diff --git a/packages/pulse/src/workflows/coding-tdd.test.ts b/packages/pulse/src/workflows/coding-tdd.test.ts
index 79a5660..263f47a 100644
--- a/packages/pulse/src/workflows/coding-tdd.test.ts
+++ b/packages/pulse/src/workflows/coding-tdd.test.ts
@@ -95,6 +95,22 @@ describe('coding-tdd WorkflowType', () => {
     expect(wf.moderator({ role: START, meta: null }, 'x')).toBe('test-planner');
   });
 
+  it('moderator: test-planner → test-reviewer', () => {
+    const wf = createTddCodingWorkflow();
+    expect(
+      wf.moderator(
+        {
+          role: 'test-planner',
+          meta: {
+            testPlan: '# p',
+            scenarios: ['a'],
+          },
+        },
+        'x',
+      ),
+    ).toBe('test-reviewer');
+  });
+
   it('moderator: test-reviewer approved → test-coder', () => {
     const wf = createTddCodingWorkflow();
     expect(
@@ -146,6 +162,22 @@ describe('coding-tdd WorkflowType', () => {
     ).toBe('coder');
   });
 
+  it('moderator: coder → auto-tester', () => {
+    const wf = createTddCodingWorkflow();
+    expect(
+      wf.moderator(
+        {
+          role: 'coder',
+          meta: {
+            filesChanged: ['src/foo.ts'],
+            deploymentGuide: 'bun test',
+          },
+        },
+        'x',
+      ),
+    ).toBe('auto-tester');
+  });
+
   it('moderator: auto-tester pass → manual-tester', () => {
     const wf = createTddCodingWorkflow();
     expect(
@@ -243,6 +275,25 @@ describe('coding-tdd WorkflowType', () => {
     ).toBe('closer');
   });
 
+  it('moderator: reviewer approved + emergency → closer', () => {
+    const wf = createTddCodingWorkflow();
+    expect(
+      wf.moderator(
+        {
+          role: 'reviewer',
+          meta: {
+            verdict: 'approved',
+            comments: '',
+            codeQuality: 'a',
+            testQuality: 'a',
+          },
+        },
+        'x',
+        1,
+      ),
+    ).toBe('closer');
+  });
+
   it('moderator: reviewer rejected → coder', () => {
     const wf = createTddCodingWorkflow();
     expect(
diff --git a/packages/pulse/src/workflows/coding-tdd.ts b/packages/pulse/src/workflows/coding-tdd.ts
index df48a38..b819ac3 100644
--- a/packages/pulse/src/workflows/coding-tdd.ts
+++ b/packages/pulse/src/workflows/coding-tdd.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@
  *
  * Pure roles + START/END automaton. Trigger: coding-tdd.__start__
  *
+ * 设计里的 role `type`（llm / code / agent）在实现层统一为 `Role<…>`；默认全部为可注入的
+ * mock，生产环境通过 `CreateTddCodingWorkflowOpts` 传入 `createLlmRole` / agent 工厂等。
+ *
  * 小橘 🍊 (NEKO Team)
  */
 
diff --git a/packages/upulse/bunfig.toml b/packages/upulse/bunfig.toml
index cd45629..020197b 100644
--- a/packages/upulse/bunfig.toml
+++ b/packages/upulse/bunfig.toml
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 [test]
-root = "src"
+pathIgnorePatterns = ["**/src/e2e/**"]
diff --git a/packages/upulse/package.json b/packages/upulse/package.json
index ddddca1..e064432 100644
--- a/packages/upulse/package.json
+++ b/packages/upulse/package.json
@@ -13,8 +13,7 @@
   "scripts": {
     "build": "tsc",
     "dev": "bun run src/cli.ts",
-    "test": "bun test --timeout 60000",
-    "test:e2e": "bun test --timeout 120000 src/e2e/"
+    "test": "bun test --timeout 60000 ./src"
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "@uncaged/pulse": "workspace:*",
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/cli.ts b/packages/upulse/src/cli.ts
index 41ba60a..73ec0ca 100644
--- a/packages/upulse/src/cli.ts
+++ b/packages/upulse/src/cli.ts
@@ -7,15 +7,9 @@
  */
 
 import { Command } from 'commander';
-import { registerDaemonCommand } from './commands/daemon.js';
-import { registerDeployCommand } from './commands/deploy.js';
-import { registerDevCommand } from './commands/dev.js';
-import { registerGcCommand } from './commands/gc.js';
 import { registerInitCommand } from './commands/init.js';
 import { registerInspectCommand } from './commands/inspect.js';
-import { registerListCommand } from './commands/list.js';
-import { registerTickCommand } from './commands/tick.js';
-import { registerUICommand } from './commands/ui.js';
+import { registerStatusCommand } from './commands/status.js';
 import { registerWorkflowCommand } from './commands/workflow.js';
 
 const program = new Command();
@@ -30,14 +24,8 @@ program
   );
 
 registerInitCommand(program);
-registerDaemonCommand(program);
-registerTickCommand(program);
-registerListCommand(program);
 registerInspectCommand(program);
-registerDevCommand(program);
-registerDeployCommand(program);
-registerGcCommand(program);
 registerWorkflowCommand(program);
-registerUICommand(program);
+registerStatusCommand(program);
 
