diff --git a/functions/__config_settings_frame.fish b/functions/__config_settings_frame.fish
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a02c53e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/functions/__config_settings_frame.fish
@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2026 Rootiest
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
+
+# SYNOPSIS
+#   __config_settings_frame width
+#   __config_settings_frame title  <iw> <p> <segment>
+#   __config_settings_frame badge  <value> [<on_word> <off_word>]
+#   __config_settings_frame cursor <row> <cur_row>
+#   __config_settings_frame row    <iw> <p> <curs> <label> <label_w> <badge> <field> <fit>
+#
+# DESCRIPTION
+#   The pieces of the config-settings panel that every page draws identically:
+#   the width tier, the title border, the ON/OFF/DEFAULT badge, the cursor cell
+#   and one table row. __config_settings_draw, __config_settings_draw_subcat
+#   and __config_settings_draw_value each keep their own sequence of lines and
+#   their own per-tier text; only these shared computations live here.
+#
+#   Deliberately owns no page height. Every verb prints exactly one line or one
+#   fragment, so how tall a page is remains a property of its caller's line
+#   sequence: __config_settings_draw and __config_settings_draw_value are a
+#   fixed 16 lines, __config_settings_draw_subcat is 7 + <sub-category count>,
+#   and config-settings.fish's wrap-aware erase (\e[<N>A\e[J, sized from
+#   panel_h) depends on that difference surviving exactly as it is.
+#
+#   Row geometry. A row is
+#     │ + 2 spaces + cursor(2) + label(label_w) + " [ " + badge(7) + " ]  "
+#       + field(field_w) + 3 spaces + │
+#   which totals 23 + label_w + field_w and must equal iw + 2. So
+#     field_w = iw - 21 - label_w
+#   and that single sum reproduces both hand-maintained constants: label_w 12
+#   gives iw-33 (the toggle and value pages), label_w 13 gives iw-34 (the
+#   sub-category page, whose description field absorbs its wider label).
+#
+#   Title geometry. "┌─" + segment + dashes + "┐" totals iw + 2, so
+#     dashes = iw - visible(segment) - 1
+#   The segment arrives already coloured because the three pages place their
+#   set_color reset at different byte offsets around the same visible text
+#   (__config_settings_draw resets after the trailing space, the other two
+#   before it). That difference is invisible on screen and visible to cmp, so
+#   each page keeps its own bytes while sharing the arithmetic; --visible
+#   discounts the escapes.
+#
+# ARGUMENTS
+#   width   No arguments. Prints the inner width for the current $COLUMNS:
+#           >= 90 -> 76, >= 86 -> 72, >= 82 -> 68, otherwise 50.
+#   title   iw, the centering prefix, and the pre-coloured title segment.
+#   badge   The stored value, then optionally the words this page uses for true
+#           and false (default on/off; the value pages store true/false).
+#           Anything else renders DEFAULT.
+#   cursor  This row's index and the highlighted row's index.
+#   row     iw, centering prefix, cursor cell, label, label field width,
+#           rendered badge, field text, and the fit policy:
+#             pad      pad label and field, never shrink either
+#             cut      truncate both to their field width, then pad
+#             shorten  pad the label, ellipsise the field with string shorten
+#
+# EXIT STATUS
+#   0  Verb recognised
+#   1  Unknown verb
+#
+# RETURNS
+#   The requested panel line or fragment, printed to stdout
+#
+# NOTES
+#   `string pad` only ever grows a string, never shrinks it. That is the whole
+#   reason `cut` and `shorten` exist: a caller whose text can exceed its field
+#   must shrink it first, or the box stops being rectangular.
+#
+#   `pad` is not "the default when you don't care". __config_settings_draw's
+#   descriptions are authored per width tier to fit their field exactly -- at
+#   every tier the longest is precisely the field width -- so applying `cut`
+#   there would be a byte-for-byte no-op that silently discards that property
+#   and passes the render golden. Which policy a page uses is a real decision,
+#   named at each call site. See tests/config-settings-render.fish.
