diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index bf55cb4..f646b77 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ AGENT_MAX_RECURSIVE_DEPTH=3
 
 # Schema-driven orchestration limits
 AGENT_STATE_ROOT=.ai_ops/state
+AGENT_PROJECT_CONTEXT_PATH=.ai_ops/project-context.json
 AGENT_TOPOLOGY_MAX_DEPTH=4
 AGENT_TOPOLOGY_MAX_RETRIES=2
 AGENT_RELATIONSHIP_MAX_CHILDREN=4
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 217451f..32142fa 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
   - `AGENT_MAX_RECURSIVE_DEPTH`
 - Orchestration/context limits:
   - `AGENT_STATE_ROOT`
+  - `AGENT_PROJECT_CONTEXT_PATH`
   - `AGENT_TOPOLOGY_MAX_DEPTH`
   - `AGENT_TOPOLOGY_MAX_RETRIES`
   - `AGENT_RELATIONSHIP_MAX_CHILDREN`
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 327d1b6..df32c47 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,40 +2,41 @@
 
 TypeScript runtime for deterministic multi-agent execution with:
 
-- OpenAI Codex SDK integration (`@openai/codex-sdk`)
-- Anthropic Claude Agent SDK integration (`@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk`)
+- OpenAI Codex SDK (`@openai/codex-sdk`)
+- Anthropic Claude Agent SDK (`@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk`)
 - Schema-validated orchestration (`AgentManifest`)
-- Stateless node handoffs via persisted state/context payloads
+- DAG execution with topology-aware fan-out (`parallel`, `hierarchical`, `retry-unrolled`)
+- Project-scoped persistent context store
+- Typed domain events for edge-triggered routing
 - Resource provisioning (git worktrees + deterministic port ranges)
-- MCP configuration layer with handler-based policy hooks
+- MCP configuration layer with handler policy hooks
 
-## Current Status
+## Architecture Summary
 
-- Provider entrypoints (`codex`, `claude`) run with session limits and resource provisioning.
-- Schema-driven orchestration is implemented as reusable modules under `src/agents`.
-- Recursive `AgentManager.runRecursiveAgent(...)` supports fanout/fan-in orchestration with abort propagation.
-- Tool clearance allowlist/banlist is modeled, but hard security enforcement is still a TODO at tool execution boundaries.
+- `SchemaDrivenExecutionEngine.runSession(...)` is the single execution entrypoint.
+- `PipelineExecutor` owns runtime control flow and topology dispatch.
+- `AgentManager` is an internal utility used by the pipeline when fan-out/retry-unrolled behavior is required.
+- Session state is persisted under `AGENT_STATE_ROOT`.
+- Project state is persisted under `AGENT_PROJECT_CONTEXT_PATH` with domains:
+  - `globalFlags`
+  - `artifactPointers`
+  - `taskQueue`
 
 ## Repository Layout
 
-- `src/agents`:
-  - `manager.ts`: queue-based concurrency limits + recursive fanout/fan-in orchestration.
-  - `runtime.ts`: env-driven runtime singletons and defaults.
-  - `manifest.ts`: `AgentManifest` schema parsing + validation (strict DAG).
-  - `persona-registry.ts`: prompt templating + persona behavior events.
-  - `pipeline.ts`: actor-oriented DAG runner with retries and state-dependent routing.
-  - `state-context.ts`: persisted state + stateless handoff reconstruction.
-  - `provisioning.ts`: extensible resource orchestration + child suballocation support.
-  - `orchestration.ts`: `SchemaDrivenExecutionEngine` facade.
-- `src/mcp`: MCP config types, conversions, and handler resolution.
-- `src/examples`: provider entrypoints (`codex.ts`, `claude.ts`).
-- `tests`: unit coverage for manager, manifest, pipeline/orchestration, state context, MCP, and provisioning behavior.
-- `docs/orchestration-engine.md`: design notes for the orchestration architecture.
-
-## Prerequisites
-
-- Node.js 18+
-- npm
+- `src/agents`
+  - `orchestration.ts`: engine facade and runtime wiring
+  - `pipeline.ts`: DAG runner, retry matrix, abort propagation, domain-event routing
+  - `manifest.ts`: schema parsing/validation for personas/topologies/edges
+  - `manager.ts`: recursive fan-out utility used by pipeline
+  - `state-context.ts`: persisted node handoffs + session state
+  - `project-context.ts`: project-scoped store
+  - `domain-events.ts`: typed domain event schema + bus
+  - `runtime.ts`: env-driven defaults/singletons
+  - `provisioning.ts`: resource provisioning and child suballocation helpers
+- `src/mcp`: MCP config types/conversion/handlers
+- `src/examples`: provider entrypoints (`codex.ts`, `claude.ts`)
+- `tests`: manager, manifest, pipeline/orchestration, state, provisioning, MCP
 
 ## Setup
 
@@ -45,207 +46,53 @@ cp .env.example .env
 cp mcp.config.example.json mcp.config.json
 ```
 
-Fill in any values you need in `.env`.
-
 ## Run
 
-Run Codex example:
-
 ```bash
-npm run codex -- "Summarize what this repository does."
+npm run codex -- "Summarize this repository."
+npm run claude -- "Summarize this repository."
 ```
 
-Run Claude example:
-
-```bash
-npm run claude -- "Summarize what this repository does."
-```
-
-Run via unified entrypoint:
+Or via unified entrypoint:
 
 ```bash
 npm run dev -- codex "List potential improvements."
 npm run dev -- claude "List potential improvements."
 ```
 
-## Schema-Driven Orchestration
+## Manifest Semantics
 
-The orchestration engine is exposed as library modules (not yet wired into `src/index.ts` by default).
+`AgentManifest` (schema `"1"`) validates:
 
-Core pieces:
+- supported topologies (`sequential`, `parallel`, `hierarchical`, `retry-unrolled`)
+- persona definitions and tool-clearance metadata
+- relationship DAG and unknown persona references
+- strict pipeline DAG
+- topology constraints (`maxDepth`, `maxRetries`)
 
-- `parseAgentManifest(...)` validates the full orchestration schema.
-- `PersonaRegistry` injects runtime context into templated system prompts.
-- `PipelineExecutor` executes a strict DAG of actor nodes.
-- `FileSystemStateContextManager` enforces stateless handoffs.
-- `SchemaDrivenExecutionEngine` composes all of the above with env-driven limits.
+Pipeline edges can route via:
 
-### AgentManifest Overview
+- legacy status triggers (`on`: `success`, `validation_fail`, `failure`, `always`, ...)
+- domain event triggers (`event`: typed domain events)
+- conditions (`state_flag`, `history_has_event`, `file_exists`, `always`)
 
-`AgentManifest` (schema version `"1"`) includes:
+## Domain Events
 
-- `topologies`: any of `hierarchical`, `retry-unrolled`, `sequential`
-- `personas`: identity, prompt template, tool clearance metadata
-- `relationships`: parent-child persona edges and constraints
-- `pipeline`: strict DAG with entry node, nodes, and edges
-- `topologyConstraints`: max depth and retry ceilings
+Domain events are typed and can trigger edges directly:
 
-Edge routing supports:
+- planning: `requirements_defined`, `tasks_planned`
+- execution: `code_committed`, `task_blocked`
+- validation: `validation_passed`, `validation_failed`
+- integration: `branch_merged`
 
-- Event gates: `success`, `validation_fail`, `failure`, `always`, `onTaskComplete`, `onValidationFail`
-- Conditions:
-  - `state_flag`
-  - `history_has_event`
-  - `file_exists`
-  - `always`
+Actors can emit events in `ActorExecutionResult.events`. Pipeline status also emits default validation/execution events.
 
-Example manifest:
+## Retry Matrix and Cancellation
 
-```json
-{
-  "schemaVersion": "1",
-  "topologies": ["hierarchical", "retry-unrolled", "sequential"],
-  "personas": [
-    {
-      "id": "coder",
-      "displayName": "Coder",
-      "systemPromptTemplate": "Implement ticket {{ticket}} in repo {{repo}}",
-      "toolClearance": {
-        "allowlist": ["read_file", "write_file"],
-        "banlist": ["rm"]
-      }
-    }
-  ],
-  "relationships": [],
-  "pipeline": {
-    "entryNodeId": "coder-1",
-    "nodes": [
-      {
-        "id": "coder-1",
-        "actorId": "coder_actor",
-        "personaId": "coder",
-        "constraints": { "maxRetries": 1 }
-      }
-    ],
-    "edges": []
-  },
-  "topologyConstraints": {
-    "maxDepth": 4,
-    "maxRetries": 2
-  }
-}
-```
-
-### Minimal Engine Usage
-
-```ts
-import { SchemaDrivenExecutionEngine } from "./src/agents/orchestration.js";
-
-const engine = new SchemaDrivenExecutionEngine({
-  manifest,
-  actorExecutors: {
-    coder_actor: async ({ prompt, context, toolClearance }) => {
-      // execute actor logic here
-      return {
-        status: "success",
-        payload: {
-          summary: "done"
-        },
-        stateFlags: {
-          implemented: true
-        }
-      };
-    }
-  },
-  settings: {
-    workspaceRoot: process.cwd(),
-    runtimeContext: {
-      repo: "ai_ops",
-      ticket: "AIOPS-123"
-    }
-  }
-});
-
-const result = await engine.runSession({
-  sessionId: "session-1",
-  initialPayload: {
-    task: "Implement feature"
-  }
-});
-
-console.log(result.records);
-```
-
-## Stateless Handoffs and Context
-
-The engine does not depend on conversational memory between nodes.
-
-- Node inputs are written as handoff payloads to storage.
-- Each node execution reads a fresh context snapshot from disk.
-- Session state persists:
-  - flags
-  - metadata
-  - history events
-
-Default state root is controlled by `AGENT_STATE_ROOT`.
-
-## Recursive Orchestration Contract
-
-`AgentManager.runRecursiveAgent(...)` uses a strict two-phase fanout/fan-in model:
-
-- Phase 1 (planner): agent execution returns either a terminal result or a fanout plan (`intents[]` + `aggregate(...)`).
-- Parent tokens are released before children are scheduled, avoiding deadlocks even when `AGENT_MAX_CONCURRENT=1`.
-- Children run in isolated deterministic session IDs (`<parent>_child_<index>`), each with their own `AbortSignal`.
-- Phase 2 (aggregator): once all children complete, the aggregate phase runs as a fresh invocation.
-
-Optional child middleware hooks (`allocateForChild`, `releaseForChild`) let callers integrate provisioning/suballocation without coupling `AgentManager` to filesystem or git operations.
