diff --git a/fktry/src/ui/palette.ts b/fktry/src/ui/palette.ts
index 8ba5e40..b3c4ccb 100644
--- a/fktry/src/ui/palette.ts
+++ b/fktry/src/ui/palette.ts
@@ -52,7 +52,10 @@ export function machineChassis(def: MachineDef): string {
 export type AccentFn = (def: MachineDef) => string;
 
 /**
- * Accent lookup: the colour of the first thing the machine makes, else the codex table.
+ * Accent lookup, in the precedence LANE-RENDER uses (v4 — confirmed identical in NOTES):
+ *   1. `MachineDef.accent` — art direction wins outright.
+ *   2. the colour of the first item the machine outputs — the documented derivation.
+ *   3. the codex id/kind tables below, for machines that output nothing.
  * Curried over GameData because the derivation needs recipes + items.
  */
 export function createAccentLookup(data: GameData): AccentFn {
@@ -60,6 +63,8 @@ export function createAccentLookup(data: GameData): AccentFn {
   const items = new Map<string, ItemDef>(data.items.map((i) => [i.id, i]));
 
   return (def) => {
+    if (def.accent) return def.accent;
+
     for (const rid of def.recipes) {
       const r = recipes.get(rid);
       if (!r) continue;