUltra(u bool) {
 	m.showUltra = u
+	m.ultraStartup = u
 }
diff --git a/internal/ui/theme.go b/internal/ui/theme.go
index 9d81aab..ad02a83 100644
--- a/internal/ui/theme.go
+++ b/internal/ui/theme.go
@@ -26,20 +26,20 @@ type Theme struct {
 // DefaultTheme returns the color theme used by Task Samurai.
 func DefaultTheme() Theme {
 	return Theme{
-		HeaderFG:   "205",
-		SelectedFG: "229",
-		SelectedBG: "57",
+		HeaderFG:   "75",  // steel blue — labels in ultra cards
+		SelectedFG: "255", // bright white — text on selected card
+		SelectedBG: "238", // dark grey — clean selection highlight on black background
 		RowFG:      "0",
 		RowBG:      "57",
-		StatusFG:   "229",
-		StatusBG:   "57",
+		StatusFG:   "229", // light yellow
+		StatusBG:   "57",  // dark purple — status bar background
 		StartBG:    "6",
 		OverdueBG:  "1",
-		PrioLowBG:  "10",
-		PrioMedBG:  "12",
-		PrioHighBG: "9",
-		SearchFG:   "21",
-		SearchBG:   "226",
+		PrioLowBG:  "28",  // dark green — subtler than bright 10
+		PrioMedBG:  "33",  // medium blue — subtler than bright 12
+		PrioHighBG: "160", // dark red — subtler than bright 9
+		SearchFG:   "16",
+		SearchBG:   "220", // amber — easier on eyes than pure yellow 226
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/ui/ultra.go b/internal/ui/ultra.go
index 288400f..c3e6ad5 100644
--- a/internal/ui/ultra.go
+++ b/internal/ui/ultra.go
@@ -626,7 +626,6 @@ func (m *Model) renderUltraAnnotations(t task.Task, width int) string {
 }
 
 func (m *Model) renderUltraHeaderWithRegex(t task.Task, width int, re *regexp.Regexp) string {
-	_ = width
 	idText := fmt.Sprintf("#%d", t.ID)
 	priorityText := ultraOrDash(t.Priority)
 	statusText := ultraOrDash(t.Status)
@@ -634,14 +633,15 @@ func (m *Model) renderUltraHeaderWithRegex(t task.Task, width int, re *regexp.Re
 	ageText := ultraTaskAge(t.Entry)
 	line := strings.Join([]string{idText, priorityText, statusText, urgencyText, ageText}, " | ")
 	if re != nil && re.MatchString(line) && !ultraRegexMatchesAny(re, idText, priorityText, statusText, urgencyText, ageText) {
-		return m.renderUltraSearchLine(line, lipgloss.NewStyle().Bold(true).Foreground(lipgloss.Color("252")), re)
+		return m.renderUltraSearchLine(line, lipgloss.NewStyle().Bold(true).Foreground(lipgloss.Color("253")), re)
 	}
 
-	id := m.ultraStyledText(re, lipgloss.NewStyle().Bold(true), idText)
+	// Render header fields with distinct colors; no background so unselected cards stay on black.
+	id := m.ultraStyledText(re, lipgloss.NewStyle().Bold(true).Foreground(lipgloss.Color("253")), idText)
 	priority := m.ultraStyledText(re, ultraPriorityStyle(m.theme, t.Priority), priorityText)
-	status := m.ultraStyledText(re, lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(lipgloss.Color("252")), statusText)
-	urgency := m.ultraStyledText(re, lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(lipgloss.Color("252")), urgencyText)
-	age := m.ultraStyledText(re, lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(lipgloss.Color("252")), ageText)
+	status := m.ultraStyledText(re, lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(lipgloss.Color("246")), statusText)
+	urgency := m.ultraStyledText(re, lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(lipgloss.Color("214")), urgencyText) // amber for urgency score
+	age := m.ultraStyledText(re, lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(lipgloss.Color("240")), ageText)
 	return strings.Join([]string{id, priority, status, urgency, age}, " | ")
 }
 
