diff --git a/.changeset/19518-picklist-kind.md b/.changeset/19518-picklist-kind.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..01dae8d8f13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/19518-picklist-kind.md
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+---
+'@objectstack/spec': minor
+'@objectstack/platform-objects': patch
+'@objectstack/cli': patch
+'@objectstack/driver-sql': patch
+---
+
+feat(spec): the `picklist` metadata kind — a shared option list that select fields reference by name (#19518)
+
+Clause-②: yes (widening)
+
+- **The kind.** `PicklistSchema` — `{ name, label, description?, options }`, where `options` is the field option shape (`SelectOptionSchema`) reused as is. Authored in a package as `*.picklist.ts` (`definePicklist`) or `defineStack({ picklists })`. It is a registered kind (`MetadataTypeSchema`, `DEFAULT_METADATA_TYPE_REGISTRY`, `getMetadataTypeSchema('picklist')`) that loads before `object`. It is package-owned, so a runtime create or a per-organization overlay is refused.
+- **The reference.** `Field.select({ picklist: 'industry' })` adds a `picklist` key to `FieldSchema`. It is valid on the option types only (select, radio, multiselect, checkboxes, tags). A field that declares both `picklist` and `options` is refused at `options`, with a prescription. The functional-completeness predicate counts a `picklist` reference as the field's option source.
+- **The served shape.** `PicklistServedFieldSchema` declares what a client reads for a picklist-bound field: the resolved `options` next to the `picklist` that names the list. This release does not resolve the reference. Until the runtime does, a picklist-bound field is served without options, and the liveness ledger grades the key `planned` and warns an author who writes it.
+- **Extensions.** `defineStack({ picklistExtensions: [{ extend, options }] })` adds options to a picklist that another package owns. It can only add; removing or renaming a value stays with the owning package.
+- **Translation.** `TranslationData` gains `picklists.<name>.{ label?, options: { value: label } }`. `translatePicklist` translates a served picklist item. `translateObject` gives a picklist-bound field the list's option labels, and a field-level `options` entry still wins over them.
+- **Studio type label.** `@objectstack/platform-objects` carries the `picklist` type's label and description in its metadata-forms translation bundles (en, zh-CN, ja-JP, es-ES).
+- **Extraction.** `os i18n extract` walks `picklists.NAME.{label, options.VALUE}`, including an extension's options under the list it extends, and `os lint` reports an untranslated option under its own rule, `i18n/missing-picklist`.
+- **SQL driver.** The SQL driver classifies the `picklist` field key as presentation, so it adds no column.
diff --git a/content/docs/concepts/metadata-lifecycle.mdx b/content/docs/concepts/metadata-lifecycle.mdx
index b1c83195238..404ea75dd97 100644
--- a/content/docs/concepts/metadata-lifecycle.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/concepts/metadata-lifecycle.mdx
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ In shared-database multi-tenancy, **most metadata types must not be per-org cust
 | `datasource` | ❌ | Connection strings; multi-tenant isolation is enforced at a higher layer. (`allowRuntimeCreate: true` — the datasource wizard persists `origin: 'runtime'` rows.) |
 | `job` | ❌ | **Also `allowRuntimeCreate: false` since protocol 17** (#4509). `JobSchema.handler` names a function in the compiled bundle's function table, which a runtime writer has no way to reach — so a job created in Studio or through `PUT /meta` parsed, saved, reported success and was never scheduled. The door is closed rather than bridged: `job` stays first-class through `*.job.ts` / `defineStack({ jobs, functions })`, where every schedule shape, `retryPolicy` and `timeout` does reach the scheduler. Existing rows are untouched — they were never scheduled — and `migrateStoredMetadata` reports them `skipped`. |
 
-Those five are the **complete** `allowOrgOverride: true` set: of the 27 types in `DEFAULT_METADATA_TYPE_REGISTRY`, every other one is `false`. The ❌ rows above are the `false` types whose *second* tier (`allowRuntimeCreate`) is worth calling out; any type not listed is `allowOrgOverride: false`.
+Those five are the **complete** `allowOrgOverride: true` set: of the 28 types in `DEFAULT_METADATA_TYPE_REGISTRY`, every other one is `false`. The ❌ rows above are the `false` types whose *second* tier (`allowRuntimeCreate`) is worth calling out; any type not listed is `allowOrgOverride: false`.
 
 There is no `workflow` metadata type (per [ADR-0020](https://github.com/objectstack-ai/objectstack/blob/main/docs/adr/0020-state-machine-converge-and-enforce.md), record state machines are a `state_machine` validation). Nor is there a standalone `validation` type any more — it was retired in protocol 17 under [ADR-0088](https://github.com/objectstack-ai/objectstack/blob/main/docs/adr/0088-metadata-kind-admission-and-retirement.md) because `ValidationRuleSchema` carries no object-binding key, so a rule authored through that door could never say what it protected; author rules in the object's own `validations[]` instead. The runtime gate is implemented in `OVERLAY_ALLOWED_TYPES` (derived from the registry) and enforced by `SysMetadataRepository.put()`.
 
diff --git a/content/docs/getting-started/quick-reference.mdx b/content/docs/getting-started/quick-reference.mdx
index be80856bddc..c3f2179f90f 100644
--- a/content/docs/getting-started/quick-reference.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/getting-started/quick-reference.mdx
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ Categories that have no section here at all are named under
 [Categories Without a Section](#categories-without-a-section) — that curation is stated,
 not left implicit.
 
-## Data Protocol (16 of 29 schemas)
+## Data Protocol (16 of 30 schemas)
 
 Core business logic and data modeling schemas.
 
diff --git a/content/docs/references/api/metadata.mdx b/content/docs/references/api/metadata.mdx
index b43699d486e..989028c19a7 100644
--- a/content/docs/references/api/metadata.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/references/api/metadata.mdx
@@ -648,7 +648,7 @@ Metadata query with filtering, sorting, and pagination
 
 | Property | Type | Required | Description |
 | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
-| **types** | `Enum<'object' \| 'field' \| 'hook' \| 'seed' \| 'mapping' \| 'view' \| 'page' \| 'dashboard' \| 'app' \| 'action' \| 'report' \| 'dataset' \| 'flow' \| 'job' \| 'datasource' \| 'external_catalog' \| 'translation' \| 'api' \| 'email_template' \| 'doc' \| 'book' \| 'permission' \| 'position' \| 'capability' \| 'agent' \| 'tool' \| 'skill'>[]` | optional | Filter by metadata types |
+| **types** | `Enum<'object' \| 'field' \| 'hook' \| 'seed' \| 'mapping' \| 'picklist' \| 'view' \| 'page' \| 'dashboard' \| 'app' \| 'action' \| 'report' \| 'dataset' \| 'flow' \| 'job' \| 'datasource' \| 'external_catalog' \| 'translation' \| 'api' \| 'email_template' \| 'doc' \| 'book' \| 'permission' \| 'position' \| 'capability' \| 'agent' \| 'tool' \| 'skill'>[]` | optional | Filter by metadata types |
 | **namespaces** | `string[]` | optional | Filter by namespaces |
 | **packageId** | `string` | optional | Filter by owning package |
 | **search** | `string` | optional | Full-text search query |
@@ -715,7 +715,7 @@ Metadata query with filtering, sorting, and pagination
 
 | Property | Type | Required | Description |
 | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
-| **type** | `Enum<'object' \| 'field' \| 'hook' \| 'seed' \| 'mapping' \| 'view' \| 'page' \| 'dashboard' \| 'app' \| 'action' \| 'report' \| 'dataset' \| 'flow' \| 'job' \| 'datasource' \| … +12 more>` | ✅ | Metadata type |
+| **type** | `Enum<'object' \| 'field' \| 'hook' \| 'seed' \| 'mapping' \| 'picklist' \| 'view' \| 'page' \| 'dashboard' \| 'app' \| 'action' \| 'report' \| 'dataset' \| 'flow' \| 'job' \| … +13 more>` | ✅ | Metadata type |
 | **name** | `string` | ✅ | Item name (snake_case) |
 | **data** | `Record<string, any>` | ✅ | Metadata payload |
 | **namespace** | `string` | optional | Optional namespace |
@@ -727,6 +727,7 @@ Metadata query with filtering, sorting, and pagination
 * `hook`
 * `seed`
 * `mapping`
+* `picklist`
 * `view`
 * `page`
 * `dashboard`
diff --git a/content/docs/references/api/package-api-assembled.mdx b/content/docs/references/api/package-api-assembled.mdx
index e64a6d72ed2..135ca190284 100644
--- a/content/docs/references/api/package-api-assembled.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/references/api/package-api-assembled.mdx
@@ -110,8 +110,10 @@ Installed package row whose manifest is the assembled package body
 | **integrity** | `Record<string, string>` | optional | Per-file content digests of the plugin artifact (ADR-0025 §3.2) |
 | **functions** | `Record<string, string \| { handler?: string; effect?: Enum<'pure' \| 'writes'> }> \| { name: string; handler?: string; packageId?: string; effect?: Enum<'pure' \| 'writes'> }[]` | optional | Named handler functions, lowered to the refs a JSON document carries |
 | **datasourceMapping** | `{ namespace?: string; package?: string; objectPattern?: string; default?: boolean; … }[]` | optional | Centralized datasource routing rules for packages/namespaces/objects |
-| **translations** | `Record<string, { objects?: Record<string, object>; apps?: Record<string, object>; messages?: Record<string, string>; globalActions?: Record<string, object>; … }>[]` | optional | I18n Translation Bundles |
+| **translations** | `Record<string, { objects?: Record<string, object>; picklists?: Record<string, object>; apps?: Record<string, object>; messages?: Record<string, string>; … }>[]` | optional | I18n Translation Bundles |
 | **objectExtensions** | `{ extend: string; fields?: Record<string, object>; label?: string; pluralLabel?: string; … }[]` | optional | Extensions to objects owned by other packages |
+| **picklists** | `{ name: string; label: string; description?: string; options: object[]; … }[]` | optional | Shared option lists that select fields reference by name |
+| **picklistExtensions** | `{ extend: string; options: object[] }[]` | optional | Options added to picklists owned by other packages (additive only) |
 | **apps** | `{ name: string; label: string \| Record<string, string>; description?: string \| Record<string, string>; icon?: string; … }[]` | optional | Applications |
 | **views** | `{ name?: string; label?: string \| Record<string, string>; object?: string; list?: object; … }[]` | optional | List Views |
 | **viewItems** | `never` | optional | [MACHINE-ASSEMBLED] Non-container view artifacts of a runtime-assembled manifest (standalone ViewItems, flattened overlays) — written by package export and artifact factories, refused in authored stack sources. |
@@ -352,8 +354,10 @@ Installed package row whose manifest is the assembled package body
 | **integrity** | `Record<string, string>` | optional | Per-file content digests of the plugin artifact (ADR-0025 §3.2) |
 | **functions** | `Record<string, string \| { handler?: string; effect?: Enum<'pure' \| 'writes'> }> \| { name: string; handler?: string; packageId?: string; effect?: Enum<'pure' \| 'writes'> }[]` | optional | Named handler functions, lowered to the refs a JSON document carries |
 | **datasourceMapping** | `{ namespace?: string; package?: string; objectPattern?: string; default?: boolean; … }[]` | optional | Centralized datasource routing rules for packages/namespaces/objects |
-| **translations** | `Record<string, { objects?: Record<string, object>; apps?: Record<string, object>; messages?: Record<string, string>; globalActions?: Record<string, object>; … }>[]` | optional | I18n Translation Bundles |
+| **translations** | `Record<string, { objects?: Record<string, object>; picklists?: Record<string, object>; apps?: Record<string, object>; messages?: Record<string, string>; … }>[]` | optional | I18n Translation Bundles |
 | **objectExtensions** | `{ extend: string; fields?: Record<string, object>; label?: string; pluralLabel?: string; … }[]` | optional | Extensions to objects owned by other packages |
+| **picklists** | `{ name: string; label: string; description?: string; options: object[]; … }[]` | optional | Shared option lists that select fields reference by name |
+| **picklistExtensions** | `{ extend: string; options: object[] }[]` | optional | Options added to picklists owned by other packages (additive only) |
 | **apps** | `{ name: string; label: string \| Record<string, string>; description?: string \| Record<string, string>; icon?: string; … }[]` | optional | Applications |
 | **views** | `{ name?: string; label?: string \| Record<string, string>; object?: string; list?: object; … }[]` | optional | List Views |
 | **viewItems** | `never` | optional | [MACHINE-ASSEMBLED] Non-container view artifacts of a runtime-assembled manifest (standalone ViewItems, flattened overlays) — written by package export and artifact factories, refused in authored stack sources. |
diff --git a/content/docs/references/api/protocol.mdx b/content/docs/references/api/protocol.mdx
index d5bc433fec7..5659f9bb66b 100644
--- a/content/docs/references/api/protocol.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/references/api/protocol.mdx
@@ -1602,13 +1602,14 @@ The published metadata item body, opaque by ruling (1C). Shape is the item's own
 | Property | Type | Required | Description |
 | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
 | **locale** | `string` | ✅ | Locale code |
-| **translations** | `{ objects?: Record<string, object>; apps?: Record<string, object>; messages?: Record<string, string>; globalActions?: Record<string, object>; … }` | ✅ | Translation data |
+| **translations** | `{ objects?: Record<string, object>; picklists?: Record<string, object>; apps?: Record<string, object>; messages?: Record<string, string>; … }` | ✅ | Translation data |
 
 ### Nested Shape: `GetTranslationsResponse.translations`
 
 | Property | Type | Required | Description |
 | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
 | **objects** | `Record<string, { label?: string; pluralLabel?: string; description?: string; fields?: Record<string, object>; … }>` | optional | Object translations keyed by object name |
+| **picklists** | `Record<string, { label?: string; options: Record<string, string> }>` | optional | Picklist translations keyed by picklist name |
 | **apps** | `Record<string, { label: string; description?: string; navigation?: Record<string, object> }>` | optional | App translations keyed by app name |
 | **messages** | `Record<string, string>` | optional | UI message translations keyed by message ID |
 | **globalActions** | `Record<string, { label?: string; description?: string; confirmText?: string; successMessage?: string; … }>` | optional | Global action translations keyed by action name |
diff --git a/content/docs/references/data/field.mdx b/content/docs/references/data/field.mdx
index 7bf37a00043..9f3a3af0d9a 100644
--- a/content/docs/references/data/field.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/references/data/field.mdx
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ const result = CurrencyConfigSchema.parse(data);
 | **accept** | `string[]` | optional | Permitted upload types for media fields, as MIME types or extensions (e.g. ["image/*", ".pdf"]). Offered to the file picker AND enforced on write. |
 | **maxSize** | `integer` | optional | Maximum permitted file size in BYTES for media fields. Enforced on write against the stored file size, not just checked in the browser. |
 | **options** | `{ label: string; value: string; description?: string; color?: string; … }[]` | optional | Static options for select/multiselect |
+| **picklist** | `string` | optional | Name of a shared `picklist` whose options this field offers — instead of `options`, never with it. Option types only (select, radio, multiselect, checkboxes, tags). The server resolves the reference: the field clients read carries the resolved `options`. |
 | **reference** | `string` | optional | Target object name (snake_case) for lookup/master_detail fields. Required for relationship types. Used by $expand to resolve foreign key IDs into full objects. On a `tree` field it is optional and, if given, must be the declaring object's own name — the object schema refuses any other target. |
 | **referenceVia** | `string` | optional | Declares this text field as the id half of a polymorphic pointer pair (ADR-0052 §5 ActivityPointer): the value is a record id of the object named by the SIBLING FIELD this key names — e.g. `record_id` with `referenceVia: 'object_name'`. The sibling must be a declared field on the same object holding an object machine name. Text fields only; mutually exclusive with `reference` (a static and a per-record target contradict). Enforced today at seed load: the value resolves as a natural key against the object the sibling column names, and an unresolvable pointer is refused loudly instead of stored verbatim. Adds no referential integrity or $expand behavior. |
 | **deleteBehavior** | `Enum<'set_null' \| 'cascade' \| 'restrict'>` | optional (default: `"set_null"`) | What happens if referenced record is deleted |
diff --git a/content/docs/references/data/index.mdx b/content/docs/references/data/index.mdx
index 543ec10bbdf..2388cce913f 100644
--- a/content/docs/references/data/index.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/references/data/index.mdx
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 title: Data Protocol — complete schema reference
 navTitle: Data Protocol
-description: "The ObjectStack Data Protocol in 29 reference pages: every schema in @objectstack/spec with its properties, types, defaults and a TypeScript example."
+description: "The ObjectStack Data Protocol in 30 reference pages: every schema in @objectstack/spec with its properties, types, defaults and a TypeScript example."
 ---
 
 {/* ⚠️  AUTO-GENERATED — DO NOT EDIT. Run build-docs.ts to regenerate. Hand-written docs live in the module folders under content/docs/. */}
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ This section contains all protocol schemas for the data layer of ObjectStack.
   <Card href="/docs/references/data/hook-body" title="Hook Body" description="Source: packages/spec/src/data/hook-body.zod.ts" />
   <Card href="/docs/references/data/mapping" title="Mapping" description="Source: packages/spec/src/data/mapping.zod.ts" />
   <Card href="/docs/references/data/object" title="Object" description="Source: packages/spec/src/data/object.zod.ts" />
+  <Card href="/docs/references/data/picklist" title="Picklist" description="Source: packages/spec/src/data/picklist.zod.ts" />
   <Card href="/docs/references/data/query" title="Query" description="Source: packages/spec/src/data/query.zod.ts" />
   <Card href="/docs/references/data/seed" title="Seed" description="Source: packages/spec/src/data/seed.zod.ts" />
   <Card href="/docs/references/data/seed-loader" title="Seed Loader" description="Source: packages/spec/src/data/seed-loader.zod.ts" />
diff --git a/content/docs/references/data/meta.json b/content/docs/references/data/meta.json
index ec5a53503d9..2d33c427dcc 100644
--- a/content/docs/references/data/meta.json
+++ b/content/docs/references/data/meta.json
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
     "driver-postgres",
     "driver-sqlite",
     "driver-turso",
-    "field-value"
+    "field-value",
+    "picklist"
   ]
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/content/docs/references/data/object.mdx b/content/docs/references/data/object.mdx
index 8c7f36be7ce..d9927849adc 100644
--- a/content/docs/references/data/object.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/references/data/object.mdx
@@ -238,6 +238,7 @@ const result = ApiMethod.parse(data);
 | **accept** | `string[]` | optional | Permitted upload types for media fields, as MIME types or extensions (e.g. ["image/*", ".pdf"]). Offered to the file picker AND enforced on write. |
 | **maxSize** | `integer` | optional | Maximum permitted file size in BYTES for media fields. Enforced on write against the stored file size, not just checked in the browser. |
 | **options** | `{ label: string; value: string; description?: string; color?: string; … }[]` | optional | Static options for select/multiselect |
+| **picklist** | `string` | optional | Name of a shared `picklist` whose options this field offers — instead of `options`, never with it. Option types only (select, radio, multiselect, checkboxes, tags). The server resolves the reference: the field clients read carries the resolved `options`. |
 | **reference** | `string` | optional | Target object name (snake_case) for lookup/master_detail fields. Required for relationship types. Used by $expand to resolve foreign key IDs into full objects. On a `tree` field it is optional and, if given, must be the declaring object's own name — the object schema refuses any other target. |
 | **referenceVia** | `string` | optional | Declares this text field as the id half of a polymorphic pointer pair (ADR-0052 §5 ActivityPointer): the value is a record id of the object named by the SIBLING FIELD this key names — e.g. `record_id` with `referenceVia: 'object_name'`. The sibling must be a declared field on the same object holding an object machine name. Text fields only; mutually exclusive with `reference` (a static and a per-record target contradict). Enforced today at seed load: the value resolves as a natural key against the object the sibling column names, and an unresolvable pointer is refused loudly instead of stored verbatim. Adds no referential integrity or $expand behavior. |
 | **deleteBehavior** | `Enum<'set_null' \| 'cascade' \| 'restrict'>` | optional (default: `"set_null"`) | What happens if referenced record is deleted |
@@ -570,6 +571,7 @@ const result = ApiMethod.parse(data);
 | **accept** | `string[]` | optional | Permitted upload types for media fields, as MIME types or extensions (e.g. ["image/*", ".pdf"]). Offered to the file picker AND enforced on write. |
 | **maxSize** | `integer` | optional | Maximum permitted file size in BYTES for media fields. Enforced on write against the stored file size, not just checked in the browser. |
 | **options** | `{ label: string; value: string; description?: string; color?: string; … }[]` | optional | Static options for select/multiselect |
+| **picklist** | `string` | optional | Name of a shared `picklist` whose options this field offers — instead of `options`, never with it. Option types only (select, radio, multiselect, checkboxes, tags). The server resolves the reference: the field clients read carries the resolved `options`. |
 | **reference** | `string` | optional | Target object name (snake_case) for lookup/master_detail fields. Required for relationship types. Used by $expand to resolve foreign key IDs into full objects. On a `tree` field it is optional and, if given, must be the declaring object's own name — the object schema refuses any other target. |
 | **referenceVia** | `string` | optional | Declares this text field as the id half of a polymorphic pointer pair (ADR-0052 §5 ActivityPointer): the value is a record id of the object named by the SIBLING FIELD this key names — e.g. `record_id` with `referenceVia: 'object_name'`. The sibling must be a declared field on the same object holding an object machine name. Text fields only; mutually exclusive with `reference` (a static and a per-record target contradict). Enforced today at seed load: the value resolves as a natural key against the object the sibling column names, and an unresolvable pointer is refused loudly instead of stored verbatim. Adds no referential integrity or $expand behavior. |
 | **deleteBehavior** | `Enum<'set_null' \| 'cascade' \| 'restrict'>` | optional (default: `"set_null"`) | What happens if referenced record is deleted |
diff --git a/content/docs/references/data/picklist.mdx b/content/docs/references/data/picklist.mdx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..14335c682ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/content/docs/references/data/picklist.mdx
@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+---
+title: Picklist schema — Data Protocol reference
+navTitle: Picklist
+description: "One list of select options that several fields on several objects use, instead of an options array copied into each field."
+---
+
+{/* ⚠️  AUTO-GENERATED — DO NOT EDIT. Run build-docs.ts to regenerate. Hand-written docs live in the module folders under content/docs/. */}
+
+One list of select options that several fields on several objects use,
+instead of an options array copied into each field (Salesforce's Global
+Value Set, Dataverse's global choice). A field REFERENCES it with
+`picklist: '<name>'` in place of `options` — `Field.select({ picklist:
+'industry' })` — and the two are mutually exclusive at the field's schema
+door (see `FieldSchema.picklist`).
+
+Three shapes live here, one per position the list appears in:
+
+- `PicklistSchema` — the kind itself: `{ name, label, description?,
+  options }`, authored in a package (`*.picklist.ts`, or
+  `defineStack({ picklists })`). `options` is the field option shape
+  (`SelectOptionSchema`), reused verbatim — there is no second option
+  shape to learn.
+- `PicklistExtensionSchema` — `defineStack({ picklistExtensions })`,
+  the `objectExtensions` idiom: another package ADDS options to a picklist
+  it does not own. Additive only — removing or renaming a value stays with
+  the owning package, so the shape has no key for either.
+- `PicklistServedFieldSchema` — the served form of a picklist-bound
+  field: what a client reads from the object read exits once the reference
+  is resolved.
+
+Package-owned: the registry entry (`kernel/metadata-plugin.zod.ts`) takes
+no runtime create and no per-organization overlay. An organization-level
+overlay that appends values is a later phase with its own admission, and
+is not declared here.
+
+<Callout type="info">
+**Source:** `packages/spec/src/data/picklist.zod.ts`
+</Callout>
+
+## TypeScript Usage
+
+```typescript
+import { PicklistSchema, PicklistExtensionSchema, PicklistServedFieldSchema } from '@objectstack/spec/data';
+import type { Picklist, PicklistExtension, PicklistServedField } from '@objectstack/spec/data';
+
+// Validate data
+const result = PicklistSchema.parse(data);
+```
+
+---
+
+## Picklist
+
+A shared option list that select fields reference by name instead of copying options
+
+### Properties
+
+| Property | Type | Required | Description |
+| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
+| **name** | `string` | ✅ | Picklist name (lowercase snake_case) — what a field's `picklist` names |
+| **label** | `string` | ✅ | Display label of the list itself |
+| **description** | `string` | optional | What the list enumerates, for authors choosing one |
+| **options** | `{ label: string; value: string; description?: string; color?: string; … }[]` | ✅ | The options every referencing field offers — the field option shape (`label`, `value`, `color`, `default`, `description`, `visibleWhen`), reused verbatim |
+| **_lock** | `Enum<'none' \| 'no-overlay' \| 'no-delete' \| 'full'>` | optional | Item-level lock — controls overlay & delete (ADR-0010). |
+| **_lockReason** | `string` | optional | Human-readable reason shown when a write is refused by _lock. |
+| **_lockSource** | `Enum<'artifact' \| 'package' \| 'env-forced'>` | optional | Layer that set _lock (artifact \| package \| env-forced). |
+| **_provenance** | `Enum<'package' \| 'org' \| 'env-forced'>` | optional | Origin of the item (package \| org \| env-forced). |
+| **_packageId** | `string` | optional | Owning package machine id. |
+| **_packageVersion** | `string` | optional | Owning package version. |
+| **_lockDocsUrl** | `string` | optional | Optional documentation link surfaced next to _lockReason. |
+
+### Nested Shape: `Picklist.options[number]`
+
+| Property | Type | Required | Description |
+| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
+| **label** | `string` | ✅ | Display label (human-readable, any case allowed) |
+| **value** | `string` | ✅ | Stored value (lowercase machine identifier) |
+| **description** | `string` | optional | Optional secondary/help text for this option. Lookup option search matches it in addition to the label; renderers may show it as supporting text. |
+| **color** | `string` | optional | Color code for badges/charts |
+| **default** | `boolean` | optional | Is default option |
+| **visibleWhen** | `string \| { dialect: Enum<'cel' \| 'cron' \| 'template'>; source: string; ast?: any; meta?: object }` | optional | Per-option visibility predicate (CEL) — option is offered only when TRUE (else omitted). Env: the live `record` plus the host predicate scope, which binds `current_user`. The one VISIBILITY predicate the SERVER also enforces — the rule validator refuses a write of a value whose predicate is false — so a user-gated CHOICE belongs here. e.g. P`record.country == 'cn'` or P`'admin' in current_user.positions`. On an OBJECT field's option it reads the record's OWN columns: the server never reads a related record there, so a read THROUGH a reference field (`record.account.tier`) would fault and be admitted unchecked, and `objectstack validate` refuses it — enforce such a restriction with a `validations[]` `script` rule, whose `condition` is read one hop through a reference. |
+
+
+---
+
+## PicklistExtension
+
+Options added to a picklist owned by another package (additive only — the `objectExtensions` idiom)
+
+### Properties
+
+| Property | Type | Required | Description |
+| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
+| **extend** | `string` | ✅ | Name of the picklist (owned by another package) to add options to |
+| **options** | `{ label: string; value: string; description?: string; color?: string; … }[]` | ✅ | Options appended to the target picklist (additive only) |
+
+### Nested Shape: `PicklistExtension.options[number]`
+
+| Property | Type | Required | Description |
+| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
+| **label** | `string` | ✅ | Display label (human-readable, any case allowed) |
+| **value** | `string` | ✅ | Stored value (lowercase machine identifier) |
+| **description** | `string` | optional | Optional secondary/help text for this option. Lookup option search matches it in addition to the label; renderers may show it as supporting text. |
+| **color** | `string` | optional | Color code for badges/charts |
+| **default** | `boolean` | optional | Is default option |
+| **visibleWhen** | `string \| { dialect: Enum<'cel' \| 'cron' \| 'template'>; source: string; ast?: any; meta?: object }` | optional | Per-option visibility predicate (CEL) — option is offered only when TRUE (else omitted). Env: the live `record` plus the host predicate scope, which binds `current_user`. The one VISIBILITY predicate the SERVER also enforces — the rule validator refuses a write of a value whose predicate is false — so a user-gated CHOICE belongs here. e.g. P`record.country == 'cn'` or P`'admin' in current_user.positions`. On an OBJECT field's option it reads the record's OWN columns: the server never reads a related record there, so a read THROUGH a reference field (`record.account.tier`) would fault and be admitted unchecked, and `objectstack validate` refuses it — enforce such a restriction with a `validations[]` `script` rule, whose `condition` is read one hop through a reference. |
+
+
+---
+
+## PicklistServedField
+
+The served form of a picklist-bound field: `options` resolved, `picklist` kept
+
+### Properties
+
+| Property | Type | Required | Description |
+| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
+| **picklist** | `string` | ✅ | The picklist the field references, as authored |
+| **options** | `{ label: string; value: string; description?: string; color?: string; … }[]` | ✅ | The picklist's options resolved onto the field (with its extensions' options) |
+
+### Nested Shape: `PicklistServedField.options[number]`
+
+| Property | Type | Required | Description |
+| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
+| **label** | `string` | ✅ | Display label (human-readable, any case allowed) |
+| **value** | `string` | ✅ | Stored value (lowercase machine identifier) |
+| **description** | `string` | optional | Optional secondary/help text for this option. Lookup option search matches it in addition to the label; renderers may show it as supporting text. |
+| **color** | `string` | optional | Color code for badges/charts |
+| **default** | `boolean` | optional | Is default option |
+| **visibleWhen** | `string \| { dialect: Enum<'cel' \| 'cron' \| 'template'>; source: string; ast?: any; meta?: object }` | optional | Per-option visibility predicate (CEL) — option is offered only when TRUE (else omitted). Env: the live `record` plus the host predicate scope, which binds `current_user`. The one VISIBILITY predicate the SERVER also enforces — the rule validator refuses a write of a value whose predicate is false — so a user-gated CHOICE belongs here. e.g. P`record.country == 'cn'` or P`'admin' in current_user.positions`. On an OBJECT field's option it reads the record's OWN columns: the server never reads a related record there, so a read THROUGH a reference field (`record.account.tier`) would fault and be admitted unchecked, and `objectstack validate` refuses it — enforce such a restriction with a `validations[]` `script` rule, whose `condition` is read one hop through a reference. |
+
+
+---
+
diff --git a/content/docs/references/index.mdx b/content/docs/references/index.mdx
index eb443f09f76..77bade4a181 100644
--- a/content/docs/references/index.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/references/index.mdx
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 title: Protocol reference — every schema by module
 navTitle: Protocol Reference
-description: Every schema published by @objectstack/spec — 1521 schemas across 14 protocol modules
+description: Every schema published by @objectstack/spec — 1524 schemas across 14 protocol modules
 ---
 
