diff --git a/src/govoplan_core/core/datasources.py b/src/govoplan_core/core/datasources.py
index c514826..a8ec014 100644
--- a/src/govoplan_core/core/datasources.py
+++ b/src/govoplan_core/core/datasources.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_CATALOGUE = "datasources.catalogue"
 CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_LIFECYCLE = "datasources.lifecycle"
 CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_PUBLICATION = "datasources.publication"
 CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_ORIGINS = "connectors.datasourceOrigins"
+CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_ARTIFACT_BACKENDS = "datasources.artifactBackends"
 
 DatasourceMode = Literal["live", "cached", "static"]
 DatasourceKind = Literal[
@@ -37,6 +38,11 @@ DatasourceKind = Literal[
 ]
 DatasourceShape = Literal["tabular", "document", "binary", "directory", "stream"]
 DatasourceConsistency = Literal["current", "live", "frozen"]
+DatasourcePublicationStatus = Literal[
+    "published",
+    "published_with_warnings",
+    "review_required",
+]
 
 
 class DatasourceError(ValueError):
@@ -309,12 +315,73 @@ class DatasourceStageInput:
     governance: DatasourceGovernance | None = None
 
 
+@dataclass(frozen=True, slots=True)
+class DatasourceArtifactReference:
+    """Immutable provider-neutral reference to a durable tabular payload.
+
+    The producer owns creation of the payload. Datasources pins its locator,
+    checksum and declared shape without importing the artifact-owning module;
+    a configured payload backend verifies integrity and provides bounded reads.
+    """
+
+    backend: str
+    locator: str
+    checksum: str
+    row_count: int
+    byte_count: int
+    schema: tuple[DatasourceField, ...]
+    fingerprint: str
+    media_type: str = "application/x-ndjson"
+    checkpoint: Mapping[str, object] = field(default_factory=dict)
+    metadata: Mapping[str, object] = field(default_factory=dict)
+    validation: Mapping[str, object] = field(default_factory=dict)
+
+
+@runtime_checkable
+class DatasourceArtifactBackend(Protocol):
+    """Storage-module boundary for immutable artifact-backed tabular data."""
+
+    backend: str
+
+    def verify(
+        self,
+        session: object,
+        *,
+        tenant_id: str,
+        artifact: DatasourceArtifactReference,
+    ) -> None: ...
+
+    def read_rows(
+        self,
+        session: object,
+        *,
+        tenant_id: str,
+        artifact: DatasourceArtifactReference,
+        offset: int,
+        limit: int,
+    ) -> Sequence[Mapping[str, object]]: ...
+
+    def delete(
+        self,
+        session: object,
+        *,
+        tenant_id: str,
+        artifact: DatasourceArtifactReference,
+    ) -> None: ...
+
+
+@runtime_checkable
+class DatasourceArtifactBackendProvider(Protocol):
+    def artifact_backends(self) -> Sequence[DatasourceArtifactBackend]: ...
+
+
 @dataclass(frozen=True, slots=True)
 class DatasourcePublicationRequest:
     producer_module: str
     producer_run_ref: str
     idempotency_key: str
-    rows: tuple[Mapping[str, object], ...]
+    rows: tuple[Mapping[str, object], ...] | None = None
+    artifact: DatasourceArtifactReference | None = None
     target_datasource_ref: str | None = None
     name: str | None = None
     source_name: str | None = None
@@ -331,7 +398,7 @@ class DatasourcePublicationRequest:
 @dataclass(frozen=True, slots=True)
 class DatasourcePublicationResult:
     ref: str
-    status: str
+    status: DatasourcePublicationStatus
     datasource: DatasourceDescriptor
     materialization: DatasourceMaterialization
     replayed: bool = False
@@ -564,6 +631,17 @@ def datasource_catalogue(registry: object | None) -> DatasourceCatalogueProvider
     return capability if isinstance(capability, DatasourceCatalogueProvider) else None
 
 
+def datasource_artifact_backend_provider(
+    registry: object | None,
+) -> DatasourceArtifactBackendProvider | None:
+    capability = _capability(registry, CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_ARTIFACT_BACKENDS)
+    return (
+        capability
+        if isinstance(capability, DatasourceArtifactBackendProvider)
+        else None
+    )
+
+
 def datasource_lifecycle(registry: object | None) -> DatasourceLifecycleProvider | None:
     capability = _capability(registry, CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_LIFECYCLE)
     return capability if isinstance(capability, DatasourceLifecycleProvider) else None
@@ -613,9 +691,14 @@ def _governance_mapping(value: object) -> Mapping[str, object]:
 
 __all__ = [
     "CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_CATALOGUE",
+    "CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_ARTIFACT_BACKENDS",
     "CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_LIFECYCLE",
     "CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_ORIGINS",
+    "CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_PUBLICATION",
     "DatasourceAccessError",
+    "DatasourceArtifactReference",
+    "DatasourceArtifactBackend",
+    "DatasourceArtifactBackendProvider",
     "DatasourceCatalogueProvider",
     "DatasourceConsistency",
     "DatasourceDescriptor",
@@ -631,6 +714,10 @@ __all__ = [
     "DatasourceOriginProvider",
     "DatasourceOriginReadRequest",
     "DatasourceOriginReadResult",
+    "DatasourcePublicationProvider",
+    "DatasourcePublicationRequest",
+    "DatasourcePublicationResult",
+    "DatasourcePublicationStatus",
     "DatasourceReadRequest",
     "DatasourceReadResult",
     "DatasourceShape",
@@ -639,6 +726,8 @@ __all__ = [
     "DatasourceUnavailableError",
     "DatasourceValidationError",
     "datasource_catalogue",
+    "datasource_artifact_backend_provider",
     "datasource_lifecycle",
     "datasource_origins",
+    "datasource_publication",
 ]
diff --git a/tests/test_datasource_contract.py b/tests/test_datasource_contract.py
index d15ccef..a90dcd1 100644
--- a/tests/test_datasource_contract.py
+++ b/tests/test_datasource_contract.py
@@ -3,11 +3,13 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 import unittest
 
 from govoplan_core.core.datasources import (
+    CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_ARTIFACT_BACKENDS,
     CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_CATALOGUE,
     CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_LIFECYCLE,
     CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_ORIGINS,
     CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_PUBLICATION,
     DatasourceCatalogueProvider,
+    DatasourceArtifactBackendProvider,
     DatasourceDescriptor,
     DatasourceField,
     DatasourceLifecycleProvider,
@@ -20,6 +22,7 @@ from govoplan_core.core.datasources import (
     DatasourceReadResult,
     DatasourceStage,
     datasource_catalogue,
+    datasource_artifact_backend_provider,
     datasource_lifecycle,
     datasource_origins,
     datasource_publication,
@@ -155,6 +158,9 @@ class _Provider:
             truncated=False,
         )
 
+    def artifact_backends(self):
+        return ()
+
 
 class DatasourceContractTests(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_capabilities_are_runtime_checkable_and_resolved_without_modules(self) -> None:
@@ -163,6 +169,7 @@ class DatasourceContractTests(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertIsInstance(provider, DatasourceLifecycleProvider)
         self.assertIsInstance(provider, DatasourcePublicationProvider)
         self.assertIsInstance(provider, DatasourceOriginProvider)
+        self.assertIsInstance(provider, DatasourceArtifactBackendProvider)
         registry = PlatformRegistry()
         registry.register(
             ModuleManifest(
@@ -174,6 +181,7 @@ class DatasourceContractTests(unittest.TestCase):
                     CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_LIFECYCLE: lambda context: provider,
                     CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_PUBLICATION: lambda context: provider,
                     CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_ORIGINS: lambda context: provider,
+                    CAPABILITY_DATASOURCE_ARTIFACT_BACKENDS: lambda context: provider,
                 },
             )
         )
@@ -183,6 +191,7 @@ class DatasourceContractTests(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertIs(provider, datasource_lifecycle(registry))
         self.assertIs(provider, datasource_publication(registry))
         self.assertIs(provider, datasource_origins(registry))
+        self.assertIs(provider, datasource_artifact_backend_provider(registry))
         self.assertIsNone(datasource_catalogue(PlatformRegistry()))
 
     def test_descriptor_distinguishes_mode_kind_shape_and_materialization(self) -> None: