diff --git a/R/facet.R b/R/facet.R
index a9b73a37..1b10f51f 100644
--- a/R/facet.R
+++ b/R/facet.R
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ draw_facet_window = function(
     sub,
     cap,
     type,
+    type_axes_hints = NULL,
     xlab,
     x, xmax, xmin,
     ylab,
@@ -188,7 +189,8 @@ draw_facet_window = function(
         }
       }
 
-      if (type == "spineplot") omar[4] = 2.1 # FIXME catch for spineplot RHS axis labs
+      # reserve RHS margin for types with a secondary axis (e.g. spineplot)
+      if (isTRUE(type_axes_hints[["rhs_axis"]])) omar[4] = 2.1
 
       # FIXME: Is this causing issues for lhs legends with facet_grid?
       # catch for missing rhs legend
@@ -227,7 +229,8 @@ draw_facet_window = function(
     # Tick-label *width/height* (whtsbp) is added further below.
     side.sub = get_tpar("side.sub", tpar_list = tpars, default = 3)
     omar = dynmar_computed
-    if (type == "spineplot") omar[4] = 2.1 # FIXME catch for spineplot RHS axis labs
+    # reserve RHS margin for types with a secondary axis (e.g. spineplot)
+    if (isTRUE(type_axes_hints[["rhs_axis"]])) omar[4] = 2.1
     if (par("las") %in% 1:2) {
       # extra whitespace bump on the y axis
       ## overrides for ridge and some types that use integer spacing with (named) axis labels ## FXIME
diff --git a/R/legend.R b/R/legend.R
index b7553cc7..5465b2dc 100644
--- a/R/legend.R
+++ b/R/legend.R
@@ -82,8 +82,9 @@ legend_outer_margins = function(legend_env, apply = TRUE) {
 
   # Step 1: Prepare margins before measuring
   if (legend_env$outer_side) {
-    # Extra bump for spineplot if outer_right legend (to accommodate secondary y-axis)
-    if (identical(legend_env$type, "spineplot")) {
+    # Extra bump for types with a secondary (RHS) axis when an outer legend is
+    # present, to accommodate that axis (e.g. spineplot).
+    if (isTRUE(legend_env$type_axes_hints[["rhs_axis"]])) {
       lmar[1] = lmar[1] + 1.1
     }
 
@@ -600,7 +601,7 @@ build_legend_args = function(
   }
 
   # Special pt.bg handling for types that need color-based fills
-  if (identical(type, "spineplot")) {
+  if (isTRUE(legend_env[["type_axes_hints"]][["legend_fill_from_col"]])) {
     legend_args[["pt.bg"]] = legend_args[["pt.bg"]] %||% legend_args[["col"]]
   } else if (identical(type, "ridge") && isFALSE(gradient)) {
     legend_args[["pt.bg"]] = legend_args[["pt.bg"]] %||% sapply(legend_args[["col"]], function(ccol) seq_palette(ccol, n = 2)[2])
@@ -739,6 +740,7 @@ build_legend_env = function(
 
   # Visual aesthetics
   type,
+  type_axes_hints = NULL,
   pch,
   lty,
   lwd,
@@ -761,6 +763,7 @@ build_legend_env = function(
   # Initialize metadata
   legend_env$gradient = gradient
   legend_env$type = type
+  legend_env$type_axes_hints = type_axes_hints
   legend_env$has_sub = has_sub
   legend_env$has_cap = has_cap
   legend_env$cap_text = cap_text
@@ -821,6 +824,9 @@ build_legend_env = function(
 #' @param labeller Character or function for formatting the labels (`lgnd_labs`).
 #'   Passed down to [`tinylabel`].
 #' @param type Plotting type(s), passed down from [tinyplot].
+#' @param type_axes_hints Optional named list of axes/legend behaviour flags that
+#'   a plot type declares for itself (e.g. `rhs_axis` for a secondary right-hand
+#'   axis). Passed down from [tinyplot]; defaults to `NULL`.
 #' @param pch Plotting character(s), passed down from [tinyplot].
 #' @param lty Plotting linetype(s), passed down from [tinyplot].
 #' @param lwd Plotting line width(s), passed down from [tinyplot].
@@ -925,6 +931,7 @@ draw_legend = function(
   lgnd_labs = NULL,
   labeller = NULL,
   type = NULL,
+  type_axes_hints = NULL,
   pch = NULL,
   lty = NULL,
   lwd = NULL,
@@ -976,6 +983,7 @@ draw_legend = function(
 
