diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index da0f9c3..3087e53 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -189,9 +189,12 @@ order — the first master slot — and takes focus, as in dwm. A window spawned
 onto a tag nobody is viewing leaves both the order and focus alone.
 
 **tabbed** — same geometry as monocle, minus a strip at the top where att_wm
-draws one solid colour block per window, the focused one highlighted. The blocks
-are clickable. Titles are *not* drawn — that would mean a font stack — but the
-window list is published over IPC, so a bar can draw a textual tab strip
+draws one tab per window, the focused one highlighted. Each tab is clickable and
+carries the window's title, elided with an ellipsis when the tab is too narrow.
+Titles are drawn in a 5x8 bitmap font built into the binary (`src/font.zig`) —
+a font stack for one strip of pixels would be a poor trade — scaled by whole
+pixels to suit `tabbar_height`, or by `tab_font_scale` if you would rather say.
+The same window list is published over IPC, so a bar can draw its own tab strip
 alongside (the bundled quickshell config does). Set `tabbar_height = 0` to drop
 the built-in strip entirely and let the bar own it.
 
@@ -217,9 +220,10 @@ zig build -Dconfig=/path/to/my-config.zig
 att_wm.override { configFile = ./my-config.zig; }
 ```
 
-`config.zig` covers border width and colours, gaps, tab bar height and colours,
-the default layout, `nmaster` / `mfact`, tag names, focus-follows-mouse, key and
-pointer bindings, autostart commands, input devices, and window rules:
+`config.zig` covers border width and colours, gaps, tab bar height, colours and
+text size, the default layout, `nmaster` / `mfact`, tag names,
+focus-follows-mouse, key and pointer bindings, autostart commands, input
+devices, and window rules:
 
 ```zig
 pub const rules = [_]Rule{
@@ -487,7 +491,8 @@ river's identifier is shared between them.
 | `src/input.zig` | Input configuration types — no Wayland, unit tested |
 | `src/config.zig` | Compile-time configuration |
 | `src/ipc.zig` | Socket server and JSON encoding |
-| `src/shm.zig` | memfd buffers for the tab bar |
+| `src/shm.zig` | memfd buffers for the tab bar, and drawing into them |
+| `src/font.zig` | The built-in 5x8 bitmap font — no Wayland, unit tested |
 | `src/sys.zig` | Thin Linux syscall wrappers |
 
 The single most important invariant: **river only permits window management
diff --git a/src/Output.zig b/src/Output.zig
index bff08bd..ffdb946 100644
--- a/src/Output.zig
+++ b/src/Output.zig
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ const Wm = @import("Wm.zig");
 const Window = @import("Window.zig");
 const shm = @import("shm.zig");
 const color = @import("color.zig");
+const font = @import("font.zig");
 const layout = @import("layout.zig");
 const Box = layout.Box;
 
@@ -157,9 +158,10 @@ fn onLayerEvent(_: *river.LayerShellOutputV1, event: river.LayerShellOutputV1.Ev
     }
 }
 
-/// The strip of solid colour blocks drawn above the windows in the tabbed
-/// layout. One block per window, the focused one highlighted; titles are not
-/// drawn here but are published over IPC for bars that want to render them.
+/// The strip of tabs drawn above the windows in the tabbed layout. One tab per
+/// window, labelled with its title and the focused one highlighted. The same
+/// titles are published over IPC, for bars that would rather draw the tabs
+/// themselves with a real font.
 pub const TabBar = struct {
     wm: *Wm,
 
@@ -240,6 +242,7 @@ pub const TabBar = struct {
         const sep = color.toArgb8888(config.tab_separator);
         buffer.fill(local, sep);
 
+        const scale = textScale(box.height);
         for (self.rects.items, windows) |rect, win| {
             const is_focused = focused != null and focused.? == win;
             const argb = color.toArgb8888(if (is_focused) config.tab_focused else config.tab_normal);
@@ -252,6 +255,9 @@ pub const TabBar = struct {
                 .height = rect.height,
             };
             buffer.fill(inner, argb);
+
+            const ink = color.toArgb8888(if (is_focused) config.tab_text_focused else config.tab_text_normal);
+            drawLabel(buffer, inner, label(win), scale, ink);
         }
 
