diff --git a/include/ghostty.h b/include/ghostty.h
index 65b1cdc5a45..541aa16a3d4 100644
--- a/include/ghostty.h
+++ b/include/ghostty.h
@@ -449,6 +449,7 @@ typedef struct {
   ghostty_platform_u platform;
   void* userdata;
   double scale_factor;
+  bool focused;
   float font_size;
   const char* working_directory;
   const char* command;
diff --git a/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Surface View/SurfaceView.swift b/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Surface View/SurfaceView.swift
index 47503dc0e80..da9ba9044bb 100644
--- a/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Surface View/SurfaceView.swift	
+++ b/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Surface View/SurfaceView.swift	
@@ -641,6 +641,9 @@ extension Ghostty {
     /// The configuration for a surface. For any configuration not set, defaults will be chosen from
     /// libghostty, usually from the Ghostty configuration.
     struct SurfaceConfiguration {
+        /// Initial focused state for the created surface.
+        var focused: Bool = true
+
         /// Explicit font size to use in points
         var fontSize: Float32?
 
@@ -665,6 +668,7 @@ extension Ghostty {
         init() {}
 
         init(from config: ghostty_surface_config_s) {
+            self.focused = config.focused
             self.fontSize = config.font_size
             if let workingDirectory = config.working_directory {
                 self.workingDirectory = String.init(cString: workingDirectory, encoding: .utf8)
@@ -711,6 +715,8 @@ extension Ghostty {
 #error("unsupported target")
 #endif
 
+            config.focused = focused
+
             // Zero is our default value that means to inherit the font size.
             config.font_size = fontSize ?? 0
 
diff --git a/src/Surface.zig b/src/Surface.zig
index 719e4605096..9800ec7fef0 100644
--- a/src/Surface.zig
+++ b/src/Surface.zig
@@ -491,6 +491,11 @@ pub fn init(
     // Initialize our renderer with our initialized surface.
     try Renderer.surfaceInit(rt_surface);
 
+    const initial_focused = if (comptime @hasDecl(apprt.runtime.Surface, "initialFocused"))
+        rt_surface.initialFocused()
+    else
+        true;
+
     // Determine our DPI configurations so we can properly configure
     // font points to pixels and handle other high-DPI scaling factors.
     const content_scale = try rt_surface.getContentScale();
@@ -572,6 +577,7 @@ pub fn init(
         app_mailbox,
     );
     errdefer render_thread.deinit();
+    render_thread.flags.focused = initial_focused;
 
     // Create the IO thread
     var io_thread = try termio.Thread.init(alloc);
@@ -600,6 +606,7 @@ pub fn init(
         .io_thr = undefined,
         .size = size,
         .config = derived_config,
+        .focused = initial_focused,
 
         // Our conditional state is initialized to the app state. This
         // lets us get the most likely correct color theme and so on.
@@ -699,6 +706,11 @@ pub fn init(
     // so we can just defer this and not the subcomponents.
     errdefer self.io.deinit();
 
+    // Seed the terminal focus state before the IO thread starts so DECSET
+    // 1004 observes the actual initial focus without requiring a synthetic
+    // focus callback.
+    self.io.terminal.flags.focused = self.focused;
+
     // Report initial cell size on surface creation
     _ = try rt_app.performAction(
         .{ .surface = self },
diff --git a/src/apprt/embedded.zig b/src/apprt/embedded.zig
index 76e65abf206..d519fd1b042 100644
--- a/src/apprt/embedded.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/embedded.zig
@@ -416,6 +416,7 @@ pub const Surface = struct {
     platform: Platform,
     userdata: ?*anyopaque = null,
     core_surface: CoreSurface,
+    focused: bool = true,
     content_scale: apprt.ContentScale,
     size: apprt.SurfaceSize,
     cursor_pos: apprt.CursorPos,
@@ -441,6 +442,11 @@ pub const Surface = struct {
         /// The scale factor of the screen.
         scale_factor: f64 = 1,
 
+        /// Initial focused state for the surface. This seeds the core focus
+        /// bookkeeping without triggering focus-reporting side effects during
+        /// surface creation.
+        focused: bool = true,
+
         /// The font size to inherit. If 0, default font size will be used.
         font_size: f32 = 0,
 
@@ -486,6 +492,7 @@ pub const Surface = struct {
             .platform = try .init(opts.platform_tag, opts.platform),
             .userdata = opts.userdata,
             .core_surface = undefined,
+            .focused = opts.focused,
             .content_scale = .{
                 .x = @floatCast(opts.scale_factor),
                 .y = @floatCast(opts.scale_factor),
@@ -653,6 +660,10 @@ pub const Surface = struct {
         return self.io_mode;
     }
 