+#
+# EXAMPLE
+#   set -l iw (__config_settings_frame width)
+#   __config_settings_frame row $iw $p (__config_settings_frame cursor 0 0) \
+#       Aliases 12 (__config_settings_frame badge on) "cmd shadows" pad
+function __config_settings_frame
+    switch $argv[1]
+        # ── Width tier: 6-col buffer per side before stepping up ──────────
+        case width
+            if test "$COLUMNS" -ge 90
+                echo 76
+            else if test "$COLUMNS" -ge 86
+                echo 72
+            else if test "$COLUMNS" -ge 82
+                echo 68
+            else
+                echo 50
+            end
+
+            # ── Title border: ┌─<segment><dashes>┐ ────────────────────────────
+        case title
+            set -l iw $argv[2]
+            set -l vis (string length --visible -- "$argv[4]")
+            set -l dashes (math "max(0, $iw - $vis - 1)")
+            printf '%s┌─%s%s┐\n' $argv[3] "$argv[4]" (string repeat -n $dashes '─')
+
+            # ── Badge: 7 visible columns, coloured ────────────────────────────
+            # The truthy/falsy words are arguments rather than one merged
+            # vocabulary: merging would make a hand-set "on" in a true/false
+            # variable render as ON where it renders DEFAULT today.
+        case badge
+            set -l on_word on
+            set -l off_word off
+            if test (count $argv) -ge 4
+                set on_word $argv[3]
+                set off_word $argv[4]
+            end
+            switch "$argv[2]"
+                case $on_word
+                    printf '%s     ON%s' (set_color green) (set_color normal)
+                case $off_word
+                    printf '%sOFF    %s' (set_color red) (set_color normal)
+                case '*'
+                    printf '%sDEFAULT%s' (set_color brblack) (set_color normal)
+            end
+
+            # ── Cursor cell: 2 visible columns ────────────────────────────────
+        case cursor
+            if test $argv[2] -eq $argv[3]
+                printf '%s▶%s ' (set_color --bold magenta) (set_color normal)
+            else
+                printf '  '
+            end
+
+            # ── One table row ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
+        case row
+            set -l iw $argv[2]
+            set -l p $argv[3]
+            set -l curs $argv[4]
+            set -l label "$argv[5]"
+            set -l label_w $argv[6]
+            set -l badge $argv[7]
+            set -l field "$argv[8]"
+            set -l fit $argv[9]
+            set -l field_w (math $iw - 21 - $label_w)
+            switch $fit
+                case cut
+                    set label (string sub -l $label_w -- "$label")
+                    set field (string sub -l $field_w -- "$field")
+                case shorten
+                    set field (string shorten -m $field_w -- "$field")
+            end
+            printf '%s│  %s%s [ %s ]  %s   │\n' $p $curs \
+                (string pad -r -w $label_w -- "$label") $badge \
+                (string pad -r -w $field_w -- "$field")
+
+        case '*'
+            echo "__config_settings_frame: unknown verb '$argv[1]'" >&2
+            return 1
+    end
+end
diff --git a/tests/config-settings-render.fish b/tests/config-settings-render.fish
index 1bbbec6..48d9439 100644
--- a/tests/config-settings-render.fish
+++ b/tests/config-settings-render.fish
@@ -178,6 +178,17 @@ function _cs_render_case --argument-names label panel_h
     command rm -f $t
 end
 
+# ── Frame-verb fragments ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# The shared computations pinned directly, not only through the pages that use
+# them. <END> marks the end of each fragment so trailing padding -- which is
+# the entire point of a 7-column badge or a 2-column cursor cell -- shows up in
+# a diff instead of being invisible whitespace.
+function _cs_frame_case --argument-names label
+    printf '### frame %s\n' $label
+    $argv[2..]
+    printf '<END>\n'
+end
+
 # ── Cases ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 # 100 -> IW 76, 88 -> IW 72, 84 -> IW 68, 70 -> IW 50: one COLUMNS value per
 # width tier, each a few columns above its threshold.
@@ -222,4 +233,47 @@ begin
         _cs_render_case "edit page=paths row=2 buf=empty" 16 \
             __config_settings_draw_value 2 paths edit ""
     end
+
+    # Emitted last on purpose: everything above is page output, so the page
+    # section's byte offsets never move when this section grows.
