diff --git a/‎.changeset/20825-cli-picklist-kind.md‎
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diff --git a/‎packages/cli/src/commands/compile.ts‎
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diff --git a/‎packages/cli/src/commands/validate.ts‎
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diff --git a/‎packages/cli/src/utils/picklist-references.test.ts‎
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@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+---
+'@objectstack/cli': minor
+'@objectstack/lint': patch
+---
+
+feat(cli)!: `objectstack validate` and `objectstack build` refuse a field whose `picklist` names no picklist the stack declares, and lint R8 counts `picklist` as an options source (#20825)
+
+Clause-②: no (narrowing — `objectstack validate` / `objectstack build` newly refuse a field `picklist` that names no picklist the stack declares; the R8 change removes a false-positive warning and widens no accept set of its own)
+
+<!-- adr-0087: not-required (no-migration-prescription) Nothing authorable changes spelling or type: `packages/spec` is untouched, and `Field.picklist` stays the snake_case name it was. What changes is that two authoring commands now refuse one authored shape, a field whose `picklist` names no picklist in the stack. `objectstack migrate meta` could not rewrite that shape even in principle, because which list the author meant is not in the metadata. Nothing here judges a stored row. -->
+
+**BREAKING** — an accept-set narrowing on two authoring commands, shipped as
+`minor` under the launch-window convention. A stack with a select field whose
+`picklist` names no picklist the stack declares — `picklist: 'industy'` beside a
+`picklists: [{ name: 'industry', … }]` — used to pass `objectstack validate` and
+`objectstack build` (which wrote the artifact). Both now exit 1 and name the field
+and the list it names (`picklist-reference-unknown`).
+**One-line fix:** correct `picklist` to a list the stack declares, or declare the
+list it names (`picklists: [{ name, label, options }]`, or a `*.picklist.ts` file the
+stack imports).
+
+**Which references are judged.** The ones the load path registers: the top-level
+`objects` and `objectExtensions` of a one-package stack, or each `packages[]`
+entry's own. A reference resolves against every picklist the stack declares,
+including one a sibling package in the same artifact owns.
+
+**A list from a package outside the stack is reported, not refused.** When the
+package declaring the field lists a `manifest.dependencies` entry the stack does not
+carry, the list may live there, and these commands cannot read it. That reference is
+an `info` notice (`picklist-reference-unverified`) in `warnings` and on the console,
+naming the field, the list and the dependencies — never a failure, not even under
+`--strict`.
+
+**Lint R8 (`field/select-missing-options`)** no longer reports a select, multiselect
+or radio field that names a `picklist`: the picklist is its options source. The
+warning it used to give pointed at `options`, which a field naming a `picklist`
+cannot add — the field schema refuses the two together. A select with neither still
+warns, and its fix now names both sources as alternatives.
@@ -64,6 +64,9 @@ import type { PermissionSetNameCollisionDiagnostic } from '@objectstack/plugin-s
 // [#20393] The boot registrar's divergent view-container `name` refusal — the
 // walk `os validate` step 2c runs, over `@objectstack/objectql`'s one judge.
 import { findViewContainerNameRefusals } from '../utils/view-container-names.js';
+// A field `picklist` that names no picklist the stack declares — the walk
+// `os validate` step 2d runs, over the same judge.
+import { judgePicklistReferences, printPicklistReferenceNotices } from '../utils/picklist-references.js';
 
 export default class Compile extends Command {
   static override description = 'Compile ObjectStack configuration to JSON artifact';
@@ -178,6 +181,13 @@ export default class Compile extends Command {
     // computes the identical record so the residue pin holds, and it reports
     // without ever refusing. Appended LAST, in `os validate`'s order.
     let jsxGateNotices: ReturnType<typeof resolveJsxGateManifest>['notices'] = [];
+    // The `info` records of a field `picklist` reference that resolves nowhere
+    // in the stack while the declaring package depends on packages outside it
+    // (step 3a-bis). A member of `warningsSoFar()`, ⛔ not a payload key, for
+    // the reasons the three lists above record: it reports without refusing,
+    // and `os validate` computes the identical records. Appended LAST, in
+    // `os validate`'s order.
+    let picklistReferenceNotices: ReturnType<typeof judgePicklistReferences>['notices'] = [];
     const warningsSoFar = () => [
       ...ruleAdvisories,
       ...docWarnings,
@@ -186,6 +196,7 @@ export default class Compile extends Command {
       ...navGroupWarnings,
       ...permissionSetCollisionWarnings,
       ...jsxGateNotices,
+      ...picklistReferenceNotices,
     ];
     // [#18780] ONE rendering of the author-time advisory block, from the
     // COMPLETE list — hoisted here for the same reason the lists above are.
