diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/utils/personFormat.spec.ts b/frontend/src/lib/utils/personFormat.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..257dd02e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/utils/personFormat.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,171 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import {
+	abbreviateName,
+	formatXsMeta,
+	personAvatarColor,
+	formatDate,
+	statusDotClass,
+	statusLabel
+} from './personFormat';
+
+// ─── abbreviateName ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+describe('abbreviateName', () => {
+	it('abbreviates first name to initial + last name', () => {
+		expect(abbreviateName({ firstName: 'Karl', lastName: 'Raddatz' })).toBe('K. Raddatz');
+	});
+
+	it('returns single name as-is when no last name', () => {
+		expect(abbreviateName({ firstName: 'Elfriede', lastName: '' })).toBe('Elfriede');
+	});
+
+	it('preserves hyphenated last name', () => {
+		expect(abbreviateName({ firstName: 'Karl', lastName: 'Müller-Schmidt' })).toBe(
+			'K. Müller-Schmidt'
+		);
+	});
+
+	it('handles leading/trailing whitespace in names', () => {
+		expect(abbreviateName({ firstName: '  Karl  ', lastName: '  Raddatz  ' })).toBe('K. Raddatz');
+	});
+});
+
+// ─── formatXsMeta ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+type Doc = {
+	sender?: { firstName: string; lastName: string } | null;
+	receivers?: { firstName: string; lastName: string }[];
+	documentDate?: string | null;
+};
+
+describe('formatXsMeta', () => {
+	const sender = { firstName: 'Karl', lastName: 'Raddatz' };
+	const receiver1 = { firstName: 'Elfriede', lastName: 'Raddatz' };
+	const receiver2 = { firstName: 'Anna', lastName: 'Müller' };
+	const receiver3 = { firstName: 'Hans', lastName: 'Schmidt' };
+
+	it('formats sender with no receivers and date', () => {
+		const doc: Doc = { sender, receivers: [], documentDate: '1943-12-24' };
+		expect(formatXsMeta(doc)).toBe('K.Raddatz · 24.12.1943');
+	});
+
+	it('formats sender with one receiver and date', () => {
+		const doc: Doc = { sender, receivers: [receiver1], documentDate: '1943-12-24' };
+		expect(formatXsMeta(doc)).toBe('K.Raddatz → E.Raddatz · 24.12.1943');
+	});
+
+	it('formats sender with three receivers showing +2', () => {
+		const doc: Doc = {
+			sender,
+			receivers: [receiver1, receiver2, receiver3],
+			documentDate: '1943-12-24'
+		};
+		expect(formatXsMeta(doc)).toBe('K.Raddatz → E.Raddatz +2 · 24.12.1943');
+	});
+
+	it('formats without sender', () => {
+		const doc: Doc = { sender: null, receivers: [receiver1], documentDate: '1943-12-24' };
+		expect(formatXsMeta(doc)).toBe('E.Raddatz · 24.12.1943');
+	});
+
+	it('formats without date', () => {
+		const doc: Doc = { sender, receivers: [], documentDate: null };
+		expect(formatXsMeta(doc)).toBe('K.Raddatz');
+	});
+
+	it('formats with no sender and no date', () => {
+		const doc: Doc = { sender: null, receivers: [receiver1], documentDate: null };
+		expect(formatXsMeta(doc)).toBe('E.Raddatz');
+	});
+});
+
+// ─── personAvatarColor ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+const PALETTE = ['#012851', '#5A3080', '#007596', '#2A6040', '#803020'];
+
+describe('personAvatarColor', () => {
+	it('returns a value from the palette', () => {
+		expect(PALETTE).toContain(personAvatarColor('abc'));
+	});
+
+	it('is deterministic — same id always returns same color', () => {
+		const id = '550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000';
+		expect(personAvatarColor(id)).toBe(personAvatarColor(id));
+	});
+
+	it('all 5 palette entries are reachable across 1000 random UUIDs', () => {
+		const seen = new Set<string>();
+		for (let i = 0; i < 1000; i++) {
+			seen.add(personAvatarColor(crypto.randomUUID()));
+		}
+		expect(seen.size).toBe(5);
+	});
+});
+
+// ─── formatDate ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+describe('formatDate', () => {
+	it('formats short date as dd.mm.yyyy', () => {
+		expect(formatDate('1943-12-24', 'short')).toBe('24.12.1943');
+	});
+
+	it('formats long date with German month name', () => {
+		expect(formatDate('1943-12-24', 'long')).toBe('24. Dezember 1943');
+	});
+
+	it('does not shift Dec 31 to Jan 1 (UTC off-by-one guard)', () => {
+		expect(formatDate('1943-12-31', 'short')).toBe('31.12.1943');
+	});
+
+	it('does not shift Jan 1 to Dec 31 (UTC off-by-one guard)', () => {
+		expect(formatDate('1944-01-01', 'short')).toBe('01.01.1944');
