diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9dd71ff6..57d0ac8f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ irm https://github.com/tracebloc/cli/releases/latest/download/install.ps1 | iex
 tracebloc data ingest ./my-data \
   --name cats_dogs_train \
   --task image_classification \
-  --split train \
+  --intent train \
   --label-column label
 ```
 
diff --git a/internal/cli/data.go b/internal/cli/data.go
index 89bdf348..f8965fac 100644
--- a/internal/cli/data.go
+++ b/internal/cli/data.go
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ Exit codes:
 	// schema validator catches missing/empty values with the canonical
 	// JSON-pointer-anchored error.
 	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&name, "name", "",
-		"a name for this dataset (letters, digits, underscore) — you'll reference it by this name when you start a training run")
+		"a name for this dataset — start with a letter or underscore, then letters/digits/underscores — you'll reference it by this name when you start a training run")
 	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&tableAlias, "table", "",
 		"deprecated alias for --name")
 	_ = cmd.Flags().MarkHidden("table")
diff --git a/internal/cli/interactive.go b/internal/cli/interactive.go
index 5f28b277..5e8eec20 100644
--- a/internal/cli/interactive.go
+++ b/internal/cli/interactive.go
@@ -123,9 +123,9 @@ func runInteractive(p *ui.Printer, pr prompter, a *runDataIngestArgs, taskSet bo
 	// (b) name — no auto-fill: the example lives in the hint, so the user
 	// types their own name rather than editing a pre-filled default.
 	if a.Spec.Table == "" {
-		p.PromptHint("A name for this dataset — you'll reference it by this name when you start a training run. Letters, digits, underscores.  e.g. churn_train")
+		p.PromptHint("A name for this dataset — you'll reference it by this name when you start a training run. Start with a letter or underscore, then letters, digits, underscores.  e.g. churn_train")
 		ans, err := pr.Input("What should we call this dataset?",
-			"MySQL identifier + PVC subdir; letters, digits, underscore only", "",
+			"MySQL identifier + PVC subdir; start with a letter or underscore, then letters, digits, underscore", "",
 			push.ValidateTableName)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err