         // Translate the hit rectangles into global coordinates for click
@@ -286,6 +292,48 @@ pub const TabBar = struct {
         self.windows.clearRetainingCapacity();
     }
 
+    /// What to write on a window's tab: its title, or its app id while it has
+    /// not set one, so that a tab is never blank.
+    fn label(win: *const Window) []const u8 {
+        if (win.title) |t| {
+            if (t.len > 0) return t;
+        }
+        if (win.app_id) |a| {
+            if (a.len > 0) return a;
+        }
+        return "?";
+    }
+
+    /// Whole-pixel scale for the font: the largest that leaves a little air
+    /// above and below in a bar this tall. `config.tab_font_scale` overrides
+    /// it for anyone wanting big letters in a thin bar, or the reverse.
+    fn textScale(height: i32) i32 {
+        if (config.tab_font_scale > 0) return config.tab_font_scale;
+        var s: i32 = 1;
+        while (s < 4 and font.cell_height * (s + 1) + 4 <= height) s += 1;
+        return s;
+    }
+
+    /// Centre a title in one tab, eliding it with an ellipsis when the tab is
+    /// too narrow to hold it.
+    fn drawLabel(buffer: *shm.Buffer, tab: Box, text: []const u8, scale: i32, argb: u32) void {
+        const pad = 2 * scale;
+        const avail = tab.width - 2 * pad;
+        if (avail <= 0) return;
+
+        const f = font.fit(text, font.cellsForWidth(avail, scale));
+        const cells = f.cells + @intFromBool(f.elided);
+        if (cells == 0) return;
+
+        const x = tab.x + @divFloor(tab.width - font.textWidth(cells, scale), 2);
+        // Centre the part above the baseline; the descender row may hang into
+        // the padding, which is what it is for.
+        const y = tab.y + @divFloor(tab.height - (font.cell_height - 1) * scale, 2);
+
+        const pen = buffer.drawText(text[0..f.end], x, y, scale, argb, tab);
+        if (f.elided) buffer.drawGlyph(font.ellipsis, pen, y, scale, argb, tab);
+    }
+
     /// Which window's tab covers this global coordinate, if any.
     pub fn windowAt(self: *const TabBar, x: i32, y: i32) ?*Window {
         if (!self.mapped) return null;
diff --git a/src/Window.zig b/src/Window.zig
index 85da4e7..1359127 100644
--- a/src/Window.zig
+++ b/src/Window.zig
@@ -137,6 +137,15 @@ pub fn applyRules(self: *Window) void {
     }
 }
 
+/// Whether this window currently has a tab drawn for it, i.e. it is tiled and
+/// visible on an output that is showing the tabbed layout.
+fn onTabBar(self: *Window) bool {
+    if (config.tabbar_height <= 0) return false;
+    if (!self.visible or self.floating or self.fullscreen or self.closed) return false;
+    const out = self.output orelse return false;
+    return out.state().layout == .tabbed;
+}
+
 fn setString(self: *Window, field: *?[]u8, value: ?[*:0]const u8) void {
     const gpa = self.wm.gpa;
     if (field.*) |old| gpa.free(old);
@@ -190,6 +199,10 @@ fn onEvent(_: *river.WindowV1, event: river.WindowV1.Event, self: *Window) void
             self.setString(&self.title, ev.title);
             self.applyRules();
             self.wm.ipcDirty();
+            // The tab bar has this title painted into it, so a window that is
+            // wearing a tab needs the strip redrawn. Terminals retitle
+            // themselves constantly, so ask only when it will show.
+            if (self.onTabBar()) self.wm.needsManage();
         },
 
