diff --git a/STATUS.md b/STATUS.md
index 9f853d3..8d95cff 100644
--- a/STATUS.md
+++ b/STATUS.md
@@ -4,8 +4,9 @@ Single source of truth for "what's next." One milestone per PR/run. Autopilot:
 pick the one task under **NEXT**, ship it, stop. Do **not** start anything under
 **BLOCKED**.
 
-_Last updated: 2026-07-03 — Milestone 6 (Web Worker WASM inference) done;
-queue empty pending an M7 proposal._
+_Last updated: 2026-07-04 — Milestone 6 (Web Worker WASM inference) done; a
+user-directed polish item (boot loading bar) landed on top; queue empty pending
+an M7 proposal._
 
 ---
 
@@ -155,6 +156,26 @@ queue empty pending an M7 proposal._
   max gap 1.57s** — pre-M6 the gap was the whole pass. Pre-change HEAD
   (rollback) `c61d33b`.
 
+- **Polish — boot loading bar (user-directed, not a milestone).** The app used
+  to show a blank black screen until the ~194KB-gzipped entry bundle (Three.js)
+  downloaded, parsed, and rendered the first frame — no feedback. Added an
+  **inline, instant-paint boot loader**: an overlay + critical CSS live directly
+  in `index.html` (a `<head>` `<style>` + `#boot-loader` markup Vite passes
+  through untouched into the built HTML, ahead of the module `<script>`), so it
+  paints on the FIRST paint, before any JS downloads. The fill advances toward
+  92% on a pure-CSS animation; `src/main.js` snaps it to 100% and fades the
+  overlay out on the **first rendered frame** (a one-shot after the first
+  `renderer.render` in `animate()`, which runs synchronously at module eval —
+  before `window.__app` is set, so the overlay is `pointer-events:none`/removed
+  before any UI interaction). This is a **perceived-load** win (First Contentful
+  Paint: blank → instant) — the JS payload is unchanged (Three.js is required for
+  the first frame; the depth model already lazy-loads, no model bytes at boot).
+  Smoke test asserts the loader ships in the raw server HTML (fetched via
+  `page.request.get('/')`, so a JS-injected node can't satisfy it) AND is gone
+  once the app boots — non-tautological only together (loader-in-HTML but no
+  dismissal was verified RED on the second assertion). Verified visually on a
+  real build (frozen-loader screenshot). Pre-change HEAD (rollback) `789d6ae`.
+
 **Carry-over facts from M3/M4 (do not re-derive):**
 
 - Depth output contract: `depth` RawImage, Uint8, 1 channel, input W×H, 0–255
diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index 273aee6..d3ad854 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -5,8 +5,81 @@
     <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
     <title>Live Depth Field</title>
     <link rel="stylesheet" href="/src/style.css" />
+    <!--
+      Boot loading bar. Inlined here (not in a stylesheet, not built by JS) so it
+      paints on the FIRST paint — the instant the page opens, before the ~194KB
+      app module downloads or runs. src/main.js fades it out on the first
+      rendered frame. The CSS fill advances toward 92% on its own, then main.js
+      snaps it to 100% exactly when the app is actually ready — honest feedback,
+      zero JS to start it.
+    -->
+    <style>
+      #boot-loader {
+        position: fixed;
+        inset: 0;
+        z-index: 10;
+        display: flex;
+        flex-direction: column;
+        align-items: center;
+        justify-content: center;
+        gap: 18px;
+        background: #000;
+        transition: opacity 0.35s ease;
+      }
+      #boot-loader.boot-done {
+        opacity: 0;
+        pointer-events: none;
+      }
+      #boot-loader .boot-title {
+        font: 600 13px/1 system-ui, sans-serif;
+        letter-spacing: 0.14em;
+        text-transform: uppercase;
+        color: #8fb7ee;
+      }
+      #boot-loader .boot-track {
+        width: 220px;
+        height: 4px;
+        border-radius: 4px;
+        background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.12);
+        overflow: hidden;
+      }
+      #boot-loader .boot-fill {
+        width: 0;
+        height: 100%;
+        border-radius: 4px;
+        background: linear-gradient(90deg, #5a8fd6, #8ec7ff);
+        box-shadow: 0 0 12px rgba(142, 199, 255, 0.7);
+        animation: boot-advance 2.4s cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.8, 0.2, 1) forwards;
+        transition: width 0.3s ease;
+      }
+      @keyframes boot-advance {
+        from {
+          width: 0;
+        }
+        to {
+          width: 92%;
+        }
+      }
+      @media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
+        #boot-loader .boot-fill {
+          animation-duration: 0.01ms;
+        }
+        #boot-loader {
+          transition-duration: 0.01ms;
+        }
+      }
+    </style>
   </head>
   <body>
+    <div
+      id="boot-loader"
+      role="progressbar"
+      aria-label="Loading Live Depth Field"
+      aria-live="polite"
+    >
+      <div class="boot-title">Live Depth Field</div>
+      <div class="boot-track"><div class="boot-fill"></div></div>
+    </div>
     <div id="app"></div>
     <script type="module" src="/src/main.js"></script>
   </body>
diff --git a/src/main.js b/src/main.js
index f3dc07d..3e840f0 100644
--- a/src/main.js
+++ b/src/main.js
@@ -440,6 +440,35 @@ function onResize() {
 }
 window.addEventListener('resize', onResize);
 