-
-## Resource Provisioning
-
-The provisioning layer separates:
-
-- Hard constraints: actual resource allocation enforced before run.
-- Soft constraints: injected env vars, prompt sections, metadata, and discovery snapshot.
-
-Built-in providers:
-
-- `git-worktree`
-- `port-range`
-
-Runtime injection includes:
-
-- Working directory override
-- Injected env vars such as `AGENT_WORKTREE_PATH`, `AGENT_PORT_RANGE_START`, `AGENT_PORT_RANGE_END`, `AGENT_PORT_PRIMARY`
-- Discovery file path via `AGENT_DISCOVERY_FILE`
-
-### Hierarchical Suballocation
-
-Parent sessions can suballocate resources for child sessions using:
-
-- `ResourceProvisioningOrchestrator.provisionChildSession(...)`
-- `buildChildResourceRequests(...)`
-
-Behavior:
-
-- Child worktrees are placed under a deterministic parent-scoped root.
-- Child port blocks are deterministically carved from the parent assigned range.
-
-## MCP Configuration
-
-Use `mcp.config.json` to configure shared and provider-specific MCP servers.
-
-- `MCP_CONFIG_PATH` controls config location (default `./mcp.config.json`).
-- Shared server definitions are in `servers`.
-- Provider overrides:
-  - `codex.mcp_servers`
-  - `claude.mcpServers`
-- Handlers:
-  - built-in `context7`
-  - built-in `claude-task-master`
-  - built-in `generic`
-  - custom handlers via `registerMcpHandler(...)`
-
-See `mcp.config.example.json` for a complete template.
+- `validation_fail`: routed through retry-unrolled execution (new child manager session)
+- hard failures: timeout/network/403-like failures tracked sequentially; at 2 consecutive hard failures the pipeline aborts fast
+- `AbortSignal` is passed into every actor execution input
+- session closure aborts child recursive work
 
 ## Environment Variables
 
@@ -266,14 +113,15 @@ See `mcp.config.example.json` for a complete template.
 - `AGENT_MAX_SESSION`
 - `AGENT_MAX_RECURSIVE_DEPTH`
 
-### Orchestration Limits
+### Orchestration / Context
 
 - `AGENT_STATE_ROOT`
+- `AGENT_PROJECT_CONTEXT_PATH`
 - `AGENT_TOPOLOGY_MAX_DEPTH`
 - `AGENT_TOPOLOGY_MAX_RETRIES`
 - `AGENT_RELATIONSHIP_MAX_CHILDREN`
 
-### Provisioning
+### Provisioning / Resource Controls
 
 - `AGENT_WORKTREE_ROOT`
 - `AGENT_WORKTREE_BASE_REF`
@@ -288,13 +136,11 @@ Defaults are documented in `.env.example`.
 
 ## Quality Gate
 
-Run the full pre-PR gate:
-
 ```bash
 npm run verify
 ```
 
-Equivalent individual commands:
+Equivalent:
 
 ```bash
 npm run check
@@ -303,20 +149,7 @@ npm run test
 npm run build
 ```
 
-## Build and Start
+## Notes
 
-```bash
-npm run build
-npm run start -- codex "Hello from built JS"
-```
-
-## Known Limitations
-
-- Tool clearance allowlist/banlist is currently metadata; enforcement is not yet wired into an execution sandbox.
-
-## References
-
-- `docs/orchestration-engine.md`
-- OpenAI Codex SDK docs: https://developers.openai.com/codex/sdk/
-- Codex MCP config docs: https://developers.openai.com/codex/config#model-context-protocol-mcp_servers
-- Claude Agent SDK docs: https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/agent-sdk/overview
+- Tool clearance allowlist/banlist is currently metadata only; hard enforcement must happen at the tool execution boundary.
+- `AgentManager.runRecursiveAgent(...)` remains available for low-level testing, but pipeline execution should use `SchemaDrivenExecutionEngine.runSession(...)`.
diff --git a/docs/orchestration-engine.md b/docs/orchestration-engine.md
index 339c73d..3188f9f 100644
--- a/docs/orchestration-engine.md
+++ b/docs/orchestration-engine.md
@@ -9,27 +9,39 @@ The orchestration runtime introduces explicit schema validation and deterministi
 - `AgentManifest` schema (`src/agents/manifest.ts`): validates personas, relationships, topology constraints, and a strict DAG pipeline.
 - Persona registry (`src/agents/persona-registry.ts`): renders templated prompts with runtime context and routes behavioral events.
 - Stateful storage for stateless execution (`src/agents/state-context.ts`): each node execution reads payload + state from storage to get fresh context.
-- DAG pipeline runner (`src/agents/pipeline.ts`): executes actor nodes, evaluates state/history/repo conditions, enforces retry/depth limits.
-- Orchestration facade (`src/agents/orchestration.ts`): wires manifest + registry + pipeline + state manager with env-driven limits.
+- DAG pipeline runner (`src/agents/pipeline.ts`): executes topology blocks, emits typed domain events, evaluates route conditions, and enforces retry/depth/failure limits.
+- Project context store (`src/agents/project-context.ts`): project-scoped global flags, artifact pointers, and task queue persisted across sessions.
+- Orchestration facade (`src/agents/orchestration.ts`): wires manifest + registry + pipeline + state manager + project context with env-driven limits.
 - Hierarchical resource suballocation (`src/agents/provisioning.ts`): builds child `git-worktree` and child `port-range` requests from parent allocation data.
-- Recursive manager runtime (`src/agents/manager.ts`): queue-aware fanout/fan-in execution with fail-fast child cancellation and session-level abort propagation.
+- Recursive manager runtime (`src/agents/manager.ts`): utility invoked by the pipeline engine for fan-out/retry-unrolled execution.
 
 ## Constraint model
 
 - Relationship constraints: per-edge limits (`maxDepth`, `maxChildren`) and process-level cap (`AGENT_RELATIONSHIP_MAX_CHILDREN`).
-- Pipeline constraints: per-node retry limits and process-level cap (`AGENT_TOPOLOGY_MAX_RETRIES`).
+- Pipeline constraints: per-node retry limits, retry-unrolled topology, and process-level cap (`AGENT_TOPOLOGY_MAX_RETRIES`).
 - Topology constraints: max depth and retries from manifest + env caps.
 
 ## Stateless handoffs
 
-Node payloads are persisted under the state root. Nodes do not inherit in-memory conversational context from previous node runs. Fresh context is reconstructed from the handoff and persisted state each execution.
+Node payloads are persisted under the state root. Nodes do not inherit in-memory conversational context from previous node runs. Fresh context is reconstructed from the handoff and persisted state each execution. Sessions load project context from `AGENT_PROJECT_CONTEXT_PATH` at initialization, and orchestration writes project updates on each node completion.
 
-## Recursive execution model
+## Execution topology model
 
-- Recursive planning is schema-driven: a node returns child intents rather than imperatively spawning children.
-- Parent execution ends before child runs begin; the parent token is released and reacquired only for aggregate phase execution.
-- Child sessions use deterministic hierarchical IDs (`<parent>_child_<n>`) and are cancellable through parent session closure.
-- Resource orchestration remains external to `AgentManager` via middleware hooks for child allocation/release.
+- Pipeline graph execution is DAG-based with ready-node frontiers.
+- Nodes tagged with topology blocks `parallel`/`hierarchical` are dispatched concurrently (`Promise.all`) through `AgentManager`.
+- Validation failures follow retry-unrolled behavior and are executed as new manager child sessions.
+- Sequential hard failures (timeout/network/403-like) trigger fail-fast abort.
+- `AbortSignal` is passed through actor execution input for immediate cancellation propagation.
+
+## Domain events
+
+- Domain event schema is strongly typed (`src/agents/domain-events.ts`).
+- Standard event domains:
+  - planning: `requirements_defined`, `tasks_planned`
+  - execution: `code_committed`, `task_blocked`
+  - validation: `validation_passed`, `validation_failed`
+  - integration: `branch_merged`
+- Pipeline edges can trigger on domain events (`edge.event`) in addition to legacy status triggers (`edge.on`).
 
 ## Security note
 
diff --git a/src/agents/domain-events.ts b/src/agents/domain-events.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..63290f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/agents/domain-events.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+import { randomUUID } from "node:crypto";
+import type { JsonObject } from "./types.js";
+
+export type PlanningDomainEventType = "requirements_defined" | "tasks_planned";
+export type ExecutionDomainEventType = "code_committed" | "task_blocked";
+export type ValidationDomainEventType = "validation_passed" | "validation_failed";
+export type IntegrationDomainEventType = "branch_merged";
+
+export type DomainEventType =
+  | PlanningDomainEventType
+  | ExecutionDomainEventType
+  | ValidationDomainEventType
+  | IntegrationDomainEventType;
+
+export type DomainEventSource = "pipeline" | "actor";
+
+export type DomainEventPayload = {
+  summary?: string;
+  details?: JsonObject;
+  errorCode?: string;
+  artifactPointer?: string;
+};
+
+export type DomainEvent<TType extends DomainEventType = DomainEventType> = {
+  id: string;
+  type: TType;
+  source: DomainEventSource;
+  sessionId: string;
+  nodeId: string;
+  attempt: number;
+  timestamp: string;
+  payload: DomainEventPayload;
+};
+
+export type DomainEventEmission<TType extends DomainEventType = DomainEventType> = {
+  type: TType;
+  payload?: DomainEventPayload;
+};
+
+export type DomainEventHandler<TType extends DomainEventType = DomainEventType> = (
+  event: DomainEvent<TType>,
+) => Promise<void> | void;
+
+const DOMAIN_EVENT_TYPES = new Set<DomainEventType>([
+  "requirements_defined",
+  "tasks_planned",
+  "code_committed",
+  "task_blocked",
+  "validation_passed",
+  "validation_failed",
+  "branch_merged",
+]);
+
+export function isDomainEventType(value: string): value is DomainEventType {
+  return DOMAIN_EVENT_TYPES.has(value as DomainEventType);
+}
+
+export function createDomainEvent(input: {
+  type: DomainEventType;
+  source: DomainEventSource;
+  sessionId: string;
+  nodeId: string;
+  attempt: number;
+  payload?: DomainEventPayload;
+}): DomainEvent {
+  return {
+    id: randomUUID(),
+    type: input.type,
+    source: input.source,
+    sessionId: input.sessionId,
+    nodeId: input.nodeId,
+    attempt: input.attempt,
+    timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+    payload: input.payload ?? {},
+  };
+}
+
+export class DomainEventBus {
+  private readonly handlers = new Map<DomainEventType, Set<DomainEventHandler>>();
+
+  subscribe<TType extends DomainEventType>(
+    type: TType,
+    handler: DomainEventHandler<TType>,
+  ): () => void {
+    const typedHandler = handler as DomainEventHandler;
+    const set = this.handlers.get(type);
+    if (set) {
+      set.add(typedHandler);
+    } else {
+      this.handlers.set(type, new Set([typedHandler]));
+    }
+
+    return () => {
+      const current = this.handlers.get(type);
+      current?.delete(typedHandler);
+      if (current && current.size === 0) {
+        this.handlers.delete(type);
+      }
+    };
+  }
+
+  async publish<TType extends DomainEventType>(event: DomainEvent<TType>): Promise<void> {
+    const set = this.handlers.get(event.type);
+    if (!set || set.size === 0) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    for (const handler of set) {
+      await handler(event);
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/agents/manager.ts b/src/agents/manager.ts
index 3fcc4a7..6b267db 100644
--- a/src/agents/manager.ts
+++ b/src/agents/manager.ts
@@ -297,6 +297,10 @@ export class AgentManager {
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * @deprecated Prefer running recursive topologies through SchemaDrivenExecutionEngine.runSession.
