diff --git a/crates/kebab-app/src/app.rs b/crates/kebab-app/src/app.rs
index 34ae3f0..4f3b64a 100644
--- a/crates/kebab-app/src/app.rs
+++ b/crates/kebab-app/src/app.rs
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ use lru::LruCache;
 
 use kebab_core::{
     Answer, Embedder, IndexVersion, LanguageModel, Retriever, SearchHit, SearchMode,
-    SearchQuery, VectorStore,
+    SearchOpts, SearchQuery, VectorStore,
 };
 use kebab_embed_local::FastembedEmbedder;
 use kebab_llm_local::OllamaLanguageModel;
@@ -50,6 +50,20 @@ use kebab_search::{HybridRetriever, LexicalRetriever, VectorRetriever};
 use kebab_store_sqlite::SqliteStore;
 use kebab_store_vector::LanceVectorStore;
 
+/// p9-fb-34: top-level wrapper around a paginated, budget-limited
+/// search result. Mirrors the wire `search_response.v1` shape.
+///
+/// `next_cursor` is `Some(_)` when the retriever returned a full
+/// `k_effective` page (more hits may exist) or when the budget loop
+/// truncated mid-page; the caller threads it back through
+/// [`SearchOpts::cursor`] on the next call.
+#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+pub struct SearchResponse {
+    pub hits: Vec<SearchHit>,
+    pub next_cursor: Option<String>,
+    pub truncated: bool,
+}
+
 /// Facade state — see module docs for lifetime rules.
 ///
 /// The struct is public so long-lived callers (kb-eval, the future P9
@@ -274,6 +288,129 @@ impl App {
         Ok(hits)
     }
 
