diff --git a/src/background.ts b/src/background.ts
index 0aa331b8..911dbdf2 100644
--- a/src/background.ts
+++ b/src/background.ts
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ function reloadSeqtaPages() {
   result.then(open, console.error);
 }
 
-// @ts-ignore
 browser.runtime.onMessage.addListener(
+  // @ts-ignore - OnMessageListener expects literal true for async, we return boolean
   (request: any, _: any, sendResponse: (response?: any) => void) => {
     switch (request.type) {
       case "reloadTabs":
@@ -56,6 +56,34 @@ browser.runtime.onMessage.addListener(
         fetchNews(request.source ?? "australia", sendResponse);
         return true;
 
+      case "fetchThemes": {
+        const url = `https://betterseqta.org/api/themes?type=betterseqta&limit=100&nocache=${Date.now()}`;
+        fetch(url, { cache: "no-store" })
+          .then((r) => r.json())
+          .then(sendResponse)
+          .catch((err) => {
+            console.error("[Background] fetchThemes error:", err);
+            sendResponse({ success: false, error: err?.message });
+          });
+        return true;
+      }
+
+      case "fetchFromUrl": {
+        const { url } = request;
+        if (!url || typeof url !== "string") {
+          sendResponse({ error: "Missing url" });
+          return false;
+        }
+        fetch(url, { cache: "no-store" })
+          .then((r) => r.json())
+          .then((data) => sendResponse({ data }))
+          .catch((err) => {
+            console.error("[Background] fetchFromUrl error:", err);
+            sendResponse({ error: err?.message });
+          });
+        return true;
+      }
+
       default:
         console.log("Unknown request type");
     }
diff --git a/src/interface/pages/store.svelte b/src/interface/pages/store.svelte
index f3387af0..6d4c0345 100644
--- a/src/interface/pages/store.svelte
+++ b/src/interface/pages/store.svelte
@@ -48,20 +48,26 @@
     activeTab = tab;
   };
 
-  // Fetch themes and initialize app
+  // Fetch themes via background script (avoids CORS when store runs inside SEQTA page)
   const fetchThemes = async () => {
     try {
-      const response = await fetch(`https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BetterSEQTA/BetterSEQTA-Themes/main/store/themes.json?nocache=${(new Date()).getTime()}`, { cache: 'no-store' });
-      const data = await response.json();
-      themes = data.themes;
+      const data = (await browser.runtime.sendMessage({ type: 'fetchThemes' })) as {
+        success?: boolean;
+        data?: { themes: Theme[] };
+        error?: string;
+      };
+      if (!data?.success || !data?.data?.themes) {
+        throw new Error(data?.error || 'Failed to fetch themes');
+      }
+      themes = data.data.themes;
 
       // Shuffle for cover themes
       const shuffled = [...themes].sort(() => 0.5 - Math.random());
       coverThemes = shuffled.slice(0, 3);
 
       loading = false;
-    } catch (error) {
-      console.error('Failed to fetch themes', error);
+    } catch (err) {
+      console.error('Failed to fetch themes', err);
       setTimeout(fetchThemes, 5000); // Retry after 5 seconds if failure occurs
     }
   };
diff --git a/src/interface/types/Theme.ts b/src/interface/types/Theme.ts
index b68a5ba1..853760cb 100644
--- a/src/interface/types/Theme.ts
+++ b/src/interface/types/Theme.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 export type Theme = {
+  id: string;
   name: string;
   description: string;
   coverImage: string;
-  marqueeImage: string;
-  id: string;
+  marqueeImage?: string;
+  theme_json_url?: string;
 };
diff --git a/src/manifests/manifest.json b/src/manifests/manifest.json
index 92736dce..1ef79abb 100644
--- a/src/manifests/manifest.json
+++ b/src/manifests/manifest.json
@@ -16,12 +16,12 @@
     }
   },
   "permissions": ["tabs", "notifications", "storage"],
-  "host_permissions": ["https://newsapi.org/", "*://*/*"],
+  "host_permissions": ["https://newsapi.org/", "https://betterseqta.org/", "*://*/*"],
   "background": {
     "service_worker": "background.ts"
   },
   "content_security_policy": {
-    "extension_pages": "script-src 'self'; object-src 'self'"
+    "extension_pages": "script-src 'self'; object-src 'self'; connect-src 'self' https://betterseqta.org"
   },
   "content_scripts": [
     {
diff --git a/src/plugins/built-in/themes/theme-manager.ts b/src/plugins/built-in/themes/theme-manager.ts
index 69e6ff23..0ac37ddb 100644
--- a/src/plugins/built-in/themes/theme-manager.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/built-in/themes/theme-manager.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import localforage from "localforage";
+import browser from "webextension-polyfill";
 import type { CustomTheme, LoadedCustomTheme } from "@/types/CustomThemes";
 import { settingsState } from "@/seqta/utils/listeners/SettingsState";
 import debounce from "@/seqta/utils/debounce";
@@ -470,23 +471,50 @@ export class ThemeManager {
     }
   }
 
+  private readonly THEME_API_BASE = 'https://betterseqta.org/api';
+
+  /**
+   * Fetch JSON from a URL via background script (avoids CORS when running inside SEQTA page)
+   */
+  private async fetchFromUrl(url: string): Promise<any> {
+    const result = (await browser.runtime.sendMessage({
+      type: 'fetchFromUrl',
+      url,
+    })) as { data?: unknown; error?: string };
+    if (result?.error) throw new Error(result.error);
+    return result?.data;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Download and install a theme from the store
    */
   public async downloadTheme(themeContent: {
     id: string;
     name: string;
-    description: string;
-    coverImage: string;
+    description?: string;
+    coverImage?: string;
+    theme_json_url?: string;
   }): Promise<void> {
     console.debug("[ThemeManager] Downloading theme:", themeContent.name);
     try {
       if (!themeContent.id) return;
 
-      const response = await fetch(
-        `https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BetterSEQTA/BetterSEQTA-Themes/main/store/themes/${themeContent.id}/theme.json`,
-      );
-      const themeData = (await response.json()) as ThemeContent;
+      let themeJsonUrl: string;
+
+      // Use theme_json_url if provided (from API list), otherwise call download endpoint
+      if (themeContent.theme_json_url) {
+        themeJsonUrl = themeContent.theme_json_url;
+      } else {
+        const downloadData = await this.fetchFromUrl(
+          `${this.THEME_API_BASE}/themes/${themeContent.id}/download`
+        ) as { success?: boolean; data?: { theme_json_url: string } };
+        if (!downloadData?.success || !downloadData?.data?.theme_json_url) {
+          throw new Error("Failed to get theme download URL");
+        }
+        themeJsonUrl = downloadData.data.theme_json_url;
+      }
+
+      const themeData = (await this.fetchFromUrl(themeJsonUrl)) as ThemeContent;
 
       await this.installTheme(themeData);
     } catch (error) {