diff --git a/conformance/README.md b/conformance/README.md
index bc36010..f10eab4 100644
--- a/conformance/README.md
+++ b/conformance/README.md
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@ Every fixture names the rule it defends, in `why:`. The ones that catch real bug
 | `reconnect-prune` | pruning is gated on `synced`; a reconnect removes what vanished while away |
 | `partial-cycle-no-prune` | a cycle that never reaches `synced` prunes **nothing** |
 | `delete-recreate-uid` | identity is `uid`, never `name`; no state bleeds across a recreate |
+| `adopt-created-dedup` | **I-IDEMPOTENT** — an optimistic `adoptSaved` and the watch echo of the create are one object by uid, not two |
 | `resync-midstream` | upstream continuity can be lost *without* the SSE connection dropping → a fresh cycle mid-stream |
 | `nested-field-removed` | `added`/`modified` **replace**; a deep-merge would resurrect a field the server deleted (a ghost) |
 | `status-follow-live` | `status` is read-only under the full projection: it follows the server live, and never becomes dirty, never conflicts, never enters a patch |
diff --git a/conformance/bodies/cm-created.v1.yaml b/conformance/bodies/cm-created.v1.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4cabe01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/conformance/bodies/cm-created.v1.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# A ConfigMap that did not exist when the stream started: the host created it, the save returned this
+# projected object, and the browser called adoptSaved on it. The watch echoes the SAME uid a beat
+# later. New uid, new name — nothing about it collides with the baseline app-config.
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ConfigMap
+metadata:
+  uid: cm-created-0007
+  name: feature-flags
+  namespace: app
+  resourceVersion: "3001"
+data:
+  beta: "true"
diff --git a/conformance/fixtures/adopt-created-dedup.yaml b/conformance/fixtures/adopt-created-dedup.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..37cbf74
--- /dev/null
+++ b/conformance/fixtures/adopt-created-dedup.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+id: adopt-created-dedup
+title: An optimistic create (adoptSaved) and the watch echo of it are the SAME object, by uid.
+why: >
+  I-IDEMPOTENT. A create is host-owned: the store keys on metadata.uid and a pending create has none,
+  so staging it is the consumer's job (docs/client-state-model.md). Once the save returns the created
+  object the host may adoptSaved it, so the UI need not wait for the watch. The watch then echoes it as
+  `added` — and that echo must be a no-op, not a second card. Reconciled by uid, the optimistic insert
+  and its echo converge to one object, with nothing dirty and nothing to save.
+suites: [client]
+scope: { target: demo, version: v1, resource: configmaps, namespace: app }
+projection: krm-full/v1
+
+events:
+  - { type: reset }
+  - { type: added, body: cm-app.v1 }
+  - { type: synced }
+  - { type: added, body: cm-created.v1 }        # the watch catches up to the create
+
+client:
+  edits:
+    - { after: 2, op: adopt, body: cm-created.v1 }   # host adopts the save response BEFORE the echo
+  expect:
+    uids: [cm-app-0001, cm-created-0007]             # two objects, not three — the echo deduped by uid
+    dirty: []
+    conflicts: []
+    patch: null
diff --git a/conformance/gen/bodies.json b/conformance/gen/bodies.json
index 22897c6..7ec49f2 100644
--- a/conformance/gen/bodies.json
+++ b/conformance/gen/bodies.json
@@ -111,6 +111,19 @@
       "log-level": "info"
     }
   },
+  "cm-created.v1": {
+    "apiVersion": "v1",
+    "kind": "ConfigMap",
+    "metadata": {
+      "uid": "cm-created-0007",
+      "name": "feature-flags",
+      "namespace": "app",
+      "resourceVersion": "3001"
+    },
+    "data": {
+      "beta": "true"
+    }
+  },
   "cm-flags.v1": {
     "apiVersion": "v1",
     "kind": "ConfigMap",
diff --git a/conformance/gen/fixtures.json b/conformance/gen/fixtures.json
index a504893..5ccc20b 100644
--- a/conformance/gen/fixtures.json
+++ b/conformance/gen/fixtures.json
@@ -1,4 +1,53 @@
 [
+  {
+    "id": "adopt-created-dedup",
+    "title": "An optimistic create (adoptSaved) and the watch echo of it are the SAME object, by uid.",
+    "why": "I-IDEMPOTENT. A create is host-owned: the store keys on metadata.uid and a pending create has none, so staging it is the consumer's job (docs/client-state-model.md). Once the save returns the created object the host may adoptSaved it, so the UI need not wait for the watch. The watch then echoes it as `added` — and that echo must be a no-op, not a second card. Reconciled by uid, the optimistic insert and its echo converge to one object, with nothing dirty and nothing to save.\n",
+    "suites": [
+      "client"
+    ],
+    "scope": {
+      "target": "demo",
+      "version": "v1",
+      "resource": "configmaps",
+      "namespace": "app"
+    },
+    "projection": "krm-full/v1",
+    "events": [
+      {
+        "type": "reset"
+      },
+      {
+        "type": "added",
+        "body": "cm-app.v1"
+      },
+      {
+        "type": "synced"
+      },
+      {
+        "type": "added",
+        "body": "cm-created.v1"
+      }
+    ],
+    "client": {
+      "edits": [
+        {
+          "after": 2,
+          "op": "adopt",
+          "body": "cm-created.v1"
+        }
+      ],
+      "expect": {
+        "uids": [
+          "cm-app-0001",
+          "cm-created-0007"
+        ],
+        "dirty": [],
+        "conflicts": [],
+        "patch": null
+      }
+    }
+  },
   {
     "id": "array-atomic-on-change",
     "title": "When an array's length changes under an edit, the whole array conflicts — atomically.",
diff --git a/docs/client-state-model.md b/docs/client-state-model.md
index 622ff08..90f3d2d 100644
--- a/docs/client-state-model.md
+++ b/docs/client-state-model.md
@@ -57,6 +57,54 @@ Redacted paths are not placeholders and do not appear in the object. Render a wi
 `redactions(id)`, and do not offer an editor for it. The host save endpoint must also call
 [`gateway.ValidateMergePatch`](../gateway/patch.go) before writing to Kubernetes.
 
+## Creating and deleting whole objects
+
+The store holds only objects with a server identity — a `metadata.uid` — whether the stream delivered
+them or `adoptSaved` inserted one from a save response before its echo arrived. That limit is
+deliberate, and it is why two operations do not live here:
+
+- A pending **create** has no server object, so no uid and no key. There is nothing to merge it
+  against; `changes()`, `patch()`, and `conflicts()` have no meaning for it.
+- A **delete** has no fields to reconcile.
+
+Staging a pending create or delete is therefore the consumer's job, the same way the write itself is
+(see [saving edits safely](saving.md)). Keep them in page-local state and render all three sources as
+one review list under one Save:
+
+```ts
+const pendingCreates = []; // client-only drafts keyed by a local draftId, never a uid: { draftId, name, data }
+const pendingDeletes = new Set(); // uids marked for removal
+
+// One list, one Save:
+//   pendingCreates      → "create <name>"
+//   pendingDeletes      → "delete <name>"
+//   store.changes(uid)  → field edits   (skip a uid that is in pendingDeletes)
+```
+
+### Reflecting the result
+
+The recommended shape is still 204 and let the watch echo it (see [saving edits safely](saving.md)): a
+create arrives as an `added` event, a delete as a `deleted` event, and the store converges on its own.
+Two primitives exist for a host that cannot wait for the echo, and both are idempotent with it
+(`I-IDEMPOTENT`):
+
+- `adoptSaved(object)` — insert the created object once the save returns it. The echo that follows is
+  a no-op, not a second card.
+- `removeResource(uid)` — drop a deleted object before its `deleted` event arrives.