+    /// p9-fb-34: budget-aware search facade. Returns hits trimmed to
+    /// `opts.max_tokens` (chars/4 approximation of the wire JSON),
+    /// honors a `snippet_chars` override, and threads an opaque
+    /// pagination cursor through `corpus_revision`.
+    ///
+    /// Budget loop:
+    /// 1. Shorten snippets progressively (halve cap, floor at 60
+    ///    chars) until the estimated wire-JSON char total fits or the
+    ///    floor is reached.
+    /// 2. Pop hits off the end until the budget fits, but always
+    ///    retain ≥ 1 hit (the spec floor).
+    ///
+    /// `next_cursor` is set when the retriever returned a full page
+    /// (more results may exist) or the budget truncated mid-page.
+    /// `App::search` is unchanged and remains the cache-served fast
+    /// path used by the existing TUI / kebab-rag callers.
+    pub fn search_with_opts(
+        &self,
+        query: SearchQuery,
+        opts: SearchOpts,
+    ) -> Result<SearchResponse> {
+        use crate::cursor;
+
+        let corpus_revision = self.sqlite.corpus_revision().to_string();
+        let offset = match opts.cursor.as_ref() {
+            Some(c) => cursor::decode(c, &corpus_revision)
+                .map_err(|e| anyhow!("stale_cursor: {}", e.message))?,
+            None => 0,
+        };
+
+        let snippet_chars = opts
+            .snippet_chars
+            .unwrap_or(self.config.search.snippet_chars);
+
+        // Fetch enough to satisfy offset + the requested page. The
+        // retriever returns at most `fetch_k` hits — we then drop
+        // `offset` and keep the next `k_effective`. `k = 0` is
+        // treated as "use config default" so a caller passing through
+        // a default-constructed `SearchQuery` still gets useful work
+        // out of the budget facade.
+        let k_effective = if query.k == 0 {
+            self.config.search.default_k
+        } else {
+            query.k
+        };
+        let fetch_k = offset.saturating_add(k_effective);
+        let fetch_query = SearchQuery {
+            k: fetch_k,
+            ..query.clone()
+        };
+        let mut all_hits = self.search(fetch_query)?;
+
+        // Skip offset.
+        let drop_n = offset.min(all_hits.len());
+        all_hits.drain(..drop_n);
+        let mut hits: Vec<SearchHit> =
+            all_hits.into_iter().take(k_effective).collect();
+
+        // Apply snippet_chars override if shorter than what the
+        // retriever returned (retriever already honored
+        // `config.search.snippet_chars`; this only kicks in when the
+        // caller asked for *less*).
+        if opts.snippet_chars.is_some() {
+            for h in hits.iter_mut() {
+                if h.snippet.chars().count() > snippet_chars {
+                    h.snippet = trim_to_chars(&h.snippet, snippet_chars);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Budget loop.
+        let mut truncated = false;
+        if let Some(max_tokens) = opts.max_tokens {
+            let max_chars = max_tokens.saturating_mul(4);
+            // Step 1: shorten snippets progressively to a 60-char floor.
+            const SNIPPET_FLOOR: usize = 60;
+            let mut current_snippet_cap = snippet_chars;
+            while estimate_chars(&hits) > max_chars
+                && current_snippet_cap > SNIPPET_FLOOR
+            {
+                current_snippet_cap =
+                    (current_snippet_cap / 2).max(SNIPPET_FLOOR);
+                for h in hits.iter_mut() {
+                    if h.snippet.chars().count() > current_snippet_cap {
+                        h.snippet =
+                            trim_to_chars(&h.snippet, current_snippet_cap);
+                        truncated = true;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            // Step 2: pop hits from the end until we fit, but always
+            // keep ≥ 1.
+            while estimate_chars(&hits) > max_chars && hits.len() > 1 {
+                hits.pop();
+                truncated = true;
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Compute next_cursor. Two paths produce one:
+        //   - We returned a full `k_effective` page → more hits may
+        //     remain in the original retriever set; the cursor is
+        //     speculative (the next call falls through to an empty
+        //     page if nothing's left, which is fine).
+        //   - The budget loop truncated mid-page → resume from where
+        //     we stopped so the caller can fetch the rest with a
+        //     bigger budget.
+        let returned = hits.len();
+        let full_page = returned == k_effective
+            && offset.saturating_add(returned) > 0;
+        let mid_page_truncation = truncated && returned > 0;
+        let next_cursor = if full_page || mid_page_truncation {
+            Some(cursor::encode(offset + returned, &corpus_revision))
+        } else {
+            None
+        };
+
+        Ok(SearchResponse {
+            hits,
+            next_cursor,
+            truncated,
+        })
+    }
+
     /// Run a RAG `ask` against the configured retriever + LLM. Reuses
     /// the memoized embedder / vector / LLM where applicable.
     pub fn ask(&self, query: &str, opts: AskOpts) -> Result<Answer> {
@@ -627,6 +764,35 @@ fn blake3_truncate(input: &str) -> u128 {
     u128::from_be_bytes(buf)
 }
 
+/// p9-fb-34: trim `s` to at most `n` Unicode scalar chars. Cheap
+/// alternative to a `.chars().take(n).collect::<String>()` pattern;
+/// reserves capacity proportional to UTF-8 worst case (4 bytes / char)
+/// so the inner push never re-allocates.
+fn trim_to_chars(s: &str, n: usize) -> String {
+    if s.chars().count() <= n {
+        return s.to_string();
+    }
+    let mut out = String::with_capacity(n.saturating_mul(4));
+    for (i, c) in s.chars().enumerate() {
+        if i >= n {
+            break;
+        }
+        out.push(c);
+    }
+    out
+}
+
+/// p9-fb-34: estimate the wire-JSON char cost of a hit list. Used by
+/// the budget loop in `App::search_with_opts`. `serde_json::to_string`
+/// failures fall back to 0 so a single broken hit never makes the
+/// loop loop forever; in practice the hit struct serializes
+/// infallibly.
+fn estimate_chars(hits: &[SearchHit]) -> usize {
+    hits.iter()
+        .map(|h| serde_json::to_string(h).map(|s| s.len()).unwrap_or(0))
+        .sum()
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
diff --git a/crates/kebab-app/src/lib.rs b/crates/kebab-app/src/lib.rs
index 8bbc5d2..45ba594 100644
--- a/crates/kebab-app/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/kebab-app/src/lib.rs
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ pub mod reset;
 pub mod schema;
 mod staleness;
 
