diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/docs/sdk.md b/packages/coding-agent/docs/sdk.md
index edced9186..a4e4f2276 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/docs/sdk.md
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/docs/sdk.md
@@ -372,6 +372,13 @@ import { ModelRuntime } from "@earendil-works/pi-coding-agent";
 
 const modelRuntime = await ModelRuntime.create();
 
+// create() restores cached catalogs but does not refresh them from pi.dev by default.
+// Opt in to a create-time network refresh and bound how long it may take:
+const refreshedRuntime = await ModelRuntime.create({
+  allowModelNetwork: true,
+  modelRefreshTimeoutMs: 15_000,
+});
+
 // Find specific built-in model (doesn't check if API key exists)
 const opus = getModel("anthropic", "claude-opus-4-5");
 if (!opus) throw new Error("Model not found");
@@ -402,6 +409,8 @@ If no model is provided:
 2. Uses default from settings
 3. Falls back to first available model
 
+Remote catalogs are persisted locally so later runtimes can restore them without a network request. The default file is `~/.pi/agent/models-store.json`; set `modelsStorePath` to choose another location, or inject `modelsStore` to control persistence. Network refreshes are throttled to once per provider every four hours unless forced. To force an immediate refresh, call `await modelRuntime.refresh({ allowNetwork: true, force: true, signal })`. Setting `PI_OFFLINE` disables model network access.
+
 To match CLI model parsing, use the exported resolver helpers:
 
 ```typescript