diff --git a/banner.py b/banner.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..79287fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/banner.py
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+"""MBT ASCII banner — sibling to Offbeat Engine, in a restrained grey.
+
+Same block-letter + waveform family as the engine, but understated: MBT is
+the open, no-nonsense backtester, so it wears grey where the engine wears
+cyan. No dependencies (usable before pip install). Colour auto-detects, so
+captured/non-TTY output stays clean plain text.
+
+Preview:  python banner.py
+"""
+
+import os
+import sys
+
+_LOGO = [
+    r"  ███╗   ███╗██████╗ ████████╗",
+    r"  ████╗ ████║██╔══██╗╚══██╔══╝",
+    r"  ██╔████╔██║██████╔╝   ██║   ",
+    r"  ██║╚██╔╝██║██╔══██╗   ██║   ",
+    r"  ██║ ╚═╝ ██║██████╔╝   ██║   ",
+    r"  ╚═╝     ╚═╝╚═════╝    ╚═╝   ",
+]
+_TAG = "   MT5 Backtest Toolkit · replay real signals on real bars"
+_WAVE = "   ╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴"
+
+# subtle light→mid grey vertical gradient
+_SHADES = [253, 251, 249, 247, 245, 243]
+
+
+def _plain() -> str:
+    return "\n" + "\n".join(_LOGO + ["", _TAG, _WAVE]) + "\n"
+
+
+def _ansi() -> str:
+    out = [f"\033[38;5;{s}m{line}\033[0m" for s, line in zip(_SHADES, _LOGO)]
+    out.append("")
+    out.append(f"\033[38;5;245m{_TAG}\033[0m")
+    out.append(f"\033[38;5;240m{_WAVE}\033[0m")
+    return "\n" + "\n".join(out) + "\n"
+
+
+def _supports_color(stream) -> bool:
+    return (hasattr(stream, "isatty") and stream.isatty()
+            and os.environ.get("TERM") not in (None, "dumb")
+            and not os.environ.get("NO_COLOR"))
+
+
+def banner(color=None, stream=None) -> str:
+    if color is None:
+        color = _supports_color(stream or sys.stderr)
+    return _ansi() if color else _plain()
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    sys.stdout.write(banner(color=True))
diff --git a/install.py b/install.py
index e35d62b..b2584dc 100644
--- a/install.py
+++ b/install.py
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@ def print_mcp_cmd():
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
+    from banner import banner
+    sys.stdout.write(banner(stream=sys.stdout))
     install_deps()
     make_config()
     copy_include()
diff --git a/mcp_server.py b/mcp_server.py
index df42c23..c7df7f8 100644
--- a/mcp_server.py
+++ b/mcp_server.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import sys
 
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
 
+from banner import banner
 from mcp.server.fastmcp import FastMCP
 
 from core.connection import load_config, connect, signal_file_path
@@ -158,4 +159,5 @@ def ping() -> dict:
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
+    print(banner(stream=sys.stderr), file=sys.stderr)
     mcp.run(transport="stdio")