diff --git a/docs/spec.md b/docs/spec.md
index 8baf764..5fd0bcc 100644
--- a/docs/spec.md
+++ b/docs/spec.md
@@ -213,22 +213,22 @@ type StackType = {
 
 **Schema drift detection:** If two Records share a `typeId` but their Type definitions have different `schemaHash` values, that is unambiguously a bug — intentional changes always produce a new version number.
 
-**Type compatibility:** Structural/duck-typed — a Type is compatible with a required schema if it contains all required fields with matching kinds. Used by apps that want to work with Records regardless of exact Type, e.g. any Type with `{ text: string }`:
+**Type compatibility:** Structural/duck-typed — a Type is **read-compatible** with a required schema if, for every required field, the candidate declares that same field as required, at a read-compatible kind. Array and object fields recurse: their `items`/`properties` must themselves be read-compatible. This licenses _consuming_ Records, not writing them — a consumer writing through a "compatible" view still has to validate against the candidate's full schema (its other required fields, which compatibility checking never inspects).
 
-```ts
-function isCompatible(
-  candidateSchema: TypeSchema, // the Record's actual Type
-  requiredSchema: TypeSchema, // minimum fields the app needs
-): boolean {
-  return Object.entries(requiredSchema).every(([key, def]) => {
-    if (!def.required) return true;
-    const field = candidateSchema[key];
-    return field !== undefined && field.kind === def.kind;
-  });
-}
-```
+A field's kind is read-compatible with a required kind per this table (row = required kind, columns = candidate kinds accepted):
+
+| required →   | `string` | `text` | `number` | `boolean` | `date` | `record-ref` |
+| ------------ | -------- | ------ | -------- | --------- | ------ | ------------ |
+| `string`     | ✓        | ✓      |          |           |        |              |
+| `text`       | ✓        | ✓      |          |           |        |              |
+| `number`     |          |        | ✓        |           |        |              |
+| `boolean`    |          |        |          | ✓         |        |              |
+| `date`       |          |        |          |           | ✓      |              |
+| `record-ref` |          |        |          |           |        | ✓            |
+
+`string` and `text` are mutually read-compatible — both are strings at the value level, and the distinction is presentation/indexing intent. Every other kind requires an exact match; notably `date` is not compatible with `string`, since `date` carries a parse/validity guarantee a plain string doesn't.
 
-Apps that care about semantics filter by exact `typeId`. Apps that want flexibility use `isCompatible()`.
+Used by apps that want to work with Records regardless of exact Type, e.g. any Type with a required `text` or `string` field. Apps that care about semantics filter by exact `typeId`. Apps that want flexibility use `isCompatible()` — see `packages/core/src/schema.ts` for the authoritative implementation and `packages/core/tests/schema.test.ts` for its behavior under nesting and the string/text equivalence.
 
 **System types** (reserved, library-defined): `_config@1`, `_entity@1`, `_app@1`, `_group@1`, `_grant@1`, `_attachment@1`. System types follow the same versioned ID format as user-defined types and can evolve using the same migration mechanism. All six are pre-seeded when a Stack is created via `Stack.create()` — they are always available without any setup by the caller.
 
diff --git a/packages/core/src/schema.ts b/packages/core/src/schema.ts
index a9a278b..3d07af7 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/schema.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/schema.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
  * the namespaced ID controlled by the app author.
  */
 
-import type { TypeSchema, FieldDef } from './types.js';
+import type { TypeSchema, FieldDef, ScalarFieldKind } from './types.js';
 
 // -------------------------------------------------------
 // Canonical schema serialization
@@ -73,24 +73,82 @@ export const hashSchema = async (schema: TypeSchema): Promise<string> => {
 // -------------------------------------------------------
 