+
+Either way, clear the page-local entry — the `pendingCreates` draft or the `pendingDeletes` uid — when
+its write succeeds. Those primitives update the store, not your pending lists; a completed mutation
+left staged reappears in the review list and can be submitted twice.
+
+Two caveats keep this honest:
+
+- **A create reflects only _after_ the server responds.** `adoptSaved` needs the server-assigned uid
+  and a **projected** object (never a raw Kubernetes object — see [saving edits safely](saving.md)). Do
+  not fabricate a uid for a pending draft; keep it page-local until the create returns the object.
+- **An optimistic delete is not self-healing.** A delete that _fails_ server-side produces no watch
+  event, so a `removeResource`d object does not reappear until the next snapshot. Re-add it on failure,
+  or skip the optimism and let the `deleted` echo do it.
+
 ## Arrays and associative lists
 
 Arrays are atomic by default. A concurrent array change conflicts with a local array edit, which is
diff --git a/docs/saving.md b/docs/saving.md
index 6266c4b..3784933 100644
--- a/docs/saving.md
+++ b/docs/saving.md
@@ -79,3 +79,60 @@ intentionally incomplete, and a `PUT` can delete fields the browser never saw.
 `metadata.resourceVersion` may be stale when `krm-spec/v1` suppresses invisible status churn. Do not
 use the streamed value as a write precondition. The client-side three-way merge surfaces conflicts in
 the fields the user can see; send only the user's explicit merge-patch changes.
+
+## Creating and deleting whole objects
+
+A create and a delete are host writes exactly as a save is, and they stay host-side for the same
+reasons: RBAC, attribution, and — for a create body — validation all live on the server. The client
+stages the *intent*; your endpoint performs the *write*. See
+[client state model](client-state-model.md#creating-and-deleting-whole-objects) for the client half —
+the store keys on uid and has no merge for these, so the consumer aggregates staged create/delete with
+`changes()` into one review list.
+
+```go
+// POST /console/configmaps — create
+func (s *server) createConfigMap(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+    user := userFromSession(r)
+    scope := authorizedScope(user, r)
+    object := readObject(r) // the new object the browser assembled
+
+    // Validate on the host, before the write — pin the GVK, the authorized scope and name, and an
+    // allowlist of the fields a browser may set. Never trust the assembled object as-is.
+    if err := validateCreate(object, scope); err != nil {
+        http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusBadRequest)
+        return
+    }
+
+    created, err := s.dynamicFor(user).Resource(configMaps).Namespace(scope.Namespace).
+        Create(r.Context(), object, metav1.CreateOptions{})
+    if err != nil {
+        http.Error(w, "create failed", http.StatusBadGateway)
+        return
+    }
+
+    // 204 and let the watch echo it — the same recommendation as save. To reflect it now instead,
+    // project it first and return it; the browser calls store.adoptSaved(projected).
+    _ = created
+    w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNoContent)
+}
+
+// DELETE /console/configmaps/{name} — delete
+func (s *server) deleteConfigMap(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+    user := userFromSession(r)
+    scope := authorizedScope(user, r)
+    if err := s.dynamicFor(user).Resource(configMaps).Namespace(scope.Namespace).
+        Delete(r.Context(), scope.Name, metav1.DeleteOptions{}); err != nil {
+        http.Error(w, "delete failed", http.StatusBadGateway)
+        return
+    }
+    // 204; the `deleted` event prunes it from every open stream. To reflect it now instead, the
+    // browser calls store.removeResource(uid) with the uid it already tracks.
