diff --git a/crates/rustmotion-cli/src/commands/geometry.rs b/crates/rustmotion-cli/src/commands/geometry.rs
index 293058c8..ac78b6e2 100644
--- a/crates/rustmotion-cli/src/commands/geometry.rs
+++ b/crates/rustmotion-cli/src/commands/geometry.rs
@@ -1310,8 +1310,22 @@ pub fn validate_geometry_animated(scenario: &ResolvedScenario) -> Vec<GeometryVi
 
             let path_root = format!("views[{}].scenes[{}]", vi, si);
             let scene_duration = scene.duration;
-
-            for time in anim_sample_times(scene_duration) {
+            // A frozen scene renders nothing past `freeze_at` — every path
+            // now funnels through `SceneTime`, which clamps there (#164). So
+            // sampling beyond it evaluates transforms at instants the video
+            // never contains, which is how `--strict-anim` reports a
+            // violation that cannot happen. Bounding the sample list rather
+            // than clamping each `time` afterwards also avoids generating a
+            // run of identical post-freeze samples.
+            //
+            // `scene_duration` itself stays untouched below: duration-relative
+            // effects (contract from PR #27) must keep their real window —
+            // only the sampling ceiling moves.
+            let sample_until = scene
+                .freeze_at
+                .map_or(scene_duration, |f| f.clamp(0.0, scene_duration));
+
+            for time in anim_sample_times(sample_until) {
                 let root_css = render::root_style(scene.layout.as_ref(), view.view_type.clone());
                 let anim = Some(BuildAnimationCtx {
                     time,
@@ -2600,6 +2614,48 @@ mod tests {
     // any other transform `apply_animated_props` bakes into `css.transform`),
     // not just translate_x/y and scale_x/y ─────────────────────────────────
 
+    /// Every render path now clamps at `scene.freeze_at` (#164, `SceneTime`),
+    /// so nothing past it is ever rendered. Sampling beyond it therefore
+    /// reports a violation the video cannot contain — a false positive that
+    /// blocks a correct scenario and sends a generator "fixing" something
+    /// that was never wrong.
+    ///
+    /// Same fixture as the spin test below, frozen at 0.05s: the square only
+    /// leaves the frame once the rotation has turned far enough, well after
+    /// the freeze.
+    #[test]
+    fn strict_anim_does_not_sample_past_freeze_at() {
+        let json = r##"{
+            "video": { "width": 1920, "height": 1080 },
+            "scenes": [{
+                "duration": 2.0,
+                "freeze_at": 0.05,
+                "children": [{
+                    "type": "shape",
+                    "shape": "rect",
+                    "position": "absolute",
+                    "x": 1810, "y": 490,
+                    "style": {
+                        "width": "100px", "height": "100px",
+                        "animation": [{ "name": "spin", "delay": 0, "duration": 2.0 }]
+                    },
+                    "fill": "#ff0000"
+                }]
+            }]
+        }"##;
+        let violations = validate_geometry_animated(&parse(json));
+        assert!(
+            violations
+                .iter()
+                .all(|v| v.kind != ViolationKind::AnimatedTextOverflow),
+            "the frame that would overflow is never rendered — freeze_at is at \
+             0.05s: {violations:?}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// The mirror: without the freeze, the very same fixture must still be
+    /// caught. Otherwise the bound above would be silencing real overflow
+    /// rather than removing an unreachable sample.
     #[test]
     fn strict_anim_detects_a_spin_animation_pushing_a_square_off_screen() {
         // Same headline numbers as the static-transform regression
diff --git a/crates/rustmotion-cli/src/commands/validate.rs b/crates/rustmotion-cli/src/commands/validate.rs
index 28d0abe5..62fb753d 100644
--- a/crates/rustmotion-cli/src/commands/validate.rs
+++ b/crates/rustmotion-cli/src/commands/validate.rs
@@ -223,16 +223,40 @@ fn apply_fixes(root: &mut serde_json::Value, violations: &[GeometryViolation]) -
                     applied += 1;
                 }
             }
+            ViolationKind::ContentOverflowsBox => {
+                // Growing the box, shrinking the font and shortening the copy
+                // are all legitimate answers with very different visual
+                // outcomes, so this arm used to do nothing rather than pick
+                // one. `style.text-autofit` removed that dilemma for the two
+                // components whose painters implement it: it declares the
+                // author's intent ("this must fit") without touching the
+                // declared box or the content, so nothing the author wrote is
+                // overwritten or lost — the same risk category as the two
+                // fixes above, both of which also change the render.
