diff --git a/packages/core/tsconfig.json b/packages/core/tsconfig.json
index 9036088..ac92166 100644
--- a/packages/core/tsconfig.json
+++ b/packages/core/tsconfig.json
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@
   "compilerOptions": {
     "outDir": "dist",
     "rootDir": "src",
-    "composite": false
+    "composite": false,
+    "lib": ["ES2022", "DOM"]
   },
   "include": ["src"]
 }
diff --git a/packages/workflow-utils/src/__tests__/extract-layer.test.ts b/packages/workflow-utils/src/__tests__/extract-layer.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..944c24e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/workflow-utils/src/__tests__/extract-layer.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,188 @@
+import { ExtractError } from "@uncaged/nerve-core";
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { z } from "zod";
+
+import {
+  type ZodMetaSchema,
+  createLlmExtractFn,
+  extractMetaOrThrow,
+} from "../shared/extract-fn.js";
+import { llmExtractWithRetry } from "../shared/llm-extract.js";
+import { type ExtractConfigLayer, mergeExtractConfig } from "../shared/merge-extract-config.js";
+
+const provider = {
+  baseUrl: "https://example.com/v1",
+  apiKey: "k",
+  model: "m",
+};
+
+function toolCallResponse(argsJson: string): {
+  ok: boolean;
+  status: number;
+  text: () => Promise<string>;
+} {
+  return {
+    ok: true,
+    status: 200,
+    text: async () =>
+      JSON.stringify({
+        choices: [
+          {
+            message: {
+              tool_calls: [
+                {
+                  function: {
+                    name: "extract",
+                    arguments: argsJson,
+                  },
+                },
+              ],
+            },
+          },
+        ],
+      }),
+  };
+}
+
+describe("mergeExtractConfig", () => {
+  const emptyLayer: ExtractConfigLayer = { provider: null, model: null };
+
+  it("resolves global-only extract settings", () => {
+    const result = mergeExtractConfig(
+      { provider: "dashscope", model: "qwen-plus" },
+      emptyLayer,
+      emptyLayer,
+    );
+    expect(result.ok).toBe(true);
+    if (!result.ok) {
+      return;
+    }
+    expect(result.value).toEqual({ provider: "dashscope", model: "qwen-plus" });
+  });
+
+  it("lets agent override global provider and model", () => {
+    const agent: ExtractConfigLayer = { provider: "openai", model: null };
+    const result = mergeExtractConfig(
+      { provider: "dashscope", model: "qwen-plus" },
+      agent,
+      emptyLayer,
+    );
+    expect(result.ok).toBe(true);
+    if (!result.ok) {
+      return;
+    }
+    expect(result.value).toEqual({ provider: "openai", model: "qwen-plus" });
+  });
+
+  it("lets role override agent and global", () => {
+    const agent: ExtractConfigLayer = { provider: "openai", model: "gpt-4o" };
+    const role: ExtractConfigLayer = { provider: null, model: "small" };
+    const result = mergeExtractConfig({ provider: "dashscope", model: "qwen-plus" }, agent, role);
+    expect(result.ok).toBe(true);
+    if (!result.ok) {
+      return;
+    }
+    expect(result.value).toEqual({ provider: "openai", model: "small" });
+  });
+
+  it("returns error when provider cannot be resolved", () => {
+    const result = mergeExtractConfig(null, { provider: null, model: "m" }, emptyLayer);
+    expect(result.ok).toBe(false);
+    if (result.ok) {
+      return;
+    }
+    expect(result.error.message).toMatch(/provider/);
+  });
+});
+
+describe("extractMetaOrThrow + llmExtractWithRetry", () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.unstubAllGlobals();
+    vi.restoreAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it("extracts structured meta on success (mock LLM)", async () => {
+    vi.stubGlobal("fetch", vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(toolCallResponse(JSON.stringify({ n: 42 }))));
+
+    const schema = z.object({ n: z.number() });
+    const value = await extractMetaOrThrow("raw agent output", schema, {
+      provider,
+      dryRun: false,
+    });
+
+    expect(value).toEqual({ n: 42 });
+    expect(fetch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
+  it("retries once after schema validation failure then succeeds", async () => {
+    const fetchMock = vi
+      .fn()
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce(toolCallResponse(JSON.stringify({ n: "bad" })))
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce(toolCallResponse(JSON.stringify({ n: 99 })));
+
+    vi.stubGlobal("fetch", fetchMock);
+
+    const schema = z.object({ n: z.number() });
+    const value = await llmExtractWithRetry({
+      text: "raw",
+      schema,
+      provider,
+      dryRun: false,
+    });
+
