diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index ab91695c..2caab8dd 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ Local FS events from the watcher update `localPath` synchronously at enqueue tim
 
 **Watermark.** `lastSeenUpdateId` uses a `MinCovered` (a contiguous-prefix tracker over a stream of integers): we only advance the published min when the next consecutive id has been processed, so out-of-order RemoteChange ids don't fool the WebSocket handshake into requesting a too-recent catch-up.
 
-**Server catch-up.** The server's WS handshake replays events newer than the client's `last_seen_vault_update_id` from the `latest_document_versions` view (one row per doc, the latest). On those replayed rows `is_new_file` means _new to this client_ (`creation_vault_update_id > last_seen_vault_update_id`), not "this row is the doc's first version" — necessary because the catch-up only carries the latest version; if a doc was created and updated past the watermark, the client never sees its create otherwise.
+**Server catch-up.** The server's WS handshake replays events newer than the client's `last_seen_vault_update_id`, computed as the latest version per document as of the cursor. The catch-up only carries each doc's *latest* version, not its full history. The client treats any RemoteChange whose `documentId` it has no record of as a fresh create and downloads the bytes.
 
 ## Edge-case patterns the sync engine has to survive
 
@@ -134,8 +134,6 @@ The two-loop split defuses most of the old race catalogue (slot-collision stashe
 
 **Watermark advancement is load-bearing both ways.** Branches that _skip_ a remote event without advancing `lastSeenUpdateId` create permanent gaps that re-deliver forever. Branches that _advance_ without applying the content lose data: the server has no further event to re-deliver, the catch-up only carries the latest version, and any state in between is gone. Don't advance unless the event was actually applied (or deliberately discarded after weighing both halves).
 
-**`isNewFile` semantics differ between catch-up and real-time.** On WS handshake replay it means _new to this client_ (`creation_vault_update_id > last_seen_vault_update_id`); on real-time broadcasts it means _this version is the create_ (`creation_vault_update_id == vault_update_id`). A handler that decides based on one interpretation will be wrong on the other channel; reasoning about fetch-and-treat-as-new vs. ignore needs to know which channel delivered the event.
-
 **Pause / disable-sync mid-flight** is the one race the new model doesn't structurally fix. An HTTP that committed server-side but whose response was discarded leaves the server holding a doc the client has no record of. Resume → offline scan → server-side dedupe handles it (the server merges the duplicate create into the existing doc), but if the merge produces a deconflict, the client picks up an extra file. Out of scope for the two-loop split.
 
 **Cycle reconciliation uses in-memory content swap.** When the move graph contains a cycle, the reconciler reads every file in the cycle into memory and writes each back to its new slot, with no tmp files. A write-ahead marker at `.vaultlink/swap-<uuid>.json` lists each leg; on startup the reconciler reads the marker, hashes each `from` to determine which legs ran, and replays the rest. The `.vaultlink/**` glob is hard-coded as an internal ignore pattern so swap markers don't get sync'd.
diff --git a/frontend/deterministic-tests/src/tests/catchup-create-and-update-not-skipped.test.ts b/frontend/deterministic-tests/src/tests/catchup-create-and-update-not-skipped.test.ts
index 2d40228f..675deaeb 100644
--- a/frontend/deterministic-tests/src/tests/catchup-create-and-update-not-skipped.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/deterministic-tests/src/tests/catchup-create-and-update-not-skipped.test.ts
@@ -5,14 +5,12 @@ export const catchupCreateAndUpdateNotSkippedTest: TestDefinition = {
     description:
         "Client 1 disconnects (sync disabled). Client 0 creates a doc and " +
         "then updates it. When Client 1 reconnects, the server's catch-up " +
-        "stream sends only the doc's *latest* version (the update), not the " +
-        "full history. Pre-fix the wire's `is_new_file` was set to " +
-        "`creation == latest_version`, so the catch-up flagged the doc as " +
-        "non-new even though Client 1 had never seen its creation. Client " +
-        "1's `processRemoteChange` then dropped it as a 'stale RemoteChange " +
-        "for untracked, non-new document' and the doc was silently lost. " +
-        "Post-fix `is_new_file` in the catch-up stream means 'new relative " +
-        "to the recipient's watermark' (`creation > last_seen_vault_update_id`).",
+        "stream sends only the doc's *latest* version (the update), not " +
+        "the full history. Client 1 must still pick up the doc — any handler " +
+        "that gates the create-on-untracked path on a server-supplied " +
+        "'is this the first version' flag would drop it (the latest version " +
+        "is not the create), silently leaking the doc. The client treats " +
+        "every untracked-doc RemoteChange as a fresh create.",
     clients: 2,
     steps: [
         { type: "enable-sync", client: 0 },
@@ -36,7 +34,7 @@ export const catchupCreateAndUpdateNotSkippedTest: TestDefinition = {
 
