The ORM doesn't force you to use the DB model as your API schema. It's a regular Pydantic BaseModel, so you can make separate request/response schemas whenever you need to. For simple CRUD, using the model directly saves boilerplate. For complex cases, you decouple them as usual. The goal is not one model for everything, it's one contract. Everything speaks Pydantic, whether it's your API layer or your database layer.