+   * This method remains available for internal orchestration and low-level tests.
+   */
   async runRecursiveAgent<TIntent extends RecursiveChildIntent, TOutput>(input: {
     sessionId: string;
     depth: number;
diff --git a/src/agents/manifest.ts b/src/agents/manifest.ts
index 9892533..4beec7a 100644
--- a/src/agents/manifest.ts
+++ b/src/agents/manifest.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { isRecord } from "./types.js";
+import { isDomainEventType, type DomainEventType } from "./domain-events.js";
 
 export type ToolClearancePolicy = {
   allowlist: string[];
@@ -45,23 +46,32 @@ export type PipelineConstraint = {
   maxRetries?: number;
 };
 
+export type NodeTopologyKind = "sequential" | "parallel" | "hierarchical" | "retry-unrolled";
+
+export type PipelineNodeTopology = {
+  kind: NodeTopologyKind;
+  blockId?: string;
+};
+
 export type PipelineNode = {
   id: string;
   actorId: string;
   personaId: string;
   constraints?: PipelineConstraint;
+  topology?: PipelineNodeTopology;
 };
 
 export type PipelineEdge = {
   from: string;
   to: string;
-  on:
+  on?:
     | "success"
     | "validation_fail"
     | "failure"
     | "always"
     | "onTaskComplete"
     | "onValidationFail";
+  event?: DomainEventType;
   when?: RouteCondition[];
 };
 
@@ -71,7 +81,7 @@ export type PipelineGraph = {
   edges: PipelineEdge[];
 };
 
-export type TopologyKind = "hierarchical" | "retry-unrolled" | "sequential";
+export type TopologyKind = "hierarchical" | "parallel" | "retry-unrolled" | "sequential";
 
 export type TopologyConstraint = {
   maxDepth: number;
@@ -216,6 +226,34 @@ function parsePipelineNode(value: unknown): PipelineNode {
     throw new Error("Pipeline node must be an object.");
   }
 
+  const topology = value.topology;
+  let parsedTopology: PipelineNodeTopology | undefined;
+  if (topology !== undefined) {
+    if (!isRecord(topology)) {
+      throw new Error("Pipeline node topology must be an object when provided.");
+    }
+
+    const kind = readString(topology, "kind");
+    if (
+      kind !== "sequential" &&
+      kind !== "parallel" &&
+      kind !== "hierarchical" &&
+      kind !== "retry-unrolled"
+    ) {
+      throw new Error(`Pipeline node topology kind "${kind}" is not supported.`);
+    }
+
+    const blockIdRaw = topology.blockId;
+    if (blockIdRaw !== undefined && (typeof blockIdRaw !== "string" || blockIdRaw.trim().length === 0)) {
+      throw new Error("Pipeline node topology blockId must be a non-empty string when provided.");
+    }
+
+    parsedTopology = {
+      kind,
+      ...(typeof blockIdRaw === "string" ? { blockId: blockIdRaw.trim() } : {}),
+    };
+  }
+
   const constraints = isRecord(value.constraints)
     ? {
         maxRetries: readOptionalInteger(value.constraints, "maxRetries", { min: 0 }),
@@ -227,6 +265,7 @@ function parsePipelineNode(value: unknown): PipelineNode {
     actorId: readString(value, "actorId"),
     personaId: readString(value, "personaId"),
     constraints,
+    ...(parsedTopology ? { topology: parsedTopology } : {}),
   };
 }
 
@@ -235,8 +274,7 @@ function parsePipelineEdge(value: unknown): PipelineEdge {
     throw new Error("Pipeline edge must be an object.");
   }
 
-  const on = readString(value, "on");
-  const validEvents: PipelineEdge["on"][] = [
+  const validEvents: NonNullable<PipelineEdge["on"]>[] = [
     "success",
     "validation_fail",
     "failure",
@@ -245,8 +283,29 @@ function parsePipelineEdge(value: unknown): PipelineEdge {
     "onValidationFail",
   ];
 
-  if (!validEvents.includes(on as PipelineEdge["on"])) {
-    throw new Error(`Pipeline edge field \"on\" has unsupported event \"${on}\".`);
+  const rawOn = value.on;
+  let on: PipelineEdge["on"];
+  if (rawOn !== undefined) {
+    if (typeof rawOn !== "string" || !validEvents.includes(rawOn as NonNullable<PipelineEdge["on"]>)) {
+      throw new Error(`Pipeline edge field "on" has unsupported event "${String(rawOn)}".`);
+    }
+    on = rawOn as NonNullable<PipelineEdge["on"]>;
+  }
+
+  const rawDomainEvent = value.event;
+  let event: DomainEventType | undefined;
+  if (rawDomainEvent !== undefined) {
+    if (typeof rawDomainEvent !== "string" || !isDomainEventType(rawDomainEvent)) {
+      throw new Error(`Pipeline edge field "event" has unsupported domain event "${String(rawDomainEvent)}".`);
+    }
+    event = rawDomainEvent;
+  }
+
+  if (!on && !event) {
+    throw new Error('Pipeline edge must provide either an "on" trigger or an "event" trigger.');
+  }
+  if (on && event) {
+    throw new Error('Pipeline edge cannot define both "on" and "event" triggers simultaneously.');
   }
 
   const rawWhen = value.when;
@@ -263,7 +322,8 @@ function parsePipelineEdge(value: unknown): PipelineEdge {
   return {
     from: readString(value, "from"),
     to: readString(value, "to"),
-    on: on as PipelineEdge["on"],
+    ...(on ? { on } : {}),
+    ...(event ? { event } : {}),
     ...(when.length > 0 ? { when } : {}),
   };
 }
@@ -298,7 +358,7 @@ function parseTopologies(value: unknown): TopologyKind[] {
     throw new Error("Manifest topologies must be a non-empty array.");
   }
 
-  const valid = new Set<TopologyKind>(["hierarchical", "retry-unrolled", "sequential"]);
+  const valid = new Set<TopologyKind>(["hierarchical", "parallel", "retry-unrolled", "sequential"]);
   const result: TopologyKind[] = [];
 
   for (const item of value) {
@@ -498,6 +558,12 @@ export function parseAgentManifest(input: unknown): AgentManifest {
     if (!personaIds.has(node.personaId)) {
       throw new Error(`Pipeline node \"${node.id}\" references unknown persona \"${node.personaId}\".`);
     }
+
+    if (node.topology && !manifest.topologies.includes(node.topology.kind as TopologyKind)) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `Pipeline node "${node.id}" topology "${node.topology.kind}" is not listed in manifest topologies.`,
+      );
+    }
   }
 
   assertPipelineDag(manifest.pipeline);
diff --git a/src/agents/orchestration.ts b/src/agents/orchestration.ts
index 7b83784..2657f80 100644
--- a/src/agents/orchestration.ts
+++ b/src/agents/orchestration.ts
@@ -1,17 +1,21 @@
 import { resolve } from "node:path";
 import { parseAgentManifest, type AgentManifest } from "./manifest.js";
+import { AgentManager } from "./manager.js";
 import {
   PersonaRegistry,
   type PersonaBehaviorEvent,
   type PersonaBehaviorHandler,
 } from "./persona-registry.js";
 import { PipelineExecutor, type ActorExecutor, type PipelineRunSummary } from "./pipeline.js";
+import { FileSystemProjectContextStore } from "./project-context.js";
+import { loadAgentManagerLimitsFromEnv } from "./runtime.js";
 import { FileSystemStateContextManager, type StoredSessionState } from "./state-context.js";
 import type { JsonObject } from "./types.js";
 
 export type OrchestrationSettings = {
   workspaceRoot: string;
   stateRoot: string;
+  projectContextPath: string;
   maxDepth: number;
   maxRetries: number;
   maxChildren: number;
@@ -51,12 +55,27 @@ function readOptionalStringEnv(key: "AGENT_STATE_ROOT", fallback: string): strin
   return raw;
 }
 
+function readOptionalProjectContextPathEnv(
+  key: "AGENT_PROJECT_CONTEXT_PATH",
+  fallback: string,
+): string {
+  const raw = process.env[key]?.trim();
+  if (!raw) {
+    return fallback;
+  }
+  return raw;
+}
+
 export function loadOrchestrationSettingsFromEnv(): Omit<
   OrchestrationSettings,
   "workspaceRoot" | "runtimeContext"
 > {
   return {
     stateRoot: readOptionalStringEnv("AGENT_STATE_ROOT", ".ai_ops/state"),
+    projectContextPath: readOptionalProjectContextPathEnv(
+      "AGENT_PROJECT_CONTEXT_PATH",
+      ".ai_ops/project-context.json",
+    ),
     maxDepth: readOptionalIntegerEnv("AGENT_TOPOLOGY_MAX_DEPTH", 4, 1),
     maxRetries: readOptionalIntegerEnv("AGENT_TOPOLOGY_MAX_RETRIES", 2, 0),
     maxChildren: readOptionalIntegerEnv("AGENT_RELATIONSHIP_MAX_CHILDREN", 4, 1),
