diff --git a/.changeset/identifier-ceiling-storage-owned.md b/.changeset/identifier-ceiling-storage-owned.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e21ba23c4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/identifier-ceiling-storage-owned.md
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+---
+"@objectstack/spec": patch
+---
+
+docs(spec): state that identifier length ceilings are storage-owned (#12144)
+
+The shared identifier schemas (`SystemIdentifierSchema`,
+`SnakeCaseIdentifierSchema`, `EventNameSchema`) declare `.min()` plus a
+grammar and no `.max()`. That absence is now a documented contract decision
+rather than an accident: the enforced ceiling on an identifier is the
+`maxLength` of the column that stores it (refused at the write seam by
+ObjectQL's record validator), and the storing columns disagree — 100 for
+`sys_permission_set.name` / `sys_position.name` / `sys_capability.name`,
+255 for `sys_metadata.name` — so no single shared `.max()` can equal every
+consumer's enforced ceiling. No accepted value changes.
+
+A pin test in `@objectstack/plugin-security`
+(`identifier-storage-ceiling-pin.test.ts`) links the spec schemas to the
+storage columns that bound them, reading the widths off the registration
+surface (the PR #12143 idiom), so the two cannot drift silently: a `.max()`
+landing below a storing column's width, or a column width change, turns a
+named test red with re-derivation instructions.
diff --git a/content/docs/references/shared/identifiers.mdx b/content/docs/references/shared/identifiers.mdx
index c598d2630e..5227ff7c39 100644
--- a/content/docs/references/shared/identifiers.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/references/shared/identifiers.mdx
@@ -34,6 +34,20 @@ Enforces lowercase with underscores or dots to ensure:
 | Event keys | dot.notation | `user.login`, `order.created` |
 | Labels | Any case | `Client Account`, `Submit Form` |
 
+**Length ceiling — storage-owned, deliberately not declared here (#12144).**
+The identifier schemas in this file declare a floor and a grammar but no
+`.max()`: the enforced ceiling on an identifier is the `maxLength` of the
+column that stores it (refused at the write seam by ObjectQL's record
+validator), and the storing columns disagree — the config-object name
+columns (`sys_permission_set.name`, `sys_position.name`,
+`sys_capability.name`) enforce 100 while `sys_metadata.name` enforces 255 —
+so no single `.max()` here can equal every consumer's enforced ceiling.
+Do not add one unless every consuming column agrees on one width: a
+`.max()` below the widest storing column refuses names that are legal
+stored rows today. The schema↔column link is pinned in
+`@objectstack/plugin-security`'s `identifier-storage-ceiling-pin.test.ts`,
+which reads the column widths off the registration surface.
+
 @example Valid identifiers
 - 'account'
 - 'crm_account'
diff --git a/packages/plugins/plugin-security/src/identifier-storage-ceiling-pin.test.ts b/packages/plugins/plugin-security/src/identifier-storage-ceiling-pin.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ef7b875394
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/plugins/plugin-security/src/identifier-storage-ceiling-pin.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,198 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import {
+  SnakeCaseIdentifierSchema,
+  SystemIdentifierSchema,
+  MetadataItemNameSchema,
+} from '@objectstack/spec/shared';
+import { SysMetadataObject } from '@objectstack/metadata-core';
+import { SecurityPlugin } from './security-plugin.js';
+
+/**
+ * #12144 — the shared identifier schemas ↔ the storage columns that bound them.
+ *
+ * `packages/spec/src/shared/identifiers.zod.ts` declares the platform's
+ * identifier schemas with a floor and a grammar and **no `.max()`** — on
+ * purpose: every enforced ceiling on an identifier is the `maxLength` of the
+ * column that stores it (refused at the write seam by ObjectQL's
+ * record-validator `max_length` check), and the storing columns DISAGREE —
+ * 100 for the three config-object name columns this plugin registers
+ * (`sys_permission_set.name`, `sys_position.name`, `sys_capability.name`),
+ * 255 for `sys_metadata.name`. A single shared `.max()` therefore cannot
+ * equal every consumer's enforced ceiling: `.max(100)` would newly refuse
+ * `sys_metadata` names in (100, 255] that are legal stored rows today —
+ * accept-set narrowing beyond enforced reality, fenced out of #12144's
+ * dispatch by triage.
+ *
+ * This pin links the two surfaces so they cannot drift apart silently, the
+ * PR #12143 idiom: the widths are READ off the registration surface
+ * (`SecurityPlugin.init()` → the manifest `register({ objects })` call, and
+ * the `SysMetadataObject` declaration), never restated inside the assertions
+ * that use them. Only the one deliberate value pin restates them, so a width
+ * change turns exactly one test red with re-derivation instructions.
+ *
+ * ## What a red on this file means
+ *
+ * - The **value pin** red: a storing column's width moved. Re-derive #12144's
+ *   table before accepting: does the spec schema still accept everything the
+ *   column stores? Do the columns now AGREE on one width? If they all agree,
+ *   the long-fenced declared-=-enforced `.max()` may finally be derivable —
+ *   that is a spec accept-set change; escalate it, never rider it.
