diff --git a/packages/context/src/ingest/adapters/live-database/manifest.test.ts b/packages/context/src/ingest/adapters/live-database/manifest.test.ts
index 75a41067..a97140a9 100644
--- a/packages/context/src/ingest/adapters/live-database/manifest.test.ts
+++ b/packages/context/src/ingest/adapters/live-database/manifest.test.ts
@@ -186,6 +186,62 @@ describe('buildLiveDatabaseManifestShards', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it('preserves external usage keys while replacing historic SQL managed keys', () => {
+    const existingUsage = new Map([
+      [
+        'orders',
+        {
+          narrative: 'Old generated usage narrative.',
+          frequencyTier: 'low' as const,
+          commonFilters: ['old_status'],
+          commonJoins: [],
+          ownerNote: 'Pinned analyst note',
+        },
+      ],
+    ]);
+
+    const result = buildLiveDatabaseManifestShards({
+      connectionType: 'POSTGRESQL',
+      mapColumnType: (nativeType) => nativeType.toLowerCase(),
+      existingUsage,
+      tables: [
+        {
+          name: 'orders',
+          catalog: null,
+          db: 'public',
+          usage: {
+            narrative: 'Fresh generated usage narrative.',
+            frequencyTier: 'high',
+            commonFilters: ['status'],
+            commonGroupBys: ['created_at'],
+            commonJoins: [{ table: 'public.customers', on: ['customer_id'] }],
+          },
+          columns: [{ name: 'id', type: 'INTEGER' }],
+        },
+      ],
+      joins: [],
+    });
+
+    expect(shardObject(result.shards)).toEqual({
+      public: {
+        tables: {
+          orders: {
+            table: 'public.orders',
+            usage: {
+              ownerNote: 'Pinned analyst note',
+              narrative: 'Fresh generated usage narrative.',
+              frequencyTier: 'high',
+              commonFilters: ['status'],
+              commonGroupBys: ['created_at'],
+              commonJoins: [{ table: 'public.customers', on: ['customer_id'] }],
+            },
+            columns: [{ name: 'id', type: 'integer' }],
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    });
+  });
+
   it('renders ordered multi-column joins in both directions', () => {
     const result = buildLiveDatabaseManifestShards({
       connectionType: 'POSTGRESQL',
diff --git a/packages/context/src/ingest/adapters/live-database/manifest.ts b/packages/context/src/ingest/adapters/live-database/manifest.ts
index d7315f9e..c6a6e2d5 100644
--- a/packages/context/src/ingest/adapters/live-database/manifest.ts
+++ b/packages/context/src/ingest/adapters/live-database/manifest.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import type { TableUsageOutput } from '../historic-sql/skill-schemas.js';
+
 const RELATIONSHIP_MAP: Record<string, string> = {
   MANY_TO_ONE: 'many_to_one',
   ONE_TO_MANY: 'one_to_many',
@@ -11,6 +13,14 @@ const RELATIONSHIP_INVERSE: Record<string, string> = {
 };
 
 const SCAN_MANAGED_DESCRIPTION_KEYS = new Set(['db', 'ai']);
+const HISTORIC_SQL_MANAGED_USAGE_KEYS = new Set([
+  'narrative',
+  'frequencyTier',
+  'commonFilters',
+  'commonGroupBys',
+  'commonJoins',
+  'staleSince',
+]);
 
 export interface LiveDatabaseManifestColumn {
   name: string;
@@ -30,6 +40,7 @@ export interface LiveDatabaseManifestJoinEntry {
 export interface LiveDatabaseManifestTableEntry {
   table: string;
   descriptions?: Record<string, string>;
+  usage?: TableUsageOutput;
   columns: LiveDatabaseManifestColumn[];
   joins?: LiveDatabaseManifestJoinEntry[];
 }
@@ -43,6 +54,7 @@ export interface LiveDatabaseManifestTableData {
   catalog: string | null;
   db: string | null;
   descriptions?: Record<string, string>;
+  usage?: TableUsageOutput;
   columns: Array<{
     name: string;
     type: string;
@@ -73,6 +85,7 @@ export interface BuildLiveDatabaseManifestShardsInput {
   mapColumnType: (nativeType: string) => string;
   existingPreservedJoins?: Map<string, LiveDatabaseManifestJoinEntry[]>;
   existingDescriptions?: Map<string, LiveDatabaseManifestExistingDescriptions>;
+  existingUsage?: Map<string, TableUsageOutput>;
 }
 
 export interface BuildLiveDatabaseManifestShardsResult {
@@ -101,6 +114,28 @@ function mergeDescriptionsPreservingExternal(
   return Object.keys(result).length > 0 ? result : undefined;
 }
 
+export function mergeUsagePreservingExternal(
+  existing: TableUsageOutput | undefined,
+  incoming: TableUsageOutput | undefined,
+): TableUsageOutput | undefined {
+  if (!existing && !incoming) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  if (!incoming) {
+    return existing ? { ...existing } : undefined;
+  }
+  const result: Record<string, unknown> = {};
+  if (existing) {
+    for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(existing)) {
+      if (!HISTORIC_SQL_MANAGED_USAGE_KEYS.has(key)) {
+        result[key] = value;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  Object.assign(result, incoming);
+  return Object.keys(result).length > 0 ? (result as TableUsageOutput) : undefined;
+}
+
 function getShardKey(connectionType: string, catalog: string | null, db: string | null): string {
   const normalized = connectionType.toUpperCase();
 
