diff --git a/meshterm/ui/message_paths_screen.py b/meshterm/ui/message_paths_screen.py
index 5e7dc4e..3736f76 100644
--- a/meshterm/ui/message_paths_screen.py
+++ b/meshterm/ui/message_paths_screen.py
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ from .widgets import (
     revisit_note,
     route_graph_style,
     scope_text,
+    short_frame,
 )
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -322,20 +323,25 @@ class MessagePathsScreen(Screen):
         # No blank line above the graph: its canvas already opens with air over the
         # topmost lane, so a spacer here would read as two rows of margin.
         revisit = self._revisit_line(width)
-        # The fan's own trailing chrome (caption, node-type key, the revisit note) plus the
-        # blank that sets the list apart — all struck from the budget before the ceiling is.
-        chrome = 2 + len(revisit) + 1
-        room = viewport - len(lines) - chrome - min(sum(heights), _LIST_MIN_LINES)
-        graph = self._graph_lines(width, max(_GRAPH_MIN_ROWS, min(_GRAPH_MAX_ROWS, room)))
-        if graph:
-            lines.extend(graph)
+        # The fan's caption and node-type key, which a short frame leaves out: the marks
+        # mean one thing app-wide, and the rows go to the list (see widgets.short_frame).
+        key: list[str] = []
+        if not short_frame(viewport):
             far = "you" if not self._destination else self._destination
             caption = Text(
                 f"origin → {far} · white = selected path · labels = hash byte",
                 style="faint",
             )
-            lines.append(render_to_ansi(caption, width, no_wrap=True))
-            lines.extend(render_lines(node_type_legend(width=width), width, no_wrap=True))
+            key.append(render_to_ansi(caption, width, no_wrap=True))
+            key.extend(render_lines(node_type_legend(width=width), width, no_wrap=True))
+        # The fan's own trailing chrome (that key, the revisit note) plus the blank that
+        # sets the list apart — all struck from the budget before the ceiling is.
+        chrome = len(key) + len(revisit) + 1
+        room = viewport - len(lines) - chrome - min(sum(heights), _LIST_MIN_LINES)
+        graph = self._graph_lines(width, max(_GRAPH_MIN_ROWS, min(_GRAPH_MAX_ROWS, room)))
+        if graph:
+            lines.extend(graph)
+            lines.extend(key)
             lines.extend(revisit)
         lines.append("")
 
diff --git a/meshterm/ui/node_detail_screen.py b/meshterm/ui/node_detail_screen.py
index d9f40e9..c905fbd 100644
--- a/meshterm/ui/node_detail_screen.py
+++ b/meshterm/ui/node_detail_screen.py
@@ -131,8 +131,8 @@ from .widgets import (
     format_ago,
     highlighted_hash,
     node_type_legend,
+    short_frame,
     tab_air,
-    tab_compact,
     tab_strip,
 )
 
@@ -767,7 +767,7 @@ class NodeDetailScreen(Screen):
                         [t.name for t in self._tabs],
                         self._tab_index,
                         width,
-                        compact=tab_compact(viewport),
+                        compact=short_frame(viewport),
                     ),
                     width,
                     no_wrap=True,
diff --git a/meshterm/ui/records_screen.py b/meshterm/ui/records_screen.py
index 60e690c..d9784c0 100644
--- a/meshterm/ui/records_screen.py
+++ b/meshterm/ui/records_screen.py
@@ -62,8 +62,8 @@ from .widgets import (
     node_type_legend,
     route_graph_style,
     self_marker,
+    short_frame,
     tab_air,
-    tab_compact,
     tab_strip,
 )
 
@@ -649,7 +649,7 @@ class RecordScreen(Screen):
         lines: list[str] = [render_to_ansi(self._header(), width, no_wrap=True)]
         lines.extend([""] * tab_air())
         strip = tab_strip(
-            self._tabs, self._tab_index, width, compact=tab_compact(self._scroll_viewport)
+            self._tabs, self._tab_index, width, compact=short_frame(self._scroll_viewport)
         )
         lines.extend(render_lines(strip, width))
         lines.extend([""] * tab_air())
diff --git a/meshterm/ui/walk_screen.py b/meshterm/ui/walk_screen.py
index afc450f..1f41f50 100644
--- a/meshterm/ui/walk_screen.py
+++ b/meshterm/ui/walk_screen.py
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ from .theme import mark_rgb, name_style, snr_style
 from .trace_screen import snr_bar
 from .tui.render import crop_cells, query_line, render_to_ansi
 from .tui.screen import ListWindow, Screen
-from .widgets import DEFAULT_GLYPH, NODE_GLYPHS, format_age, highlighted_hash
+from .widgets import DEFAULT_GLYPH, NODE_GLYPHS, format_age, highlighted_hash, short_frame
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from ..context import AppContext
@@ -557,14 +557,18 @@ class WalkScreen(Screen):
         viewport = self._scroll_viewport  # recorded by the frame before this render
 