 {/* ⚠️  AUTO-GENERATED — DO NOT EDIT. Run build-docs.ts to regenerate. Hand-written docs live in the module folders under content/docs/. */}
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ counts are sums of the rows they head. Regenerate with
 | [AI Protocol](/docs/references/ai) | 12 | 68 | Agents, tools, skills, RAG and knowledge sources, model registry, conversations. |
 | [API Protocol](/docs/references/api) | 32 | 429 | REST contracts, endpoints, routing, realtime, batch, discovery. |
 | [Automation Protocol](/docs/references/automation) | 14 | 75 | Flows and their nodes, approvals, ETL pipelines, webhooks, state machines, execution records. |
-| [Data Protocol](/docs/references/data) | 29 | 175 | Objects, fields, queries, filters, datasources and drivers — the ObjectQL layer. |
+| [Data Protocol](/docs/references/data) | 30 | 178 | Objects, fields, queries, filters, datasources and drivers — the ObjectQL layer. |
 | [Identity Protocol](/docs/references/identity) | 5 | 27 | Users and accounts, organizations, positions, SCIM provisioning. |
 | [Integration Protocol](/docs/references/integration) | 1 | 16 | The single connector protocol (ADR-0097) — catalog descriptors and provider-bound instances. |
 | [Kernel Protocol](/docs/references/kernel) | 30 | 157 | Plugin lifecycle and manifests, capabilities and security, metadata loading, service registry. |
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ counts are sums of the rows they head. Regenerate with
 | [Studio Protocol](/docs/references/studio) | 3 | 35 | Studio designer metadata — the authoring surfaces for the protocols above. |
 | [System Protocol](/docs/references/system) | 34 | 275 | The runtime environment — logging, jobs, cache, metrics, notifications, i18n and compliance. |
 | [UI Protocol](/docs/references/ui) | 16 | 165 | Apps, pages, views, dashboards, reports, actions and themes — the ObjectUI layer. |
-| **Total** | **196** | **1521** | 14 protocol modules |
+| **Total** | **197** | **1524** | 14 protocol modules |
 
 ---
 
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ Flows and their nodes, approvals, ETL pipelines, webhooks, state machines, execu
 
 ## Data Protocol
 
-**Source:** `packages/spec/src/data/` · **Import:** `@objectstack/spec/data` · **29 pages, 175 schemas**
+**Source:** `packages/spec/src/data/` · **Import:** `@objectstack/spec/data` · **30 pages, 178 schemas**
 
 Objects, fields, queries, filters, datasources and drivers — the ObjectQL layer.
 
@@ -162,6 +162,7 @@ Objects, fields, queries, filters, datasources and drivers — the ObjectQL laye
 | [`hook-body.zod.ts`](/docs/references/data/hook-body) | `ExpressionBody`, `HookBody`, `HookBodyCapability`, `ScriptBody` |
 | [`mapping.zod.ts`](/docs/references/data/mapping) | `ImportFieldMapping`, `Mapping`, `TransformType` |
 | [`object.zod.ts`](/docs/references/data/object) | `ApiMethod`, `ApiOperation`, `Index`, `Lifecycle`, `LifecycleClass`, `Object`, `ObjectAccessConfig`, `ObjectCapabilities`, `ObjectExtension`, `ObjectExternalBinding`, `ObjectFieldGroup`, `ObjectOwnershipEnum`, `ObjectRequiredPermissions`, `PerOperationRequiredPermissions`, `RowCrudActionOverride`, `TenancyConfig` |
+| [`picklist.zod.ts`](/docs/references/data/picklist) | `Picklist`, `PicklistExtension`, `PicklistServedField` |
 | [`query.zod.ts`](/docs/references/data/query) | `AggregationFunction`, `AggregationNode`, `DateGranularity`, `FieldNode`, `FullTextSearch`, `GroupByNode`, `Query`, `SortNode` |
 | [`seed.zod.ts`](/docs/references/data/seed) | `Seed`, `SeedMode` |
 | [`seed-loader.zod.ts`](/docs/references/data/seed-loader) | `ObjectDependencyGraph`, `ObjectDependencyNode`, `ReferenceResolution`, `ReferenceResolutionError`, `SeedIdentity`, `SeedLoadResult`, `SeedLoaderConfig`, `SeedLoaderRequest`, `SeedLoaderResult` |
diff --git a/content/docs/references/kernel/metadata-plugin.mdx b/content/docs/references/kernel/metadata-plugin.mdx
index 6167587d71a..b169b05afb8 100644
--- a/content/docs/references/kernel/metadata-plugin.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/references/kernel/metadata-plugin.mdx
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ const result = MetadataBulkResultSchema.parse(data);
 
 | Property | Type | Required | Description |
 | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
-| **types** | `Enum<'object' \| 'field' \| 'hook' \| 'seed' \| 'mapping' \| 'view' \| 'page' \| 'dashboard' \| 'app' \| 'action' \| 'report' \| 'dataset' \| 'flow' \| 'job' \| 'datasource' \| 'external_catalog' \| 'translation' \| 'api' \| 'email_template' \| 'doc' \| 'book' \| 'permission' \| 'position' \| 'capability' \| 'agent' \| 'tool' \| 'skill'>[]` | optional | Filter by metadata types |
+| **types** | `Enum<'object' \| 'field' \| 'hook' \| 'seed' \| 'mapping' \| 'picklist' \| 'view' \| 'page' \| 'dashboard' \| 'app' \| 'action' \| 'report' \| 'dataset' \| 'flow' \| 'job' \| 'datasource' \| 'external_catalog' \| 'translation' \| 'api' \| 'email_template' \| 'doc' \| 'book' \| 'permission' \| 'position' \| 'capability' \| 'agent' \| 'tool' \| 'skill'>[]` | optional | Filter by metadata types |
 | **namespaces** | `string[]` | optional | Filter by namespaces |
 | **packageId** | `string` | optional | Filter by owning package |
 | **search** | `string` | optional | Full-text search query |
@@ -230,6 +230,7 @@ const result = MetadataBulkResultSchema.parse(data);
 * `hook`
 * `seed`
 * `mapping`
+* `picklist`
 * `view`
 * `page`
 * `dashboard`
@@ -262,7 +263,7 @@ const result = MetadataBulkResultSchema.parse(data);
 
 | Property | Type | Required | Description |
 | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
-| **type** | `Enum<'object' \| 'field' \| 'hook' \| 'seed' \| 'mapping' \| 'view' \| 'page' \| 'dashboard' \| 'app' \| 'action' \| 'report' \| 'dataset' \| 'flow' \| 'job' \| 'datasource' \| … +12 more>` | ✅ | Metadata type identifier |
+| **type** | `Enum<'object' \| 'field' \| 'hook' \| 'seed' \| 'mapping' \| 'picklist' \| 'view' \| 'page' \| 'dashboard' \| 'app' \| 'action' \| 'report' \| 'dataset' \| 'flow' \| 'job' \| … +13 more>` | ✅ | Metadata type identifier |
 | **label** | `string` | ✅ | Display label for the metadata type |
 | **description** | `string` | optional | Description of the metadata type |
 | **filePatterns** | `string[]` | ✅ | Glob patterns to discover files of this type |
@@ -282,6 +283,7 @@ const result = MetadataBulkResultSchema.parse(data);
 * `hook`
 * `seed`
 * `mapping`
+* `picklist`
 * `view`
 * `page`
 * `dashboard`
diff --git a/content/docs/references/system/migration.mdx b/content/docs/references/system/migration.mdx
index e72f029b5a4..a7b7e3a90b1 100644
--- a/content/docs/references/system/migration.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/references/system/migration.mdx
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ Add a new field to an existing object
 | **accept** | `string[]` | optional | Permitted upload types for media fields, as MIME types or extensions (e.g. ["image/*", ".pdf"]). Offered to the file picker AND enforced on write. |
 | **maxSize** | `integer` | optional | Maximum permitted file size in BYTES for media fields. Enforced on write against the stored file size, not just checked in the browser. |
 | **options** | `{ label: string; value: string; description?: string; color?: string; … }[]` | optional | Static options for select/multiselect |
+| **picklist** | `string` | optional | Name of a shared `picklist` whose options this field offers — instead of `options`, never with it. Option types only (select, radio, multiselect, checkboxes, tags). The server resolves the reference: the field clients read carries the resolved `options`. |
 | **reference** | `string` | optional | Target object name (snake_case) for lookup/master_detail fields. Required for relationship types. Used by $expand to resolve foreign key IDs into full objects. On a `tree` field it is optional and, if given, must be the declaring object's own name — the object schema refuses any other target. |
 | **referenceVia** | `string` | optional | Declares this text field as the id half of a polymorphic pointer pair (ADR-0052 §5 ActivityPointer): the value is a record id of the object named by the SIBLING FIELD this key names — e.g. `record_id` with `referenceVia: 'object_name'`. The sibling must be a declared field on the same object holding an object machine name. Text fields only; mutually exclusive with `reference` (a static and a per-record target contradict). Enforced today at seed load: the value resolves as a natural key against the object the sibling column names, and an unresolvable pointer is refused loudly instead of stored verbatim. Adds no referential integrity or $expand behavior. |
 | **deleteBehavior** | `Enum<'set_null' \| 'cascade' \| 'restrict'>` | optional (default: `"set_null"`) | What happens if referenced record is deleted |
@@ -496,6 +497,7 @@ Add a new field to an existing object
 | **accept** | `string[]` | optional | Permitted upload types for media fields, as MIME types or extensions (e.g. ["image/*", ".pdf"]). Offered to the file picker AND enforced on write. |
 | **maxSize** | `integer` | optional | Maximum permitted file size in BYTES for media fields. Enforced on write against the stored file size, not just checked in the browser. |
 | **options** | `{ label: string; value: string; description?: string; color?: string; … }[]` | optional | Static options for select/multiselect |
+| **picklist** | `string` | optional | Name of a shared `picklist` whose options this field offers — instead of `options`, never with it. Option types only (select, radio, multiselect, checkboxes, tags). The server resolves the reference: the field clients read carries the resolved `options`. |
 | **reference** | `string` | optional | Target object name (snake_case) for lookup/master_detail fields. Required for relationship types. Used by $expand to resolve foreign key IDs into full objects. On a `tree` field it is optional and, if given, must be the declaring object's own name — the object schema refuses any other target. |
 | **referenceVia** | `string` | optional | Declares this text field as the id half of a polymorphic pointer pair (ADR-0052 §5 ActivityPointer): the value is a record id of the object named by the SIBLING FIELD this key names — e.g. `record_id` with `referenceVia: 'object_name'`. The sibling must be a declared field on the same object holding an object machine name. Text fields only; mutually exclusive with `reference` (a static and a per-record target contradict). Enforced today at seed load: the value resolves as a natural key against the object the sibling column names, and an unresolvable pointer is refused loudly instead of stored verbatim. Adds no referential integrity or $expand behavior. |
 | **deleteBehavior** | `Enum<'set_null' \| 'cascade' \| 'restrict'>` | optional (default: `"set_null"`) | What happens if referenced record is deleted |
diff --git a/content/docs/references/system/translation.mdx b/content/docs/references/system/translation.mdx
index 708a0fa54ec..8d47dea85b1 100644
--- a/content/docs/references/system/translation.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/references/system/translation.mdx
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ Translation data for a single field
 
 Map of locale codes to platform translation data
 
-**Type:** `Record<string, { objects?: Record<string, object>; apps?: Record<string, object>; messages?: Record<string, string>; globalActions?: Record<string, object>; … }>`
+**Type:** `Record<string, { objects?: Record<string, object>; picklists?: Record<string, object>; apps?: Record<string, object>; messages?: Record<string, string>; … }>`
 
 
 ---
@@ -168,6 +168,7 @@ Platform translation data — the per-app groups plus the platform-only `setting
 | Property | Type | Required | Description |
 | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
 | **objects** | `Record<string, { label?: string; pluralLabel?: string; description?: string; fields?: Record<string, object>; … }>` | optional | Object translations keyed by object name |
+| **picklists** | `Record<string, { label?: string; options: Record<string, string> }>` | optional | Picklist translations keyed by picklist name |
 | **apps** | `Record<string, { label: string; description?: string; navigation?: Record<string, object> }>` | optional | App translations keyed by app name |
 | **messages** | `Record<string, string>` | optional | UI message translations keyed by message ID |
 | **globalActions** | `Record<string, { label?: string; description?: string; confirmText?: string; successMessage?: string; … }>` | optional | Global action translations keyed by action name |
@@ -195,6 +196,13 @@ Translation data for a single object
 | **_tabs** | `Record<string, { label?: string }>` | optional | Filter-preset tab translations keyed by tab name |
 | **_validations** | `Record<string, { message?: string }>` | optional | Custom validation-rule messages keyed by rule name (`ValidationRuleSchema.name`) |
 
+### Nested Shape: `PlatformTranslationData.picklists[string]`
+
+| Property | Type | Required | Description |
+| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
+| **label** | `string` | optional | Translated picklist label |
+| **options** | `Record<string, string>` | ✅ | Option value to translated label map — inherited by every field that references the picklist |
+
 ### Nested Shape: `PlatformTranslationData.apps[string]`
 
 | Property | Type | Required | Description |
@@ -282,7 +290,7 @@ Translation data for a single object
 
 Map of locale codes to per-app translation data
 
-**Type:** `Record<string, { objects?: Record<string, object>; apps?: Record<string, object>; messages?: Record<string, string>; globalActions?: Record<string, object>; … }>`
+**Type:** `Record<string, { objects?: Record<string, object>; picklists?: Record<string, object>; apps?: Record<string, object>; messages?: Record<string, string>; … }>`
 
 
 ---
@@ -358,6 +366,7 @@ Per-app translation data for objects, apps, and UI messages
 | Property | Type | Required | Description |
 | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
 | **objects** | `Record<string, { label?: string; pluralLabel?: string; description?: string; fields?: Record<string, object>; … }>` | optional | Object translations keyed by object name |
+| **picklists** | `Record<string, { label?: string; options: Record<string, string> }>` | optional | Picklist translations keyed by picklist name |
 | **apps** | `Record<string, { label: string; description?: string; navigation?: Record<string, object> }>` | optional | App translations keyed by app name |
 | **messages** | `Record<string, string>` | optional | UI message translations keyed by message ID |
 | **globalActions** | `Record<string, { label?: string; description?: string; confirmText?: string; successMessage?: string; … }>` | optional | Global action translations keyed by action name |
@@ -384,6 +393,13 @@ Translation data for a single object
 | **_tabs** | `Record<string, { label?: string }>` | optional | Filter-preset tab translations keyed by tab name |
 | **_validations** | `Record<string, { message?: string }>` | optional | Custom validation-rule messages keyed by rule name (`ValidationRuleSchema.name`) |
 
+### Nested Shape: `TranslationData.picklists[string]`
+
+| Property | Type | Required | Description |
+| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
+| **label** | `string` | optional | Translated picklist label |
+| **options** | `Record<string, string>` | ✅ | Option value to translated label map — inherited by every field that references the picklist |
+
 ### Nested Shape: `TranslationData.apps[string]`
 
 | Property | Type | Required | Description |
@@ -498,6 +514,7 @@ One locale of translations — the `translation` metadata type
 | Property | Type | Required | Description |
 | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
 | **objects** | `Record<string, { label?: string; pluralLabel?: string; description?: string; fields?: Record<string, object>; … }>` | optional | Object translations keyed by object name |
+| **picklists** | `Record<string, { label?: string; options: Record<string, string> }>` | optional | Picklist translations keyed by picklist name |
 | **apps** | `Record<string, { label: string; description?: string; navigation?: Record<string, object> }>` | optional | App translations keyed by app name |
 | **messages** | `Record<string, string>` | optional | UI message translations keyed by message ID |
 | **globalActions** | `Record<string, { label?: string; description?: string; confirmText?: string; successMessage?: string; … }>` | optional | Global action translations keyed by action name |
@@ -534,6 +551,13 @@ Translation data for a single object
 | **_tabs** | `Record<string, { label?: string }>` | optional | Filter-preset tab translations keyed by tab name |
 | **_validations** | `Record<string, { message?: string }>` | optional | Custom validation-rule messages keyed by rule name (`ValidationRuleSchema.name`) |
 
+### Nested Shape: `TranslationItem.picklists[string]`
+
+| Property | Type | Required | Description |
+| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
+| **label** | `string` | optional | Translated picklist label |
+| **options** | `Record<string, string>` | ✅ | Option value to translated label map — inherited by every field that references the picklist |
+
 ### Nested Shape: `TranslationItem.apps[string]`
 
 | Property | Type | Required | Description |
diff --git a/docs/audits/2026-07-unknown-key-strictness-ledger.counts/data.md b/docs/audits/2026-07-unknown-key-strictness-ledger.counts/data.md
index 839ec012138..82ba3410280 100644
--- a/docs/audits/2026-07-unknown-key-strictness-ledger.counts/data.md
+++ b/docs/audits/2026-07-unknown-key-strictness-ledger.counts/data.md
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ The `strict` column is the one the campaign schedules against; it counts both th
 
 | Dir | Sites | strict | passthrough | catchall | strip |
 |---|---|---|---|---|---|
-| `data/` | 158 | 75 | 1 | 0 | 82 |
+| `data/` | 161 | 77 | 2 | 0 | 82 |
 
 ## `data/` — sites
 
@@ -52,11 +52,12 @@ classify and is not listed (it becomes reportable the day it grows its first sit
 | `hook.zod.ts` | 7 |
 | `mapping.zod.ts` | 3 |
 | `object.zod.ts` | 21 |
+| `picklist.zod.ts` | 3 |
 | `query.zod.ts` | 5 |
 | `seed-loader.zod.ts` | 12 |
 | `seed.zod.ts` | 1 |
 | `validation.zod.ts` | 6 |
-| **total** | **158** |
+| **total** | **161** |
 
 ## `data/` — open
 
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ Per file, how many of its sites still silently discard unknown keys. The `Class`
 column that decides the bucket split is hand-written in the ledger; the arithmetic
 over it is here.
 