         .identifier => |ev| {
diff --git a/src/config.zig b/src/config.zig
index 4948b9b..308f17d 100644
--- a/src/config.zig
+++ b/src/config.zig
@@ -41,6 +41,14 @@ pub const tab_normal: u32 = 0x2c2c2cff;
 /// Drawn as a 1px line between adjacent tabs.
 pub const tab_separator: u32 = 0x1a1a1aff;
 
+/// Window titles are drawn on the tabs in these colours.
+pub const tab_text_focused: u32 = 0xffffffff;
+pub const tab_text_normal: u32 = 0xbbbbbbff;
+/// Whole-pixel scale for the 5x8 built-in font the titles are drawn in: 2
+/// gives 10x16 letters. Zero picks the largest scale `tabbar_height` has room
+/// for, which is what you want after changing the bar height.
+pub const tab_font_scale: i32 = 0;
+
 // ─── Layout ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 pub const default_layout = action.Layout.master;
diff --git a/src/font.zig b/src/font.zig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b267982
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/font.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,240 @@
+//! A 5x8 bitmap font, and the text measuring that goes with it.
+//!
+//! The tab bar has to label its tabs, and a window manager that draws exactly
+//! one strip of pixels has no business linking a font stack for it. So the
+//! glyphs live here as data: printable ASCII plus an ellipsis for elided
+//! titles, drawn as bit rows and expanded by whole pixels when scaled.
+//!
+//! Anything else — every non-ASCII codepoint a title may hold — renders as the
+//! fallback box, which is at least honest about being a character we cannot
+//! draw.
+
+const std = @import("std");
+
+pub const cell_width = 5;
+pub const cell_height = 8;
+/// Columns from one cell to the next: the glyph plus a one column gap.
+pub const advance = cell_width + 1;
+
+/// One glyph: `cell_height` rows, bit `cell_width - 1` the leftmost column.
+pub const Glyph = [cell_height]u8;
+
+pub const first_char = 0x20;
+pub const last_char = 0x7e;
+
+pub const ellipsis: u21 = '…';
+
+/// Rows for a codepoint. Control characters come back blank rather than as a
+/// box, so a stray newline in a title does not turn into visible noise.
+pub fn glyph(cp: u21) *const Glyph {
+    if (cp < first_char or cp == 0x7f) return &glyphs[0];
+    if (cp <= last_char) return &glyphs[cp - first_char];
+    if (cp == ellipsis) return &ellipsis_glyph;
+    return &fallback_glyph;
+}
+
+/// Width in pixels of `cells` characters, without the trailing gap.
+pub fn textWidth(cells: usize, scale: i32) i32 {
+    if (cells == 0) return 0;
+    const n: i32 = @intCast(cells);
+    return (n * advance - 1) * scale;
+}
+
+/// How many characters fit in a strip that wide.
+pub fn cellsForWidth(width: i32, scale: i32) usize {
+    if (width <= 0 or scale <= 0) return 0;
+    // The last cell needs no trailing gap, so lend it one.
+    const cells = @divFloor(width + scale, advance * scale);
+    return if (cells <= 0) 0 else @intCast(cells);
+}
+
+pub const Fit = struct {
+    /// Bytes of the string to draw.
+    end: usize,
+    /// Characters those bytes come to, an ellipsis not counted.
+    cells: usize,
+    /// The string was too long; draw an ellipsis after `end`.
+    elided: bool,
+};
+
+/// Fit a string into `max_cells` character cells, giving up the last cell to
+/// an ellipsis when the string does not fit whole.
+pub fn fit(text: []const u8, max_cells: usize) Fit {
+    if (max_cells == 0) return .{ .end = 0, .cells = 0, .elided = false };
+
+    var it: Iterator = .{ .bytes = text };
+    var cells: usize = 0;
+    // Where the string is cut if it turns out not to fit: one cell short, so
+    // the ellipsis has somewhere to go.
+    var cut: usize = 0;
+
+    while (it.next()) |_| {
+        cells += 1;
+        if (cells + 1 == max_cells) cut = it.i;
+        // One character past the end is what proves it does not fit.
+        if (cells > max_cells) {