 program.parse();
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/commands/daemon.ts b/packages/upulse/src/commands/daemon.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 27abbc4..0000000
--- a/packages/upulse/src/commands/daemon.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,47 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * commands/daemon.ts — upulse daemon start/stop/status
- */
-
-import type { Command } from 'commander';
-import { loadConfig, resolveDir } from '../config.js';
-import { daemonStart, daemonStatus, daemonStop } from '../daemon.js';
-
-export function registerDaemonCommand(program: Command): void {
-  const daemon = program
-    .command('daemon')
-    .description('Daemon lifecycle management');
-
-  daemon
-    .command('start')
-    .description('Start the Pulse daemon')
-    .option('--foreground', 'Run in foreground (no detach)')
-    .action((opts: { foreground?: boolean }) => {
-      const config = loadConfig(resolveDir(program.opts().dir));
-      daemonStart(config, opts.foreground ?? false);
-    });
-
-  daemon
-    .command('stop')
-    .description('Stop the Pulse daemon')
-    .action(() => {
-      const config = loadConfig(resolveDir(program.opts().dir));
-      daemonStop(config);
-    });
-
-  daemon
-    .command('restart')
-    .description('Restart the Pulse daemon')
-    .action(() => {
-      const config = loadConfig(resolveDir(program.opts().dir));
-      daemonStop(config);
-      daemonStart(config, false);
-    });
-
-  daemon
-    .command('status')
-    .description('Show daemon status')
-    .action(() => {
-      const config = loadConfig(resolveDir(program.opts().dir));
-      daemonStatus(config);
-    });
-}
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/commands/deploy.ts b/packages/upulse/src/commands/deploy.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 4733421..0000000
--- a/packages/upulse/src/commands/deploy.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,538 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * commands/deploy.ts — upulse deploy promote/rollback
- *
- * Phase 4: Version-aware promote/rollback with event-sourced versioning.
- * All state changes are append-only events.
- */
-
-import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
-import { existsSync } from 'node:fs';
-import { join } from 'node:path';
-import type { Command } from 'commander';
-import { loadConfig, resolveDir } from '../config.js';
-import { daemonStart, daemonStop, isDaemonRunning } from '../daemon.js';
-import { gitExec, gitMerge, gitResetHard, gitRevert } from '../git.js';
-import { migrateToScoped } from '../migrate.js';
-import {
-  type EventRecord,
-  openOrCreateStore,
-  openStore,
-  type PulseStore,
-} from '../store.js';
-
-// ── Helpers ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-
-function typeCheck(cwd: string): boolean {
-  try {
-    // Pure type checking — no emit, no dist/ needed
-    execSync('npx tsc --noEmit', {
-      cwd,
-      encoding: 'utf-8',
-      stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
-    });
-    return true;
-  } catch (err: unknown) {
-    const msg =
-      err instanceof Error
-        ? ((err as { stderr?: string }).stderr ?? err.message)
-        : String(err);
-    console.error(`Type check failed:\n${msg}`);
-    return false;
-  }
-}
-
-function getGitHash(cwd: string): string {
-  return gitExec(cwd, 'rev-parse --short HEAD');
-}
-
-function getCurrentCodeRev(store: PulseStore): string | undefined {
-  const promote = store.getLatest('promote');
-  return promote?.codeRev ?? undefined;
-}
-
-/**
- * Find the previous promote event with a different code_rev than the current one.
- * queryByKind returns newest-first, so find the first with a different codeRev.
- */
-function findPreviousPromote(
-  store: PulseStore,
-  currentCodeRev: string | undefined,
-): EventRecord | null {
-  const allPromotes = store.queryByKind('promote');
-  for (const promote of allPromotes) {
-    if (promote.codeRev !== currentCodeRev) {
-      return promote;
-    }
-  }
-  return null;
-}
-
-/**
- * Try to run migrate/initSenses from staging source, writing events.
- * Best-effort: failures are logged as warnings, not fatal.
- */
-async function tryWriteMigrateEvents(
-  store: PulseStore,
-  config: { scopesDir: string; objectsDir: string },
-  stagingSrcPath: string,
-  newCodeRev: string,
-): Promise<void> {
-  const migrateFile = join(stagingSrcPath, 'rules', 'migrate.ts');
-  if (!existsSync(migrateFile)) return;
-
-  try {
-    const mod = (await import(migrateFile)) as Record<string, unknown>;
-    const migrateFn = (mod.default ?? mod.migrate) as
-      | ((snapshot: Record<string, unknown>) => Record<string, unknown>)
-      | undefined;
-    if (!migrateFn) return;
-
-    const { createScopedStore, findEffectiveEpoch, rebuildSnapshot } =
-      await import('@uncaged/pulse');
-
-    const scopedStore = createScopedStore({
-      basePath: config.scopesDir,
-      objectsDir: config.objectsDir,
-    });
-    const systemStore = scopedStore.scope('_system');
-    const vitalsStore = scopedStore.scope('_vitals');
-
-    const epoch = findEffectiveEpoch(systemStore);
-    // Discover sense keys from vitals scope, then fall back to collect events
-    let senseKeys: string[] = [];
-    const vitalEvents = vitalsStore.queryByKind('vital', { limit: 200 });
-    senseKeys = [
-      ...new Set(vitalEvents.map((e) => e.key).filter(Boolean) as string[]),
-    ];
-    if (senseKeys.length === 0) {
-      const collects = systemStore.queryByKind('collect', { limit: 100 });
-      senseKeys = [
-        ...new Set(collects.map((e) => e.key).filter(Boolean) as string[]),
-      ];
-    }
-    const currentSnapshot = rebuildSnapshot(
-      { system: systemStore, vitals: vitalsStore },
-      senseKeys,
-      epoch,
-    );
-    scopedStore.close();
-    const migrated = migrateFn(currentSnapshot);
-
-    for (const [key, data] of Object.entries(migrated)) {
-      if (key === 'timestamp') continue;
-      const value = (data as { data?: unknown })?.data ?? data;
-      store.appendEvent({
-        occurredAt: Date.now(),
-        kind: 'migrate',
-        key,
-        hash: store.putObject(value),
-        codeRev: newCodeRev,
-      });
-    }
-    console.log('  ✓ migrate events written');
-  } catch (err: unknown) {
-    console.error(
-      `  ✗ migrate failed: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`,
-    );
-    console.error('  Promote aborted. Fix migrate.ts and try again.');
-    process.exit(1);
-  }
-}
-
-async function tryWriteInitEvents(
-  store: PulseStore,
-  stagingSrcPath: string,
-  newCodeRev: string,
-): Promise<void> {
-  const initFile = join(stagingSrcPath, 'rules', 'initSenses.ts');
-  if (!existsSync(initFile)) return;
-
-  try {
-    const mod = (await import(initFile)) as Record<string, unknown>;
-    const initSenses = (mod.default ?? mod.initSenses) as
-      | Record<string, unknown>
-      | undefined;
-    if (!initSenses || typeof initSenses !== 'object') return;
-
-    for (const [key, data] of Object.entries(initSenses)) {
-      store.appendEvent({
-        occurredAt: Date.now(),
-        kind: 'init',
-        key,
-        hash: store.putObject(data),
-        codeRev: newCodeRev,
-      });
-    }
-    console.log('  ✓ init events written');
-  } catch (err: unknown) {
-    console.warn(
-      `  ⚠ initSenses skipped: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`,
-    );
-  }
-}
-
-// ── Command Registration ───────────────────────────────────────
-
-export function registerDeployCommand(program: Command): void {
-  const deploy = program
-    .command('deploy')
-    .description('Deploy staging changes to engine');
-
-  deploy
-    .command('promote')
-    .description(
-      'Merge staging → engine (tsc verify + bun test + version events + daemon reload)',
-    )
-    .action(async () => {
-      const config = loadConfig(resolveDir(program.opts().dir));
-      migrateToScoped(config);
-      const running = isDaemonRunning(config);
-
-      // Step 1: Type-check staging
-      console.log('Step 1: Type-checking staging...');
-      if (!typeCheck(config.staging.path)) {
-        console.error('Error: staging type check failed. Aborting promote.');
-        process.exit(1);
-      }
-      console.log('  ✓ staging type-checks');
-
-      // Step 2: Run bun test in staging before merge
-      console.log('Step 2: Running bun test in staging...');
-      try {
-        execSync('bun test', {
-          cwd: config.staging.path,
-          stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
-          encoding: 'utf-8',
-        });
-        console.log('  ✓ staging tests pass');
-      } catch (testErr: unknown) {
-        const errObj = testErr as { stderr?: string; stdout?: string };
-        const stderr = errObj.stderr ?? '';
-        // "No tests found" is OK — staging may not have test files
-        if (stderr.includes('No tests found')) {
-          console.log('  ✓ no tests in staging (skipped)');
-        } else {
-          console.error('Error: staging tests failed. Aborting promote.');
-          if (stderr) console.error(stderr);
-          process.exit(1);
-        }
-      }
-
-      // Note staging source path before merge (Bun runs .ts directly)
-      const stagingSrcPath = config.staging.path;
-
-      // Step 3: Stop daemon before merge (avoid running stale code during merge)
-      if (running) {
-        console.log('Step 3: Stopping daemon before merge...');
-        try {
-          daemonStop(config);
-          console.log('  ✓ daemon stopped');
-        } catch (err: unknown) {
-          console.error(
-            `Warning: daemon stop failed: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`,
-          );
-        }
-      }
-
-      // Step 4: Merge staging → engine
-      console.log('Step 4: Merging staging → engine...');
-      try {
-        gitMerge(config.engine.path, 'staging');
-        console.log('  ✓ merge successful');
-      } catch (err: unknown) {
-        console.error(
-          `Error: merge failed: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`,
-        );
-        console.error('Resolve conflicts manually in engine/ and retry.');
-        // Restart daemon with old code if it was running
-        if (running) {
-          try {
-            daemonStart(config, false);
-            console.log('  ✓ daemon restarted with old code');
-          } catch {}
-        }
-        process.exit(1);
-      }
-
-      // Step 5: Run bun install after merge (picks up new deps)
-      console.log('Step 5: Running bun install after merge...');
-      try {
-        // Try --frozen-lockfile first (atomic, reproducible)
-        try {
-          execSync('bun install --frozen-lockfile', {
-            cwd: config.engine.path,
-            stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
-          });
-          console.log('  ✓ bun install --frozen-lockfile complete');
-        } catch {
-          // Fallback: no lockfile or deps changed — regular install
-          execSync('bun install', {
-            cwd: config.engine.path,
-            stdio: 'inherit',
-          });
-          console.log('  ✓ bun install complete (lockfile updated)');
-        }
-      } catch {
-        console.error('Error: bun install failed after merge. Rolling back...');
-        // Rollback: reset engine to pre-merge state
-        try {
-          gitResetHard(config.engine.path, 'HEAD~1');
-          console.error(
-            'Rolled back engine to previous commit. Restarting with old code...',
-          );
-          // Write error event for monitoring
-          const errorStore = openOrCreateStore(
-            config.store.scopesDir,
-            config.store.objectsDir,
-          );
-          errorStore.appendEvent({
-            occurredAt: Date.now(),
-            kind: 'error',
-            meta: JSON.stringify({
-              type: 'promote_rollback',
-              reason: 'bun_install_failed',
-            }),
-          });
-          errorStore.close();
-
-          execSync('bun install --no-cache', {
-            cwd: config.engine.path,
-            stdio: 'inherit',
-          });
-        } catch {
-          console.error(
-            'Warning: rollback bun install also failed. Manual intervention required.',
-          );
-        }
-        if (running) {
-          try {
-            daemonStart(config, false);
-            console.log('  ✓ daemon restarted with old code');
-          } catch {}
-        }
-        process.exit(1);
-      }
-
-      // Step 6: Type-check engine (second verification)
-      console.log('Step 6: Type-checking engine...');
-      if (!typeCheck(config.engine.path)) {
-        console.error(
-          'Error: engine type check failed after merge. Rolling back...',
-        );
-        gitResetHard(config.engine.path, 'HEAD~1');
-        console.error('Rolled back to previous state.');
-        if (running) {
-          try {
-            daemonStart(config, false);
-          } catch {}
-        }
-        process.exit(1);
-      }
-      console.log('  ✓ engine type-checks');
-
-      // Step 7: Write version events
-      console.log('Step 7: Writing version events...');
-      const store = openOrCreateStore(
-        config.store.scopesDir,
-        config.store.objectsDir,
-      );
-      {
-        const currentCodeRev = getCurrentCodeRev(store);
-        const newCodeRev = getGitHash(config.engine.path);
-
-        // Write migrate events (best-effort)
-        await tryWriteMigrateEvents(
-          store,
-          config.store,
-          stagingSrcPath,
-          newCodeRev,
-        );
-
-        // Write init events (best-effort)
-        await tryWriteInitEvents(store, stagingSrcPath, newCodeRev);
-
-        // Write promote event (always)
-        store.appendEvent({
-          occurredAt: Date.now(),
-          kind: 'promote',
-          codeRev: newCodeRev,
-          meta: JSON.stringify({ from: currentCodeRev ?? null }),
-        });
-        console.log(
-          `  ✓ promote event: ${currentCodeRev ?? '(cold start)'} → ${newCodeRev}`,
-        );
-
-        store.close();
-      }
-
-      // Step 8: Restart daemon after successful promote
-      if (running) {
-        console.log('Step 8: Restarting daemon...');
-        try {
-          daemonStart(config, false);
-          console.log('  ✓ daemon restarted');
-        } catch (err: unknown) {
-          console.error(
-            `Warning: daemon restart failed: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`,
-          );
-        }
-      }
-
-      console.log('\n✅ Promote complete!');
-    });
-
-  deploy
-    .command('rollback')
-    .description(
-      'Roll back to previous version (append-only: writes rollback event, reverts engine)',
-    )
-    .action(() => {
-      const config = loadConfig(resolveDir(program.opts().dir));
-      migrateToScoped(config);
-      const running = isDaemonRunning(config);
-
-      // Step 1: Open store and find versions
-      console.log('Step 1: Finding versions...');
-      const store = openStore(config.store.scopesDir, config.store.objectsDir);
-      if (!store) {
-        console.error(
-          'Error: no events.db found. Cannot determine versions for rollback.',
-        );
-        process.exit(1);
-      }
-
-      const currentPromote = store.getLatest('promote');
-      if (!currentPromote) {
-        console.error('Error: no promote event found. Nothing to roll back.');
-        store.close();
-        process.exit(1);
-      }
-
-      const previousPromote = findPreviousPromote(
-        store,
-        currentPromote.codeRev,
-      );
-      if (!previousPromote) {
-        console.error('Error: no previous version to roll back to.');
-        store.close();
-        process.exit(1);
-      }
-
-      console.log(`  Current: ${currentPromote.codeRev}`);
-      console.log(`  Rolling back to: ${previousPromote.codeRev}`);
-
-      // Step 2: Write rollback event (append-only, before git changes)
-      console.log('Step 2: Writing rollback event...');
-      store.appendEvent({
-        occurredAt: Date.now(),
-        kind: 'rollback',
-        codeRev: previousPromote.codeRev,
-        meta: JSON.stringify({
-          from: currentPromote.codeRev,
-          to: previousPromote.codeRev,
-        }),
-      });
-      console.log('  ✓ rollback event written');
-      store.close();
-
-      // Step 3: Stop daemon before revert
-      if (running) {
-        console.log('Step 3: Stopping daemon before revert...');
-        try {
-          daemonStop(config);
-          console.log('  ✓ daemon stopped');
-        } catch (err: unknown) {
-          console.error(
-            `Warning: daemon stop failed: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`,
-          );
-        }
-      }
-
-      // Step 4: Revert engine git commit
-      console.log('Step 4: Reverting engine commit...');
-      try {
-        gitRevert(config.engine.path, 'HEAD');
-        console.log('  ✓ reverted');
-      } catch (err: unknown) {
-        console.error(
-          `Error: revert failed: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`,
-        );
-        // Restart daemon if it was running
-        if (running) {
-          try {
-            daemonStart(config, false);
-            console.log('  ✓ daemon restarted');
-          } catch {}
-        }
-        process.exit(1);
-      }
-
-      // Step 5: Run bun install after revert
-      console.log('Step 5: Running bun install after revert...');
-      try {
-        // Try --frozen-lockfile first (atomic, reproducible)
-        try {
-          execSync('bun install --frozen-lockfile', {
-            cwd: config.engine.path,
-            stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
-          });
-          console.log('  ✓ bun install --frozen-lockfile complete');
-        } catch {
-          execSync('bun install', {
-            cwd: config.engine.path,
-            stdio: 'inherit',
-          });
-          console.log('  ✓ bun install complete (lockfile updated)');
-        }
-      } catch (installErr: unknown) {
-        console.error(
-          `Error: bun install failed after revert: ${installErr instanceof Error ? installErr.message : String(installErr)}`,
-        );
-        // Write warning event for monitoring
-        try {
-          const warningStore = openOrCreateStore(
-            config.store.scopesDir,
-            config.store.objectsDir,
-          );
-          warningStore.appendEvent({
-            occurredAt: Date.now(),
-            kind: 'warn',
-            meta: JSON.stringify({
-              type: 'rollback_install_failed',
-              reason:
-                installErr instanceof Error
-                  ? installErr.message
-                  : String(installErr),
-            }),
-          });
-          warningStore.close();
-        } catch {
-          /* best-effort */
-        }
-        process.exit(1);
-      }
-
-      // Step 6: Type-check engine
-      console.log('Step 6: Type-checking engine...');
-      if (!typeCheck(config.engine.path)) {
-        console.error('Error: engine type check failed after revert.');
-        process.exit(1);
-      }
-      console.log('  ✓ engine type-checks');
-
-      // Step 7: Restart daemon if it was running
-      if (running) {
-        console.log('Step 7: Restarting daemon...');
-        try {
-          daemonStart(config, false);
-          console.log('  ✓ daemon restarted');
-        } catch (err: unknown) {
-          console.error(
-            `Warning: daemon restart failed: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`,
-          );
-        }
-      }
-
-      console.log('\n✅ Rollback complete!');
-    });
-}
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/commands/dev.ts b/packages/upulse/src/commands/dev.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 4fc5149..0000000
--- a/packages/upulse/src/commands/dev.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,52 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * commands/dev.ts — upulse dev path/build
- */
-
-import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
-import { join } from 'node:path';
-import type { Command } from 'commander';
-import { loadConfig, resolveDir } from '../config.js';
-
-export function registerDevCommand(program: Command): void {
-  const dev = program
-    .command('dev')
-    .description('Development commands for staging');
-
-  dev
-    .command('path')
-    .description('Output staging/ or engine/ absolute path')
-    .option('--engine', 'Output engine path instead of staging')
-    .action((opts: { engine?: boolean }) => {
-      const config = loadConfig(resolveDir(program.opts().dir));
-      if (opts.engine) {
-        process.stdout.write(`${config.engine.path}\n`);
-      } else {
-        process.stdout.write(`${config.staging.path}\n`);
-      }
-    });
-
-  dev
-    .command('build')
-    .description('tsc compile staging/')
-    .action(() => {
-      const config = loadConfig(resolveDir(program.opts().dir));
-      const tscBin = join(
-        config.engine.path,
-        'node_modules',
-        'typescript',
-        'bin',
-        'tsc',
-      );
-      console.log(`Compiling staging (${config.staging.path})...`);
-      try {
-        execSync(`node ${tscBin}`, {
-          cwd: config.staging.path,
-          stdio: 'inherit',
-        });
-        console.log('✓ Build successful');
-      } catch {
-        console.error('Error: tsc compilation failed.');
-        process.exit(1);
-      }
-    });
-}
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/commands/gc.ts b/packages/upulse/src/commands/gc.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 1568cd0..0000000
--- a/packages/upulse/src/commands/gc.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,126 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * commands/gc.ts — upulse gc vitals
- *
- * Housekeeping for vitals: archive old records, downsample.
- * Vitals are stored as events (kind='vital') in the _vitals scope.
- */
-
-import type { Command } from 'commander';
-import { loadConfig, resolveDir } from '../config.js';
-import { migrateToScoped } from '../migrate.js';
-import { openScopedStore } from '../store.js';
-
-function parseDuration(s: string): number {
-  const match = s.match(/^(\d+)(ms|s|m|h|d)?$/);
-  if (!match) {
-    console.error(
-      `Error: invalid duration "${s}". Use format: 7d, 24h, 30m, 60s, 1000ms`,
-    );
-    process.exit(1);
-  }
-  const val = parseInt(match[1], 10);
-  const unit = match[2] ?? 'd';
-  const multiplier: Record<string, number> = {
-    ms: 1,
-    s: 1000,
-    m: 60_000,
-    h: 3_600_000,
-    d: 86_400_000,
-  };
-  return val * (multiplier[unit] ?? 86_400_000);
-}
-
-export function registerGcCommand(program: Command): void {
-  const gc = program
-    .command('gc')
-    .description('Housekeeping: archive and downsample vitals');
-
-  gc.command('vitals')
-    .description('Archive old vitals and optionally downsample')
-    .option(
-      '--keep <duration>',
-      'Delete vitals older than this (default: 7d)',
-      '7d',
-    )
-    .option(
-      '--downsample <duration>',
-      'Downsample interval (e.g., 1m, 5m). If omitted, no downsampling.',
-    )
-    .option('--dry-run', 'Show what would happen without making changes', false)
-    .action((opts: { keep: string; downsample?: string; dryRun: boolean }) => {
-      const config = loadConfig(resolveDir(program.opts().dir));
-      migrateToScoped(config);
-      const scopedStore = openScopedStore(
-        config.store.scopesDir,
-        config.store.objectsDir,
-      );
-
-      if (!scopedStore) {
-        console.log('No scopes directory found. Daemon may not have run yet.');
-        return;
-      }
-
-      const vitalsStore = scopedStore.scope('_vitals');
-
-      const keepMs = parseDuration(opts.keep);
-      const olderThan = Date.now() - keepMs;
-      const olderThanStr = new Date(olderThan).toISOString();
-
-      if (opts.dryRun) {
-        console.log('Dry run — no changes will be made.\n');
-      }
-
-      console.log(`Archive threshold: ${opts.keep} (before ${olderThanStr})`);
-
-      if (opts.downsample) {
-        const intervalMs = parseDuration(opts.downsample);
-        console.log(
-          `Downsample interval: ${opts.downsample} (${intervalMs}ms)`,
-        );
-
-        if (!opts.dryRun) {
-          console.log('\n[1/2] Downsampling vitals...');
-          // Discover distinct keys from recent vital events
-          const recentVitals = vitalsStore.queryByKind('vital', { limit: 200 });
-          const keys = [
-            ...new Set(
-              recentVitals.map((e) => e.key).filter(Boolean) as string[],
-            ),
-          ];
-
-          let totalDownsampled = 0;
-          for (const key of keys) {
-            const deleted = vitalsStore.downsampleEvents(
-              'vital',
-              key,
-              intervalMs,
-              olderThan,
-            );
-            totalDownsampled += deleted;
-          }
-          console.log(
-            `  Downsampled ${totalDownsampled} vital(s) across ${keys.length} key(s).`,
-          );
-
-          console.log('\n[2/2] Archiving vitals...');
-          const archived = vitalsStore.archiveEvents(olderThan);
-          console.log(
-            `  Archived ${archived} vital(s) older than ${olderThanStr}.`,
-          );
-        } else {
-          console.log('\n(dry-run) Would downsample and archive vitals.');
-        }
-      } else {
-        if (!opts.dryRun) {
-          const archived = vitalsStore.archiveEvents(olderThan);
-          console.log(
-            `\nArchived ${archived} vital(s) older than ${olderThanStr}.`,
-          );
-        } else {
-          console.log('\n(dry-run) Would archive vitals.');
-        }
-      }
-
-      scopedStore.close();
-    });
-}
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/commands/inspect.ts b/packages/upulse/src/commands/inspect.ts
index ce9f3ef..20887bf 100644
--- a/packages/upulse/src/commands/inspect.ts
+++ b/packages/upulse/src/commands/inspect.ts
@@ -1,124 +1,94 @@
 /**
- * commands/inspect.ts — upulse inspect errors/ticks
- *
- * Reads from the unified `events` table via PulseStore.queryByKind().
+ * commands/inspect.ts — Inspect workflow daemon store (events + CAS objects)
  */
 
 import type { Command } from 'commander';
 import { loadConfig, resolveDir } from '../config.js';
-import { migrateToScoped } from '../migrate.js';
-import { openStore } from '../store.js';
-
-function parseDuration(s: string): number {
-  const match = s.match(/^(\d+)(m|h|d|s)?$/);
-  if (!match) {
-    console.error(
-      `Error: invalid duration "${s}". Use format: 1h, 30m, 7d, 3600s`,
-    );
-    process.exit(1);
-  }
-  const val = parseInt(match[1], 10);
-  const unit = match[2] ?? 'm';
-  const multiplier: Record<string, number> = {
-    s: 1000,
-    m: 60_000,
-    h: 3_600_000,
-    d: 86_400_000,
-  };
-  return val * (multiplier[unit] ?? 60_000);
-}
+import {
+  openOrCreateWorkflowsStore,
+  openWorkflowsStore,
+  type EventRecord,
+} from '../store.js';
 
 export function registerInspectCommand(program: Command): void {
   const inspect = program
     .command('inspect')
-    .description('Inspect Pulse runtime state and history');
+    .description('Inspect workflow events and CAS objects');
 
   inspect
-    .command('errors')
-    .description('Show recent errors')
-    .option('--since <duration>', 'Time window (e.g., 1h, 30m)', '1h')
-    .action((opts: { since: string }) => {
+    .command('events')
+    .description('List events from workflows.db')
+    .option('--topic <topicId>', 'Filter by topic key')
+    .option('--kind <kind>', 'Filter by event kind (e.g. meta.architect)')
+    .option('--limit <n>', 'Max rows', '20')
+    .action((opts: { topic?: string; kind?: string; limit: string }) => {
       const config = loadConfig(resolveDir(program.opts().dir));
-      migrateToScoped(config);
-      const store = openStore(config.store.scopesDir, config.store.objectsDir);
+      const store = openWorkflowsStore(config);
+      const limit = Math.max(1, parseInt(opts.limit, 10) || 20);
 
       if (!store) {
-        console.log('No events.db found. Daemon may not have run yet.');
+        console.log('No workflows.db yet. Run the workflow daemon or `upulse workflow submit`.');
         return;
       }
 
-      const sinceMs = Date.now() - parseDuration(opts.since);
-      const errors = store.queryByKind('error', { since: sinceMs });
+      let rows: EventRecord[];
 
-      if (errors.length === 0) {
-        console.log(`No errors in the last ${opts.since}.`);
+      if (opts.kind) {
+        rows = store.queryByKind(opts.kind, {
+          key: opts.topic,
+          limit,
+        });
+      } else if (opts.topic) {
+        const pool = store
+          .getAfter(0, { key: opts.topic })
+          .sort((a, b) => b.occurredAt - a.occurredAt || b.id - a.id)
+          .slice(0, limit);
+        rows = pool;
       } else {
-        console.log(`Errors (last ${opts.since}):`);
-        console.log('');
-        for (const err of errors) {
-          const ts = new Date(err.occurredAt).toISOString();
-          const key = err.key ? ` [${err.key}]` : '';
-          const detail = err.meta ? ` ${err.meta}` : '';
-          console.log(`  ${ts}${key}${detail}`);
-        }
-        console.log(`\n  Total: ${errors.length} error(s)`);
+        rows = store.getRecent(limit);
       }
 