@@ -91,9 +110,11 @@ export class SchemaDrivenExecutionEngine {
   private readonly manifest: AgentManifest;
   private readonly personaRegistry = new PersonaRegistry();
   private readonly stateManager: FileSystemStateContextManager;
+  private readonly projectContextStore: FileSystemProjectContextStore;
   private readonly actorExecutors: ReadonlyMap<string, ActorExecutor>;
   private readonly settings: OrchestrationSettings;
   private readonly childrenByParent: Map<string, AgentManifest["relationships"]>;
+  private readonly manager: AgentManager;
 
   constructor(input: {
     manifest: AgentManifest | unknown;
@@ -103,6 +124,7 @@ export class SchemaDrivenExecutionEngine {
       workspaceRoot?: string;
       runtimeContext?: Record<string, string | number | boolean>;
     };
+    manager?: AgentManager;
   }) {
     this.manifest = parseAgentManifest(input.manifest);
 
@@ -110,6 +132,7 @@ export class SchemaDrivenExecutionEngine {
     this.settings = {
       workspaceRoot: resolve(input.settings?.workspaceRoot ?? process.cwd()),
       stateRoot: resolve(input.settings?.stateRoot ?? defaults.stateRoot),
+      projectContextPath: resolve(input.settings?.projectContextPath ?? defaults.projectContextPath),
       maxDepth: input.settings?.maxDepth ?? defaults.maxDepth,
       maxRetries: input.settings?.maxRetries ?? defaults.maxRetries,
       maxChildren: input.settings?.maxChildren ?? defaults.maxChildren,
@@ -121,8 +144,12 @@ export class SchemaDrivenExecutionEngine {
     this.stateManager = new FileSystemStateContextManager({
       rootDirectory: this.settings.stateRoot,
     });
+    this.projectContextStore = new FileSystemProjectContextStore({
+      filePath: this.settings.projectContextPath,
+    });
 
     this.actorExecutors = toExecutorMap(input.actorExecutors);
+    this.manager = input.manager ?? new AgentManager(loadAgentManagerLimitsFromEnv());
 
     for (const persona of this.manifest.personas) {
       this.personaRegistry.register({
@@ -182,7 +209,11 @@ export class SchemaDrivenExecutionEngine {
     sessionId: string;
     initialPayload: JsonObject;
     initialState?: Partial<StoredSessionState>;
+    signal?: AbortSignal;
   }): Promise<PipelineRunSummary> {
+    const managerSessionId = `${input.sessionId}__pipeline`;
+    const managerSession = this.manager.createSession(managerSessionId);
+
     const executor = new PipelineExecutor(
       this.manifest,
       this.personaRegistry,
@@ -193,14 +224,21 @@ export class SchemaDrivenExecutionEngine {
         runtimeContext: this.settings.runtimeContext,
         maxDepth: Math.min(this.settings.maxDepth, this.manifest.topologyConstraints.maxDepth),
         maxRetries: Math.min(this.settings.maxRetries, this.manifest.topologyConstraints.maxRetries),
+        manager: this.manager,
+        managerSessionId,
+        projectContextStore: this.projectContextStore,
       },
     );
-
-    return executor.run({
-      sessionId: input.sessionId,
-      initialPayload: input.initialPayload,
-      initialState: input.initialState,
-    });
+    try {
+      return await executor.run({
+        sessionId: input.sessionId,
+        initialPayload: input.initialPayload,
+        initialState: input.initialState,
+        signal: input.signal,
+      });
+    } finally {
+      managerSession.close();
+    }
   }
 
   private assertRelationshipConstraints(): void {
diff --git a/src/agents/pipeline.ts b/src/agents/pipeline.ts
index 798dc5d..f78b792 100644
--- a/src/agents/pipeline.ts
+++ b/src/agents/pipeline.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,18 @@
-import { access } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { constants as fsConstants } from "node:fs";
+import { access } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { resolve } from "node:path";
+import {
+  createDomainEvent,
+  DomainEventBus,
+  type DomainEvent,
+  type DomainEventEmission,
+  type DomainEventPayload,
+  type DomainEventType,
+} from "./domain-events.js";
 import type { AgentManifest, PipelineEdge, PipelineNode, RouteCondition } from "./manifest.js";
+import type { AgentManager, RecursiveChildIntent } from "./manager.js";
 import { PersonaRegistry } from "./persona-registry.js";
+import { type ProjectContextPatch, type FileSystemProjectContextStore } from "./project-context.js";
 import {
   FileSystemStateContextManager,
   type NodeExecutionContext,
@@ -12,12 +22,17 @@ import {
 import type { JsonObject } from "./types.js";
 
 export type ActorResultStatus = "success" | "validation_fail" | "failure";
+export type ActorFailureKind = "soft" | "hard";
 
 export type ActorExecutionResult = {
   status: ActorResultStatus;
   payload?: JsonObject;
   stateFlags?: Record<string, boolean>;
   stateMetadata?: JsonObject;
+  events?: DomainEventEmission[];
+  projectContextPatch?: ProjectContextPatch;
+  failureKind?: ActorFailureKind;
+  failureCode?: string;
 };
 
 export type ActorExecutionInput = {
@@ -25,6 +40,7 @@ export type ActorExecutionInput = {
   node: PipelineNode;
   prompt: string;
   context: NodeExecutionContext;
+  signal: AbortSignal;
   toolClearance: {
     allowlist: string[];
     banlist: string[];
@@ -38,11 +54,13 @@ export type PipelineExecutionRecord = {
   depth: number;
   attempt: number;
   status: ActorResultStatus;
+  emittedEvents: DomainEventType[];
 };
 
 export type PipelineRunSummary = {
   sessionId: string;
   records: PipelineExecutionRecord[];
+  events: DomainEvent[];
   finalState: StoredSessionState;
 };
 
@@ -51,6 +69,9 @@ export type PipelineExecutorOptions = {
   runtimeContext: Record<string, string | number | boolean>;
   maxDepth: number;
   maxRetries: number;
+  manager: AgentManager;
+  managerSessionId: string;
+  projectContextStore: FileSystemProjectContextStore;
 };
 
 type QueueItem = {
@@ -58,6 +79,37 @@ type QueueItem = {
   depth: number;
 };
 
+type ExecutionGroup = {
+  concurrent: boolean;
+  items: QueueItem[];
+};
+
+type RetryIntent = RecursiveChildIntent & {
+  context: {
+    attempt: number;
+  };
+};
+
+type NodeAttemptResult = {
+  attempt: number;
+  depth: number;
+  result: ActorExecutionResult;
+  payloadForNext: JsonObject;
+  domainEvents: DomainEvent[];
+  hardFailure: boolean;
+};
+
+type NodeExecutionOutcome = {
+  queueItem: QueueItem;
+  finalResult: ActorExecutionResult;
+  finalPayload: JsonObject;
+  finalAttempt: number;
+  finalEventTypes: DomainEventType[];
+  records: PipelineExecutionRecord[];
+  events: DomainEvent[];
+  hardFailureAttempts: boolean[];
+};
+
 function toBehaviorEvent(status: ActorResultStatus): "onTaskComplete" | "onValidationFail" | undefined {
   if (status === "success") {
     return "onTaskComplete";
@@ -68,7 +120,15 @@ function toBehaviorEvent(status: ActorResultStatus): "onTaskComplete" | "onValid
   return undefined;
 }
 
-function shouldEdgeRun(edge: PipelineEdge, status: ActorResultStatus): boolean {
+function shouldEdgeRun(
+  edge: PipelineEdge,
+  status: ActorResultStatus,
+  emittedEventTypes: ReadonlySet<DomainEventType>,
+): boolean {
+  if (edge.event) {
+    return emittedEventTypes.has(edge.event);
+  }
+
   if (edge.on === "always") {
     return true;
   }
@@ -136,9 +196,134 @@ async function edgeConditionsSatisfied(
   return true;
 }
 
+function throwIfAborted(signal?: AbortSignal): void {
+  if (!signal?.aborted) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  if (signal.reason instanceof Error) {
+    throw signal.reason;
+  }
+
+  const error = new Error(
+    signal.reason === undefined
+      ? "The pipeline run was aborted."
+      : `The pipeline run was aborted: ${String(signal.reason)}.`,
+  );
+  error.name = "AbortError";
+  throw error;
+}
+
+function toAbortError(signal: AbortSignal): Error {
+  if (signal.reason instanceof Error) {
+    return signal.reason;
+  }
+
+  const error = new Error(
+    signal.reason === undefined
+      ? "The pipeline run was aborted."