+ * - The **width-acceptance pin** red: a `.max()` landed on a shared identifier
+ *   schema below the width of a column that stores identifier-class values —
+ *   names that are legal stored rows today would now be refused at parse.
+ *   That is the exact drift this file exists to catch; fix the spec, not this
+ *   pin.
+ * - The **storage-owned-ceiling pin** red: a `.max()` landed on a shared
+ *   identifier schema at or above the widest storing column. Correct ONLY if
+ *   every consuming surface's enforced ceiling equals it — which the value
+ *   pin above will already be contradicting while the columns disagree. Prove
+ *   the per-surface measurement (#12144's triage fence spells out the burden)
+ *   before touching this pin.
+ */
+
+type AnyObject = {
+  name: string;
+  fields: Record<string, { type?: string; maxLength?: unknown }>;
+};
+
+/**
+ * The objects `SecurityPlugin` really contributes to a kernel, read off the
+ * manifest registration it performs in `init()` — same harness as the
+ * sibling `plugin-keyed-text-bounds.test.ts`.
+ */
+async function registeredObjects(): Promise<AnyObject[]> {
+  const captured: AnyObject[] = [];
+  const noop = () => {};
+  await new SecurityPlugin().init({
+    logger: { info: noop, warn: noop, error: noop, debug: noop },
+    registerService: noop,
+    getService(name: string) {
+      if (name === 'manifest') {
+        return {
+          register(m: { objects?: AnyObject[] }) {
+            for (const o of m?.objects ?? []) captured.push(o);
+          },
+        };
+      }
+      return undefined;
+    },
+  } as never);
+  return captured;
+}
+
+/** The three config-object name columns this plugin registers. */
+const PLUGIN_NAME_COLUMNS = ['sys_permission_set', 'sys_position', 'sys_capability'] as const;
+
+/** Read `<object>.name`'s declared width, refusing to answer from absence. */
+function nameWidth(o: AnyObject | undefined, label: string): number {
+  const w = o?.fields?.name?.maxLength;
+  expect(
+    typeof w === 'number' && Number.isInteger(w) && w > 0,
+    `${label}.name must declare a positive integer maxLength (got ${String(w)}) — ` +
+      `without it this pin has no width to link the spec schema against`,
+  ).toBe(true);
+  return w as number;
+}
+
+/** Every measured storing column, width read off its registration surface. */
+async function measuredColumns(): Promise<Array<{ column: string; width: number }>> {
+  const byName = new Map((await registeredObjects()).map((o) => [o.name, o]));
+  const cols = PLUGIN_NAME_COLUMNS.map((n) => ({
+    column: `${n}.name`,
+    width: nameWidth(byName.get(n), n),
+  }));
+  cols.push({
+    column: 'sys_metadata.name',
+    width: nameWidth(SysMetadataObject as unknown as AnyObject, 'sys_metadata'),
+  });
+  return cols;
+}
+
+/**
+ * A grammar-valid identifier of exactly `n` characters — a lowercase-letter
+ * run satisfies all three schemas' regexes and floors (min 2 / min none).
+ */
+const validIdentifier = (n: number): string => 'a'.repeat(n);
+
+const IDENTIFIER_SCHEMAS = {
+  SnakeCaseIdentifierSchema,
+  SystemIdentifierSchema,
+  MetadataItemNameSchema,
+} as const;
+
+describe('shared identifier schemas ↔ the storage columns that bound them (#12144)', () => {
+  it('enumerates a real surface and the probes really measure the schemas — the pin is not vacuous', async () => {
+    const objects = await registeredObjects();
+    expect(objects.map((o) => o.name)).toEqual(
+      expect.arrayContaining([...PLUGIN_NAME_COLUMNS]),
+    );
+
+    // Instrument honesty: a string of the same width that VIOLATES the
+    // grammar must be refused by every schema, so the acceptance probes
+    // below are measuring the schema rather than passing vacuously.
+    for (const [label, schema] of Object.entries(IDENTIFIER_SCHEMAS)) {
+      expect(
+        schema.safeParse('A'.repeat(100)).success,
+        `${label} accepted an uppercase 100-char string — the probe instrument is broken`,
+      ).toBe(false);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('the enforced ceilings, pinned by value — a width change is a #12144 re-derivation moment', async () => {
+    // Pinned by VALUE, deliberately (the #12143 idiom's one restatement):
+    // these widths are the ENFORCED ceilings on identifier-class values —
+    // enforcement lives at the write seam (ObjectQL record-validator,
+    // `max_length`), never in the spec schemas, which declare no `.max()`.
+    // If one of these reds, a column width moved: re-derive #12144 before
+    // accepting — and if the columns now all AGREE on one width, the
+    // declared-=-enforced `.max()` that triage fenced may finally be
+    // derivable; that is a spec accept-set change to escalate, not a value
+    // to tidy here.
