diff --git a/crates/ogar-vocab/src/lib.rs b/crates/ogar-vocab/src/lib.rs
index 4e54b18..4bbe638 100644
--- a/crates/ogar-vocab/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/ogar-vocab/src/lib.rs
@@ -47,6 +47,11 @@ pub mod capability_registry;
 /// module doc for why the mechanical lift was falsified by the corpus).
 pub mod healthcare_actions;
 pub mod ocr_actions;
+/// The general loose-ends-as-DTO residual ([`residual::ResidualRepresentation`])
+/// — the doctrine `{ surface, storage, handler, unresolved_reason }` slag shape.
+/// [`capability_registry::UnmintedRow`] is the capability-minting-specific
+/// residual; this is its general sibling (`From<UnmintedRow>` bridges them).
+pub mod residual;
 
 /// Source language hint — discriminates the producer for traceability
 /// and for emitter dispatch on Ruby/Python-specific extension shapes
diff --git a/crates/ogar-vocab/src/residual.rs b/crates/ogar-vocab/src/residual.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0b3a92f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/ogar-vocab/src/residual.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+//! The canonical **loose-ends-as-DTO** residual — the general "slag" shape.
+//!
+//! [`crate::capability_registry::UnmintedRow`] is the *capability-minting*
+//! slag row: a concept the codebook could not mint. This is its **general**
+//! sibling — any surface (a schema column a codegen recipe never binds, an
+//! unhandled read, an unmapped case) that a transcode/codegen pass could not
+//! confidently resolve, captured as a typed DTO instead of being silently
+//! dropped or degraded to an id-0 sentinel.
+//!
+//! It is the code home of the MedCare transcode doctrine's
+//! `ResidualRepresentation { surface, storage, handler, unresolved_reason }`
+//! ("study the slag, teach the furnace"): each recurring residual names the
+//! next config fact — a mint, an alias, a recipe, a convention fix. First
+//! consumer: `medcare-analytics`'s schema-vs-recipe coverage sweep, which
+//! emits one residual per column no read or write recipe covers.
+//!
+//! Contract-appropriate by construction: a plain typed value both producer and
+//! consumer build against (like [`crate::capability_registry::UnmintedRow`]);
+//! nothing here serializes to leave a boundary.
+
+use crate::capability_registry::UnmintedRow;
+
+/// A surface a transcode/codegen pass could not confidently resolve, kept as a
+/// typed loose end — never a silent drop, never an id-0 degrade.
+///
+/// The four fields answer WHERE / HOW-STORED / WHAT-HANDLES-IT / WHY-UNRESOLVED,
+/// which is enough to name the next config fact that would resolve it.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(serde::Serialize, serde::Deserialize))]
+pub struct ResidualRepresentation {
+    /// WHERE the loose end is — an addressable surface (e.g. `table.column`,
+    /// a route, a concept path).
+    pub surface: String,
+    /// HOW it is stored / typed, verbatim from the source (e.g. `float`,
+    /// `tinyint(1)`, a Rust type name).
+    pub storage: String,
+    /// WHAT partially handles it, if anything. `None` for a fully-unhandled
+    /// residual; `Some` when a pass covers it partially and the residual
+    /// records the gap.
+    pub handler: Option<String>,
+    /// WHY it is unresolved — human-readable, stable enough to assert on and
+    /// to name the next config fact.
+    pub unresolved_reason: String,
+}
+
+impl ResidualRepresentation {
+    /// Construct a residual. `surface` / `storage` / `unresolved_reason` accept
+    /// anything `Into<String>`; `handler` is passed as-is (`None` for a fully
+    /// unhandled loose end).
+    #[must_use]
+    pub fn new(
+        surface: impl Into<String>,
+        storage: impl Into<String>,
+        handler: Option<String>,
+        unresolved_reason: impl Into<String>,
+    ) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            surface: surface.into(),
+            storage: storage.into(),
+            handler,
+            unresolved_reason: unresolved_reason.into(),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl From<UnmintedRow> for ResidualRepresentation {
+    /// An unminted capability row IS a residual in general form: the failing
+    /// `concept` is the surface, the `object_class` its storage, the
+    /// `capability` the (attempted) handler. This is the bridge that shows the
+    /// two slag types are one doctrine family, not two ideas.
+    fn from(u: UnmintedRow) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            surface: u.concept,
+            storage: u.object_class,
+            handler: Some(u.capability),
+            unresolved_reason: "subject concept not minted in the codebook".to_string(),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn new_builds_the_four_fields() {
+        let r = ResidualRepresentation::new(
+            "pf_vital_dynmodule.v1",
+            "float",
+            None,
+            "no write recipe binds this column",
+        );
+        assert_eq!(r.surface, "pf_vital_dynmodule.v1");
+        assert_eq!(r.storage, "float");
+        assert_eq!(r.handler, None);
+        assert!(r.unresolved_reason.contains("no write recipe"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn unminted_row_bridges_to_a_residual() {
+        let u = UnmintedRow {
+            capability: "recognize_line".to_string(),
+            object_class: "ogit-ocr/textline".to_string(),
+            concept: "textline".to_string(),
+        };
+        let r: ResidualRepresentation = u.into();
+        assert_eq!(r.surface, "textline");
+        assert_eq!(r.storage, "ogit-ocr/textline");
+        assert_eq!(r.handler.as_deref(), Some("recognize_line"));
+        assert!(r.unresolved_reason.contains("not minted"));
+    }
+}