diff --git a/documentation/client/adbc_driver.md b/documentation/client/adbc_driver.md
index 532a0117..7a6db0c0 100644
--- a/documentation/client/adbc_driver.md
+++ b/documentation/client/adbc_driver.md
@@ -122,13 +122,13 @@ adbc.elastic {
 }
 
 elastic.credentials {
-  host     = "localhost"  # env: ES_HOST
-  port     = 9200         # env: ES_PORT
+  host     = "localhost"  # env: ELASTIC_HOST
+  port     = 9200         # env: ELASTIC_PORT
   # Choose one authentication method:
-  user     = "elastic"    # env: ES_USER      (username/password)
-  password = "changeme"   # env: ES_PASSWORD
-  # api-key  = ""         # env: ES_API_KEY   (API key)
-  # bearer   = ""         # env: ES_BEARER    (bearer token)
+  username = "elastic"    # env: ELASTIC_CREDENTIALS_USERNAME (username/password)
+  password = "changeme"   # env: ELASTIC_CREDENTIALS_PASSWORD
+  # api-key      = ""     # env: ELASTIC_CREDENTIALS_API_KEY      (API key)
+  # bearer-token = ""     # env: ELASTIC_CREDENTIALS_BEARER_TOKEN (bearer token)
 }
 ```
 
diff --git a/documentation/client/arrow_flight_sql.md b/documentation/client/arrow_flight_sql.md
index f05dae29..22eb922c 100644
--- a/documentation/client/arrow_flight_sql.md
+++ b/documentation/client/arrow_flight_sql.md
@@ -30,10 +30,10 @@ There are two Flight SQL servers, and these quickstarts cover only the first:
 
 ```bash
 docker run -p 32010:32010 \
-  -e ES_HOST=elasticsearch \
-  -e ES_PORT=9200 \
-  -e ES_USER=elastic \
-  -e ES_PASSWORD=changeme \
+  -e ELASTIC_HOST=elasticsearch \
+  -e ELASTIC_PORT=9200 \
+  -e ELASTIC_CREDENTIALS_USERNAME=elastic \
+  -e ELASTIC_CREDENTIALS_PASSWORD=changeme \
   softnetwork/softclient4es8-arrow-flight-sql:latest
 ```
 
@@ -133,10 +133,10 @@ arrow.flight {
 }
 
 elastic.credentials {
-  host     = "localhost"    # env: ES_HOST
-  port     = 9200           # env: ES_PORT
-  user     = "elastic"      # env: ES_USER
-  password = "changeme"     # env: ES_PASSWORD
+  host     = "localhost"    # env: ELASTIC_HOST (ELASTIC_IP wins when both are set)
+  port     = 9200           # env: ELASTIC_PORT
+  username = "elastic"      # env: ELASTIC_CREDENTIALS_USERNAME
+  password = "changeme"     # env: ELASTIC_CREDENTIALS_PASSWORD
 }
 ```
 
diff --git a/sql/src/main/scala/app/softnetwork/elastic/sql/type/ValueCoercion.scala b/sql/src/main/scala/app/softnetwork/elastic/sql/type/ValueCoercion.scala
index de0dd50d..2e058f9b 100644
--- a/sql/src/main/scala/app/softnetwork/elastic/sql/type/ValueCoercion.scala
+++ b/sql/src/main/scala/app/softnetwork/elastic/sql/type/ValueCoercion.scala
@@ -137,6 +137,22 @@ object ValueCoercion {
       throw new java.sql.SQLException(s"Cannot convert ${value.getClass.getName} to DECIMAL")
   }
 