+// Boot loading bar: dismiss the inline #boot-loader overlay (see index.html)
+// once the app is actually up. It advances on its own CSS animation from the
+// first paint; here we snap the fill to 100% and fade the overlay out, so the
+// bar completes exactly when the app is ready rather than on a guessed timer.
+// One-shot, fired after the first rendered frame.
+let bootLoaderDismissed = false;
+function dismissBootLoader() {
+  const loader = document.getElementById('boot-loader');
+  if (!loader) return;
+  const fill = loader.querySelector('.boot-fill');
+  if (fill) {
+    // Stop the advance animation so the inline width wins, then let the width
+    // transition carry it from wherever it reached up to a full 100%.
+    fill.style.animation = 'none';
+    fill.style.width = '100%';
+  }
+  loader.classList.add('boot-done'); // opacity → 0, pointer-events off
+  // Remove after the fade so it never lingers over the UI or intercepts clicks.
+  // Only the overlay's OWN opacity transition should trigger removal — a
+  // transitionend from the fill's width tween bubbles up too and would cut the
+  // fade short. The timeout is a fallback for when the fade is a no-op (e.g.
+  // prefers-reduced-motion collapses its duration so transitionend may not fire).
+  const remove = () => loader.remove();
+  loader.addEventListener('transitionend', (e) => {
+    if (e.target === loader && e.propertyName === 'opacity') remove();
+  });
+  setTimeout(remove, 600);
+}
+
 function animate() {
   requestAnimationFrame(animate);
   // M4: consume the newest completed depth frame, if one was posted by the
@@ -452,6 +481,11 @@ function animate() {
   }
   controls.update();
   renderer.render(scene, camera);
+  // First frame is on screen — tear down the boot loader.
+  if (!bootLoaderDismissed) {
+    bootLoaderDismissed = true;
+    dismissBootLoader();
+  }
 }
 animate();
 
diff --git a/tests/smoke.spec.js b/tests/smoke.spec.js
index 87c2501..127e59f 100644
--- a/tests/smoke.spec.js
+++ b/tests/smoke.spec.js
@@ -644,6 +644,47 @@ test('milestone 4: camera-permission failure shows an error state and recovers',
   expect(errors, `unexpected page errors:\n${errors.join('\n')}`).toEqual([]);
 });
 
+// Boot loading bar. A loading indicator must be present in the INITIAL
+// server-delivered HTML — up on the first paint, before the app module (~194KB
+// gzipped of Three.js) has even downloaded, let alone run — and must be
+// dismissed once the app has actually booted (first frame rendered).
+//
+// The two assertions are non-tautological only together: (a) proves the loader
+// ships in the raw HTML (checked via a bare request, NOT the live DOM, so it
+// can't be a JS-injected node), and (b) proves main.js clears it. Add the HTML
+// but forget the dismissal → (a) passes, (b) fails (loader sits over the booted
+// app forever). Add neither → (a) fails. Only both together go green.
+test('boot loader: shipped in the initial HTML before JS, dismissed once the app boots', async ({
+  page,
+}) => {
+  const errors = [];
+  page.on('pageerror', (e) => errors.push(`pageerror: ${e}`));
+  page.on('console', (m) => {
+    if (m.type() === 'error') errors.push(`console.error: ${m.text()}`);
+  });
+
+  // (a) The loader — an overlay carrying an ARIA progressbar — is in the exact
+  // bytes the server sends, so it renders before any module executes. Fetched
+  // raw (not via the live DOM) so a JS-injected element can't satisfy it.
+  const html = await (await page.request.get('/')).text();
+  expect(html, 'initial HTML must contain a #boot-loader overlay').toMatch(
+    /id=["']boot-loader["']/,
+  );
+  expect(html, 'the boot loader must expose an ARIA progressbar').toMatch(
+    /role=["']progressbar["']/,
+  );
+
+  // (b) Live: once the app has booted (the debug hook only exists after main.js
+  // ran end-to-end), the loader must be gone/hidden — main.js dismisses it.
+  await page.goto('/');
+  await page.waitForFunction(
+    () => !!window.__app && typeof window.__app.getPointCount === 'function',
+  );
+  await expect(page.locator('#boot-loader')).toBeHidden();
+
+  expect(errors, `unexpected page errors:\n${errors.join('\n')}`).toEqual([]);
+});
+
 // Milestone 6: WASM inference moves into a Web Worker so the main thread stays
 // responsive during a pass. The worker itself can't run in CI (it loads the
 // real ~100MB model — the worker-path proof is a local real-model probe, like