diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index bbbcd78..a18b532 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -4,8 +4,11 @@
 > Context: CSS waste strategy — full stream DEFERRED (tasks 10/u/w/x/y/z): unusedSymbols report showed only ~6.2KB/2.9% of 216KB reclaimable; pruning + per-page split parked (docs/css-split-analysis.md). #t (Interdit admin route) confirmed already implemented via /admin/media.php + media-viewer.php + recapitulatif link. No pending live tasks.
 
 ## In Progress
+- [x] #cover-home-lazy-intersect-fix [!high] Fix lazy covers not loading after initial images. Root cause: home grid scrolls inside <main class="home-main"> (overflow-y:auto, body height:100vh flex), but htmx `revealed` listens to window scroll only — so below-fold covers never revealed. Fix: hx-trigger="intersect threshold:0.05 once" (IntersectionObserver works inside any scroll container). VERIFIED LIVE: progressive scroll loads covers 5→11→15→20→22/22 (before: stuck ~5). Committed fix(home): use intersect trigger.
+- [x] #cover-image-webp-avif-serve-lite [!medium] Serve lightweight webp cover thumbnails instead of full-res PNG originals (~99% on worst cases). DONE VERIFIED LIVE 2026-08-31: `cwebp -resize 800 q80` sidecars (+ GD fallback for CMYK JPEGs) generated by ThesisFileHandler at upload (FilePond + legacy); /cover-fragment emits <picture> (webp source + original fallback); backfill scripts/generate-cover-webp.php + `just deploy-cover-webp`. PROD: tools installed (docs), 46/46 covers backfilled (44 cwebp + 2 GD/CMYK), app code deployed, /cover-fragment + /media?path=*.webp verified 200 image/webp 61KB (vs 15.8MB orig). AVIF dropped (no viable prod resize; WEBP sufficient). NOTE: just deploy-code's final nginx/permissions step needs sudo password (operational, pre-existing — not a regression).
 
 ## Pending
+- [x] #home-htmx-lazy-cover-images [!medium] Add htmx lazyloading on home page cover images: `revealed`-triggered cover-fragment endpoint, swap-in `<img>`, settle fade CSS, load htmx on home
 
 ## Completed
 - [x] #audit-all-docs-and [!high] Audit all docs/ and classify accurate vs stale
diff --git a/app/public/assets/css/public.css b/app/public/assets/css/public.css
index b742603..09d394d 100644
--- a/app/public/assets/css/public.css
+++ b/app/public/assets/css/public.css
@@ -78,7 +78,15 @@
   height: 100%;
   object-fit: cover;
   display: block;
-  transition: transform 0.3s ease;
+  transition: transform 0.3s ease, opacity 300ms ease-in;
+}
+
+/* Cover thumbnails are served as a <picture> (WebP + fallback); keep the
+   wrapper block-level so the <img> fills the 4:3 figure. */
+.home-body figure picture {
+  display: block;
+  width: 100%;
+  height: 100%;
 }
 
 .card:hover figure img,
@@ -97,6 +105,26 @@
   font-size: var(--step-3);
 }
 
+/* HTMX lazy-loaded cover: spinner + settle fade-in (mirrors htmx
+   docs' `htmx-settling img` transition pattern). */
+.card__cover-loading {
+  animation: card-cover-pulse 1.1s ease-in-out infinite;
+}
+
+@keyframes card-cover-pulse {
+  0%,
+  100% {
+    opacity: 0.3;
+  }
+  50% {
+    opacity: 1;
+  }
+}
+
+.home-body figure.htmx-settling img {
+  opacity: 0;
+}
+
 .card__media--gradient {
   width: 100%;
   aspect-ratio: 4 / 3;
diff --git a/app/src/Controllers/HomeController.php b/app/src/Controllers/HomeController.php
index dd99b7a..0c1305a 100644
--- a/app/src/Controllers/HomeController.php
+++ b/app/src/Controllers/HomeController.php
@@ -157,6 +157,8 @@ class HomeController
             // Layout
             'currentNav' => '',
             'extraCss' => ['/assets/dist/public.min.css'],
+            // htmx powers the `revealed` lazy-loaded cover images on this page
+            'extraJs' => ['/assets/js/vendor/htmx.min.js'],
             'bodyClass' => 'home-body',
         ];
     }
diff --git a/app/src/Controllers/ThesisFileHandler.php b/app/src/Controllers/ThesisFileHandler.php
index 349377a..07cd5b1 100644
--- a/app/src/Controllers/ThesisFileHandler.php
+++ b/app/src/Controllers/ThesisFileHandler.php
@@ -49,6 +49,13 @@ trait ThesisFileHandler
     /** Cover image max size. */
     private const MAX_COVER_SIZE = 20 * 1024 * 1024; // 20 MB
 