+	});
+});
+
+// ─── statusDotClass ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+describe('statusDotClass', () => {
+	it('PLACEHOLDER → bg-gray-400', () => {
+		expect(statusDotClass('PLACEHOLDER')).toBe('bg-gray-400');
+	});
+
+	it('UPLOADED → bg-emerald-500', () => {
+		expect(statusDotClass('UPLOADED')).toBe('bg-emerald-500');
+	});
+
+	it('TRANSCRIBED → bg-blue-400', () => {
+		expect(statusDotClass('TRANSCRIBED')).toBe('bg-blue-400');
+	});
+
+	it('REVIEWED → bg-amber-400', () => {
+		expect(statusDotClass('REVIEWED')).toBe('bg-amber-400');
+	});
+
+	it('ARCHIVED → bg-emerald-600', () => {
+		expect(statusDotClass('ARCHIVED')).toBe('bg-emerald-600');
+	});
+});
+
+// ─── statusLabel ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+describe('statusLabel', () => {
+	it('PLACEHOLDER → "Platzhalter"', () => {
+		expect(statusLabel('PLACEHOLDER')).toBe('Platzhalter');
+	});
+
+	it('UPLOADED → "Hochgeladen"', () => {
+		expect(statusLabel('UPLOADED')).toBe('Hochgeladen');
+	});
+
+	it('TRANSCRIBED → "Transkribiert"', () => {
+		expect(statusLabel('TRANSCRIBED')).toBe('Transkribiert');
+	});
+
+	it('REVIEWED → "Geprüft"', () => {
+		expect(statusLabel('REVIEWED')).toBe('Geprüft');
+	});
+
+	it('ARCHIVED → "Archiviert"', () => {
+		expect(statusLabel('ARCHIVED')).toBe('Archiviert');
+	});
+});
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/utils/personFormat.ts b/frontend/src/lib/utils/personFormat.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ffa2db5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/utils/personFormat.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+import { formatDocumentStatus } from './documentStatusLabel';
+
+type Person = { firstName: string; lastName: string };
+type DocumentStatus = 'PLACEHOLDER' | 'UPLOADED' | 'TRANSCRIBED' | 'REVIEWED' | 'ARCHIVED';
+type DocForMeta = {
+	sender?: Person | null;
+	receivers?: Person[];
+	documentDate?: string | null;
+};
+
+const AVATAR_PALETTE = ['#012851', '#5A3080', '#007596', '#2A6040', '#803020'] as const;
+
+function djb2(str: string): number {
+	let hash = 5381;
+	for (let i = 0; i < str.length; i++) {
+		hash = (hash * 33) ^ str.charCodeAt(i);
+	}
+	return Math.abs(hash);
+}
+
+export function abbreviateName(person: Person): string {
+	const first = person.firstName.trim();
+	const last = person.lastName.trim();
+	if (!last) return first;
+	return `${first.charAt(0)}. ${last}`;
+}
+
+function abbreviateCompact(person: Person): string {
+	const first = person.firstName.trim();
+	const last = person.lastName.trim();
+	if (!last) return first;
+	return `${first.charAt(0)}.${last}`;
+}
+
+export function formatXsMeta(doc: DocForMeta): string {
+	const parts: string[] = [];
+
+	const receivers = doc.receivers ?? [];
+	if (doc.sender) {
+		const senderAbbr = abbreviateCompact(doc.sender);
+		if (receivers.length === 0) {
+			parts.push(senderAbbr);
+		} else {
+			const extra = receivers.length - 1;
+			const firstReceiver = abbreviateCompact(receivers[0]);
+			parts.push(
+				extra > 0
+					? `${senderAbbr} → ${firstReceiver} +${extra}`
+					: `${senderAbbr} → ${firstReceiver}`
+			);
+		}
+	} else if (receivers.length > 0) {
+		const extra = receivers.length - 1;
+		const firstReceiver = abbreviateCompact(receivers[0]);
+		parts.push(extra > 0 ? `${firstReceiver} +${extra}` : firstReceiver);
+	}
+
+	if (doc.documentDate) {
+		parts.push(formatDate(doc.documentDate, 'short'));
+	}
+
+	return parts.join(' · ');
+}
+
+export function personAvatarColor(personId: string): string {
+	return AVATAR_PALETTE[djb2(personId) % AVATAR_PALETTE.length];
+}
+
+export function formatDate(isoDate: string, format: 'short' | 'long'): string {
+	const date = new Date(isoDate + 'T12:00:00');
+	if (format === 'short') {
+		return new Intl.DateTimeFormat('de-DE', {
+			day: '2-digit',
+			month: '2-digit',
+			year: 'numeric'
+		}).format(date);
+	}
+	return new Intl.DateTimeFormat('de-DE', {
+		day: 'numeric',
+		month: 'long',
+		year: 'numeric'
+	}).format(date);
+}
+
+export function statusDotClass(status: DocumentStatus): string {
+	switch (status) {
+		case 'PLACEHOLDER':
+			return 'bg-gray-400';
+		case 'UPLOADED':
+			return 'bg-emerald-500';
+		case 'TRANSCRIBED':
+			return 'bg-blue-400';
+		case 'REVIEWED':
+			return 'bg-amber-400';
+		case 'ARCHIVED':
+			return 'bg-emerald-600';
+	}
+}
+
+export function statusLabel(status: string): string {
+	return formatDocumentStatus(status);
+}