napi: add probe-doc.mjs for single-region detect_vector_grid checks

Generalized one-shot probe — calls detectVectorGridInRegion against
a single PDF + region without spinning up the api or running the bench.
Useful for fast pdf-inspector dev loops:

  cargo build --release && cd napi && bun run build:debug
  node probe-doc.mjs <pdf-path> [page] [bbox] [dpi]

Output: cells/rows/cols and timing, or null when the region has no
vector grid. ~5s round-trip vs ~30s for the full bench harness.

Generalizes the existing probe-indent.mjs pattern so it works on
arbitrary PDFs, not just the multi-line indent fixture.

napi/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@firecrawl/pdf-inspector",
-  "version": "1.4.0",
+  "version": "1.8.7",
   "description": "Fast PDF classification and text extraction. Detect text-based vs scanned PDFs, extract text by region with quality checks. Native Rust performance via napi-rs.",
   "main": "index.js",
   "types": "index.d.ts",

napi/probe-doc.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// Generalized one-shot probe: run detectVectorGridInRegion against a single
+// PDF + region without spinning up the api or the bench.
+//
+// Usage:
+//   node probe-doc.mjs <pdf-path> [page] [bbox] [dpi]
+//
+// pdf-path : path to a PDF on disk (required)
+// page     : 0-indexed page number (default 0)
+// bbox     : "x0,y0,x1,y1" in PDF points (default = full standard letter)
+// dpi      : render dpi (default 200)
+//
+// Examples:
+//   node probe-doc.mjs ~/Code/opendataloader-bench/pdfs/01030000000127.pdf 0
+//   node probe-doc.mjs /tmp/foo.pdf 3 "50,100,560,700" 200
+//   node probe-doc.mjs /tmp/foo.pdf       # page 0, full page, dpi 200
+//
+// Prints: cells / rows / cols / null. Useful for fast pdf-inspector loops:
+//   cargo build --release && bun run build:debug && node probe-doc.mjs ...
+
+import { readFileSync, existsSync } from "node:fs";
+import { createRequire } from "node:module";
+
+const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
+const { detectVectorGridInRegion } = require("./index.js");
+
+const [, , pdfPath, pageArg, bboxArg, dpiArg] = process.argv;
+
+if (!pdfPath) {
+  console.error("usage: node probe-doc.mjs <pdf-path> [page] [bbox] [dpi]");
+  process.exit(2);
+}
+if (!existsSync(pdfPath)) {
+  console.error(`pdf not found: ${pdfPath}`);
+  process.exit(2);
+}
+
+const page = pageArg !== undefined ? Number(pageArg) : 0;
+const bbox = bboxArg
+  ? bboxArg.split(",").map(Number)
+  : [0, 0, 612, 792]; // standard US letter
+const dpi = dpiArg !== undefined ? Number(dpiArg) : 200;
+
+if (bbox.length !== 4 || bbox.some(Number.isNaN)) {
+  console.error(`invalid bbox "${bboxArg}", expected "x0,y0,x1,y1"`);
+  process.exit(2);
+}
+
+const pdf = readFileSync(pdfPath);
+
+const t0 = Date.now();
+const result = detectVectorGridInRegion(pdf, page, bbox, dpi);
+const ms = Date.now() - t0;
+
+if (!result) {
+  console.log(`null (${ms}ms)  page=${page} bbox=${bbox.join(",")} dpi=${dpi}`);
+  process.exit(0);
+}
+
+const rows = result.structureTokens.filter((t) => t === "<tr>").length;
+const cols = rows > 0 ? result.cellBboxes.length / rows : 0;
+console.log(
+  `cells=${result.cellBboxes.length} rows=${rows} cols=${cols} (${ms}ms)  page=${page} bbox=${bbox.join(",")} dpi=${dpi}`,
+);

napi/probe-indent.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { createRequire } from "node:module";
+
+const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
+const { detectVectorGridInRegion } = require("./index.js");
+
+const pdfPath =
+  process.argv[2] ?? "/tmp/pdf_inspector_indent_fixtures/cis_edge_benchmark.pdf";
+const pdf = readFileSync(pdfPath);
+const dpi = Number(process.argv[3] ?? 200);
+
+const crops = [
+  { pageIdx: 29, box: [0, 0, 612, 792], label: "page30-full" },
+  { pageIdx: 16, box: [0, 0, 612, 792], label: "page17-full" },
+  { pageIdx: 23, box: [0, 0, 612, 792], label: "page24-full" },
+];
+
+for (const { pageIdx, box, label } of crops) {
+  const result = detectVectorGridInRegion(pdf, pageIdx, box, dpi);
+  if (!result) {
+    console.log(`${label}: null`);
+    continue;
+  }
+  const rows = result.structureTokens.filter((token) => token === "<tr>").length;
+  const cols = rows > 0 ? result.cellBboxes.length / rows : 0;
+  console.log(
+    `${label}: cells=${result.cellBboxes.length} rows=${rows} cols=${cols}`,
+  );
+}

napi/src/lib.rs

@@ -99,6 +99,13 @@ pub struct PageRegionTexts {
     pub regions: Vec<RegionText>,
 }
 
+/// Vector-grid detection result compatible with `extractTablesWithStructure*`.
+#[napi(object)]
+pub struct VectorGridDetectionJs {
+    pub structure_tokens: Vec<String>,
+    pub cell_bboxes: Vec<Vec<f64>>,
+}
+
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Helpers
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -317,6 +324,236 @@ pub fn extract_tables_in_regions(
     })
 }
 
+/// Detect a vector ruled-line / rectangle grid inside one page region.
+///
+/// Returns TSR-compatible structure tokens plus crop-pixel cell bboxes, or
+/// `null` when the region does not contain a valid vector grid.
+///
+/// `pageIdx` is 0-indexed. `regionPdfPtBbox` is `[x1,y1,x2,y2]` in PDF
+/// points with top-left origin. `renderDpi` is the DPI of the crop image that
+/// will consume the returned cell bboxes.
+#[napi]
+pub fn detect_vector_grid_in_region(
+    buffer: Buffer,
+    page_idx: u32,
+    region_pdf_pt_bbox: Vec<f64>,
+    render_dpi: f64,
+) -> Result<Option<VectorGridDetectionJs>> {
+    let bytes: Vec<u8> = buffer.to_vec();
+    let region = if region_pdf_pt_bbox.len() == 4 {
+        [
+            region_pdf_pt_bbox[0] as f32,
+            region_pdf_pt_bbox[1] as f32,
+            region_pdf_pt_bbox[2] as f32,
+            region_pdf_pt_bbox[3] as f32,
+        ]
+    } else {
+        [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0]
+    };
+
+    catch_panic("detect_vector_grid_in_region", move || {
+        let result = pdf_inspector::detect_vector_grid_in_region_mem(
+            &bytes,
+            page_idx,
+            region,
+            render_dpi as f32,
+        )
+        .map_err(|e| to_napi_err(e, "detect_vector_grid_in_region"))?;
+
+        Ok(result.map(|r| VectorGridDetectionJs {
+            structure_tokens: r.structure_tokens,
+            cell_bboxes: r
+                .cell_bboxes
+                .into_iter()
+                .map(|bbox| bbox.into_iter().map(|v| v as f64).collect())
+                .collect(),
+        }))
+    })
+}
+
+/// One cropped table region plus its raw structure-recovery output, for
+/// `extractTablesWithStructure`.
+///
+/// `structureTokens` and `cellBboxes` are typically produced by an external
+/// table-structure recognition model (e.g. SLANet on PaddleOCR) running on
+/// a rendered crop of the page. pdf-inspector uses the structure to lay out
+/// the cells and pulls the cell text from the native PDF — no OCR involved.
+#[napi(object)]
+pub struct TsrTableInputJs {
+    /// 0-indexed page number where the crop was taken from.
+    pub page: u32,
+    /// Crop bbox on the page, `[x1, y1, x2, y2]` in PDF points with
+    /// top-left origin.
+    pub crop_pdf_pt_bbox: Vec<f64>,
+    /// DPI the crop image was rendered at (e.g. `200.0`).
+    pub render_dpi: f64,
+    /// Raw structure tokens emitted by the TSR model, in document order.
+    pub structure_tokens: Vec<String>,
+    /// One bbox per cell (in document order). May be 4-element
+    /// `[x1,y1,x2,y2]` or 8-element 4-corner polygon, in crop image-pixel
+    /// space.
+    pub cell_bboxes: Vec<Vec<f64>>,
+}
+
+/// Extract markdown tables using externally-supplied structure recovery.
+///
+/// For each input, pairs structure tokens with cell bboxes (rowspan/colspan
+/// aware), converts each cell bbox from crop image-pixels into page PDF
+/// points, pulls the cell's text from the native PDF, and emits a markdown
+/// pipe-table.
+///
+/// Returns one markdown string per input, in input order.
+#[napi]
+pub fn extract_tables_with_structure(
+    buffer: Buffer,
+    inputs: Vec<TsrTableInputJs>,
+) -> Result<Vec<String>> {
+    let bytes: Vec<u8> = buffer.to_vec();
+    let parsed = parse_tsr_inputs(&inputs);
+
+    catch_panic("extract_tables_with_structure", move || {
+        pdf_inspector::extract_tables_with_structure_mem(&bytes, &parsed)
+            .map_err(|e| to_napi_err(e, "extract_tables_with_structure"))
+    })
+}
+
+/// One resolved cell from `extractTablesWithStructureCells`.
+#[napi(object)]
+pub struct StructuredCellJs {
+    /// 0-indexed grid row.
+    pub row: u32,
+    /// 0-indexed grid column.
+    pub col: u32,
+    /// 1 for a normal cell.
+    pub rowspan: u32,
+    /// 1 for a normal cell.
+    pub colspan: u32,
+    /// `true` when the cell is a `<th>` or sits inside `<thead>`.
+    pub is_header: bool,
+    /// Text extracted from the native PDF for this cell (may be empty).
+    pub text: String,
+    /// Axis-aligned bbox `[x1, y1, x2, y2]` in page PDF-points, top-left
+    /// origin. Useful for debug overlays or per-cell post-processing.
+    pub page_pt_bbox: Vec<f64>,
+}
+
+/// Extract structured cells using externally-supplied structure recovery.
+///
+/// Lower-level sibling of [`extractTablesWithStructure`]: instead of
+/// rendering markdown, returns the resolved cells (row, col, rowspan,
+/// colspan, isHeader, text, pagePtBbox) so callers can drive their own
+/// rendering, debug overlays, or per-cell post-processing.
+///
+/// Returns one `Array<StructuredCellJs>` per input, in input order.
+#[napi]
+pub fn extract_tables_with_structure_cells(
+    buffer: Buffer,
+    inputs: Vec<TsrTableInputJs>,
+) -> Result<Vec<Vec<StructuredCellJs>>> {
+    let bytes: Vec<u8> = buffer.to_vec();
+    let parsed = parse_tsr_inputs(&inputs);
+
+    catch_panic("extract_tables_with_structure_cells", move || {
+        let result = pdf_inspector::extract_tables_with_structure_cells_mem(&bytes, &parsed)
+            .map_err(|e| to_napi_err(e, "extract_tables_with_structure_cells"))?;
+        Ok(result
+            .into_iter()
+            .map(|cells| {
+                cells
+                    .into_iter()
+                    .map(|c| StructuredCellJs {
+                        row: c.row as u32,
+                        col: c.col as u32,
+                        rowspan: c.rowspan as u32,
+                        colspan: c.colspan as u32,
+                        is_header: c.is_header,
+                        text: c.text,
+                        page_pt_bbox: c.page_pt_bbox.iter().map(|v| *v as f64).collect(),
+                    })
+                    .collect()
+            })
+            .collect())
+    })
+}
+
+/// One result from `extractTablesWithStructureAuto` — markdown plus a
+/// diagnostic flag identifying which path produced it.
+///
+/// `fallbackReason` is `null` when the TSR-hybrid path produced the
+/// markdown directly. When stage 1's quality check fires (the cells
+/// look like a SLANet detection pathology — phantom rows or multi-row
+/// content in a single cell), the auto path may expand the TSR cells
+/// in-place or run the heuristic table extractor on the same region.
+/// `fallbackReason` carries the diagnostic label (for example
+/// `"multi_row_in_cell_expanded"` or `"phantom_empty_row"`).
+#[napi(object)]
+pub struct TableExtractionResultJs {
+    pub markdown: String,
+    pub fallback_reason: Option<String>,
+}
+
+/// Auto-fallback variant of [`extractTablesWithStructure`].
+///
+/// Runs the TSR-hybrid path, checks the resulting cells for known
+/// SLANet detection pathologies, expands multi-row cells in-place when
+/// possible, and otherwise falls back to the heuristic
+/// `extractTablesInRegions` for inputs where the TSR path looks
+/// compromised.
+///
+/// On clean inputs this returns identical markdown to
+/// `extractTablesWithStructure`; on flagged inputs `fallbackReason` is
+/// set to the recovery path that produced the result.
+#[napi]
+pub fn extract_tables_with_structure_auto(
+    buffer: Buffer,
+    inputs: Vec<TsrTableInputJs>,
+) -> Result<Vec<TableExtractionResultJs>> {
+    let bytes: Vec<u8> = buffer.to_vec();
+    let parsed = parse_tsr_inputs(&inputs);
+
+    catch_panic("extract_tables_with_structure_auto", move || {
+        let result = pdf_inspector::extract_tables_with_structure_auto_mem(&bytes, &parsed)
+            .map_err(|e| to_napi_err(e, "extract_tables_with_structure_auto"))?;
+        Ok(result
+            .into_iter()
+            .map(|r| TableExtractionResultJs {
+                markdown: r.markdown,
+                fallback_reason: r.fallback_reason,
+            })
+            .collect())
+    })
+}
+
+fn parse_tsr_inputs(inputs: &[TsrTableInputJs]) -> Vec<pdf_inspector::TsrTableInput> {
+    inputs
+        .iter()
+        .map(|i| {
+            let crop = if i.crop_pdf_pt_bbox.len() == 4 {
+                [
+                    i.crop_pdf_pt_bbox[0] as f32,
+                    i.crop_pdf_pt_bbox[1] as f32,
+                    i.crop_pdf_pt_bbox[2] as f32,
+                    i.crop_pdf_pt_bbox[3] as f32,
+                ]
+            } else {
+                [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0]
+            };
+            let cell_bboxes: Vec<Vec<f32>> = i
+                .cell_bboxes
+                .iter()
+                .map(|bb| bb.iter().map(|v| *v as f32).collect())
+                .collect();
+            pdf_inspector::TsrTableInput {
+                page: i.page,
+                crop_pdf_pt_bbox: crop,
+                render_dpi: i.render_dpi as f32,
+                structure_tokens: i.structure_tokens.clone(),
+                cell_bboxes,
+            }
+        })
+        .collect()
+}
+
 /// Per-page markdown extraction result.
 #[napi(object)]
 pub struct PageMarkdownResult {
@@ -360,9 +597,8 @@ pub fn extract_pages_markdown(
 ) -> Result<PagesExtractionResult> {
     let bytes: Vec<u8> = buffer.to_vec();
     catch_panic("extract_pages_markdown", move || {
-        let result =
-            pdf_inspector::extract_pages_markdown_mem(&bytes, pages.as_deref())
-                .map_err(|e| to_napi_err(e, "extract_pages_markdown"))?;
+        let result = pdf_inspector::extract_pages_markdown_mem(&bytes, pages.as_deref())
+            .map_err(|e| to_napi_err(e, "extract_pages_markdown"))?;
         Ok(PagesExtractionResult {
             pages: result
                 .pages

napi/test.mjs

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import {
   extractText,
   extractTextWithPositions,
   extractTextInRegions,
+  detectVectorGridInRegion,
   extractPagesMarkdown,
 } from './index.js';
 
@@ -90,6 +91,17 @@ assert.equal(typeof regionResults[0].regions[0].text, 'string');
 assert.equal(typeof regionResults[0].regions[0].needsOcr, 'boolean');
 console.log('  extractTextInRegions: OK');
 
+// --- detectVectorGridInRegion ---
+console.log('Testing detectVectorGridInRegion...');
+const vectorGrid = detectVectorGridInRegion(fixture, 0, [0, 0, 600, 800], 72);
+assert.ok(vectorGrid === null || typeof vectorGrid === 'object');
+if (vectorGrid) {
+  assert.ok(Array.isArray(vectorGrid.structureTokens));
+  assert.ok(Array.isArray(vectorGrid.cellBboxes));
+  assert.ok(vectorGrid.cellBboxes.every(bbox => Array.isArray(bbox) && bbox.length === 4));
+}
+console.log('  detectVectorGridInRegion: OK');
+
 // --- extractPagesMarkdown ---
 console.log('Testing extractPagesMarkdown...');
 

src/bin/detect_pdf.rs

@@ -1,8 +1,12 @@
 //! CLI tool for detecting PDF type (text-based vs scanned)
 
-use pdf_inspector::{detect_pdf_type, process_pdf_with_options, PdfOptions, PdfType, ProcessMode};
+use pdf_inspector::{
+    detect_pdf_type, detector::estimate_page_count_from_bytes, process_pdf_with_options,
+    PdfOptions, PdfType, ProcessMode,
+};
 use std::env;
 use std::fmt::Write;
+use std::fs;
 use std::process;
 use std::time::Instant;
 
@@ -64,6 +68,32 @@ fn pdf_type_str(pdf_type: &PdfType) -> &'static str {
     }
 }
 
