diff --git a/src/app/App.svelte b/src/app/App.svelte
index 6f9fccc..ad5a97e 100644
--- a/src/app/App.svelte
+++ b/src/app/App.svelte
@@ -16,12 +16,17 @@
  */
 import '$routes/router';
 import { Router } from 'sv-router';
-import { QueryProvider } from './providers';
+import {
+    AppBindingsProvider,
+    QueryProvider,
+} from './providers';
 import Layout from './ui/Layout.svelte';
 </script>
 
 <QueryProvider>
-    <Layout>
-        <Router />
-    </Layout>
+    <AppBindingsProvider>
+        <Layout>
+            <Router />
+        </Layout>
+    </AppBindingsProvider>
 </QueryProvider>
diff --git a/src/app/providers/AppBindings.svelte b/src/app/providers/AppBindings.svelte
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3640dda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/providers/AppBindings.svelte
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+<!--
+    Component: AppBindings
+    Provider that starts app-wide store bindings (filters → sort → font catalog)
+    for its subtree. Mount-scoped so the bindings' lifetime tracks the app tree.
+-->
+<script lang="ts">
+import { startFilterBindings } from '$features/FilterAndSortFonts';
+import { onMount } from 'svelte';
+import type { Snippet } from 'svelte';
+
+interface Props {
+    /**
+     * Content snippet
+     */
+    children?: Snippet;
+}
+
+let { children }: Props = $props();
+
+// startFilterBindings returns its $effect.root cleanup; onMount runs it on unmount.
+onMount(() => startFilterBindings());
+</script>
+
+{@render children?.()}
diff --git a/src/app/providers/index.ts b/src/app/providers/index.ts
index 80a7590..b8363e6 100644
--- a/src/app/providers/index.ts
+++ b/src/app/providers/index.ts
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
+export { default as AppBindingsProvider } from './AppBindings.svelte';
 export { default as QueryProvider } from './QueryProvider.svelte';
diff --git a/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/index.ts b/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/index.ts
index bd666a3..c76c3c2 100644
--- a/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/index.ts
+++ b/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/index.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 export { mapAppliedFiltersToParams } from './lib';
 
 export {
-    type AppliedFilterStore,
     appliedFilterStore,
     /**
      * Filter Store
@@ -16,9 +15,14 @@ export {
      */
     SORT_MAP,
     SORT_OPTIONS,
-    type SortApiValue,
-    type SortOption,
     sortStore,
+    startFilterBindings,
+} from './model';
+
+export type {
+    AppliedFilterStore,
+    SortApiValue,
+    SortOption,
 } from './model';
 
