diff --git a/apps/azure/src/components/editor/FrameView.tsx b/apps/azure/src/components/editor/FrameView.tsx
index 9092f2c10..0d6c01431 100644
--- a/apps/azure/src/components/editor/FrameView.tsx
+++ b/apps/azure/src/components/editor/FrameView.tsx
@@ -13,18 +13,7 @@ import React from 'react';
 import { LayeredProcessView } from '@variscout/ui';
 import { useProjectStore } from '@variscout/stores';
 import type { ProcessContext } from '@variscout/core';
-import { detectGaps, type ProcessMap } from '@variscout/core/frame';
-
-const createEmptyMap = (): ProcessMap => {
-  const now = new Date().toISOString();
-  return {
-    version: 1,
-    nodes: [],
-    tributaries: [],
-    createdAt: now,
-    updatedAt: now,
-  };
-};
+import { createEmptyMap, detectGaps, type ProcessMap } from '@variscout/core/frame';
 
 const FrameView: React.FC = () => {
   const rawData = useProjectStore(s => s.rawData);
diff --git a/apps/pwa/src/components/views/FrameView.tsx b/apps/pwa/src/components/views/FrameView.tsx
index 1c06966c9..8214de26b 100644
--- a/apps/pwa/src/components/views/FrameView.tsx
+++ b/apps/pwa/src/components/views/FrameView.tsx
@@ -10,18 +10,7 @@ import React from 'react';
 import { LayeredProcessView } from '@variscout/ui';
 import { useProjectStore } from '@variscout/stores';
 import type { ProcessContext } from '@variscout/core';
-import { detectGaps, type ProcessMap } from '@variscout/core/frame';
-
-const createEmptyMap = (): ProcessMap => {
-  const now = new Date().toISOString();
-  return {
-    version: 1,
-    nodes: [],
-    tributaries: [],
-    createdAt: now,
-    updatedAt: now,
-  };
-};
+import { createEmptyMap, detectGaps, type ProcessMap } from '@variscout/core/frame';
 
 const FrameView: React.FC = () => {
   const rawData = useProjectStore(s => s.rawData);
diff --git a/packages/core/src/frame/__tests__/factories.test.ts b/packages/core/src/frame/__tests__/factories.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..47079bcc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/src/frame/__tests__/factories.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { createEmptyMap } from '../factories';
+
+describe('createEmptyMap', () => {
+  it('returns a v1 ProcessMap with no nodes or tributaries', () => {
+    const map = createEmptyMap();
+    expect(map.version).toBe(1);
+    expect(map.nodes).toEqual([]);
+    expect(map.tributaries).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it('stamps createdAt and updatedAt with the same ISO timestamp', () => {
+    const map = createEmptyMap();
+    expect(map.createdAt).toBe(map.updatedAt);
+    expect(() => new Date(map.createdAt).toISOString()).not.toThrow();
+  });
+
+  it('produces independent instances on each call', () => {
+    const a = createEmptyMap();
+    const b = createEmptyMap();
+    expect(a).not.toBe(b);
+    expect(a.nodes).not.toBe(b.nodes);
+    expect(a.tributaries).not.toBe(b.tributaries);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/core/src/frame/factories.ts b/packages/core/src/frame/factories.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1415e482d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/src/frame/factories.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import type { ProcessMap } from './types';
+
+/**
+ * Build an empty `ProcessMap` with current timestamps. Used by FRAME views in
+ * both apps as the initial state when no `processContext.processMap` exists.
+ */
+export function createEmptyMap(): ProcessMap {
+  const now = new Date().toISOString();
+  return {
+    version: 1,
+    nodes: [],
+    tributaries: [],
+    createdAt: now,
+    updatedAt: now,
+  };
+}
diff --git a/packages/core/src/frame/index.ts b/packages/core/src/frame/index.ts
index 48f607b2b..285a77d2c 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/frame/index.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/frame/index.ts
@@ -23,3 +23,4 @@ export type {
 export { inferMode } from './modeInference';
 export { detectGaps } from './gapDetector';
 export { subgroupAxisColumns } from './subgroupAxes';
+export { createEmptyMap } from './factories';