diff --git a/docs/MAINTAINERS.md b/docs/MAINTAINERS.md
index 0c97446..f2c2014 100644
--- a/docs/MAINTAINERS.md
+++ b/docs/MAINTAINERS.md
@@ -313,6 +313,28 @@ regions suppress header hints. The same source region is used by document maps
 and fresh proposal verification. Ordinary Markdown and conversion gaps do not
 change, and matching source/region tokens do not excuse obsolete assignments.
 
+With `emit_table_proposals: true`, qualifying three-rule regions can also carry
+`review_candidate`: a proposed arrangement with `status: needs_review`, exact
+source-item assignments and line fragments, and inert HTML data cells. The
+same preview and review notice appear in the text response. It groups the top
+band provisionally and derives columns from whitespace corridors recurring
+across every nonoverlapping body line. All region items must be assigned once,
+every cell must contain source text, and the complete maximal partition must
+recur on every body line. Ragged, wrapped, straddling or over-budget layouts
+retain the evidence packet without a draft. Drafts are capped at 100 rows,
+12 columns, 400 source items, 20,000 HTML bytes and 40,000 canonical JSON bytes.
+
+Rows, columns and header roles remain unverified; no header tags, spans, blank
+values or new source text are inferred. Candidate digests bind algorithm,
+PDF SHA, region, assignments, fragments, uncertainty and presentation. When
+layout is supplied, semantic validation reconstructs the entire packet from
+it. Standalone output validation reconstructs the draft from its retained text
+and geometry as well, but cannot authenticate that packet to the original PDF;
+it does not replace fresh source replay. Document maps carry no candidate cells.
+Ordinary Markdown, its gap list and strict `verify_table_proposal` acceptance
+remain unchanged. Review the draft beside the source PDF before using its
+grouping; a visible draft is not an accepted table or verified extraction.
+
 Filesystem operations and rasterization happen locally, and PDF Tools does not
 upload files to a separate PDF service. Text, images, and metadata returned
 through MCP may still be processed under the selected host or model provider's
diff --git a/pdf-toolkit-mcp-share/server/index.js b/pdf-toolkit-mcp-share/server/index.js
index b6ff513..5d08a04 100755
--- a/pdf-toolkit-mcp-share/server/index.js
+++ b/pdf-toolkit-mcp-share/server/index.js
@@ -3852,7 +3852,7 @@ async function listTools(request) {
             include_page_boundaries: { type: "boolean", description: "Include deterministic HTML comments marking page boundaries. Default: true." },
             compact: { type: "boolean", description: "Opt into counted dot-leader, isolated page-number, and Unicode-letter spaced-hyphen normalizations. Default: false." },
             remove_page_furniture: { type: "boolean", description: "Remove only source-evidenced extreme-margin page furniture and report every removed line by typed gap and counts. Set false to preserve all source lines. Default: true." },
-            emit_table_proposals: { type: "boolean", description: "Opt into emitting one bounded, deterministic table_proposals packet per abandoned table region (TABLE_TOPOLOGY_UNKNOWN or TABLE_RULING_UNSUPPORTED), carrying the region's text items, ruled and painted evidence, header hints, page, bbox, coordinate_space, and a source-and-IR-bound proposal_token so a host model can propose a structure for later read-only verification. Additive: the abstention gap is unchanged and default output stays byte-identical. Default: false." },
+            emit_table_proposals: { type: "boolean", description: "Opt into emitting one bounded, deterministic table_proposals packet per abandoned table region (TABLE_TOPOLOGY_UNKNOWN or TABLE_RULING_UNSUPPORTED), carrying the region's text items, ruled and painted evidence, header hints, page, bbox, coordinate_space, and a source-and-IR-bound proposal_token so a host model can propose a structure for later read-only verification. A narrowly qualifying captioned three-rule table may also include a draft arrangement and header-neutral HTML preview marked needs_review; its row/column grouping and header roles are unverified. Additive: the abstention gap is unchanged and default output stays byte-identical. Default: false." },
             allow_headerless_tables: { type: "boolean", description: "Opt into header-neutral HTML data cells for a complete source-covered ruled-rectangle cell grid without header evidence. No header roles, spans or blank data values are inferred; incomplete, ambiguous and cross-cell geometry remains text with typed gaps. Uses renderer profile 1.23.0; default false keeps profile 1.21.0 and unchanged output. No OCR or model." },
             output_path: { type: "string", description: "Optional absolute .md path, or ~/ path. The file is written only after complete bytes are staged and verified." },
             overwrite: { type: "boolean", description: "Replace an existing output_path only when its exact expected_output_identity is also supplied. Default: false." },
@@ -6082,6 +6082,7 @@ async function handleToolCall(request) {
             saved_output: savedOutput,
             ...(tableProposals !== undefined ? { table_proposals: tableProposals } : {}),
           };
+          const reviewCandidates = tableProposals?.filter(region => region.review_candidate) ?? [];
           const summary = [
             `Converted pages ${layout.page_range.start_page}-${layout.page_range.end_page} of ${fileName} to deterministic Markdown.`,
             `Status: ${rendered.conversion_status}. UTF-8 bytes: ${rendered.markdown_bytes}.`,
@@ -6091,8 +6092,14 @@ async function handleToolCall(request) {
             ...(pagesNeedingVision.length > 0
               ? [`Vision routing: use render_pdf_page for pages ${pagesNeedingVision.map(entry => entry.page).join(", ")}.`]
               : []),
-            "No OCR, external model, hidden link-target recovery, or table inference beyond complete source-bound text, ruled, or painted grids was performed.",
+            reviewCandidates.length > 0
+              ? "The optional table drafts use whitespace alignment and need review. No OCR, external model or hidden link-target recovery was performed."
+              : "No OCR, external model, hidden link-target recovery, or table inference beyond complete source-bound text, ruled, or painted grids was performed.",
             rendered.markdown,
+            ...reviewCandidates.map(region => [
+              `Page ${region.page}, ${region.region_id}: ${region.review_candidate.review_notice}`,
+              region.review_candidate.html,
+            ].join("\n\n")),
           ].join("\n\n");
           return {
             content: [{ type: "text", text: summary }],
diff --git a/pdf-toolkit-mcp-share/server/markdown-conversion.js b/pdf-toolkit-mcp-share/server/markdown-conversion.js
index 324092d..4df92b2 100644
--- a/pdf-toolkit-mcp-share/server/markdown-conversion.js
+++ b/pdf-toolkit-mcp-share/server/markdown-conversion.js
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ export const MAX_TABLE_PROPOSAL_TEXT_ITEMS = 400;
 const MAX_TABLE_PROPOSAL_RULED_RECTS = 400;
 const MAX_TABLE_PROPOSAL_RULING_SEGMENTS = 400;
 const MAX_TABLE_PROPOSAL_PAINTED_RECTS = 400;
+export const TABLE_REVIEW_NOTICE = "Proposed arrangement, needs review. Check the row and column grouping against the PDF before using it; headers and cell structure are unverified.";
 
 const MAX_MARKDOWN_BYTES_LIMIT = 200_000;
 const GAP_CODES = new Set([
@@ -2815,6 +2816,24 @@ function tableProposalHeaderHints(run) {
   };
 }
 
+function joinedThinFillBands(rectangles) {
+  const tolerance = 0.05;
+  const bars = rectangles.filter(rect => ["fill", "eoFill"].includes(rect.verb)
+    && rect.height >= 0.05 && rect.height <= 2 && rect.width >= 5)
+    .sort((a, b) => a.y - b.y || a.x - b.x);
+  const bands = [];
+  for (const bar of bars) {
+    const prior = bands.at(-1);
+    if (prior && Math.abs(prior.y - bar.y) <= tolerance
+      && Math.abs(prior.height - bar.height) <= tolerance
+      && Math.abs(prior.x + prior.width - bar.x) <= tolerance) {
+      prior.width = bar.x + bar.width - prior.x;
+      prior.parts.push(bar);
+    } else bands.push({ x: bar.x, y: bar.y, width: bar.width, height: bar.height, parts: [bar] });
+  }
+  return bands;
+}
+
 function threeRuleProposalEnvelope(page, run) {
   // This refines an already abandoned proposal, never reconstructs a table.
   // Three full-width paint bands and a nearby caption can bound the source
@@ -2832,19 +2851,7 @@ function threeRuleProposalEnvelope(page, run) {
   const text = page.raw_items.filter(item => item.text_kind === "non_whitespace");
   if (text.some(item => !item.geometry_valid || !item.bbox)) return null;
   const tolerance = 0.05;
-  const bars = evidence.items.filter(rect => ["fill", "eoFill"].includes(rect.verb)
-    && rect.height >= 0.05 && rect.height <= 2 && rect.width >= 5)
-    .sort((a, b) => a.y - b.y || a.x - b.x);
-  const bands = [];
-  for (const bar of bars) {
-    const prior = bands.at(-1);
-    if (prior && Math.abs(prior.y - bar.y) <= tolerance
-      && Math.abs(prior.height - bar.height) <= tolerance
-      && Math.abs(prior.x + prior.width - bar.x) <= tolerance) {
-      prior.width = bar.x + bar.width - prior.x;
-      prior.parts.push(bar);
-    } else bands.push({ x: bar.x, y: bar.y, width: bar.width, height: bar.height, parts: [bar] });
-  }
+  const bands = joinedThinFillBands(evidence.items);
   const contains = (outer, inner) => inner.x >= outer.x && inner.y >= outer.y
     && inner.x + inner.width <= outer.x + outer.width
     && inner.y + inner.height <= outer.y + outer.height;
@@ -2888,17 +2895,109 @@ function threeRuleProposalEnvelope(page, run) {
       || !lines.some(line => line.y + line.height <= middle.y)
       || !lines.some(line => line.y >= middle.y + middle.height)) continue;
     const itemById = new Map(page.raw_items.map(item => [item.id, item]));
-    candidates.push({ bbox, run: lines.map(line => ({ line, cells: lineCells(line, itemById) })) });
+    candidates.push({ bbox, middle, run: lines.map(line => ({ line, cells: lineCells(line, itemById) })) });
   }
   return candidates.length === 1 ? candidates[0] : null;
 }
 
