diff --git a/frontend/editor/src/portal/components/pipelines/PipelineStepSettings.test.tsx b/frontend/editor/src/portal/components/pipelines/PipelineStepSettings.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..698fb0028a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/editor/src/portal/components/pipelines/PipelineStepSettings.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { render, screen } from "@testing-library/react";
+import { MantineProvider } from "@mantine/core";
+import { Tooltip } from "@app/components/shared/Tooltip";
+import type { ToolRegistry } from "@app/data/toolsTaxonomy";
+import type { WorkingToolStep } from "@app/hooks/tools/shared/toolAutomation";
+import { PipelineStepSettings } from "@portal/components/pipelines/PipelineStepSettings";
+
+vi.mock("react-i18next", () => ({
+  useTranslation: () => ({
+    t: (key: string, fallback?: string) => fallback ?? key,
+  }),
+}));
+
+// A stand-in tool-settings UI that uses the shared editor Tooltip. The Tooltip
+// pulls in the Preferences + Sidebar contexts, which the portal does not mount
+// app-wide — so this reproduces the "usePreferences must be used within a
+// PreferencesProvider" crash unless PipelineStepSettings supplies them.
+function TooltipSettings() {
+  return (
+    <Tooltip content="help">
+      <button type="button">field</button>
+    </Tooltip>
+  );
+}
+
+const step = {
+  support: "editable",
+  toolId: "compress",
+  params: {},
+} as unknown as WorkingToolStep;
+
+const registry = {
+  compress: { automationSettings: TooltipSettings },
+} as unknown as Partial<ToolRegistry>;
+
+describe("PipelineStepSettings", () => {
+  it("renders reused editor tool settings (which use the shared Tooltip) without app-wide Preferences/Sidebar providers", () => {
+    expect(() =>
+      render(
+        <MantineProvider>
+          <PipelineStepSettings
+            step={step}
+            registry={registry}
+            onChange={() => {}}
+          />
+        </MantineProvider>,
+      ),
+    ).not.toThrow();
+    expect(screen.getByText("field")).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/frontend/editor/src/portal/components/pipelines/PipelineStepSettings.tsx b/frontend/editor/src/portal/components/pipelines/PipelineStepSettings.tsx
index fe2ee9dd2a..672383ecd3 100644
--- a/frontend/editor/src/portal/components/pipelines/PipelineStepSettings.tsx
+++ b/frontend/editor/src/portal/components/pipelines/PipelineStepSettings.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import { Suspense } from "react";
 import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
 import { Banner } from "@app/ui";
+import { PreferencesProvider } from "@app/contexts/PreferencesContext";
+import { SidebarProvider } from "@app/contexts/SidebarContext";
 import { type ToolRegistry } from "@app/data/toolsTaxonomy";
 import { type ErasedToolParams } from "@app/hooks/tools/shared/toolOperationTypes";
 import { type WorkingToolStep } from "@app/hooks/tools/shared/toolAutomation";
@@ -46,14 +48,18 @@ export function PipelineStepSettings({
   }
 
   return (
-    <Suspense fallback={null}>
-      <Settings
-        parameters={step.params}
-        onParameterChange={(key, value) =>
-          onChange({ ...step.params, [key]: value })
-        }
-        disabled={false}
-      />
-    </Suspense>
+    <PreferencesProvider>
+      <SidebarProvider>
+        <Suspense fallback={null}>
+          <Settings
+            parameters={step.params}
+            onParameterChange={(key, value) =>
+              onChange({ ...step.params, [key]: value })
+            }
+            disabled={false}
+          />
+        </Suspense>
+      </SidebarProvider>
+    </PreferencesProvider>
   );
 }