-**82 strip of 158**, in 11 file(s).
+**82 strip of 161**, in 11 file(s).
 
 | File | Strip | Sites |
 |---|---|---|
@@ -79,7 +80,7 @@ over it is here.
 | `hook.zod.ts` | 5 | 7 |
 | `query.zod.ts` | 4 | 5 |
 | `seed-loader.zod.ts` | 12 | 12 |
-| **total** | **82** | **158** |
+| **total** | **82** | **161** |
 
 | Bucket | Sites |
 |---|---|
diff --git a/docs/audits/2026-07-unknown-key-strictness-ledger.counts/system.md b/docs/audits/2026-07-unknown-key-strictness-ledger.counts/system.md
index f8d523a513b..84cee18fd58 100644
--- a/docs/audits/2026-07-unknown-key-strictness-ledger.counts/system.md
+++ b/docs/audits/2026-07-unknown-key-strictness-ledger.counts/system.md
@@ -19,4 +19,4 @@ hand-patch a number here** — fix the code or the verdict and regenerate.
 
 | Dir | Sites |
 |---|---|
-| `system/` | 352 |
+| `system/` | 353 |
diff --git a/docs/audits/2026-07-unknown-key-strictness-ledger.md b/docs/audits/2026-07-unknown-key-strictness-ledger.md
index c3bde543ce9..11a2ef47fef 100644
--- a/docs/audits/2026-07-unknown-key-strictness-ledger.md
+++ b/docs/audits/2026-07-unknown-key-strictness-ledger.md
@@ -729,6 +729,7 @@ column does not move and the `strip` column falls by the count of what left.
 | `document.zod.ts` | wire (p) | |
 | `hook.zod.ts` / `hook-body.zod.ts` | mixed | **strict as of #4001 data step** for the AUTHORING shapes: `HookSchema` (+ `retryPolicy`) and both body branches (`ExpressionBodySchema` / `ScriptBodySchema`). `HookContextSchema` and its `session` / `provenance` / `user` blocks are the RUNTIME shape the engine hands a handler — they stay tolerant, and must: strictness there would make an engine-internal enrichment (as `provenance` was in #3712) a breaking change for anyone parsing a context they were given. The file's old blanket `authorable (p)` was too wide — verification split it |
 | `mapping.zod.ts` | authorable (p) | |
+| `picklist.zod.ts` | mixed | `PicklistSchema` and `PicklistExtensionSchema` are authoring shapes, strict from birth (`strictObject`). `PicklistServedFieldSchema` is a SERVED shape — the slice a resolved picklist reference adds to a served field — and is a `looseObject` by design: every other key of that field is `FieldSchema`'s |
 | `external-catalog.zod.ts` | wire (p) | |
 | `validation.zod.ts` | authorable | **strict as of #4001 batch 3b** — a `z.lazy()` discriminated union, so the one-call conversion does not apply: each of the six variants builds its own `strictObject` from a shared `BASE_VALIDATION_SHAPE`. Closing the base alone would have rejected correctly but suggested from the SHARED keys only, so a typo of a variant's own key (`transtions` → `transitions`) would get no rename. Site count 1 → 6 because the six variants are now object sites in their own right. The ADR-0010 envelope lives in the shared shape, so all six inherit it |
 | `field-value.zod.ts` / `seed.zod.ts` | authorable | `seed` is strict (registered-types batch). **`field-value` strict as of #13802 (2026-09-02) — re-verdicted `open` → `authorable` by maintainer ruling 2026-09-01 (option A, director batch #26, verbatim 「同意」), overruling this row's #4001 batch D reading.** Both value contracts (`LocationValueSchema`, `AddressSchema` = `AddressValueSchema`) are `strictObject` now; `FileValueSchema` stays `z.looseObject` on purpose — the one deliberate loose site, ⛔ untouched. What batch D got wrong was not the door census but the cost model: every member of both shapes is OPTIONAL, so under `.strip` a value with a completely wrong key set still parsed green and the wrong keys vanished — the showcase seed wrote `postal_code`, the platform accepted it, dropped it, and rendered an empty ZIP box (#13388; found by objectui#6812's survey; #5143 had named the same stripping on the widget round-trip) — while any stored-value scan over the class could only ever report zero (#13802's finding: an instrument reporting a number it has no way to earn). The "legitimate extras" (`heading`/`speed`, `district`) were a hypothesis with no in-repo producer. **Corpus census at `a39b02a6`, ordered first by the ruling**: every in-repo corpus that writes address/location VALUES — `examples/**`, `packages/apps/**`, `packages/qa/**`, `packages/**/src` fixtures and tests, `content/docs/**`, `skills/**`, `.changeset/**`, `docs/**` (`.ts/.tsx/.js/.mjs/.cjs/.json/.yaml/.yml/.md/.mdx`; generated `references/`, `releases/`, CHANGELOGs excluded) — a brace-matched scan of 8459 files / 196,098 leaf object literals found 57 address- or location-shaped literals and **0 carrying a key outside the declared sets** other than batch D's own tolerance pin in `analytics-strictness-batchd.test.ts` (repinned to the closure in the same stroke; the SCIM hits are `SCIMAddressSchema`, a different contract). The spelling grep `git grep -n -E "postal_code|zip_code|zipCode|postcode|latitude|longitude|heading *:|speed *:|district *:" -- 'examples/**' 'packages/apps/**' 'packages/qa/**' 'packages/spec/**' 'content/docs/**' 'skills/**'` hits only the retired-form docs, `ListMapConfig`'s field-name keys and pins. So the repair commit the ruling ordered first was EMPTY by measurement — #13388's seed fix had already landed at #14090. **Migration note — where the refusal bites, by call site** (`git grep -n "valueSchemaFor(" -- packages`, non-test): ① **authoring, hard reject, unconditional** — a `location`/`address` field's literal `defaultValue` (`default-value-shape.ts` `checkLiteralDefaultValue` → `FieldSchema`, #7127) and an action-param value of those types (`ui/action-params.zod.ts` `validateActionParams`, D2 strict by default since 17.0); ② **record writes, per deployment** — objectql `record-validator` `validateOne` (`shapeSchemaFor(def).safeParse(value)`, insert and update) rejects with `invalid_type` / `invalid_value_shape` ONLY when `valueShapeStrictEffective` holds (the deployment attested `adr-0104-value-shapes`, or `OS_DATA_VALUE_SHAPE_STRICT_ENABLED=1`; `OS_ALLOW_LAX_VALUE_SHAPES=1` re-opens), otherwise **warn-first** — logged once per field and reported to the admitted-violation sink (#4769), unchanged; ③ **the scan** — `os migrate value-shapes` (`valueShapeViolation`, the same predicate) now COUNTS an undeclared key, so a deployment holding such values cannot attest until they are cleaned at the producer — the mechanism that keeps ② from stranding stored data; ④ **read paths: none** — no consumer calls `valueSchemaFor(def, 'expanded')` for these types outside `packages/spec` (`git grep "'expanded')" -- 'packages/**/src/**' ':!packages/spec/**'` → 0 hits), drivers return the stored JSON verbatim and renderers read it, so a stored `{ …, postal_code }` still reads back as written. ⛔ Per the ruling no read path was narrowed; the customer-database inventory is the one thing this repo cannot see — a confidence gap recorded here, not glossed: the scan is the instrument that closes it per deployment. ⛔ No consumer-side alias (AGENTS.md #0.1): the `aliases` on both shapes are did-you-mean RENAMES in the refusal message (`zipCode`/`zip`/`postcode` → `postalCode`, `latitude`/`longitude` → `lat`/`lng`), not tolerance — `postal_code` is refused, never read. objectui at the pin (`LocationField.tsx`) `safeParse`s only a widget-built `{ lat, lng, altitude?, accuracy? }` candidate, so its verdicts do not move; its `LocationField.optionalKeys.test.tsx` pins the OLD strip behaviour and flips the day objectui takes a spec carrying this — filed there, not here. D3 semantic entry `address-location-value-unknown-keys-refused` (protocol 18). Re-check: `git grep -n "strictObject(\|looseObject(\|z.object(" -- packages/spec/src/data/field-value.zod.ts` → two `strictObject(`, one `z.looseObject(`, zero `z.object(` |
diff --git a/examples/app-showcase/src/coverage.ts b/examples/app-showcase/src/coverage.ts
index 57fa6379847..cd4a15d15c0 100644
--- a/examples/app-showcase/src/coverage.ts
+++ b/examples/app-showcase/src/coverage.ts
@@ -75,6 +75,12 @@ export const KIND_COVERAGE: Record<MetadataType, KindCoverage> = {
     notes:
       'Named import mapping resolved via mappingName at POST /data/:object/import (#2611); promoted to a registry kind per the ADR-0088 admission test.',
   },
+  picklist: {
+    status: 'waived',
+    reason:
+      'The kind is declared ahead of its runtime reader: until the server resolves a picklist reference, a picklist-bound field is served with no options, so a demo would draw a select with nothing to choose. Demonstrate it (one list on two objects, an extension, a translated option) with the runtime layer.',
+    issue: 'https://github.com/objectstack-ai/objectstack/issues/19519',
+  },
 
   // ── ui ──
   view: { status: 'demonstrated', files: ['src/ui/views/task.view.ts', 'src/ui/views/project.view.ts'] },
@@ -200,6 +206,12 @@ export const STACK_COLLECTION_COVERAGE: Record<string, KindCoverage> = {
     files: ['src/data/extensions/account.extension.ts'],
     notes: 'Merged into showcase_account by the ObjectQL engine at registerApp (priority overlay).',
   },
+  picklistExtensions: {
+    status: 'waived',
+    reason:
+      'Declared with the picklist kind, ahead of the runtime merge that adds an extension\'s options to the list it extends; demonstrated alongside `KIND_COVERAGE.picklist` when that layer lands.',
+    issue: 'https://github.com/objectstack-ai/objectstack/issues/19519',
+  },
   // `apis` is NOT listed here any more: as of #5271 it is a registry kind, so
   // its coverage lives in `KIND_COVERAGE.api` above. Leaving a duplicate row in
   // this manifest — whose contract is "stack collections that are NOT registry
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/i18n-coverage.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/i18n-coverage.ts
index c25440746ed..8eafdc248a3 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/i18n-coverage.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/i18n-coverage.ts
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ export interface CoverageIssue {
     | 'dashboard'
     | 'widget'
     | 'dataset'
+    | 'picklist'
     | 'page'
     | 'flow'
     | 'metadataForm';
@@ -349,6 +350,10 @@ const COVERAGE_SOURCE: Record<ExpectedEntry['source'], CoverageIssue['source']>
   // the `dashboard` bucket: the string is defined once, not once per
   // presentation.
   dataset: 'dataset',
+  // Shared option-list copy (`picklists.<p>.label`, `.options.<value>`) — the
+  // author's own vocabulary, translated once for every field that references
+  // it, so it keeps its own bucket and reports as `i18n/missing-picklist`.
+  picklist: 'picklist',
   page: 'page',
   // Screen-flow copy (`flows.<f>.label`, `flows.<f>.screens.<n>.title`, and
   // the per-field `label` / `placeholder`) — the author's own wizard text, so
@@ -376,6 +381,7 @@ const SOURCE_NOUN: Record<CoverageIssue['source'], string> = {
   dashboard: 'Dashboard',
   widget: 'Widget',
   dataset: 'Dataset',
+  picklist: 'Picklist',
   page: 'Page',
   flow: 'Flow',
   metadataForm: 'Metadata form',
@@ -417,6 +423,7 @@ const SOURCE_SURFACE: Record<CoverageIssue['source'], string> = {
   dashboard: 'dashboards',
   widget: 'widgets',
   dataset: 'datasets',
+  picklist: 'picklists',
   page: 'pages',
   flow: 'flow screens',
   metadataForm: 'metadata forms',
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/i18n-extract.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/i18n-extract.ts
index a37f3fbf83b..37843a0e963 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/i18n-extract.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/i18n-extract.ts
@@ -96,6 +96,8 @@
  *   datasets.<dataset>.label / .description
  *   datasets.<dataset>.dimensions.<dim>.label
  *   datasets.<dataset>.measures.<measure>.label
+ *   picklists.<picklist>.label
+ *   picklists.<picklist>.options.<value>   (a `picklistExtensions` entry's options too)
  *   pages.<page>.label / .description
  *   pages.<page>.title / .subtitle   (from the page's `page:header` component)
  *   pages.<page>.components.<id>.<key>  (per-component copy, #6080)
@@ -202,6 +204,7 @@ export interface ExpectedEntry {
     | 'dashboard'
     | 'widget'
     | 'dataset'
+    | 'picklist'
     | 'page'
     | 'flow'
     | 'metadataType'
@@ -1392,6 +1395,9 @@ export function collectExpectedEntries(
   // ── Analytics datasets (`datasets.<name>.…`) ─────────────────────
   walkDatasets(config, out);
 
+  // ── Shared option lists (`picklists.<name>.…`) ────────────────────
+  walkPicklists(config, out);
+
   // ── Pages + their `page:header` copy ──────────────────────────────
   const pages: any[] = Array.isArray(config?.pages) ? config.pages : [];
   for (const page of pages) {
@@ -1577,6 +1583,58 @@ function walkDatasets(config: any, out: ExpectedEntry[]): void {
   }
 }
 
+// ─── Shared option lists (`picklists.<name>.…`) ────────────────────────
+
+/**
+ * Emit the picklist copy surface:
+ *
+ *   picklists.<name>.label
+ *   picklists.<name>.options.<value>
+ *
+ * A picklist is translated ONCE: every field that references it inherits the
+ * option labels (`translateObject`), so the keys live under the list and not
+ * under each field. A picklist-bound field declares no `options` of its own,
+ * so the field walk above emits nothing for it — this walk is the only
+ * producer of those keys. A `picklistExtensions` entry adds options to a list
+ * another package owns, and they are served as that list's options, so their
+ * labels are keyed under the extended list's name.
+ *
+ * Both labels are plain strings at the authoring site, so `pushEntry` — with
+ * the #8543 derived rule a field option follows: an option whose label is
+ * absent or equals its own machine value is seeded from the value and never
+ * demanded as a translation.
+ */
+function walkPicklists(config: any, out: ExpectedEntry[]): void {
+  const walkOptions = (name: string, options: unknown): void => {
+    if (!Array.isArray(options)) return;
+    for (const option of options) {
+      if (!option || typeof option !== 'object' || typeof option.value !== 'string') continue;
+      const path = ['picklists', name, 'options', option.value];
+      const authored = inlineText(option.label);
+      if (authored !== undefined && authored !== option.value) {
+        pushEntry(out, path, authored, 'picklist');
+      } else {
+        pushDerived(out, path, option.value, inlineLocaleMap(option.label) ? option.label : undefined, 'picklist');
+      }
+    }
+  };
+  const picklists: any[] = Array.isArray(config?.picklists) ? config.picklists : [];
+  for (const picklist of picklists) {
+    if (!picklist || typeof picklist !== 'object') continue;
+    const name = picklist.name;
+    if (typeof name !== 'string' || name.length === 0) continue;
+    pushEntry(out, ['picklists', name, 'label'], picklist.label, 'picklist');
+    walkOptions(name, picklist.options);
+  }
+  const extensions: any[] = Array.isArray(config?.picklistExtensions) ? config.picklistExtensions : [];
+  for (const extension of extensions) {
+    if (!extension || typeof extension !== 'object') continue;
+    const name = extension.extend;
+    if (typeof name !== 'string' || name.length === 0) continue;
+    walkOptions(name, extension.options);
+  }
+}
+
 // ─── Screen flows (`flows.<flow>.screens.<node_id>.…`) ─────────────────
 
 /**
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/i18n-picklist-walk.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/i18n-picklist-walk.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..eb249cd3499
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/test/i18n-picklist-walk.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack contributors. Apache-2.0 license.
+//
+// `picklists.<name>.…` — the extractor walks the shared option-list group.
+//
+// A picklist is translated once, under the list: every field that references
+// it inherits the option labels (`translateObject`), and a picklist-bound field
+// declares no `options` of its own, so the field walk emits nothing for it.
+// Without this walk `os i18n extract` scaffolded no key for the group and
+// `check:i18n-coverage` measured a debt of zero while the labels shipped in
+// English (`check:i18n-walk-parity`).
+
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { collectExpectedEntries, extractTranslations } from '../src/utils/i18n-extract.js';
+import { computeI18nCoverage } from '../src/utils/i18n-coverage.js';
+import { TranslationDataSchema } from '@objectstack/spec/system';
+
+const picklistEntries = (config: any) =>
+  collectExpectedEntries(config).filter((e) => e.path[0] === 'picklists');
+
+const picklistKeys = (config: any): string[] => picklistEntries(config).map((e) => e.path.join('.'));
+
+const config = () => ({
+  picklists: [
+    {
+      name: 'industry',
+      label: 'Industry',
+      options: [
+        { label: 'Technology', value: 'technology' },
+        { label: 'Finance', value: 'finance' },
+      ],
+    },
+  ],
+  picklistExtensions: [
+    { extend: 'industry', options: [{ label: 'Healthcare', value: 'healthcare' }] },
+  ],
+  objects: [
+    {
+      name: 'account',
+      label: 'Account',
+      fields: { industry: { type: 'select', label: 'Industry', picklist: 'industry' } },
+    },
+  ],
+});
+
+describe('i18n extract — the `picklists` group', () => {
+  it('walks the list label and every option, an extension\'s options under the extended list', () => {
+    expect(picklistKeys(config()).sort()).toEqual([
+      'picklists.industry.label',
+      'picklists.industry.options.finance',
+      'picklists.industry.options.healthcare',
+      'picklists.industry.options.technology',
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it('seeds each key with the authored literal', () => {
+    const byKey = new Map(picklistEntries(config()).map((e) => [e.path.join('.'), e]));
+    expect(byKey.get('picklists.industry.label')).toMatchObject({ sourceValue: 'Industry', inline: 'Industry', source: 'picklist' });
+    expect(byKey.get('picklists.industry.options.healthcare')).toMatchObject({ sourceValue: 'Healthcare', inline: 'Healthcare' });
+  });
+
+  it('seeds an option whose label is its own value, but demands no translation of it', () => {
+    const entry = picklistEntries({
+      picklists: [{ name: 'tier', label: 'Tier', options: [{ label: 'gold', value: 'gold' }] }],
+    }).find((e) => e.path.join('.') === 'picklists.tier.options.gold');
+    expect(entry?.sourceValue).toBe('gold');
+    expect(entry?.inline).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it('emits no field-level option key for a picklist-bound field', () => {
+    const fieldOptionKeys = collectExpectedEntries(config())
+      .map((e) => e.path.join('.'))
+      .filter((k) => k.startsWith('objects.account.fields.industry.options.'));
+    expect(fieldOptionKeys).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it('`TranslationDataSchema` accepts a bundle written at the extracted paths', () => {
+    const out = extractTranslations(config(), { locales: ['zh-CN'] });
+    const zh = (out.bundles['zh-CN'] as any)?.picklists;
+    expect(zh?.industry?.label).toBeDefined();
+    expect(Object.keys(zh?.industry?.options ?? {}).sort()).toEqual(['finance', 'healthcare', 'technology']);
+    expect(TranslationDataSchema.safeParse({ picklists: zh }).success).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('reports an untranslated option under its own bucket, `i18n/missing-picklist`', () => {
+    const report = computeI18nCoverage({
+      ...config(),
+      i18n: { supportedLocales: ['en', 'zh-CN'] },
+      translations: [
+        { 'zh-CN': { picklists: { industry: { label: '行业', options: { technology: '科技' } } } } },
+      ],
+    });
+    const issues = report.issues.filter((i) => i.key.startsWith('picklists.'));
+    const keys = issues.map((i) => i.key);
+    expect(keys).toContain('picklists.industry.options.finance');
+    expect(keys).not.toContain('picklists.industry.options.technology');
+    expect(keys).not.toContain('picklists.industry.label');
+    expect(issues.every((i) => i.source === 'picklist')).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/metadata-type-schema-gate.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/metadata-type-schema-gate.test.ts
index 45c4fbc80a4..0ee7d48349c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/metadata-type-schema-gate.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/test/metadata-type-schema-gate.test.ts
@@ -77,6 +77,10 @@ const GATED_AT: Readonly<Record<string, string>> = {
   action: 'actions',
   report: 'reports',
   dataset: 'datasets',
+  // [#19518] `picklist` registered as a closed shape (`PicklistSchema` is
+  // `strictObject`), and the stack authors it at `picklists:` as a flat array
+  // of that same shape, so it is gated from the start.
+  picklist: 'picklists',
   flow: 'flows',
   job: 'jobs',
   datasource: 'datasources',
diff --git a/packages/drivers/driver-sql/src/builtin-column-collision.ts b/packages/drivers/driver-sql/src/builtin-column-collision.ts
index 83822b1f168..288f3157502 100644
--- a/packages/drivers/driver-sql/src/builtin-column-collision.ts
+++ b/packages/drivers/driver-sql/src/builtin-column-collision.ts
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ export const FIELD_KEY_STORAGE_CLASS: Readonly<Record<string, FieldKeyClass>> =
   rows: 'presentation',       // inline multiline-editor height (objectui#6140) — read by objectui's TextAreaField/RichTextField, never by the DDL (a rows-sized editor surface, not a column shape)
   useGrouping: 'presentation',
   options: 'presentation',    // select values: validation + UI, no DDL
+  picklist: 'presentation',   // names the shared option list the server resolves into `options` — validation + UI, no DDL
   accept: 'presentation',     // upload validation
   maxSize: 'presentation',    // upload validation
   language: 'presentation',   // editor language hint
diff --git a/packages/lint/src/lint-liveness-properties.test.ts b/packages/lint/src/lint-liveness-properties.test.ts
index a73816c6948..5cbbb941ad7 100644
--- a/packages/lint/src/lint-liveness-properties.test.ts
+++ b/packages/lint/src/lint-liveness-properties.test.ts
@@ -1432,8 +1432,10 @@ describe('the object/field walk, against a synthetic ledger directory (#19268)',
   // If `field.json` ever warns again these two flip, and the block above
   // ("field walk: a malformed `fields` array …") can take its real subject back
   // — but this block keeps working either way, which is the point.
-  it('the SHIPPED field ledger warns on nothing today — which is why the walk needs a subject of its own', () => {
-    expect([...authorWarnedProperties('field')]).toEqual([]);
+  it('the SHIPPED field ledger warns on `picklist` alone — which is why the walk needs a subject of its own', () => {
+    // `picklist` is `planned` + `authorWarn` until the server resolves picklist
+    // references; the synthetic slot below is still warned by nothing shipped.
+    expect([...authorWarnedProperties('field')]).toEqual(['picklist']);
     expect(
       lintLivenessProperties({
         objects: [{ name: 'widget', fields: [{ name: 'a', synthWarnedSlot: true }] }],
diff --git a/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.code-only-types.test.ts b/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.code-only-types.test.ts
index 34b6816293f..94d72803c8f 100644
--- a/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.code-only-types.test.ts
+++ b/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.code-only-types.test.ts
@@ -153,6 +153,17 @@ const PROBES: Record<string, { name: string; item: Record<string, unknown> }> =
             type: 'text',
         },
     },
+    // `picklist` is package-owned (`allowRuntimeCreate: false`): a shared option
+    // list ships in a package (`*.picklist.ts`), and a per-org overlay is a later
+    // phase. Schema-valid for the same reason as the rest.
+    picklist: {
+        name: 'rc3_picklist_probe',
+        item: {
+            name: 'rc3_picklist_probe',
+            label: 'Probe',
+            options: [{ label: 'One', value: 'one' }],
+        },
+    },
 };
 