+fn page_count_hint(pdf_path: &str) -> Option<u32> {
+    fs::read(pdf_path)
+        .ok()
+        .map(|bytes| estimate_page_count_from_bytes(&bytes))
+        .filter(|&count| count > 0)
+}
+
+fn print_error(e: &pdf_inspector::PdfError, pdf_path: &str, json_output: bool) {
+    if json_output {
+        if let Some(count) = page_count_hint(pdf_path) {
+            println!(
+                r#"{{"error":"{}","page_count_hint":{}}}"#,
+                json_escape(&e.to_string()),
+                count
+            );
+        } else {
+            println!(r#"{{"error":"{}"}}"#, json_escape(&e.to_string()));
+        }
+    } else {
+        eprintln!("Error: {}", e);
+        if let Some(count) = page_count_hint(pdf_path) {
+            eprintln!("Page count hint: {}", count);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 fn run_analyze(pdf_path: &str, json_output: bool, start: Instant) {
     match process_pdf_with_options(pdf_path, PdfOptions::new().mode(ProcessMode::Analyze)) {
         Ok(result) => {
@@ -135,11 +165,7 @@ fn run_analyze(pdf_path: &str, json_output: bool, start: Instant) {
             }
         }
         Err(e) => {
-            if json_output {
-                println!(r#"{{"error":"{}"}}"#, e);
-            } else {
-                eprintln!("Error: {}", e);
-            }
+            print_error(&e, pdf_path, json_output);
             process::exit(1);
         }
     }
@@ -236,11 +262,7 @@ fn run_detect_only(pdf_path: &str, json_output: bool, start: Instant) {
             }
         }
         Err(e) => {
-            if json_output {
-                println!(r#"{{"error":"{}"}}"#, e);
-            } else {
-                eprintln!("Error: {}", e);
-            }
+            print_error(&e, pdf_path, json_output);
             process::exit(1);
         }
     }

src/detector.rs

@@ -97,26 +97,9 @@ pub fn detect_pdf_type_with_config<P: AsRef<Path>>(
 ) -> Result<PdfTypeResult, PdfError> {
     crate::validate_pdf_file(&path)?;
 
-    // First, load metadata only (fast operation)
-    let metadata = match Document::load_metadata(&path) {
-        Ok(m) => m,
-        Err(ref e) if crate::is_encrypted_lopdf_error(e) => {
-            Document::load_metadata_with_password(&path, "")?
-        }
-        Err(e) => return Err(e.into()),
-    };
+    let (doc, page_count) = crate::load_document_from_path(&path)?;
 
-    // Then load the full document for content inspection
-    // We use filtered loading to skip heavy objects we don't need
-    let doc = match Document::load(&path) {
-        Ok(d) => d,
-        Err(ref e) if crate::is_encrypted_lopdf_error(e) => {
-            Document::load_with_password(&path, "")?
-        }
-        Err(e) => return Err(e.into()),
-    };
-
-    detect_from_document(&doc, metadata.page_count, &config)
+    detect_from_document(&doc, page_count, &config)
 }
 
 /// Detect PDF type from memory buffer
@@ -131,25 +114,64 @@ pub fn detect_pdf_type_mem_with_config(
 ) -> Result<PdfTypeResult, PdfError> {
     crate::validate_pdf_bytes(buffer)?;
 
-    // Load metadata first (fast)
-    let metadata = match Document::load_metadata_mem(buffer) {
-        Ok(m) => m,
-        Err(ref e) if crate::is_encrypted_lopdf_error(e) => {
-            Document::load_metadata_mem_with_password(buffer, "")?
-        }
-        Err(e) => return Err(e.into()),
-    };
+    let (doc, page_count) = crate::load_document_from_mem(buffer)?;
 
-    // Load document for inspection
-    let doc = match Document::load_mem(buffer) {
-        Ok(d) => d,
-        Err(ref e) if crate::is_encrypted_lopdf_error(e) => {
-            Document::load_mem_with_options(buffer, lopdf::LoadOptions::with_password(""))?
-        }
-        Err(e) => return Err(e.into()),
-    };
+    detect_from_document(&doc, page_count, &config)
+}
 
-    detect_from_document(&doc, metadata.page_count, &config)
+/// Heuristic page-count fallback for malformed PDFs that cannot be parsed.
+///
+/// This scans raw bytes for page dictionaries (`/Type /Page`) while excluding
+/// the page tree node (`/Type /Pages`). It is intended as a low-confidence hint
+/// for diagnostics; parsed page-tree counts remain authoritative.
+pub fn estimate_page_count_from_bytes(buffer: &[u8]) -> u32 {
+    let mut count = 0u32;
+    let mut pos = 0usize;
+
+    while let Some(rel_idx) = find_bytes(&buffer[pos..], b"/Type") {
+        let mut value_pos = pos + rel_idx + b"/Type".len();
+        value_pos = skip_pdf_whitespace(buffer, value_pos);
+
+        if buffer.get(value_pos) == Some(&b'/') {
+            let name_start = value_pos + 1;
+            let name_end = name_start + b"Page".len();
+            if name_end <= buffer.len()
+                && &buffer[name_start..name_end] == b"Page"
+                && buffer
+                    .get(name_end)
+                    .is_none_or(|b| is_pdf_name_delimiter(*b))
+            {
+                count += 1;
+            }
+        }
+
+        pos += rel_idx + b"/Type".len();
+    }
+
+    count
+}
+
+fn find_bytes(haystack: &[u8], needle: &[u8]) -> Option<usize> {
+    haystack.windows(needle.len()).position(|w| w == needle)
+}
+
+fn skip_pdf_whitespace(buffer: &[u8], mut pos: usize) -> usize {
+    while pos < buffer.len() && is_pdf_whitespace(buffer[pos]) {
+        pos += 1;
+    }
+    pos
+}
+
+fn is_pdf_whitespace(byte: u8) -> bool {
+    matches!(byte, b'\0' | b'\t' | b'\n' | 0x0C | b'\r' | b' ')
+}
+
+fn is_pdf_name_delimiter(byte: u8) -> bool {
+    is_pdf_whitespace(byte)
+        || matches!(
+            byte,
+            b'(' | b')' | b'<' | b'>' | b'[' | b']' | b'{' | b'}' | b'/' | b'%'
+        )
 }
 
 /// Detection logic on a pre-loaded document.

src/extractor/content_stream.rs

@@ -385,6 +385,7 @@ pub(crate) fn extract_page_text_items(
                         &font_encodings,
                         &encoding_cache,
                         &mut cmap_decisions,
+                        &font_widths,
                     ) {
                         let combined = multiply_matrices(&text_matrix, &ctm);
                         let rendered_size = effective_font_size(current_font_size, &combined);
@@ -533,6 +534,7 @@ pub(crate) fn extract_page_text_items(
                                     &font_encodings,
                                     &encoding_cache,
                                     &mut cmap_decisions,
+                                    &font_widths,
                                 ) {
                                     current_text.push_str(&text);
                                 }
@@ -620,6 +622,7 @@ pub(crate) fn extract_page_text_items(
                         &font_encodings,
                         &encoding_cache,
                         &mut cmap_decisions,
+                        &font_widths,
                     ) {
                         if !text.trim().is_empty() {
                             let combined = multiply_matrices(&text_matrix, &ctm);
@@ -1012,9 +1015,17 @@ pub(crate) fn extract_page_text_items(
     // producing thousands of identical rects that yield a degenerate grid.
     // After dedup, if too few unique clip rects remain we fall through to
     // fill rects (explicitly drawn visible rectangles).
+    //
+    // When fill rects substantially outnumber clip rects, the clips are
+    // typically section-level wrappers and the fills are the actual table
+    // cell backgrounds (e.g. shaded-header tables drawn with `m`/`l`/`h`/`f*`
+    // sequences). In that case, prefer fills.
     if rects.is_empty() {
         dedup_rects(&mut clip_rects);
-        if clip_rects.len() >= 4 {
+        let prefer_fills = !fill_rects.is_empty() && fill_rects.len() >= clip_rects.len() * 3;
+        if prefer_fills {
+            rects = fill_rects;
+        } else if clip_rects.len() >= 4 {
             rects = clip_rects;
         } else if !fill_rects.is_empty() {
             rects = fill_rects;

src/extractor/fonts.rs

@@ -720,7 +720,11 @@ pub(crate) fn extract_text_from_operand(
     font_encodings: &PageFontEncodings,
     encoding_cache: &HashMap<String, Encoding<'_>>,
     cmap_decisions: &mut CMapDecisionCache,
+    font_widths: &PageFontWidths,
 ) -> Option<String> {
+    let is_type0_cid_font = font_widths
+        .get(current_font)
+        .is_some_and(|info| info.is_cid);
     let result = (|| -> Option<String> {
         if let Object::String(bytes, _) = obj {
             let mut decode_with_entry = |entry: &crate::tounicode::CMapEntry| -> Option<String> {
@@ -962,7 +966,31 @@ pub(crate) fn extract_text_from_operand(
                 return Some(symbol_text);
             }
 
-            // Latin-1 fallback
+            // Latin-1 fallback. Safe ONLY for fonts that use single-byte
+            // encodings — for these, an unmapped byte is a valid character
+            // code in Latin-1/WinAnsi space. CID fonts (Type0 / Identity-H)
+            // emit multi-byte CIDs that aren't characters; per-byte Latin-1
+            // produces mojibake (e.g. 2-byte CID 0xCDD9 → "ÍÙ" for the
+            // production scrape_id 019de78c-... samples).
+            //
+            // For a CID font (has_cmap is set OR a /ToUnicode reference
+            // exists) with any non-ASCII bytes, emit a single U+FFFD per
+            // CID instead. This both replaces the mojibake with a proper
+            // "decode failed" marker AND keeps `detect_encoding_issues`
+            // tripping so the page is flagged for OCR — the existing
+            // garbage-detection path that the high-Latin-1 mojibake used
+            // to satisfy by accident.
+            if is_type0_cid_font && bytes.iter().any(|&b| b > 0x7F) {
+                // 2-byte CIDs (Identity-H) are by far the common case; for
+                // an odd byte count we still emit at least one marker so
+                // detection downstream fires.
+                let cid_count = (bytes.len() / 2).max(1);
+                return Some("\u{FFFD}".repeat(cid_count));
+            }
+            // Pure ASCII bytes round-trip safely (Latin-1 == ASCII for
+            // 0x00..=0x7F), and non-CID (Type1 / TrueType / Type3) fonts
+            // use single-byte encodings where Latin-1 fallback is the
+            // canonical interpretation.
             Some(bytes.iter().map(|&b| b as char).collect())
         } else {
             None
@@ -1213,4 +1241,97 @@ mod tests {
         let bad = "###!!!@@@$$$";
         assert!(score_text(good) > score_text(bad));
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn cid_font_with_unparseable_cmap_does_not_emit_latin1_mojibake() {
+        // Type0/CID font (font_widths reports `is_cid=true`) where the
+        // ToUnicode CMap couldn't be parsed (FontCMaps doesn't have the
+        // obj_num). Bytes are a 2-byte CID stream containing high bytes
+        // that aren't valid UTF-8 — exactly the case in the production
+        // samples (Identity-H text where the ToUnicode CMap was missing
+        // or malformed, scrape_id 019de78c-..., e.g. "Í Ù Z)¿").
+        //
+        // Without the guard, the function falls through to the byte-by-byte
+        // Latin-1 fallback and produces "ÍÙ" (U+00CD U+00D9). The correct
+        // behavior is to emit U+FFFD per CID so downstream
+        // `detect_encoding_issues` flags the page for OCR.
+        let bytes = vec![0xCD_u8, 0xD9, 0xCD, 0xD9];
+        let obj = Object::String(bytes, lopdf::StringFormat::Hexadecimal);
+
+        let font_cmaps = FontCMaps::default();
+        let mut font_tounicode_refs: HashMap<String, u32> = HashMap::new();
+        font_tounicode_refs.insert("F0".to_string(), 999);
+        let inline_cmaps = HashMap::new();
+        let font_encodings: PageFontEncodings = HashMap::new();
+        let encoding_cache: HashMap<String, Encoding<'_>> = HashMap::new();
+        let mut decisions = CMapDecisionCache::new();
+        let mut font_widths: PageFontWidths = HashMap::new();
+        font_widths.insert("F0".to_string(), make_font_info(&[], 1000, true));
+
+        let result = extract_text_from_operand(
+            &obj,
+            "F0",
+            None,
+            &font_cmaps,
+            &font_tounicode_refs,
+            &inline_cmaps,
+            &font_encodings,
+            &encoding_cache,
+            &mut decisions,
+            &font_widths,
+        );
+
+        let text = result.expect("CID font fallback should still emit a marker");
+        assert!(
+            !text.contains('\u{00CD}') && !text.contains('\u{00D9}'),
+            "CID font with unparseable CMap leaked Latin-1 mojibake: {text:?}"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            text.contains('\u{FFFD}'),
+            "CID font with unparseable CMap should emit U+FFFD so detect_encoding_issues fires: {text:?}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn simple_font_latin1_fallback_passes_high_bytes_through() {
+        // A Type1/TrueType simple font (is_cid=false) with a `/ToUnicode`
+        // reference but no usable CMap and no `/Differences` map.
+        // Per-byte Latin-1 IS the canonical interpretation here — these
+        // bytes are character codes, not CIDs. The CID guard must NOT
+        // strip them. Reproduces the false positive that an earlier
+        // version of the guard introduced for fonts in PDFs like
+        // pdf-evals/Navigating-Artificial-Intelligence-..., where bytes
+        // like 0xB6 are legitimate Latin-1 character codes.
+        let bytes = vec![0x24_u8, 0x47, 0xB6, 0x56]; // "$G¶V"
+        let obj = Object::String(bytes, lopdf::StringFormat::Hexadecimal);
+
+        let font_cmaps = FontCMaps::default();
+        let mut font_tounicode_refs: HashMap<String, u32> = HashMap::new();
+        font_tounicode_refs.insert("F1".to_string(), 999);
+        let inline_cmaps = HashMap::new();
+        let font_encodings: PageFontEncodings = HashMap::new();
+        let encoding_cache: HashMap<String, Encoding<'_>> = HashMap::new();
+        let mut decisions = CMapDecisionCache::new();
+        let mut font_widths: PageFontWidths = HashMap::new();
+        font_widths.insert("F1".to_string(), make_font_info(&[], 1000, false));
+
+        let text = extract_text_from_operand(
+            &obj,
+            "F1",
+            None,
+            &font_cmaps,
+            &font_tounicode_refs,
+            &inline_cmaps,
+            &font_encodings,
+            &encoding_cache,
+            &mut decisions,
+            &font_widths,
+        )
+        .expect("simple font should round-trip Latin-1 bytes");
+        assert_eq!(text, "$G\u{00B6}V");
+        assert!(
+            !text.contains('\u{FFFD}'),
+            "simple font fallback must not stamp FFFD over legitimate bytes: {text:?}"
+        );
+    }
 }

src/extractor/mod.rs

@@ -36,26 +36,14 @@ pub(crate) use layout::ColumnRegion;
 /// Extract text from PDF file as plain string
 pub fn extract_text<P: AsRef<Path>>(path: P) -> Result<String, PdfError> {
     crate::validate_pdf_file(&path)?;
-    let doc = match Document::load(&path) {
-        Ok(d) => d,
-        Err(ref e) if crate::is_encrypted_lopdf_error(e) => {
-            Document::load_with_password(&path, "")?
-        }
-        Err(e) => return Err(e.into()),
-    };
+    let (doc, _) = crate::load_document_from_path(&path)?;
     extract_text_from_doc(&doc)
 }
 
 /// Extract text from PDF memory buffer
 pub fn extract_text_mem(buffer: &[u8]) -> Result<String, PdfError> {
     crate::validate_pdf_bytes(buffer)?;
-    let doc = match Document::load_mem(buffer) {
-        Ok(d) => d,
-        Err(ref e) if crate::is_encrypted_lopdf_error(e) => {
-            Document::load_mem_with_options(buffer, lopdf::LoadOptions::with_password(""))?
-        }
-        Err(e) => return Err(e.into()),
-    };
+    let (doc, _) = crate::load_document_from_mem(buffer)?;
     extract_text_from_doc(&doc)
 }
 
@@ -91,13 +79,7 @@ pub(crate) fn extract_text_with_positions_and_rects<P: AsRef<Path>>(
     page_filter: Option<&HashSet<u32>>,
 ) -> Result<PageExtraction, PdfError> {
     crate::validate_pdf_file(&path)?;
-    let doc = match Document::load(&path) {
-        Ok(d) => d,
-        Err(ref e) if crate::is_encrypted_lopdf_error(e) => {
-            Document::load_with_password(&path, "")?
-        }
-        Err(e) => return Err(e.into()),
-    };
+    let (doc, _) = crate::load_document_from_path(&path)?;
     let font_cmaps = FontCMaps::from_doc(&doc);
     let (extraction, _thresholds, _gid_pages) =
         extract_positioned_text_from_doc(&doc, &font_cmaps, page_filter)?;
@@ -124,13 +106,7 @@ pub(crate) fn extract_text_with_positions_mem_and_rects(
     page_filter: Option<&HashSet<u32>>,
 ) -> Result<PageExtraction, PdfError> {
     crate::validate_pdf_bytes(buffer)?;
-    let doc = match Document::load_mem(buffer) {
-        Ok(d) => d,
-        Err(ref e) if crate::is_encrypted_lopdf_error(e) => {
-            Document::load_mem_with_options(buffer, lopdf::LoadOptions::with_password(""))?
-        }
-        Err(e) => return Err(e.into()),
-    };
+    let (doc, _) = crate::load_document_from_mem(buffer)?;
     let font_cmaps = FontCMaps::from_doc(&doc);
     let (extraction, _thresholds, _gid_pages) =
         extract_positioned_text_from_doc(&doc, &font_cmaps, page_filter)?;

src/extractor/xobjects.rs

@@ -373,6 +373,7 @@ fn extract_form_xobject_text_inner(
                         &font_encodings,
                         &encoding_cache,
                         cmap_decisions,
+                        &font_widths,
                     ) {
                         let combined = multiply_matrices(&text_matrix, &ctm);
                         let rendered_size = effective_font_size(current_font_size, &combined);
@@ -517,6 +518,7 @@ fn extract_form_xobject_text_inner(
                                     &font_encodings,
                                     &encoding_cache,
                                     cmap_decisions,
+                                    &font_widths,
                                 ) {
                                     current_text.push_str(&text);
                                 }

src/markdown/mod.rs

@@ -14,243 +14,15 @@ mod preprocess;
 
 pub use convert::to_markdown_from_lines;
 