-pub use app::App;
+pub use app::{App, SearchResponse};
 pub use ingest_progress::{AggregateCounts, IngestEvent, render_skipped_breakdown};
 pub use reset::{ResetReport, ResetScope};
 pub use error_wire::{ERROR_V1_ID, ErrorV1, classify};
@@ -1740,6 +1740,19 @@ pub fn search_uncached_with_config(
     App::open_with_config(config)?.search_uncached(query)
 }
 
+/// p9-fb-34: budget-aware search free function. Mirrors
+/// [`search_with_config`] but threads `SearchOpts` (max_tokens,
+/// snippet_chars, cursor) and returns the [`SearchResponse`]
+/// pagination wrapper. Tasks 6+8 surface this via CLI / MCP.
+#[doc(hidden)]
+pub fn search_with_opts_with_config(
+    config: kebab_config::Config,
+    query: kebab_core::SearchQuery,
+    opts: kebab_core::SearchOpts,
+) -> anyhow::Result<SearchResponse> {
+    App::open_with_config(config)?.search_with_opts(query, opts)
+}
+
 // ── ask ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 //
 // P4-3 wires `ask` end-to-end. The retriever is built per `opts.mode`;
diff --git a/crates/kebab-app/tests/common/mod.rs b/crates/kebab-app/tests/common/mod.rs
index ce2a28f..c06098f 100644
--- a/crates/kebab-app/tests/common/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/kebab-app/tests/common/mod.rs
@@ -79,6 +79,37 @@ impl TestEnv {
             ..Default::default()
         }
     }
+
+    /// p9-fb-34 alias — tests added in fb-34 invoke `TestEnv::new()`
+    /// per the plan; route to the existing lexical-only constructor
+    /// so the lane stays AVX-free without churning all the existing
+    /// callers.
+    pub fn new() -> Self {
+        Self::lexical_only()
+    }
+
+    /// p9-fb-34: open a fresh `App` against this env's config. Used
+    /// by integration tests that need to call `App::search_with_opts`
+    /// directly. Caller can invoke this multiple times to simulate
+    /// re-opening the binary after a corpus revision bump.
+    pub fn app(&self) -> kebab_app::App {
+        kebab_app::App::open_with_config(self.config.clone())
+            .expect("App::open_with_config")
+    }
+}
+
+/// p9-fb-34: write `content` into the env's workspace at
+/// `relative_path`, then run a full ingest so the document is
+/// searchable. Mirrors the convenience helpers used by other
+/// `TestEnv`-driven crates.
+pub fn ingest_md(env: &TestEnv, relative_path: &str, content: &str) {
+    let path = env.workspace_root.join(relative_path);
+    if let Some(parent) = path.parent() {
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(parent).expect("create parent dirs");
+    }
+    std::fs::write(&path, content).expect("write workspace file");
+    kebab_app::ingest_with_config(env.config.clone(), env.scope(), true)
+        .expect("ingest_with_config");
 }
 