+      : `The pipeline run was aborted: ${String(signal.reason)}.`,
+  );
+  error.name = "AbortError";
+  return error;
+}
+
+function toErrorMessage(error: unknown): string {
+  if (error instanceof Error) {
+    return error.message;
+  }
+  return String(error);
+}
+
+function toErrorPayload(error: unknown): JsonObject {
+  const errorMessage = toErrorMessage(error);
+  return {
+    error: errorMessage,
+  };
+}
+
+function toFailureCodeFromError(error: unknown): string | undefined {
+  if (!(error instanceof Error)) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+
+  const maybeCode = (error as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code;
+  return typeof maybeCode === "string" ? maybeCode : undefined;
+}
+
+function containsHardFailureSignal(value: string): boolean {
+  return /(timeout|timed out|network|econnreset|econnrefused|enotfound|403|forbidden)/i.test(value);
+}
+
+function inferHardFailure(result: ActorExecutionResult): boolean {
+  if (result.failureKind === "hard") {
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  if (result.status !== "failure") {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  const payloadText = (() => {
+    const message = result.payload?.error;
+    return typeof message === "string" ? message : "";
+  })();
+
+  const codeText = result.failureCode ?? "";
+  return containsHardFailureSignal(`${codeText} ${payloadText}`);
+}
+
+function defaultEventPayloadForStatus(status: ActorResultStatus): DomainEventPayload {
+  if (status === "success") {
+    return {
+      summary: "Node completed successfully.",
+    };
+  }
+  if (status === "validation_fail") {
+    return {
+      summary: "Node failed validation and requested retry/unrolled remediation.",
+    };
+  }
+  return {
+    summary: "Node execution failed and was marked blocked.",
+  };
+}
+
+function defaultEventsForStatus(status: ActorResultStatus): DomainEventType[] {
+  if (status === "success") {
+    return ["validation_passed"];
+  }
+  if (status === "validation_fail") {
+    return ["validation_failed"];
+  }
+  return ["task_blocked"];
+}
+
+function getExecutionMode(node: PipelineNode): "sequential" | "parallel" | "hierarchical" {
+  if (node.topology?.kind === "parallel") {
+    return "parallel";
+  }
+  if (node.topology?.kind === "hierarchical") {
+    return "hierarchical";
+  }
+  return "sequential";
+}
+
+function toBlockKey(item: QueueItem, node: PipelineNode): string {
+  const mode = getExecutionMode(node);
+  if (mode === "sequential") {
+    return `sequential:${item.nodeId}`;
+  }
+
+  const blockId = node.topology?.blockId;
+  return blockId ? `${mode}:${blockId}` : `${mode}:${item.nodeId}`;
+}
+
 export class PipelineExecutor {
   private readonly nodeById = new Map<string, PipelineNode>();
   private readonly edgesBySource = new Map<string, PipelineEdge[]>();
+  private readonly domainEventBus = new DomainEventBus();
+  private managerRunCounter = 0;
 
   constructor(
     private readonly manifest: AgentManifest,
@@ -165,150 +350,481 @@ export class PipelineExecutor {
     sessionId: string;
     initialPayload: JsonObject;
     initialState?: Partial<StoredSessionState>;
+    signal?: AbortSignal;
   }): Promise<PipelineRunSummary> {
-    await this.stateManager.initializeSession(input.sessionId, input.initialState);
+    const projectContext = await this.options.projectContextStore.readState();
+
+    await this.stateManager.initializeSession(input.sessionId, {
+      ...(input.initialState ?? {}),
+      flags: {
+        ...projectContext.globalFlags,
+        ...(input.initialState?.flags ?? {}),
+      },
+      metadata: {
+        project_context: {
+          globalFlags: { ...projectContext.globalFlags },
+          artifactPointers: { ...projectContext.artifactPointers },
+          taskQueue: projectContext.taskQueue.map((task) => ({
+            id: task.id,
+            title: task.title,
+            status: task.status,
+            ...(task.assignee ? { assignee: task.assignee } : {}),
+            ...(task.metadata ? { metadata: task.metadata } : {}),
+          })),
+        },
+        ...((input.initialState?.metadata ?? {}) as JsonObject),
+      },
+    });
+
     await this.stateManager.writeHandoff(input.sessionId, {
       nodeId: this.manifest.pipeline.entryNodeId,
       payload: input.initialPayload,
     });
 
     const records: PipelineExecutionRecord[] = [];
-    const queue: QueueItem[] = [{ nodeId: this.manifest.pipeline.entryNodeId, depth: 0 }];
-    const attemptsByNode = new Map<string, number>();
+    const events: DomainEvent[] = [];
+    const ready = new Map<string, number>([[this.manifest.pipeline.entryNodeId, 0]]);
+    const completedNodes = new Set<string>();
 
-    const maxExecutions = this.manifest.pipeline.nodes.length * (this.options.maxRetries + 3);
+    const maxExecutions = this.manifest.pipeline.nodes.length * (this.options.maxRetries + 4);
     let executionCount = 0;
+    let sequentialHardFailures = 0;
 
-    while (queue.length > 0) {
-      const item = queue.shift();
-      if (!item) {
-        continue;
+    while (ready.size > 0) {
+      throwIfAborted(input.signal);
+      const frontier: QueueItem[] = [...ready.entries()].map(([nodeId, depth]) => ({ nodeId, depth }));
+      ready.clear();
+
+      for (const group of this.buildExecutionGroups(frontier)) {
+        const groupResults = group.concurrent
+          ? await Promise.all(
+              group.items.map((queueItem) => this.executeNode({ ...queueItem, sessionId: input.sessionId, signal: input.signal })),
+            )
+          : await this.executeSequentialGroup(input.sessionId, group.items, input.signal);
+
+        for (const nodeResult of groupResults) {
+          records.push(...nodeResult.records);
+          events.push(...nodeResult.events);
+
+          executionCount += nodeResult.records.length;
+          if (executionCount > maxExecutions) {
+            throw new Error("Pipeline execution exceeded the configured safe execution bound.");
+          }
+
+          for (const wasHardFailure of nodeResult.hardFailureAttempts) {
+            if (wasHardFailure) {
+              sequentialHardFailures += 1;
+            } else {
+              sequentialHardFailures = 0;
+            }
+
+            if (sequentialHardFailures >= 2) {
+              throw new Error(
+                "Hard failure threshold reached (>=2 sequential API/network/403 failures). Pipeline aborted.",
+              );
+            }
+          }
+
+          completedNodes.add(nodeResult.queueItem.nodeId);
+
+          const state = await this.stateManager.readState(input.sessionId);
+          const candidateEdges = this.edgesBySource.get(nodeResult.queueItem.nodeId) ?? [];
+          const eventTypes = new Set(nodeResult.finalEventTypes);
+
+          for (const edge of candidateEdges) {
+            if (!shouldEdgeRun(edge, nodeResult.finalResult.status, eventTypes)) {
+              continue;
+            }
+
+            if (!(await edgeConditionsSatisfied(edge, state, this.options.workspaceRoot))) {
+              continue;
+            }
+
+            if (completedNodes.has(edge.to)) {
+              continue;
+            }
+
+            await this.stateManager.writeHandoff(input.sessionId, {
+              nodeId: edge.to,
+              fromNodeId: nodeResult.queueItem.nodeId,
+              payload: nodeResult.finalPayload,
+            });
+
+            const nextDepth = nodeResult.queueItem.depth + 1;
+            const existingDepth = ready.get(edge.to);
+            if (existingDepth === undefined || nextDepth < existingDepth) {
+              ready.set(edge.to, nextDepth);
+            }
+          }
+        }
       }
+    }
 
-      executionCount += 1;
-      if (executionCount > maxExecutions) {
-        throw new Error("Pipeline execution exceeded the configured safe execution bound.");
-      }
-
-      if (item.depth > this.options.maxDepth) {
-        throw new Error(
-          `Pipeline depth ${String(item.depth)} exceeds configured maxDepth ${String(this.options.maxDepth)}.`,
-        );
-      }
-
-      const node = this.nodeById.get(item.nodeId);
-      if (!node) {
-        throw new Error(`Pipeline node \"${item.nodeId}\" is not defined.`);
-      }
-
-      const executor = this.actorExecutors.get(node.actorId);
-      if (!executor) {
-        throw new Error(`No actor executor registered for actor \"${node.actorId}\".`);
-      }
-
-      const context = await this.stateManager.buildFreshNodeContext(input.sessionId, node.id);
-      const prompt = this.personaRegistry.renderSystemPrompt({
-        personaId: node.personaId,
-        runtimeContext: {
-          ...this.options.runtimeContext,
-          session_id: input.sessionId,
-          node_id: node.id,
-          depth: item.depth,
+    const finalState = await this.stateManager.readState(input.sessionId);
+    if (records.length > 0 && records[records.length - 1]?.status === "success") {
+      await this.options.projectContextStore.patchState({
+        artifactPointers: {
+          [`sessions/${input.sessionId}/final_state`]: this.stateManager.getSessionStatePath(input.sessionId),
         },
       });
-
-      const result = await executor({
-        sessionId: input.sessionId,
-        node,
-        prompt,
-        context,
-        toolClearance: this.personaRegistry.getToolClearance(node.personaId),
-      });
-
-      const attempt = (attemptsByNode.get(node.id) ?? 0) + 1;
-      attemptsByNode.set(node.id, attempt);
-      records.push({
-        nodeId: node.id,
-        depth: item.depth,
-        attempt,
-        status: result.status,
-      });
-
-      const behaviorEvent = toBehaviorEvent(result.status);
-      const behaviorPatch = behaviorEvent
-        ? await this.personaRegistry.emitBehaviorEvent({
-            personaId: node.personaId,
-            event: behaviorEvent,
-            sessionId: input.sessionId,
-            nodeId: node.id,
-            payload: result.payload ?? {},
-          })
-        : {};
-
-      const historyEvent: SessionHistoryEntry = {
-        nodeId: node.id,
-        event: result.status,
-        timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
-        ...(result.payload ? { data: result.payload } : {}),
-      };
-
-      await this.stateManager.patchState(input.sessionId, {
-        ...(result.stateFlags ? { flags: result.stateFlags } : {}),
-        metadata: {
-          ...(result.stateMetadata ?? {}),
-          ...behaviorPatch,
-        },
-        historyEvent,
-      });
-
-      const maxRetriesForNode = Math.min(
-        node.constraints?.maxRetries ?? this.manifest.topologyConstraints.maxRetries,
-        this.options.maxRetries,
-      );
-
-      if (result.status !== "success" && attempt <= maxRetriesForNode + 1) {
-        await this.stateManager.writeHandoff(input.sessionId, {
-          nodeId: node.id,
-          fromNodeId: node.id,
-          payload: result.payload ?? context.handoff.payload,
-        });
-
-        queue.push({
-          nodeId: node.id,
-          depth: item.depth,
-        });
-        continue;
-      }
-
-      const state = await this.stateManager.readState(input.sessionId);
-      const candidateEdges = this.edgesBySource.get(node.id) ?? [];
-
-      for (const edge of candidateEdges) {
-        if (!shouldEdgeRun(edge, result.status)) {
-          continue;
-        }
-
-        if (!(await edgeConditionsSatisfied(edge, state, this.options.workspaceRoot))) {