+            return .{ .end = cut, .cells = max_cells - 1, .elided = true };
+        }
+    }
+    return .{ .end = text.len, .cells = cells, .elided = false };
+}
+
+/// UTF-8 iteration that never fails: anything malformed comes back as the
+/// replacement character, which draws as the fallback box. Titles come from
+/// arbitrary clients, so refusing to render one is not an option.
+pub const Iterator = struct {
+    bytes: []const u8,
+    i: usize = 0,
+
+    const replacement: u21 = 0xfffd;
+
+    pub fn next(self: *Iterator) ?u21 {
+        if (self.i >= self.bytes.len) return null;
+
+        const len = std.unicode.utf8ByteSequenceLength(self.bytes[self.i]) catch {
+            self.i += 1;
+            return replacement;
+        };
+        if (self.i + len > self.bytes.len) {
+            self.i = self.bytes.len;
+            return replacement;
+        }
+        const cp = std.unicode.utf8Decode(self.bytes[self.i..][0..len]) catch {
+            self.i += len;
+            return replacement;
+        };
+        self.i += len;
+        return cp;
+    }
+};
+
+// ─── Glyph data ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// Written as pictures rather than hex so a wrong pixel is visible in review.
+// Rows 0..6 hold the glyph, with the baseline under row 6; row 7 is there for
+// the descenders of g, j, p, q and y.
+
+fn parse(comptime picture: [cell_height][]const u8) Glyph {
+    var rows: Glyph = @splat(0);
+    for (picture, 0..) |line, y| {
+        if (line.len != cell_width) @compileError("glyph row must be " ++
+            std.fmt.comptimePrint("{d}", .{cell_width}) ++ " columns wide");
+        for (line, 0..) |ch, x| {
+            if (ch == '#') rows[y] |= @as(u8, 1) << @intCast(cell_width - 1 - x);
+        }
+    }
+    return rows;
+}
+
+const fallback_glyph = parse(.{ ".....", "#####", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "#####", "....." });
+const ellipsis_glyph = parse(.{ ".....", ".....", ".....", ".....", ".....", ".....", "#.#.#", "....." });
+
+const glyphs = blk: {
+    // Ninety-five glyphs of forty pixels each is a lot of comptime looping.
+    @setEvalBranchQuota(20_000);
+    var table: [last_char - first_char + 1]Glyph = undefined;
+    for (art, 0..) |a, i| table[i] = parse(a);
+    break :blk table;
+};
+
+const art = [_][cell_height][]const u8{
+    .{ ".....", ".....", ".....", ".....", ".....", ".....", ".....", "....." }, // space
+    .{ "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", ".....", "..#..", "....." }, // !
+    .{ ".#.#.", ".#.#.", ".#.#.", ".....", ".....", ".....", ".....", "....." }, // "
+    .{ ".#.#.", ".#.#.", "#####", ".#.#.", "#####", ".#.#.", ".#.#.", "....." }, // #
+    .{ "..#..", ".####", "#.#..", ".###.", "..#.#", "####.", "..#..", "....." }, // $
+    .{ "##...", "##..#", "...#.", "..#..", ".#...", "#..##", "...##", "....." }, // %
+    .{ ".##..", "#..#.", "#.#..", ".#...", "#.#.#", "#..#.", ".##.#", "....." }, // &
+    .{ "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", ".....", ".....", ".....", ".....", "....." }, // '
+    .{ "...#.", "..#..", ".#...", ".#...", ".#...", "..#..", "...#.", "....." }, // (
+    .{ ".#...", "..#..", "...#.", "...#.", "...#.", "..#..", ".#...", "....." }, // )
+    .{ ".....", "#.#.#", ".###.", "#####", ".###.", "#.#.#", ".....", "....." }, // *
+    .{ ".....", "..#..", "..#..", "#####", "..#..", "..#..", ".....", "....." }, // +
+    .{ ".....", ".....", ".....", ".....", ".....", "..##.", "..##.", ".#..." }, // ,
+    .{ ".....", ".....", ".....", "#####", ".....", ".....", ".....", "....." }, // -
+    .{ ".....", ".....", ".....", ".....", ".....", "..##.", "..##.", "....." }, // .
+    .{ "....#", "...#.", "...#.", "..#..", ".#...", ".#...", "#....", "....." }, // /
+    .{ ".###.", "#...#", "#..##", "#.#.#", "##..#", "#...#", ".###.", "....." }, // 0
+    .{ "..#..", ".##..", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", ".###.", "....." }, // 1
