diff --git a/.changeset/code-line-height-token.md b/.changeset/code-line-height-token.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4d7e276b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/code-line-height-token.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+"@codeatlasdev/ui": minor
+---
+
+New token `--ca-code-line-height` (20px): an integer px line height for code surfaces. `CodeSnippet`, `.ca-code pre` and a bare Markdown `pre` inside `.ca-prose` use it instead of the unitless 1.6 / 1.7, which rounded to a different pixel height in a text layer and in an overlay (a caret and an active-line highlight drifting apart). The `code` inside a `CodeSnippet` also pins `--ca-font-mono` now: it used the UA's bare `monospace`, resolved per lookup. The docs gain "Code surfaces: integer line-height, one font stack" for apps that build an editor.
+
+The stylesheet also drops `--ca-action-focus`, a token no component, doc or template ever read, to stay inside its size budget.
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 85652a89..61604033 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -150,6 +150,8 @@ Reading failures: locators fail with an ARIA snapshot; traces are in `__traces__
 
 10a. **Cursor**: never write `cursor: pointer` for a clickable element. The reset (`@layer ca.reset`) gives `pointer` to `button`, `a[href]`, `label[for]`, `summary`, `[role=button|tab|option|menuitem*]` and `not-allowed` to `:disabled` / `[aria-disabled=true]`; a custom clickable tile is `<button>` or carries a role from that list. Override it with an unlayered app rule.
 
+10c. **Code surfaces** (an editor, a line highlight, a gutter, a custom `pre`): `line-height: var(--ca-code-line-height)` (an integer px; a fractional one makes a caret and an active-line highlight drift apart) and `font-family: var(--ca-font-mono)` on every layer, `code` included. `CodeSnippet`, `.ca-code` and `.ca-prose pre` already do.
+
 11. **Theme**: a single `ThemeOptions` in `src/lib/theme.ts` (plain object, `import type` only: `vite.config`/`astro.config` load the file in Node, where the package root does not evaluate `.svelte`), passed to `caThemeHandle` + `caThemePlugin` (SvelteKit) or `caUI` (Astro). `defaultStyle` (the surface material, `solid` by default) is one field of it, not a separate setup. Override a token by declaring `--ca-*` on `:root` in the app, without `!important`. Local islands: `data-theme-scope="dark|light"`. Automatic setup: `bunx @codeatlasdev/ui init`.
 
 12. **SEO**: a public page uses `<Seo>` from `@codeatlasdev/ui/seo` with a required `canonical`; a private page passes `noindex`.
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/lib/components/CodeSnippet/CodeSnippet.svelte b/packages/ui/src/lib/components/CodeSnippet/CodeSnippet.svelte
index 87351f1c..0d3e24d7 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/lib/components/CodeSnippet/CodeSnippet.svelte
+++ b/packages/ui/src/lib/components/CodeSnippet/CodeSnippet.svelte
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@
       margin: 0;
       overflow-x: auto;
       font-size: var(--ca-font-size-caption);
-      line-height: var(--ca-line-height-prose);
+      line-height: var(--ca-code-line-height);
     }
 
     /* Shiki renders a <pre> with inline background, neutralise it so glass shows through */
@@ -122,6 +122,11 @@
       line-height: inherit;
     }
 