+function canonicalReviewCandidate(value) {
+  if (Array.isArray(value)) return `[${value.map(canonicalReviewCandidate).join(",")}]`;
+  if (value && typeof value === "object") return `{${Object.keys(value).sort()
+    .map(key => `${JSON.stringify(key)}:${canonicalReviewCandidate(value[key])}`).join(",")}}`;
+  return JSON.stringify(value);
+}
+
+function threeRuleReviewCandidate(region, envelope, sourceSha256) {
+  if (!/^[a-f0-9]{64}$/.test(sourceSha256 ?? "")
+    || Object.values(region.truncation).some(value => value !== "complete")) return null;
+  const items = region.text_items;
+  if (items.length === 0 || new Set(items.map(item => item.id)).size !== items.length) return null;
+  const { middle } = envelope;
+  const upper = items.filter(item => item.bbox.y + item.bbox.height <= middle.y);
+  const lower = items.filter(item => item.bbox.y >= middle.y + middle.height);
+  if (upper.length === 0 || upper.length + lower.length !== items.length) return null;
+  const byLine = new Map();
+  for (const item of lower) {
+    if (!byLine.has(item.line_id)) byLine.set(item.line_id, []);
+    byLine.get(item.line_id).push(item);
+  }
+  const rows = [...byLine.values()].map(row => ({
+    items: row.sort((a, b) => a.bbox.x - b.bbox.x || a.reading_order_index - b.reading_order_index),
+    top: Math.min(...row.map(item => item.bbox.y)),
+    bottom: Math.max(...row.map(item => item.bbox.y + item.bbox.height)),
+  })).sort((a, b) => a.top - b.top);
+  if (rows.length < 2 || rows.length > 99 || rows.some((row, index) => (
+    index > 0 && row.top <= rows[index - 1].bottom
+  ))) return null;
+  // A maximal set of whitespace corridors shared by every body line supplies
+  // one deterministic proposed partition. Whitespace does not prove topology.
+  const minGap = Math.max(5, ...lower.map(item => item.bbox.height));
+  let corridors = null;
+  let gapCount = null;
+  for (const row of rows) {
+    const gaps = [];
+    let right = row.items[0].bbox.x + row.items[0].bbox.width;
+    for (const item of row.items.slice(1)) {
+      if (item.bbox.x - right >= minGap) gaps.push([right, item.bbox.x]);
+      right = Math.max(right, item.bbox.x + item.bbox.width);
+    }
+    if (gapCount !== null && gaps.length !== gapCount) return null;
+    gapCount = gaps.length;
+    corridors = corridors === null ? gaps : corridors.flatMap(([left, end]) => gaps
+      .map(([start, rightEdge]) => [Math.max(left, start), Math.min(end, rightEdge)])
+      .filter(([start, rightEdge]) => rightEdge - start >= minGap));
+  }
+  if (corridors.length < 1 || corridors.length > 11 || corridors.length !== gapCount) return null;
+  const cuts = corridors.map(([left, right]) => (left + right) / 2);
+  const sourceRows = [upper, ...rows.map(row => row.items)];
+  const cells = [];
+  for (const [row, sourceItems] of sourceRows.entries()) {
+    const columns = Array.from({ length: cuts.length + 1 }, () => []);
+    for (const item of sourceItems) {
+      const column = cuts.filter(cut => item.bbox.x >= cut).length;
+      if (column < cuts.length && item.bbox.x + item.bbox.width > cuts[column]) return null;
+      columns[column].push(item);
+    }
+    if (columns.some(column => column.length === 0)) return null;
+    for (const [column, assigned] of columns.entries()) {
+      assigned.sort((a, b) => a.reading_order_index - b.reading_order_index);
+      const lines = [];
+      for (const item of assigned) {
+        if (lines.at(-1)?.line_id !== item.line_id) {
+          if (lines.some(line => line.line_id === item.line_id)) return null;
+          lines.push({ line_id: item.line_id, item_ids: [], text: "" });
+        }
+        lines.at(-1).item_ids.push(item.id);
+        lines.at(-1).text += item.text;
+      }
+      cells.push({ row, column, item_ids: assigned.map(item => item.id), lines });
+    }
+  }
+  const assigned = cells.flatMap(cell => cell.item_ids);
+  if (new Set(assigned).size !== items.length || assigned.length !== items.length) return null;
+  const grid = sourceRows.map((_, row) => cells.filter(cell => cell.row === row)
+    .map(cell => cell.lines.map(line => escapeHeaderNeutralText(line.text)).join("<br>")));
+  const html = ["<table>", ...grid.map(row => `<tr>${row.map(text => `<td>${text}</td>`).join("")}</tr>`), "</table>"].join("\n");
+  const candidate = {
+    algorithm: { name: "pdf-tools.three-rule-review-candidate", version: "0.1.0" },
+    status: "needs_review", topology_verified: false, header_roles_verified: false,
+    source_sha256: sourceSha256, region_id: region.region_id, page: region.page,
+    content_origin: "source_text_items", structure_origin: "whitespace_alignment_proposal",
+    row_count: sourceRows.length, column_count: cuts.length + 1,
+    source_item_count: items.length, assigned_item_count: assigned.length, unassigned_item_count: 0,
+    cells, html, html_format: "header_neutral_html", html_bytes: utf8Bytes(html),
+    review_notice: TABLE_REVIEW_NOTICE,
+  };
+  if (candidate.html_bytes > 20_000 || utf8Bytes(canonicalReviewCandidate(candidate)) > 40_000) return null;
+  return { ...candidate, candidate_sha256: sha256(canonicalReviewCandidate(candidate)) };
+}
+
 /**
  * Build a bounded proposal from an abandoned run. A uniquely captioned
  * three-rule envelope can refine source membership but supplies no topology
  * or header authority. Pure over source-validated IR; no token, time or I/O.
  */
-export function buildTableProposalRegion(page, run, reason, ordinal) {
+export function buildTableProposalRegion(page, run, reason, ordinal, { sourceSha256 = null } = {}) {
   const envelope = threeRuleProposalEnvelope(page, run);
   if (envelope) run = envelope.run;
   const itemById = new Map(page.raw_items.map(item => [item.id, item]));
@@ -2962,7 +3061,7 @@ export function buildTableProposalRegion(page, run, reason, ordinal) {
     bbox: painted.bbox,
   }));
 
-  return {
+  const proposal = {
     region_id: `p${page.page}-t${ordinal}`,
     page: page.page,
     reason: regionGapCode(reason),
@@ -2983,6 +3082,11 @@ export function buildTableProposalRegion(page, run, reason, ordinal) {
       painted_rectangles: paintedTruncated ? "truncated" : "complete",
     },
   };
+  if (envelope) {
+    const candidate = threeRuleReviewCandidate(proposal, envelope, sourceSha256);
+    if (candidate) proposal.review_candidate = candidate;
+  }
+  return proposal;
 }
 
 // escapePlainMarkdown already escapes "|" (and backslashes before it), so a
@@ -3007,15 +3111,18 @@ function renderTable(grid) {
   return lines;
 }
 