@@ -448,6 +459,36 @@ export default class Compile extends Command {
         this.exit(1);
       }
 
+      // 3a-bis. A field `picklist` that names no picklist the stack declares is
+      //     REFUSED — the SAME call `os validate` makes at its step 2d, so the
+      //     two doors cannot disagree about which references resolve. Without
+      //     it this door wrote the artifact carrying the misspelt reference, and
+      //     the command that ships shipped a choice with nothing to choose.
+      //
+      //     A reference the stack cannot resolve while the declaring package
+      //     depends on packages outside the stack is an `info` notice instead
+      //     (see `utils/picklist-references.ts`): the list may live there, and
+      //     this command cannot read it. Printed here, carried in
+      //     `warningsSoFar()`, never gating.
+      //
+      //     Right after the parse and ahead of every artifact write, like 3a.
+      //     The `--json` face is 3a's envelope (`errors`); the text face is
+      //     `os validate`'s.
+      const picklistJudgement = judgePicklistReferences(result.data as Record<string, unknown>);
+      picklistReferenceNotices = [...picklistJudgement.notices];
+      if (!flags.json) printPicklistReferenceNotices(picklistReferenceNotices);
+      if (picklistJudgement.refusals.length > 0) {
+        if (flags.json) {
+          await emitJson({ success: false, errors: picklistJudgement.refusals, warnings: warningsSoFar(), conversions: conversionNotices }, 0, { compact: true });
+          this.exit(1);
+        }
+        const n = picklistJudgement.refusals.length;
+        console.log('');
+        printError(`A field names a picklist this stack does not declare (${n} reference${n > 1 ? 's' : ''})`);
+        printAuthoringRuleErrors(picklistJudgement.refusals, { remedy: JSON_FULL_LIST_REMEDY });
+        this.exit(1);
+      }
+
       // 3b. The author-time rule registry (#4409) — one table, three commands.
       //     `os build` was the WEAKEST of the three authoring gates before it:
       //     it published stacks `os validate` or `os lint` refuse, because the
 
@@ -64,6 +64,10 @@ import type { PermissionSetNameCollisionDiagnostic } from '@objectstack/plugin-s
 // over the parsed stack the way the load path registers it. The verdict is
 // `@objectstack/objectql`'s; see the module header.
 import { findViewContainerNameRefusals } from '../utils/view-container-names.js';
+// A field `picklist` that names no picklist the stack declares — refused, or
+// reported when the declaring package depends on packages outside the stack.
+// Walked the way the load path registers, like the refusal above.
+import { judgePicklistReferences, printPicklistReferenceNotices } from '../utils/picklist-references.js';
 
 export default class Validate extends Command {
   static override description =
@@ -166,6 +170,13 @@ export default class Validate extends Command {
     // of a project without a manifest is unchanged on both faces. `os compile`
     // computes the identical record, so the residue pin keeps holding.
     let jsxGateNotices: ReturnType<typeof resolveJsxGateManifest>['notices'] = [];
+    // The `info` records of a field `picklist` reference that resolves nowhere
+    // in the stack while the declaring package depends on packages outside it
+    // (step 2d). Same class as the notice above — reports, never refuses, and
+    // is NOT in the `warnings` list `--strict` reads: the reference may be
+    // right, and `--strict` failing on it would refuse a correct stack. `os
+    // compile` computes the identical records, so the residue pin keeps holding.
+    let picklistReferenceNotices: ReturnType<typeof judgePicklistReferences>['notices'] = [];
     const warningsSoFar = () => [
       ...ruleAdvisories,
       ...docWarnings,
@@ -184,6 +195,8 @@ export default class Validate extends Command {
       ...permissionSetCollisionWarnings,
       // [#20113] APPENDED for the same reason, one member later again.
       ...jsxGateNotices,
+      // APPENDED for the same reason, one member later again.
+      ...picklistReferenceNotices,
     ];
     // [commit 79cf692b0] The ADR-0087 D2 conversion notices, hoisted for the SAME reason
     // and under the SAME ruling as the five lists above — one field over. The
@@ -407,6 +420,46 @@ export default class Validate extends Command {
         this.exit(1);
       }
 
+      // 2d. A field `picklist` that names no picklist the stack declares is
+      //     REFUSED, naming the field and the list. `FieldSchema` judges the
+      //     name's spelling only, so a misspelt reference parsed, passed this
+      //     door at exit 0 and reached the runtime as a choice with nothing to
+      //     choose — the silence a NAMED list exists to remove.