 export {
diff --git a/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/lib/mapper/mapFilterMetadataToGroups.test.ts b/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/lib/mapper/mapFilterMetadataToGroups.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7c42e82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/lib/mapper/mapFilterMetadataToGroups.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+import {
+    describe,
+    expect,
+    it,
+} from 'vitest';
+import type {
+    FilterMetadata,
+    FilterOption,
+} from '../../api/filters/filters';
+import { mapFilterMetadataToGroups } from './mapFilterMetadataToGroups';
+
+/**
+ * Build a FilterOption with a known value and count.
+ */
+function option(value: string, count: number): FilterOption {
+    return { id: value, name: value, value, count };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Build filter metadata for one group from (value, count) entries.
+ */
+function metadata(id: string, options: Array<[string, number]>): FilterMetadata {
+    return {
+        id,
+        name: id,
+        description: '',
+        type: 'array',
+        options: options.map(([value, count]) => option(value, count)),
+    };
+}
+
+describe('mapFilterMetadataToGroups', () => {
+    it('maps id and name onto group id and label', () => {
+        const [group] = mapFilterMetadataToGroups([metadata('categories', [['serif', 1]])]);
+
+        expect(group.id).toBe('categories');
+        expect(group.label).toBe('categories');
+    });
+
+    it('projects each option to a property with selected: false', () => {
+        const [group] = mapFilterMetadataToGroups([metadata('providers', [['google', 5]])]);
+
+        expect(group.properties).toEqual([
+            { id: 'google', name: 'google', value: 'google', selected: false },
+        ]);
+    });
+
+    it('orders properties by descending count', () => {
+        const [group] = mapFilterMetadataToGroups([
+            metadata('subsets', [['latin', 2], ['cyrillic', 9], ['greek', 5]]),
+        ]);
+
+        expect(group.properties.map(p => p.value)).toEqual(['cyrillic', 'greek', 'latin']);
+    });
+
+    it('does not mutate the source options array (TanStack cache safety)', () => {
+        const source = metadata('subsets', [['latin', 2], ['cyrillic', 9]]);
+        const originalOrder = source.options.map(o => o.value);
+
+        mapFilterMetadataToGroups([source]);
+
+        expect(source.options.map(o => o.value)).toEqual(originalOrder);
+    });
+
+    it('maps every group, preserving group order', () => {
+        const groups = mapFilterMetadataToGroups([
+            metadata('providers', [['google', 1]]),
+            metadata('categories', [['serif', 1]]),
+        ]);
+
+        expect(groups.map(g => g.id)).toEqual(['providers', 'categories']);
+    });
+
+    it('returns an empty group list for empty metadata', () => {
+        expect(mapFilterMetadataToGroups([])).toEqual([]);
+    });
+
+    it('yields an empty properties list when a group has no options', () => {
+        const [group] = mapFilterMetadataToGroups([metadata('providers', [])]);
+
+        expect(group.properties).toEqual([]);
+    });
+});
diff --git a/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/lib/mapper/mapFilterMetadataToGroups.ts b/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/lib/mapper/mapFilterMetadataToGroups.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f17244e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/lib/mapper/mapFilterMetadataToGroups.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+import type { FilterMetadata } from '../../api/filters/filters';
+import type { FilterGroupConfig } from '../../model';
+
+/**
+ * Map backend filter metadata into the group configs `appliedFilterStore.setGroups`
+ * consumes.
+ *
+ * Inverse direction of `mapAppliedFiltersToParams`: that maps applied selections out
+ * to API params; this maps the API's available-filter catalog in to the UI model.
+ *
+ * Options are ordered by descending font count so the most populated values surface
+ * first. The source array is copied before sorting — `metadata` is TanStack-cached
+ * query data, and `.sort()` mutates in place; sorting the live cache both corrupts it
+ * and, when called from a reactive effect, writes into that effect's own read
+ * dependency (triggering an update loop).
+ *
+ * Every property starts unselected; selection state is owned by the store, not the
+ * backend catalog.
+ *
+ * @param metadata - Available-filter catalog from the filters endpoint
+ * @returns Group configs ready for `setGroups`
+ */
+export function mapFilterMetadataToGroups(metadata: FilterMetadata[]): FilterGroupConfig<string>[] {
+    return metadata.map(filter => ({
+        id: filter.id,
+        label: filter.name,
+        properties: [...filter.options]
+            .sort((a, b) => b.count - a.count)
+            .map(opt => ({
+                id: opt.id,
+                name: opt.name,
+                value: opt.value,
+                selected: false,
+            })),
+    }));
+}
diff --git a/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/model/index.ts b/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/model/index.ts
index 755643a..49ad32a 100644
--- a/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/model/index.ts
+++ b/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/model/index.ts
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ export {
  * Side-effect import: installs the global appliedFilterStore+sortStore → fontCatalogStore
  * bridge on first import of this feature barrel. No exports.
  */
-import './store/bindings.svelte';
+export { startFilterBindings } from './store/bindings.svelte';
 
 /**
  * Sorting logic
diff --git a/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/model/store/appliedFilterStore/appliedFilterStore.svelte.ts b/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/model/store/appliedFilterStore/appliedFilterStore.svelte.ts
index f2e8258..11a65cc 100644
--- a/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/model/store/appliedFilterStore/appliedFilterStore.svelte.ts
+++ b/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/model/store/appliedFilterStore/appliedFilterStore.svelte.ts
@@ -42,8 +42,13 @@ import type {
 export function createAppliedFilterStore<TValue extends string>(config: FilterConfig<TValue>) {
     const search = createDebouncedState(config.queryValue ?? '');
 
