diff --git a/docs/examples/residency/README.md b/docs/examples/residency/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b3b6a13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/examples/residency/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+# residency — per-table storage
+
+What [databasev2 2](../../stories/databasev2/02-table-storage-modes.md) added:
+`durable` and `resident`, declared per `@table` instead of one environment
+variable for the whole process.
+
+Before it, `WO_DATA` was the only switch. Set, and every table is WAL-logged;
+unset, and none are. Applications are not uniform — a session table is
+disposable, an orders table is precious, and a 120 GB audit table does not fit
+in RAM at all. One global switch forces "everything is precious" or "nothing
+is", and you pay for whichever is wrong.
+
+## Run it
+
+```
+just residency
+```
+
+The gate writes the example's own output to `/tmp/residency.log`, banner-
+separated, so you can `tail -F` it while it runs.
+
+Or by hand, which is the whole demonstration — the same program twice against
+one data directory:
+
+```
+compiler/_build/default/bin/woc --emit docs/examples/residency/main.wo -o /tmp/residency.wob
+mkdir -p /tmp/residency-data          # WO_DATA must exist; wovm will not create it
+WO_DATA=/tmp/residency-data runtime/wovm /tmp/residency.wob seed
+WO_DATA=/tmp/residency-data runtime/wovm /tmp/residency.wob
+```
+
+```
+seeded: orders=3 sessions=3
+after restart: orders=3 sessions=0
+ok: durable replayed, volatile did not
+```
+
+The second run inserts nothing. Three orders come back from the log; zero
+sessions do, because they were never written to it. Both tables were filled by
+the same loop — only the annotation differs, so the difference after the
+restart is the annotation's doing and nothing else's.
+
+## The three modes
+
+| Declaration | Meaning | State today |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| `durable: true` (default) | WAL-logged, replayed at boot | ✅ works |
+| `durable: false` | never written to the log; costs no disk and no fsync; empty after a restart | ✅ works |
+| `resident: all` (default) | every row's payload lives in RAM | ✅ works |
+| `resident: keys` | the id map stays resident, the payload lives in the WAL and is read back by offset | ⛔ **refused at load** |
+
+## Why `resident: keys` is refused
+
+It is the mode the track exists for — a table larger than RAM. Storage, the
+read paths, deletes and checkpoint survival all work. **Updating such a row
+does not:** the row has no slab slot to mutate, so a write would land in a
+scratch buffer and be discarded *silently*. Doing it properly is
+read-modify-append.
+
+So the loader refuses the annotation rather than honouring it in name only.
+Uncomment the `AuditEntry` block in `main.wo` and you get:
+
+```
+wovm: class 0 declares `resident: keys`, which is INCOMPLETE: rows are stored
+and read keys-only, but UPDATING one is not implemented (it needs
+read-modify-append). Remove it until databasev2 2 lands updates;
+`resident: all` is what runs
+```
+
+Note **where** that comes from: `woc` compiles it happily and emits a `.wob`.
+The annotation is a load-time property, so the compiler is green and `wovm`
+exits 2.
+
+Refusing at load rather than at the first update is deliberate. A developer who
+declared a 120 GB table keys-resident, saw it compile, and shipped would find
+the gap in production. That judgement earned its keep in a way nobody had
+written down: an audit before relaxing the refusal found that `delete` on such
+a table was reading a WAL byte offset as a slab index and freeing whatever it
+landed on — memory corruption, not a missing feature. It is fixed and pinned by
+a test that SEGVs against the old code, but the refusal is what stood in front
+of it.
+
+## What this example does NOT show
+
+The mode-mismatch startup refusal, the zero-WAL-bytes measurement, and the two
+compile-time refusals are proven by `scripts/residency-accept.sh` against
+purpose-built snippets, because each needs a deliberately broken program or a
+byte-level assertion on the log file. This example is the readable half.
diff --git a/docs/examples/residency/main.wo b/docs/examples/residency/main.wo
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4ed35a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/examples/residency/main.wo
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+-- residency — databasev2 2's per-table storage, demonstrated across a
+-- restart.