 /**
- * Check whether a candidate schema satisfies a required schema.
- *
- * A candidate is compatible if it contains all *required* fields from
- * the required schema with matching kinds. Optional fields in the
- * required schema are ignored. Array and object fields are matched
- * shallowly — only the top-level kind is checked.
- *
- * Apps that need precise type matching should compare typeIds directly.
- * isCompatible() is for duck-typed consumption across types.
+ * Kinds acceptable in a candidate field, per required kind. `string` and
+ * `text` share an identical value set (the distinction is presentation/
+ * indexing intent, not data shape), so they're mutually acceptable for
+ * reading. Everything else requires an exact kind match — notably `date`
+ * is NOT compatible with `string`: it carries a parse/validity guarantee
+ * a plain string doesn't.
+ */
+const READ_COMPATIBLE: Record<ScalarFieldKind, ScalarFieldKind[]> = {
+  string: ['string', 'text'],
+  text: ['text', 'string'],
+  number: ['number'],
+  boolean: ['boolean'],
+  date: ['date'],
+  'record-ref': ['record-ref'],
+};
+
+// Candidate schemas can come from another app's Type definition (the
+// untrusted side of duck-typed consumption), so recursion into array
+// items / object properties is depth-bounded — matches MAX_VALIDATION_DEPTH
+// in validate.ts. Past the limit we can't verify compatibility, so we
+// fail closed (treat as incompatible) rather than risk a stack overflow.
+const MAX_COMPATIBILITY_DEPTH = 32;
+
+/**
+ * Check whether a candidate field satisfies a required field, recursing
+ * into array items and object properties.
  */
-export const isCompatible = (candidateSchema: TypeSchema, requiredSchema: TypeSchema): boolean => {
+const isFieldCompatible = (candidate: FieldDef, required: FieldDef, depth: number): boolean => {
+  if (depth > MAX_COMPATIBILITY_DEPTH) return false;
+  if (required.kind === 'array') {
+    return (
+      candidate.kind === 'array' && isFieldCompatible(candidate.items, required.items, depth + 1)
+    );
+  }
+  if (required.kind === 'object') {
+    return (
+      candidate.kind === 'object' &&
+      isCompatibleAtDepth(candidate.properties, required.properties, depth + 1)
+    );
+  }
+  if (candidate.kind === 'array' || candidate.kind === 'object') return false;
+  return READ_COMPATIBLE[required.kind].includes(candidate.kind);
+};
+
+const isCompatibleAtDepth = (
+  candidateSchema: TypeSchema,
+  requiredSchema: TypeSchema,
+  depth: number,
+): boolean => {
+  if (depth > MAX_COMPATIBILITY_DEPTH) return false;
   return Object.entries(requiredSchema).every(([key, def]) => {
     if (!def.required) return true;
     const field = candidateSchema[key];
-    return field !== undefined && field.kind === def.kind;
+    return field !== undefined && field.required === true && isFieldCompatible(field, def, depth);
   });
 };
 