+    expect(value.ok).toBe(true);
+    if (!value.ok) {
+      return;
+    }
+    expect(value.value).toEqual({ n: 99 });
+    expect(fetchMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+
+    const secondBody = JSON.parse(
+      (fetchMock.mock.calls[1] as [string, RequestInit])[1].body as string,
+    ) as {
+      messages: Array<{ role: string; content: string }>;
+    };
+    expect(secondBody.messages[1].content).toContain("The previous extraction attempt failed");
+  });
+
+  it("throws ExtractError with raw and causeError after two failures", async () => {
+    const fetchMock = vi
+      .fn()
+      .mockResolvedValue(toolCallResponse(JSON.stringify({ n: "still-bad" })));
+
+    vi.stubGlobal("fetch", fetchMock);
+
+    const schema = z.object({ n: z.number() });
+
+    try {
+      await extractMetaOrThrow("original-raw-text", schema, { provider, dryRun: false });
+      expect.fail("expected ExtractError");
+    } catch (e) {
+      expect(e).toBeInstanceOf(ExtractError);
+      const ex = e as ExtractError;
+      expect(ex.raw).toBe("original-raw-text");
+      expect(ex.causeError).toBeInstanceOf(Error);
+    }
+
+    expect(fetchMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+  });
+});
+
+describe("createLlmExtractFn", () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.unstubAllGlobals();
+    vi.restoreAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it("implements ExtractFn using ZodMetaSchema", async () => {
+    vi.stubGlobal("fetch", vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(toolCallResponse(JSON.stringify({ k: "v" }))));
+
+    const zod = z.object({ k: z.string() });
+    const schema: ZodMetaSchema<{ k: string }> = { witness: null, zod };
+
+    const fn = createLlmExtractFn<{ k: string }>({ provider, dryRun: false });
+    const out = await fn("input", schema);
+
+    expect(out).toEqual({ k: "v" });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/workflow-utils/src/index.ts b/packages/workflow-utils/src/index.ts
index a0fd111..3b80e72 100644
--- a/packages/workflow-utils/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/workflow-utils/src/index.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,13 @@ export { createHermesRole } from "./role-hermes.js";
 export { createLlmRole } from "./role-llm.js";
 export { createReActRole } from "./role-react.js";
 export { cursorAgent } from "./shared/cursor-agent.js";
-export { llmExtract } from "./shared/llm-extract.js";
+export { llmExtract, llmExtractWithRetry } from "./shared/llm-extract.js";
+export { mergeExtractConfig, type ExtractConfigLayer } from "./shared/merge-extract-config.js";
+export {
+  createLlmExtractFn,
+  extractMetaOrThrow,
+  type ZodMetaSchema,
+} from "./shared/extract-fn.js";
 export {
   nerveAgentContext,
   readNerveYaml,
diff --git a/packages/workflow-utils/src/shared/extract-fn.ts b/packages/workflow-utils/src/shared/extract-fn.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..60fc52a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/workflow-utils/src/shared/extract-fn.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+import type { ExtractFn, Schema } from "@uncaged/nerve-core";
+import { ExtractError } from "@uncaged/nerve-core";
+import type { z } from "zod";
+
+import type { LlmProvider } from "./llm-extract.js";
+import { llmErrorToCause, llmExtractWithRetry } from "./llm-extract.js";
+
+/**
+ * Runtime schema for extract: core `Schema` witness plus the Zod parser used by the LLM extract path.
+ */
+export type ZodMetaSchema<T> = Schema<T> & { readonly zod: z.ZodType<T> };
+
+export async function extractMetaOrThrow<T>(
+  raw: string,
+  zodSchema: z.ZodType<T>,
+  options: { provider: LlmProvider; dryRun: boolean },
+): Promise<T> {
+  const result = await llmExtractWithRetry({
+    text: raw,
+    schema: zodSchema,
+    provider: options.provider,
+    dryRun: options.dryRun,
+  });
+  if (result.ok) {
+    return result.value;
+  }
+  throw new ExtractError("Structured extraction failed after one retry", {
+    raw,
+    causeError: llmErrorToCause(result.error),
+  });
+}
+
+export function createLlmExtractFn<T>(deps: {
+  provider: LlmProvider;
+  dryRun: boolean;
+}): ExtractFn<T> {
+  return async (raw, schema) => {
+    const extended = schema as ZodMetaSchema<T>;
+    if (!("zod" in extended)) {
+      throw new Error("extract: schema must be a ZodMetaSchema (include zod parser)");
+    }
+    return extractMetaOrThrow(raw, extended.zod, deps);
+  };
+}
diff --git a/packages/workflow-utils/src/shared/llm-extract.ts b/packages/workflow-utils/src/shared/llm-extract.ts
index 9be735f..e4a4e69 100644
--- a/packages/workflow-utils/src/shared/llm-extract.ts
+++ b/packages/workflow-utils/src/shared/llm-extract.ts
