diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 1f99c9d9f739..0319dd1f6af1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,12 @@
 
 All notable changes to cmux are documented here.
 
+## [1.26.0] - 2026-02-11
+
+### Fixed
+- Muted traffic lights and toolbar items in focused window caused by background blur in themeFrame
+- Sidebar showing two different textures near the titlebar on older macOS versions
+
 ## [1.25.0] - 2026-02-11
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/GhosttyTabs.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj b/GhosttyTabs.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
index 0fc6733e43f3..0ab4e3817559 100644
--- a/GhosttyTabs.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
+++ b/GhosttyTabs.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
@@ -538,7 +538,7 @@
 				CODE_SIGN_ENTITLEMENTS = "";
 				CODE_SIGN_STYLE = Automatic;
 				COMBINE_HIDPI_IMAGES = YES;
-				CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION = 36;
+				CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION = 37;
 				DEVELOPMENT_TEAM = "";
 				ENABLE_HARDENED_RUNTIME = NO;
 				GENERATE_INFOPLIST_FILE = YES;
@@ -554,7 +554,7 @@
 					"$(inherited)",
 					"@executable_path/../Frameworks",
 				);
-				MARKETING_VERSION = 1.25.0;
+				MARKETING_VERSION = 1.26.0;
 				OTHER_LDFLAGS = (
 					"-lc++",
 					"-framework",
@@ -583,7 +583,7 @@
 				CODE_SIGN_ENTITLEMENTS = "";
 				CODE_SIGN_STYLE = Automatic;
 				COMBINE_HIDPI_IMAGES = YES;
-				CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION = 36;
+				CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION = 37;
 				DEVELOPMENT_TEAM = "";
 				ENABLE_HARDENED_RUNTIME = NO;
 				GENERATE_INFOPLIST_FILE = YES;
@@ -599,7 +599,7 @@
 					"$(inherited)",
 					"@executable_path/../Frameworks",
 				);
-				MARKETING_VERSION = 1.25.0;
+				MARKETING_VERSION = 1.26.0;
 				OTHER_LDFLAGS = (
 					"-lc++",
 					"-framework",
@@ -652,10 +652,10 @@
 			isa = XCBuildConfiguration;
 			buildSettings = {
 				CODE_SIGN_STYLE = Automatic;
-				CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION = 36;
+				CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION = 37;
 				GENERATE_INFOPLIST_FILE = YES;
 				MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET = 13.0;
-				MARKETING_VERSION = 1.25.0;
+				MARKETING_VERSION = 1.26.0;
 				ONLY_ACTIVE_ARCH = YES;
 				PRODUCT_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER = com.cmux.appuitests;
 				PRODUCT_NAME = "$(TARGET_NAME)";
@@ -669,10 +669,10 @@
 			isa = XCBuildConfiguration;
 			buildSettings = {
 				CODE_SIGN_STYLE = Automatic;
-				CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION = 36;
+				CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION = 37;
 				GENERATE_INFOPLIST_FILE = YES;
 				MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET = 13.0;
-				MARKETING_VERSION = 1.25.0;
+				MARKETING_VERSION = 1.26.0;
 				ONLY_ACTIVE_ARCH = YES;
 				PRODUCT_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER = com.cmux.appuitests;
 				PRODUCT_NAME = "$(TARGET_NAME)";
diff --git a/Sources/ContentView.swift b/Sources/ContentView.swift
index ed2e98f6de82..9843269c1e70 100644
--- a/Sources/ContentView.swift
+++ b/Sources/ContentView.swift
@@ -2,6 +2,17 @@ import AppKit
 import SwiftUI
 import ObjectiveC
 
+/// NSVisualEffectView that never intercepts mouse events. Used for background
+/// blur inside contentView where SwiftUI may reorder it above interactive content.
+private class PassthroughBlurView: NSVisualEffectView {
+    override func hitTest(_ point: NSPoint) -> NSView? { nil }
+}
+
+/// Plain NSView that never intercepts mouse events. Used for tint overlays.
+private class PassthroughView: NSView {
+    override func hitTest(_ point: NSPoint) -> NSView? { nil }
+}
+
 /// Applies NSGlassEffectView (macOS 26+) to a window, falling back to NSVisualEffectView
 enum WindowGlassEffect {
     private static var glassViewKey: UInt8 = 0
@@ -44,33 +55,29 @@ enum WindowGlassEffect {
             return
         }
 
-        // Older macOS: insert blur below the contentView in the window's internal view
-        // hierarchy. Adding to contentView directly gets reordered by SwiftUI, causing
-        // the blur view to cover the terminal content.
-        let blurView = NSVisualEffectView(frame: bounds)
+        // Older macOS: insert blur and tint inside contentView with a deeply
+        // negative zPosition so they always render behind SwiftUI content even
+        // if SwiftUI reorders the subview list. PassthroughBlurView overrides
+        // hitTest to avoid intercepting mouse events when SwiftUI moves it to
+        // a higher subview index.
+        let blurView = PassthroughBlurView(frame: bounds)
         blurView.blendingMode = .behindWindow
         blurView.material = .hudWindow
         blurView.state = .active
         blurView.wantsLayer = true
         blurView.autoresizingMask = [.width, .height]
+        blurView.layer?.zPosition = -1000
 
-        if let themeFrame = contentView.superview {
-            themeFrame.addSubview(blurView, positioned: .below, relativeTo: contentView)
-        } else {
-            contentView.addSubview(blurView, positioned: .below, relativeTo: contentView.subviews.first)
-        }
+        contentView.addSubview(blurView, positioned: .below, relativeTo: contentView.subviews.first)
 
         // Tint overlay on top of blur, still behind content
         if let color = tintColor {
-            let tintOverlay = NSView(frame: bounds)
+            let tintOverlay = PassthroughView(frame: bounds)
             tintOverlay.autoresizingMask = [.width, .height]
             tintOverlay.wantsLayer = true
             tintOverlay.layer?.backgroundColor = color.cgColor
-            if let themeFrame = contentView.superview {
-                themeFrame.addSubview(tintOverlay, positioned: .above, relativeTo: blurView)
-            } else {
-                contentView.addSubview(tintOverlay, positioned: .above, relativeTo: blurView)
-            }
+            tintOverlay.layer?.zPosition = -999
+            contentView.addSubview(tintOverlay, positioned: .above, relativeTo: blurView)
             objc_setAssociatedObject(window, &tintOverlayKey, tintOverlay, .OBJC_ASSOCIATION_RETAIN)
         }
 
diff --git a/docs-site/content/docs/changelog.mdx b/docs-site/content/docs/changelog.mdx
index 31fa33b3bb2e..03aaadfbde3f 100644
--- a/docs-site/content/docs/changelog.mdx
+++ b/docs-site/content/docs/changelog.mdx
@@ -5,6 +5,12 @@ description: Release notes and version history for cmux
 
 All notable changes to cmux are documented here.
 
+## [1.26.0] - 2026-02-11
+
+### Fixed
+- Muted traffic lights and toolbar items in focused window caused by background blur in themeFrame
+- Sidebar showing two different textures near the titlebar on older macOS versions
+
 ## [1.25.0] - 2026-02-11
 
 ### Fixed