 function makeStubEngine(artifacts: Array<{ type: string; name: string }> = []) {
@@ -269,7 +280,7 @@ describe('code-only metadata types are refused on every kernel (#5086)', () => {
         // auto-enrolment is the point of deriving the set instead of listing it
         // (Prime Directive #8).
         expect(CODE_ONLY_TYPES.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
-        expect([...CODE_ONLY_TYPES].sort()).toEqual(['agent', 'api', 'capability', 'field', 'job']);
+        expect([...CODE_ONLY_TYPES].sort()).toEqual(['agent', 'api', 'capability', 'field', 'job', 'picklist']);
         for (const type of CODE_ONLY_TYPES) {
             expect(PROBES[type], `no probe payload for code-only type '${type}'`).toBeDefined();
         }
diff --git a/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.meta-types-degenerate-derivation.test.ts b/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.meta-types-degenerate-derivation.test.ts
index 43a4c61af3a..77712d05733 100644
--- a/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.meta-types-degenerate-derivation.test.ts
+++ b/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.meta-types-degenerate-derivation.test.ts
@@ -297,10 +297,11 @@ describe('#17501 — /meta/types serves a real schema for `action`, and moves no
      * Positive control. These are the card's own thirteen counts, reproduced
      * against the SERVED document. They prove two things at once: this suite
      * measures the same thing the card measured, and none of the thirteen was
-     * disturbed by the fix.
+     * disturbed by the fix. `field` moved 74 → 75 when it gained `picklist`
+     * (the shared-option-list reference), a declared key, not a derivation change.
      */
     const CARD_PROPERTY_COUNTS: Record<string, number> = {
-        agent: 26, app: 30, dashboard: 21, dataset: 16, field: 74, flow: 23,
+        agent: 26, app: 30, dashboard: 21, dataset: 16, field: 75, flow: 23,
         hook: 22, object: 43, page: 24, position: 12, report: 21, skill: 17, tool: 14,
     };
 
diff --git a/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.recovery-doors-emit-mutation.test.ts b/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.recovery-doors-emit-mutation.test.ts
index 1468f58bbab..61bfccaafec 100644
--- a/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.recovery-doors-emit-mutation.test.ts
+++ b/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.recovery-doors-emit-mutation.test.ts
@@ -561,7 +561,7 @@ describe('[#14179] reachability: the legacy exit is confined to bootstrap mode',
         // Non-empty: the branch is not dead code.
         expect(codeOnly.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
         expect(codeOnly.map((e) => e.type).sort())
-            .toEqual(['agent', 'api', 'capability', 'field', 'job']);
+            .toEqual(['agent', 'api', 'capability', 'field', 'job', 'picklist']);
         // …and the #6960 carve-out reaches none of them, which is what makes
         // the 403 below total rather than incidental.
         expect(codeOnly.filter((e) => e.supportsOverlay)).toEqual([]);
diff --git a/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/bare-type-display-echo-decisions.test.ts b/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/bare-type-display-echo-decisions.test.ts
index 19a8c76afb7..157c0e46a85 100644
--- a/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/bare-type-display-echo-decisions.test.ts
+++ b/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/bare-type-display-echo-decisions.test.ts
@@ -766,28 +766,29 @@ describe('#19403 round 7 — the provenance table agrees these leaves are now au
 });
 
 describe('#19403 round 7 — the population, DERIVED from the registry and a shape', () => {
-  it('⭐ the registry and the catalog describe the same 27 metadata types', () => {
+  it('⭐ the registry and the catalog describe the same 28 metadata types', () => {
     // The ratchet's anchor. The catalog is GENERATED from this registry, so a
     // new metadata type arrives in both at once — which is what makes the bare
     // class below pick up a future unauthored display pair without anybody
     // adding it to a list.
-    expect(REGISTRY_TYPES.length).toBe(27);
+    // 27 → 28: `picklist` joined the registry, a bare type (no form) with a description.
+    expect(REGISTRY_TYPES.length).toBe(28);
     expect([...REGISTRY_TYPES].sort()).toEqual(Object.keys(enMetadataForms as Record<string, any>).sort());
   });
 
   it('the BARE predicate splits that population, and is read off the SHAPE not a name list', () => {
     // Lit.
-    expect(BARE_TYPES.length).toBe(10);
+    expect(BARE_TYPES.length).toBe(11);
     expect(PANEL_TYPES.length).toBe(17);
     expect(BARE_TYPES.length + PANEL_TYPES.length).toBe(REGISTRY_TYPES.length);
-    for (const type of ['seed', 'mapping', 'api', 'doc', 'book', 'capability']) {
+    for (const type of ['seed', 'mapping', 'api', 'doc', 'book', 'capability', 'picklist']) {
       expect(BARE_TYPES, `${type} is bare`).toContain(type);
     }
     for (const type of AUTHORED_BARE_TYPES) expect(BARE_TYPES, `${type} is bare`).toContain(type);
-    // 16 leaves: ten labels, and a description on the six that carry one.
-    expect(BARE_LEAVES.length).toBe(16);
-    expect(BARE_LEAVES.filter((l) => l.prop === 'label').length).toBe(10);
-    expect(BARE_LEAVES.filter((l) => l.prop === 'description').length).toBe(6);
+    // 18 leaves: eleven labels, and a description on the seven that carry one.
+    expect(BARE_LEAVES.length).toBe(18);
+    expect(BARE_LEAVES.filter((l) => l.prop === 'label').length).toBe(11);
+    expect(BARE_LEAVES.filter((l) => l.prop === 'description').length).toBe(7);
     expect(BARE_LEAVES.every((l) => ['label', 'description'].includes(l.prop))).toBe(true);
   });
 
@@ -806,8 +807,8 @@ describe('#19403 round 7 — the population, DERIVED from the registry and a sha
     expect(registryEntry('dataset')?.description, 'dataset carries a registry description like the six').toBeTruthy();
     expect(isBare('dataset')).toBe(false);
     const described = REGISTRY_TYPES.filter((t) => typeof registryEntry(t)?.description === 'string');
-    expect([...described].sort()).toEqual(['api', 'book', 'capability', 'dataset', 'doc', 'mapping', 'seed']);
-    expect(described.filter(isBare).sort()).toEqual(['api', 'book', 'capability', 'doc', 'mapping', 'seed']);
+    expect([...described].sort()).toEqual(['api', 'book', 'capability', 'dataset', 'doc', 'mapping', 'picklist', 'seed']);
+    expect(described.filter(isBare).sort()).toEqual(['api', 'book', 'capability', 'doc', 'mapping', 'picklist', 'seed']);
     // And no panel type's own display pair echoes — the exclusion removes only
     // leaves that are already decided elsewhere or already authored.
     const panelEchoes: string[] = [];
@@ -868,13 +869,13 @@ describe('#19403 round 7 — the population, DERIVED from the registry and a sha
     expect(flagged.length).toBe(BARE_LEAVES.length);
   });
 
-  it('⭐ this class is now DONE — zero of its 16 leaves echoes in all three locales', () => {
+  it('⭐ this class is now DONE — zero of its 18 leaves echoes in all three locales', () => {
     const echoing = BARE_LEAVES.filter((l) =>
       TRANSLATED_LOCALES.every(([, forms]) => forms[l.type]?.[l.prop] === l.en),
     );
     expect(echoing.map((l) => `${l.type}.${l.prop}`)).toEqual([]);
     // Lit — and it really walked the class, which a zero alone would not show.
-    expect(BARE_LEAVES.length).toBe(16);
+    expect(BARE_LEAVES.length).toBe(18);
   });
 });
 
diff --git a/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/en.metadata-forms.generated.ts b/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/en.metadata-forms.generated.ts
index 185bd19aaac..ca926307c2d 100644
--- a/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/en.metadata-forms.generated.ts
+++ b/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/en.metadata-forms.generated.ts
@@ -923,6 +923,10 @@ export const enMetadataForms: NonNullable<TranslationData['metadataForms']> = {
     label: "Seed Data",
     description: "Fixture / initialization data applied on publish"
   },
+  picklist: {
+    label: "Picklist",
+    description: "Shared option list that select fields reference by name"
+  },
   mapping: {
     label: "Import Mapping",
     description: "Reusable import/export field mapping (rename + transforms), referenced by name at import"
diff --git a/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/es-ES.metadata-forms.generated.ts b/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/es-ES.metadata-forms.generated.ts
index 4faaa448e5a..4e3a876e678 100644
--- a/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/es-ES.metadata-forms.generated.ts
+++ b/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/es-ES.metadata-forms.generated.ts
@@ -923,6 +923,10 @@ export const esESMetadataForms: NonNullable<TranslationData['metadataForms']> =
     label: "Datos semilla",
     description: "Datos predefinidos / de inicialización aplicados al publicar"
   },
+  picklist: {
+    label: "Lista de selección",
+    description: "Lista de opciones compartida a la que los campos de selección hacen referencia por nombre"
+  },
   mapping: {
     label: "Mapeo de importación",
     description: "Mapeo de campos de importación/exportación reutilizable (renombrado + transformaciones), referenciado por nombre al importar"
diff --git a/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/ja-JP.metadata-forms.generated.ts b/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/ja-JP.metadata-forms.generated.ts
index 1b912e07c27..13fea54f717 100644
--- a/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/ja-JP.metadata-forms.generated.ts
+++ b/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/ja-JP.metadata-forms.generated.ts
@@ -923,6 +923,10 @@ export const jaJPMetadataForms: NonNullable<TranslationData['metadataForms']> =
     label: "シードデータ",
     description: "公開時に適用されるフィクスチャ／初期化データ"
   },
+  picklist: {
+    label: "選択リスト",
+    description: "選択フィールドが名前で参照する共有の選択肢リスト"
+  },
   mapping: {
     label: "インポートマッピング",
     description: "再利用可能なインポート／エクスポートのフィールドマッピング（リネーム + 変換）。インポート時に名前で参照します"
diff --git a/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/object-lifecycle-panel-echo-decisions.test.ts b/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/object-lifecycle-panel-echo-decisions.test.ts
index 6525a44bd03..9797c50c868 100644
--- a/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/object-lifecycle-panel-echo-decisions.test.ts
+++ b/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/object-lifecycle-panel-echo-decisions.test.ts
@@ -1146,7 +1146,9 @@ describe('#19403 round 10 — the verdicts, on the live bundles', () => {
       // sub-rows), and the field form's `inlineColumns` repeater (and its
       // `name`, `label`, `width` and `defaultHidden` sub-rows) — authored in all
       // three locales.
-      expect(translated.length, `${locale} positive control`).toBe(657);
+      // 658 with the `picklist` metadata type's display pair, authored in all
+      // three locales.
+      expect(translated.length, `${locale} positive control`).toBe(658);
     }
     // ⭐ DARK — the blindness, executable. On a synthetic two-locale catalog the
     // all-three predicate returns 0 while the per-locale one returns 1, so the
diff --git a/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/zh-CN.metadata-forms.generated.ts b/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/zh-CN.metadata-forms.generated.ts
index 3a732469987..07e39327f02 100644
--- a/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/zh-CN.metadata-forms.generated.ts
+++ b/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/zh-CN.metadata-forms.generated.ts
@@ -923,6 +923,10 @@ export const zhCNMetadataForms: NonNullable<TranslationData['metadataForms']> =
     label: "种子数据",
     description: "发布时应用的预置/初始化数据"
   },
+  picklist: {
+    label: "共享选项集",
+    description: "选择字段按名称引用的共享选项列表"
+  },
   mapping: {
     label: "导入映射",
     description: "可复用的导入/导出字段映射（重命名 + 转换），在导入时按名称引用"
diff --git a/packages/runtime/src/domains/meta-list-projection-parity.test.ts b/packages/runtime/src/domains/meta-list-projection-parity.test.ts
index 1587a07016a..40e9131c724 100644
--- a/packages/runtime/src/domains/meta-list-projection-parity.test.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime/src/domains/meta-list-projection-parity.test.ts
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ const STORE: Record<string, any[]> = {
     page: [{ name: 'home', label: 'Home', type: 'app' }],
     action: [{ name: 'close_case', label: 'Close case', objectName: 'case', type: 'script' }],
     dataset: [{ name: 'pipeline', label: 'Pipeline', object: 'opportunity' }],
+    picklist: [{ name: 'industry', label: 'Industry', options: [{ label: 'Technology', value: 'technology' }] }],
     flow: [{ name: 'on_lead', label: 'On lead', type: 'autolaunched' }],
 };
 
@@ -484,7 +485,7 @@ const PARAM_AXIS = new Set(PARAM_PROBES.map((p) => p.param).filter((p): p is str
 /** Every type a projection or a gate keys on, both spellings, plus every translatable type and an untouched control (`flow`). */
 const TYPE_CELLS: readonly string[] = [
     'app', 'apps', 'view', 'views', 'doc', 'docs', 'book', 'books', 'api', 'apis',
-    'object', 'objects', 'dashboard', 'dashboards', 'page', 'action', 'dataset', 'flow',
+    'object', 'objects', 'dashboard', 'dashboards', 'page', 'action', 'dataset', 'picklist', 'flow',
     // [#20408] A segment that names no metadata type: `RestServer` refuses it
     // (`refuseUnknownMetaListType`) rather than listing an empty collection.
     'totally_invented_type',
@@ -790,7 +791,7 @@ const ITEM_CELLS: readonly string[] = [
     '/meta/book/admin_guide', '/meta/books/help_center', '/meta/book/public_guide',
     '/meta/object/invoice', '/meta/objects/invoice',
     '/meta/dashboard/ops', '/meta/dashboards/ops',
-    '/meta/page/home', '/meta/action/close_case', '/meta/dataset/pipeline', '/meta/flow/on_lead', '/meta/api/crm_served',
+    '/meta/page/home', '/meta/action/close_case', '/meta/dataset/pipeline', '/meta/picklist/industry', '/meta/flow/on_lead', '/meta/api/crm_served',
 ];
 const ITEM_TYPE_AXIS = new Set(ITEM_CELLS.map((c) => singular(c.split('/')[2])));
 const ITEM_CALLERS = ['holder', 'non-holder', 'builder', 'author'] as const satisfies readonly CallerName[];
diff --git a/packages/spec/api-surface-signatures.json b/packages/spec/api-surface-signatures.json
index b2099d11828..1d8462c6d1e 100644
--- a/packages/spec/api-surface-signatures.json
+++ b/packages/spec/api-surface-signatures.json
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
   "defineObjectExtension": "sha256:3b4099069f01adfb",
   "definePage": "sha256:770a5cdb49ceba18",
   "definePermissionSet": "sha256:78d05bdfde46dc0d",
+  "definePicklist": "sha256:1f1e9009f8234797",
   "definePosition": "sha256:e11854797497e5e9",
   "defineReport": "sha256:044acff031d89910",
   "defineSharingRule": "sha256:239e6649b55712a4",
diff --git a/packages/spec/api-surface/data.json b/packages/spec/api-surface/data.json
index 4900a7de75f..3c53fe5b1b3 100644
--- a/packages/spec/api-surface/data.json
+++ b/packages/spec/api-surface/data.json
@@ -546,6 +546,15 @@
     "PersistenceAdapterSchema (const)",
     "PersistenceType (type)",
     "PersistenceTypeSchema (const)",
+    "Picklist (type)",
+    "PicklistExtension (type)",
+    "PicklistExtensionParsed (type)",
+    "PicklistExtensionSchema (const)",
+    "PicklistParsed (type)",
+    "PicklistSchema (const)",
+    "PicklistServedField (type)",
+    "PicklistServedFieldParsed (type)",
+    "PicklistServedFieldSchema (const)",
     "PoolConfig (type)",
     "PoolConfigParsed (type)",
     "PoolConfigSchema (const)",
@@ -788,6 +797,7 @@
     "defineHook (function)",
     "defineMapping (function)",
     "defineObjectExtension (function)",
+    "definePicklist (function)",
     "defineSeed (function)",
     "deriveFieldGroupLayout (function)",
     "deriveRecordFlowSurface (function)",
diff --git a/packages/spec/api-surface/root.json b/packages/spec/api-surface/root.json
index 13cff2c5d59..552a545a403 100644
--- a/packages/spec/api-surface/root.json
+++ b/packages/spec/api-surface/root.json
@@ -164,6 +164,7 @@
     "defineObjectExtension (function)",
     "definePage (function)",
     "definePermissionSet (function)",
+    "definePicklist (function)",
     "definePosition (function)",
     "defineReport (function)",
     "defineSharingRule (function)",
diff --git a/packages/spec/api-surface/system.json b/packages/spec/api-surface/system.json
index 50472f743ce..fa002c24036 100644
--- a/packages/spec/api-surface/system.json
+++ b/packages/spec/api-surface/system.json
@@ -497,6 +497,7 @@
     "PageComponentLike (interface)",
     "PageLike (interface)",
     "PageRegionLike (interface)",
+    "PicklistLike (interface)",
     "Plan (type)",
     "PlanParsed (type)",
     "PlanSchema (const)",
@@ -850,6 +851,7 @@
     "translateMetadataDocument (function)",
     "translateObject (function)",
     "translatePage (function)",
+    "translatePicklist (function)",
     "translateView (function)",
     "validationMessageTranslationKey (function)",
     "walkAddressedPageComponents (function)"
diff --git a/packages/spec/authorable-surface/data.json b/packages/spec/authorable-surface/data.json
index 1b83553c9fc..c83f29738c8 100644
--- a/packages/spec/authorable-surface/data.json
+++ b/packages/spec/authorable-surface/data.json
@@ -388,6 +388,7 @@
     "data/Field:multiple",
     "data/Field:name",
     "data/Field:options",
+    "data/Field:picklist",
     "data/Field:placeholder",
     "data/Field:precision",
     "data/Field:readonly",
@@ -753,6 +754,21 @@
     "data/PerOperationRequiredPermissions:delete",
     "data/PerOperationRequiredPermissions:read",
     "data/PerOperationRequiredPermissions:update",
+    "data/Picklist:_lock",
+    "data/Picklist:_lockDocsUrl",
+    "data/Picklist:_lockReason",
+    "data/Picklist:_lockSource",
+    "data/Picklist:_packageId",
+    "data/Picklist:_packageVersion",
+    "data/Picklist:_provenance",
+    "data/Picklist:description",
+    "data/Picklist:label",
+    "data/Picklist:name",
+    "data/Picklist:options",
+    "data/PicklistExtension:extend",
+    "data/PicklistExtension:options",
+    "data/PicklistServedField:options",
+    "data/PicklistServedField:picklist",
     "data/PoolConfig:connectionTimeoutMillis",
     "data/PoolConfig:idleTimeoutMillis",
     "data/PoolConfig:max",
diff --git a/packages/spec/authorable-surface/system.json b/packages/spec/authorable-surface/system.json
index f45d62f762d..fda3690a727 100644
--- a/packages/spec/authorable-surface/system.json
+++ b/packages/spec/authorable-surface/system.json
@@ -888,6 +888,7 @@
     "system/PlatformTranslationData:metadataForms",
     "system/PlatformTranslationData:objects",
     "system/PlatformTranslationData:pages",
+    "system/PlatformTranslationData:picklists",
     "system/PlatformTranslationData:settings",
     "system/PlatformTranslationData:settingsCommon",
     "system/PresignedUrlConfig:contentType",
@@ -1287,6 +1288,7 @@
     "system/TranslationData:metadataForms",
     "system/TranslationData:objects",
     "system/TranslationData:pages",
+    "system/TranslationData:picklists",
     "system/TranslationData:settingsCommon",
     "system/TranslationDiffItem:aiConfidence",
     "system/TranslationDiffItem:aiSuggested",
@@ -1314,6 +1316,7 @@
     "system/TranslationItem:name",
     "system/TranslationItem:objects",
     "system/TranslationItem:pages",
+    "system/TranslationItem:picklists",
     "system/TranslationItem:settingsCommon",
     "system/VectorClock:clock",
     "system/WorkerStats:active",
diff --git a/packages/spec/declaration-map/data.json b/packages/spec/declaration-map/data.json
index e93c8746bd0..987884d9b19 100644
--- a/packages/spec/declaration-map/data.json
+++ b/packages/spec/declaration-map/data.json
@@ -245,6 +245,12 @@
     "PerOperationRequiredPermissionsSchema": "data/PerOperationRequiredPermissions",
     "PersistenceType": "data/PersistenceType",
     "PersistenceTypeSchema": "data/PersistenceType",
+    "Picklist": "data/Picklist",
+    "PicklistExtension": "data/PicklistExtension",
+    "PicklistExtensionSchema": "data/PicklistExtension",
+    "PicklistSchema": "data/Picklist",
+    "PicklistServedField": "data/PicklistServedField",
+    "PicklistServedFieldSchema": "data/PicklistServedField",
     "PoolConfig": "data/PoolConfig",
     "PoolConfigSchema": "data/PoolConfig",
     "PostgresConfig": "data/PostgresConfig",
diff --git a/packages/spec/export-origins/data.json b/packages/spec/export-origins/data.json
index bcafcdced6d..129de63c943 100644
--- a/packages/spec/export-origins/data.json
+++ b/packages/spec/export-origins/data.json
@@ -535,6 +535,15 @@
     "PersistenceAdapterSchema": "src/data/driver/memory.zod.ts#PersistenceAdapterSchema (const)",
     "PersistenceType": "src/data/driver/memory.zod.ts#PersistenceType (type)",
     "PersistenceTypeSchema": "src/data/driver/memory.zod.ts#PersistenceTypeSchema (const)",
+    "Picklist": "src/data/picklist.zod.ts#Picklist (type)",
+    "PicklistExtension": "src/data/picklist.zod.ts#PicklistExtension (type)",
+    "PicklistExtensionParsed": "src/data/picklist.zod.ts#PicklistExtensionParsed (type)",
+    "PicklistExtensionSchema": "src/data/picklist.zod.ts#PicklistExtensionSchema (const)",
+    "PicklistParsed": "src/data/picklist.zod.ts#PicklistParsed (type)",
+    "PicklistSchema": "src/data/picklist.zod.ts#PicklistSchema (const)",
+    "PicklistServedField": "src/data/picklist.zod.ts#PicklistServedField (type)",
+    "PicklistServedFieldParsed": "src/data/picklist.zod.ts#PicklistServedFieldParsed (type)",
+    "PicklistServedFieldSchema": "src/data/picklist.zod.ts#PicklistServedFieldSchema (const)",
     "PoolConfig": "src/data/driver.zod.ts#PoolConfig (type)",
     "PoolConfigParsed": "src/data/driver.zod.ts#PoolConfigParsed (type)",
     "PoolConfigSchema": "src/data/driver.zod.ts#PoolConfigSchema (const)",
@@ -775,6 +784,7 @@
     "defineHook": "src/data/hook.zod.ts#defineHook (function)",
     "defineMapping": "src/data/mapping.zod.ts#defineMapping (function)",
     "defineObjectExtension": "src/data/object.zod.ts#defineObjectExtension (function)",
+    "definePicklist": "src/data/picklist.zod.ts#definePicklist (function)",
     "defineSeed": "src/data/seed.zod.ts#defineSeed (function)",
     "deriveFieldGroupLayout": "src/data/field-group-layout.ts#deriveFieldGroupLayout (function)",
     "deriveRecordFlowSurface": "src/data/record-surface.ts#deriveRecordFlowSurface (function)",
diff --git a/packages/spec/export-origins/root.json b/packages/spec/export-origins/root.json
index 1b8db1e9a91..211e36b2dd6 100644
--- a/packages/spec/export-origins/root.json
+++ b/packages/spec/export-origins/root.json
@@ -163,6 +163,7 @@
     "defineObjectExtension": "src/data/object.zod.ts#defineObjectExtension (function)",
     "definePage": "src/ui/page.zod.ts#definePage (function)",
     "definePermissionSet": "src/security/permission.zod.ts#definePermissionSet (function)",
+    "definePicklist": "src/data/picklist.zod.ts#definePicklist (function)",
     "definePosition": "src/identity/position.zod.ts#definePosition (function)",
     "defineReport": "src/ui/report.zod.ts#defineReport (function)",
     "defineSharingRule": "src/security/sharing.zod.ts#defineSharingRule (function)",
diff --git a/packages/spec/export-origins/system.json b/packages/spec/export-origins/system.json
index 9c06a6fdd0c..f6ced167812 100644
--- a/packages/spec/export-origins/system.json
+++ b/packages/spec/export-origins/system.json
@@ -476,6 +476,7 @@
     "PageComponentLike": "src/system/i18n-resolver.ts#PageComponentLike (interface)",
     "PageLike": "src/system/i18n-resolver.ts#PageLike (interface)",
     "PageRegionLike": "src/system/i18n-resolver.ts#PageRegionLike (interface)",
+    "PicklistLike": "src/system/i18n-resolver.ts#PicklistLike (interface)",
     "Plan": "src/system/license.zod.ts#Plan (type)",
     "PlanParsed": "src/system/license.zod.ts#PlanParsed (type)",
     "PlanSchema": "src/system/license.zod.ts#PlanSchema (const)",
@@ -811,6 +812,7 @@
     "translateMetadataDocument": "src/system/i18n-resolver.ts#translateMetadataDocument (function)",
     "translateObject": "src/system/i18n-resolver.ts#translateObject (function)",
     "translatePage": "src/system/i18n-resolver.ts#translatePage (function)",
+    "translatePicklist": "src/system/i18n-resolver.ts#translatePicklist (function)",
     "translateView": "src/system/i18n-resolver.ts#translateView (function)",
     "validationMessageTranslationKey": "src/system/validation-message.ts#validationMessageTranslationKey (function)",
     "walkAddressedPageComponents": "src/system/i18n-resolver.ts#walkAddressedPageComponents (function)"
diff --git a/packages/spec/json-schema.manifest/data.json b/packages/spec/json-schema.manifest/data.json
index 53ebe1d6f17..43355db09f1 100644
--- a/packages/spec/json-schema.manifest/data.json
+++ b/packages/spec/json-schema.manifest/data.json
@@ -134,6 +134,9 @@
     "data/ObjectRequiredPermissions",
     "data/PerOperationRequiredPermissions",
     "data/PersistenceType",
+    "data/Picklist",
+    "data/PicklistExtension",
+    "data/PicklistServedField",
     "data/PoolConfig",
     "data/PostgresConfig",
     "data/Query",
diff --git a/packages/spec/liveness/README.md b/packages/spec/liveness/README.md
index 661ad73fe0c..b717e9ff869 100644
--- a/packages/spec/liveness/README.md
+++ b/packages/spec/liveness/README.md
@@ -816,7 +816,7 @@ The governed set is `GOVERNED` at the top of `check-liveness.mts`. To add a type
    RecordDetailView had been gating the History tab on it the whole time (#2707).
 4. Add the type to `GOVERNED`; confirm the gate is green.
 