-use std::collections::{BTreeMap, HashMap, HashSet};
+use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet};
 
 use crate::extractor::group_into_lines_with_thresholds;
-use crate::tables::Table;
 use crate::types::{PdfLine, PdfRect, TextItem};
 
 use analysis::calculate_font_stats_from_items;
 use classify::{format_list_item, is_code_like, is_list_item};
 use convert::{merge_continuation_tables, to_markdown_from_lines_with_tables_and_images};
 
-/// Promote unclaimed header items sitting directly above a struct-tree table
-/// into the table's first row.
-///
-/// Some tagged PDFs mark only the data rows under `<Table>` / `<TR>` / `<TD>`,
-/// leaving the visible column headers above the grid untagged. Those headers
-/// then slip through to the heuristic fallback and reassemble into a spurious
-/// mini-table next to the real one. Instead, gather unclaimed items within a
-/// small vertical gap above the detected table's top and — if they align to
-/// the existing column centers — fold them into the table as the header row.
-fn promote_implicit_header_rows(mut table: Table, band_items: &[TextItem]) -> Table {
-    if table.cells.is_empty() || table.columns.is_empty() || table.item_indices.is_empty() {
-        return table;
-    }
-
-    let claimed: HashSet<usize> = table.item_indices.iter().copied().collect();
-    let mut x_min = f32::INFINITY;
-    let mut x_max = f32::NEG_INFINITY;
-    let mut y_top = f32::NEG_INFINITY;
-    for &idx in &table.item_indices {
-        if let Some(item) = band_items.get(idx) {
-            x_min = x_min.min(item.x);
-            x_max = x_max.max(item.x + item.width);
-            y_top = y_top.max(item.y + item.height);
-        }
-    }
-    if !y_top.is_finite() || !x_min.is_finite() {
-        return table;
-    }
-
-    let num_cols = table.columns.len();
-    let table_width = (x_max - x_min).max(1.0);
-    // Require each header item to sit within half a column's nominal width
-    // of a struct-tree column center. Any farther and we cannot be
-    // confident which column the text belongs to — e.g. a standalone
-    // section label above the table would otherwise be force-fit into
-    // the nearest column.
-    let col_tolerance = (table_width / num_cols as f32) * 0.5;
-    let max_gap = 60.0;
-
-    // Candidate header items: unclaimed, directly above table, within x span.
-    let mut candidates: Vec<(usize, &TextItem)> = band_items
-        .iter()
-        .enumerate()
-        .filter(|(i, item)| {
-            if claimed.contains(i) {
-                return false;
-            }
-            let above = item.y >= y_top - 2.0 && item.y < y_top + max_gap;
-            let within_x = item.x + item.width >= x_min - 5.0 && item.x <= x_max + 5.0;
-            above && within_x
-        })
-        .collect();
-
-    if candidates.len() < 2 {
-        return table;
-    }
-
-    // Group candidates into visual rows by Y (bucket within ~3pt).
-    candidates.sort_by(|a, b| b.1.y.total_cmp(&a.1.y)); // top-to-bottom (descending Y)
-    let mut rows_by_y: Vec<Vec<(usize, &TextItem)>> = Vec::new();
-    let row_bucket = 3.0;
-    for (idx, item) in candidates {
-        if let Some(last) = rows_by_y.last_mut() {
-            if let Some((_, ref_item)) = last.first() {
-                if (ref_item.y - item.y).abs() <= row_bucket {
-                    last.push((idx, item));
-                    continue;
-                }
-            }
-        }
-        rows_by_y.push(vec![(idx, item)]);
-    }
-
-    // Assign each item in each row to its nearest column. Skip items that are
-    // too far from any column center — they are likely unrelated captions,
-    // page titles, or body text that happens to sit near the table.
-    let mut header_rows: Vec<Vec<String>> = Vec::new();
-    let mut header_indices: Vec<usize> = Vec::new();
-    for row in &rows_by_y {
-        let mut cells_by_col: BTreeMap<usize, Vec<&str>> = BTreeMap::new();
-        let mut row_indices: Vec<usize> = Vec::new();
-        let mut dropped = 0usize;
-        for (idx, item) in row {
-            let text = item.text.trim();
-            // Skip stray punctuation or otherwise content-free fragments —
-            // a lone "." or "-" left over from the prior paragraph should
-            // never be promoted into a header cell.
-            if text.is_empty() || !text.chars().any(|c| c.is_alphanumeric()) {
-                continue;
-            }
-            // The struct-tree column positions are left edges (min X of the
-            // column's cell items), so compare against the header item's
-            // left edge too. Using the item center would penalise long
-            // wrapped phrases even when they start exactly at a column.
-            let cx = item.x;
-            let (col, dist) = table
-                .columns
-                .iter()
-                .enumerate()
-                .map(|(c, &cv)| (c, (cv - cx).abs()))
-                .min_by(|a, b| a.1.total_cmp(&b.1))
-                .expect("columns is non-empty");
-            if dist > col_tolerance {
-                dropped += 1;
-                continue;
-            }
-            cells_by_col.entry(col).or_default().push(text);
-            row_indices.push(*idx);
-        }
-        // Drop rows that have no aligned cells or where most items are outliers.
-        if cells_by_col.is_empty() || dropped > row_indices.len() {
-            continue;
-        }
-        let mut row_cells = vec![String::new(); num_cols];
-        for (col, parts) in cells_by_col {
-            let joined: String = parts
-                .into_iter()
-                .filter(|s| !s.is_empty())
-                .collect::<Vec<_>>()
-                .join(" ");
-            row_cells[col] = joined;
-        }
-        header_rows.push(row_cells);
-        header_indices.extend(row_indices);
-    }
-
-    if header_rows.is_empty() {
-        return table;
-    }
-
-    // Coalesce the discovered header rows into a single header row: each
-    // column's text is concatenated top-to-bottom across the wrapped lines.
-    // A real table header occupies one logical row even when visually wrapped.
-    let mut merged = vec![String::new(); num_cols];
-    for row in &header_rows {
-        for (c, cell) in row.iter().enumerate() {
-            if cell.is_empty() {
-                continue;
-            }
-            if !merged[c].is_empty() {
-                merged[c].push(' ');
-            }
-            merged[c].push_str(cell);
-        }
-    }
-
-    // Require ≥ 75% of columns to be filled before accepting the header.
-    // Real column headers label most or all columns; stray page headers,
-    // dates, and captions typically land on only one or two columns, so a
-    // lower threshold lets a single mis-aligned item drag in unrelated
-    // text as a first row.
-    let filled_cols = merged.iter().filter(|c| !c.trim().is_empty()).count();
-    if filled_cols < 2 || filled_cols * 4 < num_cols * 3 {
-        return table;
-    }
-
-    // Reject when any cell looks like a caption marker ("Table 1",
-    // "Appendix Table A2", "Figure 2", "Chart 3"). These are labels sitting
-    // above the grid, not column headers — folding them into the first row
-    // moves a caption out of the document flow and into the table itself.
-    let looks_like_caption = merged.iter().any(|cell| {
-        let t = cell.trim();
-        if classify::is_caption_line(t) {
-            return true;
-        }
-        // "Appendix Table N" / "Appendix Figure N" share the same semantics
-        // but have an extra word prefix, so handle them explicitly.
-        let lower = t.to_ascii_lowercase();
-        if let Some(rest) = lower.strip_prefix("appendix ") {
-            let rest = rest.trim_start();
-            if rest.starts_with("table ")
-                || rest.starts_with("figure ")
-                || rest.starts_with("chart ")
-            {
-                return true;
-            }
-        }
-        false
-    });
-    if looks_like_caption {
-        return table;
-    }
-
-    // Reject when the merged "header" looks like prose or stray page
-    // elements: a cell that starts mid-sentence (lowercase), runs long
-    // (>12 words), or is suspiciously short (<3 chars, e.g. a stray "."
-    // left behind after a sentence). Real headers are short labels.
-    let looks_like_non_header = merged.iter().any(|cell| {
-        let t = cell.trim();
-        if t.is_empty() {
-            return false;
-        }
-        if t.len() < 3 {
-            return true;
-        }
-        if t.chars().next().is_some_and(|c| c.is_ascii_lowercase()) {
-            return true;
-        }
-        t.split_whitespace().count() > 12
-    });
-    if looks_like_non_header {
-        return table;
-    }
-
-    // Reject when two filled cells hold identical text. Real column headers
-    // label distinct columns, so duplicates are a sign we grabbed a page
-    // title or event banner whose words happen to align across columns.
-    let mut filled: Vec<&str> = merged
-        .iter()
-        .map(|c| c.trim())
-        .filter(|c| !c.is_empty())
-        .collect();
-    filled.sort();
-    if filled.windows(2).any(|w| w[0] == w[1]) {
-        return table;
-    }
-
-    // Prepend the header row. rows/columns are centers — add an approximate
-    // Y above the current top row so downstream ordering stays correct.
-    table.cells.insert(0, merged);
-    let approx_row_height = 14.0;
-    let first_row_y = table.rows.first().copied().unwrap_or(y_top);
-    table.rows.insert(0, first_row_y + approx_row_height);
-    table.item_indices.extend(header_indices);
-    table
-}
-
 /// Detect side-by-side table layout by finding a significant X-position gap.
 ///
 /// Returns X-band boundaries `[(x_min, split_x), (split_x, x_max)]` when a
@@ -927,12 +699,11 @@ pub(crate) fn to_markdown_from_items_with_rects_and_lines(
             //    through to geometry detection which sees all items.
             if !struct_tables.is_empty() {
                 let st_tables = detect_tables_from_struct_tree(band_items, struct_tables, page);
-                for table in st_tables {
+                for table in &st_tables {
                     let coverage = table.item_indices.len() as f32 / band_items.len().max(1) as f32;
                     if coverage < 0.5 {
                         continue;
                     }
-                    let table = promote_implicit_header_rows(table, band_items);
                     for &idx in &table.item_indices {
                         rect_claimed.insert(idx);
                         if let Some(&page_idx) = band_index_map.get(idx) {
@@ -942,7 +713,7 @@ pub(crate) fn to_markdown_from_items_with_rects_and_lines(
                         }
                     }
                     let table_y = table.rows.first().copied().unwrap_or(0.0);
-                    let table_md = table_to_markdown(&table);
+                    let table_md = table_to_markdown(table);
                     page_tables
                         .entry(page)
                         .or_default()
@@ -1475,105 +1246,6 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(split_from_hint_regions(&items, &rects, 1).is_empty());
     }
 
-    #[test]
-    fn promote_implicit_header_rows_merges_wrapped_header() {
-        // Struct-tree tagging often covers only the data rows and leaves the
-        // column-header row above the grid untagged. Simulate a 3-row 3-col
-        // data-only table with 3 wrapped header items above each column,
-        // aligned to the column left-edges. After promotion, the cells grid
-        // must carry a header row that concatenates each column's wrapped
-        // lines.
-        let make_item_at = |x: f32, y: f32, text: &str| {
-            let mut it = make_item(x, y, 1);
-            it.text = text.to_string();
-            it.width = 60.0;
-            it
-        };
-
-        let mut items = vec![
-            // Data row 1 at y=200
-            make_item_at(100.0, 200.0, "r1c1"),
-            make_item_at(250.0, 200.0, "r1c2"),
-            make_item_at(400.0, 200.0, "r1c3"),
-            // Data row 2 at y=180
-            make_item_at(100.0, 180.0, "r2c1"),
-            make_item_at(250.0, 180.0, "r2c2"),
-            make_item_at(400.0, 180.0, "r2c3"),
-            // Data row 3 at y=160
-            make_item_at(100.0, 160.0, "r3c1"),
-            make_item_at(250.0, 160.0, "r3c2"),
-            make_item_at(400.0, 160.0, "r3c3"),
-        ];
-        // Unclaimed header items wrapped onto two visual lines just above
-        // the data grid.
-        items.push(make_item_at(100.0, 240.0, "First"));
-        items.push(make_item_at(250.0, 240.0, "Second"));
-        items.push(make_item_at(400.0, 240.0, "Third"));
-        items.push(make_item_at(100.0, 225.0, "column"));
-        items.push(make_item_at(250.0, 225.0, "column"));
-        items.push(make_item_at(400.0, 225.0, "column"));
-
-        let data_indices: Vec<usize> = (0..9).collect();
-        let cells = vec![
-            vec!["r1c1".into(), "r1c2".into(), "r1c3".into()],
-            vec!["r2c1".into(), "r2c2".into(), "r2c3".into()],
-            vec!["r3c1".into(), "r3c2".into(), "r3c3".into()],
-        ];
-        let columns = vec![100.0, 250.0, 400.0];
-        let rows = vec![200.0, 180.0, 160.0];
-        let table = Table::new(columns, rows, cells, data_indices);
-
-        let promoted = promote_implicit_header_rows(table, &items);
-        assert_eq!(promoted.cells.len(), 4, "header row should be prepended");
-        assert_eq!(
-            promoted.cells[0],
-            vec![
-                "First column".to_string(),
-                "Second column".to_string(),
-                "Third column".to_string(),
-            ],
-            "wrapped headers should merge per-column"
-        );
-        assert_eq!(promoted.cells[1], vec!["r1c1", "r1c2", "r1c3"]);
-    }
-
-    #[test]
-    fn promote_implicit_header_rows_ignores_faraway_items() {
-        // A standalone section title sitting above the table with no column
-        // alignment must not be folded in as a (single-cell) header row.
-        let make_item_at = |x: f32, y: f32, text: &str| {
-            let mut it = make_item(x, y, 1);
-            it.text = text.to_string();
-            it.width = 60.0;
-            it
-        };
-
-        let mut items = vec![
-            make_item_at(100.0, 200.0, "r1c1"),
-            make_item_at(250.0, 200.0, "r1c2"),
-            make_item_at(100.0, 180.0, "r2c1"),
-            make_item_at(250.0, 180.0, "r2c2"),
-        ];
-        // Title far above the table and only in one x position — not a header.
-        items.push(make_item_at(50.0, 240.0, "Unrelated section title"));
-
-        let data_indices: Vec<usize> = (0..4).collect();
-        let cells = vec![
-            vec!["r1c1".into(), "r1c2".into()],
-            vec!["r2c1".into(), "r2c2".into()],
-        ];
-        let columns = vec![100.0, 250.0];
-        let rows = vec![200.0, 180.0];
-        let table = Table::new(columns, rows, cells, data_indices);
-
-        let promoted = promote_implicit_header_rows(table, &items);
-        assert_eq!(
-            promoted.cells.len(),
-            2,
-            "no header promotion when only one item aligns"
-        );
-    }
-
     #[test]
     fn no_split_label_plus_number_table() {
         // Balance sheet layout: text labels on left, numbers on right.

src/tables/detect_rects.rs

@@ -285,7 +285,11 @@ pub fn detect_tables_from_rects(
         //
         // Only remove when the container is a similarly-sized cell (height
         // ratio < 4×), NOT when the container is a table-wide background
-        // that dwarfs the sub-rect.
+        // that dwarfs the sub-rect.  Origin-anchored page-background rects
+        // also disqualify as containers — they normally exceed the 4× ratio,
+        // but when the sub-rect is itself a tall table-frame the ratio can
+        // fall under the gate, and dropping the frame collapses cluster
+        // adjacency between adjacent column-cell groups.
         //
         // Skip this O(n²) dedup when there are too many rects — pages with
         // thousands of vector-drawing rects won't benefit from cell dedup.
@@ -295,9 +299,11 @@ pub fn detect_tables_from_rects(
             page_rects.retain(|&(ax, ay, aw, ah)| {
                 let tol = 2.0;
                 !snapshot.iter().any(|&(bx, by, bw, bh)| {
+                    let container_is_page_bg = bx < 5.0 && by < 5.0;
                     // b must strictly contain a (b is larger in area)
                     bw * bh > aw * ah * 1.2
                         && bh < ah * 4.0 // container must be similarly sized, not a table background
+                        && !container_is_page_bg
                         && bx <= ax + tol
                         && (bx + bw) >= (ax + aw) - tol
                         && by <= ay + tol
@@ -1587,25 +1593,69 @@ fn detect_row_stripe_table_from_cell_rects(
         return None;
     }
 
