diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 444f57f..73fca71 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -2,11 +2,7 @@ import { z } from 'zod';
 import * as http from 'http';
 import * as https from 'https';
 import type { RoutingDecision as CanonicalRoutingDecision } from '@bodanglin/verdict-contracts';
-import {
-  adaptRoutingDecision,
-  createFallbackRoutingDecision,
-  extractRuntimeId,
-} from './adapters/contract-to-middleware.js';
+import { adaptRoutingDecision } from './adapters/contract-to-middleware';
 
 const UNSAFE_OBJECT_KEYS = new Set(['__proto__', 'prototype', 'constructor']);
 
@@ -353,6 +349,8 @@ export interface GatewayConfig {
   apiKey?: string;
   providerConnIds?: Record<string, string>;
   transportAdapter?: TransportAdapterConfig;
+  decisionEndpoint?: string;
+  decisionTimeoutMs?: number;
 }
 
 export type TransportAdapterKind = 'openai-compatible' | 'omniroute-documented';
@@ -391,6 +389,8 @@ export class LlmGateNode {
   private apiKey: string;
   private providerConnIds: Record<string, string>;
   private transportAdapter: NormalizedTransportAdapter;
+  private decisionEndpoint: string | null;
+  private decisionTimeoutMs: number;
   private autoDetectorRan = false;
 
   private usageCache: Record<string, { at: number; data: any }> = {};
@@ -413,6 +413,9 @@ export class LlmGateNode {
       config.apiKey || process.env.OMNIROUTE_API_KEY || process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY || '';
     this.providerConnIds = config.providerConnIds || {};
     this.transportAdapter = this.normalizeTransportAdapter(config.transportAdapter);
+    this.decisionEndpoint =
+      config.decisionEndpoint || process.env.VERDICT_CORE_DECISION_ENDPOINT || null;
+    this.decisionTimeoutMs = config.decisionTimeoutMs ?? 2000;
     this.autoDetectDependencies();
   }
 
@@ -730,6 +733,40 @@ export class LlmGateNode {
     stat.score = successRate + latencyBonus;
   }
 
+  private isCanonicalRoutingDecision(value: unknown): value is CanonicalRoutingDecision {
+    if (!value || typeof value !== 'object' || Array.isArray(value)) return false;
+    const decision = value as Record<string, unknown>;
+    if (!decision.selected_route || typeof decision.selected_route !== 'object') return false;
+    if (decision.schema_version !== undefined && decision.schema_version !== '1') return false;
+    if (decision.exclusions !== undefined && !Array.isArray(decision.exclusions)) return false;
+    if (decision.fallback_plan !== undefined && !Array.isArray(decision.fallback_plan))
+      return false;
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  private async fetchCoreDecision(body: unknown): Promise<MiddlewareRoutingDecision | null> {
+    if (!this.decisionEndpoint) return null;
+
+    const response = await fetch(this.decisionEndpoint, {
+      method: 'POST',
+      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', ...this.buildAdapterHeaders() },
+      body: JSON.stringify(body ?? {}),
+      signal: AbortSignal.timeout(this.decisionTimeoutMs),
+    });
+
+    if (!response.ok) return null;
+
+    const payload = await response.json();
+    if (!this.isCanonicalRoutingDecision(payload)) return null;
+
+    const canonical = payload as CanonicalRoutingDecision;
+    const route = canonical.selected_route as Record<string, unknown>;
+    if (route.availability === 'unavailable' || route.availability === 'denied') return null;
+    if (route.decision === 'denied' || route.decision === 'unavailable') return null;
+
+    return adaptRoutingDecision(canonical);
+  }
+
   /**
    * Intercepts preliminary evaluations to log heuristic latency.
    * @returns Express Request Handler.
@@ -738,6 +775,15 @@ export class LlmGateNode {
     return async (req: any, res: any, next: any) => {
       const start = Date.now();
       try {
+        const coreDecision = await this.fetchCoreDecision(req.body);
+        if (this.decisionEndpoint && !coreDecision) {
+          return res.status(503).json({ error: 'Routing decision unavailable or denied.' });
+        }
+        if (coreDecision) {
+          req.llmRouter = { decision: { ...coreDecision, latencyMs: Date.now() - start } };
+          return next();
+        }
+
         const body = req.body || {};
         const prompt = JSON.stringify(body);
         const targetTier = this.evaluateTier(prompt);
@@ -751,7 +797,10 @@ export class LlmGateNode {
           },
         };
         next();
-      } catch (err) {
+      } catch (_err) {
+        if (this.decisionEndpoint) {
+          return res.status(503).json({ error: 'Routing decision unavailable or denied.' });
+        }
         req.llmRouter = {
           decision: {
             model: this.primaryModel,
diff --git a/tests/router.test.ts b/tests/router.test.ts
index 1468ee1..f7c8621 100644
--- a/tests/router.test.ts
+++ b/tests/router.test.ts
@@ -704,6 +704,90 @@ describe('LlmGateNode', () => {
       ).toBe(true);
     });
 