-      store.close();
-    });
-
-  inspect
-    .command('ticks')
-    .description('Show recent ticks')
-    .option('--limit <n>', 'Number of ticks to show', '10')
-    .action((opts: { limit: string }) => {
-      const config = loadConfig(resolveDir(program.opts().dir));
-      migrateToScoped(config);
-      const store = openStore(config.store.scopesDir, config.store.objectsDir);
-
-      if (!store) {
-        console.log('No events.db found. Daemon may not have run yet.');
-        return;
-      }
-
-      const limit = parseInt(opts.limit, 10) || 10;
-      const ticks = store.queryByKind('tick', { limit });
-
-      if (ticks.length === 0) {
-        console.log('No ticks recorded yet.');
+      if (rows.length === 0) {
+        console.log('No matching events.');
       } else {
-        console.log(`Recent ticks (last ${limit}):`);
-        console.log('');
         console.log(
-          '  Timestamp                  | tickMs  | Effects | Duration',
+          'id'.padEnd(6) +
+            'occurredAt (ISO)'.padEnd(28) +
+            'kind'.padEnd(28) +
+            'key',
         );
-        console.log(
-          '  ------------------------------------------------------------------',
-        );
-        for (const tick of ticks) {
-          const ts = new Date(tick.occurredAt).toISOString();
-          let tickMs = '-';
-          let effectCount = '-';
-          let durationMs = '-';
-          if (tick.meta) {
-            try {
-              const meta = JSON.parse(tick.meta);
-              if (meta.tick_ms !== undefined) tickMs = String(meta.tick_ms);
-              if (meta.effect_count !== undefined)
-                effectCount = String(meta.effect_count);
-              if (meta.duration_ms !== undefined)
-                durationMs = `${meta.duration_ms}ms`;
-            } catch {
-              // ignore parse errors
-            }
-          }
+        console.log('-'.repeat(100));
+        for (const e of rows) {
+          const ts = new Date(e.occurredAt).toISOString();
+          const k = e.key ?? '';
           console.log(
-            `  ${ts}  | ${tickMs.padStart(6)}  | ${effectCount.padStart(7)} | ${durationMs}`,
+            `${String(e.id).padEnd(6)}${ts.padEnd(28)}${e.kind.padEnd(28)}${k}`,
           );
         }
-        console.log(`\n  Total: ${ticks.length} tick(s)`);
+        console.log(`\nTotal: ${rows.length}`);
       }
 
       store.close();
     });
+
+  inspect
+    .command('object')
+    .description('Read a CAS object by hash')
+    .argument('<hash>', 'Object hash (32 hex chars)')
+    .action((hash: string) => {
+      const config = loadConfig(resolveDir(program.opts().dir));
+      const store = openOrCreateWorkflowsStore(config);
+
+      const obj = store.getObject(hash);
+      store.close();
+
+      if (obj === null) {
+        console.error(`No object for hash: ${hash}`);
+        process.exit(1);
+      }
+
+      console.log(
+        typeof obj === 'string' ? obj : JSON.stringify(obj, null, 2),
+      );
+    });
 }
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/commands/list.ts b/packages/upulse/src/commands/list.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index cc232ae..0000000
--- a/packages/upulse/src/commands/list.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,70 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * commands/list.ts — upulse list (show current rule chain)
- */
-
-import { existsSync, readdirSync, readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
-import { join } from 'node:path';
-import type { Command } from 'commander';
-import { loadConfig, resolveDir } from '../config.js';
-
-export function registerListCommand(program: Command): void {
-  program
-    .command('list')
-    .description('Show current rule chain (from engine)')
-    .action(() => {
-      const config = loadConfig(resolveDir(program.opts().dir));
-      const rulesDir = join(config.engine.path, 'rules');
-
-      if (!existsSync(rulesDir)) {
-        console.error('Error: rules/ directory not found in engine.');
-        process.exit(1);
-      }
-
-      // List rule files sorted by name (number prefix = order)
-      const files = readdirSync(rulesDir)
-        .filter((f) => f.endsWith('.ts'))
-        .sort();
-
-      if (files.length === 0) {
-        console.log('No rules found.');
-        return;
-      }
-
-      console.log('Rule chain:');
-      console.log('');
-
-      for (let i = 0; i < files.length; i++) {
-        const file = files[i];
-        const filePath = join(rulesDir, file);
-
-        // Try to extract a description from comments
-        const content = readFileSync(filePath, 'utf-8');
-        const commentMatch = content.match(/\/\/\s*(.+)/);
-        const desc = commentMatch ? commentMatch[1].trim() : '(no description)';
-
-        console.log(`  ${i + 1}. ${file}`);
-        console.log(`     ${desc}`);
-      }
-
-      // Also check pulse.config.ts for inline rules
-      const configFile = join(config.engine.path, 'pulse.config.ts');
-      if (existsSync(configFile)) {
-        const configContent = readFileSync(configFile, 'utf-8');
-        const rulesMatch = configContent.match(
-          /const rules\s*=\s*\[([\s\S]*?)\]/,
-        );
-        if (rulesMatch) {
-          console.log(`\n  Inline rules in pulse.config.ts:`);
-          const inlineRules = rulesMatch[1]
-            .split('\n')
-            .map((l) => l.trim())
-            .filter((l) => l && !l.startsWith('//') && !l.startsWith(']'));
-          for (const rule of inlineRules) {
-            console.log(`     ${rule.replace(/,\s*$/, '')}`);
-          }
-        }
-      }
-
-      console.log(`\n  Total: ${files.length} rule file(s)`);
-    });
-}
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/commands/status.ts b/packages/upulse/src/commands/status.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bd8aada
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/upulse/src/commands/status.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+/**
+ * commands/status.ts — systemd workflow service + workflows.db summary
+ */
+
+import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
+import { Database } from 'bun:sqlite';
+import type { Command } from 'commander';
+import { loadConfig, resolveDir } from '../config.js';
+import { workflowDataPaths } from '../store.js';
+
+function systemctlStatus(unit: string): string {
+  try {
+    return execSync(`systemctl --user status ${unit} --no-pager 2>&1`, {
+      encoding: 'utf-8',
+      maxBuffer: 1024 * 1024,
+    });
+  } catch (err) {
+    const e = err as { stdout?: Buffer; stderr?: Buffer; message?: string };
+    return (
+      (e.stdout && e.stdout.toString()) ||
+      (e.stderr && e.stderr.toString()) ||
+      e.message ||
+      String(err)
+    );
+  }
+}
+
+export function registerStatusCommand(program: Command): void {
+  program
+    .command('status')
+    .description('Workflow daemon systemd status and store summary')
+    .action(() => {
+      const config = loadConfig(resolveDir(program.opts().dir));
+      const { eventsDbPath } = workflowDataPaths(config);
+
+      console.log('=== systemd (user) ===\n');
+      const units = ['pulse-workflow.service', 'pulse.service'];
+      for (const u of units) {
+        console.log(`--- ${u} ---`);
+        console.log(systemctlStatus(u));
+        console.log('');
+      }
+
+      console.log('=== workflows.db ===\n');
+      console.log(`Path: ${eventsDbPath}\n`);
+
+      try {
+        const db = new Database(eventsDbPath, { readonly: true });
+        try {
+          const row = db
+            .query(
+              'SELECT COUNT(*) AS c, MAX(occurred_at) AS m FROM events',
+            )
+            .get() as { c: number; m: number | null };
+          console.log(`Event count: ${row.c}`);
+          if (row.m != null) {
+            console.log(`Latest event: ${new Date(row.m).toISOString()}`);
+          }
+        } finally {
+          db.close();
+        }
+      } catch {
+        console.log('(database not readable or missing)');
+      }
+
+      console.log('\n=== active topics (recent keys) ===\n');
+      try {
+        const db = new Database(eventsDbPath, { readonly: true });
+        try {
+          const recent = db
+            .query(
+              `SELECT key, kind, occurred_at FROM events
+               WHERE key IS NOT NULL AND key != ''
+               ORDER BY occurred_at DESC, id DESC
+               LIMIT 30`,
+            )
+            .all() as { key: string; kind: string; occurred_at: number }[];
+
+          const seen = new Set<string>();
+          const lines: string[] = [];
+          for (const r of recent) {
+            if (seen.has(r.key)) continue;
+            seen.add(r.key);
+            lines.push(
+              `  ${r.key}  ${r.kind}  ${new Date(r.occurred_at).toISOString()}`,
+            );
+            if (lines.length >= 10) break;
+          }
+          console.log(lines.length ? lines.join('\n') : '  (none)');
+        } finally {
+          db.close();
+        }
+      } catch {
+        console.log('  (could not query topics)');
+      }
+
+      console.log('');
+    });
+}
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/commands/tick.ts b/packages/upulse/src/commands/tick.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index ebb1c03..0000000
--- a/packages/upulse/src/commands/tick.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,212 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * commands/tick.ts — upulse tick [--dry-run] [--verbose]
- *
- * Manually trigger one tick using snapshots rebuilt from vitals/events.
- *
- * tick is a pure "read → decide → execute" operation:
- *   1. Rebuild snapshot from existing vitals/events (no collection)
- *   2. Run rules to produce effects
- *   3. Execute effects (unless --dry-run)
- *
- * Data collection is the watcher's responsibility (via daemon).
- * If the store is empty, tick sees an empty snapshot — rules will
- * produce collect effects, which are logged but not executed.
- */
-
-import { existsSync } from 'node:fs';
-import { join } from 'node:path';
-import { pathToFileURL } from 'node:url';
-import type { Command } from 'commander';
-import { loadConfig, resolveDir } from '../config.js';
-import { migrateToScoped } from '../migrate.js';
-
-export function registerTickCommand(program: Command): void {
-  program
-    .command('tick')
-    .description('Manually trigger one tick')
-    .option('--dry-run', 'Calculate effects without executing')
-    .option('--verbose', 'Show each rule input/output')
-    .action(async (opts: { dryRun?: boolean; verbose?: boolean }) => {
-      const config = loadConfig(resolveDir(program.opts().dir));
-      migrateToScoped(config);
-      const enginePath = config.engine.path;
-
-      try {
-        // Import @uncaged/pulse from engine's node_modules
-        const pulseModulePath = join(
-          enginePath,
-          'node_modules',
-          '@uncaged',
-          'pulse',
-          'dist',
-          'index.js',
-        );
-        let rebuildSnapshot: (
-          store: unknown,
-          senseKeys: string[],
-          epoch?: unknown,
-        ) => unknown;
-        let findEffectiveEpoch: (store: unknown) => unknown;
-        let createScopedStore: (options: {
-          basePath: string;
-          objectsDir: string;
-        }) => { scope(name: string): unknown; close(): void };
-        let composeRules: (
-          rules: unknown[],
-          defaultTickMs?: number,
-        ) => (prev: unknown, curr: unknown) => Promise<[unknown[], number]>;
-
-        if (existsSync(pulseModulePath)) {
-          const pulseModule = await import(pathToFileURL(pulseModulePath).href);
-          rebuildSnapshot = pulseModule.rebuildSnapshot;
-          findEffectiveEpoch = pulseModule.findEffectiveEpoch;
-          createScopedStore = pulseModule.createScopedStore;
-          composeRules = pulseModule.composeRules;
-        } else {
-          console.error(
-            'Error: @uncaged/pulse not found in engine node_modules.',
-          );
-          console.error('Run: cd ~/.upulse/engine && bun install');
-          process.exit(1);
-        }
-
-        // Import rules (dynamically discover .ts rule files)
-        const rulesDir = join(enginePath, 'rules');
-        const ruleFiles: string[] = [];
-        if (existsSync(rulesDir)) {
-          const { readdirSync } = await import('node:fs');
-          ruleFiles.push(
-            ...readdirSync(rulesDir)
-              .filter((f: string) => f.endsWith('.ts'))
-              .sort(),
-          );
-        }
-
-        const rules: unknown[] = [];
-        for (const file of ruleFiles) {
-          const rulePath = pathToFileURL(join(rulesDir, file)).href;
-          const ruleModule = await import(rulePath);
-          rules.push(ruleModule.default);
-        }
-
-        // Open or create store via ScopedStore
-        const scopedStore = createScopedStore({
-          basePath: config.store.scopesDir,
-          objectsDir: config.store.objectsDir,
-        });
-        const store = scopedStore.scope('_system') as {
-          hasEvents(): boolean;
-          appendEvent(e: Record<string, unknown>): unknown;
-          putObject(d: unknown): string;
-          queryByKind(
-            kind: string,
-            opts?: { limit?: number },
-          ): Array<{ key?: string }>;
-        };
-
-        // Discover sense keys from existing collect events in the store
-        const collects = store.queryByKind('collect', { limit: 100 });
-        const senseKeys = [
-          ...new Set(collects.map((e) => e.key).filter(Boolean) as string[]),
-        ];
-
-        if (senseKeys.length === 0 && opts.verbose) {
-          console.log(
-            'Note: no collect events found in store. Snapshot will be empty.',
-          );
-          console.log(
-            'Start the daemon first to collect data, or rules will emit collect effects.',
-          );
-        }
-
-        // Determine version epoch
-        const epoch = findEffectiveEpoch(store);
-
-        // Rebuild snapshot from vitals/events — no collection
-        const snapshot = rebuildSnapshot(store, senseKeys, epoch) as {
-          timestamp: number;
-        };
-
-        console.log('--- Snapshot ---');
-        console.log(JSON.stringify(snapshot, null, 2));
-
-        // Run rule chain (prev = curr for single-tick: no time delta)
-        const pulse = composeRules(rules, 15000);
-        const [effects, tickMs] = await pulse(snapshot, snapshot);
-
-        if (opts.verbose) {
-          console.log('\n--- Rules applied ---');
-          console.log(`  Rules count: ${rules.length}`);
-          for (let i = 0; i < ruleFiles.length; i++) {
-            console.log(`  [${i}] ${ruleFiles[i]}`);
-          }
-        }
-
-        console.log('\n--- Result ---');
-        console.log(`Effects (${effects.length}):`);
-        if (effects.length === 0) {
-          console.log('  (none)');
-        } else {
-          for (const e of effects) {
-            console.log(`  ${JSON.stringify(e)}`);
-          }
-        }
-        console.log(`Next tick: ${tickMs}ms`);
-
-        if (opts.dryRun) {
-          console.log('\n(dry-run: effects not executed)');
-        } else {
-          // Execute effects with built-in handlers
-          for (const effect of effects) {
-            const e = effect as {
-              kind: string;
-              message?: string;
-              key?: string;
-            };
-            switch (e.kind) {
-              case 'collect':
-                console.log(
-                  `  [COLLECT] ${e.key} (skipped — start daemon for live collection)`,
-                );
-                break;
-              case 'log':
-                console.log(`  [LOG] ${e.message}`);
-                break;
-              default:
-                console.log(`  [EFFECT] ${JSON.stringify(e)}`);
-                break;
-            }
-          }
-          if (effects.length > 0) {
-            console.log('\n✓ Effects handled (tick mode)');
-          }
-
-          // Record events like runPulse does
-          if (effects.length > 0) {
-            const effectsHash = store.putObject(effects);
-            store.appendEvent({
-              occurredAt: Date.now(),
-              kind: 'effect',
-              hash: effectsHash,
-              meta: JSON.stringify({ count: effects.length }),
-            });
-          }
-
-          // Record tick event
-          store.appendEvent({
-            occurredAt: Date.now(),
-            kind: 'tick',
-            meta: JSON.stringify({
-              tick_ms: tickMs,
-              effect_count: effects.length,
-            }),
-          });
-        }
-      } catch (err: unknown) {
-        console.error(
-          `Error during tick: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`,
-        );
-        process.exit(1);
-      }
-    });
-}
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/commands/ui.ts b/packages/upulse/src/commands/ui.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index d10ccd5..0000000
--- a/packages/upulse/src/commands/ui.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,46 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * commands/ui.ts — upulse ui [--port] [--no-open]
- *
- * Start a local WebUI dashboard for monitoring Pulse.
- */
-
-import type { Command } from 'commander';
-import { loadConfig, resolveDir } from '../config.js';
-import { createUIServer } from '../ui/server.js';
-
-export function registerUICommand(program: Command): void {
-  program
-    .command('ui')
-    .description('Start local WebUI dashboard')
-    .option('--port <number>', 'HTTP port', '3140')
-    .option('--no-open', 'Do not open browser automatically')
-    .action(async (opts: { port: string; open: boolean }) => {
-      const config = loadConfig(resolveDir(program.opts().dir));
-      const port = parseInt(opts.port, 10);
-
-      const server = createUIServer(config, port);
-
-      console.log(`\n  ⚡ Pulse UI running at http://localhost:${port}\n`);
-
-      if (opts.open) {
-        try {
-          const { execSync } = await import('node:child_process');
-          const cmd =
-            process.platform === 'darwin'
-              ? 'open'
-              : process.platform === 'win32'
-                ? 'start'
-                : 'xdg-open';
-          execSync(`${cmd} http://localhost:${port}`, { stdio: 'ignore' });
-        } catch {
-          // Ignore — headless environments
-        }
-      }
-
-      // Keep alive
-      process.on('SIGINT', () => {
-        server.stop();
-        process.exit(0);
-      });
-    });
-}
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/commands/workflow.test.ts b/packages/upulse/src/commands/workflow.test.ts
index d695fa7..3b6d1f1 100644
--- a/packages/upulse/src/commands/workflow.test.ts
+++ b/packages/upulse/src/commands/workflow.test.ts
@@ -1,171 +1,140 @@
 /**
- * workflow.test.ts — Tests for upulse workflow create/list logic (message chain model).
+ * workflow.test.ts — workflows.db 模型：__start__、按 workflow 分组 list
  */
 
