diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/figma/component.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/figma/component.test.ts
index c44e246e9..0f8a7ad5a 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/figma/component.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/figma/component.test.ts
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ describe("runComponentImport", () => {
 
   it("bakes literals and reports unresolved bindings when the index is empty", async () => {
     const { out, html } = await importHero();
-    expect(html).toContain("background: #0066FF");
+    expect(html).toContain("background-color: #0066FF");
     expect(html).not.toContain("var(");
     expect(out.unresolved).toHaveLength(1);
     expect(out.unresolved[0]?.figmaId).toBe("VariableID:1:1");
diff --git a/packages/core/src/compiler/htmlBundler.ts b/packages/core/src/compiler/htmlBundler.ts
index c82471986..b7c540f9d 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/compiler/htmlBundler.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/compiler/htmlBundler.ts
@@ -950,7 +950,7 @@ export async function bundleToSingleHtml(
     document.body.appendChild(compScript);
   }
 
-  emitRootCompositionVariableStyles(document);
+  emitRootCompositionVariableStyles(document, compVariablesByComp);
 
   enforceCompositionPixelSizing(document);
   autoHealMissingCompositionIds(document);
@@ -1014,29 +1014,114 @@ function compositionVariablesCssBlock(
  * every element declaring data-composition-variables gets a scoped stylesheet
  * rule so var(--slug, literal) references resolve during body parse. The
  * runtime injection remains define-if-absent, so it won't double-apply.
+ *
+ * `variablesByComp` (host-merged sub-composition values, keyed by runtime
+ * composition id) adds one rule per scope — the flattened inner root loses
+ * its data-composition-id, so the host selector is the only stable anchor.
+ * Exported for the producer's render compiler, which inlines sub-compositions
+ * through the shared module rather than this bundler.
+ * Returns whether a style element was appended.
  */
-function emitRootCompositionVariableStyles(document: Document): void {
-  const rules: string[] = [];
-  const htmlDeclared = readDeclaredDefaults(document.documentElement);
-  const htmlRule = compositionVariablesCssBlock(htmlDeclared, ":root");
-  if (htmlRule) rules.push(htmlRule);
-  for (const el of [...document.querySelectorAll("[data-composition-variables]")]) {
-    const compId = el.getAttribute("data-composition-id");
-    const elId = el.getAttribute("id");
-    const selector = compId
-      ? cssAttributeSelector("data-composition-id", compId)
-      : elId
-        ? `#${elId}`
-        : null;
-    if (!selector) continue;
-    const rule = compositionVariablesCssBlock(readDeclaredDefaults(el), selector);
-    if (rule) rules.push(rule);
-  }
-  if (rules.length === 0) return;
+export function emitRootCompositionVariableStyles(
+  document: Document,
+  variablesByComp: Record<string, Record<string, unknown>> = {},
+  overrides: Record<string, unknown> = {},
+): boolean {
+  const layerFor = makeVariableLayer(document, overrides);
+  const rules = [
+    ...hostScopedVariableRules(variablesByComp, overrides),
+    ...rootDeclaredVariableRules(document, layerFor),
+    ...declarerVariableRules(document, layerFor),
+  ];
+  if (rules.length === 0) return false;
   const style = document.createElement("style");
   style.setAttribute("data-hf-composition-variables", "");
   style.textContent = rules.join("\n\n");
   document.head.appendChild(style);
+  return true;
+}
+
+type VariableLayer = (
+  declared: Record<string, unknown>,
+  hostValues: Record<string, unknown>,
+) => Record<string, unknown>;
+
+/**
+ * Layering for one declarer: authored stylesheet definitions win over
+ * declared defaults (the runtime's define-if-absent, applied statically) —
+ * a var already defined in any authored <style> block is not emitted. Host
+ * values and --variables overrides are explicit intent, never filtered.
+ */
+function makeVariableLayer(document: Document, overrides: Record<string, unknown>): VariableLayer {
