diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 915bdd4..0a07d3c 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -16,8 +16,9 @@ FROM golang:1.22-bookworm AS backend
 WORKDIR /app
 COPY server/go.mod server/go.sum* ./
 COPY server/ .
+COPY VERSION ./
 RUN go mod download && go mod tidy && go mod verify
-RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o /bin/switchboard .
+RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -ldflags="-s -w -X main.Version=$(cat VERSION)" -o /bin/switchboard .
 
 # ── Stage 2: Vendor JS libs ─────────────────
 FROM node:20-alpine AS vendor
@@ -43,6 +44,11 @@ COPY --from=backend /bin/switchboard /usr/local/bin/switchboard
 
 # Frontend static files
 COPY src/ /usr/share/nginx/html/
+COPY VERSION /VERSION
+
+# Inject version into index.html at build time
+RUN APP_VERSION=$(cat /VERSION | tr -d '[:space:]') && \
+    sed -i "s|%%APP_VERSION%%|${APP_VERSION}|g" /usr/share/nginx/html/index.html
 
 # Vendor libs (overwrite any existing copies in src/vendor/)
 COPY --from=vendor /vendor/marked.min.js /usr/share/nginx/html/vendor/marked.min.js
diff --git a/Dockerfile.frontend b/Dockerfile.frontend
index 0489064..eeffb03 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.frontend
+++ b/Dockerfile.frontend
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ RUN rm -f /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf
 
 COPY src/ /usr/share/nginx/html/
 COPY --from=vendor /vendor/ /usr/share/nginx/html/vendor/
+COPY VERSION /VERSION
 COPY docker-entrypoint-fe.sh /docker-entrypoint-fe.sh
 RUN chmod +x /docker-entrypoint-fe.sh
 
diff --git a/docker-entrypoint-fe.sh b/docker-entrypoint-fe.sh
index e354cf1..0d2d18c 100644
--- a/docker-entrypoint-fe.sh
+++ b/docker-entrypoint-fe.sh
@@ -13,6 +13,12 @@ set -e
 
 BASE_PATH="${BASE_PATH:-}"
 
+# Read version from VERSION file (baked in at build time)
+APP_VERSION="dev"
+if [ -f /VERSION ]; then
+    APP_VERSION=$(cat /VERSION | tr -d '[:space:]')
+fi
+
 # Compute base href (needs trailing slash for <base> tag)
 if [ -z "${BASE_PATH}" ]; then
     BASE_HREF="/"
@@ -24,9 +30,10 @@ fi
 sed -i \
     -e "s|%%BASE_PATH%%|${BASE_PATH}|g" \
     -e "s|%%BASE_HREF%%|${BASE_HREF}|g" \
+    -e "s|%%APP_VERSION%%|${APP_VERSION}|g" \
     /usr/share/nginx/html/index.html
 
-echo "✅ Frontend configured: BASE_PATH=${BASE_PATH:-/}"
+echo "✅ Frontend configured: BASE_PATH=${BASE_PATH:-/} VERSION=${APP_VERSION}"
 
 # ── Generate nginx config ───────────────────
 # If BASE_PATH is set, serve under that prefix with alias.
diff --git a/server/Dockerfile b/server/Dockerfile
index 4a43a41..0eec876 100644
--- a/server/Dockerfile
+++ b/server/Dockerfile
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 # Build stage
 FROM golang:1.22-bookworm AS builder
 
+ARG APP_VERSION=dev
+
 WORKDIR /app
 
 # Copy module files and download deps
@@ -17,7 +19,7 @@ RUN go mod download
 # Copy source and tidy (resolves any go.sum gaps)
 COPY . .
 RUN go mod tidy
-RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o /bin/switchboard .
+RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -ldflags="-s -w -X main.Version=${APP_VERSION}" -o /bin/switchboard .
 
 # Runtime stage
 FROM debian:bookworm-slim
diff --git a/src/css/styles.css b/src/css/styles.css
index 3023cae..63712d5 100644
--- a/src/css/styles.css
+++ b/src/css/styles.css
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 @import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=DM+Sans:ital,opsz,wght@0,9..40,300;0,9..40,400;0,9..40,500;0,9..40,600;0,9..40,700&family=JetBrains+Mono:wght@400;500&display=swap');
 
 /* ==========================================
-   Chat Switchboard v0.6.1
+   Chat Switchboard
    Clean utility layout · Open WebUI inspired
    ========================================== */
 
@@ -67,8 +67,9 @@ a:hover { text-decoration: underline; }
     padding: 2px 0; line-height: 1.4;
     background: var(--banner-bg); color: var(--banner-fg);
     flex-shrink: 0; z-index: 9999;
+    min-height: 22px; box-sizing: border-box;
 }
-.banner.active { display: block; }
+.banner.active { display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center; }
 .banner-top { order: -1; }
 .banner-bottom { order: 999; }
 
diff --git a/src/index.html b/src/index.html
index b66bae4..08e7249 100644
--- a/src/index.html
+++ b/src/index.html
@@ -5,11 +5,12 @@
     <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, interactive-widget=resizes-content">
     <base href="%%BASE_HREF%%">
     <script>window.__BASE__ = '%%BASE_PATH%%';</script>
+    <script>window.__VERSION__ = '%%APP_VERSION%%'; if (window.__VERSION__.includes('%%')) window.__VERSION__ = 'dev';</script>
     <title>Chat Switchboard</title>
     <link rel="icon" type="image/svg+xml" href="favicon.svg">
     <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="favicon-32.png">
     <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="192x192" href="favicon-192.png">
-    <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/styles.css?v=0.7.0.12">
+    <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/styles.css?v=%%APP_VERSION%%">
 </head>
 <body>
 