+    for cols in 100 88 84 70
+        set -g COLUMNS $cols
+        _cs_frame_case "width cols=$cols" __config_settings_frame width
+    end
+    set -g COLUMNS 100
+
+    set -l head (set_color --bold cyan)
+    set -l rst (set_color normal)
+    set -l p_test (string repeat -n 11 ' ')
+
+    for v in on off DEFAULT ''
+        _cs_frame_case "badge onoff val=$v" __config_settings_frame badge $v
+    end
+    for v in true false DEFAULT
+        _cs_frame_case "badge boolean val=$v" __config_settings_frame badge $v true false
+    end
+
+    _cs_frame_case "cursor hit" __config_settings_frame cursor 3 3
+    _cs_frame_case "cursor miss" __config_settings_frame cursor 3 4
+
+    _cs_frame_case "title toggle-page" __config_settings_frame title 76 $p_test \
+        "$head Opinionated Settings $rst"
+    _cs_frame_case "title subcat-page" __config_settings_frame title 76 $p_test \
+        "$head Sub-categories: aliases (Universal)$rst "
+    _cs_frame_case "title value-page" __config_settings_frame title 76 $p_test \
+        "$head Sponge Settings$rst "
+
+    set -l badge_on (__config_settings_frame badge on)
+    _cs_frame_case "row pad lw=12" __config_settings_frame row 76 $p_test \
+        (__config_settings_frame cursor 0 0) Aliases 12 $badge_on "cmd shadows" pad
+    _cs_frame_case "row cut lw=13" __config_settings_frame row 76 $p_test \
+        (__config_settings_frame cursor 0 1) Notifications 13 $badge_on "done, WakaTime hook" cut
+    _cs_frame_case "row cut lw=13 overlong" __config_settings_frame row 50 $p_test \
+        (__config_settings_frame cursor 0 0) Notifications 13 $badge_on \
+        "ls, cat, cd, du, mkdir, rm, mv, zoxide" cut
+    _cs_frame_case "row shorten lw=12" __config_settings_frame row 76 $p_test \
+        (__config_settings_frame cursor 0 0) "Log dir" 12 $badge_on \
+        /home/tester/very/long/scrollback/history/directory shorten
+    _cs_frame_case "row shorten lw=12 empty" __config_settings_frame row 50 $p_test \
+        (__config_settings_frame cursor 1 0) "Log max" 12 $badge_on "" shorten
 end >$CS_RENDER_OUT
diff --git a/tests/golden/config-settings-render.txt b/tests/golden/config-settings-render.txt
index 5f7ef84..43f2492 100644
--- a/tests/golden/config-settings-render.txt
+++ b/tests/golden/config-settings-render.txt
@@ -4938,3 +4938,57 @@
          │──────────────────────────────────────────────────│
          │ type value   Enter save   Esc cancel   ⌫ delete  │
          └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
+### frame width cols=100
+76
+<END>
+### frame width cols=88
+72
+<END>
+### frame width cols=84
+68
+<END>
+### frame width cols=70
+50
+<END>
+### frame badge onoff val=on
+     ON<END>
+### frame badge onoff val=off
+OFF    <END>
+### frame badge onoff val=DEFAULT
+DEFAULT<END>
+### frame badge onoff val=
+DEFAULT<END>
+### frame badge boolean val=true
+     ON<END>
+### frame badge boolean val=false
+OFF    <END>
+### frame badge boolean val=DEFAULT
+DEFAULT<END>
+### frame cursor hit
+▶ <END>
+### frame cursor miss
+  <END>
+### frame title toggle-page
+           ┌─ Opinionated Settings ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
+<END>
+### frame title subcat-page
+           ┌─ Sub-categories: aliases (Universal) ──────────────────────────────────────┐
+<END>
+### frame title value-page
+           ┌─ Sponge Settings ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
+<END>
+### frame row pad lw=12
+           │  ▶ Aliases      [      ON ]  cmd shadows                                   │
+<END>
+### frame row cut lw=13
+           │    Notifications [      ON ]  done, WakaTime hook                          │
+<END>
+### frame row cut lw=13 overlong
+           │  ▶ Notifications [      ON ]  ls, cat, cd, du,   │
+<END>
+### frame row shorten lw=12
+           │  ▶ Log dir      [      ON ]  /home/tester/very/long/scrollback/history/…   │
+<END>
+### frame row shorten lw=12 empty
+           │    Log max      [      ON ]                      │
+<END>