+      //
+      //     The walk is the load path's (see `utils/picklist-references.ts`):
+      //     each `packages[]` body's fields, or the top level's when there is
+      //     no `packages[]`, resolved against every picklist the stack declares.
+      //     A reference that resolves nowhere is refused only when the
+      //     declaring package depends on no package outside the stack; when it
+      //     does, the list may live there, and this command cannot read it — so
+      //     that case is an `info` notice, printed here and carried in
+      //     `warningsSoFar()`, never gating.
+      //
+      //     Right after the parse, ahead of the rule table, for the reason
+      //     step 2c gives. `os build` runs the same call at its step 3a-bis.
+      const picklistJudgement = judgePicklistReferences(result.data as Record<string, unknown>);
+      picklistReferenceNotices = [...picklistJudgement.notices];
+      if (!flags.json) printPicklistReferenceNotices(picklistReferenceNotices);
+      if (picklistJudgement.refusals.length > 0) {
+        if (flags.json) {
+          await emitJson({
+            valid: false,
+            errors: picklistJudgement.refusals,
+            // Every exit carries the lists the run has computed so far — the
+            // pre-parse ones and the notices above.
+            warnings: warningsSoFar(),
+            conversions: conversionNotices,
+            duration: timer.elapsed(),
+          });
+          this.exit(1);
+        }
+        const n = picklistJudgement.refusals.length;
+        console.log('');
+        printError(`A field names a picklist this stack does not declare (${n} reference${n > 1 ? 's' : ''})`);
+        printAuthoringRuleErrors(picklistJudgement.refusals, { remedy: JSON_FULL_LIST_REMEDY });
+        this.exit(1);
+      }
+
       // 3. The author-time rule registry (#4409). Every rule the three authoring
       //    commands share — expressions, view shape, widget/action/filter/name
       //    references, SDUI styling, page sources, security posture, the CLI's
 
@@ -0,0 +1,172 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+
+/**
+ * `judgePicklistReferences` — the walk `os validate` (step 2d) and `os build`
+ * (step 3a-bis) run over a field's `picklist` reference.
+ *
+ * Pinned here: which references are judged (the load path's reading — the top
+ * level when there is no `packages[]`, each body's own otherwise), what they
+ * resolve against (every picklist the stack declares), and which of the two
+ * verdicts an unresolved one gets (refused when the declaring package depends
+ * on nothing outside the stack; an `info` notice when it does). Asserted by
+ * rule id, severity, the field named in `where`, the list named in `message`
+ * and the `path` — never by the sentence around them.
+ */
+
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import {
+  judgePicklistReferences,
+  PICKLIST_REFERENCE_UNKNOWN,
+  PICKLIST_REFERENCE_UNVERIFIED,
+} from './picklist-references.js';
+
+const manifest = (id: string, extra: Record<string, unknown> = {}) => ({
+  id, name: id, version: '1.0.0', type: 'app', ...extra,
+});
+
+const industry = {
+  name: 'industry',
+  label: 'Industry',
+  options: [{ label: 'Technology', value: 'technology' }],
+};
+
+const account = (picklist: string) => ({
+  name: 'pk_account',
+  label: 'Account',
+  fields: {
+    name: { type: 'text', label: 'Name' },
+    industry: { type: 'select', label: 'Industry', picklist },
+  },
+});
+
+describe('judgePicklistReferences — a one-package stack', () => {
+  it('CONTROL: a field naming a picklist the stack declares is neither refused nor reported', () => {
+    expect(judgePicklistReferences({
+      manifest: manifest('com.example.pk'),
+      picklists: [industry],
+      objects: [account('industry')],
+    })).toEqual({ refusals: [], notices: [] });
+  });
+
+  it('CONTROL: a select with inline options and no `picklist` is not this judge\'s business', () => {
+    expect(judgePicklistReferences({
+      manifest: manifest('com.example.pk'),
+      objects: [{
+        name: 'pk_account',
+        fields: { tier: { type: 'select', options: [{ label: 'Gold', value: 'gold' }] } },
+      }],
+    })).toEqual({ refusals: [], notices: [] });
+  });
+
+  it('refuses a `picklist` that names no picklist in the stack, naming the field and the list', () => {
+    const { refusals, notices } = judgePicklistReferences({
+      manifest: manifest('com.example.pk'),
+      picklists: [industry],
+      objects: [account('industy')],
+    });
+    expect(notices).toEqual([]);
+    expect(refusals).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(refusals[0]).toMatchObject({
+      severity: 'error',
+      rule: PICKLIST_REFERENCE_UNKNOWN,
+      where: 'field "pk_account.industry"',
+      path: 'objects[0].fields.industry.picklist',
+    });
+    expect(refusals[0].message).toContain("'industy'");
+    // The lists it could have meant are named, so the typo is visible.
