diff --git a/packages/cli/src/create/bin.ts b/packages/cli/src/create/bin.ts
index feb23261d8..40e129266c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/create/bin.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/create/bin.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
-import { styleText } from 'node:util';
 
 import * as prompts from '@voidzero-dev/vite-plus-prompts';
 import spawn from 'cross-spawn';
 import mri from 'mri';
+import colors from 'picocolors';
 
 import { vitePlusHeader } from '../../binding/index.js';
 import {
@@ -433,21 +433,19 @@ function showCreateSummary(options: {
   } = options;
 
   log(
-    `${styleText('magenta', '◇')} Scaffolded ${accent(projectDir)}${
+    `${colors.magenta('◇')} Scaffolded ${accent(projectDir)}${
       description ? ` with ${description}` : ''
     }`,
   );
   log(
-    `${styleText('gray', '•')} Node ${process.versions.node}  ${packageManager} ${packageManagerVersion}`,
+    `${colors.gray('•')} Node ${process.versions.node}  ${packageManager} ${packageManagerVersion}`,
   );
   if (installSummary?.status === 'installed') {
     log(
-      `${styleText('green', '✓')} Dependencies installed in ${formatDuration(
-        installSummary.durationMs,
-      )}`,
+      `${colors.green('✓')} Dependencies installed in ${formatDuration(installSummary.durationMs)}`,
     );
   }
-  log(`${styleText('blue', '→')} Next: ${accent(nextCommand)}`);
+  log(`${colors.blue('→')} Next: ${accent(nextCommand)}`);
 }
 
 async function main() {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/migration/bin.ts b/packages/cli/src/migration/bin.ts
index 58ea7e75da..51a410f592 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/migration/bin.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/migration/bin.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 import path from 'node:path';
-import { styleText } from 'node:util';
 
 import * as prompts from '@voidzero-dev/vite-plus-prompts';
 import mri from 'mri';
+import colors from 'picocolors';
 import semver from 'semver';
 
 import {
@@ -110,8 +110,7 @@ async function confirmFrameworkShim(framework: Framework, interactive: boolean):
     const confirmed = await prompts.confirm({
       message:
         `Add TypeScript shim for ${name} component files (*.${framework})?\n  ` +
-        styleText(
-          'gray',
+        colors.gray(
           `Lets TypeScript recognize .${framework} files until vp check fully supports them.`,
         ),
       initialValue: true,
@@ -487,8 +486,7 @@ async function collectAgentInstructionPlan(
       const action = await prompts.select({
         message:
           `Agent instructions already exist at ${conflict.targetPath}.\n  ` +
-          styleText(
-            'gray',
+          colors.gray(
             'The Vite+ template includes guidance on `vp` commands, the build pipeline, and project conventions.',
           ),
         options: [
@@ -532,8 +530,7 @@ async function collectEditorConfigPlan(
       const action = await prompts.select({
         message:
           `${conflict.displayPath} already exists.\n  ` +
-          styleText(
-            'gray',
+          colors.gray(
             'Vite+ adds editor settings for the built-in linter and formatter. Merge adds new keys without overwriting existing ones.',
           ),
         options: [
@@ -756,21 +753,19 @@ function showMigrationSummary(options: {
     report.wrappedPluginConfigCount;
 