+    /**
+     * WebP cover-thumbnail tuning (served to the public home grid).
+     * `cwebp` must be installed on the server (see docs/environment.md).
+     */
+    private const COVER_WEBP_MAX_WIDTH = 800; // px, tall-side kept proportional
+    private const COVER_WEBP_QUALITY = 80;
+
     /** MIME types accepted for thesis files. */
     private const ALLOWED_MIME_TYPES = [
         'image/jpeg', 'image/png', 'image/gif', 'image/webp',
@@ -137,6 +144,104 @@ trait ThesisFileHandler
             $mimeType
         );
         error_log("ThesisFileHandler: cover uploaded → $relPath");
+
+        $this->generateCoverWebp($targetPath);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Generate a small WebP cover thumbnail next to the original cover.
+     *
+     * Covers are uploaded as full-resolution PNG/JPEG and — on the public home
+     * grid — rendered into a small 4:3 card. Serving the original is wasteful
+     * (up to ~15 MB for a ~300 px card). `cwebp -resize` both downscales and
+     * re-encodes in one pass, typically cutting payload by ~95%+.
+     *
+     * The thumbnail is a plain sidecar file (`{prefix}_COUVERTURE.webp`); it is
+     * NOT registered in thesis_files. Consumption is via /media (webp MIME is
+     * already allowed) using the same storage-relative path with a .webp ext.
+     *
+     * @param string $sourcePath Absolute path to the uploaded cover.
+     */
+    private function generateCoverWebp(string $sourcePath): void
+    {
+        if (!is_file($sourcePath) || !is_readable($sourcePath)) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        $targetPath = preg_replace('/\.[a-z0-9]+$/i', '.webp', $sourcePath);
+        if ($targetPath === null || $targetPath === $sourcePath) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        // Best-effort: never break the upload if transcoding is unavailable
+        // (no `cwebp`, PATH issues, etc.). A missing thumbnail simply makes the
+        // public grid fall back to the original via the <picture> fallback.
+        $cmd = sprintf(
+            'cwebp -quiet -resize %d 0 -q %d %s -o %s 2>/dev/null',
+            self::COVER_WEBP_MAX_WIDTH,
+            self::COVER_WEBP_QUALITY,
+            escapeshellarg($sourcePath),
+            escapeshellarg($targetPath)
+        );
+
+        $out = [];
+        $code = 0;
+        exec($cmd, $out, $code);
+
+        if ($code === 0 && is_file($targetPath)) {
+            @chmod($targetPath, 0644);
+            error_log('ThesisFileHandler: cover webp generated → ' . basename($targetPath));
+            return;
+        }
+
+        // cwebp can't read CMYK JPEGs ("Unsupported color conversion"); those
+        // are increasingly common as scanned-cover uploads. GD (php-gd) handles
+        // the CMYK→RGB conversion implicitly on decode, so fall back to it with
+        // the same resize + quality before giving up.
+        if ($this->generateCoverWebpWithGd($sourcePath, $targetPath)) {
+            error_log('ThesisFileHandler: cover webp generated (GD fallback) → '
+                . basename($targetPath));
+            return;
+        }
+
+        error_log("ThesisFileHandler: webp generation failed for cover (cwebp exit $code)"
+            . ' → ' . basename($targetPath));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * GD-based WebP thumbnail generation (CMYK-JPEG fallback for cwebp).
+     *
+     * @param string $sourcePath Absolute path to the original cover.
+     * @param string $targetPath Absolute path to the .webp output.
+     * @return bool true on success.
+     */
+    private function generateCoverWebpWithGd(string $sourcePath, string $targetPath): bool
+    {
+        if (!function_exists('imagecreatefromjpeg') || !function_exists('imagewebp')) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        $im = @imagecreatefromjpeg($sourcePath);
+        if ($im === false) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        $srcW = imagesx($im);
+        $srcH = imagesy($im);
+        $dstW = min(self::COVER_WEBP_MAX_WIDTH, $srcW);
+        $dstH = (int) round($srcH * $dstW / $srcW);
+
+        $tgt = imagecreatetruecolor($dstW, $dstH);
+        imagecopyresampled($tgt, $im, 0, 0, 0, 0, $dstW, $dstH, $srcW, $srcH);
+        $ok = imagewebp($tgt, $targetPath, self::COVER_WEBP_QUALITY);
+
+        imagedestroy($im);
+        imagedestroy($tgt);
+
+        if ($ok) {
+            @chmod($targetPath, 0644);
+        }
+        return $ok;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -979,6 +1084,10 @@ trait ThesisFileHandler
         );
         error_log("ThesisFileHandler: $queueKey uploaded (filepond) → $targetName");
 
