Recursive schemas

Value composition cannot express cycles (a const cannot reference itself in its own initializer — that’s JavaScript, not a library limitation). For recursion use Type.Cyclic: definitions live in the schema’s own $defs and string refs resolve locally, so the schema stays self-contained and static inference works through the cycle:

const Tree = Type.Cyclic({
  Node: Type.Object({
    value: Type.String(),
    children: Type.Array(Type.Ref('Node')), // resolves against $defs, not a registry
  }),
}, 'Node')

type Tree = Static<typeof Tree> // { value: string, children: Tree[] } — recursive

Type.Read / Type.Write project $defs definitions too. Note: Type.Ref is only meaningful inside Type.Cyclic — there is no global registry to resolve against anywhere else.