+    expect(refusals[0].message).toContain("'industry'");
+  });
+
+  it('refuses a dangling reference in a stack that declares no picklist at all', () => {
+    const { refusals } = judgePicklistReferences({
+      manifest: manifest('com.example.pk'),
+      objects: [account('industry')],
+    });
+    expect(refusals.map((r) => r.rule)).toEqual([PICKLIST_REFERENCE_UNKNOWN]);
+  });
+
+  it('judges the fields an `objectExtensions` entry merges into its target too', () => {
+    const { refusals } = judgePicklistReferences({
+      manifest: manifest('com.example.pk'),
+      picklists: [industry],
+      objectExtensions: [{ extend: 'crm_account', fields: { segment: { type: 'select', picklist: 'segment' } } }],
+    });
+    expect(refusals).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(refusals[0]).toMatchObject({
+      where: 'field "crm_account.segment"',
+      path: 'objectExtensions[0].fields.segment.picklist',
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('REPORTS, never refuses, when the stack depends on a package it does not carry', () => {
+    const { refusals, notices } = judgePicklistReferences({
+      manifest: manifest('com.example.pk', { dependencies: { 'com.acme.crm': '^1.0.0' } }),
+      objects: [account('industry')],
+    });
+    expect(refusals).toEqual([]);
+    expect(notices).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(notices[0]).toMatchObject({
+      severity: 'info',
+      rule: PICKLIST_REFERENCE_UNVERIFIED,
+      path: 'objects[0].fields.industry.picklist',
+    });
+    // The notice is printed without its `where`, so it names the field, the
+    // list and the dependency it could not read.
+    expect(notices[0].message).toContain('pk_account.industry');
+    expect(notices[0].message).toContain("'industry'");
+    expect(notices[0].message).toContain("'com.acme.crm'");
+  });
+});
+
+describe('judgePicklistReferences — a `packages[]` stack', () => {
+  it('resolves a picklist a SIBLING package in the same artifact declares', () => {
+    expect(judgePicklistReferences({
+      packages: [
+        { manifest: { ...manifest('com.example.core'), picklists: [industry] } },
+        {
+          manifest: {
+            ...manifest('com.example.orders', { dependencies: { 'com.example.core': '^1.0.0' } }),
+            objects: [account('industry')],
+          },
+        },
+      ],
+    })).toEqual({ refusals: [], notices: [] });
+  });
+
+  it('refuses when every declared dependency is inside the artifact — none of them declares the list', () => {
+    const { refusals, notices } = judgePicklistReferences({
+      packages: [
+        { manifest: { ...manifest('com.example.core'), picklists: [industry] } },
+        {
+          manifest: {
+            ...manifest('com.example.orders', { dependencies: { 'com.example.core': '^1.0.0' } }),
+            objects: [account('region')],
+          },
+        },
+      ],
+    });
+    expect(notices).toEqual([]);
+    expect(refusals).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(refusals[0]).toMatchObject({
+      rule: PICKLIST_REFERENCE_UNKNOWN,
+      path: 'packages[1].manifest.objects[0].fields.industry.picklist',
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('reads the declaring package\'s OWN dependencies: an outside dependency of a sibling does not soften it', () => {
+    const { refusals, notices } = judgePicklistReferences({
+      packages: [
+        { manifest: { ...manifest('com.example.core', { dependencies: { 'com.acme.crm': '^1.0.0' } }) } },
+        { manifest: { ...manifest('com.example.orders'), objects: [account('region')] } },
+        {
+          manifest: {
+            ...manifest('com.example.billing', { dependencies: { 'com.acme.crm': '^1.0.0' } }),
+            objects: [account('segment')],
+          },
+        },
+      ],
+    });
+    expect(refusals.map((r) => r.path)).toEqual(['packages[1].manifest.objects[0].fields.industry.picklist']);
+    expect(notices.map((n) => n.path)).toEqual(['packages[2].manifest.objects[0].fields.industry.picklist']);
+  });
+});