-    // Derive columns from text X-position clustering
+    // Derive columns from text X-position clustering, but prefer rect
+    // X-edges when they already provide a tighter scaffold.  Some PDFs draw
+    // only the row-index cells in the body plus a full header row; that is
+    // not dense enough for `try_build_grid`, but the header rects still define
+    // the real columns.  Text starts inside wide cells can otherwise split the
+    // table into spurious sub-columns.
     let columns = cluster_x_positions(&page_items, 15.0);
-    if columns.len() < 2 {
+    let text_col_edges = if columns.len() >= 2 {
+        let mut edges: Vec<f32> = Vec::with_capacity(columns.len() + 1);
+        let min_x = page_items.iter().map(|(_, i)| i.x).reduce(f32::min)?;
+        edges.push(min_x - 5.0);
+        for pair in columns.windows(2) {
+            edges.push((pair[0] + pair[1]) / 2.0);
+        }
+        let max_x_right = page_items
+            .iter()
+            .map(|(_, i)| i.x + i.width)
+            .reduce(f32::max)?;
+        edges.push(max_x_right + 5.0);
+        Some(edges)
+    } else {
+        None
+    };
+
+    let rect_col_edges = {
+        let mut x_vals = Vec::with_capacity(content_rects.len() * 2);
+        for &&(x, _, w, _) in &content_rects {
+            x_vals.push(x);
+            x_vals.push(x + w);
+        }
+        let mut edges = snap_edges(&x_vals, 6.0);
+        edges.sort_by(|a, b| a.total_cmp(b));
+        if (3..=26).contains(&edges.len()) {
+            Some(edges)
+        } else {
+            None
+        }
+    };
+
+    let (col_edges, columns_from_text) = match (rect_col_edges, text_col_edges) {
+        (Some(rect_edges), Some(text_edges)) if rect_edges.len() <= text_edges.len() => {
+            debug!(
+                "  cell-rect using {} rect-derived columns over {} text clusters",
+                rect_edges.len() - 1,
+                text_edges.len() - 1
+            );
+            (rect_edges, false)
+        }
+        (_, Some(text_edges)) => (text_edges, true),
+        (Some(rect_edges), None) => (rect_edges, false),
+        (None, None) => {
+            debug!(
+                "  cell-rect rejected: only {} columns from text clustering",
+                columns.len()
+            );
+            return None;
+        }
+    };
+
+    if col_edges.len() < 3 {
         return None;
     }
 
-    // Build column edges
-    let mut col_edges: Vec<f32> = Vec::with_capacity(columns.len() + 1);
-    let min_x = page_items.iter().map(|(_, i)| i.x).reduce(f32::min)?;
-    col_edges.push(min_x - 5.0);
-    for pair in columns.windows(2) {
-        col_edges.push((pair[0] + pair[1]) / 2.0);
-    }
-    let max_x_right = page_items
-        .iter()
-        .map(|(_, i)| i.x + i.width)
-        .reduce(f32::max)?;
-    col_edges.push(max_x_right + 5.0);
-
     let num_cols = col_edges.len() - 1;
     let num_rows = row_edges.len() - 1;
 
@@ -1617,12 +1667,25 @@ fn detect_row_stripe_table_from_cell_rects(
         page_items.len()
     );
 
-    let (cells, item_indices) = assign_items_to_grid(items, &col_edges, &row_edges, page);
+    let (mut cells, item_indices) = assign_items_to_grid(items, &col_edges, &row_edges, page);
 
     if item_indices.is_empty() {
         return None;
     }
 
+    let mut row_edges = row_edges;
+    let (collapsed_cells, collapsed_row_edges, collapsed_rows) =
+        collapse_multiline_description_rows(cells, row_edges, &col_edges);
+    let has_wrapped_description_rows = collapsed_rows > 0;
+    cells = collapsed_cells;
+    row_edges = collapsed_row_edges;
+    if collapsed_rows > 0 {
+        debug!(
+            "  cell-rect collapsed {} wrapped description rows",
+            collapsed_rows
+        );
+    }
+
     // Validate: >=2 non-empty rows, >=25% density
     let non_empty_rows = cells
         .iter()
@@ -1636,6 +1699,7 @@ fn detect_row_stripe_table_from_cell_rects(
         return None;
     }
 
+    let num_rows = cells.len();
     let total_cells = (num_cols * num_rows) as f32;
     let non_empty_cells = cells
         .iter()
@@ -1681,13 +1745,36 @@ fn detect_row_stripe_table_from_cell_rects(
 
     // Reject "tables" that are actually prose in a framed region.
     // Columns here come from text X-position clustering; when prose wraps
-    // inside a bounding-box rect (e.g. chat-transcript figures) the
-    // word-boundary gaps cluster into many spurious columns, and the
-    // resulting cells hold sentence fragments riddled with common English
-    // function words. Count cells with any such word and reject when
-    // 20%+ of non-empty cells match — real tabular data (labels, units,
-    // numbers) rarely contains these words.
-    if num_cols >= 4 {
+    // inside a bounding-box rect (e.g. chat-transcript figures, two-column
+    // legal-text blocks in forms) the word-boundary gaps cluster into
+    // spurious columns, and the resulting cells hold sentence fragments
+    // riddled with common English function words.
+    //
+    // Apply at any column count >= 2. The 2-col case is the bite — a
+    // paragraph wrapped into 2 justified columns produces the same
+    // surface signal as a real "label / value" table in the
+    // well-distributed-cols check (both cols populated), so we need a
+    // content-based signal to tell them apart.
+    //
+    // Layered checks combine after the 20%-of-cells prose-word
+    // trigger fires:
+    //   (a) Long-cell content: prose-in-a-frame averages ~70-100 chars
+    //       per non-empty cell (sentence fragments); real data tables
+    //       are typically <30 chars, occasionally up to ~55 for
+    //       descriptive 4-col tables. The 65-char threshold cleanly
+    //       separates them on observed fixtures (accessory_building
+    //       prose=74 chars, upstage data=53, greencomp=20). This
+    //       overrides the well-distributed relaxation — long cells
+    //       are the strongest prose signal even when both cols are
+    //       populated.
+    //   (b) Two-column text-only scaffold: when both columns were inferred
+    //       from text starts rather than rect edges, prose fragments can look
+    //       perfectly balanced. Require rect evidence for this relaxed shape.
+    //   (c) Well-distributed columns: ≥75% of cols hold ≥2 non-empty
+    //       cells. Catches the prose-paragraph-as-many-cols shape
+    //       while admitting real "label / value / description /
+    //       benefit"-style tables.
+    if num_cols >= 2 {
         const PROSE_WORDS: &[&str] = &[
             "a", "an", "the", "of", "to", "is", "was", "are", "were", "be", "been", "in", "on",
             "at", "with", "for", "by", "as", "and", "or", "but", "this", "that", "these", "those",
@@ -1697,6 +1784,7 @@ fn detect_row_stripe_table_from_cell_rects(
         ];
         let mut prose_cells = 0usize;
         let mut counted = 0usize;
+        let mut total_chars = 0usize;
         for row in &cells {
             for cell in row {
                 let t = cell.trim();
@@ -1704,6 +1792,7 @@ fn detect_row_stripe_table_from_cell_rects(
                     continue;
                 }
                 counted += 1;
+                total_chars += t.chars().count();
                 let lower = t.to_ascii_lowercase();
                 let has_prose_word = lower
                     .split(|c: char| !c.is_ascii_alphabetic() && c != '\'')
@@ -1714,11 +1803,65 @@ fn detect_row_stripe_table_from_cell_rects(
             }
         }
         if counted > 0 && prose_cells * 5 >= counted {
+            // (a) Long-cell content: overrides the well-distributed
+            // relaxation. The 2-col prose-in-a-frame case populates
+            // both cols (passes well-distributed) but every cell
+            // holds a sentence fragment, so mean cell length is the
+            // discriminator.
+            const PROSE_MEAN_CHAR_THRESHOLD: usize = 65;
+            let mean_chars = total_chars / counted;
+            if mean_chars > PROSE_MEAN_CHAR_THRESHOLD && !has_wrapped_description_rows {
+                debug!(
+                    "  cell-rect rejected: prose-in-frame, mean non-empty cell {} chars > {} (prose words {}/{})",
+                    mean_chars, PROSE_MEAN_CHAR_THRESHOLD, prose_cells, counted
+                );
+                return None;
+            } else if mean_chars > PROSE_MEAN_CHAR_THRESHOLD {
+                debug!(
+                    "  cell-rect prose check relaxed: wrapped description rows, mean {} chars (prose words {}/{})",
+                    mean_chars, prose_cells, counted
+                );
+            }
+
+            // (b) Two text-derived columns are not enough vector evidence once
+            // the content looks prose-like. Real 2-col rect tables still pass
+            // when the column scaffold comes from drawn cell geometry.
+            if columns_from_text && num_cols == 2 {
+                debug!(
+                    "  cell-rect rejected: prose-in-frame with text-derived 2-col scaffold (mean {} chars, prose words {}/{})",
+                    mean_chars, prose_cells, counted
+                );
+                return None;
+            }
+
+            // (c) Well-distributed columns.
+            let filled_cols = (0..num_cols)
+                .filter(|&c| {
+                    cells
+                        .iter()
+                        .filter(|row| {
+                            !row.get(c)
+                                .map(String::as_str)
+                                .unwrap_or("")
+                                .trim()
+                                .is_empty()
+                        })
+                        .count()
+                        >= 2
+                })
+                .count();
+            let well_distributed = filled_cols * 4 >= num_cols * 3;
+            if !well_distributed {
+                debug!(
+                    "  cell-rect rejected: {}/{} cells contain prose function words — likely prose ({}/{} cols filled, mean {} chars)",
+                    prose_cells, counted, filled_cols, num_cols, mean_chars
+                );
+                return None;
+            }
             debug!(
-                "  cell-rect rejected: {}/{} cells contain prose function words — likely prose",
-                prose_cells, counted
+                "  cell-rect prose check relaxed: {}/{} cols filled, mean {} chars — table-with-description-col",
+                filled_cols, num_cols, mean_chars
             );
-            return None;
         }
     }
 
@@ -1739,6 +1882,132 @@ fn detect_row_stripe_table_from_cell_rects(
     Some(Table::new(column_centers, row_centers, cells, item_indices))
 }
 
+/// Merge wrapped description-line bands back into their visual data rows.
+///
+/// Some Word/PDF exports draw enough rectangle geometry to prove a table exists
+/// but expose Y bands per wrapped text line instead of per cell row. In the
+/// common mapping-table shape, a narrow row-label column precedes one wide
+/// description column, and wrapped continuation bands have content only in that
+/// wide column. Merge only that high-confidence shape so framed prose still
+/// falls through the existing prose guards.
+fn collapse_multiline_description_rows(
+    cells: Vec<Vec<String>>,
+    row_edges: Vec<f32>,
+    col_edges: &[f32],
+) -> (Vec<Vec<String>>, Vec<f32>, usize) {
+    let num_rows = cells.len();
+    let num_cols = col_edges.len().saturating_sub(1);
+    if num_rows < 3 || num_cols < 3 || row_edges.len() != num_rows + 1 {
+        return (cells, row_edges, 0);
+    }
+
+    let table_width = col_edges[num_cols] - col_edges[0];
+    if table_width <= 0.0 {
+        return (cells, row_edges, 0);
+    }
+
+    let Some((description_col, description_width)) = (0..num_cols)
+        .map(|c| (c, col_edges[c + 1] - col_edges[c]))
+        .max_by(|a, b| a.1.total_cmp(&b.1))
+    else {
+        return (cells, row_edges, 0);
+    };
+
+    // Require a preceding row-label column. Without it (e.g. a prose frame
+    // split into text-start columns), "one populated wide column" is not enough
+    // evidence to find visual row starts safely.
+    if description_col == 0 || description_width < table_width * 0.35 {
+        return (cells, row_edges, 0);
+    }
+
+    let row_has_left_label = |row: &[String]| {
+        row.iter()
+            .take(description_col)
+            .any(|cell| !cell.trim().is_empty())
+    };
+    let labeled_rows = cells.iter().filter(|row| row_has_left_label(row)).count();
+    if labeled_rows < 2 {
+        return (cells, row_edges, 0);
+    }
+
+    let mut merged_rows = 0usize;
+    let mut wrapped_description_rows = 0usize;
+    let mut new_cells: Vec<Vec<String>> = Vec::with_capacity(num_rows);
+    let mut new_edges = Vec::with_capacity(row_edges.len());
+    new_edges.push(row_edges[0]);
+
+    for (row_idx, row) in cells.into_iter().enumerate() {
+        let desc_text = row
+            .get(description_col)
+            .map(String::as_str)
+            .unwrap_or("")
+            .trim();
+        let left_label = row_has_left_label(&row);
+        let non_desc_non_empty = row
+            .iter()
+            .enumerate()
+            .filter(|(col, cell)| *col != description_col && !cell.trim().is_empty())
+            .count();
+
+        // Wrapped continuation bands contain only description-column text.
+        // The preceding label/marker column is empty because the visual row's
+        // label cell spans the whole wrapped block.
+        let is_description_continuation = row_idx > 0
+            && !desc_text.is_empty()
+            && !left_label
+            && non_desc_non_empty == 0
+            && !new_cells.is_empty();
+
+        // Header cells are often split as "Controls" / "Version" in the first
+        // column while the other header labels sit on the first band.
+        let only_first_col = row
+            .iter()
+            .enumerate()
+            .all(|(col, cell)| col == 0 || cell.trim().is_empty());
+        let is_header_continuation = row_idx > 0
+            && only_first_col
+            && row
+                .first()
+                .is_some_and(|cell| !cell.trim().is_empty() && cell.chars().count() <= 24)
+            && !new_cells.is_empty()
+            && new_cells
+                .last()
+                .is_some_and(|prev| prev.iter().filter(|c| !c.trim().is_empty()).count() >= 2);
+
+        if is_description_continuation || is_header_continuation {
+            if let Some(prev) = new_cells.last_mut() {
+                for (col, cell) in row.iter().enumerate() {
+                    let text = cell.trim();
+                    if text.is_empty() {
+                        continue;
+                    }
+                    if !prev[col].trim().is_empty() {
+                        prev[col].push(' ');
+                    }
+                    prev[col].push_str(text);
+                }
+            }
+            merged_rows += 1;
+            if is_description_continuation {
+                wrapped_description_rows += 1;
+            }
+        } else {
+            if !new_cells.is_empty() {
+                new_edges.push(row_edges[row_idx]);
+            }
+            new_cells.push(row);
+        }
+    }
+
+    new_edges.push(*row_edges.last().unwrap());
+
+    if merged_rows == 0 || new_cells.len() < 2 || new_edges.len() != new_cells.len() + 1 {
+        return (new_cells, row_edges, 0);
+    }
+
+    (new_cells, new_edges, wrapped_description_rows)
+}
+
 /// Detect a table by merging all cluster rects into one group.
 ///
 /// This handles clip-path PDFs where each column's cell rects form a separate
@@ -2929,6 +3198,150 @@ mod tests {
         // If tables were detected, that's also acceptable
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn text_derived_two_col_prose_is_not_cell_rect_table() {
+        let page = 1;
+        let mut rects = Vec::new();
+        for row in 0..8 {
+            rects.push(PdfRect {
+                x: 50.0,
+                y: 100.0 + row as f32 * 20.0,
+                width: 180.0,
+                height: 18.0,
+                page,
+            });
+        }
+
+        let mut items = Vec::new();
+        let left = [
+            "the annual plan was revised",
+            "and the team noted changes",
+            "this section explains limits",
+            "with additional notes below",
+            "the policy was reviewed",
+            "and results are summarized",
+            "this appendix describes scope",
+            "with examples for reference",
+        ];
+        let right = [
+            "for each area in the review",
+            "as part of the assessment",
+            "that were applied in context",
+            "to support the conclusion",
+            "for use by the committee",
+            "as shown in the narrative",
+            "that remain under discussion",
+            "to clarify the method",
+        ];
+        for row in 0..8 {
+            let y = 104.0 + row as f32 * 20.0;
+            let mut left_item = make_item(left[row], 60.0, y, 9.0);
+            left_item.width = 50.0;
+            items.push(left_item);
+            let mut right_item = make_item(right[row], 150.0, y, 9.0);
+            right_item.width = 50.0;
+            items.push(right_item);
+        }
+
+        let (tables, _hints) = detect_tables_from_rects(&items, &rects, page);
+        assert!(
+            tables.is_empty(),
+            "text-derived two-column prose must not be accepted as a rect table; got {:?}",
+            tables
+                .iter()
+                .map(|t| (t.rows.len(), t.columns.len()))
+                .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn multiline_indented_description_rows_collapse_to_visual_rows() {
+        let page = 1;
+        let col_edges = [0.0, 60.0, 420.0, 460.0, 500.0, 540.0];
+        let row_edges = [
+            340.0, 320.0, 300.0, 270.0, 250.0, 230.0, 200.0, 180.0, 160.0,
+        ];
+
+        let mut rects = Vec::new();
+        for row in 0..row_edges.len() - 1 {
+            let y_top = row_edges[row];
+            let y_bot = row_edges[row + 1];
+            for col in 0..col_edges.len() - 1 {
+                rects.push((
+                    col_edges[col],
+                    y_bot,
+                    col_edges[col + 1] - col_edges[col],
+                    y_top - y_bot,
+                ));
+            }
+        }
+
+        let mut items = vec![
+            make_item("Controls", 8.0, 330.0, 9.0),
+            make_item("Control", 70.0, 330.0, 9.0),
+            make_item("IG 1", 428.0, 330.0, 9.0),
+            make_item("IG 2", 468.0, 330.0, 9.0),
+            make_item("IG 3", 508.0, 330.0, 9.0),
+            make_item("Version", 8.0, 310.0, 9.0),
+            make_item("v8", 20.0, 285.0, 9.0),
+            make_item(
+                "4.5 Implement and Manage a Firewall on End-User Devices",
+                70.0,
+                285.0,
+                9.0,
+            ),
+            make_item("*", 438.0, 285.0, 9.0),
+            make_item("*", 478.0, 285.0, 9.0),
+            make_item("*", 518.0, 285.0, 9.0),
+            make_item("v7", 20.0, 215.0, 9.0),
+            make_item(
+                "9.4 Apply Host-based Firewalls or Port-Filtering",
+                70.0,
+                215.0,
+                9.0,
+            ),
+            make_item("*", 478.0, 215.0, 9.0),
+            make_item("*", 518.0, 215.0, 9.0),
+        ];
+        items.push(make_item(
+            "Implement and manage a host-based firewall or port-filtering tool",
+            84.0,
+            260.0,
+            8.0,
+        ));
+        items.push(make_item(
+            "on end-user devices with a default-deny rule",
+            84.0,
+            240.0,
+            8.0,
+        ));
+        items.push(make_item(
+            "Apply host-based firewalls or port filtering tools on end systems",
+            84.0,
+            190.0,
+            8.0,
+        ));
+        items.push(make_item(
+            "and deny unauthorized network communication",
+            84.0,
+            170.0,
+            8.0,
+        ));
+
+        let table = detect_row_stripe_table_from_cell_rects(&items, &rects, page)
+            .expect("expected multiline description table");
+        assert_eq!(table.columns.len(), 5);
+        assert_eq!(
+            table.rows.len(),
+            3,
+            "wrapped lines should collapse to header plus two data rows"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(table.cells[0][0], "Controls Version");
+        assert!(table.cells[1][1].contains("host-based firewall"));
+        assert!(table.cells[1][1].contains("default-deny rule"));
+        assert!(table.cells[2][1].contains("deny unauthorized"));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn failed_cluster_no_hint_without_items() {
         // Rects with no text items inside → no failed-cluster hint generated.

src/tables/detect_struct.rs

@@ -4,15 +4,385 @@
 //! elements linked to MCIDs, this module builds `Table` structs directly from
 //! the semantic hierarchy — no geometry heuristics needed.
 
