diff --git a/pgpm/export/__tests__/export-data.test.ts b/pgpm/export/__tests__/export-data.test.ts
index 4cb7804aa..27db5f953 100644
--- a/pgpm/export/__tests__/export-data.test.ts
+++ b/pgpm/export/__tests__/export-data.test.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import {
   exportTableData,
   exportTablesData,
   getDataExportColumns,
+  getMetadataExportColumns,
   isVolatileTimestampColumn
 } from '../src/export-data';
 
@@ -114,6 +115,108 @@ describe('getDataExportColumns', () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe('getMetadataExportColumns', () => {
+  it('classifies metadata-described columns identically to a physical table', async () => {
+    // Same columns as app_routing_public.apis, described purely as metadata
+    // (name/type/default expression) with no physical table present.
+    const classified = await getMetadataExportColumns(pg, [
+      { name: 'id', type: 'uuid', columnDefault: null },
+      { name: 'name', type: 'text', columnDefault: null },
+      { name: 'dbname', type: 'text', columnDefault: 'current_database()' },
+      { name: 'is_public', type: 'boolean', columnDefault: 'true' },
+      { name: 'created_at', type: 'timestamptz', columnDefault: 'now()' },
+      { name: 'updated_at', type: 'timestamptz', columnDefault: 'CURRENT_TIMESTAMP' },
+      { name: 'observed_at', type: 'timestamptz', columnDefault: 'clock_timestamp()' },
+      { name: 'expires_at', type: 'timestamptz', columnDefault: "now() + '2 days'::interval" },
+      { name: 'fixed_at', type: 'timestamptz', columnDefault: "'2020-01-01T00:00:00Z'::timestamptz" }
+    ]);
+    const byName = Object.fromEntries(classified.map(c => [c.name, c]));
+
+    // Wall-clock timestamp defaults — all volatile
+    expect(byName.created_at.volatileDefault).toBe(true);
+    expect(byName.updated_at.volatileDefault).toBe(true);
+    expect(byName.observed_at.volatileDefault).toBe(true);
+    expect(byName.expires_at.volatileDefault).toBe(true);
+
+    // Constant timestamp default — immutable
+    expect(byName.fixed_at.volatileDefault).toBe(false);
+
+    // Stable but non-timestamp default
+    expect(byName.dbname.volatileDefault).toBe(true);
+
+    // No default / constant defaults
+    expect(byName.id.volatileDefault).toBe(false);
+    expect(byName.is_public.volatileDefault).toBe(false);
+
+    // Types are canonicalised through the catalog, matching the physical path
+    expect(byName.created_at.type).toBe('timestamp with time zone');
+    expect(byName.name.type).toBe('text');
+
+    // Matches getDataExportColumns over the equivalent physical table
+    const physical = await getDataExportColumns(pg, 'app_routing_public', 'apis');
+    const physicalByName = Object.fromEntries(physical.map(c => [c.name, c]));
+    for (const name of Object.keys(byName)) {
+      expect(byName[name].volatileDefault).toBe(physicalByName[name].volatileDefault);
+      expect(byName[name].type).toBe(physicalByName[name].type);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('feeds isVolatileTimestampColumn to select droppable columns', async () => {
+    const classified = await getMetadataExportColumns(pg, [
+      { name: 'created_at', type: 'timestamptz', columnDefault: 'now()' },
+      { name: 'updated_at', type: 'timestamptz', columnDefault: 'now()' },
+      { name: 'expires_at', type: 'timestamptz', columnDefault: null },
+      { name: 'dbname', type: 'text', columnDefault: 'current_database()' },
+      { name: 'fixed_at', type: 'timestamptz', columnDefault: "'2020-01-01'::timestamptz" }
+    ]);
+    const dropped = classified.filter(isVolatileTimestampColumn).map(c => c.name).sort();
+    expect(dropped).toEqual(['created_at', 'updated_at']);
+  });
+
+  it('preserves input order and returns [] for no columns, cleaning up temp tables', async () => {
+    expect(await getMetadataExportColumns(pg, [])).toEqual([]);
+
+    const order = await getMetadataExportColumns(pg, [
+      { name: 'z', type: 'text', columnDefault: null },
+      { name: 'a', type: 'timestamptz', columnDefault: 'now()' },
+      { name: 'm', type: 'integer', columnDefault: '0' }
+    ]);
+    expect(order.map(c => c.name)).toEqual(['z', 'a', 'm']);
+
+    // No leftover temp relations from the ephemeral tables
+    const leftover = await pg.query(
+      `SELECT count(*)::int AS n FROM pg_class c
+       JOIN pg_namespace n ON n.oid = c.relnamespace
+       WHERE n.nspname = pg_my_temp_schema()::regnamespace::text
+         AND c.relname = 'pgpm_metadata_export_columns'`
+    );
+    expect(leftover.rows[0].n).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  it('rolls back cleanly on failure: no leftover temp table, session still usable', async () => {
+    await expect(
+      getMetadataExportColumns(pg, [
+        { name: 'bad', type: 'timestamptz', columnDefault: 'not_a_function(' }
+      ])
+    ).rejects.toThrow();
+
+    // The rollback erased the temp table even though classification failed...
+    const leftover = await pg.query(
+      `SELECT count(*)::int AS n FROM pg_class c
+       JOIN pg_namespace n ON n.oid = c.relnamespace
+       WHERE n.nspname = pg_my_temp_schema()::regnamespace::text
+         AND c.relname = 'pgpm_metadata_export_columns'`
+    );
+    expect(leftover.rows[0].n).toBe(0);
+
+    // ...and the session/transaction is not aborted: further work succeeds.
+    const ok = await getMetadataExportColumns(pg, [
+      { name: 'created_at', type: 'timestamptz', columnDefault: 'now()' }
+    ]);
+    expect(ok[0].volatileDefault).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
+
 describe('exportTableData', () => {
   it('emits a deterministic INSERT ordered by id, excluding volatile timestamps and excludeColumns', async () => {
     const result = await exportTableData(
diff --git a/pgpm/export/src/export-data.ts b/pgpm/export/src/export-data.ts
index 1dfce7207..bd11c3218 100644
--- a/pgpm/export/src/export-data.ts
+++ b/pgpm/export/src/export-data.ts
@@ -92,6 +92,99 @@ export const getDataExportColumns = async (
 export const isVolatileTimestampColumn = (column: DataExportColumn): boolean =>
   column.volatileDefault && /^timestamp/.test(column.type);
 
+/**
+ * A column described by metadata (its name, SQL type, and default expression
+ * text) rather than by a live physical table. Fed to getMetadataExportColumns
+ * so metadata-only planes (tables that exist as schema metadata but are not
+ * physically deployed at export time) get the same volatility classification
+ * as physical tables.
+ */
+export interface MetadataExportColumn {
+  /** Column name. */
+  name: string;
+  /** SQL type, e.g. 'timestamptz', 'text', 'uuid' — must resolve in the DB. */
+  type: string;
+  /** The column's default expression text, if any (e.g. 'now()'). */
+  columnDefault: string | null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Classify columns described by metadata instead of a live physical table.
+ *
+ * Metadata-only planes describe their tables as schema metadata but are not
+ * physically deployed when the export runs, so pg_attrdef-based introspection
+ * cannot see them. This builds an ephemeral temp table from the supplied
+ * descriptions and runs the exact same provolatile-based classification that
+ * getDataExportColumns uses for physical tables — one shared code path — so
+ * volatile-default detection (isVolatileTimestampColumn, etc.) behaves
+ * identically for both.
+ *
+ * Results preserve the input order and names. Each column's type must be a
+ * type resolvable in the connected database; each non-null default must be a
+ * valid default expression for that type. `db` must be a single session
+ * (client), not a pool: the classification runs inside a transaction (or a
+ * savepoint when the caller is already in one) that is always rolled back, so
+ * the temp table never survives — not even on failure — and nothing is ever
+ * committed.
+ */
+export const getMetadataExportColumns = async (
+  db: Queryable,
+  columns: MetadataExportColumn[]
+): Promise<DataExportColumn[]> => {
+  if (columns.length === 0) return [];
+
+  const tempTable = 'pgpm_metadata_export_columns';
+  // Synthetic column identifiers keep the DDL immune to reserved words and
+  // duplicate names; results map back to the caller's columns by ordinal.
+  const columnDefs = columns
+    .map((c, i) => {
+      const def =
+        c.columnDefault != null && c.columnDefault !== ''
+          ? ` DEFAULT ${c.columnDefault}`
+          : '';
+      return `c${i} ${c.type}${def}`;
+    })
+    .join(', ');
+
+  // Savepoint when already inside a caller transaction, otherwise our own
+  // transaction. Either way the work is rolled back below, so the temp table
+  // name is deterministic and can never collide or leak.
+  let usedSavepoint = true;
+  try {
+    await db.query(`SAVEPOINT ${tempTable}`);
+  } catch {
+    usedSavepoint = false;
+    await db.query('BEGIN');
+  }
+  try {
+    await db.query(`CREATE TEMP TABLE ${tempTable} (${columnDefs})`);
+    const tempSchemaRes = await db.query(
+      `SELECT nspname FROM pg_namespace WHERE oid = pg_my_temp_schema()`
+    );
+    const tempSchema = tempSchemaRes.rows[0]?.nspname as string;
+    const introspected = await getDataExportColumns(db, tempSchema, tempTable);
+
+    // getDataExportColumns orders by attnum, matching the c0..cN creation
+    // order, so results align with the input columns by index.
+    return columns.map((c, i) => {
+      const found = introspected[i];
+      return {
+        name: c.name,
+        type: found ? found.type : c.type,
+        columnDefault: c.columnDefault ?? null,
+        volatileDefault: found ? found.volatileDefault : false
+      };
+    });
+  } finally {
+    if (usedSavepoint) {
+      await db.query(`ROLLBACK TO SAVEPOINT ${tempTable}`);
+      await db.query(`RELEASE SAVEPOINT ${tempTable}`);
+    } else {
+      await db.query('ROLLBACK');
+    }
+  }
+};
+
 export interface DataExportTableSpec {
   schema: string;
   table: string;