+        if ($queueKey === 'cover') {
+            $this->generateCoverWebp($targetPath);
+        }
+
         $this->cleanupFilePondTmp($fileId);
     }
 
diff --git a/app/src/Dispatcher.php b/app/src/Dispatcher.php
index c98e83b..e085489 100644
--- a/app/src/Dispatcher.php
+++ b/app/src/Dispatcher.php
@@ -117,6 +117,39 @@ class Dispatcher
             };
         }
 
+        // /cover-fragment  (HTMX lazy-load: returns just the cover markup.
+        // Consumed by the home page's `revealed`-triggered placeholders — the
+        // heavy image bytes are fetched only when a card scrolls into view.
+        //
+        // Prefers the small WebP thumbnail (same storage-relative path, .webp
+        // ext) when present, else falls back to the original via <picture>.
+        if ($path === '/cover-fragment' || $path === '/cover-fragment.php') {
+            return static function (): void {
+                $coverPath = $_GET['path'] ?? '';
+
+                // Same strict whitelist as MediaController: no traversal, no junk.
+                if (
+                    $coverPath === ''
+                    || !preg_match('#^[a-zA-Z0-9/_\-.]+$#', $coverPath)
+                ) {
+                    http_response_code(400);
+                    exit;
+                }
+
+                $orig = '/media?path=' . urlencode($coverPath);
+                $webpPath = preg_replace('/\.[a-z0-9]+$/i', '.webp', $coverPath);
+
+                echo '<picture>'
+                    . '<source type="image/webp" srcset="'
+                    . htmlspecialchars('/media?path=' . urlencode((string) $webpPath), ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8')
+                    . '">'
+                    . '<img src="'
+                    . htmlspecialchars($orig, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8')
+                    . '" alt="Couverture" loading="lazy">'
+                    . '</picture>';
+            };
+        }
+
         // /maintenance.php
         if ($path === '/maintenance' || $path === '/maintenance.php') {
             return function () {
diff --git a/app/templates/public/home.php b/app/templates/public/home.php
index c722490..ecd2d56 100644
--- a/app/templates/public/home.php
+++ b/app/templates/public/home.php
@@ -17,10 +17,14 @@
                     $thumb = $coverMap[$item['id']] ?? null;
                     ?>
                     <?php if ($thumb): ?>
-                        <figure>
-                            <img src="/media?path=<?= urlencode($thumb) ?>"
-                                 alt="Couverture — <?= htmlspecialchars($item['title']) ?> par <?= htmlspecialchars($item['authors'] ?? '') ?>"
-                                 loading="lazy">
+                        <figure
+                            hx-get="/cover-fragment?path=<?= urlencode($thumb) ?>"
+                            hx-trigger="intersect threshold:0.05 once"
+                            hx-swap="innerHTML"
+                            aria-busy="true">
+                            <div class="card__media--placeholder" role="status">
+                                <span class="card__cover-loading">…</span>
+                            </div>
                         </figure>
                     <?php else: ?>
                         <div class="card__media--gradient"
diff --git a/docs/environment.md b/docs/environment.md
index 7ede9c4..1343850 100644
--- a/docs/environment.md
+++ b/docs/environment.md
@@ -16,6 +16,23 @@ archived at [`spec-sheet.md`](archive/spec-sheet.md)).
 | **App user** | `www-data`, group `xamxam` |
 | **Node.js** | *Not required on the server* — assets are built locally and rsync'd |
 
+## Image transcoding tooling (installed 2026-08-31)
+
+Installed on the production server to generate lightweight WebP/AVIF cover
+thumbnails (home-page cover grid — up to ~95% payload reduction):
+
+- `php-gd` — PHP GD extension (WebP/AVIF encode/resize for on-the-fly serving)
+- `webp` — provides the `cwebp` CLI (WebP conversion)
+- `libavif-bin` — provides the `avifenc` CLI (AVIF conversion)
+
+Install on any environment that must serve cover thumbnails:
+
+```bash
+sudo apt-get install php-gd webp libavif-bin
+```
+
+Consumed by the cover-thumbnail pipeline (see `docs/...` once implemented).
+
 ## PHP (≥ 8.4)
 
