diff --git a/src/components/application-starter/useApplicationStarterUrl.ts b/src/components/application-starter/useApplicationStarterUrl.ts
index 838192375..6739e9b70 100644
--- a/src/components/application-starter/useApplicationStarterUrl.ts
+++ b/src/components/application-starter/useApplicationStarterUrl.ts
@@ -17,9 +17,9 @@ interface ApplicationStarterSearchParams {
   template?: string // template preset ID
   features?: string // comma-separated feature IDs
   pm?: string // package manager: pnpm, npm, yarn, bun
-  tailwind?: string
+  tailwind?: 'false' | true
   // Feature options serialized as: featureId.optionKey=value
-  [key: string]: string | undefined
+  [key: string]: string | boolean | undefined
 }
 
 export function useApplicationStarterUrl() {
diff --git a/src/routes/application-starter.index.tsx b/src/routes/application-starter.index.tsx
index 63d6ee7e2..78b4c2ddd 100644
--- a/src/routes/application-starter.index.tsx
+++ b/src/routes/application-starter.index.tsx
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ const applicationStarterSearchSchema = v.pipe(
     framework: v.optional(v.string()),
     features: v.optional(v.string()), // comma-separated feature IDs
     pm: v.optional(v.picklist(['pnpm', 'npm', 'yarn', 'bun'])),
-    tailwind: v.optional(v.literal('false')),
+    tailwind: v.optional(v.union([v.literal('false'), v.literal(true)])),
     tab: v.optional(v.picklist(['summary', 'code', 'preview'])),
     file: v.optional(v.string()), // selected file in files tab
     addon: v.optional(v.string()), // selected addon in addons tab
diff --git a/tests/application-starter-search.test.ts b/tests/application-starter-search.test.ts
index 2b293fbe4..bc2a660c1 100644
--- a/tests/application-starter-search.test.ts
+++ b/tests/application-starter-search.test.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ test('application starter preserves optional fields and custom feature options',
     },
     ...['pnpm', 'npm', 'yarn', 'bun'].map((pm) => ({ pm })),
     ...['summary', 'code', 'preview'].map((tab) => ({ tab })),
+    { tailwind: true },
   ]) {
     const result = await standardSchema.validate(input)
     assert.equal(result.issues, undefined)
@@ -41,7 +42,6 @@ test('application starter rejects invalid known fields instead of coercing them'
     [],
     'name=app',
     { pm: 'deno' },
-    { tailwind: true },
     { tailwind: 'true' },
     { tab: 'unknown' },
     ...[