   log(
-    `${styleText('magenta', '◇')} ${updatedExistingVitePlus ? 'Updated' : 'Migrated'} ${accent(projectLabel)}${
+    `${colors.magenta('◇')} ${updatedExistingVitePlus ? 'Updated' : 'Migrated'} ${accent(projectLabel)}${
       updatedExistingVitePlus ? '' : ' to Vite+'
     }`,
   );
   log(
-    `${styleText('gray', '•')} Node ${process.versions.node}  ${packageManager} ${packageManagerVersion}`,
+    `${colors.gray('•')} Node ${process.versions.node}  ${packageManager} ${packageManagerVersion}`,
   );
   // Gate the green success line on the FINAL install actually succeeding.
   // A nonzero duration could come from a successful pre-migration install
   // followed by a failed post-migration reinstall — in that case node_modules
   // is desynced and reporting success would mislead the user.
   if (finalInstallOk && installDurationMs > 0) {
-    log(
-      `${styleText('green', '✓')} Dependencies installed in ${formatDuration(installDurationMs)}`,
-    );
+    log(`${colors.green('✓')} Dependencies installed in ${formatDuration(installDurationMs)}`);
   }
   if (configUpdates > 0 || report.rewrittenImportFileCount > 0) {
     const parts: string[] = [];
@@ -786,39 +781,37 @@ function showMigrationSummary(options: {
         } imports rewritten`,
       );
     }
-    log(`${styleText('gray', '•')} ${parts.join(', ')}`);
+    log(`${colors.gray('•')} ${parts.join(', ')}`);
   }
   if (report.eslintMigrated) {
-    log(`${styleText('gray', '•')} ESLint rules migrated to Oxlint`);
+    log(`${colors.gray('•')} ESLint rules migrated to Oxlint`);
   }
   if (report.prettierMigrated) {
-    log(`${styleText('gray', '•')} Prettier migrated to Oxfmt`);
+    log(`${colors.gray('•')} Prettier migrated to Oxfmt`);
   }
   if (report.nodeVersionFileMigrated) {
-    log(`${styleText('gray', '•')} Node version manager file migrated to .node-version`);
+    log(`${colors.gray('•')} Node version manager file migrated to .node-version`);
   }
   if (report.wrappedPluginConfigCount > 0) {
-    log(
-      `${styleText('gray', '•')} Inline Vite plugins wrapped with lazyPlugins for check/lint/fmt`,
-    );
+    log(`${colors.gray('•')} Inline Vite plugins wrapped with lazyPlugins for check/lint/fmt`);
   }
   if (report.gitHooksConfigured) {
-    log(`${styleText('gray', '•')} Git hooks configured`);
+    log(`${colors.gray('•')} Git hooks configured`);
   }
   if (report.frameworkShimAdded) {
-    log(`${styleText('gray', '•')} TypeScript shim added for framework component files`);
+    log(`${colors.gray('•')} TypeScript shim added for framework component files`);
   }
   if (report.packageManagerBootstrapConfigured) {
-    log(`${styleText('gray', '•')} Package manager settings configured`);
+    log(`${colors.gray('•')} Package manager settings configured`);
   }
   if (report.warnings.length > 0) {
-    log(`${styleText('yellow', '!')} Warnings:`);
+    log(`${colors.yellow('!')} Warnings:`);
     for (const warning of report.warnings) {
       log(`  - ${warning}`);
     }
   }
   if (report.manualSteps.length > 0) {
-    log(`${styleText('blue', '→')} Manual follow-up:`);
+    log(`${colors.blue('→')} Manual follow-up:`);
     for (const step of report.manualSteps) {
       log(`  - ${step}`);
     }
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/migration/migrator.ts b/packages/cli/src/migration/migrator.ts
index 8d41d2344e..c34b4dd771 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/migration/migrator.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/migration/migrator.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import os from 'node:os';
 import path from 'node:path';
-import { styleText } from 'node:util';
 
 import * as prompts from '@voidzero-dev/vite-plus-prompts';
 import spawn from 'cross-spawn';
 import type { OxlintConfig } from 'oxlint';
+import colors from 'picocolors';
 import semver from 'semver';
 import { Scalar, YAMLMap, YAMLSeq } from 'yaml';
 
@@ -5715,8 +5715,7 @@ export async function confirmEslintMigration(interactive: boolean): Promise<bool
     const confirmed = await prompts.confirm({
       message:
         'Migrate ESLint rules to Oxlint using @oxlint/migrate?\n  ' +
-        styleText(
-          'gray',
+        colors.gray(
           "Oxlint is Vite+'s built-in linter — significantly faster than ESLint with compatible rule support. @oxlint/migrate converts your existing rules automatically.",
         ),
       initialValue: true,
@@ -5779,8 +5778,7 @@ export async function confirmPrettierMigration(interactive: boolean): Promise<bo
     const confirmed = await prompts.confirm({
       message:
         'Migrate Prettier to Oxfmt?\n  ' +
-        styleText(
-          'gray',
+        colors.gray(
           "Oxfmt is Vite+'s built-in formatter that replaces Prettier with faster performance. Your configuration will be converted automatically.",
         ),
       initialValue: true,
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/agent.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/agent.ts
index 155abab4d0..74c781a504 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/agent.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/agent.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import fsPromises from 'node:fs/promises';
 import path from 'node:path';
-import { styleText } from 'node:util';
 
 import * as prompts from '@voidzero-dev/vite-plus-prompts';
+import colors from 'picocolors';
 
 import { pkgRoot } from './path.ts';
 
@@ -490,8 +490,7 @@ export async function writeAgentInstructions({
         const action = await prompts.select({
           message:
             `Agent instructions already exist at ${targetPathToWrite}.\n  ` +
-            styleText(
-              'gray',
+            colors.gray(
               'The Vite+ template includes guidance on `vp` commands, the build pipeline, and project conventions.',
             ),
           options: [
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/editor.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/editor.ts
index fb2d184fde..b4921cc7ae 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/editor.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/editor.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import fsPromises from 'node:fs/promises';
 import path from 'node:path';
-import { styleText } from 'node:util';
 
 import * as prompts from '@voidzero-dev/vite-plus-prompts';
+import colors from 'picocolors';
 
 import { readJsonFile, writeJsonFile } from './json.ts';
 