         header = self._header_lines(width, depths)
-        chrome = len(header) + 3 + self._query_row()  # legend, blank, list heading (+find echo)
+        # The legend and the blank under it go on a short frame, where the rows are the
+        # list's (see widgets.short_frame); the list's heading stays either way.
+        keyed = not short_frame(viewport)
+        chrome = len(header) + (3 if keyed else 1) + self._query_row()  # (+find echo)
         canvas_h = self._canvas_height(viewport, chrome)
         list_win = max(1, viewport - chrome - canvas_h)
 
         lines: list[str] = list(header)
         lines.extend(self._canvas_lines(width, canvas_h, selected))
-        lines.append(render_to_ansi(self._legend(), width, no_wrap=True))
-        lines.append("")
+        if keyed:
+            lines.append(render_to_ansi(self._legend(), width, no_wrap=True))
+            lines.append("")
         lines.extend(self._list_lines(width, rows, depths, list_win))
         self._scroll_total = max(1, len(lines))
         return lines
diff --git a/meshterm/ui/widgets.py b/meshterm/ui/widgets.py
index e194d6b..e143eea 100644
--- a/meshterm/ui/widgets.py
+++ b/meshterm/ui/widgets.py
@@ -1247,17 +1247,19 @@ def tab_air() -> int:
     return _TAB_AIR
 
 
-#: The viewport, in rows, below which a tabbed page draws its strip on one row (see
-#: :func:`tab_strip`'s ``compact``). The boxed strip costs three rows and its air; on the
-#: Cardputer's 11-row viewport that was the difference between a page's actions on screen
-#: and below the fold. Read from the viewport rather than the platform, so a desktop
-#: terminal dragged short gets the same answer the handheld does.
-COMPACT_TABS_BELOW = 16
+#: The viewport, in rows, below which a frame is *short* and spends its rows on content:
+#: a tabbed page draws its strip on one row (see :func:`tab_strip`'s ``compact``), and a
+#: graph's caption and node-type key step aside so the list under it gets the rows. The
+#: boxed strip alone costs three; on the Cardputer's 11-row viewport that was the
+#: difference between a page's actions on screen and below the fold. Read from the
+#: viewport rather than the platform, so a desktop terminal dragged short gets the same
+#: answer the handheld does.
+SHORT_FRAME_BELOW = 16
 
 
-def tab_compact(viewport: int) -> bool:
-    """Whether a page with ``viewport`` rows draws its tab strip compact (one row)."""
-    return viewport < COMPACT_TABS_BELOW
+def short_frame(viewport: int) -> bool:
+    """Whether a page with ``viewport`` rows is short (see :data:`SHORT_FRAME_BELOW`)."""
+    return viewport < SHORT_FRAME_BELOW
 
 
 def tab_strip(labels: Sequence[str], active: int, width: int, *, compact: bool = False) -> Group:
@@ -1290,7 +1292,7 @@ def tab_strip(labels: Sequence[str], active: int, width: int, *, compact: bool =
     owning screen switches the active index (``Tab``/``Shift+Tab``); the strip itself is
     pure presentation.
 
-    Where rows are scarcer than that (``compact``, see :func:`tab_compact`) the same strip is
+    Where rows are scarcer than that (``compact``, see :func:`short_frame`) the same strip is
     drawn on its own bottom rule, in one row: ``──┤ Info ├── Routes ──────``. The active tab
     stands on the rule between tees, lit; an inactive one is its label on the rule, faint.
     Every tab is the same width in either state, so switching still never moves a label.
diff --git a/tests/test_widgets.py b/tests/test_widgets.py
index ccbb0fb..f9c5372 100644
--- a/tests/test_widgets.py
+++ b/tests/test_widgets.py
@@ -290,10 +290,10 @@ def test_every_advert_type_has_one_name() -> None:
 
 
 def test_a_compact_tab_strip_is_one_row_and_never_moves_a_label() -> None:
-    """Below COMPACT_TABS_BELOW rows the strip draws on its rule, every tab a fixed width."""
-    from meshterm.ui.widgets import COMPACT_TABS_BELOW, tab_compact, tab_strip
+    """Below SHORT_FRAME_BELOW rows the strip draws on its rule, every tab a fixed width."""
+    from meshterm.ui.widgets import SHORT_FRAME_BELOW, short_frame, tab_strip
 
-    assert tab_compact(COMPACT_TABS_BELOW - 1) and not tab_compact(COMPACT_TABS_BELOW)
+    assert short_frame(SHORT_FRAME_BELOW - 1) and not short_frame(SHORT_FRAME_BELOW)
     rows = [tab_strip(["Info", "Routes", "Area"], i, 40, compact=True) for i in range(3)]
     plains = [group.renderables[0].plain for group in rows]
     assert all(len(group.renderables) == 1 for group in rows)