diff --git a/cortex/main.py b/cortex/main.py
index 09fbfc7..f28718f 100644
--- a/cortex/main.py
+++ b/cortex/main.py
@@ -35,14 +35,16 @@ app.include_router(distill.router)
 app.include_router(auth.router)
 app.include_router(orchestrator.router)
 
+# Static files — must be mounted BEFORE ui.router so /static/* is matched first.
+# ui.router has a wildcard /{username}/{persona} that would otherwise catch /static/style.css etc.
+app.mount("/static", StaticFiles(directory="static"), name="static")
+
 # Onboarding (invite tokens + persona creation — before ui.router)
 app.include_router(onboarding.router)
 
 # UI router (login + /{user}/{persona} — must be last to avoid swallowing API paths)
 app.include_router(ui.router)
 
-app.mount("/static", StaticFiles(directory="static"), name="static")
-
 
 @app.get("/health")
 async def health() -> dict: