diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 37f79fc..437a3f1 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -717,11 +717,12 @@ Notes:
 - The deferred domain-registry RPCs (`saveSampleStatusDomain` / `querySampleStatusDomains`) are reserved placeholders
   that return "not implemented", so they are not wrapped.
 - A pandas view of statuses is deferred; `sample_status_conversions` returns plain Python objects and needs no extras.
-- Verified end to end against a live 1.16.0 Annotation Service (`tests/integration/test_sample_status_client_integration.py`):
-  exact nanosecond timestamp round-trip through both axis forms, absent-stays-absent, full-replace upsert, and layer
-  independence.  The tests probe for the API first and skip with an actionable message against a pre-1.16.0 server,
-  since reachability alone does not imply the RPCs exist.  Status *filtering* of query results is still unit-tested
-  only — it needs ingested sample data to attach to (#17).
+- Verified end to end by `tests/integration/test_sample_status_client_integration.py` against a live Annotation
+  Service built from dp-service `main` (the 1.16.0 API, **not yet released** — the newest tag everywhere is
+  `rel-1.15.0`): exact nanosecond timestamp round-trip through both axis forms, absent-stays-absent, full-replace
+  upsert, and layer independence.  The tests probe for the API first and skip with an actionable message against a
+  pre-1.16.0 server, since reachability alone does not imply the RPCs exist.  Status *filtering* of query results
+  is still unit-tested only — it needs ingested sample data to attach to (#17).
 
 ### Configuration Priority (High to Low)
 1. **Explicit parameters** (direct channels, config objects)
diff --git a/doc/cookbook/sample-status.md b/doc/cookbook/sample-status.md
index 51d99fe..9d8b682 100644
--- a/doc/cookbook/sample-status.md
+++ b/doc/cookbook/sample-status.md
@@ -3,8 +3,12 @@
 Recording that *this particular sample, at this particular instant, was bad* — and then querying
 data with the flagged samples left out.
 
-> **Verified against:** dp-grpc `rel-1.16.0`.
-> The sample status API is **new in 1.16.0** and will not work against a `rel-1.15.0` server.
+> **Target API version:** dp-grpc 1.16.0, which is **not yet released** — the newest tag is
+> `rel-1.15.0`.  The sample status API is new in 1.16.0 and will not work against a `rel-1.15.0`
+> server, which answers these calls with `UNIMPLEMENTED`.
+>
+> **Verified against:** a pre-release Annotation Service built from dp-service `main` carrying the
+> 1.16.0 API.
 
 See [API conventions](conventions.md) for result checking, paging, and time handling.
 
@@ -366,7 +370,8 @@ delete would remove, run the same range and `(domain, layer)` through
 
 ### How far these examples have been verified
 
-The save/query/delete loop **has** been exercised against a live 1.16.0 Annotation Service, by
+The save/query/delete loop **has** been exercised against a live Annotation Service built from
+dp-service `main` (the 1.16.0 API, pre-release), by
 `tests/integration/test_sample_status_client_integration.py`.  That covers the parts most likely
 to break silently: