diff --git a/src/GameCult.Mesh/docs/public-api.md b/src/GameCult.Mesh/docs/public-api.md
index 3ff86524..512b3e30 100644
--- a/src/GameCult.Mesh/docs/public-api.md
+++ b/src/GameCult.Mesh/docs/public-api.md
@@ -287,19 +287,20 @@ id, response filtering, raw MessagePack payload decode, route metadata, and
 polling watch fallback:
 
 ```csharp
-var remoteHealth = CultMesh.DocumentFromPeerSnapshot<DaemonHealthDocument>(
+var remoteHealth = CultMesh.DocumentFromPeerSnapshot<DaemonHealthUiDocument>(
     "cultnet://daemon.local:3075",
     "daemon:aetheria.health.v1",
     verse);
 
-var health = await remoteHealth.LatestAsync();
-var uiHealth = remoteHealth.AsSchemaAlias<DaemonHealthUiDocument>();
+var uiHealth = await remoteHealth.LatestAsync();
 ```
 
 Snapshot requests are record-key-first so same logical documents can still be
 read when another runtime generated a different schema id for a compatible
 schema alias. The decode path prefers exact schema id matches when present and
-falls back to the requested record key.
+falls back to the requested record key. Ask for the runtime-facing alias type
+directly; `AsSchemaAlias<TAlias>()` is for adapting handles that were already
+constructed elsewhere.
 
 A domain facade can still collect existing handles into one schema-aware
 catalog when it is composing pre-built surfaces:
@@ -368,7 +369,7 @@ const stopRoster = pilots.watchChanges(change => refreshRoster(change));
 
 const remoteHealth = CultMesh.documentFromPeerSnapshot(
   () => daemonPeer,
-  "gamecult.aetheria.daemon_health.v1",
+  daemonHealthUiDocument,
   "daemon:aetheria.health.v1",
 );
 const health = await remoteHealth.latest();
@@ -503,12 +504,12 @@ fragmentation, and channel semantics.
 
 TypeScript runtimes can also wrap a CultNet peer snapshot as a normal document
 handle with `CultMesh.documentFromPeerSnapshot(...)`. The caller supplies the
-peer or peer factory, schema id, and record key; CultMesh sends the snapshot
-request, waits for the matching response, decodes the raw MessagePack document,
-and returns the same `latest()`/`watch()` document surface used by local cache
-and single-file documents. Exact schema ids are preferred, but record-key
-publications remain readable when two runtimes alias the same logical document
-through different schema names.
+peer or peer factory, document definition or schema id, and record key; CultMesh
+sends the snapshot request, waits for the matching response, decodes the raw
+MessagePack document, and returns the same `latest()`/`watch()` document surface
+used by local cache and single-file documents. Exact schema ids are preferred,
+but record-key publications remain readable when two runtimes alias the same
+logical document through different schema names.
 
 ### Shard Authority
 
diff --git a/tests/GameCult.Mesh.Tests/CultMeshStreamingTests.cs b/tests/GameCult.Mesh.Tests/CultMeshStreamingTests.cs
index bfdd3f0e..5659d17a 100644
--- a/tests/GameCult.Mesh.Tests/CultMeshStreamingTests.cs
+++ b/tests/GameCult.Mesh.Tests/CultMeshStreamingTests.cs
@@ -2203,7 +2203,7 @@ public sealed class CultMeshStreamingTests
             .Register(CultNetDocumentBinding.ForDocument<MeshNoteDocument>(CultDocumentRegistry.Shared));
         var requests = new List<CultNetSnapshotRequestMessage>();
 
-        var handle = CultMesh.DocumentFromPublication<MeshNoteDocument>(
+        var handle = CultMesh.DocumentFromPublication<MeshNoteAliasDocument>(
             CultMeshDocumentPublicationSource.PeerSnapshot(
                 () => new MeshSnapshotSchemaClient(request =>
                 {
@@ -2218,13 +2218,13 @@ public sealed class CultMeshStreamingTests
                 PollInterval = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(10),
                 MessageIdPrefix = "mesh-test-snapshot"
             });
-        var alias = handle.AsSchemaAlias<MeshNoteAliasDocument>();
         var catalog = CultMesh.Documents(handle);
 
-        var snapshot = await alias.LatestAsync();
+        var snapshot = await handle.LatestAsync();
 
         snapshot.Text.Should().Be("remote-snapshot");
         snapshot.Revision.Should().Be(9);
+        handle.DocumentType.Should().Be(typeof(MeshNoteAliasDocument));
         handle.RouteHint.Kind.Should().Be(CultMeshLocalityKind.Network);
         handle.Sources.Should().ContainSingle().Which.SourceId.Should().Be(key.Value);
         requests.Should().ContainSingle();
@@ -2233,7 +2233,7 @@ public sealed class CultMeshStreamingTests
         requests[0].RecordKeys.Should().ContainSingle().Which.Should().Be(key.Value);
         (await catalog.LatestAsync<MeshNoteAliasDocument>()).Text.Should().Be("remote-snapshot");
 
-        var aliasSchemaHandle = CultMesh.DocumentFromPeerSnapshot<MeshNoteDocument>(
+        var aliasSchemaHandle = CultMesh.DocumentFromPeerSnapshot<MeshNoteAliasDocument>(
             _ => Task.FromResult(new CultNetSnapshotResponseRawMessage
             {
                 MessageId = "alias-schema",
@@ -2261,7 +2261,7 @@ public sealed class CultMeshStreamingTests
 
         (await aliasSchemaHandle.LatestAsync()).Text.Should().Be("record-key-fallback");
 
-        var mixedAliasSchemaHandle = CultMesh.DocumentFromPeerSnapshot<MeshNoteDocument>(
+        var mixedAliasSchemaHandle = CultMesh.DocumentFromPeerSnapshot<MeshNoteAliasDocument>(
             _ => Task.FromResult(new CultNetSnapshotResponseRawMessage
             {
                 MessageId = "alias-schema-with-neighbor",