diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/Composer.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/Composer.tsx
index 3e443e2e6b..327da3c461 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/Composer.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/Composer.tsx
@@ -67,6 +67,8 @@ export const Composer = ({ isFocused = true }: { isFocused?: boolean }) => {
     uiState.streamingState === StreamingState.Responding;
   const showLoadingIndicator =
     (!uiState.embeddedShellFocused || uiState.isBackgroundShellVisible) &&
+    (uiState.streamingState === StreamingState.Responding ||
+      uiState.streamingState === StreamingState.WaitingForConfirmation) &&
     !hasPendingActionRequired;
   const showApprovalIndicator = !uiState.shellModeActive;
   const showRawMarkdownIndicator = !uiState.renderMarkdown;
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/InputPrompt.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/InputPrompt.tsx
index 49c609ec9b..e25a1230f7 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/InputPrompt.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/InputPrompt.tsx
@@ -54,7 +54,10 @@ import {
 } from '../utils/commandUtils.js';
 import * as path from 'node:path';
 import { SCREEN_READER_USER_PREFIX } from '../textConstants.js';
-import { DEFAULT_BACKGROUND_OPACITY } from '../constants.js';
+import {
+  DEFAULT_BACKGROUND_OPACITY,
+  DEFAULT_INPUT_BACKGROUND_OPACITY,
+} from '../constants.js';
 import { getSafeLowColorBackground } from '../themes/color-utils.js';
 import { isLowColorDepth } from '../utils/terminalUtils.js';
 import { useShellFocusState } from '../contexts/ShellFocusContext.js';
@@ -1330,12 +1333,12 @@ export const InputPrompt: React.FC<InputPromptProps> = ({
         />
       ) : null}
       <HalfLinePaddedBox
-        backgroundBaseColor={
-          isShellFocused && !isEmbeddedShellFocused
-            ? theme.border.focused
-            : theme.border.default
+        backgroundBaseColor={theme.text.secondary}
+        backgroundOpacity={
+          showCursor
+            ? DEFAULT_INPUT_BACKGROUND_OPACITY
+            : DEFAULT_BACKGROUND_OPACITY
         }
-        backgroundOpacity={DEFAULT_BACKGROUND_OPACITY}
         useBackgroundColor={useBackgroundColor}
       >
         <Box
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/UserMessage.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/UserMessage.tsx
index 0c3c99cb12..ab45db7cf0 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/UserMessage.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/UserMessage.tsx
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ export const UserMessage: React.FC<UserMessageProps> = ({ text, width }) => {
 
   return (
     <HalfLinePaddedBox
-      backgroundBaseColor={theme.border.default}
+      backgroundBaseColor={theme.text.secondary}
       backgroundOpacity={DEFAULT_BACKGROUND_OPACITY}
       useBackgroundColor={useBackgroundColor}
     >
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/UserShellMessage.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/UserShellMessage.tsx
index ca86e29b8c..390977f2fe 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/UserShellMessage.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/UserShellMessage.tsx
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ export const UserShellMessage: React.FC<UserShellMessageProps> = ({
 
   return (
     <HalfLinePaddedBox
-      backgroundBaseColor={theme.border.default}
+      backgroundBaseColor={theme.text.secondary}
       backgroundOpacity={DEFAULT_BACKGROUND_OPACITY}
       useBackgroundColor={useBackgroundColor}
     >
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/constants.ts b/packages/cli/src/ui/constants.ts
index c0aed1c8fd..c08741177c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/constants.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/constants.ts
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ export const SHELL_ACTION_REQUIRED_TITLE_DELAY_MS = 30000;
 export const SHELL_SILENT_WORKING_TITLE_DELAY_MS = 120000;
 
 export const DEFAULT_BACKGROUND_OPACITY = 0.16;
+export const DEFAULT_INPUT_BACKGROUND_OPACITY = 0.24;
+export const DEFAULT_BORDER_OPACITY = 0.2;
 
 export const KEYBOARD_SHORTCUTS_URL =
   'https://geminicli.com/docs/cli/keyboard-shortcuts/';
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/themes/theme.ts b/packages/cli/src/ui/themes/theme.ts
index e95799b879..2e39b1b6c7 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/themes/theme.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/themes/theme.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import {
 } from './color-utils.js';
 
 import type { CustomTheme } from '@google/gemini-cli-core';
+import { DEFAULT_BORDER_OPACITY } from '../constants.js';
 
 export type { CustomTheme };
 
@@ -136,7 +137,11 @@ export class Theme {
         },
       },
       border: {
-        default: this.colors.Gray,
+        default: interpolateColor(
+          this.colors.Background,
+          this.colors.Gray,
+          DEFAULT_BORDER_OPACITY,
+        ),
         focused: this.colors.AccentBlue,
       },
       ui: {
@@ -401,7 +406,13 @@ export function createCustomTheme(customTheme: CustomTheme): Theme {
       },
     },
     border: {
-      default: customTheme.border?.default ?? colors.Gray,
+      default:
+        customTheme.border?.default ??
+        interpolateColor(
+          colors.Background,
+          colors.Gray,
+          DEFAULT_BORDER_OPACITY,
+        ),
       focused: customTheme.border?.focused ?? colors.AccentBlue,
     },
     ui: {