diff --git a/creek_modeling/CHANGELOG.md b/creek_modeling/CHANGELOG.md
index 0730ba4..ca492cb 100644
--- a/creek_modeling/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/creek_modeling/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,23 @@
 All notable changes to the **Ackerly Creek Modeling** add-on are documented here.
 The version matches `version:` in `config.yaml`; bump it to trigger the GUI Update button.
 
+## 0.12.2
+
+- **Fixed: the annotation text box from 0.12.1 never actually existed in Home Assistant.**
+  Its discovery config set `max: 500`, but 255 is Home Assistant's hard ceiling for MQTT
+  text entities (`homeassistant.components.text`'s `native_max_value` is clamped to
+  `(0, 255)`, inherited by every platform including MQTT). A `max` above that is not
+  clamped down to fit — MQTT discovery validates the payload against the platform schema
+  *before* creating anything, so the whole discovery message for that one entity was
+  rejected and silently dropped. Every other entity in this release has no such
+  constraint, so nothing else was affected and nothing in the add-on's own logs pointed at
+  it — confirmed missing only from the HA-side MQTT device page, not from anything this
+  service could see about itself.
+
+  Set to 255. A `test_annotate_text_entity_max_is_within_the_mqtt_text_platform_ceiling`
+  guard now checks every entity with a `max` against that ceiling, verified to fail on the
+  0.12.1 config before this fix.
+
 ## 0.12.1
 
 - **Annotate storms from the Operator tab** — no more SSH/Samba/`sqlite3` for the normal
diff --git a/creek_modeling/app/discovery.py b/creek_modeling/app/discovery.py
index fb2ceff..df959b2 100644
--- a/creek_modeling/app/discovery.py
+++ b/creek_modeling/app/discovery.py
@@ -152,7 +152,15 @@ def _specs(self) -> list[tuple[str, str, dict]]:
             ("text", "creek_annotate_latest_storm", {
                 "name": "Creek Annotate Latest Storm",
                 "command_topic": f"{b}/cmd/annotate",
-                "mode": "text", "max": 500, "icon": "mdi:note-edit-outline"}),
+                # 255 is the platform's own hard ceiling for MQTT text entities, not a
+                # choice — HA's `text` component clamps native_max_value to (0, 255)
+                # regardless of what discovery asks for, and MQTT discovery validates
+                # against that schema *before* creating the entity: a `max` above 255
+                # does not get clamped, the whole discovery payload for that entity is
+                # rejected and nothing is created — silently, with no error the add-on
+                # itself can see. This entity did not exist in Home Assistant at all
+                # until this was caught (0.12.1 shipped with 500).
+                "mode": "text", "max": 255, "icon": "mdi:note-edit-outline"}),
             ("sensor", "creek_lag_response_series", {
                 "name": "Creek Lag Response Series",
                 "state_topic": f"{b}/status/lag",
diff --git a/creek_modeling/config.yaml b/creek_modeling/config.yaml
index b0814be..f827631 100644
--- a/creek_modeling/config.yaml
+++ b/creek_modeling/config.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name: Ackerly Creek Modeling
-version: "0.12.1"
+version: "0.12.2"
 slug: creek_modeling
 description: Flood-probability + predicted-stage inference and nightly retrain for Ackerly Creek.
 url: https://github.com/ryanbuiltthat/ewfa
diff --git a/creek_modeling/tests/test_discovery.py b/creek_modeling/tests/test_discovery.py
index 1d5719a..7cd5f06 100644
--- a/creek_modeling/tests/test_discovery.py
+++ b/creek_modeling/tests/test_discovery.py
@@ -64,7 +64,18 @@ def test_annotate_text_entity_has_the_right_command_topic():
     cfgs = {c["object_id"]: c for _, c in pub.configs()}
     annotate = cfgs["creek_annotate_latest_storm"]
     assert annotate["command_topic"] == "creek/cmd/annotate"
-    assert annotate["max"] >= 500   # a real note (times + basement + culvert) exceeds 255
+
+
+def test_annotate_text_entity_max_is_within_the_mqtt_text_platform_ceiling():
+    """255 is not a preference, it is HA's hard limit for MQTT text entities. A `max`
+    above it does not get clamped -- the whole discovery payload for that entity is
+    rejected and the entity is never created, silently. That shipped once (0.12.1: 500)
+    and the entity simply did not exist in Home Assistant; this is the regression guard."""
+    pub, _ = build()
+    cfgs = {c["object_id"]: c for _, c in pub.configs()}
+    for object_id, cfg in cfgs.items():
+        if "max" in cfg:
+            assert 0 <= cfg["max"] <= 255, f"{object_id}: max={cfg['max']} exceeds the MQTT text ceiling"
 
 
 def test_storm_to_annotate_sensor_reads_latest_closed_not_latest():