diff --git a/docs/untrusted-input.md b/docs/untrusted-input.md
index 6dbdeaa..536fc1d 100644
--- a/docs/untrusted-input.md
+++ b/docs/untrusted-input.md
@@ -1,16 +1,16 @@
 # Untrusted input
 
 YAML from the network, user uploads, or a CI job is hostile until proven
-otherwise. saneyaml applies structural resource limits by default, and lets you
-tune them per call site.
+otherwise. saneyaml applies structural resource limits by default while parsing
+YAML, and lets you tune them per call site.
 
 > Snippets elide the enclosing function; assume a function returning
 > `saneyaml::Result<()>`.
 
 ## Defaults
 
-Every parser, loader, streaming, lossless, and Serde entry point enforces these
-out of the box:
+Parser-backed entry points enforce these limits while constructing YAML trees or
+streams:
 
 | Limit | Default | Rejects |
 |---|---|---|
@@ -24,6 +24,25 @@ out of the box:
 The defaults accept real-world config (Kubernetes CRDs, OpenAPI, Compose) while
 rejecting compact bombs that sit under the byte ceiling.
 
+These guarantees apply to input-based APIs such as `parse_*`, `stream_*`, and
+lossless parsing, as well as the `LoadOptions` loading and Serde methods. The
+top-level `from_str`, `from_slice`, `from_reader`, and document-loading entry
+points also inherit these guarantees. A `Node` or `Value` returned by one of
+those parser-backed APIs has already been checked when it was constructed.
+
+## Caller-built trees
+
+`from_node` and `from_value` deserialize trees supplied by the caller. They do
+not accept `LoadOptions` and do not re-run the parser resource limits. The same
+applies to direct Serde deserialization from a `Node` or `Value`. If you build or
+receive a tree independently, bound or validate its size, nesting, scalar sizes,
+collection widths, and any alias or merge expansion before deserializing it.
+
+Serde still has a separate guard for excessively deep `<<` merge expansion, but
+that guard is not a general resource-limit validation pass. saneyaml does not
+currently provide an options-aware validator for caller-built trees; such
+validation remains the caller's responsibility.
+
 ## Tighten for a specific call
 
 Lower a limit when you know your inputs are small:
diff --git a/src/de.rs b/src/de.rs
index c3e3570..f4fe701 100644
--- a/src/de.rs
+++ b/src/de.rs
@@ -93,6 +93,13 @@ where
 }
 
 /// Deserializes from an already parsed spanful [`Node`].
+///
+/// This function deserializes the caller-supplied tree directly; it does not
+/// re-run the parser resource limits configured by [`LoadOptions`]. A `Node`
+/// returned by a parser-backed API has already been checked when it was
+/// constructed. If you build or receive the node independently, bound or
+/// validate it before calling this function. The separate guard for deeply
+/// nested `<<` merge expansion is not a general resource-limit validation pass.
 pub fn from_node<'de, T>(node: &'de Node) -> crate::Result<T>
 where
     T: serde::Deserialize<'de>,
@@ -109,11 +116,16 @@ where
 
 /// Deserializes from a spanless YAML [`Value`].
 ///
-/// Unlike parser-backed entrypoints such as [`from_str`], [`from_slice`], and
-/// [`from_node`], this path cannot recover the original scalar source spelling
-/// for typed `String` or `&str` targets. Non-string [`Value`] scalars therefore
-/// stay typed and reject string targets instead of being coerced to their YAML
-/// source text.
+/// This function deserializes the caller-supplied tree directly; it does not
+/// re-run the parser resource limits configured by [`LoadOptions`]. Caller-built
+/// values must be bounded or validated independently before deserialization. The
+/// separate guard for deeply nested `<<` merge expansion is not a general
+/// resource-limit validation pass.
+///
+/// Unlike parser-backed entrypoints such as [`from_str`] and [`from_slice`],
+/// this path cannot recover the original scalar source spelling for typed
+/// `String` or `&str` targets. Non-string [`Value`] scalars therefore stay typed
+/// and reject string targets instead of being coerced to their YAML source text.
 pub fn from_value<T>(value: Value) -> crate::Result<T>
 where
     T: DeserializeOwned,
diff --git a/tests/dos_hardening.rs b/tests/dos_hardening.rs
index cd802c1..a5265c7 100644
--- a/tests/dos_hardening.rs
+++ b/tests/dos_hardening.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use saneyaml::{Error, Event, LoadOptions, Node, Value};
+use saneyaml::{Error, Event, LoadOptions, Node, NodeValue, Span, Value};
 use serde::Deserialize;
 use std::fs;
 use std::io::Cursor;
@@ -171,6 +171,32 @@ fn collection_limit_rejects_wide_sequences_and_mappings_with_spans() {
     }
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn caller_built_trees_do_not_reapply_parser_collection_limits() {
+    let input = "[null, null]";
+    let error = LoadOptions::new()
+        .max_collection_items(1)
+        .parse_str(input)
+        .expect_err("parser-backed input must honor the collection limit");
+    assert_limit_error(input, &error, "YAML collection exceeds configured limit");
+
+    let expected = Value::Sequence(vec![Value::Null, Value::Null]);
+    let from_value: Value =
+        saneyaml::from_value(expected.clone()).expect("from_value accepts caller-built trees");
+    assert_eq!(from_value, expected);
+
+    let node = Node::new(
+        NodeValue::Sequence(vec![
+            Node::null(Span::default()),
+            Node::null(Span::default()),
+        ]),
+        Span::default(),
+    );
+    let from_node: Value =
+        saneyaml::from_node(&node).expect("from_node accepts caller-built trees");
+    assert_eq!(from_node, expected);
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn alias_bomb_rejects_semantic_loaders_but_raw_events_do_not_expand() {
     let options = LoadOptions::new().max_alias_expansion_nodes(8);