-## Current state — 40 governed types (complete registry coverage)
+## Current state — 41 governed types (complete registry coverage)
 
 > **This heading is now checked** (#7257). `check:liveness` reconciles the table
 > against `GOVERNED` in both directions — a governed type with no row fails, a row
@@ -930,6 +930,7 @@ marker where the Notes cell goes, never a guess at what belongs there.
 | email_template | this row read 8/–/13/– for one day (seeded 2026-08-01, #4488: "every authorable property is dead", the webhook shape on AUTH mail) and #4509 CLOSED it by ENFORCING — the second worked example, after `webhook`, that a dead verdict is a worklist entry rather than a tombstone. `bootstrapDeclaredEmailTemplates` materializes declared items into the `sys_email_template` rows `sendTemplate` reads, sharing `mapTemplateToRow` with the built-in seeder so the two doors cannot drift, and re-materializes on live metadata writes (`email_template` is `allowRuntimeCreate: true`, so boot-only would have left Studio saves inert). Three breaks had to close, not one: the engine never registered `emailTemplates:` into the registry, built-in seeds masqueraded as `managed_by: admin` and outranked declared templates, and nothing materialized. ADR-0054 proof bound on `subject` (`email-template-materialization`) |
 | job | seeded 2026-08-01 (#4488). The file-authored path is fully enforced: all three schedule shapes honored by the adapters, `retryPolicy`/`timeout` enforced since #3494 (this is the retryPolicy the datasource ledger warns about confusing with its dead namesake), `enabled: false` skips scheduling. Dead 3 = `id` (authorWarn — `name` is the identity everywhere) + label/description (docs-kept). The type-level gap CLOSED 2026-08-02 (#4509) by closing the door rather than bridging it: `handler` names a function in the compiled bundle's function table, which a runtime writer cannot name, so `allowRuntimeCreate` **and** `allowOrgOverride` are now false and `*.job.ts` / `defineStack({ jobs })` are the supported doors. The kind stays registered — its file loader is genuinely consumed (ADR-0088 admission test) **#4667**: `id` REMOVED (row deleted, strict removal) — nothing read it and its own describe() ("defaults to `name` when omitted") advertised an identity override that never existed; `name` is the scheduling key, the sys_job row key and the JobExecution.jobId stamp, so two jobs differing only in `id` were one job. **#7131** (PR #7425) takes the remaining two: `label` and `description` re-grade `dead` → `live` under the 2026-08-10 maintainer ruling that **designer previews count as consumers** — objectui's `JobPreview` had been reading `d.label` and `d.description` and rendering them as the preview card's title and subtitle the whole time, so the old "no runtime consumer" was a true statement about the *scheduler* and a false one about the system. **This row now has zero dead and the ADR-0033 exemption is still in force**, which is worth saying out loud because it is the first row in this table where those two facts hold together: the keys are still docs-shaped, still deliberately KEPT, still not `authorWarn`'d, and enforce-or-remove still has nothing to chase here. What changed is only that the exemption no longer has to carry the verdict — the measurement does. |
 | mapping | seeded 2026-08-01 (#4488) at 8/11 live; **0 dead since #4509** retired the three that were not. The import half (#2611) is loudly enforced — unsupported transforms/formats are 400s, `mode`/`upsertKey` default the request, the wizard picker renders `label`. RETIRED 17.0.0: `extractQuery` (authorWarn — "for export only" promised an export path no exporter implements) + `errorPolicy`/`batchSize`, which were dead AND **unwarnable** (schema defaults materialize at parse, so presence ≠ authored — `_authorWarnSkipped`, the non-boolean instance of the default(true) rule). That unwarnability is why they went out in the 17.0.0 window rather than after a deprecation cycle: removal was the only channel that could ever reach the author. Rows DELETED, not tombstoned — MappingSchema is strict, so the keys left the walked shape |
+| picklist | seeded 2026-09-30 (#19518) — `PicklistSchema`, the shared option list select fields reference by name. Every key `planned`: the kind is registered with the spec layer ahead of its runtime reader by ruling, and the runtime layer (#19519 — load before `object`, additive `picklistExtensions` merge, resolve onto the served field) has not landed. `field.picklist` carries the same verdict with `authorWarn`, because until then a picklist-bound field is served with no options. |
 | seed | seeded 2026-08-01 (#4488). Fully live via SeedLoaderService on both doors (boot/per-org replay + runtime-draft publish). `records` is the z.record walk boundary: the keys an author writes are the target object's fields, governed by that object's own definitions — recorded in the entry, not silently skipped |
 | translation | seeded 2026-08-01 (#4488) — after fixing the walker: the registered schema is a z.preprocess pipe (#3778 retired-dialect guard) whose transform side the unwrap always took, so the type was literally unwalkable. 11 of 12 groups live across spec resolvers, REST localization, objectui client resolvers and plugin-audit (whose composed-key `t()` calls make `messages` easy to mis-verify as dead) — `flows` was the one that was not, and was `planned` at seeding. **#14253** added the twelfth, `datasets`, seeded LIVE and DRILLED (label / description / dimensions / measures) with its reader in the same change: `translateDataset` in the dispatch table, which is what `TRANSLATABLE_METADATA_TYPES` is derived from, so the REST boundary followed with nothing else to remember. The same change gave `objects.<o>._views.<v>.bulkActions` and `objects.<o>._validations.<rule>.message` their first keys — both beneath the walk boundary, so neither adds a row here. Dead 1 = `validationMessages` (authorWarn) at seeding: nothing resolved it, and #3778's own legacy-key migration table steered `errors:` authors into it — a shipped false signpost, the capabilities.readOnly shape. **#4667**: `validationMessages` REMOVED (row deleted) — removed from the shared translationDataShape(), so it retired at BOTH doors at once, closing the item-only asymmetry #3778's original guard had. #3778's own `errors` guidance was rewritten in the same change: it had been steering authors INTO this dead group. ⚠️ **What that left behind is this table's own worked example of the defect it warns about** (#7377): the same commit that deleted the `validationMessages` row wrote a count column of `dead 2` beside a sentence that named exactly one dead key — and that one was the key it had just removed. The real two were `name` and `label`, which the cell never mentioned. Measured at that commit, not inferred: the ledger's dead set there is `{name, label}` and `validationMessages` is absent from `props`. The number was right and the prose was false, in the same cell, on the day it was written — which is why the counts are now generated and this cell holds prose only. **#7131** (PR #7425) resolves it: `name` and `label` re-grade `dead` → `live` under the designer-previews-count-as-consumers ruling (objectui `TranslationPreview.tsx:67` reads `label` first and falls back to `name`, both rendering at `:100`), so the dead set is empty and there is no dead-set sentence left to keep true. As on `job`, the ADR-0033 docs-shaped exemption is untouched — nothing about enforce-or-remove moved. **#19620** (ruling batch #210 item 2 letter B): `settings` row DELETED — the strict-delete route, because `TranslationItemSchema` no longer declares the key and refuses it by name (the item door now takes the per-app face, as the file door has since #15178). ⚠️ The deleted row read `live`, and that verdict was TRUE and stays true of the platform: its evidence read the SERVED tree, which the platform bundle feeds, so the deletion retires the key from the application-authored item and nothing else — the capability lives on `PlatformTranslationDataSchema`, outside this ledger. **#20296**: `flows` is now half-read. `flows.screens` re-graded `planned` → `live`: objectui's FlowRunner reads each screen's `title` and each field's `label` / `placeholder` at the `.objectui-sha` pin f8a9d0fb. `flows.label` stays `planned` because nothing reads it yet (#20318), and so does the container's `authorWarn`, whose `authorHint` now names the read half and the unread one. |
 | qa | seeded 2026-08-10 (#6247) — **not a metadata type**: `TestSuiteSchema` is the FILE surface of the shipped `os test` command (`qa/*.test.json`), governed through the same `SPEC_ONLY_SCHEMAS` override as `query`/`webhook`/`validation`. It is in the table as the clearest worked example of a **false `dead` measurement**: #6247 reported the whole domain declared-but-inert on a grep that scanned only `*Schema` identifiers, and every consumer here reads the **type** names (`QA.TestSuite`, `QA.TestStep`, `QA.TestAction`) — so an entire execution chain (core's `TestRunner` + `HttpTestAdapter`, published via `export * as QA`, driven by a documented CLI command) read as zero consumers, and a retire ruling was issued on it before being withdrawn. The `evidenceScope` table one section up says no amount of specifier matching is sufficient for a negative claim; this is the same lesson for **identifier** matching. What was really wrong was narrower and real: the type was the contract and the schema had no `parse` site, so the CLI's `JSON.parse(content) as QA.TestSuite` cast admitted anything — ENFORCED in the same change (`TestSuiteSchema.safeParse` at the load site, pinned). The seeding recorded Dead 5 — `name`, `scenarios.name`, `scenarios.description`, `scenarios.tags` and `scenarios.requires` — and #20289 (family `qa-runner`, verdict ENFORCE) made all FIVE live: the suite `name` heads the suite in `os test`'s report and is stamped as `suiteName` on every TestResult the suite produces; `scenarios.name` is printed beside the id and carried as `scenarioName`; `scenarios.description` is carried and printed under a failed scenario; `scenarios.tags` is read by `os test --tags` (any-of, exact; deselected scenarios are counted and never passed); and `scenarios.requires` is judged by the TestRunner before a scenario's first step — `params` against the environment of the process running `os test`, `services` against the target's discovery `services` (enabled and `available`) — so an unmet entry SKIPS the scenario with its reason, counted apart and never passed. `requires` was put to the maintainer first rather than guessed (ruled B): over HTTP no server surface lists the loaded plugins, so `requires.plugins` is a `retiredKey()` tombstone inside the block whose prescription names `requires.services`. It does not carry `authorWarn` and the omission is deliberate (`_authorWarnSkipped`): the lint walks stack **collections**, a QA suite is a loose file in no stack, so a warn flag here would emit nothing — a silent no-op inside the mechanism built to catch silent no-ops |
diff --git a/packages/spec/liveness/field.json b/packages/spec/liveness/field.json
index 666d73d17f9..4bf3c828bc7 100644
--- a/packages/spec/liveness/field.json
+++ b/packages/spec/liveness/field.json
@@ -56,6 +56,13 @@
       "status": "live",
       "note": "select options {label,value,description,color,default} — renderers + validation. `description` joined 2026-08-31 (objectui#6153, inheriting the objectui#6140 ruling frame): objectui LookupField searches it on authored static options (LookupField.tsx:526) and recordToOption produces it for fetched options."
     },
+    "picklist": {
+      "status": "planned",
+      "verifiedAt": "2026-09-30",
+      "authorWarn": true,
+      "authorHint": "A field that names a picklist is not yet resolved by the server: until picklist resolution ships, the field is served with no options, so its control offers nothing and a written value is not checked against the list. Keep inline `options` on fields that must work today.",
+      "note": "Declared with the spec layer (#19518); mutually exclusive with `options` at the schema door (FieldSchema superRefine). The reader is the runtime layer (#19519), which resolves the reference onto the served field's `options` — not landed, so `planned`. `authorWarn` because the interim is the misleading shape: the key parses and publishes, and the served field carries no options until #19519. Flip to `live` against its resolver."
+    },
     "deleteBehavior": {
       "status": "live",
       "evidence": "packages/objectql/src/engine.ts",
diff --git a/packages/spec/liveness/picklist.json b/packages/spec/liveness/picklist.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..099b17d352d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/spec/liveness/picklist.json
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+{
+  "type": "picklist",
+  "_note": "PicklistSchema (`data/picklist.zod.ts`) — a shared option list that select fields reference by name (`Field.select({ picklist })`). Seeded 2026-09-30 with the spec layer (#19518), every key `planned`: the kind is registered ahead of its runtime reader by ruling (spec layer first, runtime layer #19519 Blocked-by it). The ADR-0010 envelope keys carry the same `null` verdict as `capability`: loader-stamped, not authored.",
+  "props": {
+    "name": {
+      "status": "planned",
+      "verifiedAt": "2026-09-30",
+      "note": "The handle a field's `picklist` names. Declared with the spec layer of the picklist kind (#19518); its runtime reader is the runtime layer (#19519: load before `object`, additive merge of `picklistExtensions`, resolve onto the served field, write validation against the resolved set), which has NOT landed. No code outside `packages/spec` reads a picklist yet, so this is `planned`, not `live`. Re-verify to `live` against #19519's resolver."
+    },
+    "label": {
+      "status": "planned",
+      "verifiedAt": "2026-09-30",
+      "note": "Display label of the list (the Studio picklist page is a later phase). Declared with the spec layer of the picklist kind (#19518); its runtime reader is the runtime layer (#19519: load before `object`, additive merge of `picklistExtensions`, resolve onto the served field, write validation against the resolved set), which has NOT landed. No code outside `packages/spec` reads a picklist yet, so this is `planned`, not `live`. Re-verify to `live` against #19519's resolver."
+    },
+    "description": {
+      "status": "planned",
+      "verifiedAt": "2026-09-30",
+      "note": "Author-facing summary of what the list enumerates. Declared with the spec layer of the picklist kind (#19518); its runtime reader is the runtime layer (#19519: load before `object`, additive merge of `picklistExtensions`, resolve onto the served field, write validation against the resolved set), which has NOT landed. No code outside `packages/spec` reads a picklist yet, so this is `planned`, not `live`. Re-verify to `live` against #19519's resolver."
+    },
+    "options": {
+      "status": "planned",
+      "verifiedAt": "2026-09-30",
+      "note": "The options every referencing field is served, resolved onto the field (`PicklistServedFieldSchema`). Declared with the spec layer of the picklist kind (#19518); its runtime reader is the runtime layer (#19519: load before `object`, additive merge of `picklistExtensions`, resolve onto the served field, write validation against the resolved set), which has NOT landed. No code outside `packages/spec` reads a picklist yet, so this is `planned`, not `live`. Re-verify to `live` against #19519's resolver.",
+      "children": {
+        "label": {
+          "status": "planned",
+          "verifiedAt": "2026-09-30",
+          "note": "A picklist option — the field option shape reused verbatim (`SelectOptionSchema`). Read, like the list itself, by the #19519 resolver once it lands; it reaches every consumer through the referencing field's resolved `options`, where the same key is `live` on `field.json`."
+        },
+        "value": {
+          "status": "planned",
+          "verifiedAt": "2026-09-30",
+          "note": "A picklist option — the field option shape reused verbatim (`SelectOptionSchema`). Read, like the list itself, by the #19519 resolver once it lands; it reaches every consumer through the referencing field's resolved `options`, where the same key is `live` on `field.json`."
+        },
+        "description": {
+          "status": "planned",
+          "verifiedAt": "2026-09-30",
+          "note": "A picklist option — the field option shape reused verbatim (`SelectOptionSchema`). Read, like the list itself, by the #19519 resolver once it lands; it reaches every consumer through the referencing field's resolved `options`, where the same key is `live` on `field.json`."
+        },
+        "color": {
+          "status": "planned",
+          "verifiedAt": "2026-09-30",
+          "note": "A picklist option — the field option shape reused verbatim (`SelectOptionSchema`). Read, like the list itself, by the #19519 resolver once it lands; it reaches every consumer through the referencing field's resolved `options`, where the same key is `live` on `field.json`."
+        },
+        "default": {
+          "status": "planned",
+          "verifiedAt": "2026-09-30",
+          "note": "A picklist option — the field option shape reused verbatim (`SelectOptionSchema`). Read, like the list itself, by the #19519 resolver once it lands; it reaches every consumer through the referencing field's resolved `options`, where the same key is `live` on `field.json`."
+        },
+        "visibleWhen": {
+          "status": "planned",
+          "verifiedAt": "2026-09-30",
+          "note": "A picklist option — the field option shape reused verbatim (`SelectOptionSchema`). Read, like the list itself, by the #19519 resolver once it lands; it reaches every consumer through the referencing field's resolved `options`, where the same key is `live` on `field.json`."
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    "_lock": null,
+    "_lockReason": null,
+    "_lockSource": null,
+    "_provenance": null,
+    "_packageId": null,
+    "_packageVersion": null,
+    "_lockDocsUrl": null
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/spec/liveness/state-counts/field.md b/packages/spec/liveness/state-counts/field.md
index 1261ef56763..83feef47783 100644
--- a/packages/spec/liveness/state-counts/field.md
+++ b/packages/spec/liveness/state-counts/field.md
@@ -12,4 +12,4 @@ committed anywhere: `check:liveness` sums the shards when it reads them.
 
 | Type | live | exp | elsewhere | dead | planned | classified |
 |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-| `field` | 91 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 93 |
+| `field` | 91 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 94 |
diff --git a/packages/spec/liveness/state-counts/picklist.md b/packages/spec/liveness/state-counts/picklist.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b9b5325e9d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/spec/liveness/state-counts/picklist.md
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+<!-- GENERATED — DO NOT EDIT BY HAND. -->
+<!-- Regenerate: pnpm --filter @objectstack/spec gen:liveness-counts -->
+
+# `picklist` — liveness counts (generated)
+
+This type's row of the liveness state table, computed by the gate that enforces
+it (`scripts/liveness/check-liveness.mts --json`, `types.<type>.byStatus`). Its
+Notes prose is the `picklist` row of [the ledger README](../README.md), which
+also states the counting method. One file per governed type, and no total is
+committed anywhere: `check:liveness` sums the shards when it reads them.
+**Never hand-patch a number here** — fix the ledger or the schema and regenerate.
+
+| Type | live | exp | elsewhere | dead | planned | classified |
+|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
+| `picklist` | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 16 |
diff --git a/packages/spec/liveness/state-counts/translation.md b/packages/spec/liveness/state-counts/translation.md
index 41392111e07..d28b11bf5f8 100644
--- a/packages/spec/liveness/state-counts/translation.md
+++ b/packages/spec/liveness/state-counts/translation.md
@@ -12,4 +12,4 @@ committed anywhere: `check:liveness` sums the shards when it reads them.
 
 | Type | live | exp | elsewhere | dead | planned | classified |
 |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-| `translation` | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24 |
+| `translation` | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 26 |
diff --git a/packages/spec/liveness/translation.json b/packages/spec/liveness/translation.json
index ee8f4eb4721..65d8598005a 100644
--- a/packages/spec/liveness/translation.json
+++ b/packages/spec/liveness/translation.json
@@ -30,6 +30,26 @@
       "evidence": "packages/spec/src/system/i18n-resolver.ts#lookupObjectField (`objects.<name>.label` / `pluralLabel` / `description`); packages/spec/src/system/i18n-resolver.ts#lookupObjectFieldAttr (`objects.<name>.fields.<field>.<attr>`); packages/spec/src/system/i18n-resolver.ts#resolveViewLabel (`objects.<name>._views.<view>.label`); packages/spec/src/system/i18n-resolver.ts#lookupActionField (`objects.<name>._actions`, checked BEFORE globalActions); packages/spec/src/system/i18n-resolver.ts#lookupTabLabel (`objects.<name>._tabs`); objectui @940ba24: packages/i18n/src/useObjectLabel.ts:397-400",
       "note": "the largest group, fully live: label/pluralLabel/description (translateObject), fields.{label,help,placeholder,options}, _views (resolveViewLabel + empty-state copy), _actions (label/confirmText/successMessage/params/resultDialog — object-scoped first, then globalActions fallback), _sections (objectui record:details section labels). Served through REST translateMetaItem(s) and the /api/v1/i18n endpoints; objectui re-resolves client-side via the spec-translations transform. 2026-08-28: RE-ANCHORED (commit 8f10a79f7) and REPOINTED — this entry named SIX positions in i18n-resolver.ts and only the first, `:735`, was parsable as a citation at all; it had rotted onto `widgets?: WidgetLike[]` in the `DashboardLike` INTERFACE. The other five (`:751`, `:159`, `:197`, `:873`, `:900`) were bare line suffixes with no path in front of them, so they were never resolved, bounded or key-checked by anything — the largest instance in this batch of the class `flow.status` and `dashboard.widgets.suppressWarnings` also carried. The five anchors above are the five distinct group readers, named. Re-closed by hand against 8cb96ec41."
     },
+    "picklists": {
+      "status": "planned",
+      "verifiedAt": "2026-09-30",
+      "evidence": "packages/spec/src/system/i18n-resolver.ts#translatePicklist (a served `picklist` item: `picklists.<name>.label` and `.options.<value>`, registered in METADATA_DOCUMENT_TRANSLATORS); packages/spec/src/system/i18n-resolver.ts#translateObject (a picklist-bound field inherits `picklists.<name>.options.<value>` after its own field-level entry)",
+      "note": "Declared with the spec layer of the picklist kind (#19518), resolvers in the same change. `planned`, not `live`, because the PRODUCER half is missing: nothing serves a picklist item or a picklist-bound field with its options resolved until the runtime layer (#19519) lands, so both resolvers are reachable only from tests today. Flip to `live` when #19519's resolved serve reaches them.",
+      "children": {
+        "label": {
+          "status": "planned",
+          "verifiedAt": "2026-09-30",
+          "evidence": "packages/spec/src/system/i18n-resolver.ts#lookupPicklistLabel (`picklists.<name>.label`, read by translatePicklist)",
+          "note": "The list's own display name — the served picklist item, which nothing serves until #19519."
+        },
+        "options": {
+          "status": "planned",
+          "verifiedAt": "2026-09-30",
+          "evidence": "packages/spec/src/system/i18n-resolver.ts#lookupPicklistOption (`picklists.<name>.options.<value>`, read by translatePicklist and by translateObject for a field whose `picklist` names the list)",
+          "note": "Option labels, translated once and inherited by every referencing field; a field-level `objects.<o>.fields.<f>.options` entry stays the more specific and wins. Reached once #19519 serves the resolved options."
+        }
+      }
+    },
     "apps": {
       "status": "live",
       "verifiedAt": "2026-08-28",
diff --git a/packages/spec/llms.txt b/packages/spec/llms.txt
index d616581150e..828742e0018 100644
--- a/packages/spec/llms.txt
+++ b/packages/spec/llms.txt
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ const query = {
 