 Declared in `composer.json` (`"php": ">=8.4"`, platform lock `8.4`).
@@ -36,7 +53,9 @@ Verified present in the production `php -m` output and on the FPM pool:
 - `session` — admin auth + CSRF (see [`security.md`](security.md))
 - `sodium` — `Crypto` (libsodium) for encrypted fields (SMTP password)
 - `zlib` / `phar` — Composer autoload + PHAR-based tooling
-- `gd` — not used directly, present transitively (image handling is `finfo`)
+- `gd` — **intentionally installed** (`php-gd`, 2026-08-31) for cover-image
+  transcoding to WebP/AVIF; resize/encode derivations for the home-page cover
+  grid. Not used for MIME validation (that is `finfo`).
 - `fileinfo` — upload MIME validation (`finfo`)
 - `calendar`, `ctype`, `filter`, `hash`, `tokenizer`, `xml`, `libxml` — PHP core
   extensions, present by default
diff --git a/justfile b/justfile
index acda458..0cc9726 100644
--- a/justfile
+++ b/justfile
@@ -176,6 +176,16 @@ deploy-migrate:
     ssh xamxam "cd /var/www/xamxam && REPO_ROOT=/var/www/xamxam bash /tmp/migrate.sh"
     ssh xamxam "rm -f /tmp/migrate.sh"
 