-function renderHeaderlessTable(grid) {
-  const escape = value => sanitizeUnsafeText(String(value)).replace(/&/gu, "&amp;")
+function escapeHeaderNeutralText(value) {
+  return sanitizeUnsafeText(String(value)).replace(/&/gu, "&amp;")
     .replace(/</gu, "&lt;").replace(/>/gu, "&gt;")
     .replace(/"/gu, "&quot;").replace(/'/gu, "&#39;")
     .replace(/https?:/giu, match => `${match.slice(0, -1)}&#58;`)
     .replace(/\b(?:[\p{L}\p{N}-]+\.)+[\p{L}]{2,}\b/giu, domain => domain.replace(".", "&#46;"))
     .replace(/@(?=[\p{L}\p{N}.-]+&#46;[\p{L}]{2,})/giu, "&#64;");
+}
+
+function renderHeaderlessTable(grid) {
   return ["<table>", ...grid.map(row => (
-    `<tr>${row.map(value => `<td>${escape(value)}</td>`).join("")}</tr>`
+    `<tr>${row.map(value => `<td>${escapeHeaderNeutralText(value)}</td>`).join("")}</tr>`
   )), "</table>"];
 }
 
@@ -3370,6 +3477,7 @@ function renderPage(page, {
   pageBoundaryBefore = false,
   pageBoundaryAfter = false,
   collectTableProposals = false,
+  sourceSha256 = null,
   allowHeaderlessTables = false,
   pageFurniture = [],
 } = {}) {
@@ -3488,7 +3596,7 @@ function renderPage(page, {
     // markdown, gaps, or byte counts. It is only present when the opt-in flag
     // is set, so the default page shape is byte-identical.
     rendered.tableProposalRegions = analysis.regions.map(
-      (region, index) => buildTableProposalRegion(page, region.run, region.reason, index + 1),
+      (region, index) => buildTableProposalRegion(page, region.run, region.reason, index + 1, { sourceSha256 }),
     );
   }
   return rendered;
@@ -3706,6 +3814,28 @@ export function validateMarkdownConversionSemantics(result, { layout = null } =
   if (proposals !== undefined) {
     validateTableProposals(proposals, { requireToken: payloadProposals !== undefined });
     validateTableProposalDocumentTruncation(result.table_proposals_truncation, proposals);
+    if (layout !== null) {
+      const expected = boundTableProposalRegions(layout.pages.flatMap(page => (
+        segmentPageLines(page, allowHeaderlessTables).regions.map((region, index) => (
+          buildTableProposalRegion(page, region.run, region.reason, index + 1,
+            { sourceSha256: layout.source.sha256 })
+        ))
+      )));
+      const actual = proposals.map(({ proposal_token: _token, ...proposal }) => proposal);
+      assertion(sameJson(actual, expected.regions), "table proposals do not match the bound layout IR");
+      assertion(sameJson(result.table_proposals_truncation, expected.truncation),
+        "table proposal truncation does not match the bound layout IR");
+    }
+    for (const proposal of proposals) {
+      if (proposal.review_candidate) {
+        const { candidate_sha256: digest, ...candidate } = proposal.review_candidate;
+        assertion(candidate.source_sha256 === result.provenance.source.sha256
+          && candidate.region_id === proposal.region_id && candidate.page === proposal.page,
+        "table review candidate source binding mismatch");
+        assertion(digest === sha256(canonicalReviewCandidate(candidate)), "table review candidate digest mismatch");
+        validateTableReviewCandidate(proposal, candidate);
+      }
+    }
   } else {
     assertion(result.table_proposals_truncation === undefined,
       "table proposal truncation cannot exist without proposals");
@@ -3713,6 +3843,20 @@ export function validateMarkdownConversionSemantics(result, { layout = null } =
   return result;
 }
 