     # Visual aesthetics
     type = type,
+    type_axes_hints = type_axes_hints,
     pch = pch,
     lty = lty,
     lwd = lwd,
diff --git a/R/legend_multi.R b/R/legend_multi.R
index 789734d7..68b6c3b9 100644
--- a/R/legend_multi.R
+++ b/R/legend_multi.R
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ prepare_legend_multi = function(settings) {
       "by_dep",
       "lgnd_labs",
       "type",
+      "type_axes_hints",
       "pch",
       "lty",
       "lwd",
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@ prepare_legend_multi = function(settings) {
     by_dep = by_dep,
     lgnd_labs = lgnd_labs,
     type = type,
+    type_axes_hints = type_axes_hints,
     pch = pch,
     lty = lty,
     lwd = lwd,
@@ -64,6 +66,7 @@ prepare_legend_multi = function(settings) {
     ),
     lgnd_labs = names(bubble_cex),
     type = type,
+    type_axes_hints = type_axes_hints,
     pch = pch,
     lty = lty,
     lwd = lwd,
diff --git a/R/lim.R b/R/lim.R
index 7eb13aad..034c5ff5 100644
--- a/R/lim.R
+++ b/R/lim.R
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@ lim_args = function(settings) {
     settings,
     environment(),
     c(
-      "xaxb", "xlabs", "xlim", "null_xlim", 
+      "xaxb", "xlabs", "xlim", "null_xlim",
       "yaxb", "ylabs", "ylim", "null_ylim",
-      "datapoints", "type"
+      "datapoints", "type", "type_axes_hints"
     )
   )
 
@@ -37,8 +37,9 @@ lim_args = function(settings) {
     xlim = xlim + c(-0.5, 0.5)
   }
 
-  if (null_xlim && !is.null(xaxb) && type != "spineplot") xlim = range(c(xlim, xaxb))
-  if (null_ylim && !is.null(yaxb) && type != "spineplot") ylim = range(c(ylim, yaxb))
+  prop_lim = isTRUE(type_axes_hints[["proportional_lim"]])
+  if (null_xlim && !is.null(xaxb) && !prop_lim) xlim = range(c(xlim, xaxb))
+  if (null_ylim && !is.null(yaxb) && !prop_lim) ylim = range(c(ylim, yaxb))
 
   # update settings
   env2env(
diff --git a/R/tinyplot.R b/R/tinyplot.R
index d21be892..bdd11c7e 100644
--- a/R/tinyplot.R
+++ b/R/tinyplot.R
@@ -869,7 +869,8 @@ tinyplot.default = function(
     group_offsets = NULL,
     offsets_axis  = NULL,
     sub           = sub,
-    type_info     = list() # pass type-specific info from type_data to type_draw
+    type_info     = list(), # pass type-specific info from type_data to type_draw
+    type_axes_hints = NULL  # axes/legend behaviour a type declares for itself
   )
 
   settings = new.env()
@@ -1063,7 +1064,7 @@ tinyplot.default = function(
     # draw their own in the same place (e.g. spineplot category + numeric labels
     # via spine_axis()). Their tick-row margin must still be reserved, else the
     # self-drawn labels clip when xlab/ylab = NA makes label_extent = 0 (#635).
-    .self_axis = identical(type, "spineplot")
+    .self_axis = isTRUE(type_axes_hints[["self_axes"]])
 
     .dyn = c(
       dynmar_side(1, xlab, main = main, sub = sub,
@@ -1157,6 +1158,7 @@ tinyplot.default = function(
         by_dep = by_dep,
         lgnd_labs = lgnd_labs,
         type = type,
+        type_axes_hints = type_axes_hints,
         pch = pch,
         lty = lty,
         lwd = lwd,
@@ -1330,6 +1332,7 @@ tinyplot.default = function(
       sub = sub,
       cap = cap,
       type = type,
+      type_axes_hints = type_axes_hints,
       xlab = xlab,
       x = x, xmax = xmax, xmin = xmin,
       ylab = ylab,
@@ -1361,6 +1364,7 @@ tinyplot.default = function(
       sub = sub,
       cap = cap,
       type = type,
+      type_axes_hints = type_axes_hints,
       xlab = xlab,
       x = datapoints$x, xmax = datapoints$xmax, xmin = datapoints$xmin,
       ylab = ylab,
@@ -1463,7 +1467,9 @@ tinyplot.default = function(
 
