diff --git a/packages/opencode/src/altimate/native/dispatcher.ts b/packages/opencode/src/altimate/native/dispatcher.ts
index 944647630..f564c265f 100644
--- a/packages/opencode/src/altimate/native/dispatcher.ts
+++ b/packages/opencode/src/altimate/native/dispatcher.ts
@@ -35,12 +35,35 @@ export async function call<M extends BridgeMethod>(
   method: M,
   params: (typeof BridgeMethods)[M] extends { params: infer P } ? P : never,
 ): Promise<(typeof BridgeMethods)[M] extends { result: infer R } ? R : never> {
-  // Lazy registration: load all handler modules on first call
+  // altimate_change start — graceful degradation when native binding unavailable
+  // Lazy registration: load all handler modules on first call.
+  // If the native binding fails to load (e.g. GLIBC mismatch on older Linux),
+  // log a warning and continue — tools that don't need native will still work.
   if (_ensureRegistered) {
     const fn = _ensureRegistered
     _ensureRegistered = null
-    await fn()
+    try {
+      await fn()
+    } catch (e: any) {
+      const msg = String(e?.message || e)
+      if (msg.includes("native binding") || msg.includes("GLIBC") || msg.includes("ERR_DLOPEN_FAILED")) {
+        console.error(
+          `\n⚠ Native module (@altimateai/altimate-core) failed to load.\n` +
+          `  SQL analysis tools (validate, lint, transpile, lineage, etc.) will be unavailable.\n` +
+          `  Other features (warehouse connections, schema indexing, dbt) still work.\n` +
+          `  Cause: ${msg.slice(0, 200)}\n` +
+          `\n` +
+          `  To fix this, upgrade to a system with GLIBC >= 2.35:\n` +
+          `    • Ubuntu 22.04+ / Debian 12+ / Fedora 36+ / RHEL 9+\n` +
+          `    • Or run inside a Docker container with a newer base image\n` +
+          `    • Check your version: ldd --version\n`,
+        )
+      } else {
+        throw e
+      }
+    }
   }
+  // altimate_change end
 
   const native = nativeHandlers.get(method as string)
 
diff --git a/packages/opencode/src/altimate/native/index.ts b/packages/opencode/src/altimate/native/index.ts
index c95a49bf7..cf59c21b7 100644
--- a/packages/opencode/src/altimate/native/index.ts
+++ b/packages/opencode/src/altimate/native/index.ts
@@ -5,12 +5,48 @@ export * as Dispatcher from "./dispatcher"
 // Lazy handler registration — modules are loaded on first Dispatcher.call(),
 // not at import time. This prevents @altimateai/altimate-core napi binary
 // from loading in test environments where it's not needed.
+// altimate_change start — graceful degradation when native binding unavailable
+function isNativeBindingError(e: any): boolean {
+  const msg = String(e?.message || e)
+  return msg.includes("native binding") || msg.includes("GLIBC") || msg.includes("ERR_DLOPEN_FAILED")
+}
+
 setRegistrationHook(async () => {
-  await import("./altimate-core")
-  await import("./sql/register")
+  // altimate-core napi-rs binding may fail on systems with older GLIBC.
+  // Load it separately so other handlers still register.
+  try {
+    await import("./altimate-core")
+  } catch (e: any) {
+    if (isNativeBindingError(e)) {
+      // Swallowed here — dispatcher.ts logs the user-facing warning
+    } else {
+      throw e
+    }
+  }
+
+  // These modules transitively import @altimateai/altimate-core (via pii-detector,
+  // lineage, test-local, or directly). Wrap each so a native binding failure in one
+  // doesn't prevent the others from registering.
+  const coreDependent = [
+    () => import("./sql/register"),
+    () => import("./schema/register"),
+    () => import("./dbt/register"),
+    () => import("./local/register"),
+  ]
+  for (const load of coreDependent) {
+    try {
+      await load()
+    } catch (e: any) {
+      if (isNativeBindingError(e)) {
+        // Core-dependent module failed — skip silently, main warning already logged
+      } else {
+        throw e
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  // These modules don't depend on altimate-core and should always load.
   await import("./connections/register")
-  await import("./schema/register")
   await import("./finops/register")
-  await import("./dbt/register")
-  await import("./local/register")
 })
+// altimate_change end
diff --git a/packages/opencode/src/altimate/tools/sql-classify.ts b/packages/opencode/src/altimate/tools/sql-classify.ts
index 9127e86a1..2ab708e74 100644
--- a/packages/opencode/src/altimate/tools/sql-classify.ts
+++ b/packages/opencode/src/altimate/tools/sql-classify.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,24 @@
-// altimate_change - SQL query classifier for write detection
+// altimate_change start — SQL query classifier for write detection
 //
 // Uses altimate-core's AST-based getStatementTypes() for accurate classification.
 // Handles CTEs, string literals, procedural blocks, all dialects correctly.
+// Lazy-loads altimate-core on first use to avoid crashing at import time
+// when the native binary is unavailable (e.g. GLIBC mismatch).
 
 // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
-const core: any = require("@altimateai/altimate-core")
+let _core: any = null
+
+function getCore(): any {
+  if (!_core) {
+    try {
+      _core = require("@altimateai/altimate-core")
+    } catch {
+      // Native binding unavailable — return null so callers can degrade gracefully
+      return null
+    }
+  }
+  return _core
+}
 
 // Categories from altimate-core that indicate write operations
 const WRITE_CATEGORIES = new Set(["dml", "ddl", "dcl", "tcl"])
@@ -17,8 +31,11 @@ const HARD_DENY_TYPES = new Set(["DROP DATABASE", "DROP SCHEMA", "TRUNCATE", "TR
 /**
  * Classify a SQL string as "read" or "write" using AST parsing.
  * If ANY statement is a write, returns "write".
+ * Falls back to "write" (safe default) if native binding is unavailable.
  */
 export function classify(sql: string): "read" | "write" {
+  const core = getCore()
+  if (!core) return "write" // fail-safe: treat as write when native unavailable
   const result = core.getStatementTypes(sql)
   if (!result?.categories?.length) return "read"
   // Treat unknown categories (not in WRITE or READ sets) as write to fail safe
@@ -36,8 +53,11 @@ export function classifyMulti(sql: string): "read" | "write" {
 /**
  * Single-pass: classify and check for hard-denied statement types.
  * Returns both the overall query type and whether a hard-deny pattern was found.
+ * Falls back to write + not-blocked when native binding is unavailable.
  */
 export function classifyAndCheck(sql: string): { queryType: "read" | "write"; blocked: boolean } {
+  const core = getCore()
+  if (!core) return { queryType: "write", blocked: false }
   const result = core.getStatementTypes(sql)
   if (!result?.statements?.length) return { queryType: "read", blocked: false }
 
@@ -50,3 +70,4 @@ export function classifyAndCheck(sql: string): { queryType: "read" | "write"; bl
   const queryType = categories.some((c: string) => !READ_CATEGORIES.has(c)) ? "write" : "read"
   return { queryType: queryType as "read" | "write", blocked }
 }
+// altimate_change end
diff --git a/packages/opencode/test/branding/build-integrity.test.ts b/packages/opencode/test/branding/build-integrity.test.ts
index e4977c21c..36c12d009 100644
--- a/packages/opencode/test/branding/build-integrity.test.ts
+++ b/packages/opencode/test/branding/build-integrity.test.ts
@@ -338,7 +338,50 @@ describe("Bundle Completeness", () => {
 })
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-// 8. Install Script
+// 8. Graceful Native Binding Degradation
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+// altimate_change start — CI guard: core-dependent modules must be try/catch wrapped
+describe("Graceful Native Binding Degradation", () => {
+  const nativeIndex = readFileSync(
+    join(repoRoot, "packages/opencode/src/altimate/native/index.ts"),
+    "utf-8",
+  )
+
+  test("native/index.ts has isNativeBindingError helper", () => {
+    expect(nativeIndex).toContain("isNativeBindingError")
+  })
+
+  test("altimate-core import is wrapped in try/catch", () => {
+    // The altimate-core import must be inside a try block
+    expect(nativeIndex).toMatch(/try\s*\{[^}]*import\(["']\.\/altimate-core["']\)/)
+  })
+
+  const coreDepModules = ["sql/register", "schema/register", "dbt/register", "local/register"]
+
+  for (const mod of coreDepModules) {
+    test(`${mod} import is wrapped in try/catch (not bare await)`, () => {
+      // Each core-dependent module should appear inside the coreDependent array or
+      // a try/catch, NOT as a bare `await import("./module")`.
+      const barePattern = new RegExp(`^\\s*await import\\(["']\\.\\/${mod}["']\\)`, "m")
+      expect(nativeIndex).not.toMatch(barePattern)
+      // Must still be referenced somewhere in the file
+      expect(nativeIndex).toContain(mod)
+    })
+  }
+
+  const safeMods = ["connections/register", "finops/register"]
+
+  for (const mod of safeMods) {
+    test(`${mod} is imported (does not depend on altimate-core)`, () => {
+      expect(nativeIndex).toContain(mod)
+    })
+  }
+})
+// altimate_change end
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// 9. Install Script
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 describe("Install Script", () => {