diff --git a/client/client.js b/client/client.js
index 32e0a2c..5a4f39d 100644
--- a/client/client.js
+++ b/client/client.js
@@ -385,6 +385,16 @@ window.__ModuleLoader__.load({
        */
       constructor(ctx) {
         this.ctx = ctx
+        // Every field the projection reads must exist BEFORE anything projects.
+        //
+        // `SettingsFormModel.bind()` is not a subscription setter: it builds the
+        // snapshot store from one immediate `project()` call, so the projection
+        // runs once, right here, inside this constructor. Assigning `describe`
+        // after `bind` made that first projection read `undefined.getSnapshot()`
+        // — a TypeError thrown while the inject callback was registering the
+        // card, which aborted the registration and left the plugin with no
+        // settings section at all and nothing in the UI to say so.
+        this.describe = ctx.configForms.describe()
         this.form = ctx.configForms.get(SETTINGS_ENTRY)
         this.model = new SettingsFormModel(
           this.form,
@@ -399,8 +409,6 @@ window.__ModuleLoader__.load({
           })),
         )
         this.store = this.model.bind(() => this.projection())
-        /** The describe mirror that knows whether a secret is configured. */
-        this.describe = ctx.configForms.describe()
       }
 
       /** Everything the page renders, rebuilt whenever the form or a draft moves. */
diff --git a/test/client.test.js b/test/client.test.js
index 63ea60d..55b3f01 100644
--- a/test/client.test.js
+++ b/test/client.test.js
@@ -109,6 +109,11 @@ function makePrimitives(record) {
 
     bind(project) {
       this.project = project
+      // Faithful to the framework: `bind` is not a subscription setter, it
+      // builds the snapshot store from ONE immediate projection. A stub that
+      // only stored the projection would let a controller read a field it has
+      // not assigned yet — which is exactly the bug this reproduces.
+      project()
       return { getSnapshot: () => project(), subscribe: () => () => {} }
     }