-          continue;
-        }
-
-        await this.stateManager.writeHandoff(input.sessionId, {
-          nodeId: edge.to,
-          fromNodeId: node.id,
-          payload: result.payload ?? context.handoff.payload,
-        });
-
-        queue.push({
-          nodeId: edge.to,
-          depth: item.depth + 1,
-        });
-      }
     }
 
     return {
       sessionId: input.sessionId,
       records,
-      finalState: await this.stateManager.readState(input.sessionId),
+      events,
+      finalState,
     };
   }
+
+  private buildExecutionGroups(frontier: QueueItem[]): ExecutionGroup[] {
+    const groupsByKey = new Map<string, ExecutionGroup>();
+
+    for (const item of frontier) {
+      const node = this.nodeById.get(item.nodeId);
+      if (!node) {
+        throw new Error(`Pipeline node "${item.nodeId}" is not defined.`);
+      }
+
+      const mode = getExecutionMode(node);
+      const key = toBlockKey(item, node);
+      const existing = groupsByKey.get(key);
+      if (existing) {
+        existing.items.push(item);
+      } else {
+        groupsByKey.set(key, {
+          concurrent: mode === "parallel" || mode === "hierarchical",
+          items: [item],
+        });
+      }
+    }
+
+    return [...groupsByKey.values()];
+  }
+
+  private async executeSequentialGroup(
+    sessionId: string,
+    items: QueueItem[],
+    signal?: AbortSignal,
+  ): Promise<NodeExecutionOutcome[]> {
+    const results: NodeExecutionOutcome[] = [];
+    for (const item of items) {
+      results.push(await this.executeNode({ ...item, sessionId, signal }));
+    }
+    return results;
+  }
+
+  private shouldRetryValidation(node: PipelineNode): boolean {
+    if (node.topology?.kind === "retry-unrolled") {
+      return true;
+    }
+    return this.manifest.topologies.includes("retry-unrolled");
+  }
+
+  private getMaxRetriesForNode(node: PipelineNode): number {
+    return Math.min(
+      node.constraints?.maxRetries ?? this.manifest.topologyConstraints.maxRetries,
+      this.options.maxRetries,
+    );
+  }
+
+  private buildManagerRunSessionId(nodeId: string): string {
+    this.managerRunCounter += 1;
+    const safeNodeId = nodeId.replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9_-]/g, "_");
+    return `${this.options.managerSessionId}__${safeNodeId}__run_${String(this.managerRunCounter)}`;
+  }
+
+  private async executeNode(input: {
+    sessionId: string;
+    nodeId: string;
+    depth: number;
+    signal?: AbortSignal;
+  }): Promise<NodeExecutionOutcome> {
+    const { sessionId, nodeId, depth, signal } = input;
+
+    if (depth > this.options.maxDepth) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `Pipeline depth ${String(depth)} exceeds configured maxDepth ${String(this.options.maxDepth)}.`,
+      );
+    }
+
+    const node = this.nodeById.get(nodeId);
+    if (!node) {
+      throw new Error(`Pipeline node "${nodeId}" is not defined.`);
+    }
+
+    const executor = this.actorExecutors.get(node.actorId);
+    if (!executor) {
+      throw new Error(`No actor executor registered for actor "${node.actorId}".`);
+    }
+
+    const managerRunSessionId = this.buildManagerRunSessionId(node.id);
+    const managerRunSession = this.options.manager.createSession(managerRunSessionId, {
+      parentSessionId: this.options.managerSessionId,
+    });
+
+    const nodeRecords: PipelineExecutionRecord[] = [];
+    const nodeEvents: DomainEvent[] = [];
+    const hardFailureAttempts: boolean[] = [];
+    const maxRetriesForNode = this.getMaxRetriesForNode(node);
+
+    try {
+      const output = await this.options.manager.runRecursiveAgent<RetryIntent, NodeAttemptResult>({
+        sessionId: managerRunSessionId,
+        depth,
+        signal,
+        run: async ({ intent, depth: recursiveDepth, signal: recursiveSignal }) => {
+          const attempt = (() => {
+            const intentAttempt = intent?.context?.attempt;
+            if (typeof intentAttempt === "number" && Number.isInteger(intentAttempt) && intentAttempt >= 1) {
+              return intentAttempt;
+            }
+            return 1;
+          })();
+
+          const context = await this.stateManager.buildFreshNodeContext(sessionId, node.id);
+          const prompt = this.personaRegistry.renderSystemPrompt({
+            personaId: node.personaId,
+            runtimeContext: {
+              ...this.options.runtimeContext,
+              session_id: sessionId,
+              node_id: node.id,
+              depth: recursiveDepth,
+              attempt,
+            },
+          });
+
+          const result = await this.invokeActorExecutor({
+            sessionId,
+            node,
+            prompt,
+            context,
+            signal: recursiveSignal,
+            executor,
+          });
+
+          const domainEvents = this.createAttemptDomainEvents({
+            sessionId,
+            nodeId: node.id,
+            attempt,
+            status: result.status,
+            customEvents: result.events,
+          });
+
+          await this.persistNodeAttempt({
+            sessionId,
+            node,
+            attempt,
+            result,
+            domainEvents,
+          });
+
+          const emittedEventTypes = domainEvents.map((event) => event.type);
+          nodeRecords.push({
+            nodeId: node.id,
+            depth: recursiveDepth,
+            attempt,
+            status: result.status,
+            emittedEvents: emittedEventTypes,
+          });
+          nodeEvents.push(...domainEvents);
+
+          const hardFailure = inferHardFailure(result);
+          hardFailureAttempts.push(hardFailure);
+
+          const payloadForNext = result.payload ?? context.handoff.payload;
+          const shouldRetry =
+            result.status === "validation_fail" &&
+            this.shouldRetryValidation(node) &&
+            attempt <= maxRetriesForNode;
+
+          if (!shouldRetry) {
+            return {
+              type: "complete" as const,
+              output: {
+                attempt,
+                depth: recursiveDepth,
+                result,
+                payloadForNext,
+                domainEvents,
+                hardFailure,
+              },
+            };
+          }
+
+          await this.stateManager.writeHandoff(sessionId, {
+            nodeId: node.id,
+            fromNodeId: node.id,
+            payload: payloadForNext,
+          });
+
+          return {
+            type: "fanout" as const,
+            intents: [
+              {
+                persona: node.personaId,
+                task: `retry-${node.id}-attempt-${String(attempt + 1)}`,
+                context: {
+                  attempt: attempt + 1,
+                },
+              },
+            ],
+            aggregate: ({ childResults }) => {
+              const first = childResults[0];
+              if (!first) {
+                throw new Error(`Retry aggregation for node "${node.id}" did not receive child output.`);
+              }
+              return first.output;
+            },
+          };
+        },
+      });
+
+      return {
+        queueItem: {
+          nodeId: node.id,
+          depth,
+        },
+        finalResult: output.result,
+        finalPayload: output.payloadForNext,
+        finalAttempt: output.attempt,
+        finalEventTypes: output.domainEvents.map((event) => event.type),
+        records: nodeRecords,
+        events: nodeEvents,
+        hardFailureAttempts,
+      };
+    } finally {
+      managerRunSession.close();
+    }
+  }
+
+  private async invokeActorExecutor(input: {
+    sessionId: string;
+    node: PipelineNode;
+    prompt: string;
+    context: NodeExecutionContext;
+    signal: AbortSignal;
+    executor: ActorExecutor;
+  }): Promise<ActorExecutionResult> {
+    try {
+      throwIfAborted(input.signal);
+      return await input.executor({
+        sessionId: input.sessionId,
+        node: input.node,
+        prompt: input.prompt,
+        context: input.context,
+        signal: input.signal,
+        toolClearance: this.personaRegistry.getToolClearance(input.node.personaId),
+      });
+    } catch (error) {
+      if (input.signal.aborted) {
+        throw toAbortError(input.signal);
+      }
+
+      const failureCode = toFailureCodeFromError(error);
+      const failureKind = containsHardFailureSignal(`${failureCode ?? ""} ${toErrorMessage(error)}`)
+        ? "hard"
+        : "soft";
+
+      return {
+        status: "failure",
+        payload: toErrorPayload(error),
+        failureCode,
+        failureKind,
+      };
+    }
+  }
+
+  private createAttemptDomainEvents(input: {
+    sessionId: string;
+    nodeId: string;
+    attempt: number;
+    status: ActorResultStatus;
+    customEvents?: DomainEventEmission[];
+  }): DomainEvent[] {
+    const eventPayloadByType = new Map<DomainEventType, DomainEventPayload>();
+
+    for (const type of defaultEventsForStatus(input.status)) {
+      eventPayloadByType.set(type, defaultEventPayloadForStatus(input.status));
+    }
+
+    for (const customEvent of input.customEvents ?? []) {
+      eventPayloadByType.set(customEvent.type, customEvent.payload ?? {});
+    }
+
+    return [...eventPayloadByType.entries()].map(([type, payload]) =>
+      createDomainEvent({
+        type,
+        source: "actor",
+        sessionId: input.sessionId,
+        nodeId: input.nodeId,
+        attempt: input.attempt,
+        payload,
+      }),
+    );
+  }
+
+  private async persistNodeAttempt(input: {
+    sessionId: string;
+    node: PipelineNode;
+    attempt: number;
+    result: ActorExecutionResult;
+    domainEvents: DomainEvent[];
+  }): Promise<void> {
+    const behaviorEvent = toBehaviorEvent(input.result.status);
+    const behaviorPatch = behaviorEvent
+      ? await this.personaRegistry.emitBehaviorEvent({
+          personaId: input.node.personaId,
+          event: behaviorEvent,
+          sessionId: input.sessionId,
+          nodeId: input.node.id,
+          payload: input.result.payload ?? {},
+        })
+      : {};
+
+    const legacyHistoryEvent: SessionHistoryEntry = {
+      nodeId: input.node.id,
+      event: input.result.status,
+      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+      ...(input.result.payload ? { data: input.result.payload } : {}),
+    };
+
+    const domainHistoryEvents: SessionHistoryEntry[] = input.domainEvents.map((event) => ({
+      nodeId: input.node.id,
+      event: event.type,
+      timestamp: event.timestamp,
+      data: {
+        source: event.source,
+        attempt: event.attempt,
+        ...(event.payload.summary ? { summary: event.payload.summary } : {}),
+        ...(event.payload.errorCode ? { errorCode: event.payload.errorCode } : {}),
+        ...(event.payload.artifactPointer ? { artifactPointer: event.payload.artifactPointer } : {}),
+        ...(event.payload.details ? { details: event.payload.details } : {}),
+      },
+    }));
+
+    await this.stateManager.patchState(input.sessionId, {
+      ...(input.result.stateFlags ? { flags: input.result.stateFlags } : {}),
+      metadata: {
+        ...(input.result.stateMetadata ?? {}),
+        ...behaviorPatch,
+      },
+      historyEvent: legacyHistoryEvent,
+      historyEvents: domainHistoryEvents,
+    });
+
+    for (const event of input.domainEvents) {
+      await this.domainEventBus.publish(event);
+    }
+
+    const patch: ProjectContextPatch = {
+      ...(input.result.projectContextPatch ?? {}),
