diff --git a/packages/genui/lib/src/model/catalog.dart b/packages/genui/lib/src/model/catalog.dart
index 0c00b2074..6b7953256 100644
--- a/packages/genui/lib/src/model/catalog.dart
+++ b/packages/genui/lib/src/model/catalog.dart
@@ -271,17 +271,6 @@ class CatalogItemNotFoundException implements Exception {
   }
 }
 
-class _CatalogItemComponentApi implements core.ComponentApi {
-  _CatalogItemComponentApi(this._item);
-  final CatalogItem _item;
-
-  @override
-  String get name => _item.name;
-
-  @override
-  Schema get schema => _item.dataSchema;
-}
-
 /// Builds the `a2ui_core` [core.Catalog] for [catalog], used when constructing
 /// a [core.SurfaceModel] so `a2ui_core` lookups see real component metadata
 /// instead of an empty stub.
@@ -289,7 +278,5 @@ class _CatalogItemComponentApi implements core.ComponentApi {
 core.Catalog<core.ComponentApi> coreCatalogFor(Catalog catalog) =>
     core.Catalog<core.ComponentApi>(
       id: catalog.effectiveCatalogId,
-      components: catalog.items
-          .map<core.ComponentApi>(_CatalogItemComponentApi.new)
-          .toList(growable: false),
+      components: catalog.items.toList(growable: false),
     );
diff --git a/packages/genui/lib/src/model/catalog_item.dart b/packages/genui/lib/src/model/catalog_item.dart
index 715f335eb..b63eaecab 100644
--- a/packages/genui/lib/src/model/catalog_item.dart
+++ b/packages/genui/lib/src/model/catalog_item.dart
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 // Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
 // found in the LICENSE file.
 
+import 'package:a2ui_core/a2ui_core.dart' as core;
 import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
 import 'package:json_schema_builder/json_schema_builder.dart';
 
@@ -81,7 +82,7 @@ final class CatalogItemContext {
 
 /// Defines a UI layout type, its schema, and how to build its widget.
 @immutable
-final class CatalogItem {
+final class CatalogItem implements core.ComponentApi {
   /// Creates a new [CatalogItem].
   const CatalogItem({
     required this.name,
@@ -92,10 +93,15 @@ final class CatalogItem {
   }) : _originalSchema = dataSchema;
 
   /// The widget type name used in JSON, e.g., 'TextChatMessage'.
+  @override
   final String name;
 
   final Schema _originalSchema;
 
+  /// `core.ComponentApi` names this `schema`; genui exposes it as [dataSchema].
+  @override
+  Schema get schema => dataSchema;
+
   /// The schema definition for this widget's data.
   ///
   /// It should contain all of the component specific properties, but not the
diff --git a/packages/genui/test/catalog_test.dart b/packages/genui/test/catalog_test.dart
index 192404d47..54a147b60 100644
--- a/packages/genui/test/catalog_test.dart
+++ b/packages/genui/test/catalog_test.dart
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 // Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
 // found in the LICENSE file.
 
+import 'package:a2ui_core/a2ui_core.dart' as core;
 import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
 import 'package:flutter_test/flutter_test.dart';
 import 'package:genui/genui.dart';
@@ -220,4 +221,12 @@ void main() {
       expect(firstFunc.containsKey('parameters'), isTrue);
     });
   });
+
+  group('CatalogItem', () {
+    test('is a core.ComponentApi whose schema is its dataSchema', () {
+      final CatalogItem item = BasicCatalogItems.text;
+      expect(item, isA<core.ComponentApi>());
+      expect(item.schema.value, item.dataSchema.value);
+    });
+  });
 }