diff --git a/e2e/test_suite14_stateful_domain.py b/e2e/test_suite14_stateful_domain.py
index 76e1aad3..b76a3a5d 100644
--- a/e2e/test_suite14_stateful_domain.py
+++ b/e2e/test_suite14_stateful_domain.py
@@ -133,8 +133,20 @@ def _get_task_to_domain(execution_id):
 
 
 def _find_tasks_by_type(tasks, task_def_name):
-    """Find tasks matching a taskDefName (or containing it)."""
-    return [t for t in tasks if task_def_name in t.get("taskDefName", "")]
+    """Find tasks matching a taskDefName or referenceTaskName (or containing it).
+
+    referenceTaskName is checked too because compiler-generated system tasks carry
+    their identity there, not in taskDefName: handoff_check is emitted as an INLINE
+    task, so its taskDefName is literally "INLINE" and only the reference name says
+    what it is. Matching taskDefName alone made assertions on those tasks fail even
+    when the tasks existed and had COMPLETED.
+    """
+    return [
+        t
+        for t in tasks
+        if task_def_name in t.get("taskDefName", "")
+        or task_def_name in t.get("referenceTaskName", "")
+    ]
 
 
 def _find_scheduled_tasks(tasks):
diff --git a/src/conductor/ai/agents/config_serializer.py b/src/conductor/ai/agents/config_serializer.py
index fcc8ed67..51c50dbf 100644
--- a/src/conductor/ai/agents/config_serializer.py
+++ b/src/conductor/ai/agents/config_serializer.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ def serialize(self, agent: "Agent") -> dict:
         """
         return self._serialize_agent(agent)
 
-    def _serialize_agent(self, agent: "Agent") -> dict:
+    def _serialize_agent(self, agent: "Agent", *, inherited_stateful: bool = False) -> dict:
         from conductor.ai.agents.agent import PromptTemplate
 
         # Skill agents — emit the raw skill config so the server's
@@ -106,14 +106,22 @@ def _serialize_agent(self, agent: "Agent") -> dict:
 
         # Tools
         if agent.tools:
-            agent_stateful = getattr(agent, "stateful", False)
+            # Statefulness belongs to the composite, not only the agent that declares it:
+            # a member of a stateful swarm/team shares the parent's session, so its tools
+            # are stateful too. Reading only `agent.stateful` left member tools unmarked,
+            # which disagreed with how the server routes their tasks. Mirrors the same
+            # inheritance in AgentRuntime._register_workers.
+            agent_stateful = bool(getattr(agent, "stateful", False)) or inherited_stateful
             config["tools"] = [
                 self._serialize_tool(t, agent_stateful=agent_stateful) for t in agent.tools
             ]
 
         # Sub-agents (recursive)
         if agent.agents:
-            config["agents"] = [self._serialize_agent(a) for a in agent.agents]
+            _stateful = bool(getattr(agent, "stateful", False)) or inherited_stateful
+            config["agents"] = [
+                self._serialize_agent(a, inherited_stateful=_stateful) for a in agent.agents
+            ]
 
         # Router
         if agent.router is not None:
diff --git a/src/conductor/ai/agents/runtime/runtime.py b/src/conductor/ai/agents/runtime/runtime.py
index e4a1709c..0872ff0b 100644
--- a/src/conductor/ai/agents/runtime/runtime.py
+++ b/src/conductor/ai/agents/runtime/runtime.py
@@ -1032,7 +1032,12 @@ def _collect_worker_names(self, agent: Agent, *, required_workers: Optional[set]
         return names
 
     def _register_workers(
-        self, agent: Agent, *, required_workers: Optional[set] = None, domain: Optional[str] = None
+        self,
+        agent: Agent,
+        *,
+        required_workers: Optional[set] = None,
+        domain: Optional[str] = None,
+        inherited_stateful: bool = False,
     ) -> None:
         """Register all workers needed for SDK-side execution.
 
@@ -1084,6 +1089,14 @@ def _server_needs(task_name: str) -> bool:
                 self._register_passthrough_worker(worker)
             return
 
+        # Statefulness is a property of the composite, not just the agent that declares it.
+        # A member of a stateful swarm/team shares the parent's session, so the server
+        # domain-routes ITS tool tasks too. Reading only `agent.stateful` here left member
+        # tool workers polling the default queue while their tasks sat in the domain queue:
+        # pollCount stayed 0, the fork's JOIN never satisfied, and the workflow timed out.
+        # Inherit downward so worker registration matches how the server routes.
+        effective_stateful = bool(getattr(agent, "stateful", False)) or inherited_stateful
+
         # 1. Tools (and tool-level guardrails) — always registered
         if agent.tools:
             tc = ToolRegistry()
@@ -1091,7 +1104,7 @@ def _server_needs(task_name: str) -> bool:
                 agent.tools,
                 agent.name,
                 domain=domain,
-                agent_stateful=getattr(agent, "stateful", False),
+                agent_stateful=effective_stateful,
             )
             for t in agent.tools:
                 from conductor.ai.agents.tool import get_tool_def
@@ -1101,7 +1114,11 @@ def _server_needs(task_name: str) -> bool:
                 if td.tool_type == "agent_tool" and td.config and "agent" in td.config:
                     nested_agent = td.config["agent"]
                     if not getattr(nested_agent, "external", False):
-                        self._register_workers(nested_agent, required_workers=required_workers)
+                        self._register_workers(
+                            nested_agent,
+                            required_workers=required_workers,
+                            inherited_stateful=effective_stateful,
+                        )
                 # Register tool-level guardrail workers
                 tool_guardrails = [
                     g
@@ -1240,7 +1257,12 @@ def _server_needs(task_name: str) -> bool:
                     )
                     self._register_passthrough_worker(worker)
             elif not sub.external:
-                self._register_workers(sub, required_workers=required_workers, domain=domain)
+                self._register_workers(
+                    sub,
+                    required_workers=required_workers,
+                    domain=domain,
+                    inherited_stateful=effective_stateful,
+                )
 
     # ── Worker registration helpers ────────────────────────────────