         // Client 0 updates the doc (vault_update_id v_X > v_C). The
         // server's `latest_document_versions` view now returns the
-        // *update* row — its `creation_vault_update_id != vault_update_id`.
+        // *update* row — the create row is no longer the latest.
         {
             type: "update",
             client: 0,
@@ -46,10 +44,9 @@ export const catchupCreateAndUpdateNotSkippedTest: TestDefinition = {
         { type: "sync", client: 0 },
 
         // Client 1 reconnects. Server's catch-up replays docs with
-        // `vault_update_id > last_seen`. For doc.md it sends v_X with
-        // `is_new_file` derived from `creation_vault_update_id >
-        // last_seen_vault_update_id` (post-fix) — so Client 1 treats it
-        // as a fresh create and downloads the latest content.
+        // `vault_update_id > last_seen`. For doc.md it sends v_X; Client
+        // 1 has no record of the doc, so it treats the RemoteChange as a
+        // fresh create and downloads the latest content.
         { type: "enable-sync", client: 1 },
         { type: "barrier" },
 
diff --git a/frontend/sync-client/src/services/types/DocumentVersionWithoutContent.ts b/frontend/sync-client/src/services/types/DocumentVersionWithoutContent.ts
index 662b41e5..4b24e7c5 100644
--- a/frontend/sync-client/src/services/types/DocumentVersionWithoutContent.ts
+++ b/frontend/sync-client/src/services/types/DocumentVersionWithoutContent.ts
@@ -9,8 +9,4 @@ export interface DocumentVersionWithoutContent {
     userId: string;
     deviceId: string;
     contentSize: number;
-    /**
-     * True iff this is the first version of the document
-     */
-    isNewFile: boolean;
 }
diff --git a/frontend/sync-client/src/sync-operations/sync-event-queue.test.ts b/frontend/sync-client/src/sync-operations/sync-event-queue.test.ts
index aef7c5f7..9aadebb4 100644
--- a/frontend/sync-client/src/sync-operations/sync-event-queue.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/sync-client/src/sync-operations/sync-event-queue.test.ts
@@ -66,7 +66,6 @@ function fakeRemoteVersion(
         userId: "user",
         deviceId: "device",
         contentSize: 100,
-        isNewFile: true,
         ...overrides
     };
 }
diff --git a/frontend/sync-client/src/sync-operations/sync-event-queue.ts b/frontend/sync-client/src/sync-operations/sync-event-queue.ts
index 9cc986d9..66dcf1a4 100644
--- a/frontend/sync-client/src/sync-operations/sync-event-queue.ts
+++ b/frontend/sync-client/src/sync-operations/sync-event-queue.ts
@@ -618,9 +618,8 @@ export class SyncEventQueue {
         // in the queue ahead of it. Once those drain and the doc is
         // removed, a still-pending RemoteChange for an earlier version
         // would be processed by `processRemoteCreateForNewDocument` (the
-        // doc is now untracked, and catch-up's `isNewFile=true` semantics
-        // qualify it as a fresh create), resurrecting the doc on disk
-        // with stale bytes that disagree with every other agent.
+        // doc is now untracked), resurrecting the doc on disk with stale
+        // bytes that disagree with every other agent.
         this.purgeRemoteChangesForDocumentId(documentId);
         return this.save();
     }
diff --git a/frontend/sync-client/src/sync-operations/syncer.ts b/frontend/sync-client/src/sync-operations/syncer.ts
index 483597fa..c51e7394 100644
--- a/frontend/sync-client/src/sync-operations/syncer.ts
+++ b/frontend/sync-client/src/sync-operations/syncer.ts
@@ -703,8 +703,7 @@ export class Syncer {
         if (response.isDeleted) {
             await this.processRemoteDelete(record.localPath, {
                 ...response,
-                contentSize: 0,
-                isNewFile: false
+                contentSize: 0
             });
             return;
         }
@@ -859,14 +858,6 @@ export class Syncer {
             return this.processRemoteUpdate(trackedRecord, remoteVersion);
         }
 
