diff --git a/extensions/s3/README.md b/extensions/s3/README.md
index 1edad164..e4ac4330 100644
--- a/extensions/s3/README.md
+++ b/extensions/s3/README.md
@@ -56,6 +56,20 @@ includes CDDL, deterministic CBOR and hashing rules, the physical S3 layout,
 state machines, a Smithy semantic API, and executable conformance vectors for
 implementing compatible Java, Go, TypeScript, and other clients.
 
+## Try commits and branches locally
+
+The runnable walkthrough needs no credentials or external service. It creates
+history, forks a branch, pages through a diff, detects a merge conflict,
+resolves it, and reads the merged files:
+
+```bash
+cargo run --manifest-path extensions/s3/Cargo.toml \
+  -p prolly-s3-core --example branching_walkthrough
+```
+
+It uses an in-memory versioned object plane to focus on repository semantics.
+Use the RustFS verification below to exercise the S3 transport as well.
+
 ## Local RustFS verification
 
 The checked-in Compose file runs a versioning-capable RustFS endpoint:
diff --git a/extensions/s3/client/README.md b/extensions/s3/client/README.md
index ca0316da..60c3c65d 100644
--- a/extensions/s3/client/README.md
+++ b/extensions/s3/client/README.md
@@ -78,6 +78,22 @@ against your key count and memory budget. Export `performance_snapshot()` for
 publication queue/wait telemetry and `s3_operation_metrics()` for SDK request
 counts.
 
+## Run the branching walkthrough
+
+To explore the repository model without AWS credentials or a running S3
+service, run the in-memory example from the workspace root:
+
+```bash
+cargo run --manifest-path extensions/s3/Cargo.toml \
+  -p prolly-s3-core --example branching_walkthrough
+```
+
+The example creates diverging `main` and `feature` branches, pages through a
+structural diff, previews a conflict, proves that a rejected merge does not
+move `main`, resolves the conflict explicitly, and prints the resulting
+first-parent history. It uses the same provider-neutral repository operations
+as the S3 client; use the RustFS example for a complete transport integration.
+
 ## Put and read a file
 
