diff --git a/docs/.vitepress/config.ts b/docs/.vitepress/config.ts
index 347f800..56effc3 100644
--- a/docs/.vitepress/config.ts
+++ b/docs/.vitepress/config.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ const LLMS_PAGE_ORDER = [
   'packages/sdk',
   'packages/rules',
   'packages/types',
+  'guides/first-model',
   'guides/providers',
   'guides/http-transport',
   'guides/embedding-mcp',
@@ -121,6 +122,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
         { text: 'Types', link: '/packages/types' },
       ]},
       { text: 'Guides', items: [
+        { text: 'Your First Model', link: '/guides/first-model' },
         { text: 'Providers & Transports', link: '/guides/providers' },
         { text: 'HTTP Transport', link: '/guides/http-transport' },
         { text: 'Embedding MCP', link: '/guides/embedding-mcp' },
@@ -163,6 +165,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
         {
           text: 'Guides',
           items: [
+            { text: 'Your First Model', link: '/guides/first-model' },
             { text: 'Providers & Transports', link: '/guides/providers' },
             { text: 'HTTP Transport', link: '/guides/http-transport' },
             { text: 'Embedding MCP', link: '/guides/embedding-mcp' },
diff --git a/docs/guides/first-model.md b/docs/guides/first-model.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..edf980b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/guides/first-model.md
@@ -0,0 +1,348 @@
+---
+title: Your First Model
+description: "A guided end-to-end walkthrough — define a model, save content, publish, review, and query it, with real tool outputs at every step"
+order: 1
+category: guides
+slug: first-model
+---
+
+# Your First Model
+
+[Getting Started](/getting-started) wires up your agent; [Core Concepts](/concepts) explains the vocabulary. This page is the bridge: one concrete model taken end-to-end — define → save → publish → read → query → review — showing the **actual tool responses and files** at every step.
+
+Everything below is captured from a real run against `@contentrain/mcp`. Branch names, entry IDs, commit hashes, and timestamps will differ on your machine; shapes and semantics will not.
+
+## What You'll Build
+
+An `faq` **collection** — the model kind that shows the most machinery: typed fields, auto-generated entry IDs, object-map storage, per-entry publish status, and the git workflow. About 10 minutes.
+
+## Setup
+
+```bash
+npx contentrain init --yes
+```
+
+`init` creates `.contentrain/` (config, `models/`, `content/`, `meta/`, vocabulary, context), runs `git init` with an initial commit if needed, and writes your IDE's MCP config. The `--yes` defaults matter for this walkthrough: workflow is **auto-merge**, default locale `en`, domains `marketing`, `blog`, `system`.
+
+## Step 1 — Look Before You Write
+
+Agents (and you) should start every session with `contentrain_status`. Ask your agent *"What's the state of my Contentrain project?"*:
+
+```json
+{
+  "initialized": true,
+  "config": {
+    "stack": "other",
+    "workflow": "auto-merge",
+    "locales": { "default": "en", "supported": ["en"] },
+    "domains": ["marketing", "blog", "system"]
+  },
+  "models": [],
+  "branches": { "total": 0, "merged": 0, "unmerged": 0, "cleaned_up": 0 },
+  "next_steps": ["Create models with contentrain_model_save"]
+}
+```
+
+*(Response abridged — the full payload also carries `context`, `vocabulary`, and last-operation info.)*
+
+No models yet, no branches, and the response tells the agent what to do next. This is the pattern everywhere: every tool response carries `next_steps`.
+
+## Step 2 — Define the Model
+
+Tell your agent:
+
+```text
+Create an FAQ model in the marketing domain: a required question (max 200 chars),
+a required markdown answer, and a category limited to general/billing/technical.
+```
+
+The agent calls `contentrain_model_save` with:
+
+```json
+{
+  "id": "faq",
+  "name": "FAQ",
+  "kind": "collection",
+  "domain": "marketing",
+  "i18n": true,
+  "fields": {
+    "question": { "type": "string", "required": true, "min": 1, "max": 200 },
+    "answer": { "type": "markdown", "required": true },
+    "category": { "type": "select", "options": ["general", "billing", "technical"] }
+  }
+}
+```
+
+Response:
+
+```json
+{
+  "status": "committed",
+  "action": "created",
+  "model": "faq",
+  "validation": { "valid": true, "errors": [] },
+  "git": {
+    "branch": "cr/model/faq/1784311677-13e8",
+    "action": "auto-merged",
+    "commit": "076e2a88f0bba8a97bb33526e5a22b0190d8f1d2",
+    "sync": {
+      "synced": [".contentrain/context.json", ".contentrain/models/faq.json"],
+      "skipped": []
+    }
+  },
+  "content_path": ".contentrain/content/marketing/faq/",
+  "example_file": ".contentrain/content/marketing/faq/en.json",
+  "next_steps": ["Add content with contentrain_content_save"]
+}
+```
+
+Three things to notice:
+
+- **The write happened on a branch.** `cr/model/faq/{timestamp}-{suffix}` was created, committed, and — because the workflow is `auto-merge` — merged into the dedicated `contentrain` branch immediately.