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from 'bun:test';
-import { mkdtempSync, rmSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { mkdirSync, rmSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
-import {
-  createScopedStore,
-  type PulseStore,
-  type ScopedStore,
-} from '@uncaged/pulse';
+import { createStore, type PulseStore } from '@uncaged/pulse';
 
-describe('workflow', () => {
+function parseWorkflowKind(
+  kind: string,
+): { wf: string; role: string } | null {
+  const i = kind.lastIndexOf('.');
+  if (i <= 0) return null;
+  return { wf: kind.slice(0, i), role: kind.slice(i + 1) };
+}
+
+function workflowForTopic(
+  events: { kind: string; key?: string }[],
+  topicKey: string,
+): string | null {
+  for (const e of events) {
+    if (e.key !== topicKey) continue;
+    const p = parseWorkflowKind(e.kind);
+    if (p?.role === '__start__') return p.wf;
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+describe('workflow store (daemon model)', () => {
   let tmpDir: string;
-  let scopedStore: ScopedStore;
   let store: PulseStore;
 
   beforeEach(() => {
-    tmpDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'pulse-topic-test-'));
-    scopedStore = createScopedStore({
-      basePath: join(tmpDir, 'scopes'),
-      objectsDir: join(tmpDir, 'objects'),
-    });
-    store = scopedStore.scope('_system');
+    tmpDir = join(tmpdir(), `upulse-wf-test-${Date.now()}`);
+    mkdirSync(tmpDir, { recursive: true });
+    const eventsDbPath = join(tmpDir, 'workflows.db');
+    const objectsDir = join(tmpDir, 'objects');
+    store = createStore({ eventsDbPath, objectsDir });
   });
 
   afterEach(() => {
-    scopedStore.close();
+    store.close();
     rmSync(tmpDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
   });
 
-  it('create topic writes coding.user event with CAS', () => {
-    const topicId = 'fix-login-bug-a3k';
-    const hash = store.putObject({
-      content: 'The login page crashes on submit',
-      artifacts: { title: 'Fix login bug', repoDir: '/tmp/repo' },
-    });
+  it('__start__ stores task content in CAS', () => {
+    const topicKey = 'task-a';
+    const hash = store.putObject('hello task');
     store.appendEvent({
       occurredAt: Date.now(),
-      kind: 'coding.user',
-      key: topicId,
+      kind: 'coding.__start__',
+      key: topicKey,
       hash,
     });
 
-    const events = store.queryByKind('coding.user');
-    expect(events.length).toBe(1);
-    expect(events[0].key).toBe(topicId);
-    expect(events[0].hash).toBeTruthy();
-
-    const content = store.getObject(events[0].hash!) as any;
-    expect(content.artifacts.title).toBe('Fix login bug');
-    expect(content.content).toBe('The login page crashes on submit');
-    expect(content.artifacts.repoDir).toBe('/tmp/repo');
+    const ev = store.queryByKind('coding.__start__', { key: topicKey });
+    expect(ev.length).toBe(1);
+    expect(store.getObject(ev[0].hash!)).toBe('hello task');
   });
 
-  it('list topics shows created topic', () => {
-    const topicId = 'add-feature-x-b2c';
-    const hash = store.putObject({
-      content: 'Implement feature X',
-      artifacts: { title: 'Add feature X', repoDir: '/tmp/repo' },
+  it('list grouping uses __start__ workflow prefix and latest kind', () => {
+    const k1 = 'topic-1';
+    const k2 = 'topic-2';
+    const ts = Date.now();
+    store.appendEvent({
+      occurredAt: ts,
+      kind: 'coding.__start__',
+      key: k1,
+      hash: store.putObject('t1'),
     });
+    store.appendEvent({
+      occurredAt: ts + 1,
+      kind: 'coding.architect',
+      key: k1,
+      hash: store.putObject('arch'),
+    });
+    store.appendEvent({
+      occurredAt: ts + 2,
+      kind: 'meta.__start__',
+      key: k2,
+      hash: store.putObject('m'),
+    });
+
+    const events = store.getAfter(0);
+    const startByKey = new Map<string, string>();
+    for (const e of events) {
+      if (!e.key) continue;
+      const p = parseWorkflowKind(e.kind);
+      if (p?.role === '__start__') startByKey.set(e.key, p.wf);
+    }
+    expect(startByKey.get(k1)).toBe('coding');
+    expect(startByKey.get(k2)).toBe('meta');
+
+    expect(workflowForTopic(events, k1)).toBe('coding');
+    expect(workflowForTopic(events, k2)).toBe('meta');
+
+    const latestByKey = new Map<string, (typeof events)[0]>();
+    for (const e of events) {
+      if (!e.key) continue;
+      const cur = latestByKey.get(e.key);
+      if (
+        !cur ||
+        e.occurredAt > cur.occurredAt ||
+        (e.occurredAt === cur.occurredAt && e.id > cur.id)
+      ) {
+        latestByKey.set(e.key, e);
+      }
+    }
+    expect(latestByKey.get(k1)?.kind).toBe('coding.architect');
+    expect(latestByKey.get(k2)?.kind).toBe('meta.__start__');
+  });
+
+  it('list without --all omits topics whose latest event is only __start__', () => {
+    const hash = store.putObject('pending');
     store.appendEvent({
       occurredAt: Date.now(),
-      kind: 'coding.user',
-      key: topicId,
+      kind: 'meta.__start__',
+      key: 'stuck-topic',
       hash,
     });
-
-    const allEvents = store
-      .getAfter(0)
-      .filter((e) => e.kind.startsWith('coding.'));
-    expect(allEvents.length).toBe(1);
-
-    const topics = new Map<
-      string,
-      { title: string; role: string; lastUpdated: number }
-    >();
-    for (const event of allEvents) {
-      const tid = event.key;
-      if (!tid) continue;
-      const role = event.kind.replace('coding.', '');
-      let title = tid;
-      if (role === 'user' && event.hash) {
-        try {
-          const obj = store.getObject(event.hash) as any;
-          if (obj?.artifacts?.title) title = obj.artifacts.title;
-        } catch {}
-      }
-      topics.set(tid, { title, role, lastUpdated: event.occurredAt });
-    }
-
-    expect(topics.size).toBe(1);
-    const t = topics.get(topicId)!;
-    expect(t.title).toBe('Add feature X');
-    expect(t.role).toBe('user');
-  });
-
-  it('list without --all hides closed topics', () => {
-    const now = Date.now();
-
-    // Topic 1: active (user)
-    const h1 = store.putObject({
-      content: 'Active',
-      artifacts: { title: 'Active Topic' },
-    });
-    store.appendEvent({
-      occurredAt: now,
-      kind: 'coding.user',
-      key: 'active-topic-1a2',
-      hash: h1,
-    });
-
-    // Topic 2: closed
-    const h2 = store.putObject({
-      content: 'Closed',
-      artifacts: { title: 'Closed Topic' },
-    });
-    store.appendEvent({
-      occurredAt: now,
-      kind: 'coding.user',
-      key: 'closed-topic-3b4',
-      hash: h2,
-    });
-    const h3 = store.putObject({ content: 'Done' });
-    store.appendEvent({
-      occurredAt: now + 1,
-      kind: 'coding.closer',
-      key: 'closed-topic-3b4',
-      hash: h3,
-    });
-
-    const allEvents = store
-      .getAfter(0)
-      .filter((e) => e.kind.startsWith('coding.'));
-
-    const topics = new Map<
-      string,
-      { title: string; role: string; lastUpdated: number }
-    >();
-    for (const event of allEvents) {
-      const tid = event.key;
-      if (!tid) continue;
-      const role = event.kind.replace('coding.', '');
-      let title = tid;
-      if (role === 'user' && event.hash) {
-        try {
-          const obj = store.getObject(event.hash) as any;
-          if (obj?.artifacts?.title) title = obj.artifacts.title;
-        } catch {}
-      }
-      const existing = topics.get(tid);
-      if (!existing) {
-        topics.set(tid, { title, role, lastUpdated: event.occurredAt });
-      } else {
-        existing.role = role;
-        if (event.occurredAt > existing.lastUpdated)
-          existing.lastUpdated = event.occurredAt;
+    const events = store.getAfter(0);
+    const latestByKey = new Map<string, (typeof events)[0]>();
+    for (const e of events) {
+      if (!e.key) continue;
+      const cur = latestByKey.get(e.key);
+      if (
+        !cur ||
+        e.occurredAt > cur.occurredAt ||
+        (e.occurredAt === cur.occurredAt && e.id > cur.id)
+      ) {
+        latestByKey.set(e.key, e);
       }
     }
-
-    // Without --all: only non-closer
-    const active = [...topics.entries()].filter(([, t]) => t.role !== 'closer');
-    expect(active.length).toBe(1);
-    expect(active[0][0]).toBe('active-topic-1a2');
-
-    // With --all: all topics
-    expect(topics.size).toBe(2);
+    const last = latestByKey.get('stuck-topic')!;
+    const p = parseWorkflowKind(last.kind);
+    expect(p?.role === '__start__').toBe(true);
   });
 });
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/commands/workflow.ts b/packages/upulse/src/commands/workflow.ts
index 63dd194..3898c6c 100644
--- a/packages/upulse/src/commands/workflow.ts
+++ b/packages/upulse/src/commands/workflow.ts
@@ -1,54 +1,67 @@
 /**
- * commands/workflow.ts — upulse workflow create/list
+ * commands/workflow.ts — Workflow daemon CLI (list / timeline / submit / init)
  *
- * Manage coding workflows via the routine scope store.
- * Events follow the coding.{role} convention (message chain model).
+ * Event kinds: `{workflow}.{role}` with `{workflow}.__start__` to begin a topic.
  */
 
-import { randomBytes } from 'node:crypto';
+import { createRequire } from 'node:module';
+import { existsSync, readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { dirname, join } from 'node:path';
+import { pathToFileURL } from 'node:url';
 import type { Command } from 'commander';
 import { loadConfig, resolveDir } from '../config.js';
-import { migrateToScoped } from '../migrate.js';
-import { openOrCreateScopedStore, openScopedStore } from '../store.js';
+import type { EventRecord } from '../store.js';
+import { openOrCreateWorkflowsStore, openWorkflowsStore } from '../store.js';
 
-function slugify(text: string): string {
-  return text
-    .toLowerCase()
-    .replace(/[^a-z0-9]+/g, '-')
-    .replace(/^-+|-+$/g, '')
-    .slice(0, 48);
+function parseWorkflowKind(
+  kind: string,
+): { wf: string; role: string } | null {
+  const i = kind.lastIndexOf('.');
+  if (i <= 0) return null;
+  return { wf: kind.slice(0, i), role: kind.slice(i + 1) };
 }
 
-function shortId(): string {
-  return randomBytes(2).toString('hex').slice(0, 3);
-}
-
-type CodingRole = 'user' | 'architect' | 'coder' | 'reviewer' | 'closer';
-
-function kindToRole(kind: string): CodingRole {
-  return kind.replace('coding.', '') as CodingRole;
+function workflowForTopic(
+  events: EventRecord[],
+  topicKey: string,
+): string | null {
+  for (const e of events) {
+    if (e.key !== topicKey) continue;
+    const p = parseWorkflowKind(e.kind);
+    if (p?.role === '__start__') return p.wf;
+  }
+  return null;
 }
 
 export function registerWorkflowCommand(program: Command): void {
   const topic = program
     .command('workflow')
-    .description('Manage coding workflows');
+    .description('Inspect and submit workflow tasks');
 
   topic
     .command('init <name>')
     .description('Scaffold a new workflow (generates skeleton files)')
     .option('--roles <roles>', 'Comma-separated role names', 'processor')
     .option('--dir <dir>', 'Workflows directory', '')
-    .action((name: string, opts: { roles: string; dir: string }) => {
-      const {
-        scaffoldWorkflow,
-      } = require('@uncaged/pulse/workflows/scaffold.js');
-      const workflowsDir =
-        opts.dir ||
-        require('node:path').join(
-          process.cwd(),
-          'packages/pulse/src/workflows',
+    .action(async (name: string, opts: { roles: string; dir: string }) => {
+      const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
+      const pulseRoot = dirname(require.resolve('@uncaged/pulse/package.json'));
+      const scaffoldPath = join(pulseRoot, 'dist/workflows/scaffold.js');
+      if (!existsSync(scaffoldPath)) {
+        console.error(
+          `Missing ${scaffoldPath}. Build @uncaged/pulse first: cd packages/pulse && bun run build`,
         );
+        process.exit(1);
+      }
+      const { scaffoldWorkflow } = (await import(
+        pathToFileURL(scaffoldPath).href
+      )) as { scaffoldWorkflow: (o: {
+        name: string;
+        roles: string[];
+        workflowsDir: string;
+      }) => string[] };
+      const workflowsDir =
+        opts.dir || join(process.cwd(), 'packages/pulse/src/workflows');
       const roles = opts.roles
         .split(',')
         .map((r: string) => r.trim())
@@ -63,68 +76,60 @@ export function registerWorkflowCommand(program: Command): void {
     });
 
   topic
-    .command('create <title>')
-    .description('Create a new coding workflow')
-    .requiredOption('--desc <description>', 'Workflow description')
-    .requiredOption('--repo <repoDir>', 'Repository directory')
-    .action((title: string, opts: { desc: string; repo: string }) => {
+    .command('submit')
+    .description('Submit a task (append {workflow}.__start__ event)')
+    .argument('<workflow>', 'Workflow name (e.g. meta, coding)')
+    .argument('<topicKey>', 'Topic key')
+    .argument('<taskFile>', 'Path to task file')
+    .action((workflow: string, topicKey: string, taskFile: string) => {
       const config = loadConfig(resolveDir(program.opts().dir));
-      migrateToScoped(config);
-      const scopedStore = openOrCreateScopedStore(
-        config.store.scopesDir,
-        config.store.objectsDir,
-      );
-      const store = scopedStore.scope('workflows');
-
-      const topicId = `${slugify(title)}-${shortId()}`;
-
-      // Store full content in CAS
-      const hash = store.putObject({
-        content: opts.desc,
-        artifacts: { title, repoDir: opts.repo },
-      });
-
+      const store = openOrCreateWorkflowsStore(config);
+      const content = readFileSync(taskFile, 'utf-8');
+      const hash = store.putObject(content);
       store.appendEvent({
         occurredAt: Date.now(),
-        kind: 'coding.user',
-        key: topicId,
+        kind: `${workflow}.__start__`,
+        key: topicKey,
         hash,
       });
-
-      console.log(topicId);
-      scopedStore.close();
+      console.log(`✅ Submitted: ${workflow}.__start__ [${topicKey}]`);
+      console.log(`   Hash: ${hash}`);
+      store.close();
     });
 
