diff --git a/tests/smoke/theme-live-reload-fix.spec.ts b/tests/smoke/theme-live-reload-fix.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0c7c7b91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/smoke/theme-live-reload-fix.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+import { test, expect, type Page } from '@playwright/test'
+import { openCommandPalette, executeCommand } from './helpers'
+
+async function getCssVar(page: Page, name: string): Promise<string> {
+  return page.evaluate(
+    (n) => document.documentElement.style.getPropertyValue(n),
+    name,
+  )
+}
+
+async function switchToDefaultTheme(page: Page) {
+  await openCommandPalette(page)
+  await executeCommand(page, 'Switch to Default Theme')
+  await expect(async () => {
+    expect(await getCssVar(page, '--background')).toBe('#FFFFFF')
+  }).toPass({ timeout: 5000 })
+}
+
+async function openThemeNoteInRawMode(page: Page) {
+  await openCommandPalette(page)
+  await executeCommand(page, 'Edit Default Theme')
+  await page.waitForTimeout(500)
+
+  await openCommandPalette(page)
+  await executeCommand(page, 'Toggle Raw Editor')
+  await expect(page.locator('.cm-content')).toBeVisible({ timeout: 3000 })
+}
+
+/** Replace all text in the CodeMirror editor via its EditorView API. */
+async function setCmContent(page: Page, newContent: string) {
+  await page.evaluate((text) => {
+    const cmContent = document.querySelector('.cm-content') as HTMLElement | null
+    if (!cmContent) throw new Error('No .cm-content found')
+    // Access EditorView via CodeMirror's internal DOM reference
+    // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+    const view = (cmContent as any).cmTile?.root?.view
+    if (!view) throw new Error('No EditorView found on .cm-content')
+    view.dispatch({
+      changes: { from: 0, to: view.state.doc.length, insert: text },
+    })
+  }, newContent)
+}
+
+test.describe('Theme live reload on save', () => {
+  test.beforeEach(async ({ page }) => {
+    await page.goto('/')
+    await page.waitForLoadState('networkidle')
+  })
+
+  test('editing theme frontmatter and saving updates CSS vars immediately', async ({ page }) => {
+    // 1. Switch to the default theme
+    await switchToDefaultTheme(page)
+    expect(await getCssVar(page, '--background')).toBe('#FFFFFF')
+    expect(await getCssVar(page, '--sidebar')).toBe('#F7F6F3')
+
+    // 2. Open the theme note in raw editor mode
+    await openThemeNoteInRawMode(page)
+
+    // 3. Replace content via CodeMirror API with changed colors
+    const updatedContent = [
+      '---',
+      'type: Theme',
+      'title: Default',
+      'primary: "#155DFF"',
+      'background: "#1a1a2e"',
+      'foreground: "#37352F"',
+      'sidebar: "#2a2a3e"',
+      'border: "#E9E9E7"',
+      'muted: "#F0F0EF"',
+      'muted-foreground: "#9B9A97"',
+      'accent: "#F0F7FF"',
+      'accent-foreground: "#0A3B8F"',
+      'font-family: "\'Inter\', -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif"',
+      'font-size-base: 14',
+      'line-height-base: 1.6',
+      '---',
+      '',
+      '# Default',
+      '',
+      'Light theme with warm, paper-like tones.',
+    ].join('\n')
+    await setCmContent(page, updatedContent)
+
+    // Wait for debounce to flush (RawEditorView has 500ms debounce)
+    await page.waitForTimeout(700)
+
+    // 4. Save with Ctrl+S
+    await page.keyboard.press('Control+s')
+
+    // 5. Verify CSS vars updated live
+    await expect(async () => {
+      expect(await getCssVar(page, '--background')).toBe('#1a1a2e')
+    }).toPass({ timeout: 5000 })
+    expect(await getCssVar(page, '--sidebar')).toBe('#2a2a3e')
+  })
+
+  test('saving a non-theme note does not affect active theme CSS', async ({ page }) => {
+    // 1. Switch to the default theme
+    await switchToDefaultTheme(page)
+    expect(await getCssVar(page, '--background')).toBe('#FFFFFF')
+
+    // 2. Open a regular note (first in list), switch to raw mode
+    const noteList = page.locator('[data-testid="note-list-container"]')
+    await noteList.waitFor({ timeout: 5000 })
+    await noteList.locator('.cursor-pointer').first().click()
+    await page.waitForTimeout(300)
+
+    await openCommandPalette(page)
+    await executeCommand(page, 'Toggle Raw Editor')
+    await expect(page.locator('.cm-content')).toBeVisible({ timeout: 3000 })
+
+    // 3. Type something and save
+    await page.locator('.cm-content').click()
+    await page.keyboard.type('test edit')
+    await page.keyboard.press('Control+s')
+    await page.waitForTimeout(500)
+
+    // 4. Theme CSS vars unchanged
+    expect(await getCssVar(page, '--background')).toBe('#FFFFFF')
+  })
+})