@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ export function dialectHint(dialect: string | undefined | null): string | undefi
 
 /** Map the engine's numeric confidence (0..1) to a string band. */
 export function bandConfidence(c: unknown): "high" | "medium" | "low" {
+  // Missing confidence is unknown, not low.
+  if (c == null) return "medium"
   if (typeof c === "string") {
     const s = c.toLowerCase()
     if (s === "high" || s === "medium" || s === "low") return s
@@ -33,3 +35,16 @@ export function bandConfidence(c: unknown): "high" | "medium" | "low" {
   if (n >= 0.5) return "medium"
   return "low"
 }
+
+/**
+ * Extract the real PII rows from an engine PiiReport.
+ *
+ * The engine returns `{ columns, pii_count, risk_level, total_columns }` with
+ * a row for EVERY column — classification "None" means not PII. Lives here
+ * (not in pii-detector) so tool modules can import it without eagerly loading
+ * the native NAPI binding at registry-load time.
+ */
+export function piiColumnsFromReport(piiData: unknown): Array<Record<string, any>> {
+  const columns = ((piiData as Record<string, any>)?.columns ?? []) as Array<Record<string, any>>
+  return columns.filter((c) => c.classification !== "None")
+}
@@ -4,28 +4,17 @@
  */
 
 import * as core from "@altimateai/altimate-core"
-import { bandConfidence, classificationToString } from "../engine-coerce"
+import { bandConfidence, classificationToString, piiColumnsFromReport } from "../engine-coerce"
 import { getCache } from "./cache"
+
+export { piiColumnsFromReport }
 import * as Registry from "../connections/registry"
 import type {
   PiiDetectParams,
   PiiDetectResult,
   PiiFinding,
 } from "../types"
 
-/**
- * Extract the real PII rows from an engine PiiReport.
- *
- * The engine returns `{ columns, pii_count, risk_level, total_columns }` with
- * a row for EVERY column — classification "None" means not PII. (The previous
- * consumer read a nonexistent `findings` field, making detection a silent
- * no-op.) Exported for tests.
- */
-export function piiColumnsFromReport(piiData: unknown): Array<Record<string, any>> {
-  const columns = ((piiData as Record<string, any>)?.columns ?? []) as Array<Record<string, any>>
-  return columns.filter((c) => c.classification !== "None")
-}
-
 /**
  * Detect PII in cached schema metadata by running altimate-core's
  * classifyPii() on column names and types.
 
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 import z from "zod"
 import { Tool } from "../../tool/tool"
 import { Dispatcher } from "../native"
-import { classificationToString } from "../native/engine-coerce"
-import { piiColumnsFromReport } from "../native/schema/pii-detector"
+import { classificationToString, piiColumnsFromReport } from "../native/engine-coerce"
 
 /** Engine PiiReport lists EVERY column; classification "None" means not PII. */
 function realPiiColumns(data: Record<string, any>): any[] {
 
@@ -1251,16 +1251,17 @@ describeIf("consumer contract sync (round 2)", () => {
       const fs = await import("fs/promises")
       const os = await import("os")
       const path = await import("path")
-      const badSchema = path.join(await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "pii-err-")), "schema.json")
-      await fs.writeFile(badSchema, "not json{{{")
+      const dir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "pii-err-"))
       try {
+        const badSchema = path.join(dir, "schema.json")
+        await fs.writeFile(badSchema, "not json{{{")
         const result = await tool.execute({ schema_path: badSchema }, toolCtx())
         expect(result.title).toBe("PII Classification: ERROR")
         expect(result.metadata.success).toBe(false)
         expect(result.output).toContain("Error")
         expect(result.output).not.toContain("No PII columns detected")
       } finally {
-        await fs.rm(path.dirname(badSchema), { recursive: true, force: true })
+        await fs.rm(dir, { recursive: true, force: true })
       }
     })