+      artifactPointers: {
+        [`sessions/${input.sessionId}/last_completed_node`]: input.node.id,
+        [`sessions/${input.sessionId}/last_attempt`]: String(input.attempt),
+        ...(input.result.projectContextPatch?.artifactPointers ?? {}),
+      },
+    };
+    await this.options.projectContextStore.patchState(patch);
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/agents/project-context.ts b/src/agents/project-context.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e96e07c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/agents/project-context.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,218 @@
+import { mkdir, readFile, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { dirname, resolve } from "node:path";
+import { deepCloneJson, isRecord, type JsonObject, type JsonValue } from "./types.js";
+
+export type ProjectTaskStatus = "pending" | "in_progress" | "blocked" | "done";
+
+export type ProjectTask = {
+  id: string;
+  title: string;
+  status: ProjectTaskStatus;
+  assignee?: string;
+  metadata?: JsonObject;
+};
+
+export type ProjectContextState = {
+  globalFlags: Record<string, boolean>;
+  artifactPointers: Record<string, string>;
+  taskQueue: ProjectTask[];
+};
+
+export type ProjectContextPatch = {
+  globalFlags?: Record<string, boolean>;
+  artifactPointers?: Record<string, string>;
+  taskQueue?: ProjectTask[];
+  enqueueTasks?: ProjectTask[];
+  upsertTasks?: ProjectTask[];
+};
+
+const DEFAULT_PROJECT_CONTEXT: ProjectContextState = {
+  globalFlags: {},
+  artifactPointers: {},
+  taskQueue: [],
+};
+
+function assertNonEmptyString(value: unknown, label: string): string {
+  if (typeof value !== "string" || value.trim().length === 0) {
+    throw new Error(`${label} must be a non-empty string.`);
+  }
+  return value.trim();
+}
+
+function toJsonObject(value: unknown, label: string): JsonObject {
+  if (!isRecord(value)) {
+    throw new Error(`${label} is malformed.`);
+  }
+  return value as JsonObject;
+}
+
+function toTaskStatus(value: unknown, label: string): ProjectTaskStatus {
+  if (value === "pending" || value === "in_progress" || value === "blocked" || value === "done") {
+    return value;
+  }
+  throw new Error(`${label} has unsupported status "${String(value)}".`);
+}
+
+function toProjectTask(value: unknown, label: string): ProjectTask {
+  if (!isRecord(value)) {
+    throw new Error(`${label} is malformed.`);
+  }
+
+  const assignee = value.assignee;
+  if (assignee !== undefined && (typeof assignee !== "string" || assignee.trim().length === 0)) {
+    throw new Error(`${label}.assignee must be a non-empty string when provided.`);
+  }
+
+  return {
+    id: assertNonEmptyString(value.id, `${label}.id`),
+    title: assertNonEmptyString(value.title, `${label}.title`),
+    status: toTaskStatus(value.status, `${label}.status`),
+    ...(typeof assignee === "string" ? { assignee: assignee.trim() } : {}),
+    ...(value.metadata !== undefined
+      ? { metadata: toJsonObject(value.metadata, `${label}.metadata`) }
+      : {}),
+  };
+}
+
+function toBooleanRecord(value: unknown, label: string): Record<string, boolean> {
+  if (!isRecord(value)) {
+    throw new Error(`${label} is malformed.`);
+  }
+
+  const out: Record<string, boolean> = {};
+  for (const [key, raw] of Object.entries(value)) {
+    if (typeof raw !== "boolean") {
+      throw new Error(`${label}.${key} must be a boolean.`);
+    }
+    out[key] = raw;
+  }
+
+  return out;
+}
+
+function toStringRecord(value: unknown, label: string): Record<string, string> {
+  if (!isRecord(value)) {
+    throw new Error(`${label} is malformed.`);
+  }
+
+  const out: Record<string, string> = {};
+  for (const [key, raw] of Object.entries(value)) {
+    out[key] = assertNonEmptyString(raw, `${label}.${key}`);
+  }
+
+  return out;
+}
+
+function toProjectContextState(value: unknown): ProjectContextState {
+  if (!isRecord(value)) {
+    throw new Error("Project context store is malformed.");
+  }
+
+  const tasksRaw = value.taskQueue;
+  if (!Array.isArray(tasksRaw)) {
+    throw new Error("Project context taskQueue is malformed.");
+  }
+
+  return {
+    globalFlags: toBooleanRecord(value.globalFlags, "Project context globalFlags"),
+    artifactPointers: toStringRecord(value.artifactPointers, "Project context artifactPointers"),
+    taskQueue: tasksRaw.map((task, index) => toProjectTask(task, `Project context taskQueue[${String(index)}]`)),
+  };
+}
+
+function cloneState(state: ProjectContextState): ProjectContextState {
+  return deepCloneJson(state as JsonValue) as ProjectContextState;
+}
+
+function mergeUpsertTasks(current: ProjectTask[], upserts: ProjectTask[]): ProjectTask[] {
+  if (upserts.length === 0) {
+    return current;
+  }
+
+  const byId = new Map<string, ProjectTask>();
+  for (const task of current) {
+    byId.set(task.id, task);
+  }
+  for (const task of upserts) {
+    byId.set(task.id, task);
+  }
+
+  return [...byId.values()];
+}
+
+export class FileSystemProjectContextStore {
+  private readonly filePath: string;
+  private queue: Promise<void> = Promise.resolve();
+
+  constructor(input: { filePath: string }) {
+    this.filePath = resolve(input.filePath);
+  }
+
+  getFilePath(): string {
+    return this.filePath;
+  }
+
+  async readState(): Promise<ProjectContextState> {
+    try {
+      const content = await readFile(this.filePath, "utf8");
+      const parsed = JSON.parse(content) as unknown;
+      return toProjectContextState(parsed);
+    } catch (error) {
+      if ((error as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code === "ENOENT") {
+        return cloneState(DEFAULT_PROJECT_CONTEXT);
+      }
+      throw error;
+    }
+  }
+
+  async writeState(state: ProjectContextState): Promise<void> {
+    await this.runSerialized(async () => {
+      await mkdir(dirname(this.filePath), { recursive: true });
+      await writeFile(this.filePath, `${JSON.stringify(state, null, 2)}\n`, "utf8");
+    });
+  }
+
+  async patchState(patch: ProjectContextPatch): Promise<ProjectContextState> {
+    return this.runSerialized(async () => {
+      const current = await this.readState();
+
+      if (patch.globalFlags) {
+        Object.assign(current.globalFlags, patch.globalFlags);
+      }
+      if (patch.artifactPointers) {
+        Object.assign(current.artifactPointers, patch.artifactPointers);
+      }
+      if (patch.taskQueue) {
+        current.taskQueue = patch.taskQueue.map((task, index) =>
+          toProjectTask(task, `Project context patch taskQueue[${String(index)}]`),
+        );
+      }
+      if (patch.enqueueTasks && patch.enqueueTasks.length > 0) {
+        current.taskQueue.push(
+          ...patch.enqueueTasks.map((task, index) =>
+            toProjectTask(task, `Project context patch enqueueTasks[${String(index)}]`),
+          ),
+        );
+      }
+      if (patch.upsertTasks && patch.upsertTasks.length > 0) {
+        const upsertTasks = patch.upsertTasks.map((task, index) =>
+          toProjectTask(task, `Project context patch upsertTasks[${String(index)}]`),
+        );
+        current.taskQueue = mergeUpsertTasks(current.taskQueue, upsertTasks);
+      }
+
+      await mkdir(dirname(this.filePath), { recursive: true });
+      await writeFile(this.filePath, `${JSON.stringify(current, null, 2)}\n`, "utf8");
+      return current;
+    });
+  }
+
+  private runSerialized<T>(operation: () => Promise<T>): Promise<T> {
+    const run = this.queue.then(operation, operation);
+    this.queue = run.then(
+      () => undefined,
+      () => undefined,
+    );
+    return run;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/agents/state-context.ts b/src/agents/state-context.ts
index f68cc33..6a8ae97 100644
--- a/src/agents/state-context.ts
+++ b/src/agents/state-context.ts
@@ -161,6 +161,10 @@ export class FileSystemStateContextManager {
     return this.rootDirectory;
   }
 
+  getSessionStatePath(sessionId: string): string {
+    return toStatePath(this.rootDirectory, sessionId);
+  }
+
   async initializeSession(
     sessionId: string,
     initialState: Partial<StoredSessionState> = {},
@@ -205,6 +209,7 @@ export class FileSystemStateContextManager {
       flags?: Record<string, boolean>;
       metadata?: JsonObject;
       historyEvent?: SessionHistoryEntry;
+      historyEvents?: SessionHistoryEntry[];
     },
   ): Promise<StoredSessionState> {
     const current = await this.readState(sessionId);
@@ -218,6 +223,9 @@ export class FileSystemStateContextManager {
     if (patch.historyEvent) {
       current.history.push(patch.historyEvent);
     }
+    if (patch.historyEvents && patch.historyEvents.length > 0) {
+      current.history.push(...patch.historyEvents);
+    }
 
     await this.writeState(sessionId, current);
     return current;
diff --git a/tests/orchestration-engine.test.ts b/tests/orchestration-engine.test.ts
index 01950c3..0768199 100644
--- a/tests/orchestration-engine.test.ts
+++ b/tests/orchestration-engine.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import test from "node:test";
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
-import { mkdtemp, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { mkdtemp, readFile, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
 import { resolve } from "node:path";
 import { SchemaDrivenExecutionEngine } from "../src/agents/orchestration.js";
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ function createManifest(): unknown {
 test("runs DAG pipeline with state-dependent routing and retry behavior", async () => {
   const workspaceRoot = await mkdtemp(resolve(tmpdir(), "ai-ops-workspace-"));
   const stateRoot = await mkdtemp(resolve(tmpdir(), "ai-ops-session-state-"));
+  const projectContextPath = resolve(stateRoot, "project-context.json");
 
   await writeFile(resolve(workspaceRoot, "PRD.md"), "# PRD\n", "utf8");
 
@@ -156,6 +157,7 @@ test("runs DAG pipeline with state-dependent routing and retry behavior", async
     settings: {
       workspaceRoot,
       stateRoot,
+      projectContextPath,
       runtimeContext: {
         repo: "ai_ops",
         ticket: "AIOPS-123",
@@ -246,3 +248,422 @@ test("runs DAG pipeline with state-dependent routing and retry behavior", async
 
   assert.deepEqual(engine.planChildPersonas({ parentPersonaId: "task", depth: 1 }), ["coder"]);
 });
+
+test("runs parallel topology blocks concurrently and routes via domain-event edges", async () => {
+  const workspaceRoot = await mkdtemp(resolve(tmpdir(), "ai-ops-workspace-"));
+  const stateRoot = await mkdtemp(resolve(tmpdir(), "ai-ops-session-state-"));
+  const projectContextPath = resolve(stateRoot, "project-context.json");
+
+  const manifest = {
+    schemaVersion: "1",
+    topologies: ["parallel", "retry-unrolled", "sequential"],
+    personas: [
+      {
+        id: "planner",
+        displayName: "Planner",
+        systemPromptTemplate: "Planner {{repo}}",
+        toolClearance: {
+          allowlist: ["read_file"],
+          banlist: [],
+        },
+      },
+      {
+        id: "coder",
+        displayName: "Coder",
+        systemPromptTemplate: "Coder {{repo}}",
+        toolClearance: {
+          allowlist: ["read_file", "write_file"],
+          banlist: [],
+        },
+      },
+      {
+        id: "integrator",
+        displayName: "Integrator",
+        systemPromptTemplate: "Integrator {{repo}}",
+        toolClearance: {
+          allowlist: ["read_file"],
+          banlist: [],
+        },
+      },
+    ],
+    relationships: [],