@@ -95,12 +95,45 @@ function readToolArgumentsJson(parsed: unknown, previewSource: string): Result<s
   return ok(argsRaw);
 }
 
+function isRetryableExtractError(error: LlmError): boolean {
+  return error.kind === "schema_validation_failed" || error.kind === "tool_arguments_invalid_json";
+}
+
+function describeRetryHint(error: LlmError): string {
+  if (error.kind === "schema_validation_failed") {
+    return `Schema validation failed: ${error.message}`;
+  }
+  if (error.kind === "tool_arguments_invalid_json") {
+    return `Tool arguments were not valid JSON: ${error.message}`;
+  }
+  return JSON.stringify(error);
+}
+
+export function llmErrorToCause(error: LlmError): Error {
+  switch (error.kind) {
+    case "http_error":
+      return new Error(`HTTP ${error.status}: ${error.body.slice(0, 500)}`);
+    case "invalid_response_json":
+      return new Error(error.message);
+    case "no_tool_call":
+      return new Error(`No tool call in response: ${error.preview}`);
+    case "tool_arguments_invalid_json":
+      return new Error(error.message);
+    case "schema_validation_failed":
+      return new Error(error.message);
+    case "network_error":
+      return new Error(error.message);
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Calls an OpenAI-compatible chat completions API with `tool_choice` forced to a single function
  * derived from a Zod v4 schema (`toJSONSchema`). Uses `fetch()` only (no shell).
+ *
+ * `userContent` is the full user message body (used for retry prompts).
  */
-export async function llmExtract<T>(
-  options: LlmExtractOptionsInput<T>,
+async function performLlmExtract<T>(
+  options: LlmExtractOptionsInput<T> & { userContent: string },
 ): Promise<Result<T, LlmError>> {
   const dryRun = resolveLlmExtractDryRun(options);
   if (dryRun) {
@@ -122,7 +155,7 @@ export async function llmExtract<T>(
         role: "system" as const,
         content: "Extract the requested information from the provided text. Be precise.",
       },
-      { role: "user" as const, content: options.text },
+      { role: "user" as const, content: options.userContent },
     ],
     tools: [
       {
@@ -188,3 +221,49 @@ export async function llmExtract<T>(
 
   return ok(validated.data);
 }
+
+/**
+ * Single LLM extract attempt (backward-compatible with callers that pass `text`).
+ */
+export async function llmExtract<T>(
+  options: LlmExtractOptionsInput<T>,
+): Promise<Result<T, LlmError>> {
+  return performLlmExtract({ ...options, userContent: options.text });
+}
+
+/**
+ * Runs extract up to two times: on the first schema/tool-args parse failure, resends the agent
+ * output plus the error so the model can correct the tool call (RFC-003).
+ */
+export async function llmExtractWithRetry<T>(
+  options: LlmExtractOptionsInput<T>,
+): Promise<Result<T, LlmError>> {
+  const first = await performLlmExtract({
+    ...options,
+    userContent: options.text,
+  });
+  if (first.ok) {
+    return first;
+  }
+  if (!isRetryableExtractError(first.error)) {
+    return first;
+  }
+
+  const hint = describeRetryHint(first.error);
+  const correction = `The previous extraction attempt failed.
+
+${hint}
+
+Respond again with a single tool call whose \`arguments\` JSON strictly matches the schema.`;
+
+  const secondContent = `${options.text}
+
+---
+
+${correction}`;
+
+  return performLlmExtract({
+    ...options,
+    userContent: secondContent,
+  });
+}
diff --git a/packages/workflow-utils/src/shared/merge-extract-config.ts b/packages/workflow-utils/src/shared/merge-extract-config.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1530922
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/workflow-utils/src/shared/merge-extract-config.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+import type { ExtractConfig, Result } from "@uncaged/nerve-core";
+import { err, ok } from "@uncaged/nerve-core";
+
+/**
+ * One level in global → agent → role merge. Use `null` for a field to inherit
+ * from the lower-precedence layer (RFC-003).
+ */
+export type ExtractConfigLayer = {
+  provider: string | null;
+  model: string | null;
+};
+
+export function mergeExtractConfig(
+  global: ExtractConfig | null,
+  agent: ExtractConfigLayer,
+  role: ExtractConfigLayer,
+): Result<ExtractConfig> {
+  const provider = role.provider ?? agent.provider ?? global?.provider ?? null;
+  const model = role.model ?? agent.model ?? global?.model ?? null;
+
+  if (provider === null || provider.trim() === "") {
+    return err(new Error("extract: unresolved provider after merge"));
+  }
+  if (model === null || model.trim() === "") {
+    return err(new Error("extract: unresolved model after merge"));
+  }
+
+  return ok({ provider, model });
+}