+function validateTableReviewCandidate(region, candidate) {
+  const bands = joinedThinFillBands(region.ruled_rects);
+  assertion(bands.length === 3 && bands.every(band => Math.abs(band.x - region.bbox.x) <= 0.05
+    && Math.abs(band.width - region.bbox.width) <= 0.05)
+    && Math.abs(bands[0].y - region.bbox.y) <= 0.05
+    && Math.abs(bands[2].y + bands[2].height - region.bbox.y - region.bbox.height) <= 0.05,
+  "table review candidate rule envelope mismatch");
+  const replay = threeRuleReviewCandidate(region, { middle: bands[1] }, candidate.source_sha256);
+  assertion(replay !== null, "table review candidate geometry is unsupported");
+  const { candidate_sha256: _digest, ...replayed } = replay;
+  assertion(canonicalReviewCandidate(candidate) === canonicalReviewCandidate(replayed),
+    "table review candidate does not match its retained source geometry");
+}
+
 function isFiniteNumber(value) {
   return typeof value === "number" && Number.isFinite(value);
 }
@@ -3985,6 +4129,7 @@ export function renderPdfLayoutToMarkdown(layout, {
     // number from a single-page selection.
     pageBoundaryAfter: true,
     collectTableProposals: emitTableProposals,
+    sourceSha256: layout.source.sha256,
     allowHeaderlessTables,
     pageFurniture: furniturePlans.get(page.page),
   }));
diff --git a/pdf-toolkit-mcp-share/server/output-schemas.js b/pdf-toolkit-mcp-share/server/output-schemas.js
index 8d11e92..3c984ec 100644
--- a/pdf-toolkit-mcp-share/server/output-schemas.js
+++ b/pdf-toolkit-mcp-share/server/output-schemas.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { AjvJsonSchemaValidator } from "@modelcontextprotocol/server/validators/ajv";
 import { validatePdfLayoutSemantics } from "./layout-extraction.js";
-import { validateMarkdownConversionSemantics } from "./markdown-conversion.js";
+import { TABLE_REVIEW_NOTICE, validateMarkdownConversionSemantics } from "./markdown-conversion.js";
 import {
   validatePdfObservationSemantics,
   validateRenderObservationSemantics,
@@ -1172,6 +1172,27 @@ const tableProposal = object({
   truncation: tableProposalTruncation,
   proposal_token: sha256Digest,
 });
+// Additive only on opt-in proposal packets. Strict table acceptance is separate.
+tableProposal.properties.review_candidate = object({
+  algorithm: object({ name: { const: "pdf-tools.three-rule-review-candidate" }, version: { const: "0.1.0" } }),
+  status: { const: "needs_review" }, topology_verified: { const: false }, header_roles_verified: { const: false },
+  source_sha256: sha256Digest, region_id: string, page: { type: "integer", minimum: 1 },
+  content_origin: { const: "source_text_items" }, structure_origin: { const: "whitespace_alignment_proposal" },
+  row_count: { type: "integer", minimum: 3, maximum: 100 },
+  column_count: { type: "integer", minimum: 2, maximum: 12 },
+  source_item_count: { type: "integer", minimum: 1, maximum: 400 },
+  assigned_item_count: { type: "integer", minimum: 1, maximum: 400 }, unassigned_item_count: { const: 0 },
+  cells: { type: "array", minItems: 6, maxItems: 400, items: object({
+    row: { type: "integer", minimum: 0, maximum: 99 }, column: { type: "integer", minimum: 0, maximum: 11 },
+    item_ids: { type: "array", minItems: 1, maxItems: 400, items: string },
+    lines: { type: "array", minItems: 1, maxItems: 400, items: object({
+      line_id: string, item_ids: { type: "array", minItems: 1, maxItems: 400, items: string }, text: string,
+    }) },
+  }) },
+  html: string, html_format: { const: "header_neutral_html" },
+  html_bytes: { type: "integer", minimum: 1, maximum: 20000 },
+  review_notice: { const: TABLE_REVIEW_NOTICE }, candidate_sha256: sha256Digest,
+});
 const tableProposalCheckStatus = enumString(["passed", "failed", "not_run"]);
 const verifiedTableCell = object({
   row: { type: "integer", minimum: 0 },
diff --git a/scripts/macos-claude-installed-shannon.mjs b/scripts/macos-claude-installed-shannon.mjs
index 7ee10e6..184a213 100755
--- a/scripts/macos-claude-installed-shannon.mjs
+++ b/scripts/macos-claude-installed-shannon.mjs
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ if (!process.argv[2] || !process.argv[3]) {
 //
 const EXPECTED_SOURCE_SHA256 = "6e4e3411984f3edf99dbfe8b941cb5e8a321379ff0cae6ae5c1f592ad8882ca8";
 const EXPECTED_MARKDOWN_SHA256 = "b9bd7ca7db26fe807f294565c39de8d4fe9337908afa74cd7e2896a800c92991";
-const EXPECTED_TOOL_CONTRACT_SHA256 = "17e2067e2c014bfc77e234432af45f7711494104f2a14d5f652e42e917251128";
+const EXPECTED_TOOL_CONTRACT_SHA256 = "2239a74dcdb71387f855c49bb26bc01e52ca9a14e773be13a32d19d3af9ec2d4";
 const EXPECTED_PAGE_COUNT = 55;
 const EXPECTED_GAP_COUNT = 26;
 const EXPECTED_REPLACEMENT_CHARACTER_COUNT = 6;
diff --git a/scripts/macos-claude-installed-smoke.mjs b/scripts/macos-claude-installed-smoke.mjs
index e9a2d73..9460f72 100755
--- a/scripts/macos-claude-installed-smoke.mjs
+++ b/scripts/macos-claude-installed-smoke.mjs
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ const textFixture = path.join(fixtureDirectory, "synthetic-text-two-page.pdf");
 const rasterFixture = path.join(fixtureDirectory, "synthetic-raster-only.pdf");
 const mutationDirectory = path.join(fixtureDirectory, "mutation-output");
 const toolNames = [];
-const EXPECTED_TOOL_CONTRACT_SHA256 = "17e2067e2c014bfc77e234432af45f7711494104f2a14d5f652e42e917251128";
+const EXPECTED_TOOL_CONTRACT_SHA256 = "2239a74dcdb71387f855c49bb26bc01e52ca9a14e773be13a32d19d3af9ec2d4";
 const ACCESSIBILITY_CONCLUSION_KEYS = Object.freeze([
   "certification",
   "document_accessibility",
diff --git a/server/index.js b/server/index.js
index b6ff513..5d08a04 100755
--- a/server/index.js
+++ b/server/index.js
@@ -3852,7 +3852,7 @@ async function listTools(request) {
             include_page_boundaries: { type: "boolean", description: "Include deterministic HTML comments marking page boundaries. Default: true." },
             compact: { type: "boolean", description: "Opt into counted dot-leader, isolated page-number, and Unicode-letter spaced-hyphen normalizations. Default: false." },
             remove_page_furniture: { type: "boolean", description: "Remove only source-evidenced extreme-margin page furniture and report every removed line by typed gap and counts. Set false to preserve all source lines. Default: true." },
-            emit_table_proposals: { type: "boolean", description: "Opt into emitting one bounded, deterministic table_proposals packet per abandoned table region (TABLE_TOPOLOGY_UNKNOWN or TABLE_RULING_UNSUPPORTED), carrying the region's text items, ruled and painted evidence, header hints, page, bbox, coordinate_space, and a source-and-IR-bound proposal_token so a host model can propose a structure for later read-only verification. Additive: the abstention gap is unchanged and default output stays byte-identical. Default: false." },
+            emit_table_proposals: { type: "boolean", description: "Opt into emitting one bounded, deterministic table_proposals packet per abandoned table region (TABLE_TOPOLOGY_UNKNOWN or TABLE_RULING_UNSUPPORTED), carrying the region's text items, ruled and painted evidence, header hints, page, bbox, coordinate_space, and a source-and-IR-bound proposal_token so a host model can propose a structure for later read-only verification. A narrowly qualifying captioned three-rule table may also include a draft arrangement and header-neutral HTML preview marked needs_review; its row/column grouping and header roles are unverified. Additive: the abstention gap is unchanged and default output stays byte-identical. Default: false." },
             allow_headerless_tables: { type: "boolean", description: "Opt into header-neutral HTML data cells for a complete source-covered ruled-rectangle cell grid without header evidence. No header roles, spans or blank data values are inferred; incomplete, ambiguous and cross-cell geometry remains text with typed gaps. Uses renderer profile 1.23.0; default false keeps profile 1.21.0 and unchanged output. No OCR or model." },
             output_path: { type: "string", description: "Optional absolute .md path, or ~/ path. The file is written only after complete bytes are staged and verified." },
             overwrite: { type: "boolean", description: "Replace an existing output_path only when its exact expected_output_identity is also supplied. Default: false." },
@@ -6082,6 +6082,7 @@ async function handleToolCall(request) {
             saved_output: savedOutput,
             ...(tableProposals !== undefined ? { table_proposals: tableProposals } : {}),
           };
+          const reviewCandidates = tableProposals?.filter(region => region.review_candidate) ?? [];
           const summary = [
             `Converted pages ${layout.page_range.start_page}-${layout.page_range.end_page} of ${fileName} to deterministic Markdown.`,
             `Status: ${rendered.conversion_status}. UTF-8 bytes: ${rendered.markdown_bytes}.`,
@@ -6091,8 +6092,14 @@ async function handleToolCall(request) {
             ...(pagesNeedingVision.length > 0
               ? [`Vision routing: use render_pdf_page for pages ${pagesNeedingVision.map(entry => entry.page).join(", ")}.`]
               : []),
-            "No OCR, external model, hidden link-target recovery, or table inference beyond complete source-bound text, ruled, or painted grids was performed.",
+            reviewCandidates.length > 0
+              ? "The optional table drafts use whitespace alignment and need review. No OCR, external model or hidden link-target recovery was performed."
+              : "No OCR, external model, hidden link-target recovery, or table inference beyond complete source-bound text, ruled, or painted grids was performed.",
             rendered.markdown,
+            ...reviewCandidates.map(region => [
+              `Page ${region.page}, ${region.region_id}: ${region.review_candidate.review_notice}`,
+              region.review_candidate.html,
+            ].join("\n\n")),
           ].join("\n\n");
           return {
             content: [{ type: "text", text: summary }],
diff --git a/server/markdown-conversion.js b/server/markdown-conversion.js
index 324092d..4df92b2 100644
--- a/server/markdown-conversion.js
+++ b/server/markdown-conversion.js
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ export const MAX_TABLE_PROPOSAL_TEXT_ITEMS = 400;
 const MAX_TABLE_PROPOSAL_RULED_RECTS = 400;
 const MAX_TABLE_PROPOSAL_RULING_SEGMENTS = 400;
 const MAX_TABLE_PROPOSAL_PAINTED_RECTS = 400;
+export const TABLE_REVIEW_NOTICE = "Proposed arrangement, needs review. Check the row and column grouping against the PDF before using it; headers and cell structure are unverified.";
 
 const MAX_MARKDOWN_BYTES_LIMIT = 200_000;
 const GAP_CODES = new Set([
@@ -2815,6 +2816,24 @@ function tableProposalHeaderHints(run) {
   };
 }
 
+function joinedThinFillBands(rectangles) {
+  const tolerance = 0.05;
+  const bars = rectangles.filter(rect => ["fill", "eoFill"].includes(rect.verb)
+    && rect.height >= 0.05 && rect.height <= 2 && rect.width >= 5)
+    .sort((a, b) => a.y - b.y || a.x - b.x);
+  const bands = [];
+  for (const bar of bars) {
+    const prior = bands.at(-1);
+    if (prior && Math.abs(prior.y - bar.y) <= tolerance
+      && Math.abs(prior.height - bar.height) <= tolerance
+      && Math.abs(prior.x + prior.width - bar.x) <= tolerance) {
+      prior.width = bar.x + bar.width - prior.x;
+      prior.parts.push(bar);
+    } else bands.push({ x: bar.x, y: bar.y, width: bar.width, height: bar.height, parts: [bar] });
+  }
+  return bands;
+}
+
 function threeRuleProposalEnvelope(page, run) {
   // This refines an already abandoned proposal, never reconstructs a table.
   // Three full-width paint bands and a nearby caption can bound the source
@@ -2832,19 +2851,7 @@ function threeRuleProposalEnvelope(page, run) {
   const text = page.raw_items.filter(item => item.text_kind === "non_whitespace");
   if (text.some(item => !item.geometry_valid || !item.bbox)) return null;
   const tolerance = 0.05;
-  const bars = evidence.items.filter(rect => ["fill", "eoFill"].includes(rect.verb)
-    && rect.height >= 0.05 && rect.height <= 2 && rect.width >= 5)
-    .sort((a, b) => a.y - b.y || a.x - b.x);
-  const bands = [];
-  for (const bar of bars) {
-    const prior = bands.at(-1);
-    if (prior && Math.abs(prior.y - bar.y) <= tolerance
-      && Math.abs(prior.height - bar.height) <= tolerance
-      && Math.abs(prior.x + prior.width - bar.x) <= tolerance) {
-      prior.width = bar.x + bar.width - prior.x;
-      prior.parts.push(bar);
-    } else bands.push({ x: bar.x, y: bar.y, width: bar.width, height: bar.height, parts: [bar] });
-  }
+  const bands = joinedThinFillBands(evidence.items);
   const contains = (outer, inner) => inner.x >= outer.x && inner.y >= outer.y
     && inner.x + inner.width <= outer.x + outer.width
     && inner.y + inner.height <= outer.y + outer.height;
@@ -2888,17 +2895,109 @@ function threeRuleProposalEnvelope(page, run) {
       || !lines.some(line => line.y + line.height <= middle.y)
       || !lines.some(line => line.y >= middle.y + middle.height)) continue;
     const itemById = new Map(page.raw_items.map(item => [item.id, item]));
-    candidates.push({ bbox, run: lines.map(line => ({ line, cells: lineCells(line, itemById) })) });
+    candidates.push({ bbox, middle, run: lines.map(line => ({ line, cells: lineCells(line, itemById) })) });
   }
   return candidates.length === 1 ? candidates[0] : null;
 }
 
