diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 350474c240..3d138b1ffe 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -3611,7 +3611,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "fs-err",
  "home",
  "iceberg",
- "iceberg-catalog-rest",
+ "iceberg-catalog-loader",
  "iceberg-datafusion",
  "mimalloc",
  "stacker",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 793bb49d86..a56b2760e3 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ http = "1.2"
 iceberg = { version = "0.9.0", path = "./crates/iceberg" }
 iceberg-catalog-glue = { version = "0.9.0", path = "./crates/catalog/glue" }
 iceberg-catalog-hms = { version = "0.9.0", path = "./crates/catalog/hms" }
+iceberg-catalog-loader = { version = "0.9.0", path = "./crates/catalog/loader" }
 iceberg-catalog-rest = { version = "0.9.0", path = "./crates/catalog/rest" }
 iceberg-catalog-s3tables = { version = "0.9.0", path = "./crates/catalog/s3tables" }
 iceberg-catalog-sql = { version = "0.9.0", path = "./crates/catalog/sql" }
diff --git a/crates/integrations/playground/Cargo.toml b/crates/integrations/playground/Cargo.toml
index 3f6774be19..4a3f594874 100644
--- a/crates/integrations/playground/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/integrations/playground/Cargo.toml
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ dirs = { workspace = true }
 fs-err = { workspace = true }
 home = { workspace = true }
 iceberg = { workspace = true }
-iceberg-catalog-rest = { workspace = true }
+iceberg-catalog-loader = { workspace = true }
 iceberg-datafusion = { workspace = true }
 mimalloc = { workspace = true }
 stacker = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/crates/integrations/playground/src/catalog.rs b/crates/integrations/playground/src/catalog.rs
index 66742ab893..fb4cf8d49d 100644
--- a/crates/integrations/playground/src/catalog.rs
+++ b/crates/integrations/playground/src/catalog.rs
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ use datafusion::catalog::{CatalogProvider, CatalogProviderList};
 use fs_err::read_to_string;
 use iceberg::CatalogBuilder;
 use iceberg::memory::MemoryCatalogBuilder;
-use iceberg_catalog_rest::RestCatalogBuilder;
 use iceberg_datafusion::IcebergCatalogProvider;
 use toml::{Table as TomlTable, Value};
 
@@ -94,15 +93,15 @@ impl IcebergCatalogList {
             props.insert(key.to_string(), value_str.to_string());
         }
 
-        // Create catalog based on type using the appropriate builder
-        let catalog: Arc<dyn iceberg::Catalog> = match r#type {
-            "rest" => Arc::new(RestCatalogBuilder::default().load(name, props).await?),
-            "memory" => Arc::new(MemoryCatalogBuilder::default().load(name, props).await?),
-            _ => {
-                return Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
-                    "Unsupported catalog type: '{type}'. Supported types: rest, memory"
-                ));
-            }
+        // Create catalog based on type using the catalog loader.
+        // "memory" is special-cased because it lives in iceberg core, not in
+        // one of the catalog crates that the loader registry knows about.
+        let catalog: Arc<dyn iceberg::Catalog> = if r#type == "memory" {
+            Arc::new(MemoryCatalogBuilder::default().load(name, props).await?)
+        } else {
+            iceberg_catalog_loader::load(r#type)?
+                .load(name.to_string(), props)
+                .await?
         };
 
         Ok((
@@ -179,7 +178,7 @@ mod tests {
         let err_msg = result.unwrap_err().to_string();
         assert!(err_msg.contains("Unsupported catalog type"));
         assert!(err_msg.contains("hive"));
-        assert!(err_msg.contains("rest, memory"));
+        assert!(err_msg.contains("rest"));
     }
 
     #[tokio::test]
@@ -206,4 +205,112 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(names.contains(&"catalog_one".to_string()));
         assert!(names.contains(&"catalog_two".to_string()));
     }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_parse_hms_catalog_config_error() {
+        let config = r#"
+            [[catalogs]]
+            name = "test_hms"
+            type = "hms"
+            [catalogs.config]
+            uri = "127.0.0.1:9083"
+            warehouse = "s3://warehouse/hive"
+        "#;
+
+        let toml_table: TomlTable = toml::from_str(config).unwrap();
+        let result = IcebergCatalogList::parse_table(&toml_table).await;
+
+        assert!(result.is_err());
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_parse_hms_catalog_missing_uri() {
+        let config = r#"
+            [[catalogs]]
+            name = "test_hms"
+            type = "hms"
+            [catalogs.config]
+            warehouse = "s3://warehouse/hive"
+        "#;
+
+        let toml_table: TomlTable = toml::from_str(config).unwrap();
+        let result = IcebergCatalogList::parse_table(&toml_table).await;
+
+        assert!(result.is_err());
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_parse_hms_catalog_missing_warehouse() {
+        let config = r#"
+            [[catalogs]]
+            name = "test_hms"
+            type = "hms"
+            [catalogs.config]
+            uri = "127.0.0.1:9083"
+        "#;
+
+        let toml_table: TomlTable = toml::from_str(config).unwrap();
+        let result = IcebergCatalogList::parse_table(&toml_table).await;
+
+        assert!(result.is_err());
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_parse_catalog_missing_name() {
+        let config = r#"
+            [[catalogs]]
+            type = "memory"
+            [catalogs.config]
+            warehouse = "/tmp/warehouse"
+        "#;
+
+        let toml_table: TomlTable = toml::from_str(config).unwrap();
+        let result = IcebergCatalogList::parse_table(&toml_table).await;
+
+        assert!(result.is_err());
+        assert!(result.unwrap_err().to_string().contains("name not found"));
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_parse_catalog_missing_type() {
+        let config = r#"
+            [[catalogs]]
+            name = "test_catalog"
+            [catalogs.config]
+            warehouse = "/tmp/warehouse"
+        "#;
+
+        let toml_table: TomlTable = toml::from_str(config).unwrap();
+        let result = IcebergCatalogList::parse_table(&toml_table).await;
+
+        assert!(result.is_err());
+        assert!(result.unwrap_err().to_string().contains("type not found"));
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_parse_catalog_missing_config() {
+        let config = r#"
+            [[catalogs]]
+            name = "test_catalog"
+            type = "memory"
+        "#;
+
+        let toml_table: TomlTable = toml::from_str(config).unwrap();
+        let result = IcebergCatalogList::parse_table(&toml_table).await;
+
+        assert!(result.is_err());
+        assert!(result.unwrap_err().to_string().contains("config not found"));
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_parse_empty_catalogs() {
+        let config = r#"
+            catalogs = []
+        "#;
+
+        let toml_table: TomlTable = toml::from_str(config).unwrap();
+        let catalog_list = IcebergCatalogList::parse_table(&toml_table).await.unwrap();
+
+        assert!(catalog_list.catalog_names().is_empty());
+    }
 }