diff --git a/backend/src/intake/draftSchema.ts b/backend/src/intake/draftSchema.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ee3fb46
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/intake/draftSchema.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+import { z } from 'zod';
+
+/**
+ * What the model must return, enforced rather than hoped for.
+ *
+ * Constraining the shape is the difference between a bad draft and a crash:
+ * the SDK validates the response against this before any of it reaches the
+ * database, so a model that answers in prose or invents a field becomes a
+ * caught error rather than a row full of nonsense.
+ *
+ * Every field the model may decline to answer is nullable, because it is told
+ * to say nothing rather than guess. A null category means it did not recognise
+ * one, which is a better answer than a wrong one and is exactly what the review
+ * queue exists to resolve.
+ */
+
+/** Beyond anything this shop sells, so an absurd number is caught here. */
+const MAX_SUGGESTED_PRICE_CENTS = 1_000_000;
+
+export const DraftSchema = z.object({
+  /** A short title. Until this lands, the item is named for its submission. */
+  name: z.string().min(1).max(200),
+  /** The storefront body, rendered with html:false like every other stored body. */
+  description: z.string().min(1).max(4000),
+  /**
+   * Chosen from the categories it was given, or null. The prompt supplies the
+   * closed set; this cannot enforce membership, so applyDraft checks the answer
+   * against the real table before writing anything.
+   */
+  category: z.string().nullable(),
+  /** Also from a supplied set, and also checked on the way in rather than here. */
+  tags: z.array(z.string()),
+  /**
+   * Cents, or null when it will not guess. Integer and bounded at both ends,
+   * because a fractional, negative or absurd figure reaching the review queue
+   * is a number somebody has to notice is wrong — and being trustworthy at a
+   * glance is that queue's whole job.
+   */
+  suggestedPriceCents: z
+    .number()
+    .int()
+    .min(0)
+    .max(MAX_SUGGESTED_PRICE_CENTS)
+    .nullable()
+});
+
+export type DraftResult = z.infer<typeof DraftSchema>;
diff --git a/backend/tests/unit/draftSchema.test.ts b/backend/tests/unit/draftSchema.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dff8cda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/tests/unit/draftSchema.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+import { DraftSchema } from '../../src/intake/draftSchema';
+
+const valid = {
+  name: 'Blue stoneware vase',
+  description: 'A hand-thrown vase with a chipped base.',
+  category: 'Ceramics',
+  tags: ['stoneware', 'blue'],
+  suggestedPriceCents: 4500
+};
+
+describe('DraftSchema', () => {
+  it('accepts a complete draft', () => {
+    expect(DraftSchema.parse(valid)).toEqual(valid);
+  });
+
+  // The model is told to say nothing rather than guess, so every field it may
+  // decline to answer has to be expressible as absent.
+  it('accepts a draft with no category, tags or price', () => {
+    const parsed = DraftSchema.parse({
+      name: valid.name,
+      description: valid.description,
+      category: null,
+      tags: [],
+      suggestedPriceCents: null
+    });
+    expect(parsed.category).toBeNull();
+    expect(parsed.suggestedPriceCents).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  // A name and a description are the whole point. A draft without them is not
+  // a partial success worth storing.
+  it('refuses a draft with no name', () => {
+    expect(() => DraftSchema.parse({ ...valid, name: '' })).toThrow();
+  });
+
+  it('refuses a draft with no description', () => {
+    expect(() => DraftSchema.parse({ ...valid, description: '' })).toThrow();
+  });
+
+  // A negative or absurd price reaching the review queue would be a number
+  // somebody has to notice is wrong. Cheaper to refuse it here.
+  it('refuses a negative price', () => {
+    expect(() => DraftSchema.parse({ ...valid, suggestedPriceCents: -1 })).toThrow();
+  });
+
+  it('refuses a price beyond anything this shop sells', () => {
+    expect(() => DraftSchema.parse({ ...valid, suggestedPriceCents: 100_000_00 })).toThrow();
+  });
+
+  // Cents, not dollars. A float would round somewhere nobody is looking.
+  it('refuses a fractional price', () => {
+    expect(() => DraftSchema.parse({ ...valid, suggestedPriceCents: 45.5 })).toThrow();
+  });
+});