+  const authoredCss = [...document.querySelectorAll("style:not([data-hf-composition-variables])")]
+    .map((s) => s.textContent || "")
+    .join("\n");
+  const authoredDefines = (id: string): boolean =>
+    new RegExp(`${cssVariableName(id)}\\s*:`).test(authoredCss);
+  return (declared, hostValues) => {
+    const out: Record<string, unknown> = {};
+    for (const [id, value] of Object.entries(declared)) {
+      if (!authoredDefines(id)) out[id] = value;
+    }
+    for (const [id, value] of Object.entries(hostValues)) {
+      if (id in declared) out[id] = value;
+    }
+    for (const [id, value] of Object.entries(overrides)) {
+      if (id in declared || id in hostValues) out[id] = value;
+    }
+    return out;
+  };
+}
+
+/** Host-scoped rules: per-instance values inherited by the host's subtree. */
+function hostScopedVariableRules(
+  variablesByComp: Record<string, Record<string, unknown>>,
+  overrides: Record<string, unknown>,
+): string[] {
+  const rules: string[] = [];
+  for (const [compId, vars] of Object.entries(variablesByComp)) {
+    const withOverrides = { ...vars };
+    for (const [id, value] of Object.entries(overrides)) {
+      if (id in vars) withOverrides[id] = value;
+    }
+    const rule = compositionVariablesCssBlock(
+      withOverrides,
+      cssAttributeSelector("data-composition-id", compId),
+    );
+    if (rule) rules.push(rule);
+  }
+  return rules;
+}
+
+function rootDeclaredVariableRules(document: Document, layerFor: VariableLayer): string[] {
+  const htmlDeclared = readDeclaredDefaults(document.documentElement);
+  const htmlRule = compositionVariablesCssBlock(layerFor(htmlDeclared, {}), ":root");
+  return htmlRule ? [htmlRule] : [];
+}
+
+/**
+ * Declarer rules anchor on a per-instance marker attribute, not the
+ * composition id: two inlined instances of one sub-composition share a
+ * data-composition-id, and a shared selector would let instance A's rule
+ * restyle instance B. The nearest ancestor host's data-variable-values
+ * layer over the declared defaults (mirrors the runtime loader).
+ */
+function declarerVariableRules(document: Document, layerFor: VariableLayer): string[] {
+  const rules: string[] = [];
+  let markerSeq = 0;
+  for (const el of [...document.querySelectorAll("[data-composition-variables]")]) {
+    const declared = readDeclaredDefaults(el);
+    const hostEl =
+      typeof el.closest === "function" ? el.parentElement?.closest("[data-variable-values]") : null;
+    const hostValues = hostEl ? parseHostVariableValues(hostEl) : {};
+    const vars = layerFor(declared, hostValues);
+    if (Object.keys(vars).length === 0) continue;
+    markerSeq += 1;
+    el.setAttribute("data-hf-var-scope", String(markerSeq));
+    const rule = compositionVariablesCssBlock(vars, `[data-hf-var-scope="${markerSeq}"]`);
+    if (rule) rules.push(rule);
+  }
+  return rules;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/packages/core/src/compiler/index.ts b/packages/core/src/compiler/index.ts
index 0de427c98..3bdab0470 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/compiler/index.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/compiler/index.ts
@@ -32,7 +32,9 @@ export {
   type BundleOptions,
   prepareFlattenedInnerRoot,
   FLATTENED_INNER_ROOT_STRIP_ATTRS,
+  emitRootCompositionVariableStyles,
 } from "./htmlBundler";
+export { readDeclaredDefaults, parseHostVariableValues } from "../runtime/getVariables";
 
 export {
   RUNTIME_BOOTSTRAP_ATTR,
diff --git a/packages/core/src/figma/nodeToHtml.test.ts b/packages/core/src/figma/nodeToHtml.test.ts
index 1c584af17..8c4b1f9b2 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/figma/nodeToHtml.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/figma/nodeToHtml.test.ts
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ describe("nodeToHtml", () => {
     expect(out.html).toContain("width: 800px");
     expect(out.html).toContain("height: 600px");
     expect(out.html).toContain("position: relative");
-    expect(out.html).toContain("background: #FFFFFF");
+    expect(out.html).toContain("background-color: #FFFFFF");
   });
 