+    .{ ".###.", "#...#", "....#", "...#.", "..#..", ".#...", "#####", "....." }, // 2
+    .{ "#####", "...#.", "..#..", "...#.", "....#", "#...#", ".###.", "....." }, // 3
+    .{ "...#.", "..##.", ".#.#.", "#..#.", "#####", "...#.", "...#.", "....." }, // 4
+    .{ "#####", "#....", "####.", "....#", "....#", "#...#", ".###.", "....." }, // 5
+    .{ "..##.", ".#...", "#....", "####.", "#...#", "#...#", ".###.", "....." }, // 6
+    .{ "#####", "....#", "...#.", "..#..", ".#...", ".#...", ".#...", "....." }, // 7
+    .{ ".###.", "#...#", "#...#", ".###.", "#...#", "#...#", ".###.", "....." }, // 8
+    .{ ".###.", "#...#", "#...#", ".####", "....#", "...#.", ".##..", "....." }, // 9
+    .{ ".....", ".....", "..##.", "..##.", ".....", "..##.", "..##.", "....." }, // :
+    .{ ".....", ".....", "..##.", "..##.", ".....", "..##.", "..##.", ".#..." }, // ;
+    .{ ".....", "...#.", "..#..", ".#...", "..#..", "...#.", ".....", "....." }, // <
+    .{ ".....", ".....", "#####", ".....", "#####", ".....", ".....", "....." }, // =
+    .{ ".....", ".#...", "..#..", "...#.", "..#..", ".#...", ".....", "....." }, // >
+    .{ ".###.", "#...#", "....#", "...#.", "..#..", ".....", "..#..", "....." }, // ?
+    .{ ".###.", "#...#", "#.###", "#.#.#", "#.###", "#....", ".###.", "....." }, // @
+    .{ ".###.", "#...#", "#...#", "#####", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "....." }, // A
+    .{ "####.", "#...#", "#...#", "####.", "#...#", "#...#", "####.", "....." }, // B
+    .{ ".###.", "#...#", "#....", "#....", "#....", "#...#", ".###.", "....." }, // C
+    .{ "###..", "#..#.", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "#..#.", "###..", "....." }, // D
+    .{ "#####", "#....", "#....", "####.", "#....", "#....", "#####", "....." }, // E
+    .{ "#####", "#....", "#....", "####.", "#....", "#....", "#....", "....." }, // F
+    .{ ".###.", "#...#", "#....", "#.###", "#...#", "#...#", ".####", "....." }, // G
+    .{ "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "#####", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "....." }, // H
+    .{ ".###.", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", ".###.", "....." }, // I
+    .{ "..###", "...#.", "...#.", "...#.", "...#.", "#..#.", ".##..", "....." }, // J
+    .{ "#...#", "#..#.", "#.#..", "##...", "#.#..", "#..#.", "#...#", "....." }, // K
+    .{ "#....", "#....", "#....", "#....", "#....", "#....", "#####", "....." }, // L
+    .{ "#...#", "##.##", "#.#.#", "#.#.#", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "....." }, // M
+    .{ "#...#", "#...#", "##..#", "#.#.#", "#..##", "#...#", "#...#", "....." }, // N
+    .{ ".###.", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", ".###.", "....." }, // O
+    .{ "####.", "#...#", "#...#", "####.", "#....", "#....", "#....", "....." }, // P
+    .{ ".###.", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "#.#.#", "#..#.", ".##.#", "....." }, // Q
+    .{ "####.", "#...#", "#...#", "####.", "#.#..", "#..#.", "#...#", "....." }, // R
+    .{ ".####", "#....", "#....", ".###.", "....#", "....#", "####.", "....." }, // S
+    .{ "#####", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", "....." }, // T
+    .{ "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", ".###.", "....." }, // U
+    .{ "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", ".#.#.", "..#..", "....." }, // V
+    .{ "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "#.#.#", "#.#.#", "##.##", "#...#", "....." }, // W
+    .{ "#...#", "#...#", ".#.#.", "..#..", ".#.#.", "#...#", "#...#", "....." }, // X
+    .{ "#...#", "#...#", ".#.#.", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", "....." }, // Y
+    .{ "#####", "....#", "...#.", "..#..", ".#...", "#....", "#####", "....." }, // Z
+    .{ ".###.", ".#...", ".#...", ".#...", ".#...", ".#...", ".###.", "....." }, // [