@@ -254,6 +289,11 @@ export function buildLiveDatabaseManifestShards(
       entry.descriptions = tableDescriptions;
     }
 
+    const usage = mergeUsagePreservingExternal(input.existingUsage?.get(table.name), table.usage);
+    if (usage) {
+      entry.usage = usage;
+    }
+
     const tableJoins = joinsByTable.get(table.name);
     if (tableJoins && tableJoins.length > 0) {
       entry.joins = tableJoins;
diff --git a/packages/context/src/scan/local-enrichment-artifacts.test.ts b/packages/context/src/scan/local-enrichment-artifacts.test.ts
index d34da036..0123f086 100644
--- a/packages/context/src/scan/local-enrichment-artifacts.test.ts
+++ b/packages/context/src/scan/local-enrichment-artifacts.test.ts
@@ -742,6 +742,13 @@ describe('writeLocalScanEnrichmentArtifacts', () => {
             orders: {
               table: 'public.orders',
               descriptions: { user: 'Pinned structural description', ai: 'Old generated text' },
+              usage: {
+                narrative: 'Orders are commonly filtered by lifecycle status.',
+                frequencyTier: 'high',
+                commonFilters: ['status'],
+                commonJoins: [{ table: 'public.customers', on: ['customer_id'] }],
+                ownerNote: 'Preserve analyst note',
+              },
               columns: [
                 {
                   name: 'id',
@@ -797,6 +804,7 @@ describe('writeLocalScanEnrichmentArtifacts', () => {
       tables: {
         orders: {
           descriptions: Record<string, string>;
+          usage?: Record<string, unknown>;
           columns: Array<{ name: string; descriptions?: Record<string, string> }>;
           joins: Array<{ to: string; on: string; source: string }>;
         };
@@ -807,6 +815,13 @@ describe('writeLocalScanEnrichmentArtifacts', () => {
       user: 'Pinned structural description',
       db: 'DB orders table',
     });
+    expect(manifest.tables.orders.usage).toEqual({
+      narrative: 'Orders are commonly filtered by lifecycle status.',
+      frequencyTier: 'high',
+      commonFilters: ['status'],
+      commonJoins: [{ table: 'public.customers', on: ['customer_id'] }],
+      ownerNote: 'Preserve analyst note',
+    });
     expect(manifest.tables.orders.columns.find((column) => column.name === 'id')?.descriptions).toEqual({
       user: 'Pinned structural id',
       db: 'DB order id',
diff --git a/packages/context/src/scan/local-enrichment-artifacts.ts b/packages/context/src/scan/local-enrichment-artifacts.ts
index b8186b0e..101d062e 100644
--- a/packages/context/src/scan/local-enrichment-artifacts.ts
+++ b/packages/context/src/scan/local-enrichment-artifacts.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
   type LiveDatabaseManifestJoinEntry,
   type LiveDatabaseManifestShard,
   type LiveDatabaseManifestTableData,
+  type TableUsageOutput,
 } from '../ingest/index.js';
 import type { KtxScanRelationshipConfig } from '../project/config.js';
 import type { KtxLocalProject } from '../project/index.js';
@@ -56,6 +57,7 @@ export interface WriteLocalScanEnrichmentArtifactsResult extends WriteLocalScanM
 interface ExistingManifestState {
   descriptions: Map<string, LiveDatabaseManifestExistingDescriptions>;
   preservedJoins: Map<string, LiveDatabaseManifestJoinEntry[]>;
+  usage: Map<string, TableUsageOutput>;
 }
 
 type LocalDescriptionUpdates = KtxLocalScanEnrichmentResult['descriptionUpdates'];
@@ -196,6 +198,7 @@ async function loadExistingManifestState(
 ): Promise<ExistingManifestState> {
   const descriptions = new Map<string, LiveDatabaseManifestExistingDescriptions>();
   const preservedJoins = new Map<string, LiveDatabaseManifestJoinEntry[]>();
+  const usage = new Map<string, TableUsageOutput>();
   const validTableNames = new Set(snapshot.tables.map((table) => table.name));
   const columnsByTable = validColumns(snapshot);
 
@@ -203,7 +206,7 @@ async function loadExistingManifestState(
   try {
     files = (await project.fileStore.listFiles(schemaDir(connectionId))).files.filter((file) => file.endsWith('.yaml'));
   } catch {
-    return { descriptions, preservedJoins };
+    return { descriptions, preservedJoins, usage };
   }
 
   for (const file of files) {
@@ -225,6 +228,9 @@ async function loadExistingManifestState(
             ),
           ),
         });
+        if (entry.usage) {
+          usage.set(tableName, { ...entry.usage });
+        }
         const joins = (entry.joins ?? []).filter((join) => {
           return (
             (join.source === 'manual' || join.source === 'inferred') &&
@@ -241,7 +247,7 @@ async function loadExistingManifestState(
     }
   }
 
-  return { descriptions, preservedJoins };
+  return { descriptions, preservedJoins, usage };
 }
 
 async function writeJsonArtifact(
@@ -276,6 +282,7 @@ export async function writeLocalScanManifestShards(
     joins: relationshipJoins(input.snapshot, input.relationshipUpdate),
     existingDescriptions: existing.descriptions,
     existingPreservedJoins: existing.preservedJoins,
+    existingUsage: existing.usage,
     mapColumnType: (dimensionType) => dimensionType,
   });