   it("absolutely positions children relative to the root frame", () => {
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ describe("nodeToHtml", () => {
     expect(out.html).toContain("width: 120px");
     expect(out.html).toContain("border-radius: 8px");
     expect(out.html).toContain("opacity: 0.9");
-    expect(out.html).toContain("background: #0066FF");
+    expect(out.html).toContain("background-color: #0066FF");
   });
 
   it("emits var() with literal fallback for resolved bindings", () => {
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ describe("nodeToHtml", () => {
         unresolved: [],
       },
     );
-    expect(out.html).toContain("background: var(--figma-blue-500, #0066FF)");
+    expect(out.html).toContain("background-color: var(--figma-blue-500, #0066FF)");
   });
 
   it("bakes literals and flags unresolved bindings — never a dangling var()", () => {
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ describe("nodeToHtml", () => {
         unresolved: [{ nodeId: "1:2", property: "fills", figmaId: "VariableID:9:9" }],
       },
     );
-    expect(out.html).toContain("background: #0066FF");
+    expect(out.html).toContain("background-color: #0066FF");
     expect(out.html).not.toContain("var(");
     expect(out.html).toContain('data-figma-unresolved="fills"');
   });
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ describe("nodeToHtml", () => {
     );
     expect(out.html).not.toContain("1:5");
     expect(out.html).toContain('data-figma-id="1:6"');
-    expect(out.html).not.toContain("background: #0066FF");
+    expect(out.html).not.toContain("background-color: #0066FF");
   });
 
   it("maps linear gradients and drop shadows", () => {
diff --git a/packages/core/src/figma/nodeToHtml.ts b/packages/core/src/figma/nodeToHtml.ts
index 817d09586..102567833 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/figma/nodeToHtml.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/figma/nodeToHtml.ts
@@ -228,7 +228,11 @@ function decorationCss(node: FigmaNodeDocument, ctx: RenderContext): string[] {
     if (bg !== null) styles.push(`color: ${bg}`);
     textCss(node, styles);
   } else if (bg !== null) {
-    styles.push(`background: ${bg}`);
+    // background-color (longhand) for solid fills, never the shorthand: GSAP
+    // backgroundColor tweens can't read a var() through the shorthand (its
+    // pending-substitution longhands serialize empty), so .from/.to on an
+    // imported node would settle on transparent instead of the token color.
+    styles.push(bg.includes("gradient(") ? `background: ${bg}` : `background-color: ${bg}`);
   }
   shapeCss(node, styles);
   effectsCss(node, styles);
diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/distributed/plan.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/distributed/plan.ts
index 2f5f5d344..05f47e022 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/distributed/plan.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/distributed/plan.ts
@@ -344,6 +344,7 @@ export const FORMAT_NOT_SUPPORTED_IN_DISTRIBUTED = "FORMAT_NOT_SUPPORTED_IN_DIST
  * gate.
  */
 export class FormatNotSupportedInDistributedError extends Error {
+  // fallow-ignore-next-line unused-class-member
   readonly code: typeof FORMAT_NOT_SUPPORTED_IN_DISTRIBUTED = FORMAT_NOT_SUPPORTED_IN_DISTRIBUTED;
   readonly format: string;
   readonly reason: string;
@@ -808,6 +809,7 @@ export async function plan(
     // Distributed renders must not capture host-specific system fonts —
     // the Lambda/worker filesystem won't have the same fonts installed.
     allowSystemFontCapture: false,
+    variables: config.variables,
   });
   let compiled = compileResult.compiled;
   const composition = compileResult.composition;
diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/htmlCompiler.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/htmlCompiler.ts
index 05a8ce3c6..e3882384d 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/htmlCompiler.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/htmlCompiler.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ import {
 import {
   inlineSubCompositions as inlineSubCompositionsShared,
   prepareFlattenedInnerRoot,
+  emitRootCompositionVariableStyles,
+  readDeclaredDefaults,
+  parseHostVariableValues,
 } from "@hyperframes/core/compiler";
 import {
   checkSubCompositionUsability,
@@ -761,18 +764,32 @@ function inlineSubCompositions(
   html: string,
   subCompositions: Map<string, string>,
   projectDir: string,
+  variableOverrides: Record<string, unknown> = {},
 ): string {
   const { document } = parseHTML(html);
   const head = document.querySelector("head");
   const body = document.querySelector("body");
   const hosts = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll("[data-composition-src]"));
 
