diff --git a/cmd/sic/frame.go b/cmd/sic/frame.go
index 131ef1b..4973134 100644
--- a/cmd/sic/frame.go
+++ b/cmd/sic/frame.go
@@ -28,3 +28,8 @@ func v2Frame(command []byte, payload []byte) []byte {
 
 	return frame
 }
+
+// wrapHop wraps an already-built inner frame for one chain hop.
+func wrapHop(verb string, inner []byte) []byte {
+	return v2Frame([]byte(verb+" sicd"), inner)
+}
diff --git a/cmd/sic/wraphop_test.go b/cmd/sic/wraphop_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..60e33d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/sic/wraphop_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+// Pins wrapHop, the one-hop chain wrapper the client does not have yet:
+//
+//	func wrapHop(verb string, inner []byte) []byte
+//
+// It wraps an already-built inner frame for ONE chain hop: the hop's command
+// is the runtime verb with " sicd" appended (the inner-hop peeler is sicd
+// itself), and the inner frame rides as the payload. Exactly:
+//
+//	wrapHop(verb, inner) == v2Frame([]byte(verb+" sicd"), inner)
+//
+// The equivalence tests pin that identity against v2Frame (frame.go, WP1);
+// the concrete tests are hand-written byte literals, so a shared framer bug
+// cannot cancel out of both sides.
+package main
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestWrapHopEqualsV2FrameOfVerbSicd(t *testing.T) {
+	// nestedInner is a real v2 frame (v2Frame("x", nil)): starts with the
+	// 0x00 magic, contains NULs — must ride untouched as payload.
+	nestedInner := []byte{0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x05, '2', ':', 'x', 0x00, ','}
+	cases := []struct {
+		name  string
+		verb  string
+		inner []byte
+	}{
+		{"simple", "cat", []byte("hi")},
+		{"incus verb, nested frame inner", "incus exec memory --", nestedInner},
+		{"empty inner", "sh -c", nil},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := wrapHop(tc.verb, tc.inner)
+			want := v2Frame([]byte(tc.verb+" sicd"), tc.inner)
+			if !bytes.Equal(got, want) {
+				t.Fatalf("wrapHop(%q, %q)\n got %q\nwant %q", tc.verb, tc.inner, got, want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestWrapHopConcreteBytesNestedInnerUntouched(t *testing.T) {
+	// inner is itself a full v2 frame beginning with the 0x00 magic — a real
+	// nested frame. It must appear verbatim as the payload: no delimiter
+	// parsing, no escaping, no truncation at its leading NUL.
+	inner := []byte{0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x05, '2', ':', 'x', 0x00, ','}
+	// command = "incus exec memory -- sicd" (25 bytes)
+	// content = command + 0x00 + inner = 25 + 1 + 10 = 36 bytes
+	// netstring = "36:" + content + "," = 40 bytes -> frame = 1 + 4 + 40 = 45
+	want := []byte{
+		0x00, // magic
+		0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x28, // be32 netstring length (40)
+		'3', '6', ':',
+		'i', 'n', 'c', 'u', 's', ' ', 'e', 'x', 'e', 'c', ' ',
+		'm', 'e', 'm', 'o', 'r', 'y', ' ', '-', '-', ' ', 's', 'i', 'c', 'd',
+		0x00,
+		0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x05, '2', ':', 'x', 0x00, ',',
+		',',
+	}
+	got := wrapHop("incus exec memory --", inner)
+	if len(got) != 45 {
+		t.Fatalf("frame length = %d, want 45 (magic 1 + len32 4 + netstring 40): %q", len(got), got)
+	}
+	if !bytes.Equal(got, want) {
+		t.Fatalf("wrapHop(incus exec memory --, nested)\n got %q\nwant %q", got, want)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestWrapHopEmptyInner(t *testing.T) {
+	// command = "cat sicd" (8) -> content = command + 0x00 = 9 bytes
+	// -> netstring "9:<content>," = 12 bytes -> frame = 17 bytes
+	want := []byte{
+		0x00,
+		0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x0c,
+		'9', ':', 'c', 'a', 't', ' ', 's', 'i', 'c', 'd', 0x00, ',',
+	}
+	if got := wrapHop("cat", nil); !bytes.Equal(got, want) {
+		t.Fatalf("wrapHop(cat, nil)\n got %q\nwant %q", got, want)
+	}
+	// nil and empty inner frame identically.
+	if got := wrapHop("cat", []byte{}); !bytes.Equal(got, want) {
+		t.Fatalf("wrapHop(cat, []byte{})\n got %q\nwant %q", got, want)
+	}
+}