@@ -161,7 +162,7 @@
                 <div class="hero-pill"><span class="pill-icon">✈️</span> Air-gap ready</div>
                 <div class="hero-pill"><span class="pill-icon">🧠</span> Thinking blocks</div>
             </div>
-            <div class="hero-version">v0.6.2</div>
+            <div class="hero-version">v%%APP_VERSION%%</div>
         </div>
     </div>
     <div class="splash-auth">
@@ -240,13 +241,13 @@
                     <h3>Display</h3>
                     <div class="form-group">
                         <label>UI Scale <span class="form-hint" id="scaleValue">100%</span></label>
-                        <input type="range" id="settingsScale" min="80" max="130" step="5" value="100" class="range-input">
-                        <div class="range-labels"><span>80%</span><span>100%</span><span>130%</span></div>
+                        <input type="range" id="settingsScale" min="80" max="150" step="5" value="100" class="range-input">
+                        <div class="range-labels"><span>80%</span><span>150%</span></div>
                     </div>
                     <div class="form-group">
                         <label>Message Font Size <span class="form-hint" id="msgFontValue">14px</span></label>
                         <input type="range" id="settingsMsgFont" min="12" max="20" step="1" value="14" class="range-input">
-                        <div class="range-labels"><span>12px</span><span>14px</span><span>20px</span></div>
+                        <div class="range-labels"><span>12px</span><span>20px</span></div>
                     </div>
                 </section>
             </div>
@@ -440,10 +441,10 @@
 <script src="vendor/marked.min.js" onerror="this.onerror=null;this.src='https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/marked/16.3.0/lib/marked.umd.min.js'"></script>
 <script src="vendor/purify.min.js" onerror="this.onerror=null;this.src='https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/dompurify/3.2.4/purify.min.js'"></script>
 
-<script src="js/debug.js?v=0.7.0.12"></script>
-<script src="js/events.js?v=0.7.0.12"></script>
-<script src="js/api.js?v=0.7.0.12"></script>
-<script src="js/ui.js?v=0.7.0.12"></script>
-<script src="js/app.js?v=0.7.0.12"></script>
+<script src="js/debug.js?v=%%APP_VERSION%%"></script>
+<script src="js/events.js?v=%%APP_VERSION%%"></script>
+<script src="js/api.js?v=%%APP_VERSION%%"></script>
+<script src="js/ui.js?v=%%APP_VERSION%%"></script>
+<script src="js/app.js?v=%%APP_VERSION%%"></script>
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/src/js/api.js b/src/js/api.js
index 1d0d550..b95c476 100644
--- a/src/js/api.js
+++ b/src/js/api.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 // ==========================================
-// Chat Switchboard – API Client (v0.7.0)
+// Chat Switchboard – API Client
 // ==========================================
 // Backend-only mode. Handles auth tokens and
 // all HTTP calls. No offline fallback.
diff --git a/src/js/app.js b/src/js/app.js
index a6888b5..7a160b1 100644
--- a/src/js/app.js
+++ b/src/js/app.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 // ==========================================
-// Chat Switchboard – Application (v0.6.1)
+// Chat Switchboard – Application
 // ==========================================
 
 const App = {
diff --git a/src/js/events.js b/src/js/events.js
index 85aa510..4c9a885 100644
--- a/src/js/events.js
+++ b/src/js/events.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 // ==========================================
-// Chat Switchboard – EventBus (v0.5.3)
+// Chat Switchboard – EventBus
 // ==========================================
 // Labeled event bus with WebSocket bridge.
 // Components subscribe by label (supports * wildcard).
diff --git a/src/js/ui.js b/src/js/ui.js
index 49cebaa..92bcbd0 100644
--- a/src/js/ui.js
+++ b/src/js/ui.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 // ==========================================
-// Chat Switchboard – UI (v0.6.1)
+// Chat Switchboard – UI
 // ==========================================
 
 const UI = {
@@ -466,7 +466,11 @@ const UI = {
     },
 
     applyAppearance(scale, msgFont) {
-        document.documentElement.style.zoom = scale / 100;
+        const z = scale === 100 ? '' : scale / 100;
+        // Zoom content areas + modals (but NOT .app or banners)
+        document.querySelectorAll('.sidebar, .chat-area, .modal-overlay').forEach(el => el.style.zoom = z);
+        const splash = document.getElementById('splashGate');
+        if (splash) splash.style.zoom = z;
         document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--msg-font', msgFont + 'px');
         localStorage.setItem('cs-appearance', JSON.stringify({ scale, msgFont }));
     },