+function canonicalReviewCandidate(value) {
+  if (Array.isArray(value)) return `[${value.map(canonicalReviewCandidate).join(",")}]`;
+  if (value && typeof value === "object") return `{${Object.keys(value).sort()
+    .map(key => `${JSON.stringify(key)}:${canonicalReviewCandidate(value[key])}`).join(",")}}`;
+  return JSON.stringify(value);
+}
+
+function threeRuleReviewCandidate(region, envelope, sourceSha256) {
+  if (!/^[a-f0-9]{64}$/.test(sourceSha256 ?? "")
+    || Object.values(region.truncation).some(value => value !== "complete")) return null;
+  const items = region.text_items;
+  if (items.length === 0 || new Set(items.map(item => item.id)).size !== items.length) return null;
+  const { middle } = envelope;
+  const upper = items.filter(item => item.bbox.y + item.bbox.height <= middle.y);
+  const lower = items.filter(item => item.bbox.y >= middle.y + middle.height);
+  if (upper.length === 0 || upper.length + lower.length !== items.length) return null;
+  const byLine = new Map();
+  for (const item of lower) {
+    if (!byLine.has(item.line_id)) byLine.set(item.line_id, []);
+    byLine.get(item.line_id).push(item);
+  }
+  const rows = [...byLine.values()].map(row => ({
+    items: row.sort((a, b) => a.bbox.x - b.bbox.x || a.reading_order_index - b.reading_order_index),
+    top: Math.min(...row.map(item => item.bbox.y)),
+    bottom: Math.max(...row.map(item => item.bbox.y + item.bbox.height)),
+  })).sort((a, b) => a.top - b.top);
+  if (rows.length < 2 || rows.length > 99 || rows.some((row, index) => (
+    index > 0 && row.top <= rows[index - 1].bottom
+  ))) return null;
+  // A maximal set of whitespace corridors shared by every body line supplies
+  // one deterministic proposed partition. Whitespace does not prove topology.
+  const minGap = Math.max(5, ...lower.map(item => item.bbox.height));
+  let corridors = null;
+  let gapCount = null;
+  for (const row of rows) {
+    const gaps = [];
+    let right = row.items[0].bbox.x + row.items[0].bbox.width;
+    for (const item of row.items.slice(1)) {
+      if (item.bbox.x - right >= minGap) gaps.push([right, item.bbox.x]);
+      right = Math.max(right, item.bbox.x + item.bbox.width);
+    }
+    if (gapCount !== null && gaps.length !== gapCount) return null;
+    gapCount = gaps.length;
+    corridors = corridors === null ? gaps : corridors.flatMap(([left, end]) => gaps
+      .map(([start, rightEdge]) => [Math.max(left, start), Math.min(end, rightEdge)])
+      .filter(([start, rightEdge]) => rightEdge - start >= minGap));
+  }
+  if (corridors.length < 1 || corridors.length > 11 || corridors.length !== gapCount) return null;
+  const cuts = corridors.map(([left, right]) => (left + right) / 2);
+  const sourceRows = [upper, ...rows.map(row => row.items)];
+  const cells = [];
+  for (const [row, sourceItems] of sourceRows.entries()) {
+    const columns = Array.from({ length: cuts.length + 1 }, () => []);
+    for (const item of sourceItems) {
+      const column = cuts.filter(cut => item.bbox.x >= cut).length;
+      if (column < cuts.length && item.bbox.x + item.bbox.width > cuts[column]) return null;
+      columns[column].push(item);
+    }
+    if (columns.some(column => column.length === 0)) return null;
+    for (const [column, assigned] of columns.entries()) {
+      assigned.sort((a, b) => a.reading_order_index - b.reading_order_index);
+      const lines = [];
+      for (const item of assigned) {
+        if (lines.at(-1)?.line_id !== item.line_id) {
+          if (lines.some(line => line.line_id === item.line_id)) return null;
+          lines.push({ line_id: item.line_id, item_ids: [], text: "" });
+        }
+        lines.at(-1).item_ids.push(item.id);
+        lines.at(-1).text += item.text;
+      }
+      cells.push({ row, column, item_ids: assigned.map(item => item.id), lines });
+    }
+  }
+  const assigned = cells.flatMap(cell => cell.item_ids);
+  if (new Set(assigned).size !== items.length || assigned.length !== items.length) return null;
+  const grid = sourceRows.map((_, row) => cells.filter(cell => cell.row === row)
+    .map(cell => cell.lines.map(line => escapeHeaderNeutralText(line.text)).join("<br>")));
+  const html = ["<table>", ...grid.map(row => `<tr>${row.map(text => `<td>${text}</td>`).join("")}</tr>`), "</table>"].join("\n");
+  const candidate = {
+    algorithm: { name: "pdf-tools.three-rule-review-candidate", version: "0.1.0" },
+    status: "needs_review", topology_verified: false, header_roles_verified: false,
+    source_sha256: sourceSha256, region_id: region.region_id, page: region.page,
+    content_origin: "source_text_items", structure_origin: "whitespace_alignment_proposal",
+    row_count: sourceRows.length, column_count: cuts.length + 1,
+    source_item_count: items.length, assigned_item_count: assigned.length, unassigned_item_count: 0,
+    cells, html, html_format: "header_neutral_html", html_bytes: utf8Bytes(html),
+    review_notice: TABLE_REVIEW_NOTICE,
+  };
+  if (candidate.html_bytes > 20_000 || utf8Bytes(canonicalReviewCandidate(candidate)) > 40_000) return null;
+  return { ...candidate, candidate_sha256: sha256(canonicalReviewCandidate(candidate)) };
+}
+
 /**
  * Build a bounded proposal from an abandoned run. A uniquely captioned
  * three-rule envelope can refine source membership but supplies no topology
  * or header authority. Pure over source-validated IR; no token, time or I/O.
  */
-export function buildTableProposalRegion(page, run, reason, ordinal) {
+export function buildTableProposalRegion(page, run, reason, ordinal, { sourceSha256 = null } = {}) {
   const envelope = threeRuleProposalEnvelope(page, run);
   if (envelope) run = envelope.run;
   const itemById = new Map(page.raw_items.map(item => [item.id, item]));
@@ -2962,7 +3061,7 @@ export function buildTableProposalRegion(page, run, reason, ordinal) {
     bbox: painted.bbox,
   }));
 
-  return {
+  const proposal = {
     region_id: `p${page.page}-t${ordinal}`,
     page: page.page,
     reason: regionGapCode(reason),
@@ -2983,6 +3082,11 @@ export function buildTableProposalRegion(page, run, reason, ordinal) {
       painted_rectangles: paintedTruncated ? "truncated" : "complete",
     },
   };
+  if (envelope) {
+    const candidate = threeRuleReviewCandidate(proposal, envelope, sourceSha256);
+    if (candidate) proposal.review_candidate = candidate;
+  }
+  return proposal;
 }
 
 // escapePlainMarkdown already escapes "|" (and backslashes before it), so a
@@ -3007,15 +3111,18 @@ function renderTable(grid) {
   return lines;
 }
 
-function renderHeaderlessTable(grid) {
-  const escape = value => sanitizeUnsafeText(String(value)).replace(/&/gu, "&amp;")
+function escapeHeaderNeutralText(value) {
+  return sanitizeUnsafeText(String(value)).replace(/&/gu, "&amp;")
     .replace(/</gu, "&lt;").replace(/>/gu, "&gt;")
     .replace(/"/gu, "&quot;").replace(/'/gu, "&#39;")
     .replace(/https?:/giu, match => `${match.slice(0, -1)}&#58;`)
     .replace(/\b(?:[\p{L}\p{N}-]+\.)+[\p{L}]{2,}\b/giu, domain => domain.replace(".", "&#46;"))
     .replace(/@(?=[\p{L}\p{N}.-]+&#46;[\p{L}]{2,})/giu, "&#64;");
+}
+
+function renderHeaderlessTable(grid) {
   return ["<table>", ...grid.map(row => (
-    `<tr>${row.map(value => `<td>${escape(value)}</td>`).join("")}</tr>`
+    `<tr>${row.map(value => `<td>${escapeHeaderNeutralText(value)}</td>`).join("")}</tr>`
   )), "</table>"];
 }
 