 /// Test helper: build a `SearchQuery` for lexical mode at k=10. Used
diff --git a/crates/kebab-app/tests/search_budget_integration.rs b/crates/kebab-app/tests/search_budget_integration.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bded4af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/kebab-app/tests/search_budget_integration.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+//! p9-fb-34: App::search_with_opts integration tests.
+
+mod common;
+
+use kebab_app::SearchResponse;
+use kebab_core::{SearchFilters, SearchMode, SearchOpts, SearchQuery};
+
+fn lex(text: &str, k: usize) -> SearchQuery {
+    SearchQuery {
+        text: text.to_string(),
+        mode: SearchMode::Lexical,
+        k,
+        filters: SearchFilters::default(),
+    }
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn search_with_opts_no_budget_matches_search() {
+    let env = common::TestEnv::new();
+    common::ingest_md(&env, "a.md", "# T\n\napples are red\n");
+    let app = env.app();
+
+    let baseline = app.search(lex("apples", 5)).unwrap();
+    let resp: SearchResponse = app
+        .search_with_opts(lex("apples", 5), SearchOpts::default())
+        .unwrap();
+
+    assert_eq!(resp.hits.len(), baseline.len());
+    assert!(!resp.truncated);
+    assert!(resp.next_cursor.is_none(), "k=5 against 1 doc → no next page");
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn budget_truncates_snippets_when_below_threshold() {
+    let env = common::TestEnv::new();
+    let body: String = "rust ownership is a memory model. ".repeat(10);
+    common::ingest_md(&env, "a.md", &format!("# T\n\n{body}\n"));
+    let app = env.app();
+
+    let unrestricted = app.search(lex("rust", 5)).unwrap();
+    let unrestricted_chars: usize = unrestricted.iter().map(|h| h.snippet.chars().count()).sum();
+
+    let resp = app
+        .search_with_opts(
+            lex("rust", 5),
+            SearchOpts {
+                max_tokens: Some(50),
+                snippet_chars: None,
+                cursor: None,
+            },
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+    let limited_chars: usize = resp.hits.iter().map(|h| h.snippet.chars().count()).sum();
+
+    assert!(resp.truncated, "small budget must trip truncation");
+    assert!(limited_chars < unrestricted_chars, "snippet should shrink");
+    assert!(!resp.hits.is_empty(), "always retain ≥1 hit");
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn cursor_paginates_to_next_page() {
+    let env = common::TestEnv::new();
+    for i in 0..6 {
+        common::ingest_md(&env, &format!("d{i}.md"), &format!("# T{i}\n\nrust topic {i}\n"));
+    }
+    let app = env.app();
+
+    let page1 = app
+        .search_with_opts(lex("rust", 2), SearchOpts::default())
+        .unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(page1.hits.len(), 2);
+    let cursor = page1.next_cursor.expect("more hits available");
+
+    let page2 = app
+        .search_with_opts(
+            lex("rust", 2),
+            SearchOpts {
+                max_tokens: None,
+                snippet_chars: None,
+                cursor: Some(cursor),
+            },
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(page2.hits.len(), 2);
+    let p1_ids: std::collections::HashSet<_> =
+        page1.hits.iter().map(|h| h.chunk_id.0.clone()).collect();
+    let p2_ids: std::collections::HashSet<_> =
+        page2.hits.iter().map(|h| h.chunk_id.0.clone()).collect();
+    assert!(p1_ids.is_disjoint(&p2_ids), "page 2 must not repeat page 1 hits");
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn cursor_rejected_after_corpus_revision_bump() {
+    let env = common::TestEnv::new();
+    common::ingest_md(&env, "a.md", "# T\n\napples\n");
+    let app = env.app();
+
+    let page1 = app
+        .search_with_opts(lex("apples", 1), SearchOpts::default())
+        .unwrap();
+    let cursor = page1.next_cursor;
+
+    if let Some(c) = cursor {
+        common::ingest_md(&env, "b.md", "# B\n\nbananas\n");
+        let app2 = env.app();
+
+        let result = app2.search_with_opts(
+            lex("apples", 1),
+            SearchOpts {
+                max_tokens: None,
+                snippet_chars: None,
+                cursor: Some(c),
+            },
+        );
+        let err = result.unwrap_err();
+        assert!(
+            err.to_string().contains("stale_cursor"),
+            "must surface stale_cursor: {err}"
+        );
+    }
+}