diff --git a/lib/Exceptions/UnsupportedColumnRetirementException.php b/lib/Exceptions/UnsupportedColumnRetirementException.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f1d3c21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/Exceptions/UnsupportedColumnRetirementException.php
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace PHPNomad\Database\Exceptions;
+
+use PHPNomad\Datastore\Exceptions\DatastoreErrorException;
+
+/** The active database adapter cannot safely retire named columns. */
+class UnsupportedColumnRetirementException extends DatastoreErrorException
+{
+}
diff --git a/lib/Interfaces/TableColumnRetirementStrategy.php b/lib/Interfaces/TableColumnRetirementStrategy.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..939bb44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/Interfaces/TableColumnRetirementStrategy.php
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace PHPNomad\Database\Interfaces;
+
+use PHPNomad\Database\Exceptions\TableUpdateFailedException;
+
+/**
+ * Optional, explicitly named retirement of legacy table columns.
+ *
+ * Implementations use their backend's identifier and case semantics. They
+ * accept identifiers the backend can safely quote, reject empty or NUL-bearing
+ * names, and treat metadata/query failures as failures rather than absence.
+ */
+interface TableColumnRetirementStrategy extends TableUpdateStrategy
+{
+    /**
+     * Determine whether a named column exists in the table's active schema.
+     *
+     * Metadata lookup is scoped to the active schema. Identifier comparison
+     * follows backend semantics (for example, MySQL column names compare
+     * case-insensitively). Metadata failures must propagate; they are not
+     * absence.
+     *
+     * @throws TableUpdateFailedException
+     */
+    public function columnExists(Table $table, string $columnName): bool;
+
+    /**
+     * Retire only the explicitly named columns.
+     *
+     * The request must contain at least one name, and the whole request must be
+     * validated before any mutation. A requested column that is absent is an
+     * idempotent no-op. Multiple requested spellings that identify the same
+     * persisted column under backend case semantics are deduplicated to one
+     * retirement. A requested column that remains declared by the supplied
+     * table, using those same semantics, is invalid. Implementations must not
+     * implicitly remove indexes or foreign keys: a requested column with either
+     * dependency is refused before DDL. Only requested, currently present, and
+     * fully preflighted columns may be retired; unrelated columns are preserved.
+     *
+     * @param non-empty-string ...$columnNames
+     * @throws \InvalidArgumentException
+     * @throws TableUpdateFailedException
+     */
+    public function retireColumns(Table $table, string ...$columnNames): void;
+}
diff --git a/tests/Unit/Contracts/TableColumnRetirementSurfaceTest.php b/tests/Unit/Contracts/TableColumnRetirementSurfaceTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0917be1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Unit/Contracts/TableColumnRetirementSurfaceTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace PHPNomad\Database\Tests\Unit\Contracts;
+
+use PHPNomad\Database\Exceptions\UnsupportedColumnRetirementException;
+use PHPNomad\Database\Interfaces\Table;
+use PHPNomad\Database\Interfaces\TableColumnRetirementStrategy;
+use PHPNomad\Database\Interfaces\TableUpdateStrategy;
+use PHPNomad\Database\Tests\TestCase;
+use PHPNomad\Datastore\Exceptions\DatastoreErrorException;
+use ReflectionClass;
+
+/** @coversNothing Public compatibility contract for optional retirement. */
+final class TableColumnRetirementSurfaceTest extends TestCase
+{
+    public function testExistingTableUpdateImplementationNeedsNoNewCapability(): void
+    {
+        $legacy = new LegacyTableUpdateStrategy();
+
+        self::assertInstanceOf(TableUpdateStrategy::class, $legacy);
+        self::assertNotInstanceOf(TableColumnRetirementStrategy::class, $legacy);
+    }
+
+    public function testRetirementIsAnOptionalTableUpdateCapability(): void
+    {
+        self::assertTrue(is_a(TableColumnRetirementStrategy::class, TableUpdateStrategy::class, true));
+        self::assertSame(
+            ['columnExists', 'retireColumns', 'syncColumns'],
+            $this->methodNames(TableColumnRetirementStrategy::class)
+        );
+    }
+
+    public function testColumnExistsSignatureCarriesTableAndName(): void
+    {
+        $method = (new ReflectionClass(TableColumnRetirementStrategy::class))->getMethod('columnExists');
+
+        self::assertSame('bool', (string) $method->getReturnType());
+        self::assertSame(
+            ['table', 'columnName'],
+            array_map(static fn ($parameter): string => $parameter->getName(), $method->getParameters())
+        );
+    }
+
+    public function testRetireColumnsSignatureIsVariadicAndReturnsVoid(): void
+    {
+        $method = (new ReflectionClass(TableColumnRetirementStrategy::class))->getMethod('retireColumns');
+        $parameters = $method->getParameters();
+
+        self::assertSame('void', (string) $method->getReturnType());
+        self::assertSame(['table', 'columnNames'], array_map(
+            static fn ($parameter): string => $parameter->getName(),
+            $parameters
+        ));
+        self::assertTrue($parameters[1]->isVariadic());
+    }
+
+    public function testUnsupportedFailureIsARecoverableDatastoreFailure(): void
+    {
+        self::assertInstanceOf(
+            DatastoreErrorException::class,
+            new UnsupportedColumnRetirementException('No named-column retirement adapter is active.')
+        );
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param class-string $type
+     * @return list<string>
+     */
+    private function methodNames(string $type): array
+    {
+        $names = array_map(
+            static fn ($method): string => $method->getName(),
+            (new ReflectionClass($type))->getMethods()
+        );
+        sort($names);
+
+        return $names;
+    }
+}
+
+/** A pre-capability adapter remains a valid implementation. */
+final class LegacyTableUpdateStrategy implements TableUpdateStrategy
+{
+    public function syncColumns(Table $table): void
+    {
+    }
+}