-use std::collections::HashMap;
+use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet};
 
 use log::debug;
 
-use crate::structure_tree::StructTable;
+use crate::structure_tree::{StructTable, StructTableRow};
 use crate::types::TextItem;
 
 use super::Table;
 
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+struct MatchedCell {
+    text: String,
+    item_indices: Vec<usize>,
+    x: Option<f32>,
+    y: Option<f32>,
+}
+
+fn legacy_column_positions(
+    page_rows: &[&StructTableRow],
+    mcid_to_items: &HashMap<i64, Vec<usize>>,
+    items: &[TextItem],
+    page: u32,
+    num_cols: usize,
+) -> Vec<f32> {
+    let mut col_positions: Vec<f32> = vec![0.0; num_cols];
+    for (col, col_pos) in col_positions.iter_mut().enumerate() {
+        for row in page_rows {
+            if col < row.cells.len() {
+                if let Some(x) = row.cells[col]
+                    .mcids
+                    .iter()
+                    .filter(|(_, p)| *p == page)
+                    .filter_map(|(mcid, _)| mcid_to_items.get(mcid))
+                    .flatten()
+                    .map(|&idx| items[idx].x)
+                    .reduce(f32::min)
+                {
+                    *col_pos = x;
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    col_positions
+}
+
+fn infer_column_positions(
+    raw_rows: &[Vec<MatchedCell>],
+    fallback_positions: &[f32],
+    num_cols: usize,
+) -> Vec<f32> {
+    const SAME_COLUMN_TOLERANCE: f32 = 18.0;
+
+    let mut anchors = raw_rows
+        .iter()
+        .max_by_key(|row| row.iter().filter(|cell| cell.x.is_some()).count())
+        .map(|row| row.iter().filter_map(|cell| cell.x).collect::<Vec<_>>())
+        .unwrap_or_default();
+
+    if anchors.len() > num_cols {
+        anchors.truncate(num_cols);
+    }
+
+    let mut additional_positions: Vec<f32> = raw_rows
+        .iter()
+        .flat_map(|row| row.iter().filter_map(|cell| cell.x))
+        .collect();
+    additional_positions.sort_by(|a, b| a.total_cmp(b));
+
+    for x in additional_positions {
+        if anchors.len() >= num_cols {
+            break;
+        }
+        if anchors
+            .iter()
+            .all(|existing| (x - *existing).abs() > SAME_COLUMN_TOLERANCE)
+        {
+            anchors.push(x);
+            anchors.sort_by(|a, b| a.total_cmp(b));
+        }
+    }
+
+    if anchors.len() < num_cols {
+        for &x in fallback_positions {
+            if anchors.len() >= num_cols {
+                break;
+            }
+            if anchors
+                .iter()
+                .all(|existing| (x - *existing).abs() > SAME_COLUMN_TOLERANCE)
+            {
+                anchors.push(x);
+                anchors.sort_by(|a, b| a.total_cmp(b));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    if anchors.is_empty() {
+        return fallback_positions.to_vec();
+    }
+
+    while anchors.len() < num_cols {
+        anchors.push(*anchors.last().unwrap());
+    }
+
+    anchors
+}
+
+fn align_positions_to_columns(cell_xs: &[f32], columns: &[f32]) -> Vec<usize> {
+    if cell_xs.is_empty() || columns.is_empty() {
+        return Vec::new();
+    }
+    if cell_xs.len() >= columns.len() {
+        return (0..cell_xs.len().min(columns.len())).collect();
+    }
+
+    let mut dp = vec![vec![f32::INFINITY; columns.len() + 1]; cell_xs.len() + 1];
+    let mut take = vec![vec![false; columns.len() + 1]; cell_xs.len() + 1];
+
+    for value in &mut dp[0] {
+        *value = 0.0;
+    }
+
+    for i in 1..=cell_xs.len() {
+        for j in 1..=columns.len() {
+            let skip_cost = dp[i][j - 1];
+            let take_cost = dp[i - 1][j - 1] + (cell_xs[i - 1] - columns[j - 1]).abs();
+            if take_cost <= skip_cost {
+                dp[i][j] = take_cost;
+                take[i][j] = true;
+            } else {
+                dp[i][j] = skip_cost;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    let mut assignments_rev = Vec::with_capacity(cell_xs.len());
+    let mut i = cell_xs.len();
+    let mut j = columns.len();
+    while i > 0 && j > 0 {
+        if take[i][j] {
+            assignments_rev.push(j - 1);
+            i -= 1;
+            j -= 1;
+        } else {
+            j -= 1;
+        }
+    }
+
+    assignments_rev.reverse();
+    assignments_rev
+}
+
+fn align_struct_rows(
+    raw_rows: &[Vec<MatchedCell>],
+    col_positions: &[f32],
+) -> (Vec<Vec<String>>, Vec<f32>, Vec<usize>) {
+    let mut cells: Vec<Vec<String>> = Vec::with_capacity(raw_rows.len());
+    let mut row_positions: Vec<f32> = Vec::with_capacity(raw_rows.len());
+    let mut all_item_indices: Vec<usize> = Vec::new();
+
+    for row in raw_rows {
+        let present_cells: Vec<&MatchedCell> = row
+            .iter()
+            .filter(|cell| {
+                !cell.item_indices.is_empty() || !cell.text.is_empty() || cell.x.is_some()
+            })
+            .collect();
+        let cell_xs: Vec<f32> = present_cells.iter().filter_map(|cell| cell.x).collect();
+        let assignments = if cell_xs.len() == present_cells.len() {
+            align_positions_to_columns(&cell_xs, col_positions)
+        } else {
+            (0..present_cells.len().min(col_positions.len())).collect()
+        };
+
+        let mut row_cells = vec![String::new(); col_positions.len()];
+        for (cell, &col_idx) in present_cells.iter().zip(assignments.iter()) {
+            if !cell.text.is_empty() {
+                if !row_cells[col_idx].is_empty() {
+                    row_cells[col_idx].push(' ');
+                }
+                row_cells[col_idx].push_str(&cell.text);
+            }
+            all_item_indices.extend(cell.item_indices.iter().copied());
+        }
+
+        let row_y = row
+            .iter()
+            .filter_map(|cell| cell.y)
+            .reduce(f32::max)
+            .unwrap_or(0.0);
+        cells.push(row_cells);
+        row_positions.push(row_y);
+    }
+
+    (cells, row_positions, all_item_indices)
+}
+
+fn left_align_struct_rows(
+    raw_rows: &[Vec<MatchedCell>],
+    num_cols: usize,
+) -> (Vec<Vec<String>>, Vec<f32>, Vec<usize>) {
+    let mut cells: Vec<Vec<String>> = Vec::with_capacity(raw_rows.len());
+    let mut row_positions: Vec<f32> = Vec::with_capacity(raw_rows.len());
+    let mut all_item_indices: Vec<usize> = Vec::new();
+
+    for row in raw_rows {
+        let mut row_cells: Vec<String> = row.iter().map(|cell| cell.text.clone()).collect();
+        row_cells.truncate(num_cols);
+        while row_cells.len() < num_cols {
+            row_cells.push(String::new());
+        }
+        cells.push(row_cells);
+
+        all_item_indices.extend(
+            row.iter()
+                .flat_map(|cell| cell.item_indices.iter().copied()),
+        );
+        row_positions.push(
+            row.iter()
+                .filter_map(|cell| cell.y)
+                .reduce(f32::max)
+                .unwrap_or(0.0),
+        );
+    }
+
+    (cells, row_positions, all_item_indices)
+}
+
+fn recover_unclaimed_header_row(table: &mut Table, items: &[TextItem], has_ragged_rows: bool) {
+    if !has_ragged_rows || table.rows.is_empty() || table.columns.len() < 3 {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    const MAX_HEADER_DISTANCE: f32 = 90.0;
+    const MAX_GAP_TO_TABLE: f32 = 35.0;
+    const MAX_INTER_HEADER_GAP: f32 = 25.0;
+    const MAX_HEADER_ROWS: usize = 3;
+    const Y_TOLERANCE: f32 = 5.0;
+
+    let top_row_y = table.rows[0];
+    let x_min = table.columns.first().copied().unwrap_or(0.0) - 25.0;
+    let x_max = table.columns.last().copied().unwrap_or(0.0) + 120.0;
+    let claimed: HashSet<usize> = table.item_indices.iter().copied().collect();
+
+    let mut candidate_rows: Vec<(f32, Vec<(usize, &TextItem)>)> = Vec::new();
+    for (idx, item) in items.iter().enumerate() {
+        if claimed.contains(&idx)
+            || item.text.trim().is_empty()
+            || item.y <= top_row_y
+            || item.y - top_row_y > MAX_HEADER_DISTANCE
+            || item.x < x_min
+            || item.x > x_max
+        {
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        if let Some((_, row_items)) = candidate_rows
+            .iter_mut()
+            .find(|(row_y, _)| (item.y - *row_y).abs() < Y_TOLERANCE)
+        {
+            row_items.push((idx, item));
+        } else {
+            candidate_rows.push((item.y, vec![(idx, item)]));
+        }
+    }
+
+    if candidate_rows.is_empty() {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    for (_, row_items) in &mut candidate_rows {
+        row_items.sort_by(|a, b| a.1.x.total_cmp(&b.1.x));
+    }
+    candidate_rows.sort_by(|a, b| a.0.total_cmp(&b.0));
+
+    if candidate_rows[0].0 - top_row_y > MAX_GAP_TO_TABLE {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    let mut candidate_iter = candidate_rows.into_iter();
+    let Some(first_row) = candidate_iter.next() else {
+        return;
+    };
+    let mut selected_rows: Vec<(f32, Vec<(usize, &TextItem)>)> = vec![first_row];
+    let mut prev_y = selected_rows[0].0;
+    for (row_y, row_items) in candidate_iter {
+        if selected_rows.len() >= MAX_HEADER_ROWS {
+            break;
+        }
+        if row_y - prev_y > MAX_INTER_HEADER_GAP {
+            break;
+        }
+        prev_y = row_y;
+        selected_rows.push((row_y, row_items));
+    }
+
+    if selected_rows.is_empty() {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    let mut assigned_rows: Vec<(f32, Vec<String>, Vec<usize>)> = Vec::new();
+    let mut closest_row_populated = 0usize;
+    let mut combined_cols: HashSet<usize> = HashSet::new();
+
+    for (row_idx, (row_y, row_items)) in selected_rows.iter().enumerate() {
+        if row_items.len() > table.columns.len() {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        let row_xs: Vec<f32> = row_items.iter().map(|(_, item)| item.x).collect();
+        let assignments = align_positions_to_columns(&row_xs, &table.columns);
+        if assignments.len() != row_items.len() {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        let mut row_cells = vec![String::new(); table.columns.len()];
+        let mut row_indices = Vec::with_capacity(row_items.len());
+        let mut populated_cols: HashSet<usize> = HashSet::new();
+
+        for ((idx, item), &col_idx) in row_items.iter().zip(assignments.iter()) {
+            let text = item.text.trim();
+            if text.is_empty() {
+                continue;
+            }
+            if !row_cells[col_idx].is_empty() {
+                row_cells[col_idx].push(' ');
+            }
+            row_cells[col_idx].push_str(text);
+            row_indices.push(*idx);
+            populated_cols.insert(col_idx);
+        }
+
+        if row_idx == 0 {
+            closest_row_populated = populated_cols.len();
+        }
+
+        combined_cols.extend(populated_cols.iter().copied());
+        assigned_rows.push((*row_y, row_cells, row_indices));
+    }
+
+    let required_cols = if table.columns.len() <= 4 {
+        table.columns.len()
+    } else {
+        table.columns.len() - 1
+    };
+    if closest_row_populated < 2 || combined_cols.len() < required_cols {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    let mut header_cells = vec![String::new(); table.columns.len()];
+    let mut header_indices = Vec::new();
+    for (_, row_cells, row_indices) in assigned_rows.iter().rev() {
+        for (col_idx, cell_text) in row_cells.iter().enumerate() {
+            if cell_text.is_empty() {
+                continue;
+            }
+            if !header_cells[col_idx].is_empty() {
+                header_cells[col_idx].push(' ');
+            }
+            header_cells[col_idx].push_str(cell_text);
+        }
+        header_indices.extend(row_indices.iter().copied());
+    }
+
+    table.rows.insert(
+        0,
+        assigned_rows
+            .iter()
+            .map(|(row_y, _, _)| *row_y)
+            .reduce(f32::max)
+            .unwrap_or(top_row_y),
+    );
+    table.cells.insert(0, header_cells);
+    table.item_indices.extend(header_indices);
+    table.item_indices.sort_unstable();
+    table.item_indices.dedup();
+}
+
 /// Build tables from structure-tree table descriptors by matching MCIDs to TextItems.
 ///
 /// Returns tables for the given page.  Tables where fewer than 50% of cells
@@ -67,18 +437,14 @@ pub fn detect_tables_from_struct_tree(
             continue;
         }
 
-        // Build cell text and collect item indices
-        let mut cells: Vec<Vec<String>> = Vec::new();
-        let mut all_item_indices: Vec<usize> = Vec::new();
+        // Build cell text and geometry for alignment and header recovery.
+        let mut raw_rows: Vec<Vec<MatchedCell>> = Vec::new();
         let mut total_cells = 0u32;
         let mut matched_cells = 0u32;
 
         for row in &page_rows {
-            let mut row_cells = Vec::with_capacity(num_cols);
-            for (col_idx, cell) in row.cells.iter().enumerate() {
-                if col_idx >= num_cols {
-                    break;
-                }
+            let mut row_cells = Vec::with_capacity(row.cells.len());
+            for cell in &row.cells {
                 total_cells += 1;
 
                 // Collect all items for this cell's MCIDs
@@ -115,18 +481,18 @@ pub fn detect_tables_from_struct_tree(
                     .collect::<Vec<_>>()
                     .join(" ");
 
-                for (idx, _) in &cell_items {
-                    all_item_indices.push(*idx);
-                }
+                let item_indices = cell_items.iter().map(|(idx, _)| *idx).collect::<Vec<_>>();
+                let x = cell_items.iter().map(|(_, item)| item.x).reduce(f32::min);
+                let y = cell_items.iter().map(|(_, item)| item.y).reduce(f32::max);
 
-                row_cells.push(text);
+                row_cells.push(MatchedCell {
+                    text,
+                    item_indices,
+                    x,
+                    y,
+                });
             }
-
-            // Pad to num_cols
-            while row_cells.len() < num_cols {
-                row_cells.push(String::new());
-            }
-            cells.push(row_cells);
+            raw_rows.push(row_cells);
         }
 
         // Reject if too few cells matched (stale structure tree)
@@ -148,52 +514,55 @@ pub fn detect_tables_from_struct_tree(
             continue;
         }
 
-        // Derive row/column positions from item geometry
-        let mut row_positions: Vec<f32> = Vec::new();
-        for row in &page_rows {
-            let y = row
-                .cells
-                .iter()
-                .flat_map(|c| c.mcids.iter())
-                .filter(|(_, p)| *p == page)
-                .filter_map(|(mcid, _)| mcid_to_items.get(mcid))
-                .flatten()
-                .map(|&idx| items[idx].y)
-                .reduce(f32::max)
-                .unwrap_or(0.0);
-            row_positions.push(y);
-        }
+        let has_ragged_rows = raw_rows
+            .iter()
+            .any(|row| row.iter().filter(|cell| cell.x.is_some()).count() < num_cols);
+        let first_row_has_tagged_header = page_rows.first().is_some_and(|row| {
+            let header_cells = row.cells.iter().filter(|cell| cell.is_header).count();
+            header_cells * 2 >= row.cells.len()
+        });
+        let fallback_col_positions =
+            legacy_column_positions(&page_rows, &mcid_to_items, items, page, num_cols);
+        let (legacy_cells, legacy_row_positions, mut legacy_item_indices) =
+            left_align_struct_rows(&raw_rows, num_cols);
+        legacy_item_indices.sort_unstable();
+        legacy_item_indices.dedup();
+        let legacy_table = Table::new(
+            fallback_col_positions.clone(),
+            legacy_row_positions,
+            legacy_cells,
+            legacy_item_indices,
+        );
 