+    .{ "#....", "#....", ".#...", "..#..", "...#.", "....#", "....#", "....." }, // backslash
+    .{ ".###.", "...#.", "...#.", "...#.", "...#.", "...#.", ".###.", "....." }, // ]
+    .{ "..#..", ".#.#.", "#...#", ".....", ".....", ".....", ".....", "....." }, // ^
+    .{ ".....", ".....", ".....", ".....", ".....", ".....", ".....", "#####" }, // _
+    .{ ".#...", "..#..", ".....", ".....", ".....", ".....", ".....", "....." }, // `
+    .{ ".....", ".....", ".###.", "....#", ".####", "#...#", ".####", "....." }, // a
+    .{ "#....", "#....", "####.", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "####.", "....." }, // b
+    .{ ".....", ".....", ".###.", "#...#", "#....", "#...#", ".###.", "....." }, // c
+    .{ "....#", "....#", ".####", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", ".####", "....." }, // d
+    .{ ".....", ".....", ".###.", "#...#", "#####", "#....", ".###.", "....." }, // e
+    .{ "..##.", ".#..#", ".#...", "####.", ".#...", ".#...", ".#...", "....." }, // f
+    .{ ".....", ".....", ".####", "#...#", "#...#", ".####", "....#", ".###." }, // g
+    .{ "#....", "#....", "####.", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "....." }, // h
+    .{ "..#..", ".....", ".##..", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", ".###.", "....." }, // i
+    .{ "...#.", ".....", "..##.", "...#.", "...#.", "...#.", "#..#.", ".##.." }, // j
+    .{ "#....", "#....", "#..#.", "#.#..", "##...", "#.#..", "#..#.", "....." }, // k
+    .{ ".##..", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", ".###.", "....." }, // l
+    .{ ".....", ".....", "##.#.", "#.#.#", "#.#.#", "#...#", "#...#", "....." }, // m
+    .{ ".....", ".....", "####.", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "....." }, // n
+    .{ ".....", ".....", ".###.", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", ".###.", "....." }, // o
+    .{ ".....", ".....", "####.", "#...#", "#...#", "####.", "#....", "#...." }, // p
+    .{ ".....", ".....", ".####", "#...#", "#...#", ".####", "....#", "....#" }, // q
+    .{ ".....", ".....", "#.##.", "##..#", "#....", "#....", "#....", "....." }, // r
+    .{ ".....", ".....", ".####", "#....", ".###.", "....#", "####.", "....." }, // s
+    .{ ".#...", ".#...", "####.", ".#...", ".#...", ".#..#", "..##.", "....." }, // t
+    .{ ".....", ".....", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", ".####", "....." }, // u
+    .{ ".....", ".....", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", ".#.#.", "..#..", "....." }, // v
+    .{ ".....", ".....", "#...#", "#...#", "#.#.#", "#.#.#", ".#.#.", "....." }, // w
+    .{ ".....", ".....", "#...#", ".#.#.", "..#..", ".#.#.", "#...#", "....." }, // x
+    .{ ".....", ".....", "#...#", "#...#", "#...#", ".####", "....#", ".###." }, // y
+    .{ ".....", ".....", "#####", "...#.", "..#..", ".#...", "#####", "....." }, // z
+    .{ "...##", "..#..", "..#..", ".#...", "..#..", "..#..", "...##", "....." }, // {
+    .{ "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", "..#..", "....." }, // |
+    .{ "##...", "..#..", "..#..", "...#.", "..#..", "..#..", "##...", "....." }, // }
+    .{ ".....", ".....", ".##..", "#..##", ".....", ".....", ".....", "....." }, // ~
+};
+
+comptime {
+    std.debug.assert(art.len == last_char - first_char + 1);
+}
diff --git a/src/shm.zig b/src/shm.zig
index 28cfd2e..bfb11b1 100644
--- a/src/shm.zig
+++ b/src/shm.zig
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 //! Minimal wl_shm buffer pool for the tab bar.
 //!
 //! The tab bar is the only thing att_wm draws itself, and it draws nothing but
-//! solid rectangles, so this deliberately stops at "memfd, mmap, fill" rather
-//! than pulling in pixman or a font stack.
+//! solid rectangles and text in the bitmap font from `font.zig`, so this
+//! deliberately stops at "memfd, mmap, fill" rather than pulling in pixman.
 
