diff --git a/runbot_merge/__manifest__.py b/runbot_merge/__manifest__.py
index 3dba6c95..35af99ca 100644
--- a/runbot_merge/__manifest__.py
+++ b/runbot_merge/__manifest__.py
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@
         'models/staging_cancel/views.xml',
     ],
     'assets': {
+       'web._assets_primary_variables': [
+          ('prepend', 'runbot_merge/static/scss/primary_variables.scss'),
+       ],
         'web.assets_frontend': [
             'runbot_merge/static/scss/runbot_merge.scss',
         ],
diff --git a/runbot_merge/static/scss/primary_variables.scss b/runbot_merge/static/scss/primary_variables.scss
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1a10edb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/runbot_merge/static/scss/primary_variables.scss
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+// colors from the original mergebot
+$primary: #276e72;
+$secondary: #685563;
+$success: #28a745;
+$info: #17a2b8;
+$warning: #ffc107;
+$danger: #dc3545;
+$theme-colors: (
+  "primary":    $primary,
+  "secondary":  $secondary,
+  "success":    $success,
+  "info":       $info,
+  "warning":    $warning,
+  "danger":     $danger,
+);
+
+$o-system-fonts: sans-serif;
+
+// mostly revets a bunch of shit from the default odoo theming
+$link-color: $primary;
+$o-community-color: $primary;
+$o-enterprise-color: $primary;
+
+$font-size-root:              null;
+$font-size-base:              1rem;
+$font-size-sm:                $font-size-base * .875;
+$font-size-lg:                $font-size-base * 1.25;
+
+$font-weight-lighter:         lighter;
+$font-weight-light:           300;
+$font-weight-normal:          400;
+$font-weight-bold:            700;
+$font-weight-bolder:          bolder;
+
+$font-weight-base:            $font-weight-normal;
+
+$line-height-base:            1.5;
+$line-height-sm:              1.25;
+$line-height-lg:              2;
+
+$h1-font-size:                $font-size-base * 2.5;
+$h2-font-size:                $font-size-base * 2;
+$h3-font-size:                $font-size-base * 1.75;
+$h4-font-size:                $font-size-base * 1.5;
+$h5-font-size:                $font-size-base;
+$h6-font-size:                $font-size-base;
+
+$border-radius: 0.25rem;
diff --git a/runbot_merge/static/scss/runbot_merge.scss b/runbot_merge/static/scss/runbot_merge.scss
index ea2a12d4..bb845233 100644
--- a/runbot_merge/static/scss/runbot_merge.scss
+++ b/runbot_merge/static/scss/runbot_merge.scss
@@ -10,10 +10,9 @@ body {
 }
 h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6{
   color: inherit;
-  margin-top: 0.66em;
-  margin-bottom: 0.33em;
+  margin-top: 0.66em !important;
+  margin-bottom: 0.33em !important;
 }
-h5 { font-size: 1em; }
 .bg-success, .bg-info, .bg-warning, .bg-danger, .bg-gray-lighter,
 .table-success, .table-info, .table-warning, .table-danger {
   color: inherit;
@@ -22,18 +21,24 @@ h5 { font-size: 1em; }
   color: inherit;
 }
 
+// FIXME: move these over to the primary variables or some shit, but bg-info is completely fucked
 $mergebot-colors: ("success": #dff0d8, "danger": #f2dede, "warning": #fcf8e3, "info": #d9edf7);
 @each $category, $color in $mergebot-colors {
   .bg-#{$category} {
     background-color: $color !important;
   }
   .table-#{$category} {
-    background-color: $color !important;
+    --table-bg: #{$color};
+    --table-accent-bg: transparent;
     &.table-active {
-      background-color: scale-color($color, $lightness: -5%) !important;
+      // TODO: make that a runtime operation
+      --table-bg: #{scale-color($color, $lightness: -5%)};
     }
   }
 }
+.alert-primary {
+  background-color: #d7eaeb !important;
+}
 .bg-unmerged {
   background-color: #dcefe8 !important
 }
@@ -124,10 +129,10 @@ dl.runbot-merge-fields {
   @extend .pt-1;
   // because there's a trailing space which is annoying to remove, which plays
   // the role of padding-right
-  @extend .pl-1;
+  @extend .ps-1;
   @extend .text-nowrap;
   // works better for the left edge of the *box*
-  @extend .border-left;
+  @extend .border-start;
 }
 
 // batches sequence table in PR dashboard: mostly uses (customised) bootstrap
diff --git a/runbot_merge/views/templates.xml b/runbot_merge/views/templates.xml
index 2dff930f..267045b5 100644
--- a/runbot_merge/views/templates.xml
+++ b/runbot_merge/views/templates.xml
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@
                     <a t-att-href="pr.github_url" t-field="pr.display_name">
                     </a>
                     <a t-attf-href="/web#view_type=form&amp;model=runbot_merge.pull_requests&amp;id={{pr.id}}"
-                        class="btn btn-sm btn-secondary align-top float-right"
+                        class="btn btn-sm btn-secondary align-top float-end"
                         groups="runbot_merge.group_admin">View in backend</a>
                 </h1>
                 <h6>Created by <span t-field="pr.author.display_name"/></h6>