+    const widths = new Map((await measuredColumns()).map((c) => [c.column, c.width]));
+    expect(widths.get('sys_permission_set.name')).toBe(100);
+    expect(widths.get('sys_position.name')).toBe(100);
+    expect(widths.get('sys_capability.name')).toBe(100);
+    expect(widths.get('sys_metadata.name')).toBe(255);
+  });
+
+  it('every spec identifier schema accepts a name exactly as wide as each storing column — the #12144 fence, mechanized', async () => {
+    // Width read LIVE off the registration surface: a `.max()` on a shared
+    // identifier schema below the width of a column that stores this value
+    // class would newly refuse names that are legal stored rows today —
+    // accept-set narrowing beyond enforced reality. `sys_metadata.name`
+    // (255) is the widest and therefore the binding case: a blanket
+    // `.max(100)` matching the config-object columns reds here by name.
+    for (const { column, width } of await measuredColumns()) {
+      for (const [label, schema] of Object.entries(IDENTIFIER_SCHEMAS)) {
+        expect(
+          schema.safeParse(validIdentifier(width)).success,
+          `${label} refused a ${width}-char identifier, the declared width of ${column} — ` +
+            `a legal stored row's name no longer parses (#12144: never narrow the spec ` +
+            `below a storing column; fix the spec, not this pin)`,
+        ).toBe(true);
+      }
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('the ceiling is storage-owned: the spec schemas declare no ceiling of their own', async () => {
+    // One character above the WIDEST storing column, width read live. Red
+    // here means a `.max()` landed on a shared identifier schema. That is
+    // correct ONLY when every consuming surface's enforced ceiling equals
+    // it (declared = enforced, per surface, measured) — while the storing
+    // columns disagree (see the value pin) no shared `.max()` can be, and
+    // the change is the narrowing #12144's triage explicitly fenced.
+    // Escalate with the per-surface measurement; do not edit this pin to
+    // absorb the red.
+    const widest = Math.max(...(await measuredColumns()).map((c) => c.width));
+    for (const [label, schema] of Object.entries(IDENTIFIER_SCHEMAS)) {
+      expect(
+        schema.safeParse(validIdentifier(widest + 1)).success,
+        `${label} refused a ${widest + 1}-char identifier — it now declares its own ` +
+          `ceiling. The identifier ceiling is storage-owned (#12144); a spec .max() ` +
+          `is only correct when every consuming column's enforced width equals it.`,
+      ).toBe(true);
+    }
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/spec/src/shared/identifiers.zod.ts b/packages/spec/src/shared/identifiers.zod.ts
index 035cfe6f50..badf06416f 100644
--- a/packages/spec/src/shared/identifiers.zod.ts
+++ b/packages/spec/src/shared/identifiers.zod.ts
@@ -31,6 +31,20 @@ import { z } from 'zod';
  * | Machine ID | snake_case | `crm_account`, `btn_submit`, `role_admin` |
  * | Event keys | dot.notation | `user.login`, `order.created` |
  * | Labels | Any case | `Client Account`, `Submit Form` |
+ *
+ * **Length ceiling — storage-owned, deliberately not declared here (#12144).**
+ * The identifier schemas in this file declare a floor and a grammar but no
+ * `.max()`: the enforced ceiling on an identifier is the `maxLength` of the
+ * column that stores it (refused at the write seam by ObjectQL's record
+ * validator), and the storing columns disagree — the config-object name
+ * columns (`sys_permission_set.name`, `sys_position.name`,
+ * `sys_capability.name`) enforce 100 while `sys_metadata.name` enforces 255 —
+ * so no single `.max()` here can equal every consumer's enforced ceiling.
+ * Do not add one unless every consuming column agrees on one width: a
+ * `.max()` below the widest storing column refuses names that are legal
+ * stored rows today. The schema↔column link is pinned in
+ * `@objectstack/plugin-security`'s `identifier-storage-ceiling-pin.test.ts`,
+ * which reads the column widths off the registration surface.
  * 
  * @example Valid identifiers
  * - 'account'
@@ -69,6 +83,10 @@ export const SystemIdentifierSchema = lazySchema(() => z
  * @example Invalid
  * - 'user.profile' (dots not allowed)
  * - 'UserProfile' (uppercase)
+ *
+ * No `.max()` is declared, deliberately — identifier length ceilings are
+ * storage-owned and the storing columns disagree; see the length-ceiling note
+ * on {@link SystemIdentifierSchema} and issue #12144.
  */
 export const SnakeCaseIdentifierSchema = lazySchema(() => z
   .string()
@@ -170,6 +188,12 @@ export const MetadataItemNameSchema = lazySchema(() => z
  * @example Invalid
  * - 'UserCreated' (camelCase)
  * - 'user_created' (should use dots for namespacing)
+ *
+ * No `.max()` is declared, deliberately — identifier length ceilings are
+ * storage-owned; see the length-ceiling note on
+ * {@link SystemIdentifierSchema} and issue #12144. (No bounded storage column
+ * among #12144's measured set stores an event name, so no ceiling has been
+ * measured for this schema at all.)
  */
 export const EventNameSchema = lazySchema(() => z
   .string()