@@ -3370,6 +3477,7 @@ function renderPage(page, {
   pageBoundaryBefore = false,
   pageBoundaryAfter = false,
   collectTableProposals = false,
+  sourceSha256 = null,
   allowHeaderlessTables = false,
   pageFurniture = [],
 } = {}) {
@@ -3488,7 +3596,7 @@ function renderPage(page, {
     // markdown, gaps, or byte counts. It is only present when the opt-in flag
     // is set, so the default page shape is byte-identical.
     rendered.tableProposalRegions = analysis.regions.map(
-      (region, index) => buildTableProposalRegion(page, region.run, region.reason, index + 1),
+      (region, index) => buildTableProposalRegion(page, region.run, region.reason, index + 1, { sourceSha256 }),
     );
   }
   return rendered;
@@ -3706,6 +3814,28 @@ export function validateMarkdownConversionSemantics(result, { layout = null } =
   if (proposals !== undefined) {
     validateTableProposals(proposals, { requireToken: payloadProposals !== undefined });
     validateTableProposalDocumentTruncation(result.table_proposals_truncation, proposals);
+    if (layout !== null) {
+      const expected = boundTableProposalRegions(layout.pages.flatMap(page => (
+        segmentPageLines(page, allowHeaderlessTables).regions.map((region, index) => (
+          buildTableProposalRegion(page, region.run, region.reason, index + 1,
+            { sourceSha256: layout.source.sha256 })
+        ))
+      )));
+      const actual = proposals.map(({ proposal_token: _token, ...proposal }) => proposal);
+      assertion(sameJson(actual, expected.regions), "table proposals do not match the bound layout IR");
+      assertion(sameJson(result.table_proposals_truncation, expected.truncation),
+        "table proposal truncation does not match the bound layout IR");
+    }
+    for (const proposal of proposals) {
+      if (proposal.review_candidate) {
+        const { candidate_sha256: digest, ...candidate } = proposal.review_candidate;
+        assertion(candidate.source_sha256 === result.provenance.source.sha256
+          && candidate.region_id === proposal.region_id && candidate.page === proposal.page,
+        "table review candidate source binding mismatch");
+        assertion(digest === sha256(canonicalReviewCandidate(candidate)), "table review candidate digest mismatch");
+        validateTableReviewCandidate(proposal, candidate);
+      }
+    }
   } else {
     assertion(result.table_proposals_truncation === undefined,
       "table proposal truncation cannot exist without proposals");
@@ -3713,6 +3843,20 @@ export function validateMarkdownConversionSemantics(result, { layout = null } =
   return result;
 }
 
+function validateTableReviewCandidate(region, candidate) {
+  const bands = joinedThinFillBands(region.ruled_rects);
+  assertion(bands.length === 3 && bands.every(band => Math.abs(band.x - region.bbox.x) <= 0.05
+    && Math.abs(band.width - region.bbox.width) <= 0.05)
+    && Math.abs(bands[0].y - region.bbox.y) <= 0.05
+    && Math.abs(bands[2].y + bands[2].height - region.bbox.y - region.bbox.height) <= 0.05,
+  "table review candidate rule envelope mismatch");
+  const replay = threeRuleReviewCandidate(region, { middle: bands[1] }, candidate.source_sha256);
+  assertion(replay !== null, "table review candidate geometry is unsupported");
+  const { candidate_sha256: _digest, ...replayed } = replay;
+  assertion(canonicalReviewCandidate(candidate) === canonicalReviewCandidate(replayed),
+    "table review candidate does not match its retained source geometry");
+}
+
 function isFiniteNumber(value) {
   return typeof value === "number" && Number.isFinite(value);
 }
@@ -3985,6 +4129,7 @@ export function renderPdfLayoutToMarkdown(layout, {
     // number from a single-page selection.
     pageBoundaryAfter: true,
     collectTableProposals: emitTableProposals,
+    sourceSha256: layout.source.sha256,
     allowHeaderlessTables,
     pageFurniture: furniturePlans.get(page.page),
   }));
diff --git a/server/output-schemas.js b/server/output-schemas.js
index 8d11e92..3c984ec 100644
--- a/server/output-schemas.js
+++ b/server/output-schemas.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { AjvJsonSchemaValidator } from "@modelcontextprotocol/server/validators/ajv";
 import { validatePdfLayoutSemantics } from "./layout-extraction.js";
-import { validateMarkdownConversionSemantics } from "./markdown-conversion.js";
+import { TABLE_REVIEW_NOTICE, validateMarkdownConversionSemantics } from "./markdown-conversion.js";
 import {
   validatePdfObservationSemantics,
   validateRenderObservationSemantics,
@@ -1172,6 +1172,27 @@ const tableProposal = object({
   truncation: tableProposalTruncation,
   proposal_token: sha256Digest,
 });
+// Additive only on opt-in proposal packets. Strict table acceptance is separate.
+tableProposal.properties.review_candidate = object({
+  algorithm: object({ name: { const: "pdf-tools.three-rule-review-candidate" }, version: { const: "0.1.0" } }),
+  status: { const: "needs_review" }, topology_verified: { const: false }, header_roles_verified: { const: false },
+  source_sha256: sha256Digest, region_id: string, page: { type: "integer", minimum: 1 },
+  content_origin: { const: "source_text_items" }, structure_origin: { const: "whitespace_alignment_proposal" },
+  row_count: { type: "integer", minimum: 3, maximum: 100 },
+  column_count: { type: "integer", minimum: 2, maximum: 12 },
+  source_item_count: { type: "integer", minimum: 1, maximum: 400 },
+  assigned_item_count: { type: "integer", minimum: 1, maximum: 400 }, unassigned_item_count: { const: 0 },
+  cells: { type: "array", minItems: 6, maxItems: 400, items: object({
+    row: { type: "integer", minimum: 0, maximum: 99 }, column: { type: "integer", minimum: 0, maximum: 11 },
+    item_ids: { type: "array", minItems: 1, maxItems: 400, items: string },
+    lines: { type: "array", minItems: 1, maxItems: 400, items: object({
+      line_id: string, item_ids: { type: "array", minItems: 1, maxItems: 400, items: string }, text: string,
+    }) },
+  }) },
+  html: string, html_format: { const: "header_neutral_html" },
+  html_bytes: { type: "integer", minimum: 1, maximum: 20000 },
+  review_notice: { const: TABLE_REVIEW_NOTICE }, candidate_sha256: sha256Digest,
+});
 const tableProposalCheckStatus = enumString(["passed", "failed", "not_run"]);
 const verifiedTableCell = object({
   row: { type: "integer", minimum: 0 },
diff --git a/test/fixtures/eval/extraction/phase1/layout-occurrence-oracle.v1.json b/test/fixtures/eval/extraction/phase1/layout-occurrence-oracle.v1.json
index 10b81b3..2105fe9 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/eval/extraction/phase1/layout-occurrence-oracle.v1.json
+++ b/test/fixtures/eval/extraction/phase1/layout-occurrence-oracle.v1.json
@@ -79,14 +79,14 @@
     {
       "role": "markdown_conversion_module",
       "path": "server/markdown-conversion.js",
-      "bytes": 192276,
-      "sha256": "838f9b1adb38faf5eb3b31d7be9479eb8521dff0fd7013dcd3c89fc3cbcb95d1"
+      "bytes": 200207,
+      "sha256": "988a3b3b4c9ebb27b66a63cd2703dd002519935c8dd8660a8af78f53621b257a"
     },
     {
       "role": "output_schemas_module",
       "path": "server/output-schemas.js",
-      "bytes": 84427,
-      "sha256": "beb9255b64456319bf2b747e643c32d3d175c29f51feddfdf5f419da19f9fc3c"
+      "bytes": 85973,
+      "sha256": "f26eea7b94ccda2faca95880afe33bb3186511b9cf7ac32b799b895ee84b226d"
     },
     {
       "role": "package_json",
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@
       "sha256": "ef40501b2afbe4cd2adfa80480344783bbec1a00e8e9850086a5d044231d1f53"
     }
   ],
-  "validator_source_set_sha256": "6e875209853d97288e5eae1464c0c3a333f37b31ad3467839954aa4edbf657c4",
+  "validator_source_set_sha256": "1903def9a7de315d775ec2a4f0494778cefad449c88fdf8e9283fc2749eabf01",
   "pdfjs_version": "5.4.624",
   "generation_contract": {
     "source_path": "source.pdf",
diff --git a/test/fixtures/eval/trajectories/tool-contracts.v3.json b/test/fixtures/eval/trajectories/tool-contracts.v3.json
index ff68473..9c7cfd0 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/eval/trajectories/tool-contracts.v3.json
+++ b/test/fixtures/eval/trajectories/tool-contracts.v3.json
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     "name": "pdf-tools",
     "version": "0.14.0"
   },
-  "tools_sha256": "93202e8e6e04b8914f81003624692177e9dbe02c6fc93aa877ebf7e82b2556a7",
+  "tools_sha256": "cbd4f2614576b123130ad430542f58cf07ca3730026c59545e7fe4b447dce4bf",
   "tools": [
     {
       "name": "add_signature_field",
@@ -554,7 +554,7 @@
           },
           "emit_table_proposals": {
             "type": "boolean",
-            "description": "Opt into emitting one bounded, deterministic table_proposals packet per abandoned table region (TABLE_TOPOLOGY_UNKNOWN or TABLE_RULING_UNSUPPORTED), carrying the region's text items, ruled and painted evidence, header hints, page, bbox, coordinate_space, and a source-and-IR-bound proposal_token so a host model can propose a structure for later read-only verification. Additive: the abstention gap is unchanged and default output stays byte-identical. Default: false."
+            "description": "Opt into emitting one bounded, deterministic table_proposals packet per abandoned table region (TABLE_TOPOLOGY_UNKNOWN or TABLE_RULING_UNSUPPORTED), carrying the region's text items, ruled and painted evidence, header hints, page, bbox, coordinate_space, and a source-and-IR-bound proposal_token so a host model can propose a structure for later read-only verification. A narrowly qualifying captioned three-rule table may also include a draft arrangement and header-neutral HTML preview marked needs_review; its row/column grouping and header roles are unverified. Additive: the abstention gap is unchanged and default output stays byte-identical. Default: false."
           },
           "allow_headerless_tables": {
             "type": "boolean",
diff --git a/test/markdown-conversion.test.js b/test/markdown-conversion.test.js
index c1a397b..c84789f 100644
--- a/test/markdown-conversion.test.js
+++ b/test/markdown-conversion.test.js
@@ -15,6 +15,13 @@ import {
   validateMarkdownConversionSemantics,
 } from "../server/markdown-conversion.js";
 