       # empty plot flag
       empty_plot = FALSE
-      if (isTRUE(empty) || isTRUE(type == "n") || ((length(ix) == 0) && !(type %in% c("histogram", "hist", "rect", "segments", "spineplot")))) {
+      draws_empty = type %in% c("histogram", "hist", "rect", "segments") ||
+        isTRUE(type_axes_hints[["draw_empty_facet"]])
+      if (isTRUE(empty) || isTRUE(type == "n") || ((length(ix) == 0) && !draws_empty)) {
         empty_plot = TRUE
       }
 
diff --git a/R/type_spineplot.R b/R/type_spineplot.R
index bca7aebf..e2ef915b 100644
--- a/R/type_spineplot.R
+++ b/R/type_spineplot.R
@@ -283,11 +283,24 @@ data_spineplot = function(off = NULL, breaks = NULL, xlevels = xlevels, ylevels
         settings$legend_args[["pt.lwd"]] = settings$legend_args[["pt.lwd"]] %||% 0
         settings$legend_args[["y.intersp"]] = settings$legend_args[["y.intersp"]] %||% 1.25
         settings$legend_args[["seg.len"]] = settings$legend_args[["seg.len"]] %||% 1.25
-        
+
+        # Declare this type's axes/legend behaviour so the main pipeline can read
+        # semantic flags instead of hardcoding `type == "spineplot"` checks.
+        # A spineplot suppresses the standard axes (xaxt/yaxt = "n") because it
+        # draws its own (category + numeric labels, plus a secondary RHS axis)
+        # via spine_axis(), and uses proportional [0, 1] limits.
+        type_axes_hints = list(
+          self_axes            = TRUE, # draws own tick-row axes despite xaxt/yaxt = "n"
+          rhs_axis             = TRUE, # secondary right-hand axis (reserve margin)
+          proportional_lim     = TRUE, # [0, 1] limits; don't expand to axis breaks
+          legend_fill_from_col = TRUE, # legend swatch pt.bg defaults from col
+          draw_empty_facet     = TRUE  # can draw with zero per-group rows
+        )
+
         env2env(environment(), settings, c(
           "x", "y", "ymin", "ymax", "xmin", "xmax", "col", "bg", "datapoints",
           "by", "facet", "axes", "frame.plot", "xaxt", "yaxt", "xaxs", "yaxs",
-          "ylabs", "type_info", "facet.args"
+          "ylabs", "type_info", "facet.args", "type_axes_hints"
         ))
         
     }
diff --git a/man/build_legend_env.Rd b/man/build_legend_env.Rd
index 684e30d2..b3e21904 100644
--- a/man/build_legend_env.Rd
+++ b/man/build_legend_env.Rd
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ build_legend_env(
   lgnd_labs,
   labeller = NULL,
   type,
+  type_axes_hints = NULL,
   pch,
   lty,
   lwd,
diff --git a/man/draw_legend.Rd b/man/draw_legend.Rd
index c9b16353..6709c821 100644
--- a/man/draw_legend.Rd
+++ b/man/draw_legend.Rd
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ draw_legend(
   lgnd_labs = NULL,
   labeller = NULL,
   type = NULL,
+  type_axes_hints = NULL,
   pch = NULL,
   lty = NULL,
   lwd = NULL,
@@ -43,6 +44,10 @@ Passed down to \code{\link{tinylabel}}.}
 
 \item{type}{Plotting type(s), passed down from \link{tinyplot}.}
 
+\item{type_axes_hints}{Optional named list of axes/legend behaviour flags that
+a plot type declares for itself (e.g. \code{rhs_axis} for a secondary right-hand
+axis). Passed down from \link{tinyplot}; defaults to \code{NULL}.}
+
 \item{pch}{Plotting character(s), passed down from \link{tinyplot}.}
 
 \item{lty}{Plotting linetype(s), passed down from \link{tinyplot}.}
diff --git a/man/facet.Rd b/man/facet.Rd
index 1be2b97f..03f663d3 100644
--- a/man/facet.Rd
+++ b/man/facet.Rd
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ draw_facet_window(
   sub,
   cap,
   type,
+  type_axes_hints = NULL,
   xlab,
   x,
   xmax,