 const std = @import("std");
 const posix = std.posix;
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ const sys = @import("sys.zig");
 const wayland = @import("wayland");
 const wl = wayland.client.wl;
 
+const font = @import("font.zig");
 const layout = @import("layout.zig");
 const Box = layout.Box;
 
@@ -58,6 +59,51 @@ pub const Buffer = struct {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Fill a rectangle, clipped to `clip` as well as to the buffer.
+    pub fn fillClipped(self: *Buffer, rect: Box, clip: Box, argb: u32) void {
+        const x0 = @max(rect.x, clip.x);
+        const y0 = @max(rect.y, clip.y);
+        const x1 = @min(rect.x + rect.width, clip.x + clip.width);
+        const y1 = @min(rect.y + rect.height, clip.y + clip.height);
+        if (x1 <= x0 or y1 <= y0) return;
+        self.fill(.{ .x = x0, .y = y0, .width = x1 - x0, .height = y1 - y0 }, argb);
+    }
+
+    /// Draw text with the top left of its first cell at (x, y), clipped to
+    /// `clip`, and return the x the next cell would start at. The font has no
+    /// antialiasing, so lit pixels are simply written: nothing to blend.
+    pub fn drawText(self: *Buffer, text: []const u8, x: i32, y: i32, scale: i32, argb: u32, clip: Box) i32 {
+        var pen = x;
+        var it: font.Iterator = .{ .bytes = text };
+        while (it.next()) |cp| {
+            // Stop as soon as the pen leaves the clip rather than walking the
+            // rest of a long title a pixel at a time.
+            if (pen >= clip.x + clip.width) break;
+            self.drawGlyph(cp, pen, y, scale, argb, clip);
+            pen += font.advance * scale;
+        }
+        return pen;
+    }
+
+    pub fn drawGlyph(self: *Buffer, cp: u21, x: i32, y: i32, scale: i32, argb: u32, clip: Box) void {
+        const rows = font.glyph(cp);
+        for (rows, 0..) |bits, row| {
+            if (bits == 0) continue;
+            const py = y + @as(i32, @intCast(row)) * scale;
+            var col: u3 = 0;
+            while (col < font.cell_width) : (col += 1) {
+                const mask = @as(u8, 1) << @intCast(font.cell_width - 1 - col);
+                if (bits & mask == 0) continue;
+                self.fillClipped(.{
+                    .x = x + @as(i32, col) * scale,
+                    .y = py,
+                    .width = scale,
+                    .height = scale,
+                }, clip, argb);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     fn deinit(self: *Buffer, gpa: Allocator) void {
         self.wl_buffer.destroy();
         posix.munmap(self.data);
diff --git a/src/test.zig b/src/test.zig
index da486e6..3e68dc7 100644
--- a/src/test.zig
+++ b/src/test.zig
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ const testing = std.testing;
 
 const act = @import("action");
 const input = @import("input");
+const font = @import("font.zig");
 const layout = @import("layout.zig");
 const Box = layout.Box;
 