 ---
 
-## 3. Schema Inventory by Domain (203 schemas)
+## 3. Schema Inventory by Domain (204 schemas)
 
 Counted as `*.zod.ts` modules under `packages/spec/src/<domain>/` — the sources
 that ship in this tarball (`files` includes `src/**/*.zod.ts`), so every number
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ here is verifiable from the installed package.
 |--------|-------|-------------|
 | system | 34 | Auth, Cache, Compliance, Dev Login, Encryption, HTTP Server, License, Logging, Metrics |
 | kernel | 31 | Plugin, Manifest, Events (6 sub-modules), Feature, Context, Package Registry |
-| data | 30 | Object, Field, Query, Filter, Driver (SQL/NoSQL/Memory/Mongo/Postgres), Cube |
+| data | 31 | Object, Field, Picklist, Query, Filter, Driver (SQL/NoSQL/Memory/Mongo/Postgres), Cube |
 | api | 31 | Endpoint, REST Server, Discovery, OData, Batch, WebSocket, Response Envelope, Package Lifecycle, Package API (assembled stage) |
 | ui | 18 | View, App, Action, Dashboard, Page, Chart, Component, Animation |
 | automation | 14 | Flow, Approval, BPMN Interop, Control Flow, State Machine, Webhook, Schedule Organization |
diff --git a/packages/spec/scripts/liveness/check-liveness.mts b/packages/spec/scripts/liveness/check-liveness.mts
index 03447962b60..0ea9e57c68c 100644
--- a/packages/spec/scripts/liveness/check-liveness.mts
+++ b/packages/spec/scripts/liveness/check-liveness.mts
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ const ledgerRoot = ledgerRootArg
 
 // Governed metadata types, rolled out highest-frequency / highest-risk first.
 // (`query` is not a metadata type — see SPEC_ONLY_SCHEMAS below.)
-const GOVERNED = ['object', 'field', 'flow', 'action', 'hook', 'permission', 'position', 'agent', 'tool', 'skill', 'dataset', 'page', 'view', 'report', 'dashboard', 'webhook', 'query', 'datasource', 'app', 'book', 'doc', 'email_template', 'job', 'mapping', 'seed', 'translation', 'validation', 'api', 'capability', 'qa', 'manifest', 'crud_endpoints', 'metadata_endpoints', 'batch_endpoints', 'route_generation', 'rest_api', 'realtime_subscription', 'sharing_rule', 'connector', 'analytics_cube'];
+const GOVERNED = ['object', 'field', 'flow', 'action', 'hook', 'permission', 'position', 'agent', 'tool', 'skill', 'dataset', 'page', 'view', 'report', 'dashboard', 'webhook', 'query', 'datasource', 'app', 'book', 'doc', 'email_template', 'job', 'mapping', 'picklist', 'seed', 'translation', 'validation', 'api', 'capability', 'qa', 'manifest', 'crud_endpoints', 'metadata_endpoints', 'batch_endpoints', 'route_generation', 'rest_api', 'realtime_subscription', 'sharing_rule', 'connector', 'analytics_cube'];
 
 // Authorable metadata types that are NOT yet governed — the coverage ratchet.
 //
diff --git a/packages/spec/src/data/field.zod.ts b/packages/spec/src/data/field.zod.ts
index fb2f1519d26..f2003089a31 100644
--- a/packages/spec/src/data/field.zod.ts
+++ b/packages/spec/src/data/field.zod.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import type { KeySetGuidance } from '../shared/suggestions.zod';
 // `shared/visibility.ts`, which imports nothing at runtime.
 import { SELECT_OPTION_EDITABILITY_GUIDANCE } from '../shared/editability-boundary';
 import { MetadataProtectionFields } from '../kernel/metadata-protection.zod';
-import { SystemIdentifierSchema } from '../shared/identifiers.zod';
+import { SnakeCaseIdentifierSchema, SystemIdentifierSchema } from '../shared/identifiers.zod';
 import { EvaluatedExpressionInputSchema } from '../shared/expression.zod';
 import { FilterConditionSchema } from './filter.zod';
 import { FIELD_KEY_GUIDANCE } from './authoring-key-lint';
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ import {
   discriminateDefaultValueShape,
   suggestDefaultValueToken,
 } from './default-value-shape';
-import { AddressSchema, FILE_REFERENCE_TYPES, MULTI_CAPABLE_TYPES, MULTI_OPTION_TYPES, REFERENCE_VALUE_TYPES } from './field-value.zod';
+import { AddressSchema, FILE_REFERENCE_TYPES, MULTI_CAPABLE_TYPES, MULTI_OPTION_TYPES, REFERENCE_VALUE_TYPES, SINGLE_OPTION_TYPES } from './field-value.zod';
 import { ValueDomainSchema } from '../shared/value-domain.zod';
 
 /**
@@ -1037,7 +1037,10 @@ export const FieldSchema = lazySchema(() => {
     // WRITE contract, and ADR-0113 moved neither.
     isRequired: 'required', mandatory: 'required',
     isUnique: 'unique',
-    values: 'options', choices: 'options', picklist: 'options', selectOptions: 'options',
+    // `picklist` is not here: it is a declared key — the reference to a shared
+    // option list, mutually exclusive with `options` (see the key below).
+    values: 'options', choices: 'options', selectOptions: 'options',
+    valueSet: 'picklist', globalValueSet: 'picklist', optionSet: 'picklist',
     relatedTo: 'reference', referenceTo: 'reference', target: 'reference', targetObject: 'reference', lookupObject: 'reference',
     onDelete: 'deleteBehavior', deleteRule: 'deleteBehavior', cascade: 'deleteBehavior',
     formula: 'expression', calculation: 'expression', compute: 'expression',
@@ -1339,6 +1342,28 @@ export const FieldSchema = lazySchema(() => {
   /** Selection Options */
   options: z.array(SelectOptionSchema).optional().describe('Static options for select/multiselect'),
 
+  /**
+   * Reference to a shared option list — a `picklist` item, by name — in place
+   * of inline `options` (`data/picklist.zod.ts`).
+   *
+   * Mutually exclusive with `options`, refused at this door when both are
+   * written: the field's options come from exactly one source. Valid only on
+   * the option types (`select`, `radio`, `multiselect`, `checkboxes`,
+   * `tags`), the types whose value is an option code.
+   *
+   * The reference is resolved on the SERVER: the field a client reads from
+   * the object read exits carries the resolved `options` next to this key
+   * (`PicklistServedFieldSchema`), so renderers, the record validator
+   * and filter pickers read `options` exactly as they do for an inline list.
+   * Option labels translate under `picklists.<name>.options.<value>`, which
+   * every referencing field inherits.
+   */
+  picklist: SnakeCaseIdentifierSchema.optional().describe(
+    'Name of a shared `picklist` whose options this field offers — instead of `options`, never with it. '
+    + 'Option types only (select, radio, multiselect, checkboxes, tags). The server resolves the '
+    + 'reference: the field clients read carries the resolved `options`.',
+  ),
+
   /**
    * Relationship Config
    * 
@@ -2104,6 +2129,35 @@ export const FieldSchema = lazySchema(() => {
     });
   }
 
+  // A field's options come from exactly ONE source: inline `options`, or the
+  // shared list `picklist` names (`data/picklist.zod.ts`). Both is refused —
+  // two sources, one of them silently ignored. (Neither, on a single-choice
+  // type, stays the error-severity `FIELD_CHOICE_WITHOUT_OPTIONS` finding of
+  // `kernel/functional-completeness.ts`, whose prescription names both.)
+  if (field.picklist !== undefined) {
+    if (!SINGLE_OPTION_TYPES.has(field.type) && !MULTI_OPTION_TYPES.has(field.type)) {
+      ctx.addIssue({
+        code: 'custom',
+        path: ['picklist'],
+        message:
+          `\`picklist\` is only valid on an option type — select, radio, multiselect, checkboxes or ` +
+          `tags (this field is \`${field.type}\`): it names the shared list the field's value is ` +
+          'chosen from, and this type stores no option code. Change the type, or remove `picklist`.',
+      });
+    }
+    if (field.options !== undefined) {
+      ctx.addIssue({
+        code: 'custom',
+        path: ['options'],
+        message:
+          '`picklist` and `options` cannot both be declared — a field takes its options from exactly ' +
+          "one source. Keep `picklist: '<name>'` and delete `options`: the shared list supplies them " +
+          '(to offer a new value, add it to the picklist, or through `picklistExtensions` when another ' +
+          'package owns it). Or delete `picklist` to keep an inline list of this field\'s own.',
+      });
+    }
+  }
+
   // ADR-0113: `storage.notNull` × `requiredWhen` is a contradiction, rejected
   // at the authoring seam — when the condition is FALSE the write contract
   // permits null, but the column would refuse it, so the author has declared
@@ -2556,6 +2610,53 @@ export type CurrencyValue = z.input<typeof CurrencyValueSchema>;
  */
 export type FieldInput = Omit<Partial<Field>, 'type'>;
 
+/** `Field.select` with inline options — the array or `{ options }` forms. */
+function selectWithOptions(optionsOrConfig: Array<SelectOption | string> | Omit<FieldInput, 'options'> & { options: Array<SelectOption | string> }, config?: FieldInput) {
+  // Helper function to convert string to lowercase snake_case
+  const toSnakeCase = (str: string): string => {
+    return str
+      .toLowerCase()
+      .replace(/\s+/g, '_')  // Replace spaces with underscores
+      .replace(/[^a-z0-9_]/g, ''); // Remove invalid characters (keeping underscores only)
+  };
+
+  // Support both old and new signatures:
+  // Old: Field.select(['a', 'b'], { label: 'X' })
+  // New: Field.select({ options: [{label: 'A', value: 'a'}], label: 'X' })
+  let options: SelectOption[];
+  let finalConfig: FieldInput;
+  
+  if (Array.isArray(optionsOrConfig)) {
+    // Old signature: array as first param
+    options = optionsOrConfig.map(o => 
+      typeof o === 'string' 
+        ? { label: o, value: toSnakeCase(o) }  // Auto-convert string to snake_case
+        : { ...o, value: o.value.toLowerCase() }  // Ensure value is lowercase
+    );
+    finalConfig = config || {};
+  } else {
+    // New signature: config object with options
+    options = (optionsOrConfig.options || []).map(o => 
+      typeof o === 'string' 
+        ? { label: o, value: toSnakeCase(o) }  // Auto-convert string to snake_case
+        : { ...o, value: o.value.toLowerCase() }  // Ensure value is lowercase
+    );
+    // Remove options from config to avoid confusion
+    const { options: _, ...restConfig } = optionsOrConfig;
+    finalConfig = restConfig;
+  }
+  
+  return { type: 'select', options, ...finalConfig } as const;
+}
+
+/**
+ * `Field.select` bound to a shared picklist — no `options` of its own: the
+ * picklist supplies them, and `FieldSchema` refuses the two together.
+ */
+function selectFromPicklist<const C extends FieldInput & { picklist: string; options?: undefined }>(config: C) {
+  return { type: 'select', ...config } as const;
+}
+
 export const Field = {
   text: (config: FieldInput = {}) => ({ type: 'text', ...config } as const),
   textarea: (config: FieldInput = {}) => ({ type: 'textarea', ...config } as const),
@@ -2623,44 +2724,18 @@ export const Field = {
    * @example Multi-word values - converts to snake_case
    * Field.select(['In Progress', 'Closed Won'], { label: 'Status' })
    * // Results in: [{ label: 'In Progress', value: 'in_progress' }, { label: 'Closed Won', value: 'closed_won' }]
+   *
+   * @example Shared picklist — the options come from the named `picklist` item
+   * Field.select({ picklist: 'industry', label: 'Industry' })
+   * // Results in: { type: 'select', picklist: 'industry', label: 'Industry' } — no `options`
    */
-  select: (optionsOrConfig: SelectOption[] | string[] | FieldInput & { options: SelectOption[] | string[] }, config?: FieldInput) => {
-    // Helper function to convert string to lowercase snake_case
-    const toSnakeCase = (str: string): string => {
-      return str
-        .toLowerCase()
-        .replace(/\s+/g, '_')  // Replace spaces with underscores
-        .replace(/[^a-z0-9_]/g, ''); // Remove invalid characters (keeping underscores only)
-    };
-
-    // Support both old and new signatures:
-    // Old: Field.select(['a', 'b'], { label: 'X' })
-    // New: Field.select({ options: [{label: 'A', value: 'a'}], label: 'X' })
-    let options: SelectOption[];
-    let finalConfig: FieldInput;
-    
-    if (Array.isArray(optionsOrConfig)) {
-      // Old signature: array as first param
-      options = optionsOrConfig.map(o => 
-        typeof o === 'string' 
-          ? { label: o, value: toSnakeCase(o) }  // Auto-convert string to snake_case
-          : { ...o, value: o.value.toLowerCase() }  // Ensure value is lowercase
-      );
-      finalConfig = config || {};
-    } else {
-      // New signature: config object with options
-      options = (optionsOrConfig.options || []).map(o => 
-        typeof o === 'string' 
-          ? { label: o, value: toSnakeCase(o) }  // Auto-convert string to snake_case
-          : { ...o, value: o.value.toLowerCase() }  // Ensure value is lowercase
-      );
-      // Remove options from config to avoid confusion
-      const { options: _, ...restConfig } = optionsOrConfig;
-      finalConfig = restConfig;
-    }
-    
-    return { type: 'select', options, ...finalConfig } as const;
-  },
+  select: ((optionsOrConfig: unknown, config?: FieldInput) =>
+    !Array.isArray(optionsOrConfig)
+      && typeof (optionsOrConfig as { picklist?: unknown }).picklist === 'string'
+      && (optionsOrConfig as { options?: unknown }).options === undefined
+      ? selectFromPicklist(optionsOrConfig as FieldInput & { picklist: string; options?: undefined })
+      : selectWithOptions(optionsOrConfig as Parameters<typeof selectWithOptions>[0], config)
+  ) as typeof selectWithOptions & typeof selectFromPicklist,
 
