diff --git a/src/content/docs/cypher/data-definition/alter.md b/src/content/docs/cypher/data-definition/alter.md
index 573892e..2a268d7 100644
--- a/src/content/docs/cypher/data-definition/alter.md
+++ b/src/content/docs/cypher/data-definition/alter.md
@@ -121,6 +121,138 @@ The following query renames the age column to grade.
 ALTER TABLE User RENAME age TO grade;
 ```
 
+## Set sorted by
+
+`SET SORTED BY` records sorted-by metadata on a table.
+
+```cypher
+ALTER TABLE User SET SORTED BY (age ASC);
+```
+
+Syntax (node tables):
+
+```cypher
+ALTER TABLE <node-table> SET SORTED BY (<property> ASC|DESC[, ...]) [CSR];
+```
+
+Each item names an existing column of the table followed by a required
+direction (`ASC` or `DESC`). Single-column and composite lists are allowed, and
+directions may be mixed (e.g. `(age DESC, name ASC)`). Declaring unknown columns
+is rejected:
+
+```cypher
+ALTER TABLE User SET SORTED BY (height ASC);
+-- Binder exception: Column height does not exist in table User.
+```
+
+A new declaration replaces any previous sorted-by metadata on the table, and a
+plain declaration (without `CSR`) clears a previously declared `CSR` flag.
+`RENAME COLUMN` follows renames inside the stored list. The declaration is
+visible in `EXPLAIN` as `Set Table <table> Sorted By <col> ASC|DESC[, ...]
+[CSR]`.
+
+Without `CSR`, the list is metadata only: Ladybug neither verifies nor
+establishes the ordering in storage, records no change-epoch watermark, and the
+optimizer does not consume it. It is persisted across checkpoints and carried
+over by subsequent `ALTER` operations. Only the `CSR` forms below have optimizer
+or storage effects.
+
+| Node-table form | Example | Result |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| Single column, either direction | `(age ASC)`, `(age DESC)` | Recorded as metadata. |
+| Composite, mixed directions | `(age DESC, name ASC)` | Recorded as metadata. |
+| Single ascending primary key + `CSR` | `(id ASC) CSR` | CSR constraint declared (see below). |
+| `CSR` with `DESC`, composite, or non-PK | `(id DESC) CSR`, `(id ASC, name ASC) CSR`, `(name ASC) CSR` | Rejected (see below). |
+
+### Node-table CSR constraint
+
+Appending the `CSR` keyword declares a CSR (compressed sparse row) constraint on a
+node table:
+
+```cypher
+ALTER TABLE User SET SORTED BY (id ASC) CSR;
+```
+
+`CSR` asserts that the table's primary key is a `csr_index` interchangeable with
+the rel table's `table_offset` (i.e. `primary_key == rowid`). This is a user
+assertion: Ladybug does not verify it from the data, so only declare it when the
+invariant actually holds.
+
+Validation rules (node tables):
+
+- Exactly one `SORTED BY` property.
+- It must be ascending (`ASC`). `DESC` is rejected.
+- It must be the table's primary key. Any other column is rejected.
+- Composite `SORTED BY` lists with `CSR` are rejected.
+
+```cypher
+ALTER TABLE User SET SORTED BY (id DESC) CSR;
+-- Binder exception: CSR requires exactly one SORTED BY property in ascending order.
+ALTER TABLE User SET SORTED BY (id ASC, name ASC) CSR;
+-- Binder exception: CSR requires exactly one SORTED BY property in ascending order.
+ALTER TABLE User SET SORTED BY (name ASC) CSR;
+-- Binder exception: CSR requires the SORTED BY property to be the primary key.
+```
+
+Invalidation: Ladybug records the node table's change epoch at declaration time.
+Any subsequent mutation of the node table invalidates the invariant and the
+optimizer silently disregards the `CSR` flag.
+
+Optimizer behavior: when the `CSR` flag is set and the node table is unmutated
+since declaration, the optimizer may use the offset-count degree rewrite
+(`RelDegreeTableMode::OFFSET_COUNT`). It may also rewrite
+`COUNT(DISTINCT nbr)` over a forward (`FWD`) `WALK` variable-length path
+(`MATCH (a:User {id: ...})-[r:Friend*1..5]->(b:User) RETURN count(distinct b)`)
+with a fixed source node, no node predicate, a single rel group, and single-labeled
+bound/neighbor nodes into a bounded per-depth BFS that counts distinct reachable
+offsets (`LogicalReachableCount`/`PhysicalReachableCount`). If any of these
+conditions is not met, the original plan is used.
+
+### Rel-table CSR sorted-by-dest
+
+For relationship tables, `CSR` declares that the CSR adjacency lists are physically
+stored with neighbors in non-decreasing order within each `FROM` row:
+
+```cypher
+ALTER TABLE Follows SET SORTED BY (FROM ASC, TO ASC) CSR;
+```
+
+`FROM` and `TO` are the user-facing names for the rel table's source and
+destination endpoints. They are reserved structural names, not rel properties.
+`bound` and `neighbor` remain internal concepts.
+
+Validation rules (rel tables):
+
+- The `CSR` keyword is required. Plain `SET SORTED BY` on a rel table is rejected.
+- The property list must be exactly `(FROM ASC, TO ASC)`. Any other shape
+(including `DESC`, single-column, or rel-property lists) is rejected.
+
+```cypher
+ALTER TABLE Follows SET SORTED BY (FROM ASC, TO ASC);
+-- Binder exception: SORTED BY on rel table Follows requires the CSR clause.
+ALTER TABLE Follows SET SORTED BY (FROM ASC, TO DESC) CSR;
+-- Binder exception: CSR on rel table Follows requires SORTED BY (FROM ASC, TO ASC).
+```
+
+This is a user assertion: storage does not establish the ordering at checkpoint
+time, so only declare it on data that is actually sorted (e.g. loaded from a
+pre-sorted source). Declaring it on unsorted data produces wrong results on the
+fast path.
+
+Effect and invalidation: the flag lets `CSRArrowArrays::symmetrize()` (which
+computes `A + A.T`, the symmetric/undirected view used for Arrow CSR results)
+skip the `O(m log max-degree)` per-row sort and merge directly against the raw
+indices. Ladybug records a `csrChangeEpoch` watermark at declaration time; if the
+rel table is mutated afterwards, the fast path is invalidated and `symmetrize()`
+falls back to the safe per-row sort.
+
+### Node vs rel at a glance
+
+| Table kind | Without `CSR` | With `CSR` |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| Node | Any existing column(s), `ASC`/`DESC`, single or composite. Metadata only: no ordering enforced, no watermark, no optimizer effect. | Exactly one property, `ASC`, and it must be the primary key. Sets the `CSR` flag + change-epoch watermark; mutation invalidates it. |
+| Rel | Rejected (`CSR` required). | Only `(FROM ASC, TO ASC)`. Declares sorted CSR adjacency; sets the watermark; mutation falls back to the safe path. |
+
 ## Comment on a table
 
 `COMMENT ON` allows you to add comments to a table.