diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5f4f813..f92f901 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ First-pass recipes include:
 
 - `baseline`: required setup basics only
 - `zsh`, `git`, `helix`, `lazygit`, `starship`, `fzf`, `bat`, `git-delta`, `just`,
-  `tmux`, `yazi`: optional interactive tools
+  `tmux`, `zellij`, `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
 - `chezmoi`: public HTTPS dotfiles
diff --git a/docs/recipes.md b/docs/recipes.md
index 83f892d..4a2ff26 100644
--- a/docs/recipes.md
+++ b/docs/recipes.md
@@ -56,7 +56,8 @@ 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`, `bat`, `git-delta`, `just`, `tmux`, and `yazi`. `zsh`
+`lazygit`, `starship`, `fzf`, `bat`, `git-delta`, `just`, `tmux`, `zellij`, 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
@@ -106,6 +107,7 @@ use bat
 use git-delta
 use just
 use tmux
+use zellij
 use yazi
 ```
 
@@ -123,6 +125,7 @@ use_app_tools() {
 	use git-delta
 	use just
 	use tmux
+	use zellij
 	use yazi
 }
 ```
diff --git a/share/dvm/config.sh b/share/dvm/config.sh
index a02dc6a..3dbc3f5 100644
--- a/share/dvm/config.sh
+++ b/share/dvm/config.sh
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ use_tools() {
 	# use git-delta   # delta diff pager
 	# use just        # just task runner
 	# use tmux        # tmux terminal multiplexer
+	# use zellij      # Zellij terminal multiplexer
 	# use yazi        # yazi file manager
 	# use node        # Node.js, npm, corepack
 	# use python      # Python and uv
diff --git a/share/dvm/recipes/zellij.sh b/share/dvm/recipes/zellij.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..06cfd12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/share/dvm/recipes/zellij.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Description: Zellij terminal multiplexer
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Pinned fallback release checked 2026-05-07:
+# https://github.com/zellij-org/zellij/releases/tag/v0.44.2
+
+install_zellij_pinned() {
+	sudo dnf5 install -y ca-certificates curl tar gzip
+	case "$(dvm_recipe_arch zellij)" in
+	arm64)
+		dvm_recipe_install_tar_bin zellij \
+			"https://github.com/zellij-org/zellij/releases/download/v0.44.2/zellij-aarch64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz" \
+			"e0b2ddbf050d58577b09b2a032a54f1a3fac0e214d1605c5969e8936340fff6b" \
+			zellij
+		;;
+	x86_64)
+		dvm_recipe_install_tar_bin zellij \
+			"https://github.com/zellij-org/zellij/releases/download/v0.44.2/zellij-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz" \
+			"26e1753b4c8451912523c7d8700c5aed75392ea57f0b1c988560f3bbc7775744" \
+			zellij
+		;;
+	esac
+}
+
+dvm_recipe_dnf_or_pinned zellij zellij install_zellij_pinned