+- **Your working tree got the result, not the process.** The `sync` block lists the files copied back; MCP never runs checkout/stash/merge in your working tree.
+- **The schema was validated before anything landed.** A misplaced constraint (say, `options` on a non-select field) would have been a blocking error, not a silent no-op.
+
+## Step 3 — Save Content
+
+```text
+Add two FAQ entries: "What is Contentrain?" and "Do I need a cloud account?"
+— both in the general category.
+```
+
+The agent calls `contentrain_content_save`:
+
+```json
+{
+  "model": "faq",
+  "entries": [
+    {
+      "locale": "en",
+      "data": {
+        "question": "What is Contentrain?",
+        "answer": "Git-native content governance: your agent writes content through deterministic MCP tools, humans review through branches.",
+        "category": "general"
+      }
+    },
+    {
+      "locale": "en",
+      "data": {
+        "question": "Do I need a cloud account?",
+        "answer": "No. The core is local-first and MIT-licensed — content lives in your repo.",
+        "category": "general"
+      }
+    }
+  ]
+}
+```
+
+Response:
+
+```json
+{
+  "status": "committed",
+  "results": [
+    { "action": "created", "id": "898df4b18fc4", "locale": "en" },
+    { "action": "created", "id": "ee920ffa2a68", "locale": "en" }
+  ],
+  "git": {
+    "branch": "cr/content/faq/1784311677-de96",
+    "action": "auto-merged",
+    "commit": "31fc18b322387a08174e89b78ff8632d4f9e9f14",
+    "sync": {
+      "synced": [
+        ".contentrain/content/marketing/faq/en.json",
+        ".contentrain/context.json",
+        ".contentrain/meta/faq/en.json"
+      ],
+      "skipped": []
+    }
+  },
+  "validation": { "valid": true, "errors": [] }
+}
+```
+
+Entries got **auto-generated 12-hex IDs**. Content was **validated before the commit** — if `category` had been `"pricing"` (not in `options`) or `question` had blown past `max: 200`, the response would have been a validation error and *nothing* would have been written.
+
+Here is what actually landed on disk:
+
+```json
+// .contentrain/content/marketing/faq/en.json
+{
+  "898df4b18fc4": {
+    "answer": "Git-native content governance: your agent writes content through deterministic MCP tools, humans review through branches.",
+    "category": "general",
+    "question": "What is Contentrain?"
+  },
+  "ee920ffa2a68": {
+    "answer": "No. The core is local-first and MIT-licensed — content lives in your repo.",
+    "category": "general",
+    "question": "Do I need a cloud account?"
+  }
+}
+```
+
+An **object-map keyed by entry ID** with alphabetically sorted keys — canonical serialization. Two people adding entries in parallel land on different keys and merge without conflict.
+
+Status lives elsewhere: each new entry starts as `draft` in `.contentrain/meta/faq/en.json`. Saving content is not a publish decision.
+
+## Step 4 — Publish
+
+Publishing is a deliberate, separate act — the only tool that changes status is `contentrain_bulk`:
+
+```json
+{
+  "operation": "update_status",
+  "model": "faq",
+  "entry_ids": ["898df4b18fc4", "ee920ffa2a68"],
+  "status": "published"
+}
+```
+
+Response:
+
+```json
+{
+  "status": "committed",
+  "operation": "update_status",
+  "message": "Updated 2 meta record(s) to status \"published\" across locales [en].",
+  "updated": 2,
+  "updated_by_locale": { "en": ["898df4b18fc4", "ee920ffa2a68"] },
+  "git": {
+    "branch": "cr/bulk/faq/1784311678-ebde",
+    "action": "auto-merged",
+    "commit": "09025eb5dba8e2f49281caa591f0f0bde97302af"
+  }
+}
+```
+
+And the meta file now reads:
+
+```json
+// .contentrain/meta/faq/en.json
+{
+  "898df4b18fc4": { "source": "agent", "status": "published", "updated_by": "contentrain-mcp" },
+  "ee920ffa2a68": { "source": "agent", "status": "published", "updated_by": "contentrain-mcp" }
+}
+```
+
+`source: "agent"` is the audit trail — who created this content is recorded per entry, forever, in git.
+
+## Step 5 — Read It Back
+
+`contentrain_content_list` returns the **output format** — an array with `id` injected, not the storage object-map:
+
+```json
+{
+  "kind": "collection",
+  "data": [
+    {
+      "id": "898df4b18fc4",
+      "answer": "Git-native content governance: your agent writes content through deterministic MCP tools, humans review through branches.",
+      "category": "general",
+      "question": "What is Contentrain?"