   topic
     .command('timeline <key>')
-    .description('Show workflow event timeline')
+    .description('Show workflow event timeline for a topic key')
     .option('--json', 'Output as JSON')
-    .option('--content', 'Include content preview')
+    .option('--content', 'Include CAS content preview')
     .action((key: string, opts: { json?: boolean; content?: boolean }) => {
       const config = loadConfig(resolveDir(program.opts().dir));
-      migrateToScoped(config);
-      const scopedStore = openScopedStore(
-        config.store.scopesDir,
-        config.store.objectsDir,
-      );
-      if (!scopedStore) {
-        console.error('No store found.');
+      const store = openWorkflowsStore(config);
+
+      if (!store) {
+        console.error('workflows.db not found.');
         process.exit(1);
       }
-      const store = scopedStore.scope('workflows');
-      const events = store
-        .getAfter(0)
-        .filter((e) => e.kind.startsWith('coding.') && e.key === key);
+
+      const all = store.getAfter(0);
+      const wf = workflowForTopic(all, key);
+      const events = all
+        .filter((e) => e.key === key)
+        .filter((e) => {
+          if (!wf) return true;
+          const p = parseWorkflowKind(e.kind);
+          return !p || p.wf === wf;
+        })
+        .sort((a, b) => a.occurredAt - b.occurredAt || a.id - b.id);
 
       if (events.length === 0) {
         console.error(`No events found for key: ${key}`);
-        scopedStore.close();
+        store.close();
         process.exit(1);
       }
 
       const t0 = events[0].occurredAt;
       const entries = events.map((e, i) => {
-        const role = e.kind.replace('coding.', '');
         const prevTime = i > 0 ? events[i - 1].occurredAt : t0;
         const durationMs = e.occurredAt - prevTime;
         const meta = e.meta ? JSON.parse(e.meta) : null;
@@ -135,11 +140,13 @@ export function registerWorkflowCommand(program: Command): void {
             const text = typeof obj === 'string' ? obj : JSON.stringify(obj);
             contentPreview =
               text.slice(0, 200) + (text.length > 200 ? '...' : '');
-          } catch {}
+          } catch {
+            /* ignore */
+          }
         }
         return {
           id: e.id,
-          role,
+          kind: e.kind,
           offsetMs: e.occurredAt - t0,
           durationMs: i === 0 ? 0 : durationMs,
           meta,
@@ -161,8 +168,9 @@ export function registerWorkflowCommand(program: Command): void {
               ? ` (${(entry.durationMs / 1000).toFixed(1)}s)`
               : '';
           const metaStr = entry.meta ? ` ${JSON.stringify(entry.meta)}` : '';
+          const kindPad = entry.kind.padEnd(28);
           console.log(
-            `  [${offset.padStart(8)}] #${String(entry.id).padStart(2)} ${entry.role.padEnd(12)}${dur}${metaStr}`,
+            `  [${offset.padStart(8)}] #${String(entry.id).padStart(4)} ${kindPad}${dur}${metaStr}`,
           );
           if (entry.contentPreview) {
             console.log(`             ${entry.contentPreview.split('\n')[0]}`);
@@ -171,97 +179,85 @@ export function registerWorkflowCommand(program: Command): void {
         console.log();
       }
 
-      scopedStore.close();
+      store.close();
     });
 
   topic
     .command('list')
-    .description('List coding topics')
-    .option('--all', 'Include closed topics')
+    .description('List topics grouped by workflow (__start__) with latest role')
+    .option('--all', 'Include topics whose latest event is __start__ only')
     .action((opts: { all?: boolean }) => {
       const config = loadConfig(resolveDir(program.opts().dir));
-      migrateToScoped(config);
-      const scopedStore = openScopedStore(
-        config.store.scopesDir,
-        config.store.objectsDir,
-      );
+      const store = openWorkflowsStore(config);
 
-      if (!scopedStore) {
-        console.log('No store found. Run "upulse init" first.');
+      if (!store) {
+        console.log('No workflows.db. Submit a task or run the workflow daemon.');
         return;
       }
 
-      const store = scopedStore.scope('workflows');
+      const events = store.getAfter(0);
+      const startByKey = new Map<string, string>();
+      for (const e of events) {
+        if (!e.key) continue;
+        const p = parseWorkflowKind(e.kind);
+        if (p?.role === '__start__') startByKey.set(e.key, p.wf);
+      }
 
-      const allEvents = store
-        .getAfter(0)
-        .filter((e) => e.kind.startsWith('coding.'));
+      const latestByKey = new Map<string, EventRecord>();
+      for (const e of events) {
+        if (!e.key) continue;
+        const cur = latestByKey.get(e.key);
+        if (
+          !cur ||
+          e.occurredAt > cur.occurredAt ||
+          (e.occurredAt === cur.occurredAt && e.id > cur.id)
+        ) {
+          latestByKey.set(e.key, e);
+        }
+      }
 
-      if (allEvents.length === 0) {
+      type Row = { key: string; wf: string; latestKind: string; at: number };
+      const rows: Row[] = [];
+      for (const [topicKey, last] of latestByKey) {
+        const p = parseWorkflowKind(last.kind);
+        if (!opts.all && p?.role === '__start__') continue;
+        const wf = startByKey.get(topicKey) ?? p?.wf ?? 'unknown';
+        rows.push({
+          key: topicKey,
+          wf,
+          latestKind: last.kind,
+          at: last.occurredAt,
+        });
+      }
+
+      rows.sort((a, b) => {
+        if (a.wf !== b.wf) return a.wf.localeCompare(b.wf);
+        return b.at - a.at;
+      });
+
+      if (rows.length === 0) {
         console.log('No topics found.');
-        scopedStore.close();
+        store.close();
         return;
       }
 
-      // Group by key (topicId), track latest role
-      const topics = new Map<
-        string,
-        { title: string; role: CodingRole; lastUpdated: number }
-      >();
-
-      for (const event of allEvents) {
-        const topicId = event.key;
-        if (!topicId) continue;
-
-        const role = kindToRole(event.kind);
-
-        // Try to get title from CAS for user events
-        let title = topicId;
-        if (role === 'user' && event.hash) {
-          try {
-            const obj = store.getObject(event.hash) as any;
-            if (obj?.artifacts?.title) title = obj.artifacts.title;
-          } catch {}
+      let currentWf = '';
+      for (const r of rows) {
+        if (r.wf !== currentWf) {
+          currentWf = r.wf;
+          console.log(`\n[${currentWf}]`);
+          console.log(
+            'topicKey                                          | latest kind                  | updated',
+          );
+          console.log('-'.repeat(100));
         }
-
-        const existing = topics.get(topicId);
-        if (!existing) {
-          topics.set(topicId, { title, role, lastUpdated: event.occurredAt });
-        } else {
-          existing.role = role;
-          if (event.occurredAt > existing.lastUpdated) {
-            existing.lastUpdated = event.occurredAt;
-          }
-          if (role === 'user' && title !== topicId) {
-            existing.title = title;
-          }
-        }
-      }
-
-      // Filter closed unless --all
-      const entries = [...topics.entries()].filter(
-        ([, t]) => opts.all || t.role !== 'closer',
-      );
-
-      if (entries.length === 0) {
-        console.log('No active topics. Use --all to include closed topics.');
-        scopedStore.close();
-        return;
-      }
-
-      console.log(
-        'topicId                                          | title                          | role     | last updated',
-      );
-      console.log('-'.repeat(120));
-
-      for (const [topicId, t] of entries) {
-        const ts = new Date(t.lastUpdated).toISOString();
+        const ts = new Date(r.at).toISOString();
         console.log(
-          `${topicId.padEnd(49)}| ${t.title.slice(0, 30).padEnd(31)}| ${t.role.padEnd(9)}| ${ts}`,
+          `${r.key.padEnd(49)}| ${r.latestKind.slice(0, 28).padEnd(29)}| ${ts}`,
         );
       }
 