+--
+-- Before this iteration, durability was ONE environment variable for a whole
+-- process: WO_DATA set and every @table is WAL-logged, or unset and none are.
+-- Real applications are not uniform. A session table is disposable, an orders
+-- table is precious. One global switch forces "everything is precious" or
+-- "nothing is", and the developer pays for the wrong one.
+--
+-- Run it twice against the same WO_DATA directory:
+--
+--   mkdir -p /tmp/residency-data      -- WO_DATA must exist already
+--   WO_DATA=/tmp/residency-data wovm residency.wob seed
+--   WO_DATA=/tmp/residency-data wovm residency.wob
+--
+-- The second run inserts nothing. Orders come back from the log; Sessions do
+-- not, because they were never written to it.
+
+-- Precious: WAL-logged, replayed at boot. `durable: true` is the default, and
+-- is written out here only because this example is about the annotation.
+@table(name: "orders", index: [sku], durable: true, resident: all)
+class Order {
+  sku:   Text
+  cents: Int
+}
+
+-- Scratch: never written to the WAL, so it costs no disk and no fsync, and it
+-- is EMPTY after a restart. That is the point — not a bug to work around.
+@table(name: "sessions", index: [token], durable: false)
+class Session {
+  token: Text
+  uid:   Int
+}
+
+-- WHAT DOES NOT COMPILE YET, and why it is written here rather than omitted:
+--
+--   @table(name: "audit", index: [at], durable: true, resident: keys)
+--   class AuditEntry {
+--     at:   Int
+--     what: Text
+--   }
+--
+-- `resident: keys` is the mode for a table too large for RAM: the id map stays
+-- resident, the row payload lives in the WAL and is read back by offset. The
+-- storage, the read paths, deletes and checkpoint survival all work today.
+-- UPDATING such a row does not — the row has no slab slot to mutate, and doing
+-- it properly means read-modify-append. The loader therefore REFUSES the
+-- annotation outright rather than honouring it in name only:
+--
+--   wovm: class 0 declares `resident: keys`, which is INCOMPLETE: rows are
+--   stored and read keys-only, but UPDATING one is not implemented (it needs
+--   read-modify-append). Remove it until databasev2 2 lands updates;
+--   `resident: all` is what runs
+--
+-- Note WHERE it is refused: the compiler accepts it and emits a .wob — the
+-- annotation is a load-time property, so `woc` is green and `wovm` exits 2.
+--
+-- Refusing at load rather than at the first update is deliberate: a developer
+-- who declared a 120 GB table keys-resident, saw it compile, and shipped would
+-- discover the gap in production.
+
+fn count_orders() -> Int {
+  let n = 0;
+  for _o in from o in Order select o { n = n + 1; }
+  return n;
+}
+
+fn count_sessions() -> Int {
+  let n = 0;
+  for _s in from s in Session select s { n = n + 1; }
+  return n;
+}
+
+fn report(label: Text) {
+  print("${label}: orders=${count_orders()} sessions=${count_sessions()}");
+}
+
+fn main(args: multi Text) -> Int {
+  if len(args) > 0 {
+    if args[0] == "seed" {
+      -- Both tables get the same number of rows, from the same code path.
+      -- Only the annotation differs, so anything that differs after the
+      -- restart is the annotation's doing and nothing else's.
+      let i = 0;
+      while i < 3 {
+        insert Order { sku: "sku-${i}", cents: 100 + i };
+        insert Session { token: "tok-${i}", uid: i };
+        i = i + 1;
+      }
+      report("seeded");
+      return 0;
+    }
+  }
+
+  -- Second run: no inserts at all. Whatever is here came from the log.
+  report("after restart");
+
+  -- The claim this example exists to make, checked rather than narrated.