@@ -422,3 +423,87 @@ test "map_to_output merges like any other setting" {
     const moved = merged.merge(.{ .map_to_output = "DP-2" });
     try testing.expectEqualStrings("DP-2", moved.map_to_output.?);
 }
+
+// ─── tab titles ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+test "a title that fits is drawn whole" {
+    const f = font.fit("foot", 10);
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 4), f.end);
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 4), f.cells);
+    try testing.expect(!f.elided);
+
+    // Exactly full is still whole: the ellipsis costs a cell, so only spend it
+    // when something is actually cut.
+    const exact = font.fit("foot", 4);
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 4), exact.cells);
+    try testing.expect(!exact.elided);
+}
+
+test "a title too long for the tab loses its last cell to the ellipsis" {
+    const f = font.fit("firefox", 4);
+    try testing.expectEqualStrings("fir", "firefox"[0..f.end]);
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 3), f.cells);
+    try testing.expect(f.elided);
+
+    // One cell of room leaves nothing but the ellipsis, and no room at all
+    // draws nothing rather than indexing past the end.
+    const one = font.fit("firefox", 1);
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 0), one.end);
+    try testing.expect(one.elided);
+
+    const none = font.fit("firefox", 0);
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 0), none.end);
+    try testing.expect(!none.elided);
+}
+
+test "titles are measured in characters, not bytes" {
+    // Three codepoints, six bytes: a tab four cells wide holds them all.
+    const f = font.fit("ünïx", 4);
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 4), f.cells);
+    try testing.expect(!f.elided);
+
+    // And a cut lands on a codepoint boundary, never mid-sequence.
+    const cut = font.fit("ünïx", 3);
+    try testing.expect(cut.elided);
+    try testing.expectEqualStrings("ün", "ünïx"[0..cut.end]);
+}
+
+test "malformed utf-8 in a title yields one glyph per bad byte" {
+    var it: font.Iterator = .{ .bytes = "a\xffb\xc3" };
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(?u21, 'a'), it.next());
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(?u21, 0xfffd), it.next());
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(?u21, 'b'), it.next());
+    // A truncated sequence at the end must terminate the walk, not loop.
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(?u21, 0xfffd), it.next());
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(?u21, null), it.next());
+}
+
+test "text measuring and cell fitting agree" {
+    const scale = 2;
+    // Whatever cellsForWidth says fits must actually fit.
+    var width: i32 = 0;
+    while (width < 200) : (width += 1) {
+        const cells = font.cellsForWidth(width, scale);
+        try testing.expect(font.textWidth(cells, scale) <= width);
+        try testing.expect(font.textWidth(cells + 1, scale) > width);
+    }
+}
+
+test "printable ascii all have glyphs, and unknown codepoints fall back" {
+    // The space is blank, and nothing else printable is.
+    var c: u8 = 0x21;
+    while (c <= 0x7e) : (c += 1) {
+        const rows = font.glyph(c);
+        var lit = false;
+        for (rows) |r| lit = lit or r != 0;
+        try testing.expect(lit);
+        // Nothing may spill outside the five column cell.
+        for (rows) |r| try testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, 0), r & ~@as(u8, 0b11111));
+    }
+    for (font.glyph(' ')) |r| try testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, 0), r);
+
+    // Control characters stay blank; other codepoints get the fallback box.
+    for (font.glyph('\n')) |r| try testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, 0), r);
+    try testing.expect(!std.mem.eql(u8, font.glyph('?'), font.glyph('あ')));
+    try testing.expectEqualSlices(u8, font.glyph(0xfffd), font.glyph('あ'));
+}