   
   /**
diff --git a/packages/spec/src/data/index.ts b/packages/spec/src/data/index.ts
index d3125954577..f6f8ee7b258 100644
--- a/packages/spec/src/data/index.ts
+++ b/packages/spec/src/data/index.ts
@@ -205,6 +205,7 @@ export * from './hook-api';
 // flag per event so "not yet" can never read as "yes".
 export * from './bulk-write-hook-conformance';
 export * from './mapping.zod';
+export * from './picklist.zod';
 export * from './data-engine.zod';
 export * from './driver.zod';
 export * from './driver-sql.zod';
diff --git a/packages/spec/src/data/picklist.test.ts b/packages/spec/src/data/picklist.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1591c01f75c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/spec/src/data/picklist.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,281 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import {
+  PicklistSchema,
+  PicklistExtensionSchema,
+  PicklistServedFieldSchema,
+  definePicklist,
+} from './picklist.zod';
+import { Field, FieldSchema } from './field.zod';
+import { checkFieldCompleteness } from '../kernel/functional-completeness';
+import {
+  DEFAULT_METADATA_TYPE_REGISTRY,
+  MetadataTypeSchema,
+} from '../kernel/metadata-plugin.zod';
+import { getMetadataTypeSchema } from '../kernel/metadata-type-schemas';
+import { PLURAL_TO_SINGULAR } from '../meta-spelling/manifest-collection-spelling';
+import { ObjectStackDefinitionSchema, composeStacks, defineStack } from '../stack.zod';
+import { TranslationDataSchema } from '../system/translation.zod';
+import {
+  TRANSLATABLE_METADATA_TYPES,
+  translateObject,
+  translatePicklist,
+} from '../system/i18n-resolver';
+
+const INDUSTRY = {
+  name: 'industry',
+  label: 'Industry',
+  options: [
+    { label: 'Technology', value: 'technology' },
+    { label: 'Finance', value: 'finance' },
+  ],
+};
+
+/** The issues a failed parse carries, as `path.join('.')` → issue. */
+function issuesByPath(result: { success: boolean; error?: { issues: Array<{ path: PropertyKey[]; code: string; message: string }> } }) {
+  expect(result.success).toBe(false);
+  return new Map(result.error!.issues.map((i) => [i.path.join('.'), i]));
+}
+
+describe('picklist — the kind', () => {
+  it('parses the ruled shape { name, label, description?, options: SelectOption[] }', () => {
+    const parsed = PicklistSchema.parse({ ...INDUSTRY, description: 'What a company does' });
+    expect(parsed.name).toBe('industry');
+    expect(parsed.options.map((o) => o.value)).toEqual(['technology', 'finance']);
+    expect(definePicklist(INDUSTRY).label).toBe('Industry');
+  });
+
+  it('takes the field option shape verbatim — color / default / visibleWhen ride along', () => {
+    const parsed = PicklistSchema.parse({
+      ...INDUSTRY,
+      options: [{ label: 'Tech', value: 'technology', color: '#0af', default: true, visibleWhen: "record.region == 'emea'" }],
+    });
+    expect(parsed.options[0].color).toBe('#0af');
+    expect(parsed.options[0].default).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('refuses an empty list at `options`', () => {
+    const issues = issuesByPath(PicklistSchema.safeParse({ ...INDUSTRY, options: [] }));
+    expect(issues.get('options')?.code).toBe('too_small');
+  });
+
+  it('refuses a non-snake_case name at `name`', () => {
+    const issues = issuesByPath(PicklistSchema.safeParse({ ...INDUSTRY, name: 'Industry' }));
+    expect(issues.has('name')).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('is a closed shape — an undeclared key is refused, not stripped', () => {
+    const issues = issuesByPath(PicklistSchema.safeParse({ ...INDUSTRY, restricted: true }));
+    expect([...issues.values()].some((i) => i.code === 'unrecognized_keys')).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('picklistExtensions — additive only', () => {
+  it('parses { extend, options }', () => {
+    const parsed = PicklistExtensionSchema.parse({
+      extend: 'industry',
+      options: [{ label: 'Healthcare', value: 'healthcare' }],
+    });
+    expect(parsed.extend).toBe('industry');
+  });
+
+  it('declares no key that removes or relabels — `remove` is refused as an unknown key', () => {
+    const issues = issuesByPath(PicklistExtensionSchema.safeParse({
+      extend: 'industry',
+      options: [{ label: 'Healthcare', value: 'healthcare' }],
+      remove: ['finance'],
+    }));
+    const unknown = [...issues.values()].find((i) => i.code === 'unrecognized_keys');
+    expect(unknown?.message).toContain('remove');
+  });
+
+  it('refuses an extension that adds nothing', () => {
+    const issues = issuesByPath(PicklistExtensionSchema.safeParse({ extend: 'industry', options: [] }));
+    expect(issues.get('options')?.code).toBe('too_small');
+  });
+});
+
+describe('Field `picklist` — mutually exclusive with `options` at the schema door', () => {
+  it('a select that names a picklist parses, with no options of its own', () => {
+    const parsed = FieldSchema.parse({ name: 'industry', label: 'Industry', type: 'select', picklist: 'industry' });
+    expect(parsed.picklist).toBe('industry');
+    expect(parsed.options).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it('`Field.select({ picklist })` builds the reference form and it parses', () => {
+    const def = Field.select({ picklist: 'industry', label: 'Industry' });
+    expect(def).toEqual({ type: 'select', picklist: 'industry', label: 'Industry' });
+    expect(FieldSchema.safeParse(def).success).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('`picklist` + `options` together is refused at `options`', () => {
+    const issues = issuesByPath(FieldSchema.safeParse({
+      name: 'industry', label: 'Industry', type: 'select',
+      picklist: 'industry', options: [{ label: 'Tech', value: 'technology' }],
+    }));
+    const both = issues.get('options');
+    expect(both?.code).toBe('custom');
+    expect(both?.message).toContain('`picklist`');
+  });
+
+  it('`Field.select` handed both keeps both, so the pair still reaches the refusal', () => {
+    const def = Field.select({
+      picklist: 'industry', label: 'Industry', options: [{ label: 'Tech', value: 'technology' }],
+    } as Parameters<typeof Field.select>[0]);
+    expect(FieldSchema.safeParse(def).success).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it.each(['select', 'radio'] as const)('neither on a %s is the completeness gate\'s error, not a parse refusal', (type) => {
+    // The schema door refuses only the pair. An optionless single-choice field
+    // keeps the verdict it had before the kind existed: parse-legal, and an
+    // error-severity `field/choice-without-options` finding at the author-time
+    // and registry gates — which a `picklist` reference now satisfies.
+    expect(FieldSchema.safeParse({ name: 'f', label: 'F', type }).success).toBe(true);
+    expect(checkFieldCompleteness({ type }).map((f) => [f.rule, f.severity]))
+      .toEqual([['field/choice-without-options', 'error']]);
+    expect(checkFieldCompleteness({ type, picklist: 'industry' })).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it.each(['select', 'radio', 'multiselect', 'checkboxes', 'tags'] as const)('`picklist` is accepted on the option type %s', (type) => {
+    expect(FieldSchema.safeParse({ name: 'f', label: 'F', type, picklist: 'industry' }).success).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it.each(['text', 'lookup', 'number'] as const)('`picklist` on the non-option type %s is refused at `picklist`', (type) => {
+    const fixture = type === 'lookup'
+      ? { name: 'f', label: 'F', type, reference: 'account', picklist: 'industry' }
+      : { name: 'f', label: 'F', type, picklist: 'industry' };
+    const issues = issuesByPath(FieldSchema.safeParse(fixture));
+    expect(issues.get('picklist')?.code).toBe('custom');
+  });
+
+});
+
+describe('the served shape — `options` resolved, `picklist` kept', () => {
+  const served = {
+    name: 'industry', label: 'Industry', type: 'select', picklist: 'industry',
+    options: [...INDUSTRY.options, { label: 'Healthcare', value: 'healthcare' }],
+  };
+
+  it('a served picklist-bound field carries the resolved options and passes the rest through', () => {
+    const parsed = PicklistServedFieldSchema.parse(served) as Record<string, unknown>;
+    expect(parsed.picklist).toBe('industry');
+    expect((parsed.options as Array<{ value: string }>).map((o) => o.value))
+      .toEqual(['technology', 'finance', 'healthcare']);
+    expect(parsed.label).toBe('Industry');
+  });
+
+  it('a served field with the reference unresolved (no options) breaks the contract', () => {
+    const { options: _omit, ...unresolved } = served;
+    const issues = issuesByPath(PicklistServedFieldSchema.safeParse(unresolved));
+    expect(issues.has('options')).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('the served form is not an authoring input — the field door refuses the pair', () => {
+    expect(FieldSchema.safeParse(served).success).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('picklist — a registered kind and a stack collection', () => {
+  const entry = DEFAULT_METADATA_TYPE_REGISTRY.find((e) => e.type === 'picklist');
+  const objectEntry = DEFAULT_METADATA_TYPE_REGISTRY.find((e) => e.type === 'object');
+
+  it('is a member of the kind enum and resolves its schema', () => {
+    expect(MetadataTypeSchema.safeParse('picklist').success).toBe(true);
+    expect(getMetadataTypeSchema('picklist')).toBe(PicklistSchema);
+  });
+
+  it('loads before `object`, whose fields reference it', () => {
+    expect(entry).toBeDefined();
+    expect(entry!.loadOrder).toBeLessThan(objectEntry!.loadOrder);
+  });
+
+  it('is package-owned: no runtime create, no per-org overlay; `*.picklist.ts` is the prescription', () => {
+    expect(entry!.allowRuntimeCreate).toBe(false);
+    expect(entry!.allowOrgOverride).toBe(false);
+    expect(entry!.filePatterns[0]).toBe('**/*.picklist.ts');
+  });
+
+  it('`picklists` folds to the kind name', () => {
+    expect(PLURAL_TO_SINGULAR.picklists).toBe('picklist');
+  });
+
+  it('a stack declares picklists, extensions, and a field that references one', () => {
+    const stack = ObjectStackDefinitionSchema.parse({
+      manifest: { id: 'com.example.crm', name: 'crm', version: '1.0.0', type: 'app' },
+      picklists: [INDUSTRY],
+      picklistExtensions: [{ extend: 'industry', options: [{ label: 'Healthcare', value: 'healthcare' }] }],
+      objects: [{
+        name: 'account',
+        label: 'Account',
+        fields: { industry: Field.select({ picklist: 'industry', label: 'Industry' }) },
+      }],
+    });
+    expect(stack.picklists?.[0].name).toBe('industry');
+    expect(stack.picklistExtensions?.[0].extend).toBe('industry');
+  });
+
+  it('composing two stacks concatenates both collections', () => {
+    const a = defineStack({ picklists: [INDUSTRY] }, { strict: false });
+    const b = defineStack({
+      picklists: [{ ...INDUSTRY, name: 'region', label: 'Region' }],
+      picklistExtensions: [{ extend: 'industry', options: [{ label: 'Retail', value: 'retail' }] }],
+    }, { strict: false });
+    const composed = composeStacks([a, b]);
+    expect(composed.picklists?.map((p) => p.name)).toEqual(['industry', 'region']);
+    expect(composed.picklistExtensions).toHaveLength(1);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('the translation face — `picklists.<name>`', () => {
+  const bundle = {
+    'zh-CN': {
+      picklists: {
+        industry: { label: '行业', options: { technology: '科技', finance: '金融' } },
+      },
+      objects: {
+        lead: { fields: { industry: { options: { finance: '金融服务' } } } },
+      },
+    },
+  };
+
+  it('parses { label?, options: { value: label } }', () => {
+    expect(TranslationDataSchema.safeParse(bundle['zh-CN']).success).toBe(true);
+    expect(TranslationDataSchema.safeParse({ picklists: { industry: { options: { finance: '金融' } } } }).success).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('a field that references the picklist inherits its option labels', () => {
+    const served = translateObject({
+      name: 'account',
+      fields: {
+        industry: { type: 'select', picklist: 'industry', options: INDUSTRY.options },
+      },
+    }, bundle, { locale: 'zh-CN' }) as { fields: Record<string, { options: Array<{ label: string }> }> };
+    expect(served.fields.industry.options.map((o) => o.label)).toEqual(['科技', '金融']);
+  });
+
+  it('a field-level option label is the more specific and wins', () => {
+    const served = translateObject({
+      name: 'lead',
+      fields: {
+        industry: { type: 'select', picklist: 'industry', options: INDUSTRY.options },
+      },
+    }, bundle, { locale: 'zh-CN' }) as { fields: Record<string, { options: Array<{ label: string }> }> };
+    expect(served.fields.industry.options.map((o) => o.label)).toEqual(['科技', '金融服务']);
+  });
+
+  it('an inline-options field does not read the picklist group', () => {
+    const served = translateObject({
+      name: 'account',
+      fields: { industry: { type: 'select', options: INDUSTRY.options } },
+    }, bundle, { locale: 'zh-CN' }) as { fields: Record<string, { options: Array<{ label: string }> }> };
+    expect(served.fields.industry.options.map((o) => o.label)).toEqual(['Technology', 'Finance']);
+  });
+
+  it('a served picklist item translates its label and options, and is a translatable type', () => {
+    const doc = translatePicklist(INDUSTRY, bundle, { locale: 'zh-CN' });
+    expect(doc.label).toBe('行业');
+    expect(doc.options.map((o) => o.label)).toEqual(['科技', '金融']);
+    expect(TRANSLATABLE_METADATA_TYPES.has('picklist')).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/spec/src/data/picklist.zod.ts b/packages/spec/src/data/picklist.zod.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8cd2e97508a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/spec/src/data/picklist.zod.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,178 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+
+/**
+ * One list of select options that several fields on several objects use,
+ * instead of an options array copied into each field (Salesforce's Global
+ * Value Set, Dataverse's global choice). A field REFERENCES it with
+ * `picklist: '<name>'` in place of `options` — `Field.select({ picklist:
+ * 'industry' })` — and the two are mutually exclusive at the field's schema
+ * door (see `FieldSchema.picklist`).
+ *
+ * Three shapes live here, one per position the list appears in:
+ *
+ * - {@link PicklistSchema} — the kind itself: `{ name, label, description?,
+ *   options }`, authored in a package (`*.picklist.ts`, or
+ *   `defineStack({ picklists })`). `options` is the field option shape
+ *   ({@link SelectOptionSchema}), reused verbatim — there is no second option
+ *   shape to learn.
+ * - {@link PicklistExtensionSchema} — `defineStack({ picklistExtensions })`,
+ *   the `objectExtensions` idiom: another package ADDS options to a picklist
+ *   it does not own. Additive only — removing or renaming a value stays with
+ *   the owning package, so the shape has no key for either.
+ * - {@link PicklistServedFieldSchema} — the served form of a picklist-bound
+ *   field: what a client reads from the object read exits once the reference
+ *   is resolved.
+ *
+ * Package-owned: the registry entry (`kernel/metadata-plugin.zod.ts`) takes
+ * no runtime create and no per-organization overlay. An organization-level
+ * overlay that appends values is a later phase with its own admission, and
+ * is not declared here.
+ */
+
+import { z } from 'zod';
+import { lazySchema } from '../shared/lazy-schema';
+import { strictObject } from '../shared/strict-object';
+import { SnakeCaseIdentifierSchema } from '../shared/identifiers.zod';
+import { MetadataProtectionFields } from '../kernel/metadata-protection.zod';
+import { SelectOptionSchema } from './field.zod';
+
+const PICKLIST_HISTORY =
+  'Until this shape was closed these would have been dropped silently — the list still '
+  + 'registered, minus whatever the key was meant to carry.';
+
+/**
+ * The shared option list itself.
+ *
+ * `name` is the handle a field's `picklist` names, so it follows the
+ * machine-name rule every metadata name follows (lowercase snake_case).
+ * `options` needs at least one entry: a list with nothing in it offers every
+ * field that references it nothing to choose.
+ *
+ * @example
+ * ```ts
+ * // src/picklists/industry.picklist.ts
+ * export default definePicklist({
+ *   name: 'industry',
+ *   label: 'Industry',
+ *   options: [
+ *     { label: 'Technology', value: 'technology' },
+ *     { label: 'Finance', value: 'finance' },
+ *   ],
+ * });
+ * ```
+ */
+export const PicklistSchema = lazySchema(() => strictObject({
+  surface: 'this picklist',
+  history: PICKLIST_HISTORY,
+  aliases: {
+    values: 'options', choices: 'options', items: 'options',
+    title: 'label', displayName: 'label',
+  },
+}, {
+  name: SnakeCaseIdentifierSchema.describe(
+    "Picklist name (lowercase snake_case) — what a field's `picklist` names",
+  ),
+  label: z.string().describe('Display label of the list itself'),
+  description: z.string().optional().describe('What the list enumerates, for authors choosing one'),
+  options: z.array(SelectOptionSchema).min(1, {
+    message:
+      'A picklist needs at least one option — an empty list offers every field that references '
+      + 'it nothing to choose. Add `{ label, value }` entries.',
+  }).describe(
+    'The options every referencing field offers — the field option shape (`label`, `value`, '
+    + '`color`, `default`, `description`, `visibleWhen`), reused verbatim',
+  ),
+
+  // ADR-0010 runtime protection envelope — stamped by the loader on every
+  // registered kind, never authored.
+  ...MetadataProtectionFields,
+}).describe('A shared option list that select fields reference by name instead of copying options'));
+
+export type Picklist = z.input<typeof PicklistSchema>;
+/** Post-parse shape of {@link Picklist} — defaults applied, transforms run (ADR-0122). */
+export type PicklistParsed = z.infer<typeof PicklistSchema>;
+
+/**
+ * Package-level extension of a picklist another package owns — the
+ * `objectExtensions` idiom applied to a list.
+ *
+ * ADDITIVE ONLY: an extension appends options; it cannot remove, rename or
+ * relabel one the owning package declared, and the shape declares no key
+ * that could ask to. A value that must go away is the owning package's
+ * change to make.
+ *
+ * @example
+ * ```ts
+ * defineStack({
+ *   picklistExtensions: [{
+ *     extend: 'industry',
+ *     options: [{ label: 'Healthcare', value: 'healthcare' }],
+ *   }],
+ * });
+ * ```
+ */
+export const PicklistExtensionSchema = lazySchema(() => strictObject({
+  surface: 'this picklist extension',
+  history: PICKLIST_HISTORY,
+  aliases: {
+    picklist: 'extend', target: 'extend', name: 'extend', extends: 'extend',
+    values: 'options', choices: 'options', add: 'options',
+  },
+  guidance: {
+    remove:
+      'a picklist extension is additive only — it can add options, never remove one. Removing '
+      + 'a value is a change to the owning package\'s picklist.',
+    label:
+      'a picklist extension cannot relabel the list — the label belongs to the owning '
+      + 'package\'s picklist. Translate it under `picklists.<name>.label` instead.',
+  },
+}, {
+  extend: SnakeCaseIdentifierSchema.describe('Name of the picklist (owned by another package) to add options to'),
+  options: z.array(SelectOptionSchema).min(1, {
+    message: 'A picklist extension adds at least one option — an empty `options` adds nothing.',
+  }).describe('Options appended to the target picklist (additive only)'),
+}).describe("Options added to a picklist owned by another package (additive only — the `objectExtensions` idiom)"));
+
+export type PicklistExtension = z.input<typeof PicklistExtensionSchema>;
+/** Post-parse shape of {@link PicklistExtension} — defaults applied, transforms run (ADR-0122). */
+export type PicklistExtensionParsed = z.infer<typeof PicklistExtensionSchema>;
+
+/**
+ * The SERVED form of a picklist-bound field — the contract the object read
+ * exits owe a client.
+ *
+ * A field authors `picklist: '<name>'` instead of `options`. What a client
+ * receives for that field carries both: `options`, RESOLVED — the picklist's
+ * options together with the options its `picklistExtensions` add — and
+ * `picklist`, still naming the list they came from. Every consumer that reads
+ * `field.options` today (renderers, the record validator, filter pickers,
+ * import coercion) therefore reads the key it always has, and nothing a
+ * client does changes for a picklist-bound field.
+ *
+ * This is a SERVED shape, never an authoring one: `FieldSchema` refuses
+ * `picklist` together with `options`, so a served field sent back through an
+ * authoring door is refused with the prescription to drop `options`.
+ *
+ * Only the two keys this contract adds are declared; every other key of the
+ * served field is `FieldSchema`'s and passes through untouched.
+ */
+export const PicklistServedFieldSchema = lazySchema(() => z.looseObject({
+  picklist: SnakeCaseIdentifierSchema.describe('The picklist the field references, as authored'),
+  options: z.array(SelectOptionSchema).min(1, {
+    message:
+      'A served picklist-bound field carries its RESOLVED options — the reference is resolved '
+      + 'before the field is served, so an empty or absent `options` means it was not.',
+  }).describe("The picklist's options resolved onto the field (with its extensions' options)"),
+}).describe('The served form of a picklist-bound field: `options` resolved, `picklist` kept'));
+
+export type PicklistServedField = z.input<typeof PicklistServedFieldSchema>;
+/** Post-parse shape of {@link PicklistServedField} — defaults applied, transforms run (ADR-0122). */
+export type PicklistServedFieldParsed = z.infer<typeof PicklistServedFieldSchema>;
+
+/**
+ * Type-safe factory for a picklist — the default export of a
+ * `*.picklist.ts` file. Validates at definition time.
+ */
+export function definePicklist(config: z.input<typeof PicklistSchema>): PicklistParsed {
+  return PicklistSchema.parse(config);
+}
diff --git a/packages/spec/src/index.ts b/packages/spec/src/index.ts
index 36e34ad7488..b66caeac33d 100644
--- a/packages/spec/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/spec/src/index.ts
@@ -204,6 +204,7 @@ export type {
 } from './data/authoring-key-lint';
 export { defineCube } from './data/analytics.zod';
 export { defineMapping } from './data/mapping.zod';
+export { definePicklist } from './data/picklist.zod';
 // `defineTheme` was removed by commit 35ad101bc with `ui/theme.zod.ts` (ADR-0049) — see
 // the block in `./ui/index.ts`; `app.branding` is the one colour surface.
 export { defineTranslationBundle } from './system/translation.zod';
diff --git a/packages/spec/src/kernel/functional-completeness.ts b/packages/spec/src/kernel/functional-completeness.ts
index d894730fa59..baf14a85ae1 100644
--- a/packages/spec/src/kernel/functional-completeness.ts
+++ b/packages/spec/src/kernel/functional-completeness.ts
@@ -187,7 +187,11 @@ export function checkFieldCompleteness(def: unknown): CompletenessFinding[] {
     });
   }
 
-  if (DEAD_WITHOUT_OPTIONS_ERROR.has(type) && !hasEntries(def.options)) {
+  // A `picklist` reference IS the field's option source (`data/picklist.zod.ts`):
+  // the served field carries the list's options resolved, so a picklist-bound
+  // choice is not the empty one this rule is about.
+  const hasOptionSource = hasEntries(def.options) || typeof def.picklist === 'string';
+  if (DEAD_WITHOUT_OPTIONS_ERROR.has(type) && !hasOptionSource) {
     out.push({
       rule: FIELD_CHOICE_WITHOUT_OPTIONS,
       severity: 'error',
@@ -196,9 +200,9 @@ export function checkFieldCompleteness(def: unknown): CompletenessFinding[] {
         `A \`${type}\` field with no \`options\` is a choice with nothing to choose: the form `
         + 'control is empty AND server-side value validation is disabled (`record-validator.ts` '
         + 'skips the check when the allowed list is empty), so any value writes through the API.',
-      fix: "options: [{ label: '…', value: '…' }]",
+      fix: "options: [{ label: '…', value: '…' }] — or picklist: '<name>' for a shared list",
     });
-  } else if (DEAD_WITHOUT_OPTIONS_WARNING.has(type) && !hasEntries(def.options)) {
+  } else if (DEAD_WITHOUT_OPTIONS_WARNING.has(type) && !hasOptionSource) {
     out.push({
       rule: FIELD_CHOICE_WITHOUT_OPTIONS,
       severity: 'warning',
diff --git a/packages/spec/src/kernel/metadata-create-seeds.test.ts b/packages/spec/src/kernel/metadata-create-seeds.test.ts
index 0fd95bfd014..625ca4d020c 100644
--- a/packages/spec/src/kernel/metadata-create-seeds.test.ts
+++ b/packages/spec/src/kernel/metadata-create-seeds.test.ts
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ describe('metadata create seeds validate against their spec schemas', () => {
       // Endpoints are authored as stack artifacts and shipped via
       // `publishPackage`. Same category as `capability`, not deferred work.
       'api',
+      // `picklist` is package-owned (`allowRuntimeCreate: false`): there is no
+      // runtime create surface to seed. Same category as `capability`.
+      'picklist',
     ]);
     const seeded = new Set(listMetadataCreateSeedTypes());
     const missing = listMetadataTypeSchemaTypes().filter((t) => !seeded.has(t) && !KNOWN_UNSEEDED.has(t));
diff --git a/packages/spec/src/kernel/metadata-plugin.zod.ts b/packages/spec/src/kernel/metadata-plugin.zod.ts
index c976ffa4378..47f68e76cb5 100644
--- a/packages/spec/src/kernel/metadata-plugin.zod.ts
+++ b/packages/spec/src/kernel/metadata-plugin.zod.ts
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ export const MetadataTypeSchema = lazySchema(() => z.enum([
   'hook',        // Data hooks (HookSchema)
   'seed',        // Seed/fixture data — runtime-draftable; publishing applies it (SeedSchema)
   'mapping',     // Import/export field mappings (MappingSchema) — consumed by POST /data/:object/import via mappingName (#2611); promoted to a kind per the ADR-0088 admission test once the consumer landed
+  'picklist',    // Shared option list that select fields reference by name (PicklistSchema)
 
   // UI Protocol
   'view',        // List/form views (ViewSchema)
@@ -812,6 +813,16 @@ export const DEFAULT_METADATA_TYPE_REGISTRY: MetadataTypeRegistryEntryParsed[] =
   // `allowRuntimeCreate: true` so the import wizard can SAVE a hand-built
   // mapping as a named artifact; packaged mappings stay locked
   // (`allowOrgOverride: false`) like every artifact-backed item.
+  // `picklist`: a shared option list select fields reference by name
+  // (`Field.select({ picklist })`, `data/picklist.zod.ts`). PACKAGE-OWNED, so
+  // both runtime doors are closed: `allowRuntimeCreate: false` refuses a
+  // runtime create with 403 `not_creatable` and reads the prescription back
+  // from `filePatterns[0]`, and `allowOrgOverride: false` refuses a per-org
+  // overlay — an organization appending values is a later phase with its own
+  // admission (ADR-0005, additive only), not declared here. Another package
+  // adds values through `picklistExtensions`, on the artifact route.
+  // `loadOrder: 8` — before `object` (10), whose fields reference it.
+  { type: 'picklist', label: 'Picklist', description: 'Shared option list that select fields reference by name', filePatterns: ['**/*.picklist.ts', '**/*.picklist.yml', '**/*.picklist.json'], supportsOverlay: false, allowOrgOverride: false, allowRuntimeCreate: false, supportsVersioning: false, executionPinned: false, loadOrder: 8, domain: 'data' },
   { type: 'mapping', label: 'Import Mapping', description: 'Reusable import/export field mapping (rename + transforms), referenced by name at import', filePatterns: ['**/*.mapping.ts', '**/*.mapping.yml', '**/*.mapping.json'], supportsOverlay: false, allowOrgOverride: false, allowRuntimeCreate: true, supportsVersioning: true, executionPinned: false, loadOrder: 96, domain: 'data' },
 
   // UI Protocol
diff --git a/packages/spec/src/kernel/metadata-type-schemas.test.ts b/packages/spec/src/kernel/metadata-type-schemas.test.ts
index 932b705598d..4fdcc9bd422 100644
--- a/packages/spec/src/kernel/metadata-type-schemas.test.ts
+++ b/packages/spec/src/kernel/metadata-type-schemas.test.ts
@@ -634,7 +634,10 @@ describe('#4001 — registered-type closure is derived, not tallied', () => {
     // this schema either, and the conversion became an ordinary #4001 one.
     // `STILL_STRIP` shrinks to `view` alone, which IS the end state — its open
     // members are wire shapes with nowhere else to live (see that list's note).
-    expect(closed.length).toBe(25);
-    expect(types.length).toBe(26);
+    //
+    // 26 → 27 on 2026-09-30: `picklist` JOINED the registry, closed (a
+    // `strictObject` authoring surface), so the closed count moves with it.
+    expect(closed.length).toBe(26);
+    expect(types.length).toBe(27);
   });
 });
diff --git a/packages/spec/src/kernel/metadata-type-schemas.ts b/packages/spec/src/kernel/metadata-type-schemas.ts
index 2fd10b37e58..962956ac0b8 100644
--- a/packages/spec/src/kernel/metadata-type-schemas.ts
+++ b/packages/spec/src/kernel/metadata-type-schemas.ts
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import { HookSchema } from '../data/hook.zod';
 import { DatasourceSchema } from '../data/datasource.zod';
 import { SeedSchema } from '../data/seed.zod';
 import { MappingSchema } from '../data/mapping.zod';
+import { PicklistSchema } from '../data/picklist.zod';
 
 import { ViewMetadataSchema } from '../ui/view.zod';
 import { PageSchema } from '../ui/page.zod';
@@ -96,6 +97,7 @@ const BUILTIN_METADATA_TYPE_SCHEMAS: Partial<Record<MetadataType, z.ZodType>> =
   // owning object.
   seed: SeedSchema, // fixture/init data; runtime-draftable, applied on publish
   mapping: MappingSchema as unknown as z.ZodType, // #2611: reusable import mapping; runtime-creatable so the wizard can save one
+  picklist: PicklistSchema, // shared option list select fields reference by name; package-owned (no runtime create)
 
   // UI Protocol
   // #3095 — a union over the three runtime `view` shapes (defineView container,
diff --git a/packages/spec/src/meta-spelling/manifest-collection-spelling.ts b/packages/spec/src/meta-spelling/manifest-collection-spelling.ts
index 1deaf26a62a..d86acfad8a2 100644
--- a/packages/spec/src/meta-spelling/manifest-collection-spelling.ts
+++ b/packages/spec/src/meta-spelling/manifest-collection-spelling.ts
@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@ export const PLURAL_TO_SINGULAR: Record<string, string> = {
   ragPipelines: 'rag_pipeline',
   hooks: 'hook',
   mappings: 'mapping',
+  picklists: 'picklist',
   analyticsCubes: 'analytics_cube',
   connectors: 'connector',
   datasources: 'datasource',
diff --git a/packages/spec/src/meta-spelling/meta-url-data.generated.ts b/packages/spec/src/meta-spelling/meta-url-data.generated.ts
index e87a0ec3942..a40a2e45d03 100644
--- a/packages/spec/src/meta-spelling/meta-url-data.generated.ts
+++ b/packages/spec/src/meta-spelling/meta-url-data.generated.ts
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ export const META_URL_TO_SINGULAR: Readonly<Record<string, string>> = Object.fre
   "ragPipelines": "rag_pipeline",
   "hooks": "hook",
   "mappings": "mapping",
+  "picklists": "picklist",
   "analyticsCubes": "analytics_cube",
   "connectors": "connector",
   "datasources": "datasource",
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ export const REGISTRY_DECLARED_META_TYPES: ReadonlyArray<string> = Object.freeze
   "field",
   "hook",
   "seed",
+  "picklist",
   "mapping",
   "view",
   "page",
diff --git a/packages/spec/src/stack.zod.ts b/packages/spec/src/stack.zod.ts
index f916adad1fe..723a8356534 100644
--- a/packages/spec/src/stack.zod.ts
+++ b/packages/spec/src/stack.zod.ts
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ import { ToolSchema } from './ai/tool.zod';
 // Data Protocol (additional)
 import { HookSchema } from './data/hook.zod';
 import { MappingSchema } from './data/mapping.zod';
+import { PicklistSchema, PicklistExtensionSchema } from './data/picklist.zod';
 import { CubeSchema } from './data/analytics.zod';
 
 // Automation Protocol (additional)
@@ -336,6 +337,27 @@ const STACK_DEFINITION_COLLECTIONS_SHAPE = {
    */
   objectExtensions: z.array(ObjectExtensionSchema).optional().describe('Extensions to objects owned by other packages'),
 
+  /**
+   * Shared option lists (`data/picklist.zod.ts`): one list of select options
+   * that fields on any object reference by name — `Field.select({ picklist:
+   * 'industry' })` — instead of each field copying an `options` array.
+   */
+  picklists: z.array(PicklistSchema).optional().describe('Shared option lists that select fields reference by name'),
+
+  /**
+   * Picklist Extensions: options to ADD to picklists owned by other packages —
+   * the `objectExtensions` idiom, additive only.
+   *
+   * @example
+   * ```ts
+   * picklistExtensions: [{
+   *   extend: 'industry',
+   *   options: [{ label: 'Healthcare', value: 'healthcare' }],
+   * }]
+   * ```
+   */
+  picklistExtensions: z.array(PicklistExtensionSchema).optional().describe('Options added to picklists owned by other packages (additive only)'),
+
   /** 
    * ObjectUI: User Interface Layer 
    * Apps, Menus, Pages, and Visualizations.
@@ -1008,6 +1030,8 @@ export const COMPOSE_KEY_DISPOSITIONS = Object.freeze({
   datasourceMapping: 'concat',
   translations: 'concat',
   objectExtensions: 'concat',
+  picklists: 'concat',
+  picklistExtensions: 'concat',
   apps: 'concat',
   views: 'concat',
   // [#5320] Machine-assembled channel (never authorable — the schema types it
diff --git a/packages/spec/src/system/i18n-resolver.ts b/packages/spec/src/system/i18n-resolver.ts
index 1e7995c1148..2ed12d31f55 100644
--- a/packages/spec/src/system/i18n-resolver.ts
+++ b/packages/spec/src/system/i18n-resolver.ts
@@ -1058,6 +1058,7 @@ const METADATA_DOCUMENT_TRANSLATORS: Record<
   // `@objectstack/rest` reads the derived set.
   dataset: translateDataset,
   page: translatePage,
+  picklist: translatePicklist,
 };
 
