diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index b15d8fb..452e22c 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
     "@libpg-query/parser": "^17.6.3",
     "@opentelemetry/api": "^1.9.0",
     "@pgsql/types": "^17.6.2",
-    "@query-doctor/core": "^0.12.0",
+    "@query-doctor/core": "^0.13.0",
     "async-sema": "^3.1.1",
     "capnweb": "^0.7.0",
     "dedent": "^1.7.1",
diff --git a/src/remote/query-optimizer-synthesis.test.ts b/src/remote/query-optimizer-synthesis.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f80e28c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/remote/query-optimizer-synthesis.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+import { expect, test } from "vitest";
+import { PostgreSqlContainer } from "@testcontainers/postgresql";
+import { dumpSchema, PostgresVersion, Statistics } from "@query-doctor/core";
+import { ConnectionManager } from "../sync/connection-manager.ts";
+import { Connectable } from "../sync/connectable.ts";
+import { QueryOptimizer } from "./query-optimizer.ts";
+
+// When the exported snapshot doesn't cover a table in the current schema — added
+// on this branch since the snapshot was captured — setStatistics must pass the
+// schema through to core's Statistics so the synthesizer sizes that table,
+// instead of it falling to the flat default. This is the analyzer-side wiring;
+// the synthesis logic itself is covered in @query-doctor/core.
+//
+// Requires @query-doctor/core >= 0.13.0 (the currentSchema parameter and the
+// syntheticTables getter).
+test(
+  "setStatistics sizes a table missing from the exported snapshot",
+  async () => {
+    const pg = await new PostgreSqlContainer("postgres:17")
+      .withCopyContentToContainer([
+        {
+          content: `
+            create table orders (id serial primary key);
+            create table refunds (id serial primary key, order_id int references orders(id));
+            insert into orders default values;
+            insert into refunds (order_id) values (1);
+          `,
+          target: "/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/init.sql",
+        },
+      ])
+      .start();
+
+    try {
+      const manager = ConnectionManager.forLocalDatabase();
+      const conn = Connectable.fromString(pg.getConnectionUri());
+      const optimizer = new QueryOptimizer(manager, conn);
+
+      const version = PostgresVersion.parse("17");
+      const connection = manager.getOrCreateConnection(conn);
+      const ownStats = await Statistics.dumpStats(connection, version);
+
+      // refunds is omitted from the snapshot (uncovered); orders is given a
+      // production-sized count so synthesis yields a large number rather than
+      // the single branch row.
+      const snapshot = ownStats
+        .filter((t) => t.tableName !== "refunds")
+        .map((t) => ({
+          ...t,
+          reltuples: t.tableName === "orders" ? 1_000_000 : t.reltuples,
+        }));
+      const schema = await dumpSchema(connection);
+
+      await optimizer.setStatistics(
+        Statistics.statsModeFromExport(snapshot),
+        schema,
+      );
+
+      // refunds is reported as modeled/unverified and sized from the 1M-row
+      // snapshot (via its foreign key to orders), not its own one row.
+      expect(
+        optimizer.syntheticTables.some((t) => t.endsWith(".refunds")),
+      ).toBe(true);
+      const refunds = optimizer.computedStats?.reltuples.find(
+        (r) => r.relname === "refunds",
+      );
+      expect(refunds?.reltuples).toBeGreaterThan(100_000);
+    } finally {
+      await pg.stop();
+    }
+  },
+  120_000,
+);
diff --git a/src/remote/query-optimizer.ts b/src/remote/query-optimizer.ts
index 7739eef..16deb5e 100644
--- a/src/remote/query-optimizer.ts
+++ b/src/remote/query-optimizer.ts
@@ -113,6 +113,15 @@ export class QueryOptimizer extends EventEmitter<EventMap> {
     return this.target?.statistics.ownMetadata;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Tables ("schema.table") sized by the synthesizer because the exported
+   * snapshot didn't cover them — their costs are modeled, not verified. Empty
+   * unless a schema was supplied in fromStatisticsExport mode.
+   */
+  get syntheticTables(): string[] {
+    return this.target?.statistics.syntheticTables ?? [];
+  }
+
   getExistingIndexes(): FullSchemaIndex[] {
     return this.existingIndexes;
   }
@@ -146,7 +155,11 @@ export class QueryOptimizer extends EventEmitter<EventMap> {
     const version = PostgresVersion.parse("17");
     const pg = this.manager.getOrCreateConnection(this.connectable);
     const ownStats = await Statistics.dumpStats(pg, version);
-    const statistics = new Statistics(pg, version, ownStats, statsMode);
+    // Pass the current schema so tables the exported snapshot doesn't cover
+    // (added on this branch / since the snapshot was captured) are sized by the
+    // synthesizer instead of the flat default. No-op when statsMode isn't
+    // fromStatisticsExport.
+    const statistics = new Statistics(pg, version, ownStats, statsMode, schema);
     this.existingIndexes = schema?.indexes ?? [];
     const filteredIndexes = this.filterDisabledIndexes(this.existingIndexes);
     const optimizer = new IndexOptimizer(pg, statistics, filteredIndexes, {
diff --git a/src/reporters/reporter.ts b/src/reporters/reporter.ts
index 806ba25..a1d0cd2 100644
--- a/src/reporters/reporter.ts
+++ b/src/reporters/reporter.ts
@@ -117,6 +117,13 @@ export interface ReportContext {
    * A pure diff heuristic — independent of the baseline comparison.
    */
   testPresenceVerdict?: TestPresenceVerdict;
+  /**
+   * Tables ("schema.table") in the analyzed schema the production snapshot
+   * doesn't cover, so their costs were modeled by the synthesizer rather than
+   * verified against real data. Empty when the snapshot covers the whole schema.
+   * Not yet rendered in the comment — plumbed for the surfacing that follows.
+   */
+  modeledTables?: string[];
 }
 
 export interface IndexStatistic {
diff --git a/src/runner.ts b/src/runner.ts
index de1c8ab..13af159 100644
--- a/src/runner.ts
+++ b/src/runner.ts
@@ -195,6 +195,7 @@ export class Runner {
     const reportContext: ReportContext = {
       statisticsMode: this.remote.optimizer.statisticsMode,
       computedStats: this.remote.optimizer.computedStats,
+      modeledTables: this.remote.optimizer.syntheticTables,
       recommendations: filteredRecommendations,
       queriesPastThreshold: filteredThresholdWarnings,
       queryStats: Object.freeze({