+[group('deploy')]
+deploy-cover-webp dry_run='':
+    # Backfill small WebP cover thumbnails on the server (idempotent).
+    # Dry-run by default; pass --no-dry-run to actually generate. Runs as the
+    # SSH user (member of the xamxam group, dirs are setgid group-writable) so
+    # no sudo is needed. Deploy as www-data if group-write ever changes.
+    rsync -v scripts/generate-cover-webp.php xamxam:/tmp/generate-cover-webp.php
+    ssh xamxam "cd /var/www/xamxam && php /tmp/generate-cover-webp.php {{dry_run}}"
+    ssh xamxam "rm -f /tmp/generate-cover-webp.php"
+
 [group('deploy')]
 deploy-env:
     #!/usr/bin/env bash
diff --git a/scripts/generate-cover-webp.php b/scripts/generate-cover-webp.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fb87e38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/generate-cover-webp.php
@@ -0,0 +1,152 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env php
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * generate-cover-webp.php — Backfill small WebP cover thumbnails.
+ *
+ * Covers are uploaded as full-resolution PNG/JPEG but rendered into a small
+ * 4:3 card on the public home grid. Serving the original is wasteful — a single
+ * cover can be ~15 MB. This scans every `*_COUVERTURE.*` file under the storage
+ * root and, for any that lacks a `.webp` sibling, downscales + re-encodes it in
+ * one `cwebp -resize` pass (typically ~95%+ smaller, to ~800px wide @ q80).
+ *
+ * Idempotent: skips covers that already have a `.webp` sibling. Safe to re-run.
+ *
+ * Usage:
+ *   php scripts/generate-cover-webp.php              # dry-run (list pending)
+ *   php scripts/generate-cover-webp.php --no-dry-run # actually generate
+ *   COVER_WEBP_WIDTH=1000 COVER_WEBP_QUALITY=85 php scripts/generate-cover-webp.php --no-dry-run
+ *
+ * Requires `cwebp` on PATH (see docs/environment.md). Exit code 0 on success,
+ * 1 on error.
+ */
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+// Resolve APP_ROOT robustly. In production the app code is deployed flat under
+// /var/www/xamxam/ (src/, storage/, templates/ at the root, no app/ subdir).
+$prodRoot = '/var/www/xamxam';
+if (is_dir($prodRoot . '/src') && is_file($prodRoot . '/src/Database.php')) {
+    define('APP_ROOT', $prodRoot);
+    $storageRoot = $prodRoot . '/storage';
+} else {
+    define('APP_ROOT', dirname(__DIR__) . '/app');
+    $storageRoot = APP_ROOT . '/storage';
+}
+
+$dryRun = !in_array('--no-dry-run', $argv, true);
+
+// Tuning (mirrors ThesisFileHandler::generateCoverWebp defaults).
+$maxWidth = (int) (getenv('COVER_WEBP_WIDTH') ?: 800);
+$quality  = (int) (getenv('COVER_WEBP_QUALITY') ?: 80);
+if ($maxWidth < 1) {
+    $maxWidth = 800;
+}
+if ($quality < 0 || $quality > 100) {
+    $quality = 80;
+}
+
+if (!is_dir($storageRoot) || !is_readable($storageRoot)) {
+    fwrite(STDERR, "[generate-cover-webp] storage root not readable: $storageRoot\n");
+    exit(1);
+}
+
+if (!function_exists('exec')) {
+    fwrite(STDERR, "[generate-cover-webp] exec() is disabled; cannot run cwebp.\n");
+    exit(1);
+}
+
+// Recursively collect cover files.
+$covers = [];
+$rii = new RecursiveIteratorIterator(
+    new RecursiveDirectoryIterator($storageRoot, FilesystemIterator::SKIP_DOTS)
+);
+foreach ($rii as $entry) {
+    if (!$entry->isFile()) {
+        continue;
+    }
+    $name = $entry->getFilename();
+    // Only source covers (original upload) count as inputs; the generated
+    // `.webp` sidecars must NOT be re-scanned as sources.
+    if (!preg_match('/_COUVERTURE\.[a-z0-9]+$/i', $name) || str_ends_with($name, '.webp')) {
+        continue;
+    }
+    $covers[] = $entry->getPathname();
+}
+sort($covers);
+
+$pending  = [];
+$existing = 0;
+foreach ($covers as $sourcePath) {
+    $webpPath = preg_replace('/\.[a-z0-9]+$/i', '.webp', $sourcePath);
+    if ($webpPath !== null && is_file($webpPath)) {
+        $existing++;
+        continue;
+    }
+    $pending[] = $sourcePath;
+}
+
+$skipped = 0;
+if ($dryRun) {
+    foreach ($pending as $p) {
+        printf("DRY-RUN → %s  (%d bytes)\n", $p, (int) filesize($p));
+    }
+    printf(
+        "Found %d cover file(s): %d already have a .webp thumbnail, %d pending.\n",
+        count($covers),
+        $existing,
+        count($pending)
+    );
+    echo "Re-run with --no-dry-run to generate them.\n";
+    exit(0);
+}
+
+foreach ($pending as $sourcePath) {
+    $targetPath = preg_replace('/\.[a-z0-9]+$/i', '.webp', $sourcePath);
+    $cmd = sprintf(
+        'cwebp -quiet -resize %d 0 -q %d %s -o %s 2>/dev/null',
+        $maxWidth,
+        $quality,
+        escapeshellarg((string) $sourcePath),
+        escapeshellarg((string) $targetPath)
+    );
+
+    exec($cmd, $_, $code);
+    $ok = $code === 0 && $targetPath !== null && is_file($targetPath);
+
+    // cwebp can't read CMYK JPEGs; fall back to GD (php-gd) which handles
+    // CMYK->RGB on decode, same resize + quality.
+    if (!$ok && function_exists('imagecreatefromjpeg') && function_exists('imagewebp')) {
+        $im = @imagecreatefromjpeg((string) $sourcePath);
+        if ($im !== false && $targetPath !== null) {
+            $srcW = imagesx($im);
+            $srcH = imagesy($im);
+            $dstW = min($maxWidth, $srcW);
+            $dstH = (int) round($srcH * $dstW / $srcW);
+            $tgt  = imagecreatetruecolor($dstW, $dstH);
+            imagecopyresampled($tgt, $im, 0, 0, 0, 0, $dstW, $dstH, $srcW, $srcH);
+            $ok = imagewebp($tgt, $targetPath, $quality);
+            imagedestroy($im);
+            imagedestroy($tgt);
+            if ($ok) {
+                @chmod($targetPath, 0644);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    if ($ok && $targetPath !== null && is_file($targetPath)) {
+        @chmod($targetPath, 0644);
+        printf("✓ %s  (%d → %d bytes)\n", basename($targetPath), (int) filesize($sourcePath), (int) filesize($targetPath));
+    } else {
+        printf("✗ failed: %s (cwebp exit %d)\n", (string) $sourcePath, $code);
+        $skipped++;
+    }
+}
+
+printf(
+    "Generated %d WebP thumbnail(s); %d failed. %d already present.\n",
+    count($pending) - $skipped,
+    $skipped,
+    $existing
+);
+exit($skipped > 0 ? 1 : 0);