@@ -241,7 +241,8 @@ it until 1.1 ships._
   row per spine row; (2) `@segment` and `@filter` on a `@spine` report scope the facts and never
   remove a spine row (they sit in the join condition; there is no `WHERE`); (3) a fact row whose
   reference is null or matches nothing is in no row of a `@spine` report (without `@spine` such
-  rows still form a null group); (4) a ratio's operand carries its own `@default` into the ratio,
+  a row still counts: it falls in a null group through a nullable reference, a `LEFT OUTER`
+  join, and is dropped through a required one, an `INNER` join); (4) a ratio's operand carries its own `@default` into the ratio,
   so `revenue` defaulted to `0` over `buyers` reads `0`, not null, and the ratio's own `@default`
   then covers a zero denominator. New load rules, gated by 10 new shared conformance fixtures
   (37 for reporting, 374 in all): a `@spine` that is not a to-one path from `@from`, a `@spine`
 
@@ -211,6 +211,10 @@ and the one every runtime reads.
 | the same, plus `@unmanaged: true` | `meta migrate` never creates or drops it (you or a migration tool own the DDL), but the runtime still reads it through the shape below. |
 | `@kind: materializedView`, `storedProc` or `tableFunction` | `meta migrate` skips it, as for a projection. |
 
+A report whose view body is your own SQL (`@sql`) or that you manage yourself (`@unmanaged`)
+still gets the derived read shape below, so a defaulted measure and a `@spine` key column are
+typed non-null in every port. Your SQL must keep them non-null (for example with `COALESCE`).
+
 A **derived** report view (no `@sql`) whose `@from` entity has no table (it is abstract, or
 declares no writable `source.rdb`) fails `meta migrate` with an error naming the report and the
 entity, rather than emitting a view over a table that does not exist. A report with an `@sql`
@@ -335,8 +339,9 @@ program.
   `@from` are aggregated. A program whose purchases are all out of scope keeps its row, with a
   count of `0`. Both still name fields of `@from`.
 - **A fact row with no spine row is in no row.** A purchase whose `programId` is null, or
-  matches no program, has no spine row to sit in. Without `@spine`, those rows form a null
-  group.
+  matches no program, has no spine row to sit in. Without `@spine`, such a row still counts: it
+  falls in a null group through a nullable reference (`LEFT OUTER` join) and is dropped through
+  a required one (`INNER` join; see [Dimensions, time grains and joins](#dimensions-time-grains-and-joins)).
 - **A row with no facts** reads `0` for a `count`, and null for a `sum`, `avg`, `min`, `max`
   and a ratio, unless the measure declares `@default` (next section). This holds even for a
   measure whose `@filter` is `isNull: true` on a fact column: the empty row's `@of` column is
@@ -672,7 +677,7 @@ row, and a `SUM` over the result would double-count. A to-one hop cannot fan out
 | **M5** | An `@segment` that names no `segment` child of the owning entity. |
 | **M6** | A `measure.ratio` whose `@numerator` or `@denominator` names no measure of the entity, or names one that is not a `measure.aggregate`. |
 | **M7** | A `@default` on an `@agg: count`. A count is never null, so the default could never apply. |
-| **M8** | A `@default` on an `@agg: min` or `max` over a field that is not numeric (M4's set). |
+| **M8** | A `@default` on an `@agg: min` or `max` over a field that is not numeric (not one of `int, long, double, float, decimal, currency`). |
 
 A measure that breaks several of M1 to M4 reports only the first, in that order, so one
 mistake gives one error. M7 and M8 run only when none of M1 to M4 fired.
 
@@ -405,8 +405,10 @@ tuple among **that entity's** rows, whether or not any row of `@from` refers to
   (unless the measure declares R9's `@default`), and a ratio is computed from its operands as
   they read.
 - **A fact row whose reference is null, or matches no spine row, is in no row of the
-  report.** Without `@spine` such rows form a null group; with it there is no spine row to
-  hold them.
+  report.** Without `@spine` such a row still counts: it falls in a null group through a
+  nullable reference (`LEFT OUTER` join) and is dropped through a required one (`INNER` join;
+  see "Dimensions, time grains and joins" in `docs/features/reporting.md`). With `@spine` there
+  is no spine row to hold it.
 - The grain is unchanged: one row per distinct dimension tuple. To get exactly one row per
   row of the spine entity, list a dimension over its identity (`programId` above).
 - One spine per report.
 
