diff --git a/docs/hub-cloud/02-connect-local-instance.ipynb b/docs/hub-cloud/02-connect-local-instance.ipynb
index 43205ee5..a1b89586 100644
--- a/docs/hub-cloud/02-connect-local-instance.ipynb
+++ b/docs/hub-cloud/02-connect-local-instance.ipynb
@@ -85,29 +85,6 @@
     ")"
    ]
   },
-  {
-   "cell_type": "markdown",
-   "id": "0986a5f3",
-   "metadata": {},
-   "source": [
-    "You cannot load another instance in the same Python session:"
-   ]
-  },
-  {
-   "cell_type": "code",
-   "execution_count": null,
-   "id": "bc3568ae",
-   "metadata": {},
-   "outputs": [],
-   "source": [
-    "import pytest\n",
-    "\n",
-    "with pytest.raises(RuntimeError):\n",
-    "    ln_setup.connect(\"testuser2/mydata\")\n",
-    "\n",
-    "assert ln_setup.settings.instance.slug == \"testuser1/mydata\""
-   ]
-  },
   {
    "cell_type": "markdown",
    "id": "e3701120",
diff --git a/docs/hub-cloud/08-test-multi-session.ipynb b/docs/hub-cloud/08-test-multi-session.ipynb
index 4acd3cf2..9801bdc7 100644
--- a/docs/hub-cloud/08-test-multi-session.ipynb
+++ b/docs/hub-cloud/08-test-multi-session.ipynb
@@ -113,14 +113,18 @@
    "metadata": {},
    "outputs": [],
    "source": [
-    "with pytest.raises(RuntimeError):\n",
+    "from lamindb_setup._init_instance import CannotSwitchDefaultInstance\n",
+    "\n",
+    "with pytest.raises(CannotSwitchDefaultInstance):\n",
     "    ln_setup.init(storage=\"./testsetup2\")\n",
-    "with pytest.raises(RuntimeError):\n",
+    "with pytest.raises(CannotSwitchDefaultInstance):\n",
     "    ln_setup.connect(\"testsetup\")\n",
     "with pytest.raises(RuntimeError):\n",
     "    ln_setup.migrate.create()\n",
     "with pytest.raises(RuntimeError):\n",
-    "    ln_setup.migrate.deploy()"
+    "    ln_setup.migrate.deploy()\n",
+    "\n",
+    "assert ln_setup.settings.instance.slug == \"testuser1/testsetup\""
    ]
   },
   {
diff --git a/lamindb_setup/_connect_instance.py b/lamindb_setup/_connect_instance.py
index 86846947..a414d4c3 100644
--- a/lamindb_setup/_connect_instance.py
+++ b/lamindb_setup/_connect_instance.py
@@ -9,7 +9,11 @@
 
 from ._check_setup import _check_instance_setup
 from ._close import close as close_instance
-from ._init_instance import MESSAGE_NO_MULTIPLE_INSTANCE, load_from_isettings
+from ._init_instance import (
+    MESSAGE_CANNOT_SWITCH_DEFAULT_INSTANCE,
+    CannotSwitchDefaultInstance,
+    load_from_isettings,
+)
 from ._silence_loggers import silence_loggers
 from .core._hub_core import connect_instance_hub
 from .core._hub_utils import (
@@ -224,7 +228,9 @@ def connect(slug: str, **kwargs) -> str | tuple | None:
                 logger.info(f"connected lamindb: {settings.instance.slug}")
                 return None
             else:
-                raise RuntimeError(MESSAGE_NO_MULTIPLE_INSTANCE)
+                raise CannotSwitchDefaultInstance(
+                    MESSAGE_CANNOT_SWITCH_DEFAULT_INSTANCE
+                )
         elif (
             _write_settings
             and settings._instance_exists
diff --git a/lamindb_setup/_init_instance.py b/lamindb_setup/_init_instance.py
index 36a6ae5b..11d864eb 100644
--- a/lamindb_setup/_init_instance.py
+++ b/lamindb_setup/_init_instance.py
@@ -208,10 +208,18 @@ def validate_init_args(
     return name_str, instance_id, instance_state, instance_slug
 
 
-MESSAGE_NO_MULTIPLE_INSTANCE = """
-Currently don't support subsequent connection to different databases in the same
-Python session.\n
-Try running on the CLI: lamin settings set auto-connect false
+class CannotSwitchDefaultInstance(SystemExit):
+    pass
+
+
+MESSAGE_CANNOT_SWITCH_DEFAULT_INSTANCE = """
+You cannot write to different instances in the same Python session.
+
+Do you want to read from another instance via `Record.using()`? For example:
+
+ln.Artifact.using("laminlabs/cellxgene").filter()
+
+Or do you want to switch off auto-connect via `lamin settings set auto-connect false`?
 """
 
 
@@ -250,7 +258,7 @@ def init(
         from ._check_setup import _check_instance_setup
 
         if _check_instance_setup() and not _test:
-            raise RuntimeError(MESSAGE_NO_MULTIPLE_INSTANCE)
+            raise CannotSwitchDefaultInstance(MESSAGE_CANNOT_SWITCH_DEFAULT_INSTANCE)
         elif _write_settings:
             close_instance(mute=True)
         from .core._hub_core import init_instance as init_instance_hub
diff --git a/noxfile.py b/noxfile.py
index 918aa499..a6ee138a 100644
--- a/noxfile.py
+++ b/noxfile.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ def lint(session: nox.Session) -> None:
     ["hub-local", "hub-prod", "hub-cloud", "storage", "docs"],
 )
 def install(session: nox.Session, group: str) -> None:
-    no_deps_packages = "git+https://github.com/laminlabs/lnschema-core git+https://github.com/laminlabs/wetlab git+https://github.com/laminlabs/lamin-cli"
+    no_deps_packages = "git+https://github.com/laminlabs/lnschema-core git+https://github.com/laminlabs/wetlab git+https://github.com/laminlabs/lamin-cli git+https://github.com/laminlabs/findrefs"
     schema_deps = f"""uv pip install --system git+https://github.com/laminlabs/bionty git+https://github.com/laminlabs/lamindb
 uv pip install --system --no-deps {no_deps_packages}
 """
diff --git a/tests/hub-cloud/test_edge_request.py b/tests/hub-cloud/test_edge_request.py
index 81718f3d..4272bc34 100644
--- a/tests/hub-cloud/test_edge_request.py
+++ b/tests/hub-cloud/test_edge_request.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ def test_edge_request():
         assert instance["owner"] == "laminlabs"
         assert instance["name"] == "lamindata"
         assert instance["api_url"] == "https://us-east-1.api.lamin.ai"
-        assert instance["schema_str"] == "bionty,wetlab"
+        assert instance["schema_str"].startswith("bionty,wetlab")
         assert "schema_id" in instance
         # check that schema_id is well-formed UUID
         # if not, throws ValueError