diff --git a/src/intentumdiff/core/models.py b/src/intentumdiff/core/models.py
index aea2aa9..b6e5d12 100644
--- a/src/intentumdiff/core/models.py
+++ b/src/intentumdiff/core/models.py
@@ -153,6 +153,20 @@ class NodeFacts(BaseModel, frozen=True):
     has_error_handling: bool | None = None
     #: The body raises/throws an exception. Flag only.
     throws: bool | None = None
+    #: Cross-language structural facts, derived from the pruned canonical tree (#9) rather
+    #: than from any one grammar — so they are available for EVERY language, not just the
+    #: ones with a bespoke fact extractor.
+    #:
+    #: These are counts and flags only, in keeping with the rest of NodeFacts: no source, no
+    #: identifiers, no literals.
+    #:
+    #: `has_guard_clause` is deliberately tri-state. The pruned tree can prove a guard is
+    #: present, but cannot prove one is absent — statement order survives pruning, operators
+    #: do not. So `None` means "not determinable here", NOT "no guard". Omitting beats
+    #: claiming; see uast.rs for the reasoning.
+    early_exit_count: int | None = None
+    negated_condition_count: int | None = None
+    has_guard_clause: bool | None = None
     #: The body mutates state — an augmented assignment or an assignment to an
     #: attribute/subscript (``self.x = …``, ``a[i] = …``). Flag only, no target name.
     mutates: bool | None = None
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_uast_structural_facts.py b/tests/unit/test_uast_structural_facts.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0d0b3e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test_uast_structural_facts.py
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+"""The cross-language structural facts (#9) survive the Rust -> Python boundary.
+
+These are derived from the PRUNED canonical tree rather than from any one grammar, so they
+are available for every language rather than only the ones with a bespoke extractor. That
+makes them the first facts a non-Python binding can rely on, which is why they are worth
+pinning from this side as well as from Rust.
+
+WHY THESE EXIST: the Rust core computed all three and asserted them in 12 of its own tests,
+and every one of those passed - while `NodeFacts` carried no fields for them, so pydantic
+dropped them silently at the DTO boundary. A user of the Python API saw nothing. Rust being
+the certified path does not help if the value never reaches the caller, and no test on either
+side was watching the join.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from intentumdiff.differ import SemanticDiffer
+from intentumdiff.sources.string_source import StringSource
+
+
+def _function_facts(old: str, new: str, filename: str = "m.py"):
+    """Facts on the function node of a rename, which puts the function itself in the diff."""
+    diff = SemanticDiffer().diff(StringSource(old, new, filename=filename))
+    for change in diff.changes:
+        node = change.new_node or change.old_node
+        if node is not None and node.facts is not None and "function" in node.node_type:
+            return node.facts.model_dump()
+    raise AssertionError(f"no function node with facts in: {[c.change_type for c in diff.changes]}")
+
+
+def test_a_guard_clause_reaches_the_python_api():
+    """The full shape: negated condition + early return = a guard clause."""
+    facts = _function_facts(
+        "def send(msg):\n    if not msg:\n        return None\n    return deliver(msg)\n",
+        "def transmit(msg):\n    if not msg:\n        return None\n    return deliver(msg)\n",
+    )
+    assert facts["has_guard_clause"] is True
+    assert facts["early_exit_count"] == 1
+    assert facts["negated_condition_count"] == 1
+
+
+def test_early_exits_are_counted_without_a_guard():
+    """Early exits are counted on their own merits.
+
+    Two `return None`s behind non-negated conditions: the count is 2, and `has_guard_clause`
+    stays absent because there is no negated condition to make it a guard. Absent is the
+    honest answer here, not False - see the tri-state note below.
+    """
+    facts = _function_facts(
+        "def check(x):\n    if x < 0:\n        return None\n"
+        "    if x > 100:\n        return None\n    return x\n",
+        "def validate(x):\n    if x < 0:\n        return None\n"
+        "    if x > 100:\n        return None\n    return x\n",
+    )
+    assert facts["early_exit_count"] == 2
+    assert facts["negated_condition_count"] is None
+
+
+def test_absent_means_not_determinable_not_false():
+    """`has_guard_clause` is tri-state, and the distinction is load-bearing.
+
+    The pruned tree can prove a guard is PRESENT but cannot prove one is ABSENT - statement
+    order survives pruning, operators do not. So `None` means "not determinable here".
+    Collapsing it to False would let a consumer conclude "this function has no guard clause"
+    from evidence that does not support it, which is worse than saying nothing.
+    """
+    facts = _function_facts(
+        "def add(a, b):\n    return a + b\n",
+        "def total(a, b):\n    return a + b\n",
+    )
+    assert facts["has_guard_clause"] is None
+    assert facts["early_exit_count"] is None
+
+
+def test_the_fields_exist_on_the_model_at_all():
+    """The regression guard proper.
+
+    The defect was not a wrong value - it was a MISSING FIELD. pydantic drops unknown keys
+    silently, so the facts arrived from Rust and evaporated. Asserting the fields exist on the
+    model catches a future removal or rename even if no fixture happens to populate them.
+    """
+    from intentumdiff.core.models import NodeFacts
+
+    fields = set(NodeFacts.model_fields)
+    for name in ("early_exit_count", "negated_condition_count", "has_guard_clause"):
+        assert name in fields, f"{name} missing from NodeFacts - Rust emits it, so it would be dropped"