+    },
+    {
+      "id": "ee920ffa2a68",
+      "answer": "No. The core is local-first and MIT-licensed — content lives in your repo.",
+      "category": "general",
+      "question": "Do I need a cloud account?"
+    }
+  ],
+  "total": 2,
+  "locale": "en",
+  "offset": 0,
+  "limit": 2
+}
+```
+
+Storage is optimized for git merges; output is optimized for consumption. Same data, two shapes — [Model Kinds](/reference/model-kinds) covers the distinction per kind.
+
+## Step 6 — Query From Your App
+
+```bash
+npx contentrain validate   # → "Project is valid!" — 0 errors, 0 warnings
+npx contentrain generate   # → typed client in .contentrain/client/, #contentrain imports added
+```
+
+```ts
+// query-test.mjs
+import { query } from '#contentrain'
+
+const faqs = query('faq').locale('en').where('category', 'general').sort('question', 'asc').all()
+console.log(faqs.map(f => f.question))
+console.log('total:', query('faq').locale('en').count())
+```
+
+```text
+$ node query-test.mjs
+[ 'Do I need a cloud account?', 'What is Contentrain?' ]
+total: 2
+```
+
+Fully typed, synchronous, zero runtime dependencies — the client is generated from your models. See the [Query SDK](/packages/sdk) for the full API and the CDN transport.
+
+## The Git Story So Far
+
+Everything above is ordinary git history on the `contentrain` branch:
+
+```text
+$ git log --oneline
+09025eb [contentrain] bulk: update status → published for faq
+31fc18b [contentrain] content: faq
+076e2a8 [contentrain] created: faq
+3927fa7 [contentrain] configure MCP servers
+63c7b00 [contentrain] install AI rules
+...
+```
+
+Every operation is a commit you can inspect, revert, or bisect. That is the whole governance model: **nothing reaches your content layer except through a reviewable git transaction.**
+
+## Switch to Review Mode
+
+Auto-merge is right for solo work. For teams, flip one key in `.contentrain/config.json`:
+
+```json
+{ "workflow": "review" }
+```
+
+Now the same `contentrain_content_save` call answers differently:
+
+```json
+{
+  "status": "committed",
+  "results": [{ "action": "created", "id": "7e579bd36c35", "locale": "en" }],
+  "git": {
+    "branch": "cr/content/faq/1784312115-09eb",
+    "action": "pending-review",
+    "commit": "b44c488ae82b91e18fcc248dbfef1e955e2c3e89"
+  }
+}
+```
+
+`"pending-review"` — the branch exists, the commit exists, but nothing merged. Your working tree does not have the entry yet. Inspect it:
+
+```text
+$ npx contentrain diff
+
+●  Pending branches (1)
+     ● cr/content/faq/1784312115-09eb  2 file(s), +10/-0
+```
+
+Then merge (or reject) — from the CLI, the [serve UI](/guides/serve-ui) at `/branches`, or by asking your agent to call `contentrain_merge`:
+
+```text
+$ npx contentrain merge cr/content/faq/1784312115-09eb --yes
+
+◆  Merged cr/content/faq/1784312115-09eb (commit 5e4f9406)
+     Synced 3 file(s) to working tree.
+```
+
+The entry lands, the branch is cleaned up (including its remote copy, if pushed), and the git history records who approved what. This is the same review loop [Contentrain Studio](/studio) puts a team web UI on top of.
+
+## Where Next
+
+- **[Normalize Flow](/guides/normalize)** — the reverse direction: extract the hardcoded strings you already have into models like this one
+- **[Model Kinds](/reference/model-kinds)** — singleton, dictionary, and document, with the same storage rigor
+- **[Field Types](/reference/field-types)** — all 27 types and exactly which constraints are enforced where
+- **[i18n Workflow](/guides/i18n)** — add locales; `contentrain_bulk copy_locale` scaffolds translations
+- **[Query SDK](/packages/sdk)** — relations, documents, dictionaries, and the CDN transport
diff --git a/docs/public/llms.txt b/docs/public/llms.txt
index 2f8c996..9826352 100644
--- a/docs/public/llms.txt
+++ b/docs/public/llms.txt
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ Contentrain Studio (team web surface) documentation: https://docs.contentrain.io
 - Query SDK: /packages/sdk
 - Rules & Skills: /packages/rules
 - Types: /packages/types
+- Your First Model (guided walkthrough): /guides/first-model
 - Providers & Transports: /guides/providers
 - HTTP Transport: /guides/http-transport
 - Embedding MCP: /guides/embedding-mcp