-    // Create filter instances upfront
-    const groups = $state(
+    // Create filter instances upfront.
+    // `let` (not `const`) so setGroups can REASSIGN the whole array. In-place
+    // `groups.length = 0; groups.push(...)` is forbidden here: push reads the
+    // array's length signal, so a $effect that calls setGroups would both read
+    // and write `groups.length` in one run and re-trigger itself forever
+    // (effect_update_depth_exceeded).
+    let groups = $state(
         config.groups.map(config => ({
             id: config.id,
             label: config.label,
@@ -62,14 +67,11 @@ export function createAppliedFilterStore<TValue extends string>(config: FilterCo
          * Used when dynamic filter data loads from backend
          */
         setGroups(newGroups: FilterGroupConfig<TValue>[]) {
-            groups.length = 0;
-            groups.push(
-                ...newGroups.map(g => ({
-                    id: g.id,
-                    label: g.label,
-                    instance: createFilter({ properties: g.properties }),
-                })),
-            );
+            groups = newGroups.map(g => ({
+                id: g.id,
+                label: g.label,
+                instance: createFilter({ properties: g.properties }),
+            }));
         },
         /**
          * Current search query value (immediate, for UI binding)
diff --git a/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/model/store/bindings.svelte.ts b/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/model/store/bindings.svelte.ts
index 4191533..537d5d8 100644
--- a/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/model/store/bindings.svelte.ts
+++ b/src/features/FilterAndSortFonts/model/store/bindings.svelte.ts
@@ -9,52 +9,30 @@
  * observer, so it lives at module scope, not in any individual widget.
  */
 
-import { fontCatalogStore } from '$entities/Font/model';
+import { getFontCatalog } from '$entities/Font/model';
 import { untrack } from 'svelte';
 import { mapAppliedFiltersToParams } from '../../lib/mapper/mapAppliedFiltersToParams';
+import { mapFilterMetadataToGroups } from '../../lib/mapper/mapFilterMetadataToGroups';
 import { appliedFilterStore } from './appliedFilterStore/appliedFilterStore.svelte';
 import { availableFilterStore } from './availableFilterStore/availableFilterStore.svelte';
 import { sortStore } from './sortStore/sortStore.svelte';
 
-$effect.root(() => {
-    /**
-     * Populate appliedFilterStore groups when backend filter metadata resolves.
-     * availableFilterStore is async; until it loads, appliedFilterStore has empty groups
-     * and the UI renders nothing for them.
-     */
-    $effect(() => {
-        const dynamicFilters = availableFilterStore.filters;
+export function startFilterBindings(): () => void {
+    const stop = $effect.root(() => {
+        $effect(() => {
+            const dynamicFilters = availableFilterStore.filters;
+            if (dynamicFilters.length > 0) {
+                appliedFilterStore.setGroups(mapFilterMetadataToGroups(dynamicFilters));
+            }
+        });
 
-        if (dynamicFilters.length > 0) {
-            appliedFilterStore.setGroups(
-                dynamicFilters.map(filter => ({
-                    id: filter.id,
-                    label: filter.name,
-                    properties: filter.options.sort((a, b) => b.count - a.count).map(opt => ({
-                        id: opt.id,
-                        name: opt.name,
-                        value: opt.value,
-                        selected: false,
-                    })),
-                })),
-            );
-        }
+        $effect(() => {
+            const params = mapAppliedFiltersToParams(appliedFilterStore);
+            const sort = sortStore.apiValue;
+            const catalog = getFontCatalog();
+            untrack(() => catalog.setParams({ ...params, sort }));
+        });
     });
 
-    /**
-     * Mirror filter selections + debounced search query + sort into fontCatalogStore params.
-     *
-     * Filters and sort are merged into one setParams call to avoid a startup race:
-     * two separate effects each issued setOptions with a different queryKey on the
-     * first flush, producing an orphaned `?limit=50&offset=0` fetch immediately
-     * followed by the real `?limit=50&sort=popularity&offset=0` fetch.
-     *
-     * untrack the write so fontCatalogStore's internal $state reads don't feed back
-     * into this effect's dependency graph.
-     */
-    $effect(() => {
-        const params = mapAppliedFiltersToParams(appliedFilterStore);
-        const sort = sortStore.apiValue;
-        untrack(() => fontCatalogStore.setParams({ ...params, sort }));
-    });
-});
+    return stop; // hand the caller the cleanup
+}