-        // Column positions: use X positions of first non-empty cell in each column
-        let mut col_positions: Vec<f32> = vec![0.0; num_cols];
-        for (col, col_pos) in col_positions.iter_mut().enumerate() {
-            for row in &page_rows {
-                if col < row.cells.len() {
-                    if let Some(x) = row.cells[col]
-                        .mcids
-                        .iter()
-                        .filter(|(_, p)| *p == page)
-                        .filter_map(|(mcid, _)| mcid_to_items.get(mcid))
-                        .flatten()
-                        .map(|&idx| items[idx].x)
-                        .reduce(f32::min)
-                    {
-                        *col_pos = x;
-                        break;
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-        }
+        let col_positions = infer_column_positions(&raw_rows, &fallback_col_positions, num_cols);
+        let (aligned_cells, aligned_row_positions, mut aligned_item_indices) =
+            align_struct_rows(&raw_rows, &col_positions);
+        aligned_item_indices.sort_unstable();
+        aligned_item_indices.dedup();
 
-        all_item_indices.sort_unstable();
-        all_item_indices.dedup();
-
-        tables.push(Table::new(
+        let mut aligned_table = Table::new(
             col_positions,
-            row_positions,
-            cells,
-            all_item_indices,
-        ));
+            aligned_row_positions,
+            aligned_cells,
+            aligned_item_indices,
+        );
+        let item_count_before_header = aligned_table.item_indices.len();
+        let row_count_before_header = aligned_table.cells.len();
+        recover_unclaimed_header_row(
+            &mut aligned_table,
+            items,
+            has_ragged_rows && !first_row_has_tagged_header,
+        );
+
+        let recovered_header = aligned_table.item_indices.len() > item_count_before_header
+            || aligned_table.cells.len() > row_count_before_header;
+        let prefer_aligned = recovered_header;
+
+        tables.push(if prefer_aligned {
+            aligned_table
+        } else {
+            legacy_table
+        });
     }
 
     tables
@@ -374,4 +743,419 @@ mod tests {
         let tables = detect_tables_from_struct_tree(&items, &struct_tables, 2);
         assert_eq!(tables.len(), 1);
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn realigns_ragged_rows_and_recovers_untagged_header() {
+        let items = vec![
+            make_item("Category", 50.0, 120.0, 1, None),
+            make_item("Potentially", 150.0, 120.0, 1, None),
+            make_item("Summary", 250.0, 120.0, 1, None),
+            make_item("Most commonly", 350.0, 120.0, 1, None),
+            make_item("concerning aspect", 150.0, 110.0, 1, None),
+            make_item("suggested", 350.0, 110.0, 1, None),
+            make_item("of circumstances", 150.0, 100.0, 1, None),
+            make_item("intervention", 350.0, 100.0, 1, None),
+            make_item("Existence of red-teaming", 150.0, 80.0, 1, Some(10)),
+            make_item("Important for safety", 250.0, 80.0, 1, Some(11)),
+            make_item("Ensure welfare interviews", 350.0, 80.0, 1, Some(12)),
+            make_item("Identity & self-knowledge", 50.0, 60.0, 1, Some(20)),
+            make_item("Lack of knowledge", 150.0, 60.0, 1, Some(21)),
+            make_item("Overall negative", 250.0, 60.0, 1, Some(22)),
+            make_item("Describe training process", 350.0, 60.0, 1, Some(23)),
+            make_item("Uncertainty around other copies", 150.0, 40.0, 1, Some(30)),
+            make_item("High uncertainty", 250.0, 40.0, 1, Some(31)),
+            make_item("No intervention suggested", 350.0, 40.0, 1, Some(32)),
+        ];
+
+        let struct_tables = vec![StructTable {
+            rows: vec![
+                StructTableRow {
+                    cells: vec![
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(10, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(11, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(12, 1)],
+                        },
+                    ],
+                },
+                StructTableRow {
+                    cells: vec![
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(20, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(21, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(22, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(23, 1)],
+                        },
+                    ],
+                },
+                StructTableRow {
+                    cells: vec![
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(30, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(31, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(32, 1)],
+                        },
+                    ],
+                },
+            ],
+        }];
+
+        let tables = detect_tables_from_struct_tree(&items, &struct_tables, 1);
+        assert_eq!(tables.len(), 1);
+        let table = &tables[0];
+        assert_eq!(table.cells.len(), 4);
+        assert_eq!(
+            table.cells[0],
+            vec![
+                "Category",
+                "Potentially concerning aspect of circumstances",
+                "Summary",
+                "Most commonly suggested intervention",
+            ]
+        );
+        assert_eq!(table.cells[1][0], "");
+        assert_eq!(table.cells[1][1], "Existence of red-teaming");
+        assert_eq!(table.cells[2][0], "Identity & self-knowledge");
+        assert_eq!(table.cells[3][0], "");
+        assert_eq!(table.columns.len(), 4);
+        assert!(table.columns.windows(2).all(|w| w[0] < w[1]));
+        assert_eq!(table.item_indices.len(), items.len());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn does_not_absorb_caption_above_ragged_struct_table() {
+        let items = vec![
+            make_item("Table 5-7: Summary of responses", 50.0, 120.0, 1, None),
+            make_item("Aspect one", 150.0, 80.0, 1, Some(10)),
+            make_item("Summary one", 250.0, 80.0, 1, Some(11)),
+            make_item("Category", 50.0, 60.0, 1, Some(20)),
+            make_item("Aspect two", 150.0, 60.0, 1, Some(21)),
+            make_item("Summary two", 250.0, 60.0, 1, Some(22)),
+            make_item("Aspect three", 150.0, 40.0, 1, Some(30)),
+            make_item("Summary three", 250.0, 40.0, 1, Some(31)),
+        ];
+
+        let struct_tables = vec![StructTable {
+            rows: vec![
+                StructTableRow {
+                    cells: vec![
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(10, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(11, 1)],
+                        },
+                    ],
+                },
+                StructTableRow {
+                    cells: vec![
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(20, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(21, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(22, 1)],
+                        },
+                    ],
+                },
+                StructTableRow {
+                    cells: vec![
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(30, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(31, 1)],
+                        },
+                    ],
+                },
+            ],
+        }];
+
+        let tables = detect_tables_from_struct_tree(&items, &struct_tables, 1);
+        assert_eq!(tables.len(), 1);
+        let table = &tables[0];
+        assert_eq!(table.cells.len(), 3);
+        assert!(
+            table
+                .cells
+                .iter()
+                .flatten()
+                .all(|cell| !cell.contains("Table 5-7")),
+            "caption must stay outside the table"
+        );
+        assert!(!table.item_indices.contains(&0));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn keeps_existing_tagged_header_without_absorbing_intro_or_caption() {
+        let items = vec![
+            make_item(
+                "Eighteen people left other comments regarding the Project.",
+                50.0,
+                130.0,
+                1,
+                None,
+            ),
+            make_item("Table 5-1:", 220.0, 130.0, 1, None),
+            make_item("Other Comments", 350.0, 130.0, 1, None),
+            make_item("Theme", 50.0, 110.0, 1, Some(10)),
+            make_item("Specific Concern/Inquiry", 200.0, 110.0, 1, Some(11)),
+            make_item("Response", 420.0, 110.0, 1, Some(12)),
+            make_item("Traffic", 50.0, 90.0, 1, Some(20)),
+            make_item("Road conditions", 200.0, 90.0, 1, Some(21)),
+            make_item("Maintenance response", 420.0, 90.0, 1, Some(22)),
+            make_item("Noise", 50.0, 70.0, 1, Some(30)),
+            make_item("Dust concerns", 200.0, 70.0, 1, Some(31)),
+            make_item("Mitigation response", 420.0, 70.0, 1, Some(32)),
+            make_item("Resource Use", 50.0, 50.0, 1, Some(40)),
+            make_item("Snowmobile trails", 200.0, 50.0, 1, Some(41)),
+            make_item("Access response", 420.0, 50.0, 1, Some(42)),
+        ];
+
+        let struct_tables = vec![StructTable {
+            rows: vec![
+                StructTableRow {
+                    cells: vec![
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: true,
+                            mcids: vec![(10, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: true,
+                            mcids: vec![(11, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: true,
+                            mcids: vec![(12, 1)],
+                        },
+                    ],
+                },
+                StructTableRow {
+                    cells: vec![
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(20, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(21, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(22, 1)],
+                        },
+                    ],
+                },
+                StructTableRow {
+                    cells: vec![
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(30, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(31, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(32, 1)],
+                        },
+                    ],
+                },
+                StructTableRow {
+                    cells: vec![
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(40, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(41, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(42, 1)],
+                        },
+                    ],
+                },
+            ],
+        }];
+
+        let tables = detect_tables_from_struct_tree(&items, &struct_tables, 1);
+        assert_eq!(tables.len(), 1);
+        let table = &tables[0];
+        assert_eq!(table.cells.len(), 4);
+        assert_eq!(
+            table.cells[0],
+            vec!["Theme", "Specific Concern/Inquiry", "Response"]
+        );
+        assert!(!table.item_indices.contains(&0));
+        assert!(!table.item_indices.contains(&1));
+        assert!(!table.item_indices.contains(&2));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn does_not_recover_header_for_narrow_two_column_table() {
+        let items = vec![
+            make_item("Alpha", 50.0, 120.0, 1, None),
+            make_item("Beta", 200.0, 120.0, 1, None),
+            make_item("First value", 200.0, 80.0, 1, Some(10)),
+            make_item("Only labeled row", 50.0, 60.0, 1, Some(20)),
+            make_item("Second value", 200.0, 60.0, 1, Some(21)),
+            make_item("Third value", 200.0, 40.0, 1, Some(30)),
+        ];
+
+        let struct_tables = vec![StructTable {
+            rows: vec![
+                StructTableRow {
+                    cells: vec![StructTableCell {
+                        is_header: false,
+                        mcids: vec![(10, 1)],
+                    }],
+                },
+                StructTableRow {
+                    cells: vec![
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(20, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(21, 1)],
+                        },
+                    ],
+                },
+                StructTableRow {
+                    cells: vec![StructTableCell {
+                        is_header: false,
+                        mcids: vec![(30, 1)],
+                    }],
+                },
+            ],
+        }];
+
+        let tables = detect_tables_from_struct_tree(&items, &struct_tables, 1);
+        assert_eq!(tables.len(), 1);
+        let table = &tables[0];
+        assert_eq!(table.cells.len(), 3);
+        assert_eq!(table.cells[0], vec!["First value", ""]);
+        assert_eq!(table.cells[1], vec!["Only labeled row", "Second value"]);
+        assert_eq!(table.cells[2], vec!["Third value", ""]);
+        assert!(!table.item_indices.contains(&0));
+        assert!(!table.item_indices.contains(&1));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn ragged_rows_without_recovered_header_keep_legacy_alignment() {
+        let items = vec![
+            make_item("Date", 150.0, 120.0, 1, Some(10)),
+            make_item("Title", 250.0, 120.0, 1, Some(11)),
+            make_item("PE", 350.0, 120.0, 1, Some(12)),
+            make_item("Bidder", 450.0, 120.0, 1, Some(13)),
+            make_item("Amount", 550.0, 120.0, 1, Some(14)),
+            make_item("1", 50.0, 100.0, 1, Some(20)),
+            make_item("8/1", 150.0, 100.0, 1, Some(21)),
+            make_item("Procurement", 250.0, 100.0, 1, Some(22)),
+            make_item("PUC", 350.0, 100.0, 1, Some(23)),
+            make_item("Vendor", 450.0, 100.0, 1, Some(24)),
+            make_item("SR1", 550.0, 100.0, 1, Some(25)),
+        ];
+
+        let struct_tables = vec![StructTable {
+            rows: vec![
+                StructTableRow {
+                    cells: vec![
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: true,
+                            mcids: vec![(10, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: true,
+                            mcids: vec![(11, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: true,
+                            mcids: vec![(12, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: true,
+                            mcids: vec![(13, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: true,
+                            mcids: vec![(14, 1)],
+                        },
+                    ],
+                },
+                StructTableRow {
+                    cells: vec![
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(20, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(21, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(22, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(23, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(24, 1)],
+                        },
+                        StructTableCell {
+                            is_header: false,
+                            mcids: vec![(25, 1)],
+                        },
+                    ],
+                },
+            ],
+        }];
+
+        let tables = detect_tables_from_struct_tree(&items, &struct_tables, 1);
+        assert_eq!(tables.len(), 1);
+        let table = &tables[0];
+        assert_eq!(table.cells[0][0], "Date");
+        assert_eq!(table.cells[0][4], "Amount");
+        assert_eq!(table.cells[0][5], "");
+    }
 }

src/tables/format.rs

@@ -154,6 +154,12 @@ fn is_dots_only(cell: &str) -> bool {
     dots >= 3 && t.chars().all(|c| c == '.' || c.is_whitespace())
 }
 
+fn starts_with_uppercase_word(cell: &str) -> bool {
+    cell.chars()
+        .find(|c| c.is_alphanumeric())
+        .is_some_and(|c| c.is_uppercase())
+}
+
 /// Clean up table cells: merge continuation rows, extract footnotes, remove empty rows
 fn clean_table_cells(cells: &[Vec<String>]) -> (Vec<Vec<String>>, Vec<String>) {
     let mut cleaned: Vec<Vec<String>> = Vec::new();
@@ -212,11 +218,20 @@ fn clean_table_cells(cells: &[Vec<String>]) -> (Vec<Vec<String>>, Vec<String>) {
         let looks_like_data_row = non_first_cells.len() >= 2
             && avg_cell_len <= 10.0
             && numeric_cells > non_first_cells.len() / 2;
+        let uppercase_leading_cells = non_first_cells
+            .iter()
+            .filter(|cell| starts_with_uppercase_word(cell))
+            .count();
+        let looks_like_spanning_first_column_row = first_cell.is_empty()
+            && row.len() >= 4
+            && non_first_cells.len() == row.len().saturating_sub(1)
+            && uppercase_leading_cells >= non_first_cells.len().saturating_sub(1);
         // Classic continuation: first cell empty, content in other cells
         let is_classic_continuation = first_cell.is_empty()
             && !non_first_cells.is_empty()
             && !is_short_subheader
             && !looks_like_data_row
+            && !looks_like_spanning_first_column_row
             && cleaned.len() > 1;
 
         // Wrapped-cell continuation: row has fewer filled cells than the header
@@ -246,6 +261,7 @@ fn clean_table_cells(cells: &[Vec<String>]) -> (Vec<Vec<String>>, Vec<String>) {
             && filled_cells <= max_filled_for_merge
             && prev_filled > filled_cells
             && !looks_like_data_row
+            && !looks_like_spanning_first_column_row
             && !is_short_subheader;
 
         let is_continuation = is_classic_continuation || is_wrapped_continuation;
@@ -415,6 +431,65 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(cleaned.len(), 3);
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn test_clean_table_cells_spanning_first_column_row_not_merged() {
+        let cells = vec![
+            vec![
+                "Category".into(),
+                "Potentially concerning aspect".into(),
+                "Summary".into(),
+                "Intervention".into(),
+            ],
+            vec![
+                "Identity & self-knowledge".into(),
+                "Lack of knowledge".into(),
+                "Overall negative".into(),
+                "Describe training".into(),
+            ],
+            vec![
+                "".into(),
+                "Uncertainty around other copies".into(),
+                "High uncertainty".into(),
+                "No intervention suggested".into(),
+            ],
+        ];
+        let (cleaned, _) = clean_table_cells(&cells);
+        assert_eq!(cleaned.len(), 3);
+        assert_eq!(cleaned[2][0], "");
+        assert_eq!(cleaned[2][1], "Uncertainty around other copies");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_clean_table_cells_full_width_continuation_row_still_merges_when_lowercase() {
+        let cells = vec![
+            vec![
+                "Classification".into(),
+                "Before tax".into(),
+                "After tax".into(),
+                "Standard equipment".into(),
+                "Options".into(),
+            ],
+            vec![
+                "Exclusive Special".into(),
+                "83,500,000".into(),
+                "79,275,000".into(),
+                "Standard equipment".into(),
+                "Option A".into(),
+            ],
+            vec![
+                "".into(),
+                "with 3.5% individual consumption tax applied".into(),
+                "with 3.5% individual consumption tax applied".into(),
+                "lighting(crash pad)".into(),
+                "sound system".into(),
+            ],
+        ];
+        let (cleaned, _) = clean_table_cells(&cells);
+        assert_eq!(cleaned.len(), 2);
+        assert!(cleaned[1][1].contains("83,500,000"));
+        assert!(cleaned[1][1].contains("with 3.5%"));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_clean_table_cells_header_row_not_merged() {
         // Continuation requires cleaned.len() > 1 (don't merge into header)

src/tables/mod.rs

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ mod detect_struct;
 mod financial;
 mod format;
 mod grid;
+pub mod structured;
 
 pub use detect_heuristic::detect_tables;
 pub(crate) use detect_heuristic::is_table_of_contents;
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ pub(crate) use detect_rects::cluster_rects;
 pub use detect_rects::{detect_tables_from_rects, RectHintRegion};
 pub use detect_struct::detect_tables_from_struct_tree;
 pub use format::table_to_markdown;
+pub use structured::{cells_to_markdown, StructuredCell};
 
 use crate::types::TextItem;
 

