diff --git a/.changeset/flow-trigger-key-start-node-guidance.md b/.changeset/flow-trigger-key-start-node-guidance.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5ea39bdc6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/flow-trigger-key-start-node-guidance.md
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+---
+"@objectstack/spec": patch
+---
+
+fix(spec): a top-level flow `trigger` / `triggerType` is now sent to the START node's `config`, not to a `type` rename
+
+`FlowSchema`'s alias table pointed both keys at `type`, so a flow carrying a
+top-level trigger block was refused with the rename `trigger` → `type`.
+That rename cannot be taken: `type` is the flow KIND
+(`autolaunched` | `record_change` | `schedule` | `screen` | `api`), so an author
+who followed the advice landed on
+`Invalid option: expected one of "autolaunched"|…` one round later, with the
+trigger binding still nowhere — and a `.strict()` refusal carries exactly one
+actionable sentence.
+
+The trigger does not move to `type`. It binds on the START node's `config`, as
+`{ objectName, triggerType, condition }` with a `record-*` token such as
+`record-after-create` — the shape the automation engine and the authoring-time
+`resolveFlowTriggerKind` both read. Both keys are `guidance` entries now, beside
+the `object` / `objectName` / `schedule` prescriptions that already name that
+config, so the rejection says where the binding really lives instead of
+prescribing a name:
+
+```
+Unrecognized key(s) on this flow: `trigger`.
+  • `trigger` is not a Flow field — a record-change flow binds its trigger on
+    the START node's `config` (`{ objectName, triggerType, condition }`, where
+    `triggerType` is a `record-*` token such as `record-after-create`), not at
+    the flow top level; the flow-level `type` names the flow kind
+    (`record_change`), not the binding.
+```
+
+No accept/reject behaviour changes: a top-level `trigger` / `triggerType` was
+refused before and is refused now, and `FlowSchema`'s accepted keys and its
+`type` enum are untouched — only the prescription the refusal carries. One
+measured consequence of dropping the alias row: the guidance channel matches the
+exact authored spelling (case folding is the rename channel's job), so a
+non-canonical spelling such as `triggertype` now gets the bare rejection rather
+than the rename it cannot take.
diff --git a/content/docs/permissions/system-context.mdx b/content/docs/permissions/system-context.mdx
index a125ec9ebe..65ac8ff5e3 100644
--- a/content/docs/permissions/system-context.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/permissions/system-context.mdx
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ assuming `isSystem` covers it is a documented source of bugs.
 
 | Assumption | Reality | Anchor |
 |:---|:---|:---|
-| "It suppresses triggers / record-change automation" | **No.** Only `skipTriggers` does. A bare `{ isSystem: true }` on a seed write re-fired automation on freshly seeded rows and wedged first boot | `metadata-protocol/src/seed-loader.ts:1971` (rationale at `:1881`–`1883`, #3760), `flow.zod.ts:685` |
+| "It suppresses triggers / record-change automation" | **No.** Only `skipTriggers` does. A bare `{ isSystem: true }` on a seed write re-fired automation on freshly seeded rows and wedged first boot | `metadata-protocol/src/seed-loader.ts:1971` (rationale at `:1881`–`1883`, #3760), `flow.zod.ts:702` |
 | "It skips the state machine" | **No.** That is `skipStateMachine`, carried by seed replay and by `treatAsHistorical` imports | `objectql/src/engine.ts` FSM gate; see [State Machine](/docs/protocol/objectql/state-machine) |
 | "It skips validation rules" | **No.** Field shape, `format`, `script` and the rest still run. The `readonly` strip runs *before* validation precisely so a discarded value is not judged | `objectql/src/engine.ts:9922`–`9939` |
 | "It preserves a supplied `updated_at` / `updated_by`" | **No.** That is `preserveAudit`, a separate opt-in — and an UPDATE-path exemption only | `field.zod.ts:1516` (#3493 / #6640) |
diff --git a/packages/spec/src/automation/flow.test.ts b/packages/spec/src/automation/flow.test.ts
index 8d05aaa9a0..485bd0a60f 100644
--- a/packages/spec/src/automation/flow.test.ts
+++ b/packages/spec/src/automation/flow.test.ts
@@ -1547,21 +1547,95 @@ describe('unknown keys are rejected, not stripped (#4001)', () => {
       expect(issue!.message).toContain('`notAKey`');
     });
 
-    it('points builder vocabulary (steps/connections/trigger) at the canonical keys', () => {
+    it('points builder vocabulary (steps/connections) at the canonical keys', () => {
       expect(unknownKeyIssue(FlowSchema, { ...minimalFlow, steps: [] })!.message)
         .toContain('`steps` → `nodes`');
       expect(unknownKeyIssue(FlowSchema, { ...minimalFlow, connections: [] })!.message)
         .toContain('`connections` → `edges`');
-      expect(unknownKeyIssue(FlowSchema, { ...minimalFlow, trigger: 'record_change' })!.message)
-        .toContain('`trigger` → `type`');
     });
 
