diff --git a/frontend/src/components/AppShell.vue b/frontend/src/components/AppShell.vue
index 2a4ab75..1b6c184 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/AppShell.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/components/AppShell.vue
@@ -428,7 +428,21 @@ async function signOut() {
       <!-- tabindex="-1" so the skip link above actually moves FOCUS here, not just
            the viewport — several browsers scroll to a plain anchor without focusing
            it, which leaves the next Tab back at the top of the page. -->
-      <main id="main" tabindex="-1" class="min-w-0 flex-1 focus:outline-none"><RouterView /></main>
+      <!-- Cross-fade between lenses so switching reads as the same space
+           re-framing rather than a page swap.
+           Deliberately UNKEYED: board / archive / trash / label all render the same
+           BoardView, so keying on the route would remount it — blanking the board
+           and refetching, which is precisely the page-change feeling this is meant
+           to remove. Unkeyed, Vue only transitions when the component TYPE changes
+           (board ↔ search ↔ timeline ↔ graph), and moving between the board's own
+           lenses stays an in-place reflow that NoteGrid animates. -->
+      <main id="main" tabindex="-1" class="min-w-0 flex-1 focus:outline-none">
+        <RouterView v-slot="{ Component }">
+          <Transition name="lens" mode="out-in">
+            <component :is="Component" />
+          </Transition>
+        </RouterView>
+      </main>
     </div>
 
     <LabelsModal v-if="managing" @close="managing = false" />
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/NoteGrid.vue b/frontend/src/components/NoteGrid.vue
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5d3d402
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/components/NoteGrid.vue
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+<script setup lang="ts">
+import NoteCard from "./NoteCard.vue";
+import type { Note } from "../stores/notes";
+
+/**
+ * The masonry of note cards — the one place the board's LAYOUT and its MOTION are
+ * defined.
+ *
+ * It exists because "the same board, re-filtered" has to be literally true to read
+ * as true. The column classes were copy-pasted into five places (the board's pinned
+ * and other sections, the non-board views, search, timeline), so a lens could drift
+ * from home by a single edit — and one already had: the FLIP reflow landed on the
+ * board's three grids and left search and timeline popping.
+ *
+ * `activeId` rather than an index, because the board splits its notes across two
+ * grids and index-based focus made every call site do offset arithmetic against a
+ * list it didn't own.
+ */
+defineProps<{
+  notes: Note[];
+  /** The keyboard-focused note, if any. */
+  activeId?: string | null;
+  /** Board views only — reorder is meaningless in a search result or a date group. */
+  reorderable?: boolean;
+}>();
+
+defineEmits<{
+  (e: "open", note: Note): void;
+  (e: "dragstart", note: Note): void;
+  (e: "dragend", note: Note): void;
+  (e: "drop", targetId: string): void;
+}>();
+</script>
+
+<template>
+  <!-- `board` is the transition name defined in style.css; `appear` covers first
+       paint so a lens arrives eased rather than snapping in. -->
+  <TransitionGroup
+    tag="div"
+    name="board"
+    appear
+    class="columns-1 gap-4 sm:columns-2 lg:columns-3 xl:columns-4"
+  >
+    <NoteCard
+      v-for="n in notes"
+      :key="n.id"
+      :note="n"
+      :active="activeId === n.id"
+      :reorderable="reorderable"
+      @open="$emit('open', $event)"
+      @dragstart="$emit('dragstart', $event)"
+      @dragend="$emit('dragend', $event)"
+      @drop="$emit('drop', $event)"
+    />
+  </TransitionGroup>
+</template>
diff --git a/frontend/src/style.css b/frontend/src/style.css
index 46d9060..8330f34 100644
--- a/frontend/src/style.css
+++ b/frontend/src/style.css
@@ -127,6 +127,21 @@ body {
   transform: scale(0.94);
 }
 
+/* Lens cross-fade (M7). Only fires between genuinely different surfaces; the
+ * board's own lenses share a component and reflow in place instead. Out is quicker
+ * than in so the gap between them stays short — `mode="out-in"` means the two
+ * durations are additive, and anything slower starts to feel like waiting. */
+.lens-enter-active {
+  transition: opacity 150ms ease-out;
+}
+.lens-leave-active {
+  transition: opacity 100ms ease-in;
+}
+.lens-enter-from,
+.lens-leave-to {
+  opacity: 0;
+}
+
 @layer components {
   .icon-btn {
     @apply rounded-md p-1.5 text-neutral-500 transition hover:bg-black/5 focus:outline-none
diff --git a/frontend/src/views/BoardView.vue b/frontend/src/views/BoardView.vue
index e56982e..d77b992 100644
--- a/frontend/src/views/BoardView.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/views/BoardView.vue
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import { useNoteEditor } from "../composables/useNoteEditor";
 import AsyncState from "../components/AsyncState.vue";
 import EmptyState from "../components/EmptyState.vue";
 import FilterBar from "../components/FilterBar.vue";
-import NoteCard from "../components/NoteCard.vue";
+import NoteGrid from "../components/NoteGrid.vue";
 import NoteEditor from "../components/NoteEditor.vue";
 import { isDesktop, sync as syncBridge } from "../desktop/bridge";
 