+/**
+ * Check whether a candidate schema is read-compatible with a required schema:
+ * whether records of the candidate Type carry every field an app needs to
+ * *read*, at a kind the app can safely consume. This licenses consuming
+ * records, not writing them — a consumer writing through a "compatible" view
+ * still has to validate against the candidate's full schema.
+ *
+ * A candidate is compatible if, for every *required* field in the required
+ * schema, the candidate declares that field as required with a read-compatible
+ * kind (see READ_COMPATIBLE). Optional fields in the required schema are
+ * ignored. Array and object fields recurse into their items/properties, up
+ * to MAX_COMPATIBILITY_DEPTH.
+ *
+ * Apps that need precise type matching should compare typeIds directly.
+ * isCompatible() is for duck-typed consumption across types.
+ */
+export const isCompatible = (candidateSchema: TypeSchema, requiredSchema: TypeSchema): boolean =>
+  isCompatibleAtDepth(candidateSchema, requiredSchema, 0);
+
 // -------------------------------------------------------
 // Type ID parsing
 // -------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/packages/core/tests/schema.test.ts b/packages/core/tests/schema.test.ts
index 3435516..b0b3e80 100644
--- a/packages/core/tests/schema.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/tests/schema.test.ts
@@ -149,6 +149,143 @@ describe('isCompatible', () => {
     const required: TypeSchema = { text: { kind: 'text', required: true } };
     expect(isCompatible({}, required)).toBe(false);
   });
+
+  test('candidate declaring a required field as optional is not compatible', () => {
+    const candidate: TypeSchema = { title: { kind: 'string', required: false } };
+    const required: TypeSchema = { title: { kind: 'string', required: true } };
+    expect(isCompatible(candidate, required)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test('candidate declaring a required field with no required flag at all is not compatible', () => {
+    const candidate: TypeSchema = { title: { kind: 'string' } };
+    const required: TypeSchema = { title: { kind: 'string', required: true } };
+    expect(isCompatible(candidate, required)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test('text candidate satisfies a required string field', () => {
+    const candidate: TypeSchema = { body: { kind: 'text', required: true } };
+    const required: TypeSchema = { body: { kind: 'string', required: true } };
+    expect(isCompatible(candidate, required)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test('string candidate satisfies a required text field', () => {
+    const candidate: TypeSchema = { body: { kind: 'string', required: true } };
+    const required: TypeSchema = { body: { kind: 'text', required: true } };
+    expect(isCompatible(candidate, required)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test('date candidate does not satisfy a required string field', () => {
+    const candidate: TypeSchema = { body: { kind: 'date', required: true } };
+    const required: TypeSchema = { body: { kind: 'string', required: true } };
+    expect(isCompatible(candidate, required)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test('string candidate does not satisfy a required date field', () => {
+    const candidate: TypeSchema = { body: { kind: 'string', required: true } };
+    const required: TypeSchema = { body: { kind: 'date', required: true } };
+    expect(isCompatible(candidate, required)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test('nested required object property mismatch is not compatible', () => {
+    const candidate: TypeSchema = {
+      author: {
+        kind: 'object',
+        required: true,
+        properties: {
+          name: { kind: 'string', required: false },
+        },
+      },
+    };
+    const required: TypeSchema = {
+      author: {
+        kind: 'object',
+        required: true,
+        properties: {
+          name: { kind: 'string', required: true },
+        },
+      },
+    };
+    expect(isCompatible(candidate, required)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test('nested object property satisfying required sub-field is compatible', () => {
+    const candidate: TypeSchema = {
+      author: {
+        kind: 'object',
+        required: true,
+        properties: {
+          name: { kind: 'string', required: true },
+        },
+      },
+    };
+    const required: TypeSchema = {
+      author: {
+        kind: 'object',
+        required: true,
+        properties: {
+          name: { kind: 'string', required: true },
+        },
+      },
+    };
+    expect(isCompatible(candidate, required)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test('nested array item kind mismatch is not compatible', () => {
+    const candidate: TypeSchema = {
+      tags: { kind: 'array', required: true, items: { kind: 'number' } },
+    };
+    const required: TypeSchema = {
+      tags: { kind: 'array', required: true, items: { kind: 'string' } },
+    };
+    expect(isCompatible(candidate, required)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test('nested array item kind text/string equivalence is compatible', () => {
+    const candidate: TypeSchema = {
+      tags: { kind: 'array', required: true, items: { kind: 'text' } },
+    };
+    const required: TypeSchema = {
+      tags: { kind: 'array', required: true, items: { kind: 'string' } },
+    };
+    expect(isCompatible(candidate, required)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test("spec's motivating example: a text body satisfies a required string requirement", () => {
+    const candidate: TypeSchema = {
+      text: { kind: 'text', required: true },
+    };
+    const required: TypeSchema = {
+      text: { kind: 'string', required: true },
+    };
+    expect(isCompatible(candidate, required)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test('deeply nested matching schemas beyond the depth limit are not compatible (fails closed)', () => {
+    const buildNested = (depth: number): TypeSchema => {
+      let schema: TypeSchema = { leaf: { kind: 'string', required: true } };
+      for (let i = 0; i < depth; i++) {
+        schema = { nested: { kind: 'object', required: true, properties: schema } };
+      }
+      return schema;
+    };
+    const candidate = buildNested(1000);
+    const required = buildNested(1000);
+    expect(() => isCompatible(candidate, required)).not.toThrow();
+    expect(isCompatible(candidate, required)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test('matching schemas within the depth limit remain compatible', () => {
+    const buildNested = (depth: number): TypeSchema => {
+      let schema: TypeSchema = { leaf: { kind: 'string', required: true } };
+      for (let i = 0; i < depth; i++) {
+        schema = { nested: { kind: 'object', required: true, properties: schema } };
+      }
+      return schema;
+    };
+    const candidate = buildNested(10);
+    const required = buildNested(10);
+    expect(isCompatible(candidate, required)).toBe(true);
+  });
 });
 
 // -------------------------------------------------------