 /**
@@ -2798,9 +2799,16 @@ export function translateObject<T extends ObjectLike>(
     const translatedHelp = lookupObjectFieldAttr(bundle, objectName, name, 'help', opts);
     if (translatedHelp) next.help = translatedHelp;
     if (Array.isArray(def.options)) {
+      // A picklist-bound field is served with its list's options resolved
+      // onto it (`PicklistServedFieldSchema`), and INHERITS the list's option
+      // labels (`picklists.<name>.options.<value>`); a field-level entry, when
+      // one exists, is the more specific and wins.
+      const picklist = typeof def.picklist === 'string' ? def.picklist : undefined;
       next.options = def.options.map((opt) => {
         if (!opt || typeof opt !== 'object' || opt.value === undefined) return opt;
-        const translated = lookupObjectFieldOption(bundle, objectName, name, opt.value, opts);
+        const translated =
+          lookupObjectFieldOption(bundle, objectName, name, opt.value, opts) ??
+          (picklist !== undefined ? lookupPicklistOption(bundle, picklist, opt.value, opts) : undefined);
         return translated ? { ...opt, label: translated } : opt;
       });
     }
@@ -2845,6 +2853,82 @@ export function translateObject<T extends ObjectLike>(
   };
 }
 
+// ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+// Picklist resolvers (label / options) — `picklists.<name>`
+// ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+/** Minimal picklist metadata shape consumed by `translatePicklist`. */
+export interface PicklistLike {
+  name: string;
+  label?: string;
+  options?: Array<{ label?: string; value: string | number | boolean; [key: string]: unknown }>;
+  [key: string]: unknown;
+}
+
+function lookupPicklistLabel(
+  bundle: TranslationBundle | undefined,
+  picklistName: string,
+  opts?: ResolveOptions,
+): string | undefined {
+  if (!bundle) return undefined;
+  for (const code of localeChain(opts)) {
+    const candidate = pickData(bundle, code)?.picklists?.[picklistName]?.label;
+    if (typeof candidate === 'string' && candidate.length > 0) return candidate;
+  }
+  return undefined;
+}
+
+function lookupPicklistOption(
+  bundle: TranslationBundle | undefined,
+  picklistName: string,
+  optionValue: string | number | boolean,
+  opts?: ResolveOptions,
+): string | undefined {
+  if (!bundle) return undefined;
+  const key = String(optionValue);
+  for (const code of localeChain(opts)) {
+    const candidate = pickData(bundle, code)?.picklists?.[picklistName]?.options?.[key];
+    if (typeof candidate === 'string' && candidate.length > 0) return candidate;
+  }
+  return undefined;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Apply the active locale to a picklist metadata document — its `label`
+ * against `picklists.<name>.label`, and each option's `label` against
+ * `picklists.<name>.options.<value>`. The same option labels are what every
+ * referencing field inherits in {@link translateObject}, so the list is
+ * translated once. The input document is not mutated; a key the bundle does
+ * not carry leaves the authored value in place.
+ */
+export function translatePicklist<T extends PicklistLike>(
+  doc: T,
+  bundle: TranslationBundle | undefined,
+  opts?: TranslateDocumentOptions,
+): T {
+  if (!doc || typeof doc !== 'object' || typeof doc.name !== 'string' || !bundle) return doc;
+  const picklistName = doc.name;
+  const label = lookupPicklistLabel(bundle, picklistName, opts);
+  let options = doc.options;
+  if (Array.isArray(doc.options)) {
+    let changed = false;
+    const next = doc.options.map((opt) => {
+      if (!opt || typeof opt !== 'object' || opt.value === undefined) return opt;
+      const translated = lookupPicklistOption(bundle, picklistName, opt.value, opts);
+      if (!translated) return opt;
+      changed = true;
+      return { ...opt, label: translated };
+    });
+    if (changed) options = next;
+  }
+  if (label === undefined && options === doc.options) return doc;
+  return {
+    ...doc,
+    ...(label !== undefined ? { label } : {}),
+    ...(options !== doc.options ? { options } : {}),
+  };
+}
+
 // ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 // Settings (SettingsManifest) resolvers
 // ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/packages/spec/src/system/metadata-form-zod-reconciliation.test.ts b/packages/spec/src/system/metadata-form-zod-reconciliation.test.ts
index 1aa1b108e28..0279a865f87 100644
--- a/packages/spec/src/system/metadata-form-zod-reconciliation.test.ts
+++ b/packages/spec/src/system/metadata-form-zod-reconciliation.test.ts
@@ -391,6 +391,13 @@ const LEDGER: ReadonlyArray<OmitEntry | SubsetEntry> = [
     key: 'useGrouping',
     why: 'declared, not enforced yet — liveness verdict `planned` (the renderer read side that maps it onto `Intl.NumberFormat` is not landed). No offer until it is enforced; whether to offer it then is a ruling for the enforcement, not for this gate',
   },
+  {
+    kind: 'omit',
+    type: 'field',
+    path: ROOT_PATH,
+    key: 'picklist',
+    why: 'declared, not enforced yet — liveness verdict `planned` (the server-side resolution that serves a picklist-bound field its options is not landed). No offer until it is enforced; the field designer offering a picklist is a later Studio phase',
+  },
   {
     kind: 'omit',
     type: 'page',
diff --git a/packages/spec/src/system/translation.zod.ts b/packages/spec/src/system/translation.zod.ts
index fd69ae8f572..9763211dd54 100644
--- a/packages/spec/src/system/translation.zod.ts
+++ b/packages/spec/src/system/translation.zod.ts
@@ -585,9 +585,9 @@ const PER_APP_SETTINGS_PLATFORM_ONLY =
   + '(`@objectstack/service-settings`\'s `settingsBuiltinTranslations`, typed '
   + '`PlatformTranslationData`); a key it does not translate falls back to the manifest\'s own '
   + 'literal, so correct it there rather than filling the gap from an application. For an '
-  + 'application\'s own copy use the ten groups this bundle does declare, in the order it '
-  + "declares them — 'objects', 'apps', 'messages', 'globalActions', 'dashboards', 'datasets', "
-  + "'pages', 'flows', 'metadataForms', 'settingsCommon'. Note the last one: 'settingsCommon' IS "
+  + 'application\'s own copy use the eleven groups this bundle does declare, in the order it '
+  + "declares them — 'objects', 'picklists', 'apps', 'messages', 'globalActions', 'dashboards', "
+  + "'datasets', 'pages', 'flows', 'metadataForms', 'settingsCommon'. Note the last one: 'settingsCommon' IS "
   + 'on this face, so the Settings UI shell strings an application may translate (the source '
   + 'badges, under `settingsCommon.sourceLabels`) are NOT what is being refused here — only the '
   + "per-namespace manifest copy under 'settings' is. "
@@ -628,7 +628,7 @@ const ITEM_SETTINGS_PLATFORM_ONLY =
   + '(`@objectstack/service-settings`\'s `settingsBuiltinTranslations`, typed '
   + '`PlatformTranslationData`); a key it does not translate falls back to the manifest\'s own '
   + 'literal, so correct it there rather than overriding it from an application. For an '
-  + 'application\'s own copy use the groups this item does declare — the same ten a per-app '
+  + 'application\'s own copy use the groups this item does declare — the same eleven a per-app '
   + "bundle declares, 'settingsCommon' among them: the Settings UI shell strings an application "
   + 'may translate (the source badges, under `settingsCommon.sourceLabels`) are NOT what is being '
   + "refused here — only the per-namespace manifest copy under 'settings' is. "
@@ -667,12 +667,12 @@ const ITEM_TRANSLATION_KEY_GUIDANCE: Record<string, string> = {
  */
 /**
  * The translation groups an APPLICATION may author, as a shape rather than a
- * schema. Ten groups — the eleventh, `settings`, is platform-only and lives in
+ * schema. Eleven groups — the twelfth, `settings`, is platform-only and lives in
  * {@link platformSettingsShape}.
  *
  * Three schemas need exactly these keys: {@link TranslationDataSchema} (one
- * entry of a per-app file-authored bundle — these ten and no more),
- * {@link PlatformTranslationDataSchema} (these ten plus `settings`) and
+ * entry of a per-app file-authored bundle — these eleven and no more),
+ * {@link PlatformTranslationDataSchema} (these eleven plus `settings`) and
  * {@link TranslationItemSchema} (the registered `translation` metadata type —
  * the per-app face plus `locale`, its identity keys and the ADR-0010
  * envelope; it carried the platform face's `settings` too until #19620). The item used to
@@ -740,6 +740,29 @@ const appTranslationDataShape = () => ({
   /** Object translations */
   objects: z.record(z.string(), ObjectTranslationDataSchema).optional().describe('Object translations keyed by object name'),
 
+  /**
+   * Picklist translations keyed by picklist name (`Picklist.name`,
+   * `data/picklist.zod.ts`).
+   *
+   *   picklists.<name>.label            → the picklist's own `label`
+   *   picklists.<name>.options.<value>  → the label of the option whose `value` matches
+   *
+   * Every field that references the picklist (`Field.select({ picklist })`)
+   * inherits these option labels — the list is translated once, not per
+   * field. A field with inline `options` keeps its own
+   * `objects.<object>.fields.<field>.options`.
+   */
+  picklists: z.record(z.string(), strictObject({
+    surface: 'this picklist translation',
+    history: TRANSLATION_HISTORY,
+    aliases: { name: 'label', title: 'label', values: 'options', choices: 'options' },
+  }, {
+    label: z.string().optional().describe('Translated picklist label'),
+    options: z.record(z.string(), z.string()).describe(
+      'Option value to translated label map — inherited by every field that references the picklist',
+    ),
+  })).optional().describe('Picklist translations keyed by picklist name'),
+
   /** App/Menu translations */
   apps: z.record(z.string(), strictObject({
     surface: 'this app translation',
@@ -1434,10 +1457,10 @@ const platformSettingsShape = () => ({
  * One locale of a PER-APP translation bundle — `stack.translations`, and
  * everything {@link defineTranslationBundle} builds.
  *
- * Ten groups: every group the platform bundle declares EXCEPT `settings`,
+ * Eleven groups: every group the platform bundle declares EXCEPT `settings`,
  * which is platform-only and is refused here by name with
  * {@link PER_APP_SETTINGS_PLATFORM_ONLY} as the remedy. See
- * {@link PlatformTranslationDataSchema} for the eleven-group face and for why
+ * {@link PlatformTranslationDataSchema} for the twelve-group face and for why
  * the two are separate namespaces.
  */
 export const TranslationDataSchema = lazySchema(() => strictObject({
@@ -1448,7 +1471,7 @@ export const TranslationDataSchema = lazySchema(() => strictObject({
   // `settings`, and an alias prescribing a key the shape rejects is a
   // suggestion the author cannot take (the `alias-integrity` audit judges
   // exactly that). Both spellings are answered by `guidance` above instead.
-  aliases: { object: 'objects', fields: 'objects', app: 'apps', page: 'pages', dashboard: 'dashboards', dataset: 'datasets', flow: 'flows', message: 'messages', strings: 'messages', labels: 'messages', actions: 'globalActions' },
+  aliases: { object: 'objects', fields: 'objects', app: 'apps', page: 'pages', dashboard: 'dashboards', dataset: 'datasets', picklist: 'picklists', flow: 'flows', message: 'messages', strings: 'messages', labels: 'messages', actions: 'globalActions' },
   // `locale` lives on the ITEM, not on a bundle entry (the bundle keys ARE the
   // locales). Naming it keeps the suggestion useful for an author who moved a
   // `translation` item into a bundle and left the field behind.
@@ -1458,7 +1481,7 @@ export const TranslationDataSchema = lazySchema(() => strictObject({
 export type TranslationData = z.input<typeof TranslationDataSchema>;
 
 /**
- * One locale of a PLATFORM translation bundle — the eleven groups, `settings`
+ * One locale of a PLATFORM translation bundle — the twelve groups, `settings`
  * included.
  *
  * The platform's own bundles are code, not authored metadata
@@ -1493,7 +1516,7 @@ export const PlatformTranslationDataSchema = lazySchema(() => strictObject({
   surface: 'this locale of the platform translation bundle',
   history: TRANSLATION_HISTORY,
   guidance: TRANSLATION_KEY_GUIDANCE,
-  aliases: { object: 'objects', fields: 'objects', app: 'apps', page: 'pages', dashboard: 'dashboards', dataset: 'datasets', flow: 'flows', setting: 'settings', message: 'messages', strings: 'messages', labels: 'messages', actions: 'globalActions' },
+  aliases: { object: 'objects', fields: 'objects', app: 'apps', page: 'pages', dashboard: 'dashboards', dataset: 'datasets', picklist: 'picklists', flow: 'flows', setting: 'settings', message: 'messages', strings: 'messages', labels: 'messages', actions: 'globalActions' },
   extraKeys: ['locale'],
 }, {
   ...appTranslationDataShape(),
@@ -1609,7 +1632,7 @@ export type TranslationConfig = z.input<typeof TranslationConfigSchema>;
  * to whoever — or whatever — authored it.
  *
  * `settings` is NOT on this door (#19620, ruling batch #210 item 2 letter B):
- * the item takes the PER-APP face, the same ten groups as
+ * the item takes the PER-APP face, the same eleven groups as
  * {@link TranslationDataSchema}, and refuses `settings` (and the singular
  * `setting`) by name with {@link ITEM_SETTINGS_PLATFORM_ONLY} as the remedy.
  * The file door and the item door are two authoring surfaces for one app
@@ -1648,7 +1671,7 @@ export const TranslationItemSchema = lazySchema(() => strictObject({
   // this door no longer declares `settings`, and an alias prescribing a key
   // the shape rejects is a suggestion the author cannot take. Both spellings
   // are answered by `guidance` above instead.
-  aliases: { object: 'objects', app: 'apps', page: 'pages', dataset: 'datasets', flow: 'flows', message: 'messages', strings: 'messages', labels: 'messages', actions: 'globalActions', lang: 'locale', language: 'locale' },
+  aliases: { object: 'objects', app: 'apps', page: 'pages', dataset: 'datasets', picklist: 'picklists', flow: 'flows', message: 'messages', strings: 'messages', labels: 'messages', actions: 'globalActions', lang: 'locale', language: 'locale' },
 }, {
   ...appTranslationDataShape(),
   locale: LocaleSchema.describe('BCP-47 locale this item translates (e.g. "zh-CN")'),
diff --git a/packages/spec/test-typecheck-debt.json b/packages/spec/test-typecheck-debt.json
index 63213c9d0d8..f12c49e59a7 100644
--- a/packages/spec/test-typecheck-debt.json
+++ b/packages/spec/test-typecheck-debt.json
@@ -118,9 +118,6 @@
       "TS6133: 'query' is declared but its value is never read.": 1,
       "TS6133: 'schema' is declared but its value is never read.": 1
     },
-    "src/data/field.test.ts": {
-      "TS2322: Type 'string' is not assignable to type '…'.": 2
-    },
     "src/data/object-strictness-batch20.test.ts": {
       "TS2352: Conversion of type '…' to type '…' may be a mistake because neither type sufficiently overlaps with the other. If this was intentional, convert the expression to 'unknown' first.": 1
     },
diff --git a/scripts/check-stack-collection-maps.mjs b/scripts/check-stack-collection-maps.mjs
index eab9ab50ec8..75c50a96102 100644
--- a/scripts/check-stack-collection-maps.mjs
+++ b/scripts/check-stack-collection-maps.mjs
@@ -486,19 +486,19 @@ const SITES = [
     waivers: [
       {
         direction: 'missing',
-        keys: ['views', 'objectExtensions', 'data', 'translations'],
+        keys: ['views', 'objectExtensions', 'picklistExtensions', 'data', 'translations'],
         reason:
-          'the four SHAPE exclusions the declaration already documents, pinned here so the prose is checked: '
-          + 'ViewSchema has no `name` (its identity is the target object), ObjectExtensionSchema keys by '
+          'the five SHAPE exclusions, pinned here so the prose is checked: ViewSchema has no `name` (its '
+          + 'identity is the target object), ObjectExtensionSchema and PicklistExtensionSchema key by '
           + '`extend`, SeedSchema keys by `object`, and TranslationBundleSchema is itself a record.',
       },
       {
         direction: 'missing',
-        keys: ['datasourceMapping', 'capabilities', 'docs', 'books', 'tools', 'skills'],
+        keys: ['datasourceMapping', 'capabilities', 'docs', 'books', 'tools', 'skills', 'picklists'],
         reason:
           'no map form has ever been offered for these. `datasourceMapping` is a rule LIST whose precedence is '
-          + 'positional, so a map would lose the ordering that decides which rule wins; the other five are '
-          + 'array-only authoring surfaces. Offering a map form for any of them WIDENS what parses — an '
+          + 'positional, so a map would lose the ordering that decides which rule wins; the other six are '
+          + 'array-only authoring surfaces (`picklists` since it was declared). Offering a map form for any of them WIDENS what parses — an '
           + 'acceptance change, which belongs to its own reviewed diff rather than to this gate.',
       },
     ],
@@ -525,13 +525,13 @@ const SITES = [
       },
       {
         direction: 'missing',
-        keys: ['datasourceMapping', 'translations', 'objectExtensions', 'data'],
+        keys: ['datasourceMapping', 'translations', 'objectExtensions', 'picklistExtensions', 'data'],
         reason:
-          'there is no singular metadata-type name to map to. `objectExtensions` merges into its target '
-          + 'object rather than registering as a type, `datasourceMapping` is stack-level routing '
-          + 'configuration, `translations` is a bundle record consumed by the i18n resolvers, and `data` '
-          + 'seeds are applied by SeedLoaderService. `pluralToSingular` returns its input unchanged for all '
-          + 'four, which is the correct answer rather than a gap.',
+          'there is no singular metadata-type name to map to. `objectExtensions` and `picklistExtensions` '
+          + 'merge into their target rather than registering as a type, `datasourceMapping` is stack-level '
+          + 'routing configuration, `translations` is a bundle record consumed by the i18n resolvers, and '
+          + '`data` seeds are applied by SeedLoaderService. `pluralToSingular` returns its input unchanged '
+          + 'for all five, which is the correct answer rather than a gap.',
       },
     ],
   },
@@ -559,13 +559,13 @@ const SITES = [
         keys: [
           'datasources', 'datasourceMapping', 'objectExtensions', 'apps', 'jobs', 'emailTemplates',
           'docs', 'books', 'positions', 'capabilities', 'sharingRules', 'webhooks', 'tools', 'skills',
-          'hooks', 'mappings', 'analyticsCubes', 'connectors', 'data',
+          'hooks', 'mappings', 'analyticsCubes', 'connectors', 'data', 'picklists', 'picklistExtensions',
         ],
         reason:
           'DRIFT in the opposite direction, under the same acceptance constraint: ADDING a member widens '
           + 'what an artifact may declare and presumes a packaging layout (one subdirectory per category) '
           + 'that does not exist for these. The omissions are inert today because this enum is not the '
-          + 'artifact ingest path — `ARTIFACT_FIELD_TO_TYPE` below is — but 19 of 32 collections absent is '
+          + 'artifact ingest path — `ARTIFACT_FIELD_TO_TYPE` below is — but 21 of 33 collections absent is '
           + 'the measurement that says so out loud (#6242 row 5).',
       },
     ],
@@ -619,6 +619,15 @@ const SITES = [
           'ADR-0090 D3 positions reach the registry through the security bootstrap, which reads them off the '
           + 'stack directly; the loop\'s sibling `permissions` entry is what makes the absence look like a gap.',
       },
+      {
+        direction: 'missing',
+        keys: ['picklists', 'picklistExtensions'],
+        reason:
+          'PENDING the picklist runtime layer (#19519): the spec declares `picklists` and '
+          + '`picklistExtensions` ahead of their reader, by ruling (the spec layer lands first). Registering '
+          + 'them — and merging the extensions into their target list — is that layer\'s work, so this row '
+          + 'goes STALE, and fails, the day it lands. The liveness ledger grades the same keys `planned`.',
+      },
     ],
   },
   {
@@ -676,6 +685,15 @@ const SITES = [
         keys: ['datasourceMapping'],
         reason: 'stack-level routing configuration, never a registry item.',
       },
+      {
+        direction: 'missing',
+        keys: ['picklists', 'picklistExtensions'],
+        reason:
+          'PENDING the picklist runtime layer (#19519): the spec declares `picklists` and '
+          + '`picklistExtensions` ahead of their reader, by ruling (the spec layer lands first). Registering '
+          + 'them — and merging the extensions into their target list — is that layer\'s work, so this row '
+          + 'goes STALE, and fails, the day it lands. The liveness ledger grades the same keys `planned`.',
+      },
     ],
   },
   {
@@ -700,6 +718,7 @@ const SITES = [
         keys: [
           'objectExtensions', 'datasourceMapping', 'datasources', 'jobs', 'apis', 'webhooks',
           'hooks', 'mappings', 'analyticsCubes', 'connectors', 'capabilities', 'datasets',
+          'picklists', 'picklistExtensions',
         ],
         reason:
           'DELIBERATE, and load-bearing. This is a HEURISTIC, not a registration list: it answers "did the '
@@ -737,7 +756,7 @@ const SITES = [
           'datasources', 'datasourceMapping', 'translations', 'objects', 'objectExtensions', 'apps',
           'views', 'pages', 'dashboards', 'reports', 'datasets', 'actions', 'flows', 'jobs',
           'emailTemplates', 'docs', 'books', 'apis', 'webhooks', 'agents', 'tools', 'skills',
-          'hooks', 'mappings', 'analyticsCubes', 'connectors', 'data',
+          'hooks', 'mappings', 'analyticsCubes', 'connectors', 'data', 'picklists', 'picklistExtensions',
         ],
         reason:
           'DELIBERATE — a four-collection SUBSET, not an enumeration of the collection set. This block '
diff --git a/scripts/fixtures/i18n-walk-parity/every-group.stack.json b/scripts/fixtures/i18n-walk-parity/every-group.stack.json
index eb5fa93c9e3..b96339c4d67 100644
--- a/scripts/fixtures/i18n-walk-parity/every-group.stack.json
+++ b/scripts/fixtures/i18n-walk-parity/every-group.stack.json
@@ -124,6 +124,16 @@
     }
   ],
 
+  "picklists": [
+    {
+      "name": "parity_tier",
+      "label": "Parity Tier",
+      "options": [
+        { "label": "Gold", "value": "gold" }
+      ]
+    }
+  ],
+
   "pages": [
     {
       "name": "parity_page",
diff --git a/skills/objectstack-platform/SKILL.md b/skills/objectstack-platform/SKILL.md
index 3a85ad34d1a..ad7e7b7c8b3 100644
--- a/skills/objectstack-platform/SKILL.md
+++ b/skills/objectstack-platform/SKILL.md
@@ -41,8 +41,9 @@ It calls `defineStack()` to declare all metadata.
 ### Full Configuration Reference
 
 `defineStack()` accepts an `ObjectStackDefinitionInput` whose top-level keys
-are `manifest`, `packages`, `objects`, `objectExtensions`, `views`, `apps`,
-`pages`, `dashboards`, `reports`, `datasets`, `actions`, `flows`, `jobs`,
+are `manifest`, `packages`, `objects`, `objectExtensions`, `picklists`,
+`picklistExtensions`, `views`, `apps`, `pages`, `dashboards`, `reports`,
+`datasets`, `actions`, `flows`, `jobs`,
 `emailTemplates`, `docs`, `books`, `positions`, `permissions`,
 `capabilities`, `sharingRules`, `apis`, `webhooks`, `api`, `server`,
 `agents`, `tools`, `skills`, `hooks`, `functions`, `mappings`,
@@ -449,9 +450,8 @@ definition: never write it by hand, and never hand-write a raw
 
 ## CLI Commands
 
-Daily commands are covered in **Part 3 — Operations** below
-([jump there](./references/operations.md#part-3--operations-cli-testing-deployment)). High-level cheat
-sheet for the bootstrap loop:
+Daily commands are in [Part 3 — Operations](./references/operations.md#part-3--operations-cli-testing-deployment).
+Cheat sheet for the bootstrap loop:
 
 ```bash
 npx create-objectstack my-app