+    /* The UA sheet gives <code> a bare `monospace`, resolved per lookup: pin the stack (#468). */
+    .ca-code-snippet__pre :global(pre.shiki code) {
+      font: inherit;
+    }
+
     .ca-code-snippet__pre :global(.shiki span) {
       color: light-dark(var(--shiki-light), var(--shiki-dark));
     }
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/lib/styles/code-surfaces.svelte.test.ts b/packages/ui/src/lib/styles/code-surfaces.svelte.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4c818476
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/ui/src/lib/styles/code-surfaces.svelte.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { render } from "vitest-browser-svelte";
+import CodeSnippet from "../components/CodeSnippet/CodeSnippet.svelte";
+
+/**
+ * #551: an editor's caret and active-line highlight drifted apart because a fractional line-height
+ * (`1.7 * 13px = 22.1px`, `1.6 * 12px = 19.2px`) rounds differently in the text layer and in the
+ * overlay that paints the highlight. The kit ships no editor, but its code surfaces are what apps
+ * copy: they use one integer px token, `--ca-code-line-height`, so an overlay can share the metric.
+ */
+const host = document.createElement("div");
+afterEach(() => {
+	host.remove();
+	document.documentElement.style.removeProperty("--ca-code-line-height");
+});
+
+const lineHeight = (el: Element) => getComputedStyle(el).lineHeight;
+
+describe("--ca-code-line-height", () => {
+	it("is an integer px value", () => {
+		const token = getComputedStyle(document.documentElement)
+			.getPropertyValue("--ca-code-line-height")
+			.trim();
+		expect(token).toMatch(/^\d+px$/);
+	});
+
+	it("`.ca-code pre` and a bare prose `pre` use it", () => {
+		host.innerHTML = `<div class="ca-prose"><div class="ca-code"><pre><code>a\nb</code></pre></div><pre><code>c</code></pre></div>`;
+		document.body.append(host);
+		const token = getComputedStyle(document.documentElement)
+			.getPropertyValue("--ca-code-line-height")
+			.trim();
+		for (const pre of host.querySelectorAll("pre")) {
+			expect(lineHeight(pre)).toBe(token);
+			expect(lineHeight(pre.querySelector("code") as Element)).toBe(token);
+		}
+	});
+
+	it("CodeSnippet uses it, raw and highlighted, and follows an app override", async () => {
+		document.documentElement.style.setProperty("--ca-code-line-height", "24px");
+		const screen = await render(CodeSnippet, {
+			code: "const a = 1;\nconst b = 2;",
+			language: "typescript",
+		});
+		const raw = screen.container.querySelector(".ca-code-snippet__pre--raw") as Element | null;
+		if (raw) expect(lineHeight(raw)).toBe("24px");
+		await expect
+			.poll(() => screen.container.querySelector("pre.shiki"), { timeout: 15_000 })
+			.not.toBeNull();
+		const shiki = screen.container.querySelector("pre.shiki") as Element;
+		expect(lineHeight(shiki)).toBe("24px");
+		expect(lineHeight(shiki.querySelector("span") as Element)).toBe("24px");
+	});
+
+	it("the monospace stack is the one token everywhere in a code surface", async () => {
+		const screen = await render(CodeSnippet, { code: "x", language: "typescript" });
+		await expect
+			.poll(() => screen.container.querySelector("pre.shiki"), { timeout: 15_000 })
+			.not.toBeNull();
+		// Quoting of family names differs between the declared and the computed value: compare bare names.
+		const mono = getComputedStyle(document.documentElement)
+			.getPropertyValue("--ca-font-mono")
+			.trim()
+			.replaceAll('"', "");
+		const shiki = screen.container.querySelector("pre.shiki") as Element;
+		const bare = (el: Element) => getComputedStyle(el).fontFamily.replaceAll('"', "");
+		expect(bare(shiki)).toBe(mono);
+		expect(bare(shiki.querySelector("code") as Element)).toBe(mono);
+	});
+});
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/lib/styles/prose.css b/packages/ui/src/lib/styles/prose.css
index 4a2914c8..a5d50d0d 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/lib/styles/prose.css
+++ b/packages/ui/src/lib/styles/prose.css
@@ -232,8 +232,6 @@
   border: var(--ca-border-width) solid var(--ca-outline-subtle);
   border-radius: var(--ca-radius-lg);
   background: var(--ca-surface-raised) !important;
-  font: var(--ca-font-size-body2) / var(--ca-line-height-prose) var(--ca-font-mono);
-  tab-size: 2;
 }
 
 .ca-code pre {
@@ -241,7 +239,11 @@
   padding: 1rem 1.25rem;
   overflow-x: auto;
   background: transparent !important;
-  font: 0.8125rem / 1.7 var(--ca-font-mono);
+}
+
+.ca-prose > pre,
+.ca-code pre {
+  font: 0.8125rem / var(--ca-code-line-height) var(--ca-font-mono);
   tab-size: 2;
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/lib/styles/tokens.css b/packages/ui/src/lib/styles/tokens.css
index 79111d47..d7be45c9 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/lib/styles/tokens.css
+++ b/packages/ui/src/lib/styles/tokens.css
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@
   --ca-font-mono: ui-monospace, "SFMono-Regular", Menlo, Consolas, "Liberation Mono", monospace;
   --ca-font-display: var(--ca-font-sans);
   --ca-font-scale: 1;
+  /* Code surfaces (CodeSnippet, .ca-code, prose pre, and any editor you build): an INTEGER px line
+     height. A fractional one (1.7 * 13px = 22.1px) rounds differently in a text layer and in the
+     overlay that paints the caret, active line or gutter, so they drift apart line by line. */
+  --ca-code-line-height: 20px;
 
   /* Fluid display tier for marketing/editorial headlines (viewport-scaled, rem-bounded). */
   --ca-font-size-display-1: clamp(2.5rem, 1.6rem + 4.5vw, 5.5rem);
@@ -294,7 +298,6 @@
   --ca-action-selected:    oklch(0.2 0 0 / 0.09);
   --ca-action-disabled:    oklch(0.2 0 0 / 0.30);
   --ca-action-disabled-bg: oklch(0.2 0 0 / 0.08);
-  --ca-action-focus:       oklch(0.2 0 0 / 0.12);
 
   /* ── Glass optical constants (light) ─────────────────────────────────── */
   --ca-glass-rim:         oklch(1 0 0 / 0.70);
@@ -335,7 +338,6 @@
   --ca-action-selected:    oklch(1 0 0 / 0.13);
   --ca-action-disabled:    oklch(1 0 0 / 0.30);
   --ca-action-disabled-bg: oklch(1 0 0 / 0.10);
-  --ca-action-focus:       oklch(1 0 0 / 0.14);
 
