diff --git a/apps/vectorcraft-cli/tests/cli.rs b/apps/vectorcraft-cli/tests/cli.rs
index 0a44fcab..02bc6acc 100644
--- a/apps/vectorcraft-cli/tests/cli.rs
+++ b/apps/vectorcraft-cli/tests/cli.rs
@@ -160,6 +160,27 @@ fn mcp_protocol_over_stdio() {
     send(&mut stdin, json!({"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":10,"method":"resources/read","params":{"uri":"vectorcraft://object/"}}));
     assert_eq!(recv(&mut lines, &mut notes, 10)["error"]["code"], -32602);
 
+    // Large containers slice through run_command document.node: a truncated level reports
+    // childCount, and a bad limit is a tool error, not a crash or a full read.
+    send(
+        &mut stdin,
+        json!({"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":20,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"draw_shape","arguments":{"shape":"ellipse","x":90,"y":10,"width":30,"height":30}}}),
+    );
+    assert_eq!(recv(&mut lines, &mut notes, 20)["result"]["isError"], false);
+    let run = |id: u64, command: &str, params: Value| json!({"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":id,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"run_command","arguments":{"command":command,"params":params}}});
+    send(&mut stdin, run(21, "select.all", json!({})));
+    recv(&mut lines, &mut notes, 21);
+    send(&mut stdin, run(22, "object.group", json!({})));
+    let r = recv(&mut lines, &mut notes, 22);
+    let group = serde_json::from_str::<Value>(r["result"]["content"][0]["text"].as_str().unwrap()).unwrap()["id"].clone();
+    send(&mut stdin, run(23, "document.node", json!({"id": group, "summary": true, "childLimit": 1})));
+    let r = recv(&mut lines, &mut notes, 23);
+    let sliced: Value = serde_json::from_str(r["result"]["content"][0]["text"].as_str().unwrap()).unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(sliced["children"].as_array().map(Vec::len), Some(1), "{sliced}");
+    assert_eq!(sliced["childCount"], 2, "{sliced}");
+    send(&mut stdin, run(24, "document.node", json!({"id": group, "summary": true, "depth": -1})));
+    assert_eq!(recv(&mut lines, &mut notes, 24)["result"]["isError"], true);
+
     // The binary installed its logger: records arrive as notifications/message, and only
     // after the client asked for them.
     send(&mut stdin, json!({"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":11,"method":"logging/setLevel","params":{"level":"debug"}}));
diff --git a/crates/engine/src/cmd/edit.rs b/crates/engine/src/cmd/edit.rs
index 72766988..3ab5748c 100644
--- a/crates/engine/src/cmd/edit.rs
+++ b/crates/engine/src/cmd/edit.rs
@@ -105,8 +105,15 @@ fn doc_activate(s: &mut Session, p: &Value) -> Result<Value> {
 
 fn doc_node(s: &mut Session, p: &Value) -> Result<Value> {
     let id = id_param(p, "id").ok_or_else(|| bad("document.node", "missing id"))?;
+    let opts = slice_opts(p)?;
+    let summary = bool_or(p, "summary", false);
+    if !summary && (opts.depth.is_some() || opts.child_limit.is_some()) {
+        // The full object JSON is never truncated: a slice without `summary` would
+        // otherwise silently return the whole subtree.
+        return Err(bad("document.node", "`depth` and `childLimit` slice the summary: pass `summary: true`"));
+    }
     let n = s.doc()?.doc.node(id).ok_or(EngineError::NoNode(id))?;
-    if bool_or(p, "summary", false) { Ok(inspect::node_summary_opts(n, slice_opts(p)?)) } else { Ok(serde_json::to_value(n).unwrap_or(Value::Null)) }
+    if summary { Ok(inspect::node_summary_opts(n, opts)) } else { Ok(serde_json::to_value(n).unwrap_or(Value::Null)) }
 }
 
 /// `depth` / `childLimit` for a summary read: absent (or null) means no limit.
diff --git a/crates/engine/src/tests.rs b/crates/engine/src/tests.rs
index 8db40bf1..e134571e 100644
--- a/crates/engine/src/tests.rs
+++ b/crates/engine/src/tests.rs
@@ -381,6 +381,8 @@ fn document_node_summary_slices_with_depth_and_limit() {
     let g = read(json!({"id": outer, "summary": true}));
     assert_eq!(g["children"].as_array().map(Vec::len), Some(2));
     assert!(g.get("childCount").is_none(), "nothing truncated: {g}");
+    // Limits beyond the tree are the whole tree, byte for byte.
+    assert_eq!(read(json!({"id": outer, "summary": true, "depth": u64::MAX, "childLimit": u64::MAX})), g);
 
     let one = read(json!({"id": outer, "summary": true, "childLimit": 1}));
     assert_eq!(one["children"].as_array().map(Vec::len), Some(1));
@@ -400,7 +402,14 @@ fn document_node_summary_slices_with_depth_and_limit() {
     assert!(nested.get("children").is_none(), "{nested}");
     assert_eq!(nested["childCount"], 2);
 
-    for bad in [json!({"id": outer, "summary": true, "depth": -1}), json!({"id": outer, "summary": true, "childLimit": "many"})] {
+    for bad in [
+        json!({"id": outer, "summary": true, "depth": -1}),
+        json!({"id": outer, "summary": true, "depth": 1.5}),
+        json!({"id": outer, "summary": true, "childLimit": "many"}),
+        // A slice of the full object JSON would silently be the whole subtree.
+        json!({"id": outer, "depth": 0}),
+        json!({"id": outer, "summary": false, "childLimit": 1}),
+    ] {
         assert!(s.execute("document.node", &bad).is_err(), "{bad}");
     }
 }
diff --git a/docs/mcp.md b/docs/mcp.md
index ca4c6017..a3609dc5 100644
--- a/docs/mcp.md
+++ b/docs/mcp.md
@@ -85,7 +85,11 @@ An unknown URI is `-32002`; a template with no value, or a value that names noth
 The same reads work as query commands through `run_command`: `document.node {id}` returns the object's full model
 JSON (geometry, appearance, every attribute) and `document.node {id, summary: true}` the compact summary
 `document.inspect` gives for it (id, name, kind, bounds, paint labels, children), without summarizing the whole
-document.
+document. A summary read slices a large container: `depth` is how many child levels it includes (`0`: the node
+alone) and `childLimit` how many children each node shows, top of the stack first (both default to all). A level
+that shows fewer children than it has reports their total as `childCount`, so truncation is never silent; with
+nothing truncated the reply is the plain summary. Both must be non-negative integers and need `summary: true`
+(the full object JSON is never truncated); anything else is an error.
 
 ### Completions