-        if (!remoteVersion.isNewFile) {
-            this.queue.lastSeenUpdateId = remoteVersion.vaultUpdateId;
-            this.logger.debug(
-                `Ignoring stale RemoteChange for untracked, non-new document ${remoteVersion.documentId}`
-            );
-            return;
-        }
-
         return this.processRemoteCreateForNewDocument(remoteVersion);
     }
 
diff --git a/sync-server/src/app_state/database.rs b/sync-server/src/app_state/database.rs
index ace07de3..b47263bc 100644
--- a/sync-server/src/app_state/database.rs
+++ b/sync-server/src/app_state/database.rs
@@ -405,7 +405,6 @@ impl Database {
             r#"
             select
                 vault_update_id,
-                creation_vault_update_id,
                 document_id as "document_id: Hyphenated",
                 relative_path,
                 updated_date as "updated_date: chrono::DateTime<Utc>",
@@ -439,7 +438,6 @@ impl Database {
                     user_id: row.user_id,
                     device_id: row.device_id,
                     content_size: row.content_size.unwrap_or(0),
-                    is_new_file: row.creation_vault_update_id == row.vault_update_id,
                 })
                 .collect()
         })
@@ -466,19 +464,14 @@ impl Database {
         // cursor capture (under broadcast send-lock) and this query
         // (which runs after drop-lock) would expose a `vault_update_id
         // > cursor` row that the cursor filter then drops, removing
-        // the doc from the catch-up entirely. The post-cursor live
-        // broadcast then carries `is_new_file = false` (per real-time
-        // semantics it's an update of a previously-existing version),
-        // and the receiving client — which has no record of the doc —
-        // ignores it as stale, stranding the doc forever. Computing
-        // the snapshot from the documents table directly with the
-        // upper bound applied at the GROUP BY layer keeps the
-        // catch-up self-contained at exactly the cursor.
+        // the doc from the catch-up entirely. Computing the snapshot
+        // from the documents table directly with the upper bound
+        // applied at the GROUP BY layer keeps the catch-up
+        // self-contained at exactly the cursor.
         let query = sqlx::query!(
             r#"
             select
                 d.vault_update_id,
-                d.creation_vault_update_id,
                 d.document_id as "document_id: Hyphenated",
                 d.relative_path,
                 d.updated_date as "updated_date: chrono::DateTime<Utc>",
@@ -523,17 +516,6 @@ impl Database {
                     user_id: row.user_id,
                     device_id: row.device_id,
                     content_size: row.content_size.unwrap_or(0),
-                    // For catch-up streams, "new file" means "new to this
-                    // recipient" — the doc was created past the recipient's
-                    // watermark. The catch-up only carries the doc's
-                    // *latest* version (not its full history), so using
-                    // `creation == latest` instead would mis-flag every
-                    // doc that was created and then updated before the
-                    // client reconnected, and the client's
-                    // `processRemoteChange` would drop it as "stale
-                    // RemoteChange for untracked, non-new document",
-                    // silently leaking docs to clients catching up.
-                    is_new_file: row.creation_vault_update_id > vault_update_id,
                 })
                 .collect()
         })
diff --git a/sync-server/src/app_state/database/models.rs b/sync-server/src/app_state/database/models.rs
index cf8f379c..708a5b99 100644
--- a/sync-server/src/app_state/database/models.rs
+++ b/sync-server/src/app_state/database/models.rs
@@ -46,14 +46,10 @@ pub struct DocumentVersionWithoutContent {
 
     #[ts(type = "number")]
     pub content_size: u64,
-
-    /// True iff this is the first version of the document
-    pub is_new_file: bool,
 }
 
 impl From<StoredDocumentVersion> for DocumentVersionWithoutContent {
     fn from(value: StoredDocumentVersion) -> Self {
-        let is_new_file = value.creation_vault_update_id == value.vault_update_id;
         Self {
             vault_update_id: value.vault_update_id,
             document_id: value.document_id,
@@ -63,7 +59,6 @@ impl From<StoredDocumentVersion> for DocumentVersionWithoutContent {
             user_id: value.user_id,
             device_id: value.device_id,
             content_size: value.content.len() as u64,
-            is_new_file,
         }
     }
 }