@@ -76,6 +76,9 @@ const orderedNotes = computed<Note[]>(() =>
   isMainBoard.value ? [...pinnedNotes.value, ...otherNotes.value] : notes.items,
 );
 const focusedIndex = ref(-1);
+/** The focused note's id — what the grids compare against, so neither has to know
+ *  its own offset within the combined keyboard-navigation order. */
+const focusedId = computed<string | null>(() => orderedNotes.value[focusedIndex.value]?.id ?? null);
 const inTrash = computed(() => currentView.value === "trash");
 
 function moveFocus(delta: number) {
@@ -300,59 +303,42 @@ async function onDrop(targetId: string) {
       <template v-if="isMainBoard">
         <section v-if="pinnedNotes.length">
           <h2 class="mb-2 text-xs font-semibold uppercase tracking-wide text-neutral-400">Pinned</h2>
-          <TransitionGroup tag="div" name="board" appear class="columns-1 gap-4 sm:columns-2 lg:columns-3 xl:columns-4">
-            <NoteCard
-              v-for="(n, i) in pinnedNotes"
-              :key="n.id"
-              :note="n"
-              :active="focusedIndex === i"
-              reorderable
-              @open="openEditor"
-              @dragstart="onDragStart"
-              @dragend="onDragEnd"
-              @drop="onDrop"
-            />
-          </TransitionGroup>
+          <NoteGrid
+            :notes="pinnedNotes"
+            :active-id="focusedId"
+            reorderable
+            @open="openEditor"
+            @dragstart="onDragStart"
+            @dragend="onDragEnd"
+            @drop="onDrop"
+          />
         </section>
         <section v-if="otherNotes.length" :class="pinnedNotes.length ? 'mt-8' : ''">
           <h2 v-if="pinnedNotes.length" class="mb-2 text-xs font-semibold uppercase tracking-wide text-neutral-400">
             Others
           </h2>
-          <TransitionGroup tag="div" name="board" appear class="columns-1 gap-4 sm:columns-2 lg:columns-3 xl:columns-4">
-            <NoteCard
-              v-for="(n, i) in otherNotes"
-              :key="n.id"
-              :note="n"
-              :active="focusedIndex === pinnedNotes.length + i"
-              reorderable
-              @open="openEditor"
-              @dragstart="onDragStart"
-              @dragend="onDragEnd"
-              @drop="onDrop"
-            />
-          </TransitionGroup>
+          <NoteGrid
+            :notes="otherNotes"
+            :active-id="focusedId"
+            reorderable
+            @open="openEditor"
+            @dragstart="onDragStart"
+            @dragend="onDragEnd"
+            @drop="onDrop"
+          />
         </section>
       </template>
 
-      <TransitionGroup
+      <NoteGrid
         v-else
-        tag="div"
-        name="board"
-        appear
-        class="columns-1 gap-4 sm:columns-2 lg:columns-3 xl:columns-4"
-      >
-        <NoteCard
-          v-for="(n, i) in notes.items"
-          :key="n.id"
-          :note="n"
-          :active="focusedIndex === i"
-          reorderable
-          @open="openEditor"
-          @dragstart="onDragStart"
-          @dragend="onDragEnd"
-          @drop="onDrop"
-        />
-      </TransitionGroup>
+        :notes="notes.items"
+        :active-id="focusedId"
+        reorderable
+        @open="openEditor"
+        @dragstart="onDragStart"
+        @dragend="onDragEnd"
+        @drop="onDrop"
+      />
       </template>
     </AsyncState>
   </div>
diff --git a/frontend/src/views/SearchView.vue b/frontend/src/views/SearchView.vue
index 65efebb..1bf7d16 100644
--- a/frontend/src/views/SearchView.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/views/SearchView.vue
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import { useNoteList } from "../composables/useNoteList";
 import { useNoteEditor } from "../composables/useNoteEditor";
 import AsyncState from "../components/AsyncState.vue";
 import EmptyState from "../components/EmptyState.vue";
-import NoteCard from "../components/NoteCard.vue";
+import NoteGrid from "../components/NoteGrid.vue";
 import NoteEditor from "../components/NoteEditor.vue";
 
 const route = useRoute();
@@ -38,9 +38,7 @@ watch(query, run, { immediate: true });
 
     <AsyncState :loading="loading" :error="error || undefined" error-title="Couldn't search" @retry="run">
       <EmptyState v-if="query && results.length === 0" title="No matches" :subtitle="noMatchSubtitle" />
-      <div v-else-if="results.length" class="columns-1 gap-4 sm:columns-2 lg:columns-3 xl:columns-4">
-        <NoteCard v-for="n in results" :key="n.id" :note="n" @open="openEditor" />
-      </div>
+      <NoteGrid v-else-if="results.length" :notes="results" @open="openEditor" />
     </AsyncState>
   </div>
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/views/TimelineView.vue b/frontend/src/views/TimelineView.vue
index dda3078..3beccde 100644
--- a/frontend/src/views/TimelineView.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/views/TimelineView.vue
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import { useNoteList } from "../composables/useNoteList";
 import { useNoteEditor } from "../composables/useNoteEditor";
 import AsyncState from "../components/AsyncState.vue";
 import EmptyState from "../components/EmptyState.vue";
-import NoteCard from "../components/NoteCard.vue";
+import NoteGrid from "../components/NoteGrid.vue";
 import NoteEditor from "../components/NoteEditor.vue";
 
 // The "find by WHEN" recall lens: your notes grouped by when you captured them,
@@ -149,9 +149,7 @@ onMounted(load);
       <div v-else class="flex flex-col gap-8">
         <section v-for="group in groups" :key="group.key">
           <h2 class="mb-3 text-xs font-semibold uppercase tracking-wide text-neutral-400">{{ group.label }}</h2>
-          <div class="columns-1 gap-4 sm:columns-2 lg:columns-3 xl:columns-4">
-            <NoteCard v-for="n in group.notes" :key="n.id" :note="n" @open="openEditor" />
-          </div>
+          <NoteGrid :notes="group.notes" @open="openEditor" />
         </section>
       </div>
     </AsyncState>