   /* Glass optical constants */
   --ca-glass-rim:         oklch(1 0 0 / 0.22);
diff --git a/site/src/content/docs/display/code-snippet.mdx b/site/src/content/docs/display/code-snippet.mdx
index 62e9cb4c..6a914e88 100644
--- a/site/src/content/docs/display/code-snippet.mdx
+++ b/site/src/content/docs/display/code-snippet.mdx
@@ -26,6 +26,29 @@ The theme switches between a light and a dark high-contrast Shiki theme when the
 
 <Demo title="Languages" description={"Svelte, TypeScript and CSS."} src={LanguagesSrc}><Languages client:visible /></Demo>
 
+## Code surfaces: integer line-height, one font stack
+
+CodeSnippet is read-only: it ships no editor and no active-line highlight. If you build one (a textarea over a highlighted `pre`, an active-line band, a line-number gutter, a caret you paint yourself), every layer of it has to agree on two things, or the caret and the highlighted line drift apart a little more on every line:
+
+1. **An integer px line height.** `line-height: 1.7` on 13px text is 22.1px. The text layer and the overlay each round that value on their own, so the highlight slips by a fraction of a pixel per line and is a whole line off by line 50. Use `var(--ca-code-line-height)` (20px) on the text layer, on the overlay and on the gutter, and size the highlight band to the same token.
+2. **One font stack.** Set `font-family: var(--ca-font-mono)` on the `pre`, the `code` inside it, the textarea and the gutter. The UA default for `<code>` is a bare `monospace`, which the browser resolves separately from the stack on its parent and can resolve to a font with different metrics.
+
+```css
+.editor-text,
+.editor-overlay,
+.editor-gutter {
+  font: var(--ca-font-size-body2) / var(--ca-code-line-height) var(--ca-font-mono);
+  tab-size: 2;
+  letter-spacing: 0;
+}
+.editor-active-line {
+  block-size: var(--ca-code-line-height);
+  inset-block-start: calc(var(--line) * var(--ca-code-line-height));
+}
+```
+
+`CodeSnippet`, `.ca-code pre` and a bare Markdown fence inside `.ca-prose` already use both. Override the token on `:root` (or on one editor) to change the density, and keep it an integer px value: `--ca-code-line-height: 24px`.
+
 <Props rows={[
   { name: "code", type: "string", description: "Source code to display. Required." },
   { name: "language", type: "string", default: "'svelte'", description: "Shiki language identifier." },
diff --git a/site/src/content/docs/getting-started/workarounds.mdx b/site/src/content/docs/getting-started/workarounds.mdx
index 5dfc468d..7ebefcaa 100644
--- a/site/src/content/docs/getting-started/workarounds.mdx
+++ b/site/src/content/docs/getting-started/workarounds.mdx
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ Imports are from `@codeatlasdev/ui` unless the last column names a subpath.
 | `justify-content: flex-start` and `margin-left: auto` on `.ca-btn__trailing` | `<Button align="between" fullWidth>` | [Button](/docs/inputs/button/) |
 | `100vh` or `100dvh` | `height: var(--ca-vh)` | [Mobile](/docs/getting-started/mobile/#safe-areas-and-viewport-height) |
 | `cursor: pointer` on a clickable `div role="button"`, `summary` or `label for`, or `cursor: not-allowed` on a disabled one | Nothing: the reset layer (`@layer ca.reset`) already sets `pointer` on `button`, `a[href]`, `label[for]`, `summary` and `[role=button\|tab\|option\|menuitem*]`, and `not-allowed` on `:disabled` and `[aria-disabled=true]`. An unlayered app rule such as `.tile { cursor: grab }` overrides it with no `!important` | [Theming](/docs/getting-started/theming/#cascade-and-overriding-tokens) |
+||||||| parent of 17966ab8 (feat: code surfaces get an integer px line-height token (#551))
+| `line-height: 1.7` (or any unitless value) on a code font, or a highlight layer whose line height does not equal the text layer's, so a caret and an active-line band drift apart | `line-height: var(--ca-code-line-height)` (integer px) and `font-family: var(--ca-font-mono)` on every layer of the code surface | [CodeSnippet](/docs/display/code-snippet/#code-surfaces-integer-line-height-one-font-stack) |
 | A `min-height: 44px` touch override | Nothing: controls grow to 44px under `(pointer: coarse)` | [Mobile](/docs/getting-started/mobile/#native-feel) |
 | `padding-bottom: env(safe-area-inset-bottom)` on fixed UI | `var(--ca-safe-bottom)` and the other `--ca-safe-*` tokens | [Mobile](/docs/getting-started/mobile/#safe-areas-and-viewport-height) |
 | A keyboard-padding hack for a form or composer | `use:keyboardAware` | [Mobile](/docs/getting-started/mobile/#the-on-screen-keyboard), `@codeatlasdev/ui/actions` |