-    it('points a top-level object binding at the START node config', () => {
-      for (const key of ['object', 'objectName']) {
-        const message = unknownKeyIssue(FlowSchema, { ...minimalFlow, [key]: 'task' })!.message;
+    // `trigger` and `triggerType` were ALIASES pointing at `type` — a rename no
+    // author can take: `type` is the flow KIND enum, so following it lands on
+    // `Invalid option: expected one of "autolaunched"|…` one round later with the
+    // binding still nowhere. They are `guidance` entries now, so the rejection
+    // says where the binding really lives instead of prescribing a name. Both
+    // directions are pinned: the prescription is present, AND the rename is gone.
+    it('sends a top-level `trigger` to the START node config, never to a `type` rename', () => {
+      const message = unknownKeyIssue(FlowSchema, {
+        ...minimalFlow,
+        trigger: { type: 'record_change', object: 'task', events: ['create'] },
+      })!.message;
+      expect(message).toContain('START node');
+      expect(message).toContain('`{ objectName, triggerType, condition }`');
+      expect(message, 'the prescription names a real `record-*` token').toContain('record-after-create');
+      expect(message, 'the rename an author cannot take is gone').not.toContain('`trigger` → `type`');
+    });
+
+    it('sends a top-level `triggerType` to the START node config, never to a `type` rename', () => {
+      const message = unknownKeyIssue(FlowSchema, {
+        ...minimalFlow,
+        triggerType: 'record-after-create',
+      })!.message;
+      expect(message).toContain('START node');
+      expect(message).toContain('`{ objectName, triggerType, condition }`');
+      expect(message, 'the rename an author cannot take is gone').not.toContain('`triggerType` → `type`');
+    });
+
+    // The alias table is probed case- and separator-insensitively, so removing
+    // the `triggertype` row takes every spelling of it with the canonical one.
+    // `guidance` is exact-spelling by design (case folding is the rename
+    // channel's job — `shared/suggestions.zod.ts`), so a non-canonical spelling
+    // now gets the bare rejection: no prescription, and — the point — no
+    // confidently wrong one either.
+    it('no spelling of the removed alias renames to `type` any more', () => {
+      const message = unknownKeyIssue(FlowSchema, {
+        ...minimalFlow,
+        triggertype: 'record-after-create',
+      })!.message;
+      expect(message).toContain('`triggertype`');
+      expect(message).not.toContain('→ `type`');
+    });
+
+    // Why both renames were dead ends, pinned so the guidance above cannot
+    // quietly turn into correct advice: `type` names the flow KIND and accepts
+    // no lifecycle-event token at all.
+    it('`type` accepts no `record-*` event token — the reason neither key renames to it', () => {
+      const result = FlowSchema.safeParse({ ...minimalFlow, type: 'record-after-create' });
+      expect(result.success).toBe(false);
+      const issue = result.error!.issues.find((i: { code: string }) => i.code === 'invalid_value');
+      expect(issue!.message).toContain('expected one of');
+      expect(issue!.message).not.toContain('record-');
+    });
+
+    it('points a top-level object/schedule binding at the START node config', () => {
+      const cases: Array<[string, unknown]> = [
+        ['object', 'task'],
+        ['objectName', 'task'],
+        ['schedule', '0 8 * * *'],
+      ];
+      for (const [key, value] of cases) {
+        const message = unknownKeyIssue(FlowSchema, { ...minimalFlow, [key]: value })!.message;
         expect(message, `\`${key}\` should point at the start node`).toContain('START node');
       }
     });
+
+    // Positive control for the shape every one of those prescriptions points at:
+    // the trigger really does bind on the START node's `config`, and a flow that
+    // writes it there parses.
+    it('accepts the trigger bound on the START node config — the shape the guidance prescribes', () => {
+      const result = FlowSchema.safeParse({
+        ...minimalFlow,
+        type: 'record_change',
+        nodes: [
+          {
+            id: 'start', type: 'start', label: 'Start',
+            config: { objectName: 'task', triggerType: 'record-after-create' },
+          },
+          { id: 'end', type: 'end', label: 'End' },
+        ],
+      });
+      expect(result.success).toBe(true);
+    });
   });
 
   describe('FlowNodeSchema', () => {
diff --git a/packages/spec/src/automation/flow.zod.ts b/packages/spec/src/automation/flow.zod.ts
index 16604d1a1a..abc5dc708f 100644
--- a/packages/spec/src/automation/flow.zod.ts
+++ b/packages/spec/src/automation/flow.zod.ts
@@ -591,11 +591,28 @@ export const FlowSchema = lazySchema(() => strictObject(
       connections: 'edges',
       transitions: 'edges',
       links: 'edges',
-      trigger: 'type',
-      triggertype: 'type',
       title: 'label',
     },
     guidance: {
+      // `trigger` / `triggerType` were ALIASES pointing at `type` until an
+      // author took the advice: `type` is the flow KIND
+      // (`z.enum(['autolaunched', 'record_change', …])`), so the rename lands
+      // on `Invalid option: expected one of "autolaunched"|…` one round later,
+      // with the binding still nowhere — the `inputSchema.optional` case this
+      // file already names, where a rename would be actively wrong. The trigger
+      // does not move to `type`; it moves to the START node's `config`, which
+      // is where `resolveFlowTriggerKind` (`automation/flow-trigger-kind.ts`)
+      // and the engine's `AutomationEngine.resolveTriggerBinding` read it from.
+      trigger:
+        '`trigger` is not a Flow field — a record-change flow binds its trigger on the ' +
+        'START node\'s `config` (`{ objectName, triggerType, condition }`, where `triggerType` ' +
+        'is a `record-*` token such as `record-after-create`), not at the flow top level; the ' +
+        'flow-level `type` names the flow kind (`record_change`), not the binding.',
+      triggerType:
+        '`triggerType` is not a Flow field — it belongs on the START node\'s `config` ' +
+        '(`{ objectName, triggerType, condition }`), where a `record-*` token such as ' +
+        '`record-after-create` binds the lifecycle event; the flow-level `type` names the ' +
+        'flow kind (`record_change`), not an event token.',
       object:
         '`object` is not a Flow field — a record-change flow binds its object on the ' +
         'START node\'s `config` (`{ objectName, triggerType, condition }`), not at the ' +