@@ -193,8 +193,7 @@ export async function selectEditor({
     const selectedEditor = await prompts.select({
       message:
         'Which editor are you using?\n  ' +
-        styleText(
-          'gray',
+        colors.gray(
           'Writes editor config files to enable recommended extensions and Oxlint/Oxfmt integrations.',
         ),
       options: [...editorOptions, otherOption],
@@ -236,8 +235,7 @@ export async function selectEditors({
     const selectedEditors = await prompts.multiselect({
       message:
         'Which editors are you using?\n  ' +
-        styleText(
-          'gray',
+        colors.gray(
           'Writes editor config files to enable recommended extensions and Oxlint/Oxfmt integrations.',
         ),
       options: EDITORS.map((option) => ({
@@ -396,8 +394,7 @@ async function writeEditorConfig({
         const action = await prompts.select({
           message:
             `${displayPath} already exists.\n  ` +
-            styleText(
-              'gray',
+            colors.gray(
               `Vite+ adds ${editorConfig.label} settings for the built-in linter and formatter. Merge adds new keys without overwriting existing ones.`,
             ),
           options: [
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/help.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/help.ts
index 4a9b9bfe1a..c1e02cd8d4 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/help.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/help.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-import { stripVTControlCharacters, styleText } from 'node:util';
+import { stripVTControlCharacters } from 'node:util';
+
+import colors from 'picocolors';
 
 export type CliDoc = {
   usage?: string;
@@ -71,9 +73,7 @@ function heading(label: string, color: boolean): string {
     return `${label}:`;
   }
 
-  return label === 'Usage'
-    ? styleText('bold', `${label}:`)
-    : styleText(['blue', 'bold'], `${label}:`);
+  return label === 'Usage' ? colors.bold(`${label}:`) : colors.bold(colors.blue(`${label}:`));
 }
 
 export function renderCliDoc(doc: CliDoc, options: RenderCliDocOptions = {}): string {
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ export function renderCliDoc(doc: CliDoc, options: RenderCliDocOptions = {}): st
   const output: string[] = [];
 
   if (doc.usage) {
-    const usage = color ? styleText('bold', doc.usage) : doc.usage;
+    const usage = color ? colors.bold(doc.usage) : doc.usage;
     output.push(`${heading('Usage', color)} ${usage}`);
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/terminal.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/terminal.ts
index ea90fcf970..a73bb528a9 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/terminal.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/terminal.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { styleText } from 'node:util';
+import colors from 'picocolors';
 
 import { shouldPrintVitePlusHeader, vitePlusHeader } from '../../binding/index.js';
 
@@ -21,19 +21,19 @@ export function printHeader() {
 }
 
 export function accent(text: string) {
-  return styleText('blue', text);
+  return colors.blue(text);
 }
 
 export function muted(text: string) {
-  return styleText('gray', text);
+  return colors.gray(text);
 }
 
 export function success(text: string) {
-  return styleText('green', text);
+  return colors.green(text);
 }
 
 export function error(text: string) {
-  return styleText('red', text);
+  return colors.red(text);
 }
 
 // Standard message prefix functions matching the Rust CLI convention.
@@ -41,20 +41,20 @@ export function error(text: string) {
 
 export function infoMsg(msg: string) {
   /* oxlint-disable-next-line no-console */
-  console.log(styleText(['blue', 'bold'], 'info:'), msg);
+  console.log(colors.bold(colors.blue('info:')), msg);
 }
 
 export function warnMsg(msg: string) {
   /* oxlint-disable-next-line no-console */
-  console.error(styleText(['yellow', 'bold'], 'warn:'), msg);
+  console.error(colors.bold(colors.yellow('warn:')), msg);
 }
 
 export function errorMsg(msg: string) {
   /* oxlint-disable-next-line no-console */
-  console.error(styleText(['red', 'bold'], 'error:'), msg);
+  console.error(colors.bold(colors.red('error:')), msg);
 }
 
 export function noteMsg(msg: string) {
   /* oxlint-disable-next-line no-console */
-  console.log(styleText(['gray', 'bold'], 'note:'), msg);
+  console.log(colors.bold(colors.gray('note:')), msg);
 }
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/tsconfig.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/tsconfig.ts
index f421dae252..eb2a760e85 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/tsconfig.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/tsconfig.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
-import { styleText } from 'node:util';
 
 import * as prompts from '@voidzero-dev/vite-plus-prompts';
 import { applyEdits, modify, parse as parseJsonc } from 'jsonc-parser';
+import colors from 'picocolors';
 
