diff --git a/.changeset/validate-formula-bare-refs.md b/.changeset/validate-formula-bare-refs.md
index e121f9abb9..b98e8fd919 100644
--- a/.changeset/validate-formula-bare-refs.md
+++ b/.changeset/validate-formula-bare-refs.md
@@ -1,10 +1,18 @@
 ---
-"@objectstack/formula": patch
-"@objectstack/cli": patch
+"@objectstack/formula": minor
+"@objectstack/cli": minor
 ---
 
 feat(validate): flag bare field references in record-scoped CEL sites at build time
 
+> **Heads-up for downstream:** this adds a NEW build-time error. A `Field.formula`
+> or validation predicate that references a field bare (`amount` instead of
+> `record.amount`) now fails `objectstack compile`. These expressions were already
+> silently broken at runtime (they evaluated to `null` / never fired), so this is a
+> fix that surfaces a latent bug — but a stack carrying one will go from
+> "builds, silently wrong" to "fails the build" on upgrade. The error message
+> states the exact correction (`write record.<field>`).
+
 A `Field.formula` and an object validation predicate evaluate against the
 `record` namespace only — there is no field flattening — so a bare top-level
 identifier (`amount`, `status`) resolves to nothing and the expression silently