-      console.log(`\nTotal: ${entries.length} topic(s)`);
-      scopedStore.close();
+      console.log(`\nTotal: ${rows.length} topic(s)`);
+      store.close();
     });
 }
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/daemon.ts b/packages/upulse/src/daemon.ts
index f533c6f..ec343ae 100644
--- a/packages/upulse/src/daemon.ts
+++ b/packages/upulse/src/daemon.ts
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ export function daemonStart(
   const existingPid = readPid(config);
   if (existingPid !== null && isProcessAlive(existingPid)) {
     console.error(
-      `Error: daemon is already running (PID: ${existingPid}). Stop it first with "upulse daemon stop".`,
+      `Error: daemon is already running (PID: ${existingPid}). Stop that process or remove ${config.daemon.pidFile}.`,
     );
     process.exit(1);
   }
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/e2e/helper.ts b/packages/upulse/src/e2e/helper.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 6545005..0000000
--- a/packages/upulse/src/e2e/helper.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,157 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * E2E Test Helper — shared utilities for upulse E2E tests.
- *
- * Provides isolated temp directories, CLI runner, and DB query helpers.
- */
-
-import { Database } from 'bun:sqlite';
-import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
-import { existsSync, mkdtempSync, readdirSync, rmSync } from 'node:fs';
-import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
-import { dirname, join } from 'node:path';
-import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
-
-const __filename = fileURLToPath(import.meta.url);
-const __dirname = dirname(__filename);
-
-/** Path to the upulse CLI entrypoint (src/cli.ts). */
-const CLI_PATH = join(__dirname, '..', 'cli.ts');
-
-export interface E2EContext {
-  /** Temp directory used as HOME for the test. */
-  baseDir: string;
-  /** Path to .upulse inside baseDir. */
-  upulseDir: string;
-  /** Path to scopes/ directory (new layout). */
-  scopesDir: string;
-  /** Path to scopes/_system.db (events). */
-  eventsDbPath: string;
-  /** Path to scopes/_vitals.db (vitals). */
-  vitalsDbPath: string;
-  /** Path to objects/. */
-  objectsDir: string;
-  /** Path to engine/. */
-  engineDir: string;
-  /** Path to staging/. */
-  stagingDir: string;
-}
-
-/**
- * Create an isolated E2E test environment with a fresh temp directory.
- */
-export function createE2EContext(): E2EContext {
-  const baseDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'pulse-e2e-'));
-  const upulseDir = join(baseDir, '.upulse');
-  const scopesDir = join(upulseDir, 'scopes');
-  return {
-    baseDir,
-    upulseDir,
-    scopesDir,
-    eventsDbPath: join(scopesDir, '_system.db'),
-    vitalsDbPath: join(scopesDir, '_vitals.db'),
-    objectsDir: join(upulseDir, 'objects'),
-    engineDir: join(upulseDir, 'engine'),
-    stagingDir: join(upulseDir, 'staging'),
-  };
-}
-
-/**
- * Clean up an E2E test environment (remove temp directory).
- */
-export function cleanupE2EContext(ctx: E2EContext): void {
-  try {
-    rmSync(ctx.baseDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
-  } catch {
-    // best-effort cleanup; CI temp dirs are ephemeral anyway
-  }
-}
-
-export interface RunOptions {
-  /** If true, expect the command to exit non-zero. Returns stderr. */
-  expectFail?: boolean;
-  /** Timeout in ms (default: 120_000 for bun install during init). */
-  timeout?: number;
-}
-
-/**
- * Run an upulse CLI command in the E2E context.
- *
- * - Sets HOME so `homedir()` → ctx.baseDir → config lands in ctx.baseDir/.upulse/
- * - Sets PULSE_BASE_DIR so engine's pulse.config.ts uses the right paths.
- * - Uses `bun` to run the TypeScript CLI directly.
- */
-export function runUpulse(
-  ctx: E2EContext,
-  args: string,
-  options?: RunOptions,
-): string {
-  const timeout = options?.timeout ?? 120_000;
-  const env: Record<string, string> = {
-    ...(process.env as Record<string, string>),
-    HOME: ctx.baseDir,
-    PULSE_BASE_DIR: ctx.upulseDir,
-  };
-
-  try {
-    const result = execSync(`bun ${CLI_PATH} ${args}`, {
-      env,
-      cwd: ctx.baseDir,
-      timeout,
-      encoding: 'utf-8',
-      stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
-    });
-
-    if (options?.expectFail) {
-      throw new Error(
-        `Expected command to fail but it succeeded: upulse ${args}\nstdout: ${result}`,
-      );
-    }
-    return result;
-  } catch (err: unknown) {
-    if (options?.expectFail) {
-      const e = err as { stderr?: string; stdout?: string };
-      return e.stderr || e.stdout || '';
-    }
-    const e = err as { stdout?: string; stderr?: string; message?: string };
-    throw new Error(
-      `upulse ${args} failed:\nstdout: ${e.stdout ?? ''}\nstderr: ${e.stderr ?? ''}\nmessage: ${e.message ?? ''}`,
-    );
-  }
-}
-
-/**
- * Open events DB (scopes/_system.db) and run a query.
- * Returns empty array if DB does not exist.
- */
-export function queryEventsDb(ctx: E2EContext, sql: string): unknown[] {
-  if (!existsSync(ctx.eventsDbPath)) return [];
-  const db = new Database(ctx.eventsDbPath);
-  try {
-    return db.prepare(sql).all();
-  } finally {
-    db.close();
-  }
-}
-
-/**
- * Open vitals DB (scopes/_vitals.db) and run a query.
- * Vitals are stored as events (kind='vital') in the events table.
- * Returns empty array if DB does not exist.
- */
-export function queryVitalsDb(ctx: E2EContext, sql: string): unknown[] {
-  if (!existsSync(ctx.vitalsDbPath)) return [];
-  const db = new Database(ctx.vitalsDbPath);
-  try {
-    return db.prepare(sql).all();
-  } finally {
-    db.close();
-  }
-}
-
-/**
- * List .json files in the objects/ directory.
- */
-export function listObjects(ctx: E2EContext): string[] {
-  if (!existsSync(ctx.objectsDir)) return [];
-  return readdirSync(ctx.objectsDir).filter((f) => f.endsWith('.json'));
-}
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/e2e/t1-init-daemon-tick.test.ts b/packages/upulse/src/e2e/t1-init-daemon-tick.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 35a133f..0000000
--- a/packages/upulse/src/e2e/t1-init-daemon-tick.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,144 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * E2E T1 — Init → Daemon → Tick 完整链路测试
- *
- * Validates the full lifecycle:
- *   upulse init  → creates directories, git repo, bun install
- *   upulse tick  → compiles engine, runs one tick, writes to DB
- *   upulse daemon status → reports daemon state
- *
- * Run: bun test src/e2e/t1-init-daemon-tick.test.ts
- */
-
-import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from 'bun:test';
-import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
-import { existsSync, readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
-import { join } from 'node:path';
-import {
-  cleanupE2EContext,
-  createE2EContext,
-  type E2EContext,
-  listObjects,
-  queryEventsDb,
-  runUpulse,
-} from './helper.js';
-
-describe('E2E T1: Init → Daemon → Tick', () => {
-  let ctx: E2EContext;
-
-  // Use a single context for all tests in this suite because
-  // `upulse init` runs bun install which is slow (~15-30s).
-  // Tests are ordered: init → tick → daemon.
-  beforeAll(() => {
-    ctx = createE2EContext();
-  });
-
-  afterAll(() => {
-    cleanupE2EContext(ctx);
-  });
-
-  // ── Init ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-
-  it('upulse init creates .upulse directory', () => {
-    const output = runUpulse(ctx, 'init');
-    expect(output.includes('initialized')).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(existsSync(ctx.upulseDir)).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('init creates config.json', () => {
-    const cfgPath = join(ctx.upulseDir, 'config.json');
-    expect(existsSync(cfgPath)).toBeTruthy();
-    const cfg = JSON.parse(readFileSync(cfgPath, 'utf-8'));
-    expect(cfg.dir).toBe(ctx.upulseDir);
-  });
-
-  it('init creates complete engine directory structure', () => {
-    expect(existsSync(ctx.engineDir)).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(existsSync(join(ctx.engineDir, 'rules'))).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(existsSync(join(ctx.engineDir, 'executors'))).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(existsSync(join(ctx.engineDir, 'AGENTS.md'))).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(existsSync(join(ctx.engineDir, 'types.ts'))).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(existsSync(join(ctx.engineDir, 'pulse.config.ts'))).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(existsSync(join(ctx.engineDir, 'tsconfig.json'))).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(existsSync(join(ctx.engineDir, '.gitignore'))).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(existsSync(join(ctx.engineDir, 'package.json'))).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('init creates git repo with initial commit', () => {
-    expect(existsSync(join(ctx.engineDir, '.git'))).toBeTruthy();
-
-    // Verify there is at least one commit
-    const log = execSync('git log --oneline', {
-      cwd: ctx.engineDir,
-      encoding: 'utf-8',
-    }).trim();
-    expect(log.length > 0).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(log.includes('init')).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('init creates staging worktree', () => {
-    expect(existsSync(ctx.stagingDir)).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('init installs node_modules in engine', () => {
-    expect(existsSync(join(ctx.engineDir, 'node_modules'))).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(
-      existsSync(join(ctx.engineDir, 'node_modules', '@uncaged', 'pulse')),
-    ).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('init is idempotent — running again fails gracefully', () => {
-    const output = runUpulse(ctx, 'init', { expectFail: true });
-    expect(
-      output.includes('already initialized') || output.includes('config.json'),
-    ).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  // ── Tick ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-
-  it('upulse tick --dry-run succeeds', () => {
-    const output = runUpulse(ctx, 'tick --dry-run');
-    expect(output.includes('dry-run')).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('upulse tick runs and writes events to DB', () => {
-    const output = runUpulse(ctx, 'tick');
-
-    // tick should produce snapshot output
-    expect(
-      output.includes('Snapshot') || output.includes('Result'),
-    ).toBeTruthy();
-
-    // Verify scopes/_system.db has entries
-    expect(existsSync(ctx.eventsDbPath)).toBeTruthy();
-    const events = queryEventsDb(ctx, 'SELECT * FROM events');
-    expect(events.length > 0).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('tick creates objects', () => {
-    // After tick, objects/ should have at least one snapshot file
-    const objects = listObjects(ctx);
-    expect(objects.length > 0).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('tick records tick event', () => {
-    const tickEvents = queryEventsDb(
-      ctx,
-      "SELECT * FROM events WHERE kind = 'tick'",
-    ) as Array<{
-      kind: string;
-      meta: string;
-    }>;
-    expect(tickEvents.length > 0).toBeTruthy();
-    // tick event should have meta with tick_ms and effect_count
-    const meta = JSON.parse(tickEvents[tickEvents.length - 1].meta);
-    expect(typeof meta.tick_ms).toBe('number');
-    expect(typeof meta.effect_count).toBe('number');
-  });
-
-  // ── Daemon Status ────────────────────────────────────────────
-
-  it('upulse daemon status shows STOPPED when daemon is not running', () => {
-    const output = runUpulse(ctx, 'daemon status');
-    expect(output.includes('STOPPED')).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-});
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/e2e/t2-staging-promote.test.ts b/packages/upulse/src/e2e/t2-staging-promote.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index d420cbe..0000000
--- a/packages/upulse/src/e2e/t2-staging-promote.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,109 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * E2E T2 — Staging → Promote 测试
- *
- * 验证 staging 到 promote 的完整流程:
- *   upulse init  → 初始化项目
- *   在 staging 里添加新 rule
- *   git add + commit
- *   upulse deploy promote  → 将 staging 合并到 engine
- *   验证 promote 成功并且新 rule 生效
- *
- * Run: bun test src/e2e/t2-staging-promote.test.ts
- */
-
-import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from 'bun:test';
-import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
-import { existsSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
-import { join } from 'node:path';
-import {
-  cleanupE2EContext,
-  createE2EContext,
-  type E2EContext,
-  queryEventsDb,
-  runUpulse,
-} from './helper.js';
-
-describe('E2E T2: Staging → Promote', () => {
-  let ctx: E2EContext;
-
-  beforeAll(() => {
-    ctx = createE2EContext();
-  });
-
-  afterAll(() => {
-    cleanupE2EContext(ctx);
-  });
-
-  it('upulse init initializes project', () => {
-    const output = runUpulse(ctx, 'init');
-    expect(output.includes('initialized')).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(existsSync(ctx.upulseDir)).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(existsSync(ctx.stagingDir)).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(existsSync(ctx.engineDir)).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('add new rule to staging directory', () => {
-    const newRuleContent = `import type { Snapshot, Effect } from '../types.js';
-import type { Rule } from '@uncaged/pulse';
-
-const rule: Rule<Snapshot, Effect> = async (_prev, _curr, inner) => {
-  const [effects, tickMs] = await inner(_prev, _curr);
-  return [[...effects, { kind: 'log', message: 'hello from v2' }], tickMs];
-};
-
-export default rule;`;
-
-    const ruleFilePath = join(ctx.stagingDir, 'rules', '02-log-hello.ts');
-    writeFileSync(ruleFilePath, newRuleContent);
-
-    expect(existsSync(ruleFilePath)).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('commit changes in staging', () => {
-    execSync('git add .', { cwd: ctx.stagingDir });
-    execSync('git commit -m "Add 02-log-hello rule"', { cwd: ctx.stagingDir });
-
-    // Verify commit exists
-    const log = execSync('git log --oneline -n 1', {
-      cwd: ctx.stagingDir,
-      encoding: 'utf-8',
-    }).trim();
-    expect(log.includes('02-log-hello')).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('upulse deploy promote succeeds', async () => {
-    const output = runUpulse(ctx, 'deploy promote', { timeout: 30_000 });
-    expect(!output.includes('error') && !output.includes('Error')).toBeTruthy();
-  }, 30_000);
-
-  it('promote creates promote event in events.db', () => {
-    const promoteEvents = queryEventsDb(
-      ctx,
-      "SELECT * FROM events WHERE kind = 'promote'",
-    ) as Array<{
-      kind: string;
-      code_rev: string;
-    }>;
-    expect(promoteEvents.length > 0).toBeTruthy();
-
-    const latestPromote = promoteEvents[promoteEvents.length - 1];
-    expect(latestPromote.code_rev).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('new rule is merged to engine directory', () => {
-    const mergedRulePath = join(ctx.engineDir, 'rules', '02-log-hello.ts');
-    expect(existsSync(mergedRulePath)).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('upulse tick produces effect from new rule', () => {
-    const output = runUpulse(ctx, 'tick');
-    expect(
-      output.includes('Snapshot') || output.includes('Result'),
-    ).toBeTruthy();
-
-    // The new rule should produce a log effect visible in tick output
-    expect(
-      output.includes('log') || output.includes('hello from v2'),
-    ).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-});
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/e2e/t3-promote-guard.test.ts b/packages/upulse/src/e2e/t3-promote-guard.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 6dc637c..0000000
--- a/packages/upulse/src/e2e/t3-promote-guard.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,125 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * E2E T3 — Promote Guard 测试（编译失败阻止 promote）
- *
- * 验证 promote 的编译守门机制:
- *   upulse init  → 初始化项目
- *   在 staging 里添加编译错误的 rule
- *   git add + commit
- *   upulse deploy promote  → 期望失败（编译不通过）
- *   验证 promote 被阻止且 engine 目录未被污染
- *
- * Run: bun test src/e2e/t3-promote-guard.test.ts
- */
-
-import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from 'bun:test';
-import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
-import { existsSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
-import { join } from 'node:path';
-import {
-  cleanupE2EContext,
-  createE2EContext,
-  type E2EContext,
-  queryEventsDb,
-  runUpulse,
-} from './helper.js';
-
-describe('E2E T3: Promote Guard (Compilation Failed)', () => {
-  let ctx: E2EContext;
-
-  beforeAll(() => {
-    ctx = createE2EContext();
-  });
-
-  afterAll(() => {
-    cleanupE2EContext(ctx);
-  });
-
-  it('upulse init initializes project', () => {
-    const output = runUpulse(ctx, 'init');
-    expect(
-      output.includes('initialized'),
-      `init output should mention initialized, got:\n${output}`,
-    ).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(existsSync(ctx.upulseDir), '.upulse/ should exist').toBeTruthy();
-    expect(existsSync(ctx.stagingDir), 'staging/ should exist').toBeTruthy();
-    expect(existsSync(ctx.engineDir), 'engine/ should exist').toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('add bad rule with compilation error to staging', () => {
-    const badRuleContent = `// 语法错误：缺少类型
-const bad: NONEXISTENT_TYPE = 42;
-export default bad;`;
-
-    const badRuleFilePath = join(ctx.stagingDir, 'rules', '99-bad-rule.ts');
-    writeFileSync(badRuleFilePath, badRuleContent);
-
-    expect(
-      existsSync(badRuleFilePath),
-      '99-bad-rule.ts should be written to staging/rules/',
-    ).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('commit bad rule in staging', () => {
-    execSync('git add .', { cwd: ctx.stagingDir });
-    execSync('git commit -m "Add bad rule with compilation error"', {
-      cwd: ctx.stagingDir,
-    });
-
-    // Verify commit exists
-    const log = execSync('git log --oneline -n 1', {
-      cwd: ctx.stagingDir,
-      encoding: 'utf-8',
-    }).trim();
-    expect(
-      log.includes('bad rule'),
-      'commit should mention the bad rule',
-    ).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('upulse deploy promote fails due to compilation error', () => {
-    const output = runUpulse(ctx, 'deploy promote', { expectFail: true });
-
-    // Check that output contains type-check-related error messages
-    expect(
-      output.includes('Type check') ||
-        output.includes('tsc') ||
-        output.includes('type check failed'),
-    ).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('no promote event created in events.db after failed promote', () => {
-    const promoteEvents = queryEventsDb(
-      ctx,
-      "SELECT * FROM events WHERE kind = 'promote'",
-    );
-    expect(promoteEvents.length).toBe(0);
-  });
-
-  it('bad rule file not merged to engine directory', () => {
-    const badRulePath = join(ctx.engineDir, 'rules', '99-bad-rule.ts');
-    expect(
-      !existsSync(badRulePath),
-      'bad rule should not exist in engine/rules/ after failed promote',
-    ).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('engine directory remains clean after failed promote', () => {
-    // Verify engine still has only the original files (no contamination from failed promote)
-    const engineRulesPath = join(
-      ctx.engineDir,
-      'rules',
-      '01-collect-system.ts',
-    );
-    expect(
-      existsSync(engineRulesPath),
-      'original rules should still exist in engine',
-    ).toBeTruthy();
-
-    // But the bad rule should not be there
-    const badRulePath = join(ctx.engineDir, 'rules', '99-bad-rule.ts');
-    expect(
-      !existsSync(badRulePath),
-      'bad rule should not contaminate engine directory',
-    ).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-});
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/e2e/t4-rollback.test.ts b/packages/upulse/src/e2e/t4-rollback.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 331f60d..0000000
--- a/packages/upulse/src/e2e/t4-rollback.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,308 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * E2E T4 — Rollback: append-only + epoch 正确
- *
- * Validates the full rollback lifecycle:
- *   init → promote v1 → tick (v1) → promote v2 → tick (v2) → rollback → verify
- *
- * Key assertions:
- *   - rollback event is written correctly (code_rev, meta.from, meta.to)
- *   - append-only: event count is monotonically increasing
- *   - v2 events still exist after rollback (not deleted)
- *   - engine code reverts after rollback
- *   - rollback with no previous version fails gracefully
- *
- * Run: bun test src/e2e/t4-rollback.test.ts
- */
-
-import {
-  afterAll,
-  beforeAll,
-  describe,
-  expect,
-  it,
-  setDefaultTimeout,
-} from 'bun:test';
-
-setDefaultTimeout(30_000);
-
-import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
-import { existsSync, mkdirSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
-import { join } from 'node:path';
-import {
-  cleanupE2EContext,
-  createE2EContext,
-  type E2EContext,
-  queryEventsDb,
-  runUpulse,
-} from './helper.js';
-
-// ── Helpers ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-
-/** Count events in the DB. */
-function eventCount(ctx: E2EContext): number {
-  const rows = queryEventsDb(
-    ctx,
-    'SELECT COUNT(*) as cnt FROM events',
-  ) as Array<{ cnt: number }>;
-  return rows.length > 0 ? rows[0]?.cnt : 0;
-}
-
-/**
- * Add a rule file to staging and commit.
- * Uses targeted `git add` to avoid committing the node_modules symlink
- * (git .gitignore pattern `node_modules/` does not match symlinks).
- */
-function addRuleToStaging(
-  ctx: E2EContext,
-  filename: string,
-  commitMsg: string,
-): void {
-  const rulesDir = join(ctx.stagingDir, 'rules');
-  if (!existsSync(rulesDir)) mkdirSync(rulesDir, { recursive: true });
-
-  const rulePath = join(rulesDir, filename);
-  writeFileSync(
-    rulePath,
-    `import type { Rule } from '@uncaged/pulse';
-import type { Snapshot, Effect } from '../types.js';
-
-/** Auto-generated test rule: ${filename} */