@@ -13,15 +13,15 @@
 //     @from fails R1 skips R2/R3/R6/R7, R8/R9 and its @filter; a report whose
 //     @spine fails R8 skips R9, and R9 skips a dimension whose @via fails D2; an
 //     invalid @dimensions/@measures item derives no report field for R6).
+//   - Each error's source is the offending node (the dimension / measure / segment /
+//     report, or for R4/R5 the declared child), so a conformance fixture's jsonPath
+//     points at it.
 //
 // A fractional measure @default: the TypeScript reference refuses it here, in
 // CheckMeasure, because its generic attr.int check lets a fraction through. This port's
 // generic attr-type check (ValidateAttrSchema, ValueMatchesType) already refuses it with
 // ERR_BAD_ATTR_VALUE on the measure node, so no second error is added here; CheckMeasure
 // only skips M7/M8 for it, as the reference does.
-//   - Each error's source is the offending node (the dimension / measure / segment /
-//     report, or for R4/R5 the declared child), so a conformance fixture's jsonPath
-//     points at it.
 //
 // Inheritance (ADR-0039): an entity's members are read through Children(), so a member
 // declared on an abstract base is validated against every entity that inherits it.
 
@@ -39,13 +39,13 @@ import kotlin.io.path.readText
  *     gate excludes the framework-bound route tier in every port by design.
  *  4. Per scenario: a fresh in-memory H2 (PostgreSQL mode), `SchemaUtils.create(...)` on the
  *     four generated report table objects, then the `reports` half of `seed.json`.
- *  5. Serve the three controllers from one embedded Tomcat ([TomcatHost]).
+ *  5. Serve the four controllers from one embedded Tomcat ([TomcatHost]).
  *
  * No view SQL is written here (ADR-0015: TypeScript owns it). H2 creates each generated
  * `<R>Table` as a plain table that STANDS IN for the view, and the seed's `reports` half is
  * what the four views return for the seeded base tables. The base-table keys (`invoices`,
- * `products`, `sales`) are the full-stack lanes' input; this seam lane does not read them. What this lane proves is the
- * generated route over the generated binding, not the lowering.
+ * `products`, `sales`) are the full-stack lanes' input; this seam lane does not read them.
+ * What this lane proves is the generated route over the generated binding, not the lowering.
  */
 @OptIn(org.jetbrains.kotlin.compiler.plugin.ExperimentalCompilerApi::class)
 class GeneratedReportControllerHarness(
 
@@ -922,7 +922,6 @@ def claim(field_name: str, what: str) -> None:
             _check_spine_dimensions(root, report, from_, spine, terminal, err)
 
     # S1 / F2 — the report's row scope over @from.
-
     # ADR-0039: resolving.
     filter_value = report.get_meta_attr(OBJECT_REPORT_ATTR_FILTER)
     if isinstance(filter_value, dict):
 
@@ -300,7 +300,14 @@ function spinePathOf(
   }
   for (const step of path) {
     const entity = stepTarget(step, root);
-    if (entity === undefined) continue; // the walk resolved it, so it is in the root
+    if (entity === undefined) {
+      // The walk resolved this hop, so it should be in the root. Skipping it would skip the no-table
+      // and TPH refusals below for that entity, so fail closed instead.
+      throw new Error(
+        `${where} @spine '${spine}' reaches '${step.targetEntity}', which is not an entity in the model, so ` +
+          `its table cannot be checked. Fix the @spine path or declare the entity.`,
+      );
+    }
     const head = `${where} @spine '${spine}' reaches '${entity.name}'`;
     if (entity.isAbstract || !hasWritableRdbSource(entity)) {
       throw new Error(