diff --git a/sdk/src/query-gsd-tools-runtime.ts b/sdk/src/query-gsd-tools-runtime.ts
index 1ca5dfd75..6ff59c513 100644
--- a/sdk/src/query-gsd-tools-runtime.ts
+++ b/sdk/src/query-gsd-tools-runtime.ts
@@ -34,7 +34,9 @@ export function createGSDToolsRuntime(opts: {
     timeoutMs: opts.timeoutMs,
     workstream: opts.workstream,
     createToolsError: (message, command, args, exitCode, stderr, classification) =>
-      new GSDToolsError(message, command, args, exitCode, stderr, classification ? { classification } : undefined),
+      new GSDToolsError(message, command, args, exitCode, stderr, {
+        classification: classification ?? { kind: 'failure' },
+      }),
   });
 
   const nativeDirectAdapter = new QueryNativeDirectAdapter({
diff --git a/sdk/src/query-tools-error-mapper.test.ts b/sdk/src/query-tools-error-mapper.test.ts
index c4c0dd0e6..8915e5975 100644
--- a/sdk/src/query-tools-error-mapper.test.ts
+++ b/sdk/src/query-tools-error-mapper.test.ts
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ describe('query tools error mapper', () => {
     expect(err.classification).toEqual({ kind: 'timeout', timeoutMs: 1234 });
   });
 
-  it('does not attach timeout classification for non-timeout failures', () => {
+  it('attaches failure classification for non-timeout failures', () => {
     const err = toGSDToolsError('state', ['load'], new Error('boom'));
-    expect(err.classification).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(err.classification).toEqual({ kind: 'failure' });
   });
 });
diff --git a/sdk/src/query-tools-error-mapper.ts b/sdk/src/query-tools-error-mapper.ts
index 44898ed03..357af2fe4 100644
--- a/sdk/src/query-tools-error-mapper.ts
+++ b/sdk/src/query-tools-error-mapper.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { GSDError, exitCodeFor } from './errors.js';
 import { GSDToolsError } from './gsd-tools-error.js';
-import { isTimeoutMessage, errorMessage, parseTimeoutMs } from './query-failure-classification.js';
+import { errorMessage, toFailureSignal } from './query-failure-classification.js';
 
 /**
  * Module owning projection of internal errors to GSDToolsError contract.
@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@ export function toGSDToolsError(command: string, args: string[], err: unknown):
   }
 
   const msg = errorMessage(err);
+  const signal = toFailureSignal(err);
+  const classification = signal.kind === 'timeout'
+    ? { kind: 'timeout' as const, timeoutMs: signal.timeoutMs }
+    : { kind: 'failure' as const };
+
   return new GSDToolsError(
     msg,
     command,
@@ -25,14 +30,7 @@ export function toGSDToolsError(command: string, args: string[], err: unknown):
     1,
     '',
     err instanceof Error
-      ? {
-          cause: err,
-          ...(isTimeoutMessage(msg)
-            ? { classification: { kind: 'timeout' as const, timeoutMs: parseTimeoutMs(msg) } }
-            : undefined),
-        }
-      : (isTimeoutMessage(msg)
-        ? { classification: { kind: 'timeout' as const, timeoutMs: parseTimeoutMs(msg) } }
-        : undefined),
+      ? { cause: err, classification }
+      : { classification },
   );
 }
diff --git a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-error-mapper.test.ts b/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-error-mapper.test.ts
index 0fa140f89..24a47c0cf 100644
--- a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-error-mapper.test.ts
+++ b/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-error-mapper.test.ts
@@ -37,6 +37,17 @@ describe('query dispatch error mapper', () => {
     expect(err.details).toMatchObject({ timeout_ms: 1234 });
   });
 
+  it('maps typed failure classification from GSDToolsError', () => {
+    const err = mapNativeDispatchError(
+      new GSDToolsError('boom', 'state', ['load'], 1, '', {
+        classification: { kind: 'failure' },
+      }),
+      'state.load',
+      [],
+    );
+    expect(err.kind).toBe('native_failure');
+  });
+
   it('maps fallback errors', () => {
     const err = mapFallbackDispatchError(new Error('spawn ENOENT'), 'state', ['load']);
     expect(err.kind).toBe('fallback_failure');