diff --git a/lamindb/_artifact.py b/lamindb/_artifact.py
index 9d6ca6da7..b7d0cf54c 100644
--- a/lamindb/_artifact.py
+++ b/lamindb/_artifact.py
@@ -569,7 +569,7 @@ def __init__(artifact: Artifact, *args, **kwargs):
         provisional_uid = init_uid(version=version, n_full_id=20)
     else:
         if not isinstance(revises, Artifact):
-            raise TypeError("revises has to be of type ln.Artifact")
+            raise TypeError("`revises` has to be of type `Artifact`")
         provisional_uid, version = get_uid_from_old_version(revises, version, using_key)
         if description is None:
             description = revises.description
diff --git a/lamindb/core/versioning.py b/lamindb/core/versioning.py
index f08c382b4..728230440 100644
--- a/lamindb/core/versioning.py
+++ b/lamindb/core/versioning.py
@@ -78,8 +78,6 @@ def set_version(version: str | None = None, previous_version: str | None = None)
         version: Version string.
         previous_version: Previous version string.
     """
-    if version == previous_version:
-        raise ValueError(f"Please increment the previous version: '{previous_version}'")
     if version is None and previous_version is not None:
         version = bump_version(previous_version, bump_type="major")
     return version
@@ -92,16 +90,23 @@ def init_uid(
     revises: IsVersioned | None = None,
 ) -> str:
     if revises is not None:
-        stem_uid = revises.stem_uid
+        suid = revises.stem_uid
+        ruid = increment_base62(revises.uid[-4:])
     else:
-        stem_uid = ids.base62(n_full_id - 4)
+        suid = ids.base62(n_full_id - 4)
+        ruid = "0000"
     if version is not None:
         if not isinstance(version, str):
             raise ValueError(
                 "`version` parameter must be `None` or `str`, e.g., '0.1', '1', '2',"
                 " etc."
             )
-    return stem_uid + ids.base62_4()
+        if revises is not None:
+            if version == revises.version:
+                raise ValueError(
+                    f"Please increment the previous version: '{revises.version}'"
+                )
+    return suid + ruid
 
 
 def get_uid_from_old_version(
@@ -110,24 +115,11 @@ def get_uid_from_old_version(
     using_key: str | None = None,
 ) -> tuple[str, str]:
     """{}"""  # noqa: D415
-    msg = ""
-    if revises.version is None:
-        previous_version = "1"
-        msg = f"setting previous version to '{previous_version}'"
-    else:
-        previous_version = revises.version
-    version = set_version(version, previous_version)
     new_uid = init_uid(
         version=version,
         n_full_id=revises._len_full_uid,
         revises=revises,
     )
-    # the following covers the edge case where the old file was unversioned
-    if revises.version is None:
-        revises.version = previous_version
-        revises.save(using=using_key)
-        if msg != "":
-            msg += f"& new version to '{version}'"
     return new_uid, version
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_artifact.py b/tests/test_artifact.py
index c9b98a3d1..306aeb2b6 100644
--- a/tests/test_artifact.py
+++ b/tests/test_artifact.py
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@
     CloudPath,
     LocalPathClasses,
     UPath,
-    extract_suffix_from_path,
 )
 
 # how do we properly abstract out the default storage variable?
@@ -134,7 +133,25 @@ def test_data_is_anndata_paths():
     assert not data_is_anndata("s3://somewhere/something.zarr")
 
 
-def test_revises_versioned_file(df, adata):
+def test_basic_ralidation():
+    # extra kwargs
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        ln.Artifact("testpath.csv", description="test1b", extra_kwarg="extra")
+
+    # > 1 args
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError) as error:
+        ln.Artifact("testpath.csv", "testpath.csv")
+    assert error.exconly() == "ValueError: Only one non-keyword arg allowed: data"
+
+
+# comment out for now
+# AUTO_KEY_PREFIX
+#    with pytest.raises(ValueError) as error:
+#        ln.Artifact.from_df(df, key=".lamindb/test_df.parquet")
+#    assert error.exconly() == "ValueError: Key cannot start with .lamindb/"
+
+
+def test_revise_file(df, adata):
     # attempt to create a file with an invalid version
     with pytest.raises(ValueError) as error:
         artifact = ln.Artifact.from_df(df, description="test", version=0)
@@ -153,53 +170,36 @@ def test_revises_versioned_file(df, adata):
     assert artifact.path.exists()
 
     with pytest.raises(ValueError) as error:
-        artifact_v2 = ln.Artifact.from_anndata(adata, revises=artifact, version="1")
+        artifact_r2 = ln.Artifact.from_anndata(adata, revises=artifact, version="1")
     assert error.exconly() == "ValueError: Please increment the previous version: '1'"
 
     # create new file from old file
-    artifact_v2 = ln.Artifact.from_anndata(adata, revises=artifact)
+    artifact_r2 = ln.Artifact.from_anndata(adata, revises=artifact)
     assert artifact.version == "1"
-    assert artifact_v2.stem_uid == artifact.stem_uid
-    assert artifact_v2.version == "2"
-    assert artifact_v2.key is None
-    assert artifact_v2.description == "test"
+    assert artifact_r2.stem_uid == artifact.stem_uid
+    assert artifact_r2.version is None
+    assert artifact_r2.key is None
+    assert artifact_r2.description == "test"
 
-    artifact_v2.save()
-    assert artifact_v2.path.exists()
+    artifact_r2.save()
+    assert artifact_r2.path.exists()
 
