diff --git a/browse/css/preview-yaml.css b/browse/css/preview-yaml.css
index 082edb1..281dfcb 100644
--- a/browse/css/preview-yaml.css
+++ b/browse/css/preview-yaml.css
@@ -29,6 +29,16 @@
     border-color: var(--primary);
     color: var(--primary);
 }
+/* The ".zddc schema" badge is clickable — it opens the full JSON Schema. */
+.yaml-shell__schema--link {
+    cursor: pointer;
+}
+.yaml-shell__schema--link:hover,
+.yaml-shell__schema--link:focus-visible {
+    background: var(--primary);
+    color: var(--bg);
+    outline: none;
+}
 
 /* CodeMirror has to fill the grid cell. The vendored CSS sets
    `height: 300px` by default — we override to 100% so it grows with
diff --git a/browse/js/preview-yaml.js b/browse/js/preview-yaml.js
index 47aad2e..1e8ac17 100644
--- a/browse/js/preview-yaml.js
+++ b/browse/js/preview-yaml.js
@@ -114,7 +114,18 @@
         views: 'viewmap',
         convert: 'convert',
         created_by: 'string',
-        inherit: 'bool'
+        inherit: 'bool',
+        // Keys the Go decoder (zddc/internal/zddc/file.go) accepts that the
+        // lint was missing — flagged valid configs as "unknown key".
+        party_source: 'string',
+        history: 'bool',
+        history_globs: 'string[]',
+        records: 'object',
+        auto_own_roles: 'string[]',
+        received_path: 'string',
+        planned_response_date: 'string',
+        planned_review_date: 'string',
+        field_codes: 'object'
     };
 
     var ACL_KEYS  = { inherit: 'bool', permissions: 'stringmap',
@@ -279,6 +290,12 @@
                 if (t !== 'object') { addTypeErr(path, kind, t, issues); return; }
                 walkObject(val, CONVERT_KEYS, path, issues);
                 return;
+            case 'object':
+                // Free-form map (records, field_codes) — the server accepts any
+                // nested shape, so we only check it's a mapping, not its keys.
+                if (t === 'null') return;
+                if (t !== 'object') { addTypeErr(path, kind, t, issues); return; }
+                return;
         }
     }
 
@@ -433,9 +450,21 @@
         var schemaTag = document.createElement('span');
         schemaTag.className = 'md-shell__source yaml-shell__schema';
         if (isZddcFile(node.name)) {
-            schemaTag.textContent = '.zddc schema';
+            schemaTag.textContent = '.zddc schema ↗';
             schemaTag.title = 'Linted against the .zddc cascade schema '
-                + '(unknown keys, bad enums, and wrong types are flagged).';
+                + '(unknown keys, bad enums, and wrong types are flagged). '
+                + 'Click to view the full JSON Schema.';
+            // Clickable → opens the canonical machine grammar the lint mirrors.
+            schemaTag.classList.add('yaml-shell__schema--link');
+            schemaTag.setAttribute('role', 'link');
+            schemaTag.setAttribute('tabindex', '0');
+            var openSchema = function () {
+                window.open('/.api/zddc-schema', '_blank', 'noopener');
+            };
+            schemaTag.addEventListener('click', openSchema);
+            schemaTag.addEventListener('keydown', function (ev) {
+                if (ev.key === 'Enter' || ev.key === ' ') { ev.preventDefault(); openSchema(); }
+            });
         } else {
             schemaTag.textContent = 'YAML';
         }
diff --git a/zddc/internal/handler/zddcfile.go b/zddc/internal/handler/zddcfile.go
index 07a4f82..998c887 100644
--- a/zddc/internal/handler/zddcfile.go
+++ b/zddc/internal/handler/zddcfile.go
@@ -143,9 +143,10 @@ func ServeZddcFile(cfg config.Config, w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 
 // renderVirtualZddc produces a YAML body for a directory that has no
 // .zddc on disk. The body is the cascade's leaf-level ZddcFile —
-// i.e. what internal/zddc/defaults/'s paths: tree declares for this exact
-// directory, plus any contributions the walker threaded through. The
-// goal is to expose the embedded defaults' source of truth: a new
+// i.e. what the built-in defaults bundle (exportable/overridable as a
+// root .zddc.zip via `zddc-server show-defaults`) declares for this
+// exact directory, plus any contributions the walker threaded through.
+// The goal is to expose the baseline's source of truth: a new
 // user opening the virtual .zddc here sees, in the same yaml shape
 // they would write themselves, what behavior is currently declared
 // at this level. A header comment names the source and points at
@@ -163,13 +164,16 @@ func renderVirtualZddc(chain zddc.PolicyChain) (string, error) {
 
 	var b strings.Builder
 	b.WriteString("# Virtual .zddc — no file on disk at this directory.\n")
-	b.WriteString("# The content below is what the embedded defaults\n")
-	b.WriteString("# (internal/zddc/defaults/'s paths: tree) declare for this\n")
-	b.WriteString("# exact path. Edit and save through the YAML editor in\n")
-	b.WriteString("# browse to materialise a real .zddc here carrying your\n")
-	b.WriteString("# changes; the bytes you save become the override\n")
-	b.WriteString("# verbatim (no merge, no synthesis — .zddc files drive\n")
-	b.WriteString("# policy and are the single source of truth).\n")
+	b.WriteString("# The content below is what the policy baseline declares\n")
+	b.WriteString("# for this exact path: the built-in defaults bundle — the\n")
+	b.WriteString("# same one you can export, and override, as a root\n")
+	b.WriteString("# .zddc.zip (`zddc-server show-defaults`) — with any\n")
+	b.WriteString("# on-disk ancestor .zddc overrides already threaded in.\n")
+	b.WriteString("# Edit and save through the YAML editor in browse to\n")
+	b.WriteString("# materialise a real .zddc here carrying your changes;\n")
+	b.WriteString("# the bytes you save become the override verbatim (no\n")
+	b.WriteString("# merge, no synthesis — .zddc files drive policy and are\n")
+	b.WriteString("# the single source of truth).\n")
 	b.WriteString("#\n")
 	b.WriteString("# For the COMPOSED effective config across the whole\n")
 	b.WriteString("# cascade (all ancestors merged), query:\n")