diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index fa9575c..76b8a61 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+- Added a `bat` recipe that installs bat from Fedora and runs `bat cache --build`.
 - Added VM config validation before Lima template rendering for VM names, users, sizing,
   code directories, host IPs, and port forwards.
 - Internal: split `bin/dvm` into a small dispatcher plus sourced shell libraries under
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 827cec6..e1c9c59 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ Add your own tools with recipes. Use individual bundled tool recipes such as
 First-pass recipes include:
 
 - `baseline`: required setup basics only
-- `zsh`, `git`, `helix`, `lazygit`, `starship`, `fzf`, `git-delta`, `just`,
+- `zsh`, `git`, `helix`, `lazygit`, `starship`, `fzf`, `bat`, `git-delta`, `just`,
   `tmux`, `yazi`: optional interactive tools
 - `agent-user`: `dvm-agent` plus mandatory Bubblewrap sandboxing for AI tools
 - `codex`, `claude`, `opencode`, `mistral`: hosted AI CLIs inside the VM
diff --git a/docs/config.md b/docs/config.md
index 0be0be4..4bd4148 100644
--- a/docs/config.md
+++ b/docs/config.md
@@ -139,6 +139,7 @@ use_app_tools() {
 	use lazygit
 	use starship
 	use fzf
+	use bat
 	use git-delta
 	use just
 	use tmux
diff --git a/docs/recipes.md b/docs/recipes.md
index a42114c..e49651a 100644
--- a/docs/recipes.md
+++ b/docs/recipes.md
@@ -53,9 +53,9 @@ recipes or project-specific VM configs.
 VMs only when the selected service recipes install every dependency they need.
 
 Interactive tools are split into one recipe per tool: `zsh`, `git`, `helix`,
-`lazygit`, `starship`, `fzf`, `git-delta`, `just`, `tmux`, and `yazi`. `zsh` installs
-zsh and sets it as the guest user's default login shell with `usermod --shell`. The
-DNF-backed recipes install from Fedora.
+`lazygit`, `starship`, `fzf`, `bat`, `git-delta`, `just`, `tmux`, and `yazi`. `zsh`
+installs zsh and sets it as the guest user's default login shell with `usermod
+--shell`. The DNF-backed recipes install from Fedora.
 The upstream-backed recipes try Fedora first and otherwise use pinned official release
 assets with sha256 verification.
 
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ use helix
 use lazygit
 use starship
 use fzf
+use bat
 use git-delta
 use just
 use tmux
@@ -115,6 +116,7 @@ use_app_tools() {
 	use lazygit
 	use starship
 	use fzf
+	use bat
 	use git-delta
 	use just
 	use tmux
diff --git a/share/dvm/recipes/bat.sh b/share/dvm/recipes/bat.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..1d50ecb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/share/dvm/recipes/bat.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+sudo dnf5 install -y bat
+bat cache --build
diff --git a/tests/smoke.sh b/tests/smoke.sh
index c0a5425..e135c07 100755
--- a/tests/smoke.sh
+++ b/tests/smoke.sh
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ use_app_tools() {
 	use lazygit
 	use starship
 	use fzf
+	use bat
 	use git-delta
 	use just
 	use tmux
@@ -189,7 +190,7 @@ grep -Fq 'missing VM template: missing-template' "$TMP/init-bad.err"
 rm -f "$TMP/config/vms/newapp.sh" "$TMP/config/vms/llama.sh"
 
 "$ROOT/bin/dvm" apply app 2>"$TMP/apply.err"
-grep -Fq 'dvm: applying recipes for app: baseline zsh git helix lazygit starship fzf git-delta just tmux yazi node agent-user codex claude chezmoi' "$TMP/apply.err"
+grep -Fq 'dvm: applying recipes for app: baseline zsh git helix lazygit starship fzf bat git-delta just tmux yazi node agent-user codex claude chezmoi' "$TMP/apply.err"
 grep -Fq 'create dvm-app' "$TMP/state/log"
 grep -Fq 'start dvm-app' "$TMP/state/log"
 grep -Fq 'DVM_CODE_DIR=~/code/app' "$TMP/state/log"
@@ -197,6 +198,8 @@ grep -Fq 'dvm hostname' "$TMP/state/guest.sh"
 grep -Fq 'hostnamectl set-hostname "$DVM_NAME"' "$TMP/state/guest.sh"
 grep -Fq 'dvm recipe: zsh' "$TMP/state/guest.sh"
 grep -Fq 'usermod --shell "$zsh_path" "$(id -un)"' "$TMP/state/guest.sh"
+grep -Fq 'dvm recipe: bat' "$TMP/state/guest.sh"
+grep -Fq 'bat cache --build' "$TMP/state/guest.sh"
 grep -Fq 'dvm recipe: yazi' "$TMP/state/guest.sh"
 grep -Fq 'dvm recipe: agent-user' "$TMP/state/guest.sh"
 grep -Fq 'dnf5 install -y acl bubblewrap shadow-utils sudo' "$TMP/state/guest.sh"