+                //
+                // Scoped to `text`/`gradient_text` deliberately. Every other
+                // component ignores the field, so writing it there would be a
+                // no-op the author could reasonably read as a fix, which is
+                // worse than leaving the violation to them.
+                let kind = target.get("type").and_then(|t| t.as_str());
+                if matches!(kind, Some("text") | Some("gradient_text")) {
+                    if let Some(style) = target
+                        .as_object_mut()
+                        .and_then(|o| o.get_mut("style"))
+                        .and_then(|s| s.as_object_mut())
+                    {
+                        if !style.contains_key("text-autofit") {
+                            style.insert("text-autofit".into(), serde_json::Value::Bool(true));
+                            applied += 1;
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
             ViolationKind::ViewportOverflow
             | ViolationKind::AnimatedTextOverflow
-            | ViolationKind::ContentOverflowsBox
             | ViolationKind::ContentOverflowsCard => {
                 // Position/size clamping is too risky to auto-fix without
-                // losing intent — leave it for the user. (ContentOverflowsBox
-                // /ContentOverflowsCard specifically: growing the box/card,
-                // shrinking the font, or shortening the copy are all
-                // legitimate fixes with very different visual outcomes — not
-                // ours to pick.)
+                // losing intent — leave it for the user.
             }
         }
     }
@@ -327,6 +351,67 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 
+    fn overflow_box_violation(path: &str) -> GeometryViolation {
+        GeometryViolation {
+            kind: ViolationKind::ContentOverflowsBox,
+            ..unwrappable_violation(path)
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// `ContentOverflowsBox` had no fix because growing the box, shrinking
+    /// the font and shortening the copy are all legitimate and pick
+    /// different outcomes. `text-autofit` states the intent instead, without
+    /// overwriting anything the author declared.
+    #[test]
+    fn fix_declares_text_autofit_on_an_overflowing_text() {
+        let mut json: serde_json::Value = serde_json::from_str(NARROW_CARD_JSON).unwrap();
+        let path = "views[0].scenes[0].children[0].children[0]";
+        let applied = apply_fixes(&mut json, &[overflow_box_violation(path)]);
+        assert_eq!(applied, 1, "expected exactly one fix applied");
+
+        let target = navigate(&mut json, path).expect("path resolves");
+        assert_eq!(
+            target.get("style").and_then(|s| s.get("text-autofit")),
+            Some(&serde_json::Value::Bool(true))
+        );
+        // The declared box and the content are what the author wrote; a fix
+        // that rewrote either would be picking one of the outcomes this arm
+        // exists to avoid picking.
+        assert!(
+            target.get("content").is_some(),
+            "content must be untouched: {target}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// Every component other than `text`/`gradient_text` ignores the field.
+    /// Writing it there would look like a fix while changing nothing, which
+    /// is worse than leaving the violation visible.
+    #[test]
+    fn fix_leaves_overflowing_components_that_cannot_autofit_alone() {
+        let json_src = r##"{
+            "video": { "width": 1920, "height": 1080 },
+            "scenes": [{ "duration": 1.0, "children": [
+                { "type": "table", "headers": ["a"], "rows": [["b"]],
+                  "style": { "width": "40px", "font-size": 40 } }
+            ]}]
+        }"##;
+        let mut json: serde_json::Value = serde_json::from_str(json_src).unwrap();
+        let path = "views[0].scenes[0].children[0]";
+        assert_eq!(
+            apply_fixes(&mut json, &[overflow_box_violation(path)]),
+            0,
+            "a table cannot autofit, so nothing should be claimed as fixed"
+        );
+        let target = navigate(&mut json, path).expect("path resolves");
+        assert!(
+            target
+                .get("style")
+                .and_then(|s| s.get("text-autofit"))
+                .is_none(),
+            "must not write a field this painter ignores: {target}"
+        );
+    }
+
     /// C1: `apply_fixes` must never write `style.wrap` (not a `CssStyle`
     /// field — writing it drops the whole component at the next parse
     /// because `CssStyle` is `deny_unknown_fields`). It must instead remove