 import { runCommandSilently } from './command.ts';
 import { BASEURL_TSCONFIG_FIX_PACKAGE, createBaseUrlTsconfigFixArgs } from './constants.ts';
@@ -60,12 +60,9 @@ export async function confirmBaseUrlFix(interactive: boolean): Promise<boolean>
   const confirmed = await prompts.confirm({
     message:
       'Your tsconfig contains `baseUrl`, which prevents enabling type-aware linting.\n  ' +
-      styleText(
-        'gray',
-        '`baseUrl` is deprecated in TypeScript 6.0 and removed in TypeScript 7.0.',
-      ) +
+      colors.gray('`baseUrl` is deprecated in TypeScript 6.0 and removed in TypeScript 7.0.') +
       `\n  Download and run the external \`${BASEURL_TSCONFIG_FIX_PACKAGE}\` fixer now?\n  ` +
-      styleText('gray', `Equivalent command: \`vp dlx ${command}\``),
+      colors.gray(`Equivalent command: \`vp dlx ${command}\``),
     initialValue: true,
   });
   if (prompts.isCancel(confirmed)) {
diff --git a/packages/core/package.json b/packages/core/package.json
index 763a6bb76b..73e33ce2df 100644
--- a/packages/core/package.json
+++ b/packages/core/package.json
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@
     "magic-string": "^0.30.21",
     "oxc-parser": "catalog:",
     "oxfmt": "catalog:",
-    "picocolors": "^1.1.1",
+    "picocolors": "catalog:",
     "picomatch": "^4.0.3",
     "pkg-types": "^2.3.0",
     "rolldown": "workspace:*",
diff --git a/packages/prompts/package.json b/packages/prompts/package.json
index fa33ba4489..e40962cb71 100644
--- a/packages/prompts/package.json
+++ b/packages/prompts/package.json
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "@clack/core": "^1.0.0",
-    "picocolors": "^1.0.0",
+    "picocolors": "catalog:",
     "sisteransi": "^1.0.5"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index bd1e78173b..14cf08cbaa 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -611,7 +611,7 @@ importers:
         specifier: 'catalog:'
         version: 0.56.0(vite-plus@packages+cli)
       picocolors:
-        specifier: ^1.1.1
+        specifier: 'catalog:'
         version: 1.1.1
       picomatch:
         specifier: ^4.0.3
@@ -657,7 +657,7 @@ importers:
         specifier: ^1.0.0
         version: 1.4.2
       picocolors:
-        specifier: ^1.0.0
+        specifier: 'catalog:'
         version: 1.1.1
       sisteransi:
         specifier: ^1.0.5
diff --git a/rfcs/cli-output-polish.md b/rfcs/cli-output-polish.md
index 97427add66..af7418af1c 100644
--- a/rfcs/cli-output-polish.md
+++ b/rfcs/cli-output-polish.md
@@ -52,11 +52,11 @@ Neither identifies the experience as "Vite+". Users who installed `vite-plus` se
 
 **4. Color libraries differ (but this is acceptable)**
 
-| Layer              | Library                 |
-| ------------------ | ----------------------- |
-| Rust (global CLI)  | `owo_colors`            |
-| JS (vite-plus CLI) | `node:util styleText()` |
-| vite               | `picocolors`            |
+| Layer              | Library      |
+| ------------------ | ------------ |
+| Rust (global CLI)  | `owo_colors` |
+| JS (vite-plus CLI) | `picocolors` |
+| vite               | `picocolors` |
 
 **5. The `[vite]` logger prefix in vite**
 
@@ -345,19 +345,19 @@ The JS code in `packages/cli/src/utils/terminal.ts` already has `accent()`, `hea
 
 ```typescript
 export function info(msg: string) {
-  console.error(styleText(['blue', 'bold'], 'info:'), msg);
+  console.error(colors.bold(colors.blue('info:')), msg);
 }
 
 export function warn(msg: string) {
-  console.error(styleText(['yellow', 'bold'], 'warn:'), msg);
+  console.error(colors.bold(colors.yellow('warn:')), msg);
 }
 
 export function errorMsg(msg: string) {
-  console.error(styleText(['red', 'bold'], 'error:'), msg);
+  console.error(colors.bold(colors.red('error:')), msg);
 }
 
 export function note(msg: string) {
-  console.error(styleText(['gray', 'bold'], 'note:'), msg);
+  console.error(colors.bold(colors.gray('note:')), msg);
 }
 ```
 
@@ -397,7 +397,7 @@ Migrate JS-side code (`migration/bin.ts`, `create/bin.ts`) to use these shared f
 
 ### D6: Keep each layer's color library
 
-**Decision:** Rust keeps `owo_colors`, JS keeps `node:util styleText()`, vite keeps `picocolors`.
+**Decision:** Rust keeps `owo_colors`; JS and Vite keep `picocolors`.
 
 **Rationale:** Changing color libraries is high-risk, low-reward. The shared formatting module abstracts the library choice so the output convention is consistent regardless of the underlying library.