+function canonicalCandidate(value) {
+  if (Array.isArray(value)) return `[${value.map(canonicalCandidate).join(",")}]`;
+  if (value && typeof value === "object") return `{${Object.keys(value).sort()
+    .map(key => `${JSON.stringify(key)}:${canonicalCandidate(value[key])}`).join(",")}}`;
+  return JSON.stringify(value);
+}
+
 function multiply(left, right) {
   return [
     left[0] * right[0] + left[2] * right[1],
@@ -471,12 +478,12 @@ describe("layout Markdown renderer", () => {
       textItem("Table 1. Example", { top: 88, left: 50, fontSize: 10 }),
       textItem("Concentration", { top: 113, left: 60, fontSize: 9 }),
       textItem("level", { top: 124, left: 60, fontSize: 9 }),
-      textItem("A", { top: 120, left: 140, fontSize: 9, eol: false }),
-      textItem("B", { top: 120, left: 220, fontSize: 9 }),
+      textItem("A", { top: 120, left: 150, fontSize: 9, eol: false }),
+      textItem("B", { top: 120, left: 230, fontSize: 9 }),
       ...["Control", "Low", "High"].flatMap((label, index) => [
         textItem(label, { top: 145 + 15 * index, left: 60, fontSize: 9, eol: false }),
-        textItem(String(index), { top: 145 + 15 * index, left: 140, fontSize: 9, eol: false }),
-        textItem(String(index + 1), { top: 145 + 15 * index, left: 220, fontSize: 9 }),
+        textItem(String(index), { top: 145 + 15 * index, left: 150, fontSize: 9, eol: false }),
+        textItem(String(index + 1), { top: 145 + 15 * index, left: 230, fontSize: 9 }),
       ]),
       textItem("3. Results", { top: 205, left: 50, fontSize: 10 }),
     ];
@@ -496,10 +503,39 @@ describe("layout Markdown renderer", () => {
       "Concentration", "level", "A", "B", "Control", "0", "1", "Low", "1", "2", "High", "2", "3",
     ]);
     expect(region.header_hints.status).toBe("unavailable");
+    expect(region.review_candidate).toMatchObject({ status: "needs_review", row_count: 4, column_count: 3 });
     const mapped = analyzeValidatedPdfPagesForDocumentMap(layout.pages);
-    expect(mapped[0].table_regions).toEqual(result.table_proposal_regions);
+    expect(mapped[0].table_regions).toEqual(result.table_proposal_regions.map(({ review_candidate: _candidate, ...item }) => item));
     expect(analyzeValidatedPdfPagesForDocumentMap(layout.pages)).toEqual(mapped);
     expect(() => validateMarkdownConversionSemantics(result, { layout })).not.toThrow();
+    for (const mutate of [
+      candidate => { candidate.topology_verified = true; },
+      candidate => { candidate.cells[0].lines[0].text = "invented"; },
+      candidate => { candidate.cells[0].item_ids.pop(); },
+      candidate => { candidate.cells[0].item_ids.push(candidate.cells[1].item_ids[0]); },
+      candidate => { candidate.html += "<script>alert(1)</script>"; },
+      candidate => { candidate.source_sha256 = "f".repeat(64); },
+      candidate => { candidate.cells[0].column = 1; },
+    ]) {
+      const changed = structuredClone(result);
+      const candidate = changed.table_proposal_regions.find(value => value.review_candidate).review_candidate;
+      mutate(candidate);
+      const { candidate_sha256: _digest, ...body } = candidate;
+      candidate.candidate_sha256 = createHash("sha256").update(canonicalCandidate(body)).digest("hex");
+      expect(() => validateMarkdownConversionSemantics(changed)).toThrow();
+      expect(() => validateMarkdownConversionSemantics(changed, { layout })).toThrow();
+    }
+    // Even a content-consistent, freshly rehashed regrouping must fail the
+    // packet-only geometry replay as well as the complete bound-IR replay.
+    const regrouped = structuredClone(result);
+    const draft = regrouped.table_proposal_regions.find(value => value.review_candidate).review_candidate;
+    [draft.cells[1].item_ids, draft.cells[2].item_ids] = [draft.cells[2].item_ids, draft.cells[1].item_ids];
+    [draft.cells[1].lines, draft.cells[2].lines] = [draft.cells[2].lines, draft.cells[1].lines];
+    draft.html = draft.html.replace("<td>A</td><td>B</td>", "<td>B</td><td>A</td>");
+    const { candidate_sha256: _digest, ...body } = draft;
+    draft.candidate_sha256 = createHash("sha256").update(canonicalCandidate(body)).digest("hex");
+    expect(() => validateMarkdownConversionSemantics(regrouped)).toThrow(/retained source geometry/);
+    expect(() => validateMarkdownConversionSemantics(regrouped, { layout })).toThrow(/bound layout IR/);
   });
 
   it("emits only inert data cells for an opted-in complete source-covered headerless grid", async () => {
diff --git a/test/mcp-contract.test.js b/test/mcp-contract.test.js
index 9e8b58e..09385f5 100644
--- a/test/mcp-contract.test.js
+++ b/test/mcp-contract.test.js
@@ -242,7 +242,8 @@ const EXAMPLE_PDF = path.join(REPO_ROOT, "example-fw9.pdf");
 // neutrally described and no longer exposes arbitrary credential headers.
 // 2026-10-20: version the optional tight-grid/caption repair as renderer 1.23.0.
 // 2026-10-20: private local password entry replaces public credential inputs.
-const TOOL_CONTRACT_SHA256 = "17e2067e2c014bfc77e234432af45f7711494104f2a14d5f652e42e917251128";
+// 2026-10-21: optional table packets describe draft arrangements that require review.
+const TOOL_CONTRACT_SHA256 = "2239a74dcdb71387f855c49bb26bc01e52ca9a14e773be13a32d19d3af9ec2d4";
 