+  /** Coerce a runtime value to a `java.sql.Date`.
+    *
+    * A `Number` is read as **epoch milliseconds**, the shape Elasticsearch returns for a `date`
+    * field whose `_source` stores the value numerically (`"event_ts": 1735689600000`) — ES's
+    * default `date` format is `strict_date_optional_time||epoch_millis`, and
+    * `ElasticConversion.jsonNodeToAny` only attempts a temporal parse on TEXTUAL nodes, so a
+    * numeric date arrives here as a `java.lang.Long`. Without this arm every such value fell to the
+    * catch-all and threw `Cannot convert java.lang.Long to DATE`, which took down the whole
+    * cross-index JOIN leg (softclient4es-arrow#168) and `ResultSet.getDate` with it. The sibling
+    * [[coerceToTimestamp]] has always had this arm; the asymmetry was unintentional.
+    *
+    * Deliberately NOT mirrored in [[coerceToTime]]: a bare number in a TIME position is ambiguous
+    * (epoch millis vs millis-of-day), Elasticsearch has no `time` mapping token — `SQLTypes.Time`
+    * is unreachable from an ES mapping, which resolves `"date"` to `SQLTypes.Date` — and no defect
+    * has been reported there. Add it when a real value shape demands it, not by symmetry.
+    */
   def coerceToDate(value: Any): java.sql.Date = value match {
     case null                         => null
     case d: java.sql.Date             => d
@@ -154,6 +170,7 @@ object ValueCoercion {
     case s: String =>
       try { java.sql.Date.valueOf(s) }
       catch { case _: Exception => throw new java.sql.SQLException(s"Cannot parse '$s' as DATE") }
+    case n: Number => new java.sql.Date(n.longValue())
     case _ =>
       throw new java.sql.SQLException(s"Cannot convert ${value.getClass.getName} to DATE")
   }
diff --git a/sql/src/test/scala/app/softnetwork/elastic/sql/type/ValueCoercionSpec.scala b/sql/src/test/scala/app/softnetwork/elastic/sql/type/ValueCoercionSpec.scala
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7bf9a71a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sql/src/test/scala/app/softnetwork/elastic/sql/type/ValueCoercionSpec.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+package app.softnetwork.elastic.sql.`type`
+
+import org.scalatest.flatspec.AnyFlatSpec
+import org.scalatest.matchers.should.Matchers
+
+import java.time.{Instant, LocalDate, ZoneOffset}
+
+/** softclient4es-arrow#168 — `coerceToDate` had no `Number` arm while `coerceToTimestamp` did, so
+  * an Elasticsearch `date` field stored as epoch millis threw `Cannot convert java.lang.Long to
+  * DATE` and took down every cross-index JOIN leg that projected it (and `ResultSet.getDate` with
+  * it).
+  */
+class ValueCoercionSpec extends AnyFlatSpec with Matchers {
+
+  // 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z plus 13h 45m — a value with a real time-of-day, so a naive
+  // implementation that truncated (or failed to) is visible.
+  private val EpochMillis: Long = 1767225600000L + (13L * 3600 + 45L * 60) * 1000L
+  private val ExpectedDate: LocalDate =
+    Instant.ofEpochMilli(EpochMillis).atZone(ZoneOffset.UTC).toLocalDate
+
+  "coerceToDate" should "read a java.lang.Long as epoch milliseconds (arrow#168)" in {
+    val d = ValueCoercion.coerceToDate(java.lang.Long.valueOf(EpochMillis))
+    d should not be null
+    d.getTime shouldBe EpochMillis
+  }
+
+  it should "read every other Number shape as epoch milliseconds" in {
+    ValueCoercion.coerceToDate(java.lang.Integer.valueOf(0)).getTime shouldBe 0L
+    ValueCoercion
+      .coerceToDate(java.math.BigDecimal.valueOf(EpochMillis))
+      .getTime shouldBe EpochMillis
+    ValueCoercion.coerceToDate(EpochMillis.toDouble).getTime shouldBe EpochMillis
+  }
+
+  it should "keep every pre-existing conversion working" in {
+    ValueCoercion.coerceToDate(null) shouldBe null
+    val ld = LocalDate.of(2026, 1, 2)
+    ValueCoercion.coerceToDate(ld) shouldBe java.sql.Date.valueOf(ld)
+    ValueCoercion.coerceToDate("2026-01-02") shouldBe java.sql.Date.valueOf("2026-01-02")
+    ValueCoercion.coerceToDate(Instant.ofEpochMilli(EpochMillis)).getTime shouldBe EpochMillis
+  }
+
+  it should "still reject a value with no date meaning" in {
+    a[java.sql.SQLException] should be thrownBy ValueCoercion.coerceToDate(new Object)
+  }
+
+  // Negative control for the DELIBERATE asymmetry recorded in coerceToDate's scaladoc: a bare
+  // number in a TIME position is ambiguous, so coerceToTime must NOT grow a Number arm by
+  // symmetry. If someone "fixes" that for consistency, this test tells them it was a decision.
+  "coerceToTime" should "deliberately reject a Number" in {
+    a[java.sql.SQLException] should be thrownBy ValueCoercion.coerceToTime(
+      java.lang.Long.valueOf(EpochMillis)
+    )
+  }
+
+  "coerceToTimestamp" should "remain the reference for the Number arm" in {
+    ValueCoercion
+      .coerceToTimestamp(java.lang.Long.valueOf(EpochMillis))
+      .getTime shouldBe EpochMillis
+  }
+
+  // Documents the ES-mapping consequence that made arrow#168 reachable at all: an ES `date`
+  // mapping resolves to SQLTypes.Date (typeId "DATE"), which arrow-core turns into a Date64
+  // vector — while the _source value may be a plain number.
+  "SQLTypes" should "resolve the ES 'date' mapping token to SQLTypes.Date" in {
+    SQLTypes("date") shouldBe SQLTypes.Date
+    SQLTypes.Date.typeId shouldBe "DATE"
+  }
+
+  // Subject restated on purpose — this is about coerceToDate, not about SQLTypes.
+  "coerceToDate" should "map an epoch-millis Long to the same UTC calendar date in every JVM zone" in {
+    // Derived from Instant + ZoneOffset.UTC, so the expectation carries no dependency on the
+    // machine's default zone — the assertion holds in every CI timezone.
+    Instant
+      .ofEpochMilli(ValueCoercion.coerceToDate(java.lang.Long.valueOf(EpochMillis)).getTime)
+      .atZone(ZoneOffset.UTC)
+      .toLocalDate shouldBe ExpectedDate
+  }
+}