 The builders intentionally resemble the AWS Rust SDK:
diff --git a/extensions/s3/core/examples/branching_walkthrough.rs b/extensions/s3/core/examples/branching_walkthrough.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..81cbf547
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extensions/s3/core/examples/branching_walkthrough.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,170 @@
+//! Runnable tour of Prolly S3 commits, branches, diffs, and merges.
+//!
+//! This uses the in-memory object plane, so it needs no AWS account or RustFS.
+//! The repository operations are the same ones used by the S3-backed client.
+
+use std::{collections::BTreeMap, sync::Arc};
+
+use prolly_s3_core::{
+    CommitReceipt, ErrorCode, MemoryObjectPlane, MergePolicy, ObjectHeaders, Repository,
+    RepositoryOptions, Result, TraversalBudget,
+};
+
+#[tokio::main]
+async fn main() -> Result<()> {
+    let plane = Arc::new(MemoryObjectPlane::new(true));
+    let repository = Repository::initialize(
+        plane,
+        RepositoryOptions {
+            repository_prefix: ".prolly/examples/branching".to_string(),
+            writer: "walkthrough".to_string(),
+            ..RepositoryOptions::default()
+        },
+    )
+    .await?;
+
+    println!("1. Build a shared history on main");
+    put(&repository, "main", "README.md", "Welcome to the site\n").await?;
+    let base = put(&repository, "main", "config/theme.txt", "light\n").await?;
+    println!("   base commit: {}", base.id);
+
+    println!("\n2. Create feature from that exact commit");
+    repository.create_branch("feature", base.id).await?;
+    put(
+        &repository,
+        "feature",
+        "feature/banner.txt",
+        "Try the new theme!\n",
+    )
+    .await?;
+    let feature_head = put(&repository, "feature", "config/theme.txt", "dark\n").await?;
+    println!("   feature head: {}", feature_head.id);
+
+    println!("\n3. Let main diverge");
+    put(&repository, "main", "release.txt", "1.0\n").await?;
+    let main_head = put(&repository, "main", "config/theme.txt", "solarized\n").await?;
+    println!("   main head:    {}", main_head.id);
+
+    println!("\n4. Diff base..feature one result at a time");
+    let mut cursor = None;
+    loop {
+        let page = repository
+            .diff_page_bounded(base.id, feature_head.id, cursor.as_ref(), 1)
+            .await?;
+
+        for change in page.changes {
+            println!(
+                "   {:<20} {} -> {}",
+                display_key(&change.key),
+                display_version(change.from),
+                display_version(change.to),
+            );
+        }
+
+        cursor = page.continuation;
+        if cursor.is_none() {
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+
+    println!("\n5. Plan the merge before changing main");
+    let plan = repository
+        .plan_merge("main", feature_head.id, Some(base.id), MergePolicy::Fail)
+        .await?;
+    for conflict in &plan.conflicts {
+        println!("   conflict: {}", display_key(&conflict.key));
+    }
+    assert_eq!(plan.conflicts.len(), 1);
+
+    println!("\n6. A fail-on-conflict merge leaves main unchanged");
+    let error = repository
+        .merge(
+            "main",
+            feature_head.id,
+            Some(base.id),
+            MergePolicy::Fail,
+            None,
+            Some("merge feature".to_string()),
+        )
+        .await
+        .expect_err("the theme edits must conflict");
+    assert_eq!(error.code, ErrorCode::MergeConflict);
+    assert_eq!(repository.head("main").await?, main_head.id);
+    println!("   rejected: {}", error.message);
+
+    println!("\n7. Resolve explicitly with the feature branch's value");
+    let merged = repository
+        .merge(
+            "main",
+            feature_head.id,
+            Some(base.id),
+            MergePolicy::Theirs,
+            None,
+            Some("merge feature using its theme".to_string()),
+        )
+        .await?;
+    println!("   merge commit: {}", merged.id);
+    println!("   parents:      {}", merged.parents.len());
+
+    let theme = repository.get_current("main", b"config/theme.txt").await?;
+    let banner = repository
+        .get_current("main", b"feature/banner.txt")
+        .await?;
+    let release = repository.get_current("main", b"release.txt").await?;
+    assert_eq!(theme.bytes, b"dark\n");
+    assert_eq!(banner.bytes, b"Try the new theme!\n");
+    assert_eq!(release.bytes, b"1.0\n");
+
+    println!("   config/theme.txt  = {}", display_bytes(&theme.bytes));
+    println!("   feature/banner.txt = {}", display_bytes(&banner.bytes));
+    println!("   release.txt        = {}", display_bytes(&release.bytes));
+
+    println!("\n8. Walk main's first-parent history");
+    let history = repository
+        .log_page_bounded(merged.id, None, 10, TraversalBudget::default())
+        .await?;
+    for (id, commit) in history.commits {
+        println!(
+            "   {}  parents={}  {}",
+            id,
+            commit.parents.len(),
+            commit.message.as_deref().unwrap_or("(no message)"),
+        );
+    }
+
+    println!("\nWalkthrough complete.");
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+async fn put(
+    repository: &Repository<MemoryObjectPlane>,
+    branch: &str,
+    key: &str,
+    value: &str,
+) -> Result<CommitReceipt> {
+    repository
+        .put_bytes(
+            branch,
+            key.as_bytes().to_vec(),
+            value.as_bytes().to_vec(),
+            ObjectHeaders {
+                content_type: Some("text/plain".to_string()),
+                ..ObjectHeaders::default()
+            },
+            BTreeMap::new(),
+            None,
+        )
+        .await
+}
+
+fn display_key(key: &[u8]) -> String {
+    String::from_utf8_lossy(key).into_owned()
+}
+
+fn display_version(version: Option<prolly_s3_core::ObjectVersionId>) -> String {
+    version.map_or_else(|| "(absent)".to_string(), |version| version.to_string())
+}
+
+fn display_bytes(bytes: &[u8]) -> String {
+    String::from_utf8_lossy(bytes).trim_end().to_string()
+}