diff --git a/crates/qbz-qt/qml/shell/AppShell.qml b/crates/qbz-qt/qml/shell/AppShell.qml
index b5e204351..09b6a3ced 100644
--- a/crates/qbz-qt/qml/shell/AppShell.qml
+++ b/crates/qbz-qt/qml/shell/AppShell.qml
@@ -252,6 +252,21 @@ Rectangle {
         hostName: QbzOrbit.hostName
     }
 
+    // The player bar's FRAME — the same chrome tier as the sidebar and the
+    // content frame, so the gutter around the inset bar reads as one
+    // continuous frame and never as a band of raw background (the same rule
+    // the content frame documents below). It spans the bar's height plus
+    // the bottom gutter, full width, so the side gutters are covered too.
+    readonly property int npbGutter: Qt.platform.os === "osx" ? theme.npbGutterMac : theme.npbGutter
+    Rectangle {
+        id: npbFrame
+        anchors.left: parent.left
+        anchors.right: parent.right
+        anchors.bottom: parent.bottom
+        height: npb.height + root.npbGutter
+        color: root.ambientOn ? theme.surfaceCardA50 : theme.surfaceCard
+    }
+
     NowPlayingBar {
         id: npb
         // The small seek thumb/hit area extends above the bar by a few pixels.
@@ -261,6 +276,14 @@ Rectangle {
         anchors.left: parent.left
         anchors.right: parent.right
         anchors.bottom: parent.bottom
+        // Inset by the content pane's gutter on the three window edges
+        // (2026-09-13, every mode): the bar's ends line up with the pane's
+        // and nothing in it touches the window edge — wider on macOS, where
+        // the Liquid Glass corner curve ate the cover's corner
+        // (QbzTheme.npbGutterMac).
+        anchors.leftMargin: root.npbGutter
+        anchors.rightMargin: root.npbGutter
+        anchors.bottomMargin: root.npbGutter
         // Mode-aware height (AppShell.slint:396): Small collapses to one
         // header-tall row; New/Classic/Large keep the full 112px.
         height: QbzShell.npbMode === 2 ? theme.npbSmallHeight : theme.npbLargeHeight
@@ -652,7 +675,9 @@ Rectangle {
         // so this width also sets the art size.
         x: 16
         width: 208
-        y: parent.height - QbzShell.largeDockHeight
+        // Flush with the bar's bottom edge, which now sits a gutter above
+        // the window's (npbGutter) — the dock lifts with it.
+        y: npb.y + npb.height - QbzShell.largeDockHeight
         ambientOn: root.ambientOn
     }
 
diff --git a/crates/qbz-qt/qml/shell/NowPlayingBarSmall.qml b/crates/qbz-qt/qml/shell/NowPlayingBarSmall.qml
index 5ac6f5f70..5f0f64f50 100644
--- a/crates/qbz-qt/qml/shell/NowPlayingBarSmall.qml
+++ b/crates/qbz-qt/qml/shell/NowPlayingBarSmall.qml
@@ -64,8 +64,9 @@ Rectangle {
     // column lands PLAY on the window centre. The breakpoints (39/30/25 at
     // 1366 / 1920) are the SHARED theme token, so this bar and PlayerBar can
     // never drift apart — see QbzTheme.npbSideFrac.
-    // `root.width` IS the window width: the bar is anchored left-to-right on
-    // the shell root, exactly like PlayerBarSmall.slint reads its own root.
+    // `root.width` is the window width minus the two side gutters
+    // (AppShell `npbGutter`): the bar is anchored left-to-right on the shell
+    // root, exactly like PlayerBarSmall.slint reads its own root.
     property real sideFrac: theme.npbSideFrac(root.width)
     property real colCentre: 1.0 - 2.0 * root.sideFrac
     // WIDE = inline horizontal volume slider; NARROW = button-only.
diff --git a/crates/qbz-qt/qml/shell/PlayerBar.qml b/crates/qbz-qt/qml/shell/PlayerBar.qml
index 6e2113116..6a1618c37 100644
--- a/crates/qbz-qt/qml/shell/PlayerBar.qml
+++ b/crates/qbz-qt/qml/shell/PlayerBar.qml
@@ -102,8 +102,9 @@ Rectangle {
     // columns EQUAL so the centre column stays dead centre. The breakpoints
     // are the SHARED theme token (QbzTheme.npbSideFrac) — the Small bar reads
     // the same one, so the two bars cannot drift apart.
-    // `root.width` IS the window width: the bar is anchored left-to-right on
-    // the shell root, exactly like PlayerBar.slint reads its own root.
+    // `root.width` is the window width minus the two side gutters
+    // (AppShell `npbGutter`): the bar is anchored left-to-right on the shell
+    // root, exactly like PlayerBar.slint reads its own root.
     property real sideFrac: theme.npbSideFrac(root.width)
     property real colSide: isClassic ? 0.324 : sideFrac
     property real colCentre: 1.0 - 2.0 * colSide
diff --git a/crates/qbz-qt/qml/theme/QbzTheme.qml b/crates/qbz-qt/qml/theme/QbzTheme.qml
index cd3746448..f6fb537d1 100644
--- a/crates/qbz-qt/qml/theme/QbzTheme.qml
+++ b/crates/qbz-qt/qml/theme/QbzTheme.qml
@@ -419,6 +419,19 @@ QtObject {
     // Small now-playing bar total height (ShellState.npb-small-height,
     // npb-small-extra is 0 on Linux).
     readonly property int npbSmallHeight: 42
+    /// The gutter the player bar keeps to the window's left, right and
+    /// bottom edges (2026-09-13): the SAME 8 px the content pane keeps
+    /// inside its frame, so the bar's ends line up with the pane's and
+    /// nothing in it touches the window edge.
+    readonly property int npbGutter: 8
+    /// macOS only: Tahoe's Liquid Glass windows round their corners far
+    /// more than before (Apple: toolbar windows take a larger radius that
+    /// "can clip content that sits close to the edge of the window";
+    /// estimates run from ~12-16 pt for titlebar-only windows to 50 px+
+    /// with a toolbar) and the cover at the bar's left end lost its corner.
+    /// Qt has no LayoutRegion to nest content into the curve, so the bar
+    /// simply keeps a wider gutter there.
+    readonly property int npbGutterMac: 16
     // Every other bar mode (New / Classic / Large) — AppShell.slint:396.
     // The Large dock's sidebar reservation subtracts this, so it must be the
     // SAME value the shell pins the bar to.