 const CLOSED_READ = Object.freeze({
   readOnlyHint: true,
diff --git a/test/table-review-candidate.test.js b/test/table-review-candidate.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..56b7ba5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/table-review-candidate.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+import { mkdtemp, writeFile, rm } from "node:fs/promises";
+import os from "node:os";
+import path from "node:path";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+import { PDFDocument, StandardFonts } from "pdf-lib";
+import { Client } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/index.js";
+import { StdioClientTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/stdio.js";
+import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { buildTableProposalRegion } from "../server/markdown-conversion.js";
+
+const root = path.resolve(path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), "..");
+const sourceSha256 = "a".repeat(64);
+function fixture() {
+  const entries = [
+    ["Table 1. Synthetic measurements", 50, 88, 160, "caption"],
+    ["Concentration", 60, 114, 55, "top-1"],
+    ["level", 70, 126, 20, "top-2"],
+    ["A", 145, 120, 10, "top-3"], ["B", 225, 120, 10, "top-3"],
+    ...["Control", "Low", "High"].flatMap((text, index) => [
+      [text, 60, 148 + index * 15, 40, `body-${index}`],
+      [String(index), 140, 148 + index * 15, 8, `body-${index}`],
+      [String(index + 1), 220, 148 + index * 15, 8, `body-${index}`],
+    ]),
+  ];
+  const raw_items = entries.map(([text, x, y, width, line_id], index) => ({
+    id: `item-${index}`, text, bbox: { x, y, width, height: 8 }, line_id,
+    reading_order_index: index, geometry_valid: true, text_kind: "non_whitespace",
+  }));
+  const lines = [...new Set(entries.map(row => row[4]))].map(id => {
+    const items = raw_items.filter(item => item.line_id === id);
+    const x = Math.min(...items.map(item => item.bbox.x));
+    const y = Math.min(...items.map(item => item.bbox.y));
+    return { id, x, y, width: Math.max(...items.map(item => item.bbox.x + item.bbox.width)) - x,
+      height: 8, text: items.map(item => item.text).join(" "), item_ids: items.map(item => item.id) };
+  });
+  const bars = [110, 140, 195].flatMap(y => [
+    { x: 50, y, width: 120, height: 1, verb: "fill" },
+    { x: 170, y, width: 100, height: 1, verb: "fill" },
+  ]);
+  return { page: { page: 1, raw_items, lines, truncation: { truncated: false },
+    ruled_rects: { status: "available", observed_count: 6, returned_count: 6, items: bars },
+    ruling_segments: { status: "available", truncated: false, observed_count: 0, returned_count: 0, items: [] },
+    painted_rectangles: { status: "available", truncated: false, observed_count: 0, returned_count: 0, items: [] } },
+  run: lines.slice(3).map(line => ({ line, cells: raw_items.filter(item => item.line_id === line.id) })) };
+}
+function packet(input, sha = sourceSha256) {
+  return buildTableProposalRegion(input.page, input.run, "topology", 1, { sourceSha256: sha });
+}
+
+describe("three-rule table arrangement for review", () => {
+  it("produces one deterministic complete draft with multiline labels and no header claim", () => {
+    const input = fixture();
+    const before = structuredClone(input);
+    const result = packet(input);
+    const candidate = result.review_candidate;
+    expect(candidate).toMatchObject({ status: "needs_review", topology_verified: false,
+      header_roles_verified: false, row_count: 4, column_count: 3,
+      source_item_count: 13, assigned_item_count: 13, unassigned_item_count: 0, source_sha256: sourceSha256 });
+    expect(candidate.cells[0].lines.map(line => line.text)).toEqual(["Concentration", "level"]);
+    expect(candidate.html).toContain("<td>Concentration<br>level</td>");
+    expect(candidate.html).not.toContain("<th");
+    expect(candidate.cells.flatMap(cell => cell.item_ids).sort())
+      .toEqual(result.text_items.map(item => item.id).sort());
+    expect(packet(input)).toEqual(result);
+    expect(input).toEqual(before);
+    expect(packet(input, "b".repeat(64)).review_candidate.candidate_sha256).not.toBe(candidate.candidate_sha256);
+    expect(buildTableProposalRegion(input.page, input.run, "topology", 1)).not.toHaveProperty("review_candidate");
+  });
+
+  const attacks = {
+    missing_caption: input => { input.page.lines[0].text = "Ordinary paragraph"; },
+    competing_paint: input => {
+      input.page.ruled_rects.items.push({ x: 50, y: 160, width: 220, height: 1, verb: "fill" });
+      input.page.ruled_rects.observed_count++; input.page.ruled_rects.returned_count++;
+    },
+    truncated_text: input => { input.page.truncation.truncated = true; },
+    truncated_geometry: input => { input.page.ruled_rects.status = "truncated"; },
+    overlapping_body_rows: input => {
+      for (const item of input.page.raw_items.filter(item => item.line_id === "body-1")) item.bbox.y = 152;
+    },
+    wrapped_body_cell: input => { input.page.raw_items.find(item => item.text === "Low").line_id = "wrapped-body"; },
+    missing_cell: input => {
+      const item = input.page.raw_items.find(item => item.line_id === "body-1" && item.bbox.x === 220);
+      item.bbox.x = 142;
+    },
+    spanning_top_cell: input => { input.page.raw_items[1].bbox.width = 120; },
+    no_common_corridor: input => {
+      const item = input.page.raw_items.find(item => item.line_id === "body-1" && item.bbox.x === 140);
+      item.bbox.x = 90; item.bbox.width = 120;
+    },
+    oversized_preview: input => { input.page.raw_items[1].text = "X".repeat(40_001); },
+  };
+  it.each(Object.keys(attacks))("keeps evidence without a draft for %s", name => {
+    const input = fixture(); attacks[name](input);
+    expect(packet(input)).not.toHaveProperty("review_candidate");
+  });
+
+  it("escapes PDF markup and preserves exact source fragments", () => {
+    const input = fixture();
+    input.page.raw_items[1].text = '<img src=x onerror="alert(1)"> & https://evil.test';
+    const result = packet(input);
+    const candidate = result.review_candidate;
+    expect(candidate.cells[0].lines[0].text).toBe(input.page.raw_items[1].text);
+    expect(candidate.html).toContain("&lt;img");
+    expect(candidate.html).toContain("https&#58;//evil&#46;test");
+    expect(candidate.html).not.toContain("<img");
+  });
+});
+
+describe("actual MCP table draft presentation", () => {
+  let directory, pdfPath, client, transport;
+  beforeAll(async () => {
+    directory = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "pdf-tools-table-review-"));
+    pdfPath = path.join(directory, "synthetic.pdf");
+    const pdf = await PDFDocument.create();
+    const page = pdf.addPage([612, 792]);
+    const font = await pdf.embedFont(StandardFonts.Helvetica);
+    const draw = (text, x, top) => page.drawText(text, { x, y: 792 - top - 9, size: 9, font });
+    draw("Table 1. Synthetic measurements", 50, 88);
+    draw("Concentration", 60, 114); draw("level", 70, 126);
+    draw("A", 150, 120); draw("B", 230, 120);
+    for (const [index, label] of ["Control", "Low", "High"].entries()) {
+      draw(label, 60, 148 + index * 15); draw(String(index), 150, 148 + index * 15);
+      draw(String(index + 1), 230, 148 + index * 15);
+    }
+    draw("3. Results", 50, 210);
+    for (const y of [110, 140, 195]) page.drawRectangle({ x: 50, y: 792 - y - 1, width: 220, height: 1 });
+    await writeFile(pdfPath, await pdf.save(), { flag: "wx" });
+    transport = new StdioClientTransport({ command: process.execPath,
+      args: [path.join(root, "server/index.js")], cwd: root,
+      env: { ALLOWED_DIRECTORIES: directory }, stderr: "ignore" });
+    client = new Client({ name: "table-review-test", version: "1.0.0" });
+    await client.connect(transport);
+  }, 30000);
+  afterAll(async () => { await client?.close(); await transport?.close(); await rm(directory, { recursive: true, force: true }); });
+
+  it("exposes the same draft and warning in text and structure while strict verification rejects", async () => {
+    const baseline = await client.callTool({ name: "convert_pdf_to_markdown", arguments: { pdf_path: pdfPath } });
+    const result = await client.callTool({ name: "convert_pdf_to_markdown", arguments: {
+      pdf_path: pdfPath, emit_table_proposals: true,
+    } });
+    expect(result.isError).not.toBe(true);
+    const region = result.structuredContent.table_proposals.find(item => item.review_candidate);
+    expect(region).toBeDefined();
+    const candidate = region.review_candidate;
+    expect(candidate).toMatchObject({ row_count: 4, column_count: 3, topology_verified: false });
+    expect(result.content[0].text).toContain(candidate.review_notice);
+    expect(result.content[0].text).toContain(candidate.html);
+    expect(result.structuredContent.markdown).toBe(baseline.structuredContent.markdown);
+    expect(result.structuredContent.gaps).toEqual(baseline.structuredContent.gaps);
+    const verification = await client.callTool({ name: "verify_table_proposal", arguments: {
+      pdf_path: pdfPath, region_id: region.region_id, proposal_token: region.proposal_token,
+      cells: candidate.cells.map(cell => ({ row: cell.row, column: cell.column,
+        rowspan: 1, colspan: 1, item_ids: cell.item_ids })),
+    } });
+    expect(verification.isError).not.toBe(true);
+    expect(verification.structuredContent.status).toBe("rejected");
+    expect(verification.structuredContent.table).toBeNull();
+    expect(verification.structuredContent.reason_codes).toContain("TABLE_PROPOSAL_TOPOLOGY_AMBIGUOUS");
+    expect(verification.structuredContent).not.toHaveProperty("review_candidate");
+  }, 30000);
+});