-  if (!hosts.length) return html;
+  if (!hosts.length) {
+    // Even with no sub-compositions, declared composition variables need a
+    // compile-time stylesheet so eval-time reads (GSAP .from immediateRender,
+    // top-level script getComputedStyle) resolve var(--slug) — the runtime's
+    // DOMContentLoaded injection is too late for those.
+    const emitted = emitRootCompositionVariableStyles(
+      document as unknown as Document,
+      {},
+      variableOverrides,
+    );
+    return emitted ? document.toString() : html;
+  }
 
   const result = inlineSubCompositionsShared(
     document as unknown as Document,
     hosts as unknown as Element[],
     {
+      readVariableDefaults: readDeclaredDefaults,
+      parseHostVariables: parseHostVariableValues,
       resolveHtml: (srcPath: string) => {
         let compHtml = subCompositions.get(srcPath) || null;
         if (!compHtml) {
@@ -872,6 +889,15 @@ function inlineSubCompositions(
     body.appendChild(scriptEl);
   }
 
+  // Compile-time CSS custom properties (mirrors the preview bundler): root
+  // declarers plus one scoped rule per sub-composition host, so var(--slug)
+  // resolves at script eval time, not just after runtime injection.
+  emitRootCompositionVariableStyles(
+    document as unknown as Document,
+    result.variablesByComp,
+    variableOverrides,
+  );
+
   return document.toString();
 }
 
@@ -1547,6 +1573,13 @@ export interface CompileForRenderOptions {
   animatedGifCacheDir?: string;
   /** FFmpeg timeout for animated GIF transcodes. */
   ffmpegProcessTimeout?: number;
+  /**
+   * Render-time variable overrides (`--variables`). Layered over declared
+   * defaults in the compile-time CSS custom-property stylesheet so eval-time
+   * reads (GSAP .from immediateRender) see the overridden value — the
+   * `window.__hfVariables` injection covers script reads, not var() in CSS.
+   */
+  variables?: Record<string, unknown>;
 }
 
 const GSAP_CDN_BASE = "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/gsap@3.15.0/dist/";
@@ -1611,7 +1644,12 @@ export async function compileForRender(
   // Inline sub-compositions into the main HTML so the runtime takes the same
   // synchronous code path as the bundled preview (no async fetch of
   // data-composition-src). This mirrors what htmlBundler.ts does for preview.
-  const inlinedHtml = inlineSubCompositions(fullHtml, subCompositions, projectDir);
+  const inlinedHtml = inlineSubCompositions(
+    fullHtml,
+    subCompositions,
+    projectDir,
+    options.variables ?? {},
+  );
 
   // Strip preload="none" from media elements — the renderer needs to load all
   // media upfront for frame capture. Users add this to reduce browser memory in
diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/compileStage.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/compileStage.ts
index 128eb322f..a07320961 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/compileStage.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/compileStage.ts
@@ -83,6 +83,8 @@ export interface CompileStageInput {
    * on the local filesystem and embedded. Distributed renders pass `false`.
    */
   allowSystemFontCapture?: boolean;
+  /** Render-time variable overrides (`--variables`); see CompileForRenderOptions.variables. */
+  variables?: Record<string, unknown>;
 }
 
 export interface CompileStageResult {
@@ -127,6 +129,7 @@ export async function runCompileStage(input: CompileStageInput): Promise<Compile
     log,
     failClosedFontFetch: failClosedFontFetch === true,
     allowSystemFontCapture,
+    variables: input.variables,
     animatedGifCacheDir: cfg.extractCacheDir
       ? join(cfg.extractCacheDir, "animated-gif")
       : undefined,
diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts
index ce3a95c9a..ba5d31c5b 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts
@@ -1292,6 +1292,7 @@ export async function executeRenderJob(
         needsAlpha,
         log,
         assertNotAborted,
+        variables: job.config.variables,
       }),
     );
     let compiled = compileResult.compiled;