diff --git a/.agents/skills/layerfs-js-sdk/references/methods/fs-read.md b/.agents/skills/layerfs-js-sdk/references/methods/fs-read.md
index 1b57bca97..1e9c53e67 100644
--- a/.agents/skills/layerfs-js-sdk/references/methods/fs-read.md
+++ b/.agents/skills/layerfs-js-sdk/references/methods/fs-read.md
@@ -156,7 +156,9 @@ const page = await layerfs.fs.list("work", "/src");
 
 Describes one path.
 
-**Returns:** `{ kind: "ok", snapshot, root, path, type, inode, size }`.
+**Returns:** `{ kind: "ok", snapshot, root, path, type, inode, size }`. `size` is
+a file's length in bytes, a symlink's target length (as `lstat` reports it in a
+mounted Workspace) and 0 for a folder.
 
 ```js
 const exists = await layerfs.fs.stat("work", "/package.json").then(() => true, (e) => { if (isRefusal(e, "NoSuchPath")) return false; throw e; });
diff --git a/core/crates/layerfs-api/tests/stat_symlink.rs b/core/crates/layerfs-api/tests/stat_symlink.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..355f9d08c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/crates/layerfs-api/tests/stat_symlink.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+//! `fs.stat` gives a symlink the size a mounted Workspace gives it: the
+//! length of its target, not of the object that stores the target.
+#[path = "support/installed_store.rs"]
+#[allow(dead_code)]
+mod installed;
+#[path = "support/sdk.rs"]
+#[allow(dead_code)]
+mod support;
+
+use layerfs_bridge::control::SdkValue;
+use std::fs;
+use support::Fixture;
+
+#[test]
+fn a_symlink_size_is_its_target_length() {
+    let fixture = Fixture::new("stat-symlink", |source| {
+        fs::write(source.join("a.txt"), b"a\n").unwrap();
+        std::os::unix::fs::symlink("a.txt", source.join("link")).unwrap();
+        std::os::unix::fs::symlink("/does/not/exist", source.join("dangling")).unwrap();
+        3
+    });
+    for (path, target) in [("/link", "a.txt"), ("/dangling", "/does/not/exist")] {
+        let stat = fixture.call(
+            "fs.stat",
+            vec![
+                ("branch", SdkValue::text("main")),
+                ("path", SdkValue::text(path)),
+            ],
+        );
+        assert_eq!(stat.get("type"), Some(&SdkValue::text("symlink")), "{path}");
+        assert_eq!(
+            stat.get("size"),
+            Some(&SdkValue::Int(target.len() as i64)),
+            "{path}"
+        );
+    }
+    fixture.cleanup();
+}
diff --git a/core/crates/layerfs-store-service/src/read/snapshot.rs b/core/crates/layerfs-store-service/src/read/snapshot.rs
index a0e229907..1e1ef8a44 100644
--- a/core/crates/layerfs-store-service/src/read/snapshot.rs
+++ b/core/crates/layerfs-store-service/src/read/snapshot.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ use crate::store::{Store, StorePorts};
 use layerfs_bridge::control::{SdkRefusal, SdkValue};
 use layerfs_content::compare::{as_text, EntryFacts, TreeTable, MAXIMUM_TEXT_BYTES};
 use layerfs_content::filesystem::path::PathName;
-use layerfs_content::filesystem::FilesystemRootId;
+use layerfs_content::filesystem::{FilesystemRootId, SymlinkTarget};
 use layerfs_content::object::inode_leaf::InodeKind;
 use layerfs_content::{AuthenticatedObjects, ContentError, ObjectId};
 use layerfs_history::{LayerStackRecord, NodeId};
@@ -129,7 +129,9 @@ pub fn kind_name(kind: InodeKind) -> &'static str {
 }
 
 /// Logical size of a file or symlink's content; a directory is 0. A regular
-/// file's length is Store metadata: no payload or delta chain is read.
+/// file's length is Store metadata: no payload or delta chain is read. A
+/// symlink's is its target's length, as a mounted Workspace reports it, not
+/// the length of the object that stores the target.
 pub fn size(reader: &StorePorts, entry: &EntryFacts) -> Result<u64, SdkRefusal> {
     match entry.value.kind {
         InodeKind::Directory => Ok(0),
@@ -140,7 +142,8 @@ pub fn size(reader: &StorePorts, entry: &EntryFacts) -> Result<u64, SdkRefusal>
             .ok_or_else(|| args::failed("missing file length")),
         InodeKind::Symlink => {
             layerfs_content::AuthenticatedObjects::read_canonical(reader, entry.value.content_root)
-                .map(|canonical| canonical.len() as u64)
+                .and_then(|canonical| SymlinkTarget::decode(&canonical))
+                .map(|target| target.as_bytes().len() as u64)
                 .map_err(args::content)
         }
     }