diff --git a/src/app.rs b/src/app.rs
index 0deae18..44a5060 100644
--- a/src/app.rs
+++ b/src/app.rs
@@ -1812,7 +1812,18 @@ fn parse_error_message(err: &ParseError) -> String {
 /// `drop` show every variant. Otherwise the fallback lists every
 /// entry keyword alphabetically.
 fn render_usage_block(input: &str) -> String {
-    if let Some((_word, catalog_keys)) = crate::dsl::grammar::usage_keys_for_input(input) {
+    // A multi-form command that has committed to a form
+    // (`add index …`) shows only that form's usage; a bare
+    // multi-form entry word (`add`) shows the whole family.
+    let catalog_keys: Vec<&'static str> =
+        crate::dsl::grammar::usage_key_for_input(input)
+            .map(|key| vec![key])
+            .or_else(|| {
+                crate::dsl::grammar::usage_keys_for_input(input)
+                    .map(|(_word, all)| all.to_vec())
+            })
+            .unwrap_or_default();
+    if !catalog_keys.is_empty() {
         let mut out = String::from("usage:");
         for key in catalog_keys {
             let template = crate::friendly::translate(key, &[]);
diff --git a/src/dsl/grammar/mod.rs b/src/dsl/grammar/mod.rs
index 0416fcb..723548f 100644
--- a/src/dsl/grammar/mod.rs
+++ b/src/dsl/grammar/mod.rs
@@ -414,6 +414,42 @@ pub fn usage_keys_for_input(source: &str) -> Option<(&'static str, &'static [&'s
     Some((node.entry.primary, node.usage_ids))
 }
 
+/// The single usage template most relevant to `source`, when
+/// one is determinable.
+///
+/// A single-form command resolves to its one usage key. A
+/// multi-form command (`add`, `drop`) disambiguates by the
+/// form word after the entry keyword — so a parse error in
+/// `add index …` resolves to the `add index` usage rather than
+/// the first-listed `add column`. Returns `None` for a bare
+/// multi-form entry word (`add` with nothing after it), where
+/// no form has been chosen — the caller decides whether to
+/// show the whole family or nothing.
+#[must_use]
+pub fn usage_key_for_input(source: &str) -> Option<&'static str> {
+    use crate::dsl::walker::lex_helpers::{consume_ident, skip_whitespace};
+    let (_entry, keys) = usage_keys_for_input(source)?;
+    let first = *keys.first()?;
+    if keys.len() == 1 {
+        return Some(first);
+    }
+    // Multi-form: the form is named by the token right after
+    // the entry keyword.
+    let start = skip_whitespace(source, 0);
+    let (_, entry_end) = consume_ident(source, start)?;
+    let after = skip_whitespace(source, entry_end);
+    // The `add 1:n relationship` form opens with a digit.
+    if source.as_bytes().get(after).is_some_and(u8::is_ascii_digit) {
+        return keys.iter().copied().find(|k| k.ends_with("relationship"));
+    }
+    // Otherwise the form word is an identifier — `column`,
+    // `index`, `table`, `relationship` — matched against the
+    // usage key's suffix.
+    let (s, e) = consume_ident(source, after)?;
+    let form = source[s..e].to_ascii_lowercase();
+    keys.iter().copied().find(|k| k.ends_with(form.as_str()))
+}
+
 /// Every command-entry word in the registry, sorted alphabetically
 /// by primary literal. Replaces `dsl::usage::entry_keywords_alphabetised`
 /// which read the same data through the legacy `usage::REGISTRY`.
diff --git a/src/input_render.rs b/src/input_render.rs
index 3c839a1..fcc653b 100644
--- a/src/input_render.rs
+++ b/src/input_render.rs
@@ -341,8 +341,10 @@ pub fn ambient_hint(
                 }
             } else {
                 let _ = position;
-                let usage = crate::dsl::grammar::usage_keys_for_input(input)
-                    .and_then(|(_, keys)| keys.first().copied())
+                // The form the user has committed to drives the
+                // usage template — `add index …` shows the
+                // `add index` usage, not the first `add` form.
+                let usage = crate::dsl::grammar::usage_key_for_input(input)
                     .map(|key| crate::friendly::translate(key, &[]));
                 Some(AmbientHint::Prose(match usage {
                     Some(u) => crate::t!(
@@ -876,6 +878,25 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(cs, vec!["data".to_string(), "table".to_string()]);
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn ambient_hint_usage_matches_the_add_form_typed() {
+        // A trailing-junk error after `add index …` must show
+        // the `add index` usage — `add` is a multi-form
+        // command and the hint used to always show the first
+        // form (`add column`).
+        let input = "add index on Customers (barg):";
+        let h = prose(input, input.len()).expect("prose hint");
+        assert!(h.contains("usage:"), "got {h:?}");
+        assert!(
+            h.contains("add index"),
+            "should show the `add index` usage, got {h:?}",
+        );
+        assert!(
+            !h.contains("add column"),
+            "should not show the `add column` usage, got {h:?}",
+        );
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn ambient_hint_for_definite_error_includes_usage_template() {
         let h = prose("insert into T extra", 19).expect("prose hint");