-const rule: Rule<Snapshot, Effect> = async (_prev, _curr, inner) => inner(_prev, _curr);
-export default rule;
-`,
-    'utf-8',
-  );
-
-  execSync(`git add rules/${filename} && git commit -m "${commitMsg}"`, {
-    cwd: ctx.stagingDir,
-    encoding: 'utf-8',
-    stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
-  });
-}
-
-// ── Tests ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-
-describe('E2E T4: Rollback', () => {
-  let ctx: E2EContext;
-
-  // Track code_revs and event counts at each stage for verification.
-  let v1CodeRev: string;
-  let v2CodeRev: string;
-  const eventCounts: number[] = [];
-
-  // Single context — init + bun install is expensive (~15-30s).
-  // Tests are ordered and build on each other.
-  beforeAll(() => {
-    ctx = createE2EContext();
-
-    // 1. Init
-    runUpulse(ctx, 'init');
-    runUpulse(ctx, 'tick');
-
-    // 2. Promote v1 (first promote establishes a version baseline)
-    addRuleToStaging(ctx, '98-v1.ts', 'add v1 rule');
-    runUpulse(ctx, 'deploy promote');
-    eventCounts.push(eventCount(ctx));
-
-    // Record v1 code_rev
-    const v1Promotes = queryEventsDb(
-      ctx,
-      "SELECT * FROM events WHERE kind = 'promote' ORDER BY occurred_at ASC",
-    ) as Array<{ code_rev: string }>;
-    v1CodeRev = v1Promotes[v1Promotes.length - 1]?.code_rev;
-
-    // 3. Tick under v1
-    runUpulse(ctx, 'tick');
-    runUpulse(ctx, 'tick');
-    eventCounts.push(eventCount(ctx));
-
-    // 4. Promote v2
-    addRuleToStaging(ctx, '99-v2.ts', 'add v2 rule');
-    runUpulse(ctx, 'deploy promote');
-    eventCounts.push(eventCount(ctx));
-
-    // Record v2 code_rev
-    const v2Promotes = queryEventsDb(
-      ctx,
-      "SELECT * FROM events WHERE kind = 'promote' ORDER BY occurred_at DESC LIMIT 1",
-    ) as Array<{ code_rev: string }>;
-    v2CodeRev = v2Promotes[0]?.code_rev;
-
-    // 5. Tick under v2
-    runUpulse(ctx, 'tick');
-    runUpulse(ctx, 'tick');
-    eventCounts.push(eventCount(ctx));
-  });
-
-  afterAll(() => {
-    cleanupE2EContext(ctx);
-  });
-
-  // ── Pre-rollback Sanity ──────────────────────────────────────
-
-  it('two promotes created distinct code_revs', () => {
-    expect(v1CodeRev).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(v2CodeRev).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(v1CodeRev).not.toBe(v2CodeRev);
-  });
-
-  it('v2 rule (99-v2.ts) exists in engine before rollback', () => {
-    const v2RulePath = join(ctx.engineDir, 'rules', '99-v2.ts');
-    expect(
-      existsSync(v2RulePath),
-      'engine should have 99-v2.ts after v2 promote',
-    ).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('both promote events are in the database', () => {
-    const promotes = queryEventsDb(
-      ctx,
-      "SELECT * FROM events WHERE kind = 'promote'",
-    ) as Array<{
-      code_rev: string;
-      meta: string;
-    }>;
-    expect(
-      promotes.length >= 2,
-      `should have at least 2 promote events, found ${promotes.length}`,
-    ).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  // ── Rollback ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
-
-  it('rollback succeeds', () => {
-    const countBefore = eventCount(ctx);
-
-    const output = runUpulse(ctx, 'deploy rollback');
-    expect(
-      output.includes('Rollback complete') ||
-        output.includes('rollback event written'),
-    ).toBeTruthy();
-
-    // Event count must increase (append-only)
-    const countAfter = eventCount(ctx);
-    expect(countAfter > countBefore).toBeTruthy();
-    eventCounts.push(countAfter);
-  });
-
-  // ── Rollback Event Content ──────────────────────────────────
-
-  it('rollback event has correct code_rev and meta', () => {
-    const rollbackEvent = (
-      queryEventsDb(
-        ctx,
-        "SELECT * FROM events WHERE kind = 'rollback' ORDER BY occurred_at DESC LIMIT 1",
-      ) as Array<{ code_rev: string; meta: string }>
-    )[0];
-    expect(rollbackEvent).toBeTruthy();
-
-    // code_rev should point to the target (v1)
-    expect(rollbackEvent.code_rev).toBe(v1CodeRev);
-
-    // meta should have from + to
-    const meta = JSON.parse(rollbackEvent.meta) as { from: string; to: string };
-    expect(meta.from).toBe(v2CodeRev);
-    expect(meta.to).toBe(v1CodeRev);
-    expect(meta.from).not.toBe(meta.to);
-  });
-
-  // ── Append-Only Invariant ───────────────────────────────────
-
-  it('append-only: event count is monotonically increasing', () => {
-    expect(eventCounts.length >= 5).toBeTruthy();
-    for (let i = 1; i < eventCounts.length; i++) {
-      expect(eventCounts[i]! >= eventCounts[i - 1]!).toBeTruthy();
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('all event IDs are ordered', () => {
-    const allEvents = queryEventsDb(
-      ctx,
-      'SELECT id FROM events ORDER BY id ASC',
-    ) as Array<{ id: number }>;
-    expect(allEvents.length > 0).toBeTruthy();
-    for (let i = 1; i < allEvents.length; i++) {
-      expect(allEvents[i]?.id > allEvents[i - 1]?.id).toBeTruthy();
-    }
-  });
-
-  // ── v2 Events Preservation ──────────────────────────────────
-
-  it('v2 promote event still exists after rollback', () => {
-    const v2Promotes = queryEventsDb(
-      ctx,
-      `SELECT * FROM events WHERE kind = 'promote' AND code_rev = '${v2CodeRev}'`,
-    ) as Array<{ code_rev: string }>;
-    expect(v2Promotes.length > 0).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('v2 events are not deleted (append-only)', () => {
-    // All events that were in the DB before rollback should still be there.
-    // We check that at least the promote events for both versions exist.
-    const allPromotes = queryEventsDb(
-      ctx,
-      "SELECT * FROM events WHERE kind = 'promote'",
-    ) as Array<{
-      code_rev: string;
-    }>;
-    const codeRevs = new Set(allPromotes.map((p) => p.code_rev));
-    expect(codeRevs.has(v1CodeRev)).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(codeRevs.has(v2CodeRev)).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  // ── Engine Code Revert ──────────────────────────────────────
-
-  it('engine code reverts after rollback (99-v2.ts removed)', () => {
-    const v2RulePath = join(ctx.engineDir, 'rules', '99-v2.ts');
-    expect(!existsSync(v2RulePath)).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('v1 rule (98-v1.ts) still exists in engine after rollback', () => {
-    const v1RulePath = join(ctx.engineDir, 'rules', '98-v1.ts');
-    expect(existsSync(v1RulePath)).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('engine git log shows revert commit', () => {
-    const log = execSync('git log --oneline -5', {
-      cwd: ctx.engineDir,
-      encoding: 'utf-8',
-    }).trim();
-    expect(log.toLowerCase().includes('revert')).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-});
-
-// ── Boundary: Rollback with no previous version ────────────────
-
-describe('E2E T4: Rollback boundary — no previous version', () => {
-  let ctx: E2EContext;
-
-  beforeAll(() => {
-    ctx = createE2EContext();
-    runUpulse(ctx, 'init');
-    runUpulse(ctx, 'tick');
-  });
-
-  afterAll(() => {
-    cleanupE2EContext(ctx);
-  });
-
-  it('rollback with no promote events fails gracefully', () => {
-    const output = runUpulse(ctx, 'deploy rollback', { expectFail: true });
-    expect(
-      output.includes('no promote event') ||
-        output.includes('Nothing to roll back') ||
-        output.includes('Error'),
-    ).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('rollback with only one promote (no previous version) fails gracefully', () => {
-    addRuleToStaging(ctx, '99-test.ts', 'add test rule');
-    runUpulse(ctx, 'deploy promote');
-
-    // Now try to rollback — should fail because there's no older version
-    const output = runUpulse(ctx, 'deploy rollback', { expectFail: true });
-    expect(
-      output.includes('no previous version') || output.includes('Error'),
-    ).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-});
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/e2e/t5-migrate.test.ts b/packages/upulse/src/e2e/t5-migrate.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 241f400..0000000
--- a/packages/upulse/src/e2e/t5-migrate.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,291 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * E2E T5 — Migrate 链式迁移测试
- *
- * 验证数据格式变更时的迁移机制:
- *   upulse init  → 初始化项目
- *   upulse tick  → 跑一次，产生 v1 数据
- *   修改 types.ts 改变 SystemSense 格式
- *   添加 migrate.ts 处理 v1 → v2 数据迁移
- *   更新 01-collect-system.ts 适配新格式
- *   upulse deploy promote  → 部署新版本
- *   验证 migrate 事件和新格式数据
- *
- * Run: bun test src/e2e/t5-migrate.test.ts
- */
-
-import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from 'bun:test';
-import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
-import { existsSync, readFileSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
-import { join } from 'node:path';
-import {
-  cleanupE2EContext,
-  createE2EContext,
-  type E2EContext,
-  queryEventsDb,
-  runUpulse,
-} from './helper.js';
-
-describe('E2E T5: Migrate Chain Migration', () => {
-  let ctx: E2EContext;
-
-  beforeAll(() => {
-    ctx = createE2EContext();
-  });
-
-  afterAll(() => {
-    cleanupE2EContext(ctx);
-  });
-
-  it('upulse init initializes project', () => {
-    const output = runUpulse(ctx, 'init');
-    expect(output.includes('initialized')).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(existsSync(ctx.upulseDir)).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(existsSync(ctx.stagingDir)).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(existsSync(ctx.engineDir)).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('upulse tick produces v1 data', () => {
-    const output = runUpulse(ctx, 'tick');
-    expect(
-      output.includes('Snapshot') || output.includes('Result'),
-    ).toBeTruthy();
-
-    // Seed v1 system data into _vitals scope + objects
-    const v1Data = { memoryPct: 42.5, cpuIdlePct: 87.3 };
-    const v1Hash = require('node:crypto')
-      .createHash('sha256')
-      .update(JSON.stringify(v1Data))
-      .digest('hex')
-      .slice(0, 32);
-    const { mkdirSync, writeFileSync: wfs } = require('node:fs');
-    mkdirSync(ctx.objectsDir, { recursive: true });
-    wfs(join(ctx.objectsDir, `${v1Hash}.json`), JSON.stringify(v1Data));
-
-    // Insert vital event into scopes/_vitals.db (events table, kind='vital')
-    const Database = require('bun:sqlite').default;
-    const vitalsDb = new Database(ctx.vitalsDbPath);
-    vitalsDb.exec(`
-      CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS events (
-        id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
-        occurred_at INTEGER NOT NULL,
-        kind TEXT NOT NULL,
-        key TEXT,
-        hash TEXT,
-        code_rev TEXT,
-        meta TEXT
-      )
-    `);
-    vitalsDb.exec(`
-      INSERT INTO events (id, occurred_at, kind, key, hash, code_rev, meta)
-      VALUES ('test-vital-01', ${Date.now()}, 'vital', 'system', '${v1Hash}', NULL, NULL)
-    `);
-    vitalsDb.close();
-
-    // Insert collect event into scopes/_system.db
-    const eventsDb = new Database(ctx.eventsDbPath);
-    eventsDb.exec(`
-      INSERT INTO events (id, occurred_at, kind, key, hash, code_rev, meta)
-      VALUES (99999, ${Date.now()}, 'collect', 'system', '${v1Hash}', '', '{}')
-    `);
-    eventsDb.close();
-  });
-
-  it('modify types.ts to v2 format in staging', () => {
-    const newTypesContent = `import type { Sensed } from '@uncaged/pulse';
-
-// ── Sense Types ────────────────────────────────────────────────
-// Each collector returns its own sense type.
-
-export interface SystemSense {
-  memory: { usedPct: number; totalMb: number };  // v2 格式
-  cpuIdlePct: number;
-}
-
-// ── Snapshot ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
-// Rebuilt from events table. Each sense is Sensed<T> = { data, refreshedAt }.
-// refreshedAt = the collect event's occurred_at timestamp.
-
-export interface Snapshot {
-  timestamp: number;
-  system: Sensed<SystemSense>;
-  // Agent 按需添加：
-  // ograph: Sensed<OGraphSense>;
-  // executors: Sensed<ExecutorsSense>;
-}
-
-// ── Effects ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-
-export type Effect =
-  | { kind: 'collect'; key: string }      // 触发采集（由 Rule 产生）
-  | { kind: 'log'; message: string }
-  // 按需添加：
-  // | { kind: 'dispatch'; target: string; payload: unknown }
-  // | { kind: 'notify'; message: string }
-`;
-
-    const typesFilePath = join(ctx.stagingDir, 'types.ts');
-    writeFileSync(typesFilePath, newTypesContent);
-
-    expect(existsSync(typesFilePath)).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('create migrate.ts in staging/rules/', () => {
-    const migrateContent = `export function migrate(snapshot: Record<string, any>): Record<string, any> {
-  const system = snapshot.system?.data;
-  if (system && 'memoryPct' in system) {
-    return {
-      ...snapshot,
-      system: {
-        data: {
-          memory: { usedPct: system.memoryPct, totalMb: 2048 },
-          cpuIdlePct: system.cpuIdlePct,
-        },
-        refreshedAt: snapshot.system.refreshedAt,
-      },
-    };
-  }
-  return snapshot;
-}`;
-
-    const migrateFilePath = join(ctx.stagingDir, 'rules', 'migrate.ts');
-    writeFileSync(migrateFilePath, migrateContent);
-
-    expect(existsSync(migrateFilePath)).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('update 01-collect-system.ts to adapt new format in staging', () => {
-    const newSystemRuleContent = `import type { Snapshot, Effect } from '../types.js';
-import type { Rule } from '@uncaged/pulse';
-
-/**
- * Trigger system collection every 15 seconds.
- * If system sense is stale (refreshedAt > 15s ago), emit collect effect.
- * Updated for v2 format.
- */
-const collectSystemRule: Rule<Snapshot, Effect> = async (_prev, curr, inner) => {
-  const [effects, tickMs] = await inner(_prev, curr);
-  const refreshedAt = curr.system?.refreshedAt ?? 0;
-  if (Date.now() - refreshedAt > 15000) {
-    return [[...effects, { kind: 'collect', key: 'system' }], tickMs];
-  }
-  return [effects, tickMs];
-};
-
-export default collectSystemRule;
-`;
-
-    const systemRuleFilePath = join(
-      ctx.stagingDir,
-      'rules',
-      '01-collect-system.ts',
-    );
-    writeFileSync(systemRuleFilePath, newSystemRuleContent);
-
-    expect(existsSync(systemRuleFilePath)).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('update system executor for v2 format in staging', () => {
-    const newExecutorContent = `import type { SystemSense } from '../types.js';
-import { freemem, totalmem, cpus } from 'node:os';
-
-/**
- * Collect system stats in v2 format.
- * Called by execute() when it receives a { kind: 'collect', key: 'system' } effect.
- * Returns data; execute() writes to events/vitals.
- */
-export async function collectSystem(): Promise<SystemSense> {
-  const memoryUsedBytes = totalmem() - freemem();
-  const memoryTotalMb = Math.round(totalmem() / (1024 * 1024));
-  const usedPct = Math.round((memoryUsedBytes / totalmem()) * 100);
-
-  const cores = cpus();
-  let totalIdle = 0;
-  let totalTick = 0;
-  for (const core of cores) {
-    for (const type in core.times) {
-      totalTick += (core.times as Record<string, number>)[type]!;
-    }
-    totalIdle += core.times.idle;
-  }
-  const cpuIdlePct = Math.round((totalIdle / totalTick) * 100);
-
-  return { 
-    memory: { usedPct, totalMb: memoryTotalMb }, 
-    cpuIdlePct 
-  };
-}`;
-
-    const executorFilePath = join(ctx.stagingDir, 'executors', 'system.ts');
-    writeFileSync(executorFilePath, newExecutorContent);
-
-    expect(existsSync(executorFilePath)).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('commit changes in staging', () => {
-    execSync('git add .', { cwd: ctx.stagingDir });
-    execSync('git commit -m "Migrate to v2 SystemSense format"', {
-      cwd: ctx.stagingDir,
-    });
-
-    // Verify commit exists
-    const log = execSync('git log --oneline -n 1', {
-      cwd: ctx.stagingDir,
-      encoding: 'utf-8',
-    }).trim();
-    expect(log.includes('v2')).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('upulse deploy promote succeeds', () => {
-    const output = runUpulse(ctx, 'deploy promote');
-    expect(!output.includes('error') && !output.includes('Error')).toBeTruthy();
-  }, 30_000);
-
-  it('migrate event created in events.db', () => {
-    const migrateEvents = queryEventsDb(
-      ctx,
-      "SELECT * FROM events WHERE kind = 'migrate' AND key = 'system'",
-    ) as Array<{
-      kind: string;
-      key: string;
-      hash: string;
-    }>;
-    expect(migrateEvents.length > 0).toBeTruthy();
-
-    const latestMigrate = migrateEvents[migrateEvents.length - 1];
-    expect(latestMigrate.hash).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('migrated object contains new format data', () => {
-    const migrateEvents = queryEventsDb(
-      ctx,
-      "SELECT * FROM events WHERE kind = 'migrate' AND key = 'system'",
-    ) as Array<{
-      hash: string;
-    }>;
-    expect(migrateEvents.length > 0).toBeTruthy();
-
-    const migrateHash = migrateEvents[migrateEvents.length - 1].hash;
-    const objectPath = join(ctx.objectsDir, `${migrateHash}.json`);
-
-    expect(existsSync(objectPath)).toBeTruthy();
-
-    const objectData = JSON.parse(readFileSync(objectPath, 'utf-8'));
-    // The stored object is the sense value (data.data), not the full snapshot wrapper
-    expect(objectData.memory?.usedPct !== undefined).toBeTruthy();
-    expect(typeof objectData.memory.usedPct === 'number').toBeTruthy();
-  });
-
-  it('promote event created after migration', () => {
-    const promoteEvents = queryEventsDb(
-      ctx,
-      "SELECT * FROM events WHERE kind = 'promote'",
-    ) as Array<{
-      kind: string;
-      code_rev: string;
-    }>;
-    expect(promoteEvents.length > 0).toBeTruthy();
-
-    const latestPromote = promoteEvents[promoteEvents.length - 1];
-    expect(latestPromote.code_rev).toBeTruthy();
-  });
-});
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/e2e/t6-dir-flag.test.ts b/packages/upulse/src/e2e/t6-dir-flag.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index a306cea..0000000
--- a/packages/upulse/src/e2e/t6-dir-flag.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,84 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * E2E: --dir / -d flag integration test
- *
- * Validates that the global --dir flag correctly targets a specific pulse instance.
- * Run: bun test src/e2e/t6-dir-flag.test.ts
- */
-
-import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from 'bun:test';
-import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
-import { existsSync } from 'node:fs';
-import { dirname, join } from 'node:path';
-import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
-import {
-  cleanupE2EContext,
-  createE2EContext,
-  type E2EContext,
-} from './helper.js';
-
-const __dirname = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
-const CLI_PATH = join(__dirname, '..', 'cli.ts');
-
-function runCli(args: string, env?: Record<string, string>): string {
-  return execSync(`bun ${CLI_PATH} ${args}`, {
-    encoding: 'utf-8',
-    timeout: 120_000,
-    env: { ...process.env, ...env },
-    stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
-  });
-}
-
-function runCliFail(args: string, env?: Record<string, string>): string {
-  try {
-    runCli(args, env);
-    throw new Error(`Expected command to fail: ${args}`);
-  } catch (err: unknown) {
-    const e = err as { stderr?: string; stdout?: string };
-    return e.stderr || e.stdout || '';
-  }
-}
-
-describe('E2E: --dir / -d flag', () => {
-  let ctx: E2EContext;
-
-  beforeAll(() => {
-    ctx = createE2EContext();
-    // Init using --dir flag (not env var)
-    runCli(`--dir ${ctx.upulseDir} init`);
-  });
-
-  afterAll(() => {
-    cleanupE2EContext(ctx);
-  });
-
-  it('--dir flag initializes in the specified directory', () => {
-    expect(existsSync(ctx.upulseDir)).toBe(true);
-    expect(existsSync(join(ctx.upulseDir, 'config.json'))).toBe(true);
-    expect(existsSync(join(ctx.upulseDir, 'engine'))).toBe(true);
-  });
-
-  it('-d short flag works the same as --dir', () => {
-    const output = runCli(`-d ${ctx.upulseDir} daemon status`);
-    expect(output).toContain('STOPPED');
-  });
-
-  it('--dir flag overrides PULSE_BASE_DIR env', () => {
-    // Set env to a nonexistent path, but --dir points to valid instance
-    const output = runCli(`--dir ${ctx.upulseDir} daemon status`, {
-      PULSE_BASE_DIR: '/tmp/this-does-not-exist',
-    });
-    expect(output).toContain('STOPPED');
-  });
-
-  it('PULSE_BASE_DIR env works when no --dir flag', () => {
-    const output = runCli('daemon status', {
-      PULSE_BASE_DIR: ctx.upulseDir,
-    });
-    expect(output).toContain('STOPPED');
-  });
-
-  it('nonexistent --dir fails gracefully', () => {
-    const output = runCliFail('--dir /tmp/pulse-nonexistent-dir daemon status');
-    expect(output).toContain('config not found');
-  });
-});
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/init.ts b/packages/upulse/src/init.ts
index a47cde6..b9cf734 100644
--- a/packages/upulse/src/init.ts
+++ b/packages/upulse/src/init.ts
@@ -135,14 +135,15 @@ export function initUpulse(dir?: string): void {
   console.log(`\nEngine:  ${config.engine.path}`);
   console.log(`Staging: ${config.staging.path}`);
   if (process.platform === 'linux') {
-    console.log('\nSystemd service: pulse.service (enabled, not started)');
-    console.log('  systemctl --user start pulse.service   # start daemon');
-    console.log('  systemctl --user status pulse.service  # check status');
-    console.log('  journalctl --user -u pulse.service -f  # follow logs');
+    console.log('\nSystemd user units: pulse.service, pulse-workflow.service');
+    console.log('  systemctl --user start pulse.service            # engine daemon');
+    console.log('  systemctl --user start pulse-workflow.service  # workflow daemon (if installed)');
+    console.log('  systemctl --user status pulse.service           # check engine');
+    console.log('  upulse status                                   # workflow DB + units');
   }
-  console.log('\nManual:');
-  console.log('  upulse daemon start --foreground   # start in foreground');
-  console.log('  upulse tick --dry-run               # manual dry-run tick');
+  console.log('\nCLI:');
+  console.log('  upulse workflow submit <wf> <topicKey> <file>   # enqueue workflow task');
+  console.log('  upulse inspect events --limit 5                 # recent workflow events');
 }
 
 // ── Helpers ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -267,10 +268,11 @@ type Rule<S, E> = (prev: S, curr: S)
 
 ## 构建和测试
 \`\`\`bash
-bun run typecheck         # tsc --noEmit 类型检查
-upulse dev test          # 历史 snapshot 回放 dry-run
-upulse tick --dry-run    # 手动触发一次（不执行 effect）
+bun run typecheck              # tsc --noEmit 类型检查
+upulse status                  # workflow daemon / DB 概览（可选）
+upulse inspect events --limit 5   # 最近 workflow 事件
 \`\`\`
+Linux 上引擎由 systemd 用户单元驱动：\`systemctl --user start pulse.service\`。
 
 ## ⚠️ 红线
 - **不要修改 pulse.config.ts 的 runPulse 调用签名**
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/migrate.test.ts b/packages/upulse/src/migrate.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 5772092..0000000
--- a/packages/upulse/src/migrate.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,184 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * migrate.test.ts — Tests for legacy → scoped data migration.
- */
-
-import { Database } from 'bun:sqlite';
-import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from 'bun:test';
-import {
-  existsSync,
-  mkdirSync,
-  mkdtempSync,
-  readFileSync,
-  rmSync,
-  writeFileSync,
-} from 'node:fs';
-import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
-import { join } from 'node:path';
-import type { UpulseConfig } from './config.js';
-import { migrateToScoped } from './migrate.js';
-
-function makeConfig(dir: string): UpulseConfig {
-  return {
-    dir,
-    engine: { path: join(dir, 'engine'), entrypoint: 'pulse.config.ts' },
-    staging: { path: join(dir, 'staging') },
-    daemon: {
-      pidFile: join(dir, 'daemon.pid'),
-      logFile: join(dir, 'daemon.log'),
-    },
-    store: {
-      scopesDir: join(dir, 'scopes'),
-      objectsDir: join(dir, 'objects'),
-    },
-  };
-}
-
-function createLegacyEventsDb(path: string): void {
-  const db = new Database(path, { create: true });
-  db.exec('PRAGMA journal_mode = WAL');
-  db.exec(`
-    CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS events (
-      id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
-      occurred_at INTEGER NOT NULL,
-      kind TEXT NOT NULL,
-      key TEXT,
-      hash TEXT,
-      code_rev TEXT,
-      meta TEXT
-    )
-  `);
-  db.exec(`
-    INSERT INTO events (id, occurred_at, kind, key, hash, code_rev, meta)
-    VALUES ('evt-001', 1000, 'tick', NULL, NULL, NULL, '{"tick_ms":15000}')
-  `);
-  db.close();
-}
-
-function createLegacyVitalsDb(path: string): void {
-  const db = new Database(path, { create: true });
-  db.exec('PRAGMA journal_mode = WAL');
-  db.exec(`
-    CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS vitals (
-      id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
-      occurred_at INTEGER NOT NULL,
-      key TEXT NOT NULL,
-      hash TEXT,
-      meta TEXT
-    )
-  `);
-  db.exec(`
-    INSERT INTO vitals (id, occurred_at, key, hash, meta)
-    VALUES ('vit-001', 1000, 'system', 'abc123', '{}')
-  `);
-  db.close();
-}
-
-describe('migrateToScoped', () => {
-  let tmpDir: string;
-
-  beforeEach(() => {
-    tmpDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'pulse-migrate-test-'));
-    mkdirSync(tmpDir, { recursive: true });
-  });
-
-  afterEach(() => {
-    rmSync(tmpDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
-  });
-
-  it('migrates events.db → scopes/_system.db', () => {
-    createLegacyEventsDb(join(tmpDir, 'events.db'));
-    const config = makeConfig(tmpDir);
-
-    migrateToScoped(config);
-
-    const systemDbPath = join(tmpDir, 'scopes', '_system.db');
-    expect(existsSync(systemDbPath)).toBe(true);
-
-    const db = new Database(systemDbPath);
-    const rows = db.prepare('SELECT * FROM events').all() as Array<{
-      id: string;
-    }>;
-    db.close();
-    expect(rows.length).toBe(1);
-    expect(rows[0].id).toBe('evt-001');
-  });
-
-  it('migrates vitals.db → scopes/_vitals.db as events', () => {
-    createLegacyEventsDb(join(tmpDir, 'events.db'));
-    createLegacyVitalsDb(join(tmpDir, 'vitals.db'));
-    const config = makeConfig(tmpDir);
-
-    migrateToScoped(config);
-
-    const vitalsDbPath = join(tmpDir, 'scopes', '_vitals.db');
-    expect(existsSync(vitalsDbPath)).toBe(true);
-
-    const db = new Database(vitalsDbPath);
-    const rows = db
-      .prepare('SELECT * FROM events WHERE kind = ?')
-      .all('vital') as Array<{
-      id: string;
-      kind: string;
-      key: string;
-      hash: string | null;
-    }>;
-    db.close();
-    expect(rows.length).toBe(1);
-    expect(rows[0].kind).toBe('vital');
-    expect(rows[0].key).toBe('system');
-    expect(rows[0].hash).toBe('abc123');
-  });
-
-  it('preserves old files as backups', () => {
-    const legacyEventsPath = join(tmpDir, 'events.db');
-    const legacyVitalsPath = join(tmpDir, 'vitals.db');
-    createLegacyEventsDb(legacyEventsPath);
-    createLegacyVitalsDb(legacyVitalsPath);
-    const config = makeConfig(tmpDir);
-
-    migrateToScoped(config);
-
-    expect(existsSync(legacyEventsPath)).toBe(true);
-    expect(existsSync(legacyVitalsPath)).toBe(true);
-  });
-
-  it('repeated migration is a no-op', () => {
-    createLegacyEventsDb(join(tmpDir, 'events.db'));
-    const config = makeConfig(tmpDir);
-
-    migrateToScoped(config);
-    const systemDbPath = join(tmpDir, 'scopes', '_system.db');
-
-    // Record modification time
-    const stat1 = Bun.file(systemDbPath).lastModified;
-
-    // Migrate again — should be a no-op
-    migrateToScoped(config);
-
-    const stat2 = Bun.file(systemDbPath).lastModified;
-    expect(stat2).toBe(stat1);
-  });
-
-  it('skips when no legacy files exist', () => {
-    const config = makeConfig(tmpDir);
-
-    migrateToScoped(config);
-
-    expect(existsSync(join(tmpDir, 'scopes'))).toBe(false);
-  });
-
-  it('copies WAL and SHM files if they exist', () => {
-    createLegacyEventsDb(join(tmpDir, 'events.db'));
-    writeFileSync(join(tmpDir, 'events.db-wal'), 'wal-data');
-    writeFileSync(join(tmpDir, 'events.db-shm'), 'shm-data');
-    const config = makeConfig(tmpDir);
-
-    migrateToScoped(config);
-
-    const systemDbPath = join(tmpDir, 'scopes', '_system.db');
-    expect(existsSync(`${systemDbPath}-wal`)).toBe(true);
-    expect(existsSync(`${systemDbPath}-shm`)).toBe(true);
-    expect(readFileSync(`${systemDbPath}-wal`, 'utf-8')).toBe('wal-data');
-    expect(readFileSync(`${systemDbPath}-shm`, 'utf-8')).toBe('shm-data');
-  });
-});
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/migrate.ts b/packages/upulse/src/migrate.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index defddfd..0000000
--- a/packages/upulse/src/migrate.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,79 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * migrate.ts — Automatic data migration from legacy flat layout to scoped layout.
- *
- * Legacy:  ~/.upulse/events.db + ~/.upulse/vitals.db
- * Scoped:  ~/.upulse/scopes/_system.db + ~/.upulse/scopes/_vitals.db (events table)
- *
- * Vitals records are converted to events with kind='vital'.
- * Old files are preserved as backups — they are never deleted.
- */
-
-import { Database } from 'bun:sqlite';
-import { copyFileSync, existsSync, mkdirSync } from 'node:fs';
-import { join } from 'node:path';
-import { createScopedStore } from '@uncaged/pulse';
-import type { UpulseConfig } from './config.js';
-
-export function migrateToScoped(config: UpulseConfig): void {
-  const scopesDir = config.store.scopesDir;
-  const systemDbPath = join(scopesDir, '_system.db');
-
-  // Already migrated — skip
-  if (existsSync(systemDbPath)) return;
-
-  const legacyEvents = join(config.dir, 'events.db');
-  const legacyVitals = join(config.dir, 'vitals.db');
-
-  // Nothing to migrate
-  if (!existsSync(legacyEvents) && !existsSync(legacyVitals)) return;
-
-  mkdirSync(scopesDir, { recursive: true });
-
-  if (existsSync(legacyEvents)) {
-    copyFileSync(legacyEvents, systemDbPath);
-    for (const ext of ['-wal', '-shm']) {
-      if (existsSync(legacyEvents + ext)) {
-        copyFileSync(legacyEvents + ext, systemDbPath + ext);
-      }
-    }
-    console.log('Migrated events.db → scopes/_system.db');
-  }
-
-  if (existsSync(legacyVitals)) {
-    const vitalsDbPath = join(scopesDir, '_vitals.db');
-    if (!existsSync(vitalsDbPath)) {
-      const oldDb = new Database(legacyVitals, { readonly: true });
-      const rows = oldDb
-        .query(
-          'SELECT id, occurred_at, key, hash, meta FROM vitals ORDER BY occurred_at',
-        )
-        .all() as Array<{
-        id: string;
-        occurred_at: number;
-        key: string;
-        hash: string | null;
-        meta: string | null;
-      }>;
-      oldDb.close();
-
-      const scopedStore = createScopedStore({
-        basePath: scopesDir,
-        objectsDir: config.store.objectsDir,
-      });
-      const vitalsStore = scopedStore.scope('_vitals');
-      for (const row of rows) {
-        vitalsStore.appendEvent({
-          occurredAt: row.occurred_at,
-          kind: 'vital',
-          key: row.key,
-          hash: row.hash ?? undefined,
-          meta: row.meta ?? undefined,
-        });
-      }
-      scopedStore.close();
-      console.log(
-        `Migrated vitals.db → scopes/_vitals.db (${rows.length} records as events)`,
-      );
-    }
-  }
-}
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/store.ts b/packages/upulse/src/store.ts
index aa5bc27..853ac14 100644
--- a/packages/upulse/src/store.ts
+++ b/packages/upulse/src/store.ts
@@ -5,13 +5,16 @@
  * Vitals use ScopedStore → scope('_vitals') with kind='vital' events.
  */
 
-import { existsSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { existsSync, mkdirSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { dirname, join } from 'node:path';
 import {
   createScopedStore,
+  createStore,
   type EventRecord,
   type PulseStore,
   type ScopedStore,
 } from '@uncaged/pulse';
+import type { UpulseConfig } from './config.js';
 
 export type { EventRecord, PulseStore, ScopedStore };
 
@@ -65,3 +68,28 @@ export function openOrCreateStore(
   const scoped = openOrCreateScopedStore(scopesDir, objectsDir);
   return scoped.scope('_system');
 }
+
+/** Paths for workflow daemon / CLI (workflows.db + scopes/objects). */
+export function workflowDataPaths(config: UpulseConfig): {
+  eventsDbPath: string;
+  objectsDir: string;
+} {
+  return {
+    eventsDbPath: join(config.store.scopesDir, 'workflows.db'),
+    objectsDir: join(config.store.scopesDir, 'objects'),
+  };
+}
+
+/** Open workflow event store if workflows.db exists (aligns with workflow-daemon). */
+export function openWorkflowsStore(config: UpulseConfig): PulseStore | null {
+  const { eventsDbPath, objectsDir } = workflowDataPaths(config);
+  if (!existsSync(eventsDbPath)) return null;
+  return createStore({ eventsDbPath, objectsDir });
+}
+
+/** Create dirs and open workflow store (for submit). */
+export function openOrCreateWorkflowsStore(config: UpulseConfig): PulseStore {
+  const { eventsDbPath, objectsDir } = workflowDataPaths(config);
+  mkdirSync(dirname(eventsDbPath), { recursive: true });
+  return createStore({ eventsDbPath, objectsDir });
+}
diff --git a/packages/upulse/src/ui/dashboard.ts b/packages/upulse/src/ui/dashboard.ts
index 89f7713..f45740b 100644
--- a/packages/upulse/src/ui/dashboard.ts
+++ b/packages/upulse/src/ui/dashboard.ts
@@ -610,7 +610,7 @@ function renderEvents(events) {
   const list = document.getElementById('eventList');
   if (!events || events.length === 0) {
     list.innerHTML = '<div class="empty"><div class="empty-icon">◇</div>' +
-      '<div class="empty-text">No events yet. Start the daemon to begin collecting data.</div></div>';
+      '<div class="empty-text">No events yet. Start the pulse engine (e.g. systemctl --user start pulse.service) to begin collecting data.</div></div>';
     return;
   }
 
@@ -658,7 +658,7 @@ async function loadSenseKeys() {
   const tabs = document.getElementById('vitalsTabs');
 
   if (!data.keys || data.keys.length === 0) {
-    tabs.innerHTML = '<div class="empty-text" style="color:var(--text-dim)">No sense keys found. Start the daemon to collect data.</div>';
+    tabs.innerHTML = '<div class="empty-text" style="color:var(--text-dim)">No sense keys found. Start the pulse engine (e.g. systemctl --user start pulse.service) to collect data.</div>';
     return;
   }
 
@@ -839,7 +839,7 @@ async function loadDeploys() {
 
   if (!data.deploys || data.deploys.length === 0) {
     list.innerHTML = '<div class="empty"><div class="empty-icon">↑</div>' +
-      '<div class="empty-text">No deploy history. Use "upulse deploy promote" to create one.</div></div>';
+      '<div class="empty-text">No deploy history yet. Promote/rollback events appear here when recorded by the engine.</div></div>';
     return;
   }