+    w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNoContent)
+}
+```
+
+`ValidateMergePatch` guards a *patch*. A create sends a whole object, so validate it yourself before
+the call — the `validateCreate` above stands in for a schema check or a field allowlist — and pass only
+the sanitized object to `Create`. A projected or redacted field must no more ride in on a create body
+than in a patch. API-server admission sits behind this as defense in depth, not as a substitute for the
+host-side check. A delete carries no body to guard.
diff --git a/packages/krm-stream/test/conformance.test.ts b/packages/krm-stream/test/conformance.test.ts
index 56f8525..b6b179f 100644
--- a/packages/krm-stream/test/conformance.test.ts
+++ b/packages/krm-stream/test/conformance.test.ts
@@ -83,6 +83,10 @@ test("a snapshot cycle is reset … added* … synced", () => {
 test("client fixtures edit objects the stream actually delivered", () => {
   for (const f of clientFixtures()) {
     for (const edit of f.client?.edits ?? []) {
+      // `adopt` is the exception that proves the rule: it delivers an object the stream has NOT yet
+      // sent (the whole point is that its echo arrives later and must dedup by uid), and it carries a
+      // `body`, not a `uid`/`path`. The delivered-and-has-a-path checks are for edits, which it is not.
+      if (edit.op === "adopt") continue;
       const delivered = deliveredUidsBefore(f, edit.after);
       assert.ok(
         delivered.has(edit.uid),
@@ -102,7 +106,7 @@ test("paths are segment arrays, never dot-joined strings", () => {
       ...(f.client?.expect?.absentPaths ?? []),
       ...(f.client?.expect?.readOnlyPaths ?? []),
       ...(f.client?.expect?.flashed ?? []),
-      ...(f.client?.edits ?? []).map((e) => e.path),
+      ...(f.client?.edits ?? []).filter((e) => e.op !== "adopt").map((e) => e.path),
     ];
     for (const p of paths) {
       assert.ok(Array.isArray(p), `${f.id}: ${JSON.stringify(p)} must be a segment array`);
diff --git a/packages/krm-stream/test/conformance.ts b/packages/krm-stream/test/conformance.ts
index 240f893..07e598f 100644
--- a/packages/krm-stream/test/conformance.ts
+++ b/packages/krm-stream/test/conformance.ts
@@ -26,11 +26,15 @@ const CONFORMANCE = new URL("../../../conformance/", import.meta.url);
  * A fixture format that could not express that ordering could not test a three-way merge at all. */
 export interface FixtureEdit {
   after: number;
-  op: "set" | "remove" | "addKey" | "renameKey" | "revert";
+  op: "set" | "remove" | "addKey" | "renameKey" | "revert" | "adopt";
   uid: string;
   path: Path;
   value?: unknown;
   newKey?: string;
+  /** `adopt` only: the bodies/ reference to hand `store.adoptSaved`. An adopt is not an edit to a
+   * delivered object — it IS a delivery, of the object a save returned — so it carries a `body`, not a
+   * `uid`/`path` like the other ops. */
+  body?: string;
 }
 
 export interface FixtureExpect {
diff --git a/packages/krm-stream/test/expect.ts b/packages/krm-stream/test/expect.ts
index 2417bfa..8c24cb6 100644
--- a/packages/krm-stream/test/expect.ts
+++ b/packages/krm-stream/test/expect.ts
@@ -19,12 +19,18 @@
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
 import type { LiveResourceStore } from "../src/index.ts";
 import type { Path } from "../src/types.ts";
-import type { FixtureEdit, FixtureExpect } from "./conformance.ts";
+import { body, type FixtureEdit, type FixtureExpect } from "./conformance.ts";
 
 /** `path` in a fixture edit always addresses the FIELD, not its container — even for the two ops
  * whose store signature takes the map plus a key. Keeping the fixture format uniform is worth the one
  * line of translation. */
 export function applyEdit(store: LiveResourceStore, e: FixtureEdit): void {
+  // `adopt` is not an edit to a delivered object — it delivers one, the way a save response does. It
+  // carries a `body`, not a `uid`/`path`, so it returns before we touch either.
+  if (e.op === "adopt") {
+    store.adoptSaved(body(e.body!));
+    return;
+  }
   const parent = e.path.slice(0, -1);
   const last = e.path[e.path.length - 1];
   switch (e.op) {