diff --git a/mateclaw-ui/src/assets/main.css b/mateclaw-ui/src/assets/main.css
index 50b396d4..f7e43ed3 100644
--- a/mateclaw-ui/src/assets/main.css
+++ b/mateclaw-ui/src/assets/main.css
@@ -276,39 +276,66 @@ html.dark {
 
 /* Vue Flow theme bridge — its default stylesheet ships hard-coded
    light colors for handles / mini-map / control buttons. Map them to
-   our theme tokens so dark mode inherits cleanly. */
-.vue-flow__handle {
+   our theme tokens so dark mode inherits cleanly.
+
+   Each selector is bumped to (0,2,0) specificity by scoping to
+   `.workflow-canvas` because vue-flow's component CSS imports inside
+   WorkflowCanvas.vue land in the bundle AFTER main.css; equal
+   specificity would lose. */
+.workflow-canvas .vue-flow__handle {
   background: var(--mc-edge-strong, #777);
   border-color: var(--mc-bg-elevated, #fff);
 }
-.vue-flow__edge-path {
+.workflow-canvas .vue-flow__edge-path {
   stroke: var(--mc-edge, #999);
 }
-.vue-flow__edge-text {
+.workflow-canvas .vue-flow__edge-text {
   fill: var(--mc-text-secondary, #555);
   font-size: 11px;
 }
-.vue-flow__edge-textbg {
+.workflow-canvas .vue-flow__edge-textbg {
   fill: var(--mc-bg-elevated, #fff);
 }
-.vue-flow__minimap {
-  background: var(--mc-bg-sunken, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.04)) !important;
+.workflow-canvas .vue-flow__background {
+  background: transparent;
+}
+.workflow-canvas .vue-flow__minimap {
+  background: var(--mc-bg-sunken, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.04));
+  border: 1px solid var(--mc-border-light, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.08));
+  border-radius: 6px;
+}
+.workflow-canvas .vue-flow__minimap-mask {
+  fill: var(--mc-bg-muted, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.06));
+  stroke: var(--mc-border, transparent);
+}
+.workflow-canvas .vue-flow__controls {
+  box-shadow: var(--mc-shadow-soft, 0 2px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1));
+  border-radius: 6px;
+  overflow: hidden;
+  background: var(--mc-bg-elevated, #ffffff);
   border: 1px solid var(--mc-border-light, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.08));
 }
-.vue-flow__minimap-mask {
-  fill: var(--mc-bg-muted, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.06));
-}
-.vue-flow__controls {
-  box-shadow: var(--mc-shadow-soft, 0 2px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1));
-}
-.vue-flow__controls-button {
-  background: var(--mc-bg-elevated, #fff);
-  border-bottom-color: var(--mc-border-light, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.08));
+.workflow-canvas .vue-flow__controls-button {
+  background: var(--mc-bg-elevated, #ffffff);
+  border-bottom: 1px solid var(--mc-border-light, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.08));
   fill: var(--mc-text-primary, #333);
+  color: var(--mc-text-primary, #333);
 }
-.vue-flow__controls-button:hover {
+.workflow-canvas .vue-flow__controls-button svg {
+  fill: currentColor;
+}
+.workflow-canvas .vue-flow__controls-button:hover {
   background: var(--mc-bg-muted, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05));
 }
+/* Round the bottom button so the corner doesn't show the hardcoded grey
+   border vue-flow ships with. */
+.workflow-canvas .vue-flow__controls-button:last-child {
+  border-bottom: none;
+}
+/* Selection ring matches the brand accent in both modes. */
+.workflow-canvas .vue-flow__node.selected {
+  box-shadow: 0 0 0 2px var(--mc-primary, #4084ff);
+}
 
 /* ================================================================
    Base resets
diff --git a/mateclaw-ui/src/components/workflow/StepNode.vue b/mateclaw-ui/src/components/workflow/StepNode.vue
index 049f2883..74737a2d 100644
--- a/mateclaw-ui/src/components/workflow/StepNode.vue
+++ b/mateclaw-ui/src/components/workflow/StepNode.vue
@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@
     class="step-node"
     :class="`mode-${data.modeType}`"
     :data-selected="props.selected"
-    @click.stop="handleClick"
-    @pointerdown.stop
+    @click="handleClick"
   >
     <Handle type="target" :position="targetPosition" />
     <div class="step-band" />
diff --git a/mateclaw-ui/src/components/workflow/WorkflowCanvas.vue b/mateclaw-ui/src/components/workflow/WorkflowCanvas.vue
index 842f297a..457501a3 100644
--- a/mateclaw-ui/src/components/workflow/WorkflowCanvas.vue
+++ b/mateclaw-ui/src/components/workflow/WorkflowCanvas.vue
@@ -79,9 +79,9 @@
 </template>
 
 <script setup lang="ts">
-import { computed, markRaw, onBeforeUnmount, provide, ref, watch } from 'vue'
+import { computed, markRaw, onBeforeUnmount, onMounted, provide, ref, watch } from 'vue'
 import { useI18n } from 'vue-i18n'
-import { VueFlow, type Node } from '@vue-flow/core'
+import { VueFlow, useVueFlow, type Node } from '@vue-flow/core'
 import { Background } from '@vue-flow/background'
 import { Controls } from '@vue-flow/controls'
 import { MiniMap } from '@vue-flow/minimap'
@@ -139,19 +139,31 @@ const miniNodeColor = (node: Node<StepNodeData>) => {
 }
 const miniNodeStrokeColor = () => 'transparent'
 
-// Vue-flow's `@node-click` event signature has shifted across minor
-// versions and sometimes doesn't fire reliably for custom-node templates
-// because the click can be swallowed by the inner DOM. Bypass it: we
-// provide a selection callback to the StepNode via inject, and the node
-// invokes it directly on its own click handler.
+// Three independent paths for getting a node click out of vue-flow into
+// the parent's inspector — at least one always works regardless of how
+// the click lands inside vue-flow's internal DOM.
+//
+//  1. `useVueFlow().onNodeClick` — the official subscription API tied
+//     to the flow instance keyed by props.canvasId.
+//  2. `provide('selectStepCallback', ...)` — the StepNode injects this
+//     and fires it on its own @click. Survives vue-flow re-renders.
+//  3. The template `@node-click` attribute below — kept as a third
+//     fallback for completeness.
 function selectStep(data: StepNodeData | null) {
   emit('select-step', data)
 }
 provide('selectStepCallback', selectStep)
 
+const flow = useVueFlow(props.canvasId)
+onMounted(() => {
+  flow.onNodeClick((evt) => {
+    const data = (evt?.node as Node<StepNodeData> | undefined)?.data
+    if (data) selectStep(data)
+  })
+  flow.onPaneClick(() => selectStep(null))
+})
+
 function handleNodeClick(payload: { node: Node<StepNodeData> } | unknown) {
-  // Backup path: if vue-flow does fire its own node-click event with the
-  // expected shape, route it through the same emit.
   const node = (payload as { node?: Node<StepNodeData> })?.node
   if (node?.data) selectStep(node.data)
 }