+    pub fn initialFocused(self: *const Surface) bool {
+        return self.focused;
+    }
+
     pub fn ioWriteCallback(self: *const Surface) ?IoWriteCallback {
         return self.io_write_cb;
     }
@@ -932,6 +943,7 @@ pub const Surface = struct {
     }
 
     pub fn focusCallback(self: *Surface, focused: bool) void {
+        self.focused = focused;
         self.core_surface.focusCallback(focused) catch |err| {
             log.err("error in focus callback err={}", .{err});
             return;
@@ -970,6 +982,7 @@ pub const Surface = struct {
         };
 
         return .{
+            .focused = self.focused,
             .font_size = font_size,
             .working_directory = working_directory,
             .context = context,
diff --git a/src/config/Config.zig b/src/config/Config.zig
index 29a45786fcb..8c0541b49ff 100644
--- a/src/config/Config.zig
+++ b/src/config/Config.zig
@@ -1057,6 +1057,14 @@ palette: Palette = .{},
 /// doing so.
 @"background-blur": BackgroundBlur = .false,
 
+/// When true on macOS, the terminal background color is expected to be
+/// provided by the host CALayer's backgroundColor rather than the GPU
+/// full-screen background pass. The renderer sets bg_color alpha to 0
+/// so that the layer background shows through without alpha double-stacking.
+/// This allows embedding apps to provide instant background coverage
+/// during view resizes.
+@"macos-background-from-layer": bool = false,
+
 /// The opacity level (opposite of transparency) of an unfocused split.
 /// Unfocused splits by default are slightly faded out to make it easier to see
 /// which split is focused. To disable this feature, set this value to 1.
diff --git a/src/renderer/generic.zig b/src/renderer/generic.zig
index e0d8a4dd67a..f8b53e8aa3c 100644
--- a/src/renderer/generic.zig
+++ b/src/renderer/generic.zig
@@ -575,6 +575,7 @@ pub fn Renderer(comptime GraphicsAPI: type) type {
             colorspace: configpkg.Config.WindowColorspace,
             blending: configpkg.Config.AlphaBlending,
             background_blur: configpkg.Config.BackgroundBlur,
+            macos_background_from_layer: bool,
             scroll_to_bottom_on_output: bool,
 
             pub fn init(
@@ -649,6 +650,7 @@ pub fn Renderer(comptime GraphicsAPI: type) type {
                     .colorspace = config.@"window-colorspace",
                     .blending = config.@"alpha-blending",
                     .background_blur = config.@"background-blur",
+                    .macos_background_from_layer = config.@"macos-background-from-layer",
                     .scroll_to_bottom_on_output = config.@"scroll-to-bottom".output,
                     .arena = arena,
                 };
@@ -735,9 +737,8 @@ pub fn Renderer(comptime GraphicsAPI: type) type {
                         options.config.background.r,
                         options.config.background.g,
                         options.config.background.b,
-                        // Note that if we're on macOS with glass effects
-                        // we'll disable background opacity but we handle
-                        // that in updateFrame.
+                        // Glass effects and layer-background mode zero this
+                        // out in updateFrame; use the config value for now.
                         @intFromFloat(@round(options.config.background_opacity * 255.0)),
                     },
                     .bools = .{
@@ -1412,16 +1413,23 @@ pub fn Renderer(comptime GraphicsAPI: type) type {
                     @intFromFloat(@round(self.config.background_opacity * 255.0)),
                 };
 
-                // If we're on macOS and have glass styles, we remove
-                // the background opacity because the glass effect handles
-                // it.
-                if (comptime builtin.os.tag == .macos) switch (self.config.background_blur) {
-                    .@"macos-glass-regular",
-                    .@"macos-glass-clear",
-                    => self.uniforms.bg_color[3] = 0,
-
-                    else => {},
-                };
+                // On macOS, glass styles and layer-background mode both
+                // zero bg_color alpha so that per-cell backgrounds in the
+                // shaders composite to transparent instead of the terminal
+                // background (the host layer provides the background).
+                // The fullscreen background draw call is also skipped for
+                // layer-background mode (see draw pass below).
+                if (comptime builtin.os.tag == .macos) {
+                    switch (self.config.background_blur) {
+                        .@"macos-glass-regular",
+                        .@"macos-glass-clear",
+                        => self.uniforms.bg_color[3] = 0,
+
+                        else => {},
+                    }
+                    if (self.config.macos_background_from_layer)
+                        self.uniforms.bg_color[3] = 0;
+                }
 
