diff --git a/.changeset/public-picker-reference-key-prose.md b/.changeset/public-picker-reference-key-prose.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c5eba669ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/public-picker-reference-key-prose.md
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+---
+"@objectstack/spec": patch
+---
+
+fix(spec): `FormFieldPublicPickerSchema.object` now names `reference` — the key `FieldSchema` actually accepts — instead of the rejected `referenceTo` alias (#13138)
+
+Both sentences on the `object` key told authors the picker target resolves from
+`referenceTo` on the parent object's field definition. `referenceTo` is not a
+key `FieldSchema` accepts: it is a **rejected alias**, listed in the field
+schema's alias map only so `strictUnknownKeyError` can offer a rename hint when
+a parse fails on it. An author who followed the sentence and wrote `referenceTo`
+on the parent object's field got their whole object metadata refused at parse —
+a failure, not a degraded render.
+
+Measured against the built `packages/spec/dist/data/index.mjs` with a three-level
+control (a two-level one cannot separate "rejected" from "not measured"):
+
+- `reference: 'sys_user'` (positive control) parses, `parsed.reference` is `'sys_user'`
+- `zzz_not_a_key` (negative control) is refused `unrecognized_keys`, with no rename hint
+- `referenceTo` is refused `unrecognized_keys`, **with** the hint ``Did you mean `referenceTo` → `reference`?``
+
+The `.describe()` half is the load-bearing one: it is published, flowing into the
+generated JSON Schema and `content/docs/references/ui/view.mdx`, so the wrong key
+name reached authors who never open this file — and AI authors reading the
+generated schema as ground truth. The reference docs are regenerated with the
+repo's own `gen:docs` in the same change.
+
+Prose only: no schema shape, no accept/reject movement, no new or removed keys —
+every previously-valid input still parses byte-identically. This takes no
+position on whether the REST route's legacy-spelling fallback chain survives:
+the sentence was wrong under either outcome, because a conformant authored field
+carries `reference` in both worlds, and the route already reads `reference` first.
diff --git a/content/docs/references/ui/view.mdx b/content/docs/references/ui/view.mdx
index 4e0c8b2343..74d3e853dc 100644
--- a/content/docs/references/ui/view.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/references/ui/view.mdx
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ Form-view select option — the object-field option shape minus the per-option `
 | **displayFields** | `string[]` | optional | Fields projected into each picker result (with `id`); the visitor's search matches `contains` on the first entry. At most 5 (the route projects no more); omitted → ['name']. |
 | **maxResults** | `integer` | optional | Maximum rows a lookup returns (default 20, hard ceiling 50 — the route clamps; anonymous visitors cannot paginate past it). |
 | **filter** | `{ field: string; operator?: Enum<'equals' \| 'not_equals' \| 'contains' \| 'not_contains' \| 'icontains' \| …>; value?: string \| number \| boolean \| null \| (string \| number)[] }[]` | optional | Static pre-filter rows ANDed ahead of the visitor's search (e.g. only active records are searchable). Same `{ field, operator, value }` dialect as list-view filters. |
-| **object** | `string` | optional | Referenced-object override for the picker search; omitted → resolved from the field definition (`referenceTo`). |
+| **object** | `string` | optional | Referenced-object override for the picker search; omitted → resolved from the `reference` key on the field definition. |
 
 ### Nested Shape: `FormField.keyField`
 
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ Public-lookup opt-in: enables GET /forms/:slug/lookup/:field for this field on a
 | **displayFields** | `string[]` | optional | Fields projected into each picker result (with `id`); the visitor's search matches `contains` on the first entry. At most 5 (the route projects no more); omitted → ['name']. |
 | **maxResults** | `integer` | optional | Maximum rows a lookup returns (default 20, hard ceiling 50 — the route clamps; anonymous visitors cannot paginate past it). |
 | **filter** | `{ field: string; operator: Enum<'equals' \| 'not_equals' \| 'contains' \| 'not_contains' \| 'icontains' \| …>; value?: string \| number \| boolean \| null \| (string \| number)[] }[]` | optional | Static pre-filter rows ANDed ahead of the visitor's search (e.g. only active records are searchable). Same `{ field, operator, value }` dialect as list-view filters. |
-| **object** | `string` | optional | Referenced-object override for the picker search; omitted → resolved from the field definition (`referenceTo`). |
+| **object** | `string` | optional | Referenced-object override for the picker search; omitted → resolved from the `reference` key on the field definition. |
 
 ### Nested Shape: `FormFieldPublicPicker.filter[number]`
 
diff --git a/packages/spec/src/ui/view.zod.ts b/packages/spec/src/ui/view.zod.ts
index 59b9d67419..747f1132f9 100644
--- a/packages/spec/src/ui/view.zod.ts
+++ b/packages/spec/src/ui/view.zod.ts
@@ -1907,12 +1907,17 @@ export const FormFieldPublicPickerSchema = lazySchema(() => strictObject({
   ),
   /**
    * Referenced-object override. Omitted, the route resolves the target from
-   * the field definition on the parent object (`referenceTo`); set it only
-   * when that resolution is wrong for this form.
+   * the field definition on the parent object (`reference`); set it only when
+   * that resolution is wrong for this form.
+   *
+   * `reference` is the key `FieldSchema` accepts — `referenceTo` is only a
+   * rejected alias it lists so a failed parse can offer a rename hint, so an
+   * author following the old spelling of this sentence had their whole object
+   * metadata refused at parse.
    */
   object: z.string().optional().describe(
-    'Referenced-object override for the picker search; omitted → resolved from the field '
-    + 'definition (`referenceTo`).',
+    'Referenced-object override for the picker search; omitted → resolved from the `reference` '
+    + 'key on the field definition.',
   ),
 }).describe('Public-lookup opt-in: enables GET /forms/:slug/lookup/:field for this field on an anonymous public form (without it the route answers 403 LOOKUP_NOT_PUBLIC).'));