+    topologyConstraints: {
+      maxDepth: 5,
+      maxRetries: 2,
+    },
+    pipeline: {
+      entryNodeId: "plan",
+      nodes: [
+        {
+          id: "plan",
+          actorId: "plan_actor",
+          personaId: "planner",
+        },
+        {
+          id: "code-a",
+          actorId: "code_a",
+          personaId: "coder",
+          topology: {
+            kind: "parallel",
+            blockId: "implementation",
+          },
+        },
+        {
+          id: "code-b",
+          actorId: "code_b",
+          personaId: "coder",
+          topology: {
+            kind: "parallel",
+            blockId: "implementation",
+          },
+        },
+        {
+          id: "integrate",
+          actorId: "integrate_actor",
+          personaId: "integrator",
+        },
+      ],
+      edges: [
+        {
+          from: "plan",
+          to: "code-a",
+          on: "success",
+        },
+        {
+          from: "plan",
+          to: "code-b",
+          on: "success",
+        },
+        {
+          from: "code-a",
+          to: "integrate",
+          event: "code_committed",
+        },
+        {
+          from: "code-b",
+          to: "integrate",
+          event: "code_committed",
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+  } as const;
+
+  let activeCoders = 0;
+  let maxConcurrentCoders = 0;
+  let releaseCoders: (() => void) | undefined;
+  const codersReleased = new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
+    releaseCoders = resolve;
+  });
+  let coderStarts = 0;
+  let notifyBothCodersStarted: (() => void) | undefined;
+  const bothCodersStarted = new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
+    notifyBothCodersStarted = resolve;
+  });
+
+  const engine = new SchemaDrivenExecutionEngine({
+    manifest,
+    settings: {
+      workspaceRoot,
+      stateRoot,
+      projectContextPath,
+      runtimeContext: {
+        repo: "ai_ops",
+      },
+      maxDepth: 5,
+      maxRetries: 2,
+      maxChildren: 4,
+    },
+    actorExecutors: {
+      plan_actor: async () => ({
+        status: "success",
+        payload: {
+          phase: "plan",
+        },
+      }),
+      code_a: async () => {
+        activeCoders += 1;
+        maxConcurrentCoders = Math.max(maxConcurrentCoders, activeCoders);
+        coderStarts += 1;
+        if (coderStarts === 2) {
+          notifyBothCodersStarted?.();
+        }
+        await codersReleased;
+        activeCoders = Math.max(activeCoders - 1, 0);
+        return {
+          status: "success",
+          payload: {
+            branch: "feature/a",
+          },
+          events: [
+            {
+              type: "code_committed",
+              payload: {
+                summary: "Feature A committed",
+              },
+            },
+          ],
+          projectContextPatch: {
+            artifactPointers: {
+              feature_a_commit: "feature/a@abc123",
+            },
+          },
+        };
+      },
+      code_b: async () => {
+        activeCoders += 1;
+        maxConcurrentCoders = Math.max(maxConcurrentCoders, activeCoders);
+        coderStarts += 1;
+        if (coderStarts === 2) {
+          notifyBothCodersStarted?.();
+        }
+        await codersReleased;
+        activeCoders = Math.max(activeCoders - 1, 0);
+        return {
+          status: "success",
+          payload: {
+            branch: "feature/b",
+          },
+          events: [
+            {
+              type: "code_committed",
+              payload: {
+                summary: "Feature B committed",
+              },
+            },
+          ],
+          projectContextPatch: {
+            enqueueTasks: [
+              {
+                id: "task-integrate",
+                title: "Integrate feature branches",
+                status: "pending",
+              },
+            ],
+          },
+        };
+      },
+      integrate_actor: async () => ({
+        status: "success",
+        payload: {
+          merged: true,
+        },
+        events: [
+          {
+            type: "branch_merged",
+            payload: {
+              summary: "Branches merged",
+            },
+          },
+        ],
+      }),
+    },
+  });
+
+  const runPromise = engine.runSession({
+    sessionId: "session-parallel-domain-events",
+    initialPayload: {
+      task: "Parallel implementation",
+    },
+  });
+
+  await bothCodersStarted;
+  releaseCoders?.();
+  const result = await runPromise;
+
+  assert.equal(maxConcurrentCoders, 2);
+  assert.deepEqual(
+    result.records.map((record) => `${record.nodeId}:${record.status}`),
+    ["plan:success", "code-a:success", "code-b:success", "integrate:success"],
+  );
+
+  const storedContextRaw = await readFile(projectContextPath, "utf8");
+  const storedContext = JSON.parse(storedContextRaw) as {
+    artifactPointers: Record<string, string>;
+    taskQueue: Array<{ id: string }>;
+  };
+  assert.equal(storedContext.artifactPointers.feature_a_commit, "feature/a@abc123");
+  assert.equal(storedContext.taskQueue[0]?.id, "task-integrate");
+  const finalStatePointer = storedContext.artifactPointers["sessions/session-parallel-domain-events/final_state"];
+  assert.ok(finalStatePointer);
+  assert.match(finalStatePointer, /state\.json$/);
+});
+
+test("fails fast after two sequential hard failures", async () => {
+  const workspaceRoot = await mkdtemp(resolve(tmpdir(), "ai-ops-workspace-"));
+  const stateRoot = await mkdtemp(resolve(tmpdir(), "ai-ops-session-state-"));
+  const projectContextPath = resolve(stateRoot, "project-context.json");
+
+  const manifest = {
+    schemaVersion: "1",
+    topologies: ["sequential"],
+    personas: [
+      {
+        id: "coder",
+        displayName: "Coder",
+        systemPromptTemplate: "Coder",
+        toolClearance: {
+          allowlist: [],
+          banlist: [],
+        },
+      },
+    ],
+    relationships: [],
+    topologyConstraints: {
+      maxDepth: 4,
+      maxRetries: 0,
+    },
+    pipeline: {
+      entryNodeId: "first",
+      nodes: [
+        {
+          id: "first",
+          actorId: "first_actor",
+          personaId: "coder",
+        },
+        {
+          id: "second",
+          actorId: "second_actor",
+          personaId: "coder",
+        },
+      ],
+      edges: [
+        {
+          from: "first",
+          to: "second",
+          on: "failure",
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+  } as const;
+
+  const engine = new SchemaDrivenExecutionEngine({
+    manifest,
+    settings: {
+      workspaceRoot,
+      stateRoot,
+      projectContextPath,
+      maxDepth: 4,
+      maxRetries: 0,
+      maxChildren: 2,
+      runtimeContext: {},
+    },
+    actorExecutors: {
+      first_actor: async () => ({
+        status: "failure",
+        payload: {
+          error: "network timeout while reaching upstream API",
+        },
+        failureKind: "hard",
+      }),
+      second_actor: async () => ({
+        status: "failure",
+        payload: {
+          error: "HTTP 403 from provider",
+        },
+        failureKind: "hard",
+      }),
+    },
+  });
+
+  await assert.rejects(
+    () =>
+      engine.runSession({
+        sessionId: "session-hard-failure",
+        initialPayload: {
+          task: "Trigger hard failures",
+        },
+      }),
+    /Hard failure threshold reached/,
+  );
+});
+
+test("propagates abort signal into actor execution and stops the run", async () => {
+  const workspaceRoot = await mkdtemp(resolve(tmpdir(), "ai-ops-workspace-"));
+  const stateRoot = await mkdtemp(resolve(tmpdir(), "ai-ops-session-state-"));
+  const projectContextPath = resolve(stateRoot, "project-context.json");
+
+  const manifest = {
+    schemaVersion: "1",
+    topologies: ["sequential"],
+    personas: [
+      {
+        id: "coder",
+        displayName: "Coder",
+        systemPromptTemplate: "Coder",
+        toolClearance: {
+          allowlist: [],
+          banlist: [],
+        },
+      },
+    ],
+    relationships: [],
+    topologyConstraints: {
+      maxDepth: 2,
+      maxRetries: 0,
+    },
+    pipeline: {
+      entryNodeId: "long-run",
+      nodes: [
+        {
+          id: "long-run",
+          actorId: "long_actor",
+          personaId: "coder",
+        },
+      ],
+      edges: [],
+    },
+  } as const;
+
+  let observedAbort = false;
+  const engine = new SchemaDrivenExecutionEngine({
+    manifest,
+    settings: {
+      workspaceRoot,
+      stateRoot,
+      projectContextPath,
+      maxDepth: 2,
+      maxRetries: 0,
+      maxChildren: 2,
+      runtimeContext: {},
+    },
+    actorExecutors: {
+      long_actor: async (input) => {
+        await new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
+          const timeout = setTimeout(resolve, 5000);
+          input.signal.addEventListener(
+            "abort",
+            () => {
+              observedAbort = true;
+              clearTimeout(timeout);
+              reject(input.signal.reason ?? new Error("aborted"));
+            },
+            { once: true },
+          );
+        });
+
+        return {
+          status: "success",
+          payload: {
+            unreachable: true,
+          },
+        };
+      },
+    },
+  });
+
+  const controller = new AbortController();
+  const runPromise = engine.runSession({
+    sessionId: "session-abort",
+    initialPayload: {
+      task: "Abort test",
+    },
+    signal: controller.signal,
+  });
+
+  setTimeout(() => {
+    controller.abort(new Error("manual-abort"));
+  }, 20);
+
+  await assert.rejects(() => runPromise, /(AbortError|manual-abort|aborted)/i);
+  assert.equal(observedAbort, true);
+});
diff --git a/tests/project-context.test.ts b/tests/project-context.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d7de7b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/project-context.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+import test from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { mkdtemp } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { resolve } from "node:path";
+import { FileSystemProjectContextStore } from "../src/agents/project-context.js";
+
+test("project context store reads defaults and applies domain patches", async () => {
+  const root = await mkdtemp(resolve(tmpdir(), "ai-ops-project-context-"));
+  const store = new FileSystemProjectContextStore({
+    filePath: resolve(root, "project-context.json"),
+  });
+
+  const initial = await store.readState();
+  assert.deepEqual(initial, {
+    globalFlags: {},
+    artifactPointers: {},
+    taskQueue: [],
+  });
+
+  await store.patchState({
+    globalFlags: {
+      requirements_defined: true,
+    },
+    artifactPointers: {
+      prd: "docs/PRD.md",
+    },
+    enqueueTasks: [
+      {
+        id: "task-1",
+        title: "Build parser",
+        status: "pending",
+      },
+    ],
+  });
+
+  const updated = await store.patchState({
+    upsertTasks: [
+      {
+        id: "task-1",
+        title: "Build parser",
+        status: "in_progress",
+      },
+      {
+        id: "task-2",
+        title: "Add tests",
+        status: "pending",
+      },
+    ],
+  });
+
+  assert.equal(updated.globalFlags.requirements_defined, true);
+  assert.equal(updated.artifactPointers.prd, "docs/PRD.md");
+  assert.deepEqual(
+    updated.taskQueue.map((task) => `${task.id}:${task.status}`),
+    ["task-1:in_progress", "task-2:pending"],
+  );
+});