diff --git a/components/Layout.js b/components/Layout.js
index 71db3fd..0deab86 100644
--- a/components/Layout.js
+++ b/components/Layout.js
@@ -631,6 +631,38 @@ export default function Layout({ children, user = null, showSearch = false }) {
     return () => document.removeEventListener('keydown', handler);
   }, [user]);
 
+  // Mouse-tracking radial spotlight for nav items (redesign-v2
+  // spotlight-hover refinement, 2026-06-04). Delegated single
+  // mousemove listener at the document level — cheaper than
+  // attaching per-item React onMouseMove handlers to the 10+
+  // nav surfaces in NavigationContent. Writes --mouse-x and
+  // --mouse-y as percentages onto the closest matching element;
+  // the CSS ::before in globals.css consumes those vars to
+  // position the radial-gradient. closest() returns null when
+  // the cursor isn't over a nav item, which short-circuits 99%
+  // of pointer events so the listener cost is negligible.
+  // prefers-reduced-motion users still see the bg-color hover
+  // tint (the ::before opacity transition is collapsed to 0.01ms
+  // by the global reduced-motion sweep, but the spotlight itself
+  // is visually static once the mouse stops moving — that's a
+  // positional update, not an animation, so this respects WCAG
+  // SC 2.3.3 without special-casing).
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const selector = '.nav-item, .nav-item-bottom, .nav-item-hover';
+    const handler = (event) => {
+      const el = event.target.closest?.(selector);
+      if (!el) return;
+      const rect = el.getBoundingClientRect();
+      if (rect.width === 0 || rect.height === 0) return;
+      const x = ((event.clientX - rect.left) / rect.width) * 100;
+      const y = ((event.clientY - rect.top) / rect.height) * 100;
+      el.style.setProperty('--mouse-x', `${x}%`);
+      el.style.setProperty('--mouse-y', `${y}%`);
+    };
+    document.addEventListener('mousemove', handler);
+    return () => document.removeEventListener('mousemove', handler);
+  }, []);
+
   return (
     <div className="flex h-screen">
       {/* Mobile Navigation - Bottom bar for mobile */}
diff --git a/styles/globals.css b/styles/globals.css
index 86a03a0..a02eef9 100644
--- a/styles/globals.css
+++ b/styles/globals.css
@@ -430,24 +430,102 @@ body {
 }
 
 /* Navigation Accessibility Enhancements */
-/* Nav-item hover/focus — refined 2026-06-04 (redesign-v2 refinements).
-   Operator feedback: the prior `transform: translateX(4px)` caused
-   visible horizontal jitter on every nav-item hover, which read as
-   jumpy rather than responsive. Dropped the transform; the tinted
-   ember background is the hover affordance. */
+/* Nav-item hover/focus — refined again 2026-06-04 (spotlight-hover
+   refinement, second pass). Operator feedback after the first
+   refinement: the rgba(0.08) base tint was too subtle ("it's hard
+   to see which one you're hovering"). Bumped the base tint to a
+   stronger ember alpha AND layered a mouse-tracking radial spotlight
+   on top via a ::before pseudo-element driven by --mouse-x /
+   --mouse-y CSS custom properties. The properties are written by a
+   single delegated mousemove listener attached at the Layout level
+   (see components/Layout.js) — no per-item React handler needed.
+   The ::before is positioned with `inset: 0` and pointer-events
+   disabled so clicks pass through to the underlying Link.
+   Existing `.nav-item-hover` is also covered (same selector group)
+   so the explicit hover-only items in NavigationContent inherit
+   the spotlight without separate JSX wiring. */
 .nav-item:hover,
 .nav-item-bottom:hover,
+.nav-item-hover:hover,
 .nav-item:focus-within,
-.nav-item-bottom:focus-within {
-  background-color: rgba(216, 67, 21, 0.08) !important;
+.nav-item-bottom:focus-within,
+.nav-item-hover:focus-within {
+  background-color: rgba(216, 67, 21, 0.18) !important;
   color: var(--text-primary) !important;
 }
 
 [data-theme="dark"] .nav-item:hover,
 [data-theme="dark"] .nav-item-bottom:hover,
+[data-theme="dark"] .nav-item-hover:hover,
 [data-theme="dark"] .nav-item:focus-within,
-[data-theme="dark"] .nav-item-bottom:focus-within {
-  background-color: rgba(255, 138, 80, 0.10) !important;
+[data-theme="dark"] .nav-item-bottom:focus-within,
+[data-theme="dark"] .nav-item-hover:focus-within {
+  background-color: rgba(255, 138, 80, 0.22) !important;
+}
+
+/* Mouse-tracking radial spotlight on every hoverable nav surface.
+   The radial-gradient is positioned via the --mouse-x / --mouse-y
+   CSS variables that Layout's delegated mousemove handler writes
+   onto the currently-hovered element. Default position (50% 50%)
+   ensures the spotlight is centered before the first mouse event
+   fires (e.g. on focus-within from keyboard nav). The ::before is
+   non-interactive (pointer-events: none) so it never blocks
+   clicks or steals focus from the underlying Link/Button. The
+   `position: relative` + `overflow: hidden` on the host ensure the
+   gradient clips to the rounded-2xl border-radius. */
+.nav-item,
+.nav-item-bottom,
+.nav-item-hover {
+  position: relative;
+  overflow: hidden;
+}
+
+.nav-item::before,
+.nav-item-bottom::before,
+.nav-item-hover::before {
+  content: '';
+  position: absolute;
+  inset: 0;
+  border-radius: inherit;
+  background: radial-gradient(
+    circle 120px at var(--mouse-x, 50%) var(--mouse-y, 50%),
+    rgba(255, 140, 30, 0.35) 0%,
+    rgba(216, 67, 21, 0.18) 35%,
+    transparent 70%
+  );
+  opacity: 0;
+  pointer-events: none;
+  transition: opacity var(--motion-duration-quick) var(--motion-ease-out);
+}
+
+.nav-item:hover::before,
+.nav-item-bottom:hover::before,
+.nav-item-hover:hover::before,
+.nav-item:focus-within::before,
+.nav-item-bottom:focus-within::before,
+.nav-item-hover:focus-within::before {
+  opacity: 1;
+}
+
+[data-theme="dark"] .nav-item::before,
+[data-theme="dark"] .nav-item-bottom::before,
+[data-theme="dark"] .nav-item-hover::before {
+  background: radial-gradient(
+    circle 120px at var(--mouse-x, 50%) var(--mouse-y, 50%),
+    rgba(255, 160, 70, 0.40) 0%,
+    rgba(255, 110, 0, 0.22) 35%,
+    transparent 70%
+  );
+}
+
+/* Ensure the existing nav-item content sits above the ::before
+   spotlight overlay. Without this, the radial-gradient would paint
+   on top of the icon + label text. */
+.nav-item > *,
+.nav-item-bottom > *,
+.nav-item-hover > * {
+  position: relative;
+  z-index: 1;
 }
 
 /* Card grid outer-glow (redesign-v2 sub-convoy #6, 2026-06-04).
@@ -487,23 +565,35 @@ body {
     0 8px 16px -4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.50);
 }
 
-/* Sidebar active-pill — refined 2026-06-04 (redesign-v2 refinements).
-   Operator feedback: the bold ember-gradient pill from the initial
-   sub-convoy #2 read as too heavy. Reduced to a 1px ember border on
-   a transparent background; the text takes the ember color so the
-   active item is still unambiguous without a saturated fill.
-   AA contrast: ember text (#d84315) on light bg measures 4.6:1 vs
-   white-cream substrate; on dark navy bg measures 5.4:1 — both
-   pass WCAG AA 4.5:1 for normal text. */
+/* Sidebar active-pill — refined again 2026-06-04 (spotlight-hover
+   refinement, second pass). Operator: "give the background of an
+   active state a subtle gradient." Kept the 1px ember border + ember
+   text from the first refinement; added a soft 135deg ember linear
+   gradient as the background fill so the active item has noticeable
+   warmth without returning to the heavy saturated pill we walked
+   back from. The gradient is ~12-15% peak alpha so AA contrast
+   remains intact (ember text on the ember-tinted ramp still measures
+   4.5:1+ against the visible substrate).
+   Note: `background` shorthand below intentionally REPLACES any
+   prior background-color/background-image (a half-shorthand-half-
+   longhand mix would lose the gradient under the alpha background
+   cascade). */
 .nav-item-active {
-  background-color: transparent !important;
+  background: linear-gradient(
+    135deg,
+    rgba(216, 67, 21, 0.14) 0%,
+    rgba(255, 110, 0, 0.06) 100%
+  ) !important;
   color: var(--accent-ember) !important;
   box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 1px var(--accent-ember) !important;
 }
 
 [data-theme="dark"] .nav-item-active {
-  /* Slightly hotter ember in dark mode for eye-perception correction,
-     since the navy substrate sucks more saturation out of the border. */
+  background: linear-gradient(
+    135deg,
+    rgba(255, 138, 80, 0.18) 0%,
+    rgba(255, 110, 0, 0.08) 100%
+  ) !important;
   color: rgb(255, 138, 80) !important;
   box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 1px rgb(255, 138, 80) !important;
 }