                 // Prepare our overlay image for upload (or unload). This
                 // has to use our general allocator since it modifies
@@ -1658,26 +1666,36 @@ pub fn Renderer(comptime GraphicsAPI: type) type {
                 // Otherwise, if we don't have a background image, we
                 // draw the background color by itself in its own step.
                 //
+                // When the host app provides the background via a
+                // CALayer (macos_background_from_layer), skip the
+                // fullscreen fill entirely — the layer handles it.
+                //
                 // NOTE: We don't use the clear_color for this because that
                 //       would require us to do color space conversion on the
                 //       CPU-side. In the future when we have utilities for
                 //       that we should remove this step and use clear_color.
-                if (self.bg_image) |img| switch (img) {
-                    .ready => |texture| pass.step(.{
-                        .pipeline = self.shaders.pipelines.bg_image,
-                        .uniforms = frame.uniforms.buffer,
-                        .buffers = &.{frame.bg_image_buffer.buffer},
-                        .textures = &.{texture},
-                        .draw = .{ .type = .triangle, .vertex_count = 3 },
-                    }),
-                    else => {},
-                } else {
-                    pass.step(.{
-                        .pipeline = self.shaders.pipelines.bg_color,
-                        .uniforms = frame.uniforms.buffer,
-                        .buffers = &.{ null, frame.cells_bg.buffer },
-                        .draw = .{ .type = .triangle, .vertex_count = 3 },
-                    });
+                const skip_bg_fill = if (comptime builtin.os.tag == .macos)
+                    self.config.macos_background_from_layer
+                else
+                    false;
+                if (!skip_bg_fill) {
+                    if (self.bg_image) |img| switch (img) {
+                        .ready => |texture| pass.step(.{
+                            .pipeline = self.shaders.pipelines.bg_image,
+                            .uniforms = frame.uniforms.buffer,
+                            .buffers = &.{frame.bg_image_buffer.buffer},
+                            .textures = &.{texture},
+                            .draw = .{ .type = .triangle, .vertex_count = 3 },
+                        }),
+                        else => {},
+                    } else {
+                        pass.step(.{
+                            .pipeline = self.shaders.pipelines.bg_color,
+                            .uniforms = frame.uniforms.buffer,
+                            .buffers = &.{ null, frame.cells_bg.buffer },
+                            .draw = .{ .type = .triangle, .vertex_count = 3 },
+                        });
+                    }
                 }
 
                 // Then we draw any kitty images that need
diff --git a/src/termio/stream_handler.zig b/src/termio/stream_handler.zig
index b11554b1294..fa9ba4094ad 100644
--- a/src/termio/stream_handler.zig
+++ b/src/termio/stream_handler.zig
@@ -752,9 +752,12 @@ pub const StreamHandler = struct {
                 .size_report = .mode_2048,
             }),
 
-            .focus_event => if (enabled) self.messageWriter(.{
-                .focused = self.terminal.flags.focused,
-            }),
+            // xterm-compatible focus reporting only emits on subsequent focus
+            // transitions. Do not synthesize an immediate state report when the
+            // mode is enabled, otherwise applications that toggle DECSET 1004
+            // during startup receive spurious CSI I/O without any real focus
+            // change having happened.
+            .focus_event => {},
 
             .mouse_event_x10 => {
                 if (enabled) {
@@ -1554,3 +1557,51 @@ pub const StreamHandler = struct {
         self.surfaceMessageWriter(.{ .progress_report = report });
     }
 };
+
+test "enabling focus reporting does not emit an immediate focus sequence" {
+    const testing = std.testing;
+
+    var term = try terminal.Terminal.init(testing.allocator, .{
+        .cols = 10,
+        .rows = 5,
+    });
+    defer term.deinit(testing.allocator);
+
+    var mailbox = try termio.Mailbox.initSPSC(testing.allocator);
+    defer mailbox.deinit(testing.allocator);
+
+    var mutex: std.Thread.Mutex = .{};
+    var renderer_state: renderer.State = .{
+        .mutex = &mutex,
+        .terminal = &term,
+    };
+    var size: renderer.Size = .{
+        .screen = .{ .width = 800, .height = 600 },
+        .cell = .{ .width = 8, .height = 16 },
+        .padding = .{},
+    };
+    var handler = StreamHandler{
+        .alloc = testing.allocator,
+        .size = &size,
+        .terminal = &term,
+        .termio_mailbox = &mailbox,
+        .surface_mailbox = undefined,
+        .renderer_state = &renderer_state,
+        .renderer_mailbox = undefined,
+        .renderer_wakeup = undefined,
+        .default_cursor_style = .block,
+        .default_cursor_blink = null,
+        .enquiry_response = "",
+        .osc_color_report_format = .none,
+        .clipboard_write = .deny,
+    };
+    defer handler.deinit();
+
+    mutex.lock();
+    defer mutex.unlock();
+    try handler.setMode(.focus_event, true);
+
+    try testing.expect(term.modes.get(.focus_event));
+    try testing.expect(!handler.termio_messaged);
+    try testing.expect(mailbox.spsc.queue.pop() == null);
+}