diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index db2cd584e..82b2c8675 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ The release run heads these entries with the version and opens a fresh
   being edited, so a reader who tapped a cell twice lost it. A cell now holds
   its pin there; a row or column header still clears on that click.
 
+- Editing scope `paragraph` takes `odr.editing.format` inside one paragraph and
+  refuses it over two, rather than refusing every call. The `formatBold` chords
+  stay behind the gate.
+
 ## v7.1.0 - 2026-09-19
 
 - The pdf view reports the pending annotation count on
diff --git a/src/odr/internal/html/frontend/document.js b/src/odr/internal/html/frontend/document.js
index b4eda931e..94642c146 100644
--- a/src/odr/internal/html/frontend/document.js
+++ b/src/odr/internal/html/frontend/document.js
@@ -752,7 +752,8 @@
   /// States @p style on @p at, for a host's `format` and for a chord. A
   /// collapsed caret marks the word it sits in; at a word boundary, or in a
   /// paragraph holding no run, the mark waits for the next typed text.
-  /// Formatting sits behind the scope gate whole.
+  /// Scope `paragraph` holds the range, not the style: a mark inside one
+  /// paragraph opens none.
   function format(style, at) {
     gesture += 1;
     if (!odr.editing.isEnabled()) {
@@ -767,7 +768,7 @@
       refuse(null, "range", at);
       return false;
     }
-    if (odr.editing.scope() === "paragraph") {
+    if (outOfScope(at)) {
       refuse(null, "outOfScope", at);
       return false;
     }
@@ -1499,6 +1500,12 @@
       if (!odr.takesKeys("shortcuts")) {
         return;
       }
+      // The host draws no button for a key, so it cannot offer less here.
+      // The chord keeps the gate `format` no longer carries.
+      if (odr.editing.scope() === "paragraph") {
+        refuse(event, "outOfScope", at);
+        return;
+      }
       toggle(property, at);
       return;
     }
diff --git a/test/browser/text/tests.html b/test/browser/text/tests.html
index 2adc3c608..745366bfa 100644
--- a/test/browser/text/tests.html
+++ b/test/browser/text/tests.html
@@ -799,15 +799,17 @@
       document.body.setAttribute("data-odr-editing-scope", "paragraph");
       check("until the host narrows it", odr.editing.scope() === "paragraph");
 
-      // Formatting sits behind the gate whole, so these land in runs no other
-      // refusal of this group names.
+      // The gate holds the range, not the style. The chord keeps it: the
+      // host draws no button for a key, so it cannot offer less.
       select(run(12).firstChild, 2);
-      check("a chord is refused", input("formatBold") === "refused");
+      check("a chord is still refused", input("formatBold") === "refused");
       check("as out of scope", refusals.pop() === "outOfScope 1010");
       selectRuns(51, 0, 51, 4);
-      check("and so is the host's format", odr.editing.format({ bold: true }) === false);
-      check("as out of scope too", refusals.pop() === "outOfScope 1010");
-      check("with nothing marked", run(51).getAttribute("style") === null);
+      check("while the host's own format is taken", odr.editing.format({ bold: true }) === true);
+      check("with the run marked", run(51).getAttribute("style") !== null);
+      selectRuns(11, 2, 31, 2);
+      check("a format over two paragraphs is refused", odr.editing.format({ bold: true }) === false);
+      check("as out of scope", refusals.pop().indexOf("outOfScope ") === 0);
 
       select(run(11).firstChild, 5);
       check("typing inside a run is taken", input("insertText", "X") === "taken");
@@ -864,7 +866,12 @@
       check(
         "the log names no paragraph operation",
         ops().every(function (op) {
-          return op.op === "setText" || op.op === "removeElement" || op.op === "insertText";
+          return (
+            op.op === "setText" ||
+            op.op === "setTextStyle" ||
+            op.op === "removeElement" ||
+            op.op === "insertText"
+          );
         })
       );