src/tables/structured.rs

@@ -0,0 +1,972 @@
+//! Structure-recovery-aware (TSR) table assembly.
+//!
+//! Consumes the raw output of an external table-structure recognition model
+//! (e.g. SLANet on PaddleOCR): a flat list of HTML structure tokens plus a
+//! parallel list of per-cell bboxes. Pairs each cell open-tag with its bbox
+//! in document order, tracks row/column position with rowspan/colspan
+//! awareness, and emits a markdown pipe-table.
+//!
+//! No real HTML parser is needed — the token grammar is restricted (see
+//! [`parse_structure`]), so a small state machine is enough.
+//!
+//! Cell text is supplied separately by the caller (typically by overlap-
+//! testing PDF text items against each cell's page-PDF-pt bbox).
+
+use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet};
+
+/// A single resolved cell, with both structural metadata and its bbox in
+/// page PDF-points (top-left origin).
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+pub struct StructuredCell {
+    /// 0-indexed grid row.
+    pub row: usize,
+    /// 0-indexed grid column.
+    pub col: usize,
+    /// 1 for a normal cell.
+    pub rowspan: usize,
+    /// 1 for a normal cell.
+    pub colspan: usize,
+    /// `true` when the cell is a `<th>` or sits inside `<thead>`.
+    pub is_header: bool,
+    /// Cell text (filled in by the caller after overlap-testing PDF items).
+    pub text: String,
+    /// Axis-aligned bbox `[x1, y1, x2, y2]` in page PDF-points, top-left origin.
+    pub page_pt_bbox: [f32; 4],
+}
+
+/// Intermediate parse result before the caller fills in text + page coords.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+pub(crate) struct CellSlot {
+    pub row: usize,
+    pub col: usize,
+    pub rowspan: usize,
+    pub colspan: usize,
+    pub is_header: bool,
+    /// Index into the parallel `cell_bboxes` array.
+    pub bbox_idx: usize,
+}
+
+/// Parse a sequence of SLANet structure tokens into ordered cell slots.
+///
+/// Token grammar (no real HTML parsing required):
+/// - Section markers: `<thead>`, `</thead>`, `<tbody>`, `</tbody>` and
+///   wrapper tokens (`<html>`, `<body>`, `<table>`, plus closing variants)
+///   are tracked or skipped.
+/// - Row markers: `<tr>` opens a new row, `</tr>` is informational.
+/// - Empty cell, single token: `<td></td>` or `<th></th>`.
+/// - Cell with attributes, multi-token sequence: `<td` (or `<th`), then
+///   attribute fragments like ` colspan="4"`, then `>`, then later `</td>`
+///   (or `</th>`). Cells get paired with the next bbox in document order.
+///
+/// Cells inside `<thead>` and any `<th>` cells are flagged as headers.
+/// rowspan/colspan attributes are honoured and prior-row rowspans push
+/// later-row cells to the right.
+pub(crate) fn parse_structure(tokens: &[String]) -> Vec<CellSlot> {
+    let mut slots: Vec<CellSlot> = Vec::new();
+    let mut occupied: HashSet<(usize, usize)> = HashSet::new();
+    let mut row: usize = 0;
+    let mut col: usize = 0;
+    let mut bbox_idx: usize = 0;
+    let mut in_thead = false;
+    let mut started_first_row = false;
+
+    let mut i = 0;
+    while i < tokens.len() {
+        let tok = tokens[i].trim();
+        match tok {
+            "<thead>" => {
+                in_thead = true;
+            }
+            "</thead>" => {
+                in_thead = false;
+            }
+            "<tr>" => {
+                if started_first_row {
+                    row += 1;
+                }
+                col = 0;
+                started_first_row = true;
+            }
+            "<td></td>" | "<th></th>" => {
+                let is_th = tok == "<th></th>";
+                while occupied.contains(&(row, col)) {
+                    col += 1;
+                }
+                slots.push(CellSlot {
+                    row,
+                    col,
+                    rowspan: 1,
+                    colspan: 1,
+                    is_header: in_thead || is_th,
+                    bbox_idx,
+                });
+                bbox_idx += 1;
+                col += 1;
+            }
+            "<td" | "<th" => {
+                let is_th = tok == "<th";
+                let mut rowspan: usize = 1;
+                let mut colspan: usize = 1;
+                // Consume attribute fragments until we hit ">".
+                i += 1;
+                while i < tokens.len() && tokens[i].trim() != ">" {
+                    let attr = tokens[i].as_str();
+                    if let Some(v) = parse_int_attr(attr, "rowspan") {
+                        rowspan = v.max(1);
+                    } else if let Some(v) = parse_int_attr(attr, "colspan") {
+                        colspan = v.max(1);
+                    }
+                    i += 1;
+                }
+                // i now points at the `>` token (or off the end if malformed).
+                while occupied.contains(&(row, col)) {
+                    col += 1;
+                }
+                slots.push(CellSlot {
+                    row,
+                    col,
+                    rowspan,
+                    colspan,
+                    is_header: in_thead || is_th,
+                    bbox_idx,
+                });
+                for r in row..row + rowspan {
+                    for c in col..col + colspan {
+                        occupied.insert((r, c));
+                    }
+                }
+                bbox_idx += 1;
+                col += colspan;
+            }
+            // Wrapper / informational tokens — no-op.
+            _ => {}
+        }
+        i += 1;
+    }
+
+    slots
+}
+
+/// Parse an attribute fragment like ` colspan="4"` or `rowspan='2'`.
+///
+/// Tolerates leading whitespace and either single or double quotes.
+fn parse_int_attr(s: &str, name: &str) -> Option<usize> {
+    let trimmed = s.trim();
+    if !trimmed.starts_with(name) {
+        return None;
+    }
+    let rest = trimmed[name.len()..].trim_start();
+    let rest = rest.strip_prefix('=')?.trim_start();
+    let value = rest
+        .trim_start_matches(['"', '\''])
+        .trim_end_matches(['"', '\'']);
+    value.parse().ok()
+}
+
+/// Convert a SLANet polygon (4 or 8 elements) into an axis-aligned
+/// `[x1, y1, x2, y2]` rect.
+///
+/// 8-element form: `[x1,y1, x2,y1, x2,y2, x1,y2]` (4 corners). We ignore the
+/// implicit corner order and just take min/max so rotated polygons collapse
+/// to a sane bounding box.
+///
+/// 4-element form: `[x1, y1, x2, y2]` (axis-aligned, older SLANet variants).
+pub(crate) fn polygon_to_aabb(coords: &[f32]) -> Option<[f32; 4]> {
+    match coords.len() {
+        4 => {
+            let x1 = coords[0].min(coords[2]);
+            let y1 = coords[1].min(coords[3]);
+            let x2 = coords[0].max(coords[2]);
+            let y2 = coords[1].max(coords[3]);
+            Some([x1, y1, x2, y2])
+        }
+        8 => {
+            let xs = [coords[0], coords[2], coords[4], coords[6]];
+            let ys = [coords[1], coords[3], coords[5], coords[7]];
+            let x1 = xs.iter().copied().fold(f32::INFINITY, f32::min);
+            let y1 = ys.iter().copied().fold(f32::INFINITY, f32::min);
+            let x2 = xs.iter().copied().fold(f32::NEG_INFINITY, f32::max);
+            let y2 = ys.iter().copied().fold(f32::NEG_INFINITY, f32::max);
+            if x1.is_finite() && y1.is_finite() && x2.is_finite() && y2.is_finite() {
+                Some([x1, y1, x2, y2])
+            } else {
+                None
+            }
+        }
+        _ => None,
+    }
+}
+
+/// Convert a cell rect from crop image-pixel space to page PDF-points
+/// (top-left origin), given the crop's PDF-point offset on the page and the
+/// DPI the crop image was rendered at.
+pub(crate) fn cell_px_to_page_pt(
+    cell_px: [f32; 4],
+    render_dpi: f32,
+    crop_origin_pt: [f32; 2],
+) -> [f32; 4] {
+    let pt_per_px = if render_dpi > 0.0 {
+        72.0 / render_dpi
+    } else {
+        1.0
+    };
+    let [x_off, y_off] = crop_origin_pt;
+    [
+        cell_px[0] * pt_per_px + x_off,
+        cell_px[1] * pt_per_px + y_off,
+        cell_px[2] * pt_per_px + x_off,
+        cell_px[3] * pt_per_px + y_off,
+    ]
+}
+
+/// Refine TSR cell bboxes into non-overlapping row/column bands.
+///
+/// SLANet-style bboxes are often plausible but too tall on dense borderless
+/// tables. Native PDF text assignment is more reliable when each parsed row
+/// owns the band between neighboring row centers instead of the full model box.
+pub(crate) fn normalize_cell_bands(cells: &mut [StructuredCell]) {
+    if cells.len() < 2 {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    let row_bands = derive_axis_bands(cells, Axis::Y);
+    let col_bands = derive_axis_bands(cells, Axis::X);
+
+    for cell in cells {
+        let row_end = cell.row + cell.rowspan.max(1).saturating_sub(1);
+        if let (Some(&(y1, _)), Some(&(_, y2))) =
+            (row_bands.get(&cell.row), row_bands.get(&row_end))
+        {
+            let clamped_y1 = cell.page_pt_bbox[1].max(y1);
+            let clamped_y2 = cell.page_pt_bbox[3].min(y2);
+            if clamped_y1 < clamped_y2 {
+                cell.page_pt_bbox[1] = clamped_y1;
+                cell.page_pt_bbox[3] = clamped_y2;
+            }
+        }
+
+        let col_end = cell.col + cell.colspan.max(1).saturating_sub(1);
+        if let (Some(&(x1, _)), Some(&(_, x2))) =
+            (col_bands.get(&cell.col), col_bands.get(&col_end))
+        {
+            let clamped_x1 = cell.page_pt_bbox[0].max(x1);
+            let clamped_x2 = cell.page_pt_bbox[2].min(x2);
+            if clamped_x1 < clamped_x2 {
+                cell.page_pt_bbox[0] = clamped_x1;
+                cell.page_pt_bbox[2] = clamped_x2;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Clone, Copy)]
+enum Axis {
+    X,
+    Y,
+}
+
+fn derive_axis_bands(cells: &[StructuredCell], axis: Axis) -> HashMap<usize, (f32, f32)> {
+    let mut by_index: HashMap<usize, Vec<(f32, f32)>> = HashMap::new();
+
+    // Prefer non-spanning cells so colspan/rowspan boxes do not skew a single
+    // column/row center. If an axis has no non-spanning examples for an index,
+    // fall back to anchored cells below.
+    for cell in cells {
+        let span = match axis {
+            Axis::X => cell.colspan.max(1),
+            Axis::Y => cell.rowspan.max(1),
+        };
+        if span == 1 {
+            let idx = match axis {
+                Axis::X => cell.col,
+                Axis::Y => cell.row,
+            };
+            by_index
+                .entry(idx)
+                .or_default()
+                .push(axis_bounds(cell.page_pt_bbox, axis));
+        }
+    }
+
+    for cell in cells {
+        let idx = match axis {
+            Axis::X => cell.col,
+            Axis::Y => cell.row,
+        };
+        if !by_index.contains_key(&idx) {
+            by_index
+                .entry(idx)
+                .or_default()
+                .push(axis_bounds(cell.page_pt_bbox, axis));
+        }
+    }
+
+    let mut rows: Vec<(usize, f32, f32, f32)> = by_index
+        .into_iter()
+        .filter_map(|(idx, bounds)| {
+            let mut min_edge = f32::INFINITY;
+            let mut max_edge = f32::NEG_INFINITY;
+            let mut center_sum = 0.0;
+            let mut count = 0usize;
+            for (lo, hi) in bounds {
+                if lo.is_finite() && hi.is_finite() && lo < hi {
+                    min_edge = min_edge.min(lo);
+                    max_edge = max_edge.max(hi);
+                    center_sum += (lo + hi) * 0.5;
+                    count += 1;
+                }
+            }
+            (count > 0).then_some((idx, center_sum / count as f32, min_edge, max_edge))
+        })
+        .collect();
+
+    if rows.len() < 2 {
+        return rows
+            .into_iter()
+            .map(|(idx, _center, lo, hi)| (idx, (lo, hi)))
+            .collect();
+    }
+
+    rows.sort_by_key(|(idx, _, _, _)| *idx);
+
+    let mut bands = HashMap::new();
+    for i in 0..rows.len() {
+        let (idx, _center, min_edge, max_edge) = rows[i];
+        let lo = if i == 0 {
+            min_edge
+        } else {
+            (rows[i - 1].1 + rows[i].1) * 0.5
+        };
+        let hi = if i + 1 == rows.len() {
+            max_edge
+        } else {
+            (rows[i].1 + rows[i + 1].1) * 0.5
+        };
+        if lo.is_finite() && hi.is_finite() && lo < hi {
+            bands.insert(idx, (lo, hi));
+        }
+    }
+
+    bands
+}
+
+fn axis_bounds(bbox: [f32; 4], axis: Axis) -> (f32, f32) {
+    match axis {
+        Axis::X => (bbox[0].min(bbox[2]), bbox[0].max(bbox[2])),
+        Axis::Y => (bbox[1].min(bbox[3]), bbox[1].max(bbox[3])),
+    }
+}
+
+/// Sanitize cell text for inclusion in a markdown pipe-table cell:
+/// collapse whitespace runs, drop newlines/tabs (cells must be one line),
+/// and escape pipes that would otherwise break the table.
+fn sanitize_cell(text: &str) -> String {
+    let mut s = String::with_capacity(text.len());
+    let mut prev_space = false;
+    for c in text.chars() {
+        match c {
+            '|' => {
+                s.push_str("\\|");
+                prev_space = false;
+            }
+            '\n' | '\r' | '\t' | ' ' => {
+                if !prev_space {
+                    s.push(' ');
+                }
+                prev_space = true;
+            }
+            other => {
+                s.push(other);
+                prev_space = false;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    s.trim().to_string()
+}
+
+/// Render a list of explicitly-positioned cells as a markdown pipe-table.
+///
+/// Grid dimensions are inferred from the cells' (row, col, rowspan, colspan)
+/// extents. A cell with colspan/rowspan > 1 is rendered in its top-left
+/// position; the absorbed grid positions are emitted as empty cells so the
+/// markdown stays a valid rectangular grid that downstream readers can
+/// column-count correctly.
+///
+/// The separator row (`|---|...|`) is emitted after the **last** row that
+/// contains a header cell (`is_header == true`). When no cells are flagged
+/// as headers — e.g. the upstream TSR model didn't emit `<thead>`/`<th>` —
+/// the separator falls back to "after row 0" so the output is still a
+/// valid pipe-table.
+pub fn cells_to_markdown(cells: &[StructuredCell]) -> String {
+    if cells.is_empty() {
+        return String::new();
+    }
+    let num_rows = cells
+        .iter()
+        .map(|c| c.row + c.rowspan.max(1))
+        .max()
+        .unwrap_or(0);
+    let num_cols = cells
+        .iter()
+        .map(|c| c.col + c.colspan.max(1))
+        .max()
+        .unwrap_or(0);
+    if num_rows == 0 || num_cols == 0 {
+        return String::new();
+    }
+
+    // Separator goes after the last header row, falling back to row 0 when
+    // no header cells exist. Clamped into range so a malformed cell with
+    // row >= num_rows can't push it past the table.
+    let separator_after_row = cells
+        .iter()
+        .filter(|c| c.is_header)
+        .map(|c| c.row)
+        .max()
+        .unwrap_or(0)
+        .min(num_rows.saturating_sub(1));
+
+    let mut grid: Vec<Vec<String>> = vec![vec![String::new(); num_cols]; num_rows];
+    for cell in cells {
+        if cell.row < num_rows && cell.col < num_cols {
+            grid[cell.row][cell.col] = sanitize_cell(&cell.text);
+        }
+    }
+
+    let mut output = String::new();
+    for (row_idx, row) in grid.iter().enumerate() {
+        output.push('|');
+        for cell in row {
+            output.push_str(cell);
+            output.push('|');
+        }
+        output.push('\n');
+        if row_idx == separator_after_row {
+            output.push('|');
+            for _ in 0..num_cols {
+                output.push_str("---|");
+            }
+            output.push('\n');
+        }
+    }
+    output
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    fn t(s: &str) -> String {
+        s.to_string()
+    }
+
+    /// Tokens for the synthetic 3×3 grid example (one colspan-4 row + two
+    /// data rows of 4 cells each = 9 cells total, 3 rows × 4 cols).
+    fn synthetic_3x3_tokens() -> Vec<String> {
+        vec![
+            "<html>",
+            "<body>",
+            "<table>",
+            "<tbody>",
+            "<tr>",
+            "<td",
+            " colspan=\"4\"",
+            ">",
+            "</td>",
+            "</tr>",
+            "<tr>",
+            "<td></td>",
+            "<td></td>",
+            "<td></td>",
+            "<td></td>",
+            "</tr>",
+            "<tr>",
+            "<td></td>",
+            "<td></td>",
+            "<td></td>",
+            "<td></td>",
+            "</tr>",
+            "</tbody>",
+            "</table>",
+            "</body>",
+            "</html>",
+        ]
+        .into_iter()
+        .map(t)
+        .collect()
+    }
+
+    /// Bboxes for the synthetic 3×3 grid (8-element polygon form), all
+    /// within a 400×120 px crop.
+    fn synthetic_3x3_bboxes() -> Vec<Vec<f32>> {
+        vec![
+            vec![3.0, 2.0, 395.0, 2.0, 396.0, 59.0, 3.0, 59.0],
+            vec![26.0, 62.0, 140.0, 62.0, 141.0, 120.0, 26.0, 120.0],
+            vec![149.0, 64.0, 248.0, 64.0, 248.0, 119.0, 149.0, 119.0],
+            vec![257.0, 64.0, 350.0, 64.0, 350.0, 119.0, 257.0, 119.0],
+            vec![359.0, 64.0, 395.0, 64.0, 395.0, 119.0, 359.0, 119.0],
+            vec![26.0, 122.0, 140.0, 122.0, 140.0, 178.0, 26.0, 178.0],
+            vec![149.0, 124.0, 248.0, 124.0, 248.0, 179.0, 149.0, 179.0],
+            vec![257.0, 124.0, 350.0, 124.0, 350.0, 179.0, 257.0, 179.0],
+            vec![359.0, 124.0, 395.0, 124.0, 395.0, 179.0, 359.0, 179.0],
+        ]
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_structure_synthetic_3x3() {
+        let tokens = synthetic_3x3_tokens();
+        let slots = parse_structure(&tokens);
+
+        assert_eq!(slots.len(), 9, "should parse 9 cells");
+
+        // Cell 0: row 0 col 0, colspan 4
+        assert_eq!(slots[0].row, 0);
+        assert_eq!(slots[0].col, 0);
+        assert_eq!(slots[0].colspan, 4);
+        assert_eq!(slots[0].rowspan, 1);
+
+        // Cells 1..5: row 1, cols 0..3
+        for (i, slot) in slots.iter().enumerate().skip(1).take(4) {
+            assert_eq!(slot.row, 1, "cell {i}: row should be 1");
+            assert_eq!(slot.col, i - 1, "cell {i}: col should be {}", i - 1);
+            assert_eq!(slot.colspan, 1);
+            assert_eq!(slot.rowspan, 1);
+        }
+
+        // Cells 5..9: row 2, cols 0..3
+        for (i, slot) in slots.iter().enumerate().skip(5).take(4) {
+            assert_eq!(slot.row, 2, "cell {i}: row should be 2");
+            assert_eq!(slot.col, i - 5);
+            assert_eq!(slot.colspan, 1);
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn polygon_to_aabb_8elt() {
+        // Synthetic cell bbox 0
+        let coords = vec![3.0, 2.0, 395.0, 2.0, 396.0, 59.0, 3.0, 59.0];
+        let aabb = polygon_to_aabb(&coords).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(aabb, [3.0, 2.0, 396.0, 59.0]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn polygon_to_aabb_4elt() {
+        let coords = vec![5.0, 10.0, 50.0, 60.0];
+        let aabb = polygon_to_aabb(&coords).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(aabb, [5.0, 10.0, 50.0, 60.0]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn polygon_to_aabb_4elt_unordered() {
+        // Caller may pass corners in any order; min/max should normalise.
+        let coords = vec![50.0, 60.0, 5.0, 10.0];
+        let aabb = polygon_to_aabb(&coords).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(aabb, [5.0, 10.0, 50.0, 60.0]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn polygon_to_aabb_invalid_len() {
+        assert!(polygon_to_aabb(&[1.0, 2.0, 3.0]).is_none());
+        assert!(polygon_to_aabb(&[1.0; 6]).is_none());
+        assert!(polygon_to_aabb(&[]).is_none());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn synthetic_3x3_aabbs_inside_crop() {
+        // All 9 bboxes should produce valid (x1<x2, y1<y2) rects within the
+        // crop bounds (400 wide, ~180 tall by inspection of the fixture).
+        let bboxes = synthetic_3x3_bboxes();
+        assert_eq!(bboxes.len(), 9);
+        for (i, bb) in bboxes.iter().enumerate() {
+            let aabb = polygon_to_aabb(bb).unwrap_or_else(|| panic!("bbox {i} invalid"));
+            assert!(aabb[0] < aabb[2], "bbox {i}: x1 < x2");
+            assert!(aabb[1] < aabb[3], "bbox {i}: y1 < y2");
+            assert!(aabb[0] >= 0.0 && aabb[2] <= 500.0, "bbox {i}: within crop");
+            assert!(aabb[1] >= 0.0 && aabb[3] <= 200.0, "bbox {i}: within crop");
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn normalize_cell_bands_splits_overlapping_slanet_rows() {
+        let mut cells = vec![
+            StructuredCell {
+                row: 0,
+                col: 0,
+                rowspan: 1,
+                colspan: 1,
+                is_header: true,
+                text: String::new(),
+                page_pt_bbox: [10.0, 100.0, 90.0, 120.0],
+            },
+            StructuredCell {
+                row: 0,
+                col: 1,
+                rowspan: 1,
+                colspan: 1,
+                is_header: true,
+                text: String::new(),
+                page_pt_bbox: [90.0, 100.0, 170.0, 120.0],
+            },
+            StructuredCell {
+                row: 1,
+                col: 0,
+                rowspan: 1,
+                colspan: 1,
+                is_header: false,
+                text: String::new(),
+                page_pt_bbox: [10.0, 116.0, 90.0, 136.0],
+            },
+            StructuredCell {
+                row: 1,
+                col: 1,
+                rowspan: 1,
+                colspan: 1,
+                is_header: false,
+                text: String::new(),
+                page_pt_bbox: [90.0, 116.0, 170.0, 136.0],
+            },
+        ];
+
+        normalize_cell_bands(&mut cells);
+
+        assert_eq!(cells[0].page_pt_bbox[3], cells[2].page_pt_bbox[1]);
+        assert_eq!(cells[1].page_pt_bbox[3], cells[3].page_pt_bbox[1]);
+        assert!(
+            (cells[0].page_pt_bbox[3] - 118.0).abs() < 0.01,
+            "row separator should be midpoint between row centers: {:?}",
+            cells
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn normalize_cell_bands_preserves_colspan_extent() {
+        let mut cells = vec![
+            StructuredCell {
+                row: 0,
+                col: 0,
+                rowspan: 1,
+                colspan: 2,
+                is_header: true,
+                text: String::new(),
+                page_pt_bbox: [8.0, 80.0, 172.0, 98.0],
+            },
+            StructuredCell {
+                row: 1,
+                col: 0,
+                rowspan: 1,
+                colspan: 1,
+                is_header: false,
+                text: String::new(),
+                page_pt_bbox: [10.0, 96.0, 90.0, 114.0],
+            },
+            StructuredCell {
+                row: 1,
+                col: 1,
+                rowspan: 1,
+                colspan: 1,
+                is_header: false,
+                text: String::new(),
+                page_pt_bbox: [88.0, 96.0, 170.0, 114.0],
+            },
+        ];
+
+        normalize_cell_bands(&mut cells);
+
+        assert!(
+            cells[0].page_pt_bbox[0] <= cells[1].page_pt_bbox[0],
+            "spanning cell should retain the first column's left edge"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            cells[0].page_pt_bbox[2] >= cells[2].page_pt_bbox[2],
+            "spanning cell should retain the last column's right edge"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_int_attr_basic() {
+        assert_eq!(parse_int_attr(" colspan=\"4\"", "colspan"), Some(4));
+        assert_eq!(parse_int_attr(" rowspan=\"2\"", "rowspan"), Some(2));
+        assert_eq!(parse_int_attr("colspan='3'", "colspan"), Some(3));
+        assert_eq!(parse_int_attr(" colspan=\"4\"", "rowspan"), None);
+        assert_eq!(parse_int_attr(" class=\"foo\"", "colspan"), None);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_structure_rowspan_pushes_next_row_right() {
+        // <tr><td rowspan="2">A</td><td>B</td></tr><tr><td>C</td></tr>
+        // Expected: A at (0,0), B at (0,1), C at (1,1) — col 0 of row 1
+        // is occupied by A's rowspan.
+        let tokens: Vec<String> = vec![
+            "<table>",
+            "<tbody>",
+            "<tr>",
+            "<td",
+            " rowspan=\"2\"",
+            ">",
+            "</td>",
+            "<td></td>",
+            "</tr>",
+            "<tr>",
+            "<td></td>",
+            "</tr>",
+            "</tbody>",
+            "</table>",
+        ]
+        .into_iter()
+        .map(t)
+        .collect();
+
+        let slots = parse_structure(&tokens);
+        assert_eq!(slots.len(), 3);
+        assert_eq!((slots[0].row, slots[0].col), (0, 0));
+        assert_eq!(slots[0].rowspan, 2);
+        assert_eq!((slots[1].row, slots[1].col), (0, 1));
+        // C should be at (1, 1) because (1, 0) is occupied by A's rowspan.
+        assert_eq!((slots[2].row, slots[2].col), (1, 1));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_structure_thead_marks_headers() {
+        // <thead><tr><th>H1</th><th>H2</th></tr></thead>
+        // <tbody><tr><td>D1</td><td>D2</td></tr></tbody>
+        let tokens: Vec<String> = vec![
+            "<table>",
+            "<thead>",
+            "<tr>",
+            "<th></th>",
+            "<th></th>",
+            "</tr>",
+            "</thead>",
+            "<tbody>",
+            "<tr>",
+            "<td></td>",
+            "<td></td>",
+            "</tr>",
+            "</tbody>",
+            "</table>",
+        ]
+        .into_iter()
+        .map(t)
+        .collect();
+
+        let slots = parse_structure(&tokens);
+        assert_eq!(slots.len(), 4);
+        assert!(slots[0].is_header && slots[1].is_header);
+        assert!(!slots[2].is_header && !slots[3].is_header);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_structure_th_outside_thead_still_header() {
+        // A row-header style: leading <th> in tbody.
+        let tokens: Vec<String> = vec![
+            "<table>",
+            "<tbody>",
+            "<tr>",
+            "<th></th>",
+            "<td></td>",
+            "</tr>",
+            "</tbody>",
+            "</table>",
+        ]
+        .into_iter()
+        .map(t)
+        .collect();
+
+        let slots = parse_structure(&tokens);
+        assert_eq!(slots.len(), 2);
+        assert!(slots[0].is_header);
+        assert!(!slots[1].is_header);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_structure_th_with_attrs() {
+        let tokens: Vec<String> = vec![
+            "<table>",
+            "<thead>",
+            "<tr>",
+            "<th",
+            " colspan=\"2\"",
+            ">",
+            "</th>",
+            "</tr>",
+            "</thead>",
+            "</table>",
+        ]
+        .into_iter()
+        .map(t)
+        .collect();
+        let slots = parse_structure(&tokens);
+        assert_eq!(slots.len(), 1);
+        assert_eq!(slots[0].colspan, 2);
+        assert!(slots[0].is_header);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn cells_to_markdown_synthetic_3x3() {
+        // Build the cells the parser would produce for the synthetic grid,
+        // and provide some sample text so we can sanity-check output.
+        let cells = vec![
+            StructuredCell {
+                row: 0,
+                col: 0,
+                rowspan: 1,
+                colspan: 4,
+                is_header: false,
+                text: "Title".into(),
+                page_pt_bbox: [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0],
+            },
+            StructuredCell {
+                row: 1,
+                col: 0,
+                rowspan: 1,
+                colspan: 1,
+                is_header: false,
+                text: "a".into(),
+                page_pt_bbox: [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0],
+            },
+            StructuredCell {
+                row: 1,
+                col: 1,
+                rowspan: 1,
+                colspan: 1,
+                is_header: false,
+                text: "b".into(),
+                page_pt_bbox: [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0],
+            },
+            StructuredCell {
+                row: 1,
+                col: 2,
+                rowspan: 1,
+                colspan: 1,
+                is_header: false,
+                text: "c".into(),
+                page_pt_bbox: [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0],
+            },
+            StructuredCell {
+                row: 1,
+                col: 3,
+                rowspan: 1,
+                colspan: 1,
+                is_header: false,
+                text: "d".into(),
+                page_pt_bbox: [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0],
+            },
+        ];
+
+        let md = cells_to_markdown(&cells);
+        // Header row contains the spanning cell text in col 0 and pads to 4 cols.
+        // Absorbed-by-colspan positions render as empty cells (no padding).
+        assert!(md.starts_with("|Title||||\n"), "got: {md}");
+        assert!(md.contains("|---|---|---|---|\n"));
+        assert!(md.contains("|a|b|c|d|\n"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn cells_to_markdown_escapes_pipes() {
+        let cells = vec![
+            StructuredCell {
+                row: 0,
+                col: 0,
+                rowspan: 1,
+                colspan: 1,
+                is_header: false,
+                text: "a|b".into(),
+                page_pt_bbox: [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0],
+            },
+            StructuredCell {
+                row: 0,
+                col: 1,
+                rowspan: 1,
+                colspan: 1,
+                is_header: false,
+                text: "x".into(),
+                page_pt_bbox: [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0],
+            },
+        ];
+        let md = cells_to_markdown(&cells);
+        assert!(md.contains("|a\\|b|x|"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn cells_to_markdown_collapses_whitespace_and_newlines() {
+        let cells = vec![StructuredCell {
+            row: 0,
+            col: 0,
+            rowspan: 1,
+            colspan: 1,
+            is_header: false,
+            text: "foo  \n  bar\tbaz".into(),
+            page_pt_bbox: [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0],
+        }];
+        let md = cells_to_markdown(&cells);
+        assert!(md.contains("|foo bar baz|"));
+    }
+
+    fn cell(row: usize, col: usize, is_header: bool, text: &str) -> StructuredCell {
+        StructuredCell {
+            row,
+            col,
+            rowspan: 1,
+            colspan: 1,
+            is_header,
+            text: text.into(),
+            page_pt_bbox: [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0],
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn cells_to_markdown_separator_after_last_header_row() {
+        // Two-row header (a multi-row thead), then two body rows. Separator
+        // should land after row 1 (the LAST header row), not after row 0.
+        let cells = vec![
+            cell(0, 0, true, "H0a"),
+            cell(0, 1, true, "H0b"),
+            cell(1, 0, true, "H1a"),
+            cell(1, 1, true, "H1b"),
+            cell(2, 0, false, "d0a"),
+            cell(2, 1, false, "d0b"),
+            cell(3, 0, false, "d1a"),
+            cell(3, 1, false, "d1b"),
+        ];
+        let md = cells_to_markdown(&cells);
+        let expected = "|H0a|H0b|\n|H1a|H1b|\n|---|---|\n|d0a|d0b|\n|d1a|d1b|\n";
+        assert_eq!(md, expected, "got: {md}");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn cells_to_markdown_separator_when_row_0_not_header() {
+        // Row 0 is not flagged as a header but row 1 is. Separator should
+        // follow row 1 (the header), demonstrating that we don't blindly
+        // emit after row 0.
+        let cells = vec![
+            cell(0, 0, false, "x0a"),
+            cell(0, 1, false, "x0b"),
+            cell(1, 0, true, "Hdr1"),
+            cell(1, 1, true, "Hdr2"),
+            cell(2, 0, false, "data1"),
+            cell(2, 1, false, "data2"),
+        ];
+        let md = cells_to_markdown(&cells);
+        // Confirm the separator is NOT after row 0.
+        assert!(!md.starts_with("|x0a|x0b|\n|---|"), "got: {md}");
+        // Confirm it IS after row 1.
+        assert!(
+            md.contains("|Hdr1|Hdr2|\n|---|---|\n|data1|data2|"),
+            "got: {md}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn cells_to_markdown_no_headers_falls_back_to_row_0() {
+        // No header cells at all — fallback: separator after row 0 so the
+        // output is still a valid markdown pipe-table.
+        let cells = vec![
+            cell(0, 0, false, "a"),
+            cell(0, 1, false, "b"),
+            cell(1, 0, false, "c"),
+            cell(1, 1, false, "d"),
+        ];
+        let md = cells_to_markdown(&cells);
+        assert_eq!(md, "|a|b|\n|---|---|\n|c|d|\n");
+    }
+}