+  if count_sessions() != 0 {
+    print("UNEXPECTED: a durable:false table survived a restart");
+    return 1;
+  }
+  if count_orders() == 0 {
+    print("UNEXPECTED: a durable:true table did not replay");
+    return 1;
+  }
+  print("ok: durable replayed, volatile did not");
+  return 0;
+}
diff --git a/docs/examples/residency/wo.toml b/docs/examples/residency/wo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..454268f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/examples/residency/wo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+name        = "residency"
+version     = "0.1.0"
+description = "databasev2 2: per-table storage — durable: true|false and resident: all|keys, shown across a restart"
+
+[runtime]
+wo = ">= 0.1"
diff --git a/docs/stories/databasev2/02-table-storage-modes.md b/docs/stories/databasev2/02-table-storage-modes.md
index 7c5a54c..680ec28 100644
--- a/docs/stories/databasev2/02-table-storage-modes.md
+++ b/docs/stories/databasev2/02-table-storage-modes.md
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@ readiness: ready
 
 > Part of [Story — databasev2: the database beyond RAM](00-story.md).
 > Spec: [`2026-08-26-table-residency-design.md`](../../superpowers/specs/2026-08-26-table-residency-design.md)
-> · plan: [`2026-08-26-table-residency.md`](../../superpowers/plans/2026-08-26-table-residency.md).
+> · plan: [`2026-08-26-table-residency.md`](../../superpowers/plans/2026-08-26-table-residency.md)
+> · runnable example: [`docs/examples/residency`](../../examples/residency/README.md),
+> gated by `just residency`.
 >
 > **The language enrichment this track exists for.** Before this, durability was
 > one environment variable for a whole process: `WO_DATA` set and every `@table`
diff --git a/scripts/residency-accept.sh b/scripts/residency-accept.sh
index 8ecd535..57332ee 100755
--- a/scripts/residency-accept.sh
+++ b/scripts/residency-accept.sh
@@ -133,6 +133,46 @@ grep -q 'WO-E224' <<<"$dref_out" \
   && ok "durable ref into a volatile table is WO-E224" \
   || bad "dangling ref refused" "got: $dref_out"
 
+# ---- 5. the doc example actually runs, and its README's claim holds --------
+# The example is the readable half of this gate. An example no gate runs rots,
+# and its README quotes the loader's refusal verbatim — so that message is
+# checked here too, not merely trusted.
+LOG=/tmp/residency.log
+: > "$LOG"
+echo "residency-accept: example output -> $LOG (tail -F it)"
+EX="docs/examples/residency"
+{
+  echo "===================== residency example ====================="
+} >> "$LOG"
+if "$WOC" --emit "$EX/main.wo" -o "$WORK/residency.wob" >>"$LOG" 2>&1; then
+  ok "the doc example compiles"
+  mkdir -p "$WORK/exdata"
+  {
+    echo "--------------------- run 1: seed ---------------------"
+    WO_DATA="$WORK/exdata" "$WOVM" "$WORK/residency.wob" seed 2>&1
+    echo "--------------------- run 2: restart ------------------"
+  } >> "$LOG"
+  ex2="$(WO_DATA="$WORK/exdata" "$WOVM" "$WORK/residency.wob" 2>&1)"
+  printf '%s\n' "$ex2" >> "$LOG"
+  grep -q 'orders=3 sessions=0' <<<"$ex2" \
+    && ok "example: durable replayed, volatile did not" \
+    || bad "example restart" "got: $ex2"
+else
+  bad "the doc example compiles" "see $LOG"
+fi
+
+# the README quotes this message; drift between them is a doc bug
+printf '@table(name: "audit", durable: true, resident: keys)\nclass A {\n  at: Int\n}\nfn main() -> Int { return 0; }\n' > "$WORK/keys.wo"
+if "$WOC" --emit "$WORK/keys.wo" -o "$WORK/keys.wob" >>"$LOG" 2>&1; then
+  keys_out="$(WO_DATA="$WORK/exdata" "$WOVM" "$WORK/keys.wob" 2>&1)"
+  printf '%s\n' "$keys_out" >> "$LOG"
+  grep -q 'resident: keys.*INCOMPLETE' <<<"$keys_out" \
+    && ok "resident: keys is refused at LOAD with the documented message" \
+    || bad "keys refusal message" "got: $keys_out"
+else
+  bad "resident: keys compiles (the refusal is load-time, not compile-time)" "woc rejected it"
+fi
+
 echo
 echo "residency-accept: $((pass + fail)) checks, $fail failures"
 [[ $fail -eq 0 ]] || exit 1