diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 204ef22..7058ab9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -60,6 +60,10 @@ type MyConfig struct {
 
 cfg, err := config.Load[MyConfig]("my-service.toml", "MYSERVICE")
 
+// Timeout fields use config.Duration (go-toml v2 doesn't decode
+// strings to time.Duration natively). Access via .Duration:
+readTimeout := cfg.Server.ReadTimeout.Duration  // time.Duration
+
 // Open database with standard pragmas and run migrations.
 database, err := db.Open(cfg.Database.Path)
 migrations := []db.Migration{
diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index 0fc8ea0..b28ff58 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -5,6 +5,24 @@
 // the standard sections (Server, Database, MCIAS, Log). Use [Load] to
 // parse a TOML file, apply environment overrides, set defaults, and
 // validate required fields.
+//
+// # Duration fields
+//
+// Timeout fields in [ServerConfig] use the [Duration] type rather than
+// [time.Duration] because go-toml v2 does not natively decode strings
+// (e.g., "30s") into time.Duration. Access the underlying value via
+// the embedded field:
+//
+//	cfg.Server.ReadTimeout.Duration  // time.Duration
+//
+// In TOML files, durations are written as Go duration strings:
+//
+//	read_timeout = "30s"
+//	idle_timeout = "2m"
+//
+// Environment variable overrides also use this format:
+//
+//	MCR_SERVER_READ_TIMEOUT=30s
 package config
 
 import (
diff --git a/config/duration.go b/config/duration.go
index 71a99ac..24a400b 100644
--- a/config/duration.go
+++ b/config/duration.go
@@ -5,9 +5,18 @@ import (
 	"time"
 )
 
-// Duration is a time.Duration that can be unmarshalled from a TOML string
+// Duration is a [time.Duration] that can be unmarshalled from a TOML string
 // (e.g., "30s", "5m"). go-toml v2 does not natively decode strings into
-// time.Duration, so this wrapper implements encoding.TextUnmarshaler.
+// time.Duration, so this wrapper implements [encoding.TextUnmarshaler].
+//
+// Access the underlying time.Duration via the embedded field:
+//
+//	cfg.Server.ReadTimeout.Duration  // time.Duration value
+//
+// Duration values work directly with time functions that accept
+// time.Duration because of the embedding:
+//
+//	time.After(cfg.Server.ReadTimeout.Duration)
 type Duration struct {
 	time.Duration
 }