tests/snapshots/td9264.md

@@ -54,9 +54,14 @@ company other than a life insurance company shall make a return on Form 1120PC.
 
 annual statement (or a pro forma annual statement), including the underwriting and investment exhibit for the year covered by such return.
 
-||(3) Foreign insurance companies. The provisions of paragraphs (c)(1) and|
-|---|---|
-||(c)(2) of this section concerning the returns and statements of insurance companies subject to tax under section 801 or section 831 also apply to foreign insurance companies subject to tax under those sections, except that the copy of the annual statement required to be submitted with the return shall, in the case of a foreign insurance company that is not required to file an annual statement, be a copy of the pro forma annual statement relating to the United States business of such company. (4) Exception for insurance companies filing their Federal income tax returns electronically. If an insurance company described in paragraph (c)(1), (c)(2), or (c)(3) of this section files its Federal income tax return electronically, it should not include on or with such return its annual statement (or pro forma annual statement), or any portion thereof. Such statement must be available at all times for inspection by authorized Internal Revenue Service officers or employees and retained for so long as such statements may be material in the administration of any internal revenue law. See §1.6001-1(e). (5) Definition. For purposes of this section, the term annual statement means the annual statement, the form of which is approved by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), which is filed by an insurance company for the year with the insurance departments of States, Territories, and the District of|
+(3) Foreign insurance companies. The provisions of paragraphs (c)(1) and
+(c)(2) of this section concerning the returns and statements of insurance companies subject to tax under section 801 or section 831 also apply to foreign insurance companies subject to tax under those sections, except that the copy of the annual statement required to be submitted with the return shall, in the case of a foreign insurance company that is not required to file an annual statement, be a copy of the pro forma annual statement relating to the United States business of such company.
+(4) Exception for insurance companies filing their Federal income tax returns
+electronically. If an insurance company described in paragraph (c)(1), (c)(2), or
+
+(c)(3) of this section files its Federal income tax return electronically, it should not include on or with such return its annual statement (or pro forma annual statement), or any portion thereof. Such statement must be available at all times for inspection by authorized Internal Revenue Service officers or employees and retained for so long as such statements may be material in the administration of any internal revenue law. See §1.6001-1(e).
+(5) Definition. For purposes of this section, the term annual statement means
+the annual statement, the form of which is approved by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), which is filed by an insurance company for the year with the insurance departments of States, Territories, and the District of
 
 Columbia. The term annual statement also includes a pro forma annual statement if the insurance company is not required to file the NAIC annual statement.
 
@@ -201,3 +206,4 @@ CFR part or section where Current OMB identified or described control No.
 Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement.
 
 Approved: May 19, 2006 Eric Solomon Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (Tax Policy).
+