diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 51bd9fe..9b8855e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -9,17 +9,18 @@ your `ModelAdmin` classes drive everything. No React code on your side.
 INSTALLED_APPS = [
     # ...
     "django.contrib.admin",
-    "django_admin_rest_api",   # the JSON REST API (sibling package — pulled in as a dependency)
-    "django_admin_react",      # this package — the React SPA on top of it
+    "django_admin_react",   # the React SPA — includes the JSON API for you
 ]
 
 # urls.py
 urlpatterns = [
     path("admin/",       admin.site.urls),
-    path("admin-react/", include("django_admin_react.urls")),  # SPA + its API include
+    path("admin-react/", include("django_admin_react.urls")),  # SPA + API in one include
 ]
 ```
 
+**One `INSTALLED_APPS` line + one URL include is the entire integration.** `pip install django-admin-react` transitively pulls in the [JSON API](https://pypi.org/project/django-admin-rest-api/) and the [MCP adapter](https://pypi.org/project/django-admin-mcp-api/); `django_admin_react.urls` includes the API endpoints at `<mount>/api/v1/…`, so the SPA finds its wire surface with zero configuration. (Mount the API a second time at your own prefix only if a non-SPA client also needs it.)
+
 > **Beta — v1.0.0.** Available on PyPI; the SPA + the API
 > ([`django-admin-rest-api`](https://pypi.org/project/django-admin-rest-api/))
 > + the MCP adapter
diff --git a/django_admin_react/__init__.py b/django_admin_react/__init__.py
index dbc36c8..ef855a4 100644
--- a/django_admin_react/__init__.py
+++ b/django_admin_react/__init__.py
@@ -1,10 +1,25 @@
-"""django-admin-react — a React single-page admin for Django.
+"""django-admin-react — the React SPA super-layer for the Django admin.
 
-The actual implementation lands across PRs #2-#7. This package is
-currently a skeleton that defines the layout and the Django AppConfig
-entry point only. See `ARCHITECTURE.md` for the design contract.
+A drop-in single-page admin: same `pip install`, same `INSTALLED_APPS`,
+same `urls.py include()` — and your `ModelAdmin` classes drive everything.
+The JSON wire surface lives in the sibling
+[`django-admin-rest-api`](https://pypi.org/project/django-admin-rest-api/)
+package (pulled in as a dependency); the MCP exposure of the same surface
+lives in
+[`django-admin-mcp-api`](https://pypi.org/project/django-admin-mcp-api/).
+
+See `README.md` for install + the consumer wiring, and `ARCHITECTURE.md`
+for what lives in this repo vs. the API / MCP siblings.
 """
 
-__version__ = "0.0.0"
+from importlib.metadata import PackageNotFoundError
+from importlib.metadata import version as _pkg_version
+
+try:
+    # Read the version directly from the installed distribution metadata
+    # so this constant never drifts from `pyproject.toml` after a release.
+    __version__ = _pkg_version("django-admin-react")
+except PackageNotFoundError:  # pragma: no cover — editable / source install
+    __version__ = "0.0.0"
 
 default_app_config = "django_admin_react.apps.DjangoAdminReactConfig"
diff --git a/frontend/packages/sidebar/src/Sidebar.tsx b/frontend/packages/sidebar/src/Sidebar.tsx
index a9434f3..9012f69 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/sidebar/src/Sidebar.tsx
+++ b/frontend/packages/sidebar/src/Sidebar.tsx
@@ -252,7 +252,11 @@ export function Sidebar() {
               }}
               placeholder="Filter models…"
               aria-label="Filter models"
-              className="w-full rounded border border-gray-700 bg-gray-800 px-2 py-1 text-sm text-gray-100 placeholder-gray-500 focus:outline-none focus-visible:ring-1 focus-visible:ring-gray-500"
+              // Bumped one step lighter than the sidebar surface (bg-gray-900)
+              // so the input reads as a distinct field, not as part of the
+              // sidebar (#556). `bg-gray-700` + `border-gray-600` gives the
+              // same two-step contrast the rest of the app's inputs have.
+              className="w-full rounded border border-gray-600 bg-gray-700 px-2 py-1 text-sm text-gray-100 placeholder-gray-400 focus:outline-none focus-visible:ring-1 focus-visible:ring-gray-500"
             />
           </div>
         )}
@@ -262,8 +266,10 @@ export function Sidebar() {
             grouped-nav style. */}
         {/* `border-t` draws the line above the FIRST section (the filter
             field sits above it); `divide-y` handles the lines between the
-            rest. */}
-        <nav className="border-t border-gray-800 divide-y divide-gray-800">
+            rest. `gray-700` (one step lighter than `gray-800`, which was
+            indistinguishable from the `gray-900` sidebar surface) so the
+            line is actually visible (#556). */}
+        <nav className="border-t border-gray-700 divide-y divide-gray-700">
           {visibleApps.map((app) => {
             // While a filter query is active, force every group open so
             // matches are never hidden behind a collapsed section.
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index d8bd143..b93dd9f 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "django-admin-react"
-version = "1.0.0"
+version = "1.0.1"
 description = "A drop-in React single-page admin for Django, driven entirely by ModelAdmin."
 authors = ["django-admin-react contributors"]
 license = "MIT"
diff --git a/tests/test_project/settings.py b/tests/test_project/settings.py
index f9c397c..0224935 100644
--- a/tests/test_project/settings.py
+++ b/tests/test_project/settings.py
@@ -23,11 +23,15 @@
     "django.contrib.sessions",
     "django.contrib.messages",
     "django.contrib.staticfiles",
-    # The JSON REST API surface (sibling package — implements every
-    # `/api/v1/...` endpoint). `django_admin_react.urls` includes its
-    # URLs at the same `api/v1/` prefix the SPA already expects.
-    "django_admin_rest_api",
-    # This package — the React SPA super-layer.
+    # **Minimal plug-and-play (#564 owner directive 2026-05-28):** only
+    # `django_admin_react` is registered. `pip install django-admin-react`
+    # transitively pulls in `django-admin-rest-api`; the URL include in
+    # `django_admin_react.urls` mounts the API at `<mount>/api/v1/`, so
+    # the API package does not need its own `INSTALLED_APPS` entry — the
+    # endpoints resolve through `include("django_admin_rest_api.api.urls")`
+    # without the AppConfig being registered (the API ships zero models +
+    # zero signals, so the registration adds nothing the URL include needs).
+    # Test-suite parity with the README's recommended snippet.
     "django_admin_react",
     # Test-only app with a FileField model retained for back-compat
     # (the package's own suite owns the upload tests now).