@@ -663,7 +663,7 @@ func (m *Model) renderUltraMetaWithRegex(t task.Task, width int, re *regexp.Rege
 		" | ",
 	)
 	if re != nil && re.MatchString(line) && !ultraRegexMatchesAny(re, "project:", project, "tags:", tags, "due:", due, "recur:", recur, "start:", start) {
-		return m.renderUltraSearchLine(line, lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(lipgloss.Color("252")), re)
+		return m.renderUltraSearchLine(line, lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(lipgloss.Color("253")), re)
 	}
 
 	parts := []string{
@@ -677,7 +677,8 @@ func (m *Model) renderUltraMetaWithRegex(t task.Task, width int, re *regexp.Rege
 }
 
 func (m *Model) renderUltraDescriptionWithRegex(t task.Task, width int, re *regexp.Regexp) string {
-	style := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(lipgloss.Color("250"))
+	// Brighter foreground ("253") than annotations to give description visual priority.
+	style := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(lipgloss.Color("253"))
 	var lines []string
 	for _, line := range m.ultraDescriptionLines(t, width) {
 		if re != nil && re.MatchString(line) {
@@ -694,7 +695,8 @@ func (m *Model) renderUltraAnnotationsWithRegex(t task.Task, width int, re *rege
 		return ""
 	}
 
-	style := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(lipgloss.Color("248"))
+	// Dimmer than description ("244") to visually subordinate annotations.
+	style := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(lipgloss.Color("244")).Italic(true)
 	for i, line := range lines {
 		if re != nil && re.MatchString(line) {
 			line = m.highlightMatches(line, re)
@@ -704,6 +706,11 @@ func (m *Model) renderUltraAnnotationsWithRegex(t task.Task, width int, re *rege
 	return strings.Join(lines, "\n")
 }
 
+// ultraSeparator returns a full-width dim line used between cards.
+func ultraSeparator(width int) string {
+	return lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(lipgloss.Color("237")).Render(strings.Repeat("─", width))
+}
+
 func (m *Model) ultraRenderCards(tasks []task.Task, width, selected, start, cardBudget int) []string {
 	if start < 0 {
 		start = 0
@@ -712,6 +719,7 @@ func (m *Model) ultraRenderCards(tasks []task.Task, width, selected, start, card
 		start = len(tasks)
 	}
 
+	sep := ultraSeparator(width)
 	var lines []string
 	used := 0
 	for i := start; i < len(tasks); i++ {
@@ -721,11 +729,12 @@ func (m *Model) ultraRenderCards(tasks []task.Task, width, selected, start, card
 		}
 
 		cardHeight := lipgloss.Height(card)
+		// Account for separator line (1 line) between cards.
 		if len(lines) > 0 {
 			if used+1+cardHeight > cardBudget {
 				break
 			}
-			lines = append(lines, "")
+			lines = append(lines, sep)
 			used++
 		} else if cardHeight > cardBudget {
 			break
@@ -772,16 +781,18 @@ func ultraCardStyle(theme Theme, width int, selected, blink bool) lipgloss.Style
 }
 
 func ultraPriorityStyle(theme Theme, priority string) lipgloss.Style {
-	style := lipgloss.NewStyle().Width(1)
+	// Width(3) so the badge reads as a pill rather than a single character.
+	style := lipgloss.NewStyle().Width(3).Align(lipgloss.Center).Bold(true).Foreground(lipgloss.Color("255"))
 	switch priority {
 	case "H":
-		style = style.Background(lipgloss.Color(theme.PrioHighBG))
+		return style.Background(lipgloss.Color(theme.PrioHighBG))
 	case "M":
-		style = style.Background(lipgloss.Color(theme.PrioMedBG))
+		return style.Background(lipgloss.Color(theme.PrioMedBG))
 	case "L":
-		style = style.Background(lipgloss.Color(theme.PrioLowBG))
+		return style.Background(lipgloss.Color(theme.PrioLowBG))
 	}
-	return style
+	// No priority — render dimly without a badge background.
+	return lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(lipgloss.Color("240"))
 }
 
 func ultraJoinSections(sections ...string) string {
@@ -906,6 +917,22 @@ func (m *Model) handleUltraMode(msg tea.KeyPressMsg) (tea.Model, tea.Cmd) {
 		return m.handleToggleHelp()
 	case "q", "esc":
 		return m.handleQuitOrEscape()
+	case "u":
+		// Toggle back to the traditional table view (only available when not
+		// started via --ultra, where there is no table view to return to).
+		if !m.ultraStartup {
+			m.ultraClearFocusedID()
+			m.showUltra = false
+			m.ultraSearchRegex = nil
+			m.ultraFiltered = nil
+			m.ultraSearchInput.SetValue("")
+			// Sync the table cursor to the task we were on in ultra mode.
+			tasks := m.ultraTaskList()
+			if m.ultraCursor >= 0 && m.ultraCursor < len(tasks) {
+				m.tbl.SetCursor(m.ultraCursor)
+			}
+			return m, nil
+		}
 	case "/":
 		m.ultraSearching = true
 		m.ultraSearchInput.SetValue("")