     # create new file from newly versioned file
-    df.iloc[0, 0] = 0
-    file_v3 = ln.Artifact.from_df(df, description="test1", revises=artifact_v2)
-    assert file_v3.stem_uid == artifact.stem_uid
-    assert file_v3.version == "3"
-    assert file_v3.description == "test1"
+    df.iloc[0, 0] = 0  # mutate dataframe so that hash lookup doesn't trigger
+    file_r3 = ln.Artifact.from_df(
+        df, description="test1", revises=artifact_r2, version="2"
+    )
+    assert file_r3.stem_uid == artifact.stem_uid
+    assert file_r3.version == "2"
+    assert file_r3.description == "test1"
 
     with pytest.raises(TypeError) as error:
         ln.Artifact.from_df(df, description="test1a", revises=ln.Transform())
-    assert error.exconly() == "TypeError: revises has to be of type ln.Artifact"
+    assert error.exconly() == "TypeError: `revises` has to be of type `Artifact`"
 
-    # test that reference file cannot be deleted
-    artifact_v2.delete(permanent=True, storage=True)
+    artifact_r2.delete(permanent=True, storage=True)
     artifact.delete(permanent=True, storage=True)
 
-    # extra kwargs
-    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
-        ln.Artifact.from_df(df, description="test1b", extra_kwarg="extra")
-
-    # > 1 args
-    with pytest.raises(ValueError) as error:
-        ln.Artifact(df, df)
-    assert error.exconly() == "ValueError: Only one non-keyword arg allowed: data"
-
-
-# comment out for now
-# AUTO_KEY_PREFIX
-#    with pytest.raises(ValueError) as error:
-#        ln.Artifact.from_df(df, key=".lamindb/test_df.parquet")
-#    assert error.exconly() == "ValueError: Key cannot start with .lamindb/"
-
-
-def test_revises_unversioned_file(df, adata):
     # unversioned file
     artifact = ln.Artifact.from_df(df, description="test2")
     assert artifact.version is None
@@ -210,9 +210,9 @@ def test_revises_unversioned_file(df, adata):
 
     # create new file from old file
     new_artifact = ln.Artifact.from_anndata(adata, revises=artifact)
-    assert artifact.version == "1"
+    assert artifact.version is None
     assert new_artifact.stem_uid == artifact.stem_uid
-    assert new_artifact.version == "2"
+    assert new_artifact.version is None
     assert new_artifact.description == artifact.description
 
     artifact.delete(permanent=True, storage=True)
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ def test_create_from_dataframe_using_from_df_and_link_features(df):
     assert artifact.description == description
     assert artifact._accessor == "DataFrame"
     assert artifact.key == "folder/hello.parquet"
-    assert artifact._key_is_virtual
+    assert artifact._key_is_rirtual
     assert artifact.uid in artifact.path.as_posix()
     artifact.save()
     # register features from df columns
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ def test_create_from_dataframe_using_from_df_and_link_features(df):
 
 def test_create_from_anndata_in_memory_and_link_features(adata):
     ln.save(
-        bt.Gene.from_values(adata.var.index, field=bt.Gene.symbol, organism="human")
+        bt.Gene.from_ralues(adata.var.index, field=bt.Gene.symbol, organism="human")
     )
     ln.save(ln.Feature.from_df(adata.obs))
     artifact = ln.Artifact.from_anndata(adata, description="test")
@@ -322,13 +322,13 @@ def test_create_from_anndata_in_storage(data):
 
 
 # this tests the basic (non-provenance-related) metadata
-@pytest.mark.parametrize("key_is_virtual", [True, False])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("key_is_rirtual", [True, False])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("key", [None, "my_new_dir/my_artifact.csv", "nosuffix"])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("description", [None, "my description"])
 def test_create_from_local_filepath(
-    get_test_filepaths, key_is_virtual, key, description
+    get_test_filepaths, key_is_rirtual, key, description
 ):
-    ln.settings.creation._artifact_use_virtual_keys = key_is_virtual
+    ln.settings.creation._artifact_use_rirtual_keys = key_is_rirtual
     is_in_registered_storage = get_test_filepaths[0]
     root_dir = get_test_filepaths[1]
     test_filepath = get_test_filepaths[3]
@@ -391,7 +391,7 @@ def test_create_from_local_filepath(
             )
     else:
         assert artifact.key == key
-        assert artifact._key_is_virtual == key_is_virtual
+        assert artifact._key_is_rirtual == key_is_rirtual
         if is_in_registered_storage:
             # this would only hit if the key matches the correct key
             assert artifact.storage.root == root_dir.resolve().as_posix()
@@ -400,7 +400,7 @@ def test_create_from_local_filepath(
             )
         else:
             # file is moved into default storage
-            if key_is_virtual:
+            if key_is_rirtual:
                 assert (
                     artifact.path
                     == lamindb_setup.settings.storage.root
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ def test_create_from_local_filepath(
     # only delete from storage if a file copy took place
     delete_from_storage = str(test_filepath.resolve()) != str(artifact.path)
     artifact.delete(permanent=True, storage=delete_from_storage)
-    ln.settings.creation._artifact_use_virtual_keys = True
+    ln.settings.creation._artifact_use_rirtual_keys = True
 
 
 ERROR_MESSAGE = """\
@@ -454,7 +454,7 @@ def test_delete_artifact(df):
     artifact = ln.Artifact.from_df(df, description="My test file to delete")
     artifact.save()
     assert artifact.visibility == 1
-    assert artifact.key is None or artifact._key_is_virtual
+    assert artifact.key is None or artifact._key_is_rirtual
     storage_path = artifact.path
     # trash behavior
     artifact.delete()
@@ -471,7 +471,7 @@ def test_delete_artifact(df):
         ).first()
         is None
     )
-    assert not storage_path.exists()  # deletes from storage is key_is_virtual
+    assert not storage_path.exists()  # deletes from storage is key_is_rirtual
 
     # test deleting artifact from non-managed storage
     artifact = ln.Artifact(