diff --git a/.changeset/reference-helptext-three-locales.md b/.changeset/reference-helptext-three-locales.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f6eacdac60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/reference-helptext-three-locales.md
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+---
+'@objectstack/platform-objects': patch
+---
+
+Metadata forms i18n: the `object.fields.reference` help text now carries the
+`tree` rule in Spanish, Japanese and Chinese, and no longer claims the field is
+for `lookup` / `master_detail`.
+
+The English source for this row gained a normative sentence on 2026-09-05 — a
+`tree` field's `reference` is optional and, when present, must name the
+declaring object; a link to a different object is a `lookup`. That rule is
+enforced at parse time, so an author who writes a foreign target meets it as a
+refusal rather than as guidance.
+
+The three translated locales still served the pre-2026-09-05 sentence. They
+were wrong in both directions at once: they dropped the `tree` rule entirely,
+and they asserted a purpose the source no longer states — "(para
+lookup/master_detail)" / "(lookup/master_detail 用)" / "(用于 lookup /
+master_detail)" — which the `tree` case contradicts. A Spanish, Japanese or
+Chinese console therefore told the author that `reference` was for the two
+relationship types that exclude `tree`, and gave no hint of the constraint they
+were about to hit.
+
+Only the three `helpText` values move. The `label` siblings, the key set and
+the generated structure are unchanged.
diff --git a/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/es-ES.metadata-forms.generated.ts b/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/es-ES.metadata-forms.generated.ts
index 3f60bb9d65..36ab94e78b 100644
--- a/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/es-ES.metadata-forms.generated.ts
+++ b/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/es-ES.metadata-forms.generated.ts
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ export const esESMetadataForms: NonNullable<TranslationData['metadataForms']> =
       },
       "fields.reference": {
         label: "Referencia",
-        helpText: "Objeto de destino (para lookup/master_detail)"
+        helpText: "Nombre del objeto de destino. En un campo tree es opcional y, si se indica, debe ser este mismo objeto (un árbol es una jerarquía dentro de su propio objeto — para enlazar con otro objeto, usa un lookup)"
       },
       "fields.lookupFilters": {
         label: "Lookup Filters",
diff --git a/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/ja-JP.metadata-forms.generated.ts b/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/ja-JP.metadata-forms.generated.ts
index f19c612bce..2b26f617a7 100644
--- a/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/ja-JP.metadata-forms.generated.ts
+++ b/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/ja-JP.metadata-forms.generated.ts
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ export const jaJPMetadataForms: NonNullable<TranslationData['metadataForms']> =
       },
       "fields.reference": {
         label: "参照",
-        helpText: "対象オブジェクト（lookup/master_detail 用）"
+        helpText: "対象オブジェクト名。tree フィールドでは省略可能で、指定する場合はこのオブジェクト自身でなければなりません（ツリーは同一オブジェクト内の階層です — 別のオブジェクトへリンクする場合は lookup を使います）"
       },
       "fields.lookupFilters": {
         label: "Lookup Filters",
diff --git a/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/zh-CN.metadata-forms.generated.ts b/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/zh-CN.metadata-forms.generated.ts
index 69c2721529..d9ac3d9fe3 100644
--- a/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/zh-CN.metadata-forms.generated.ts
+++ b/packages/platform-objects/src/apps/translations/zh-CN.metadata-forms.generated.ts
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ export const zhCNMetadataForms: NonNullable<TranslationData['metadataForms']> =
       },
       "fields.reference": {
         label: "引用对象",
-        helpText: "目标对象（用于 lookup / master_detail）"
+        helpText: "目标对象名称。tree 字段可省略；若填写，必须是本对象自身（树是同一对象内部的层级 — 链接到其他对象请用 lookup）"
       },
       "fields.lookupFilters": {
         label: "Lookup Filters",