+    it('uses a configured core canonical routing decision', async () => {
+      const coreDecision = {
+        selected_route: {
+          runtime_id: 'openai/gpt-4o-mini',
+          availability: 'healthy',
+          decision: 'routed',
+          latency_ms: 12,
+        },
+        policy_floor: 'standard',
+        explanation: 'core approved',
+        schema_version: '1',
+      };
+      jest
+        .spyOn(globalThis, 'fetch')
+        .mockResolvedValue(new Response(JSON.stringify(coreDecision), { status: 200 }));
+      const app = express();
+      const gateway = new LlmGateNode({ decisionEndpoint: 'http://core/decide' });
+
+      app.use(express.json());
+      app.post(
+        '/v1/chat/completions',
+        gateway.middleware(),
+        (req: Request & { llmRouter?: unknown }, res: ExpressResponse) => {
+          res.status(200).json({ llmRouter: req.llmRouter });
+        }
+      );
+
+      const response = await request(app)
+        .post('/v1/chat/completions')
+        .send(validRequest)
+        .expect(200);
+
+      expect(globalThis.fetch).toHaveBeenCalledWith('http://core/decide', expect.any(Object));
+      expect(response.body.llmRouter.decision).toMatchObject({
+        model: 'gpt-4o-mini',
+        provider: 'openai',
+        tier: 2,
+        reason: 'core approved',
+      });
+      expect(
+        MiddlewareRoutingDecisionSchema.safeParse(response.body.llmRouter.decision).success
+      ).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it.each([
+      ['unavailable endpoint', Promise.resolve(new Response('nope', { status: 503 }))],
+      [
+        'denied decision',
+        Promise.resolve(
+          new Response(
+            JSON.stringify({
+              selected_route: { runtime_id: 'openai/gpt-4o-mini', decision: 'denied' },
+              schema_version: '1',
+            }),
+            { status: 200 }
+          )
+        ),
+      ],
+      ['malformed decision', Promise.resolve(new Response(JSON.stringify({ nope: true })))],
+      ['network failure', () => Promise.reject(new Error('down'))],
+    ])('fails closed with 503 when core decision is %s', async (_name, fetchResult) => {
+      jest
+        .spyOn(globalThis, 'fetch')
+        .mockImplementation(() =>
+          typeof fetchResult === 'function'
+            ? (fetchResult() as Promise<Response>)
+            : (fetchResult as Promise<Response>)
+        );
+      const app = express();
+      const gateway = new LlmGateNode({ decisionEndpoint: 'http://core/decide' });
+
+      app.use(express.json());
+      app.post('/v1/chat/completions', gateway.middleware(), (_req, res) => {
+        res.status(200).json({ reached: true });
+      });
+
+      const response = await request(app)
+        .post('/v1/chat/completions')
+        .send(validRequest)
+        .expect(503);
+
+      expect(response.body).toEqual({ error: 'Routing decision unavailable or denied.' });
+    });
+
     it('returns a JSON parse error before middleware execution for malformed JSON', async () => {
       const response = await request(createApp())
         .post('/v1/chat/completions')