diff --git a/hermes_cli/console_engine.py b/hermes_cli/console_engine.py
index d651ee86d2..0eedf26db6 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/console_engine.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/console_engine.py
@@ -186,9 +186,9 @@ def _noop_console_command(_args: argparse.Namespace) -> None:
 class _CliSurface:
     """How a CLI subcommand module hangs its argparse tree off a root subparsers action.
 
-    ``kind``: ``extracted`` = ``builder(subparsers, <handler>=fn)`` (fn from hermes_cli.main);
-    ``registered`` = ``register(subparsers.add_parser(root))`` with optional module ``handler``;
-    ``builder`` = ``top = builder(subparsers)``, func from hermes_cli.main; ``adder`` wires itself.
+    ``extracted``: ``builder(subparsers, <handler>=fn)``, fn from hermes_cli.main.
+    ``registered``: ``register(subparsers.add_parser(root))``, optional module-level ``handler``.
+    ``builder``: ``top = builder(subparsers)``, func from hermes_cli.main. ``adder``: self-wiring.
     """
 
     kind: Literal["extracted", "registered", "builder", "adder"]
diff --git a/hermes_cli/curator.py b/hermes_cli/curator.py
index 3f0995bf8b..06d43fb8dc 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/curator.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/curator.py
@@ -80,9 +80,7 @@ def _print_unmanaged_summary() -> None:
     print("  never auto-staled or archived — `hermes curator adopt <name>` hands one over")
 
 
-def _cmd_status(args) -> int:
-    from agent import curator
-    from tools import skill_usage
+def _print_curator_config(curator) -> None:
     state = curator.load_state()
     paused = state.get("paused", False)
     summary = state.get("last_run_summary") or "(none)"
@@ -108,6 +106,11 @@ def _cmd_status(args) -> int:
         f"  consolidate:    {'on' if consolidate else 'off'}"
         f"{'' if consolidate else ' (prune-only; LLM merge pass opt-in)'}")
 
+
+def _cmd_status(args) -> int:
+    from agent import curator
+    from tools import skill_usage
+    _print_curator_config(curator)
     rows = skill_usage.curated_report()
     if not rows:
         print("\nno curator-managed skills")