diff --git a/pkg/agentic/dispatch.go b/pkg/agentic/dispatch.go
index 79c0ceb..3321752 100644
--- a/pkg/agentic/dispatch.go
+++ b/pkg/agentic/dispatch.go
@@ -334,30 +334,10 @@ func (s *PrepSubsystem) spawnAgent(agent, prompt, wsDir string) (int, string, er
 			})
 		}
 
-		// Post-completion pipeline is handled by IPC handlers registered in main.go:
-		// AgentCompleted → QA handler → PRCreated handler → verify handler
-		// AgentCompleted → ingest handler
-		// AgentCompleted → poke handler
-		//
-		// Legacy inline pipeline kept as fallback when Core is not wired.
-		if s.core == nil {
-			if finalStatus == "completed" {
-				if !s.runQA(wsDir) {
-					finalStatus = "failed"
-					question = "QA check failed — build or tests did not pass"
-					if st, stErr := ReadStatus(wsDir); stErr == nil {
-						st.Status = finalStatus
-						st.Question = question
-						writeStatus(wsDir, st)
-					}
-				} else {
-					s.autoCreatePR(wsDir)
-					s.autoVerifyAndMerge(wsDir)
-				}
-			}
-			s.ingestFindings(wsDir)
-			s.Poke()
-		}
+		// Post-completion pipeline handled by IPC handlers:
+		// AgentCompleted → QA → PRCreated → Verify → PRMerged|PRNeedsReview
+		// AgentCompleted → Ingest
+		// AgentCompleted → Poke
 	}()
 
 	return pid, outputFile, nil
diff --git a/pkg/agentic/handlers.go b/pkg/agentic/handlers.go
index 961392e..cc62dc0 100644
--- a/pkg/agentic/handlers.go
+++ b/pkg/agentic/handlers.go
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ func RegisterHandlers(c *core.Core, s *PrepSubsystem) {
 		return core.Result{OK: true}
 	})
 
-	// Auto-PR: create PR on QA pass
+	// Auto-PR: create PR on QA pass, emit PRCreated
 	c.RegisterAction(func(c *core.Core, msg core.Message) core.Result {
 		ev, ok := msg.(messages.QAResult)
 		if !ok || !ev.Passed {
@@ -63,21 +63,51 @@ func RegisterHandlers(c *core.Core, s *PrepSubsystem) {
 		}
 
 		s.autoCreatePR(wsDir)
+
+		// Check if PR was created (stored in status by autoCreatePR)
+		if st, err := ReadStatus(wsDir); err == nil && st.PRURL != "" {
+			c.ACTION(messages.PRCreated{
+				Repo:   st.Repo,
+				Branch: st.Branch,
+				PRURL:  st.PRURL,
+				PRNum:  extractPRNumber(st.PRURL),
+			})
+		}
 		return core.Result{OK: true}
 	})
 
 	// Auto-verify: verify and merge after PR creation
 	c.RegisterAction(func(c *core.Core, msg core.Message) core.Result {
-		ev, ok := msg.(messages.QAResult)
-		if !ok || !ev.Passed {
+		ev, ok := msg.(messages.PRCreated)
+		if !ok {
 			return core.Result{OK: true}
 		}
-		wsDir := resolveWorkspace(ev.Workspace)
+
+		// Find workspace for this repo+branch
+		wsDir := findWorkspaceByPR(ev.Repo, ev.Branch)
 		if wsDir == "" {
 			return core.Result{OK: true}
 		}
 
 		s.autoVerifyAndMerge(wsDir)
+
+		// Check final status
+		if st, err := ReadStatus(wsDir); err == nil {
+			if st.Status == "merged" {
+				c.ACTION(messages.PRMerged{
+					Repo:  ev.Repo,
+					PRURL: ev.PRURL,
+					PRNum: ev.PRNum,
+				})
+			} else if st.Question != "" {
+				c.ACTION(messages.PRNeedsReview{
+					Repo:   ev.Repo,
+					PRURL:  ev.PRURL,
+					PRNum:  ev.PRNum,
+					Reason: st.Question,
+				})
+			}
+		}
 		return core.Result{OK: true}
 	})
 
@@ -119,3 +149,22 @@ func resolveWorkspace(name string) string {
 	}
 	return ""
 }
+
+// findWorkspaceByPR finds a workspace directory by repo name and branch.
+// Scans running/completed workspaces for a matching repo+branch combination.
+func findWorkspaceByPR(repo, branch string) string {
+	wsRoot := WorkspaceRoot()
+	old := core.PathGlob(core.JoinPath(wsRoot, "*", "status.json"))
+	deep := core.PathGlob(core.JoinPath(wsRoot, "*", "*", "*", "status.json"))
+	for _, path := range append(old, deep...) {
+		wsDir := core.PathDir(path)
+		st, err := ReadStatus(wsDir)
+		if err != nil {
+			continue
+		}
+		if st.Repo == repo && st.Branch == branch {
+			return wsDir
+		}
+	}
+	return ""
+}
diff --git a/pkg/agentic/queue.go b/pkg/agentic/queue.go
index 9aa04d1..d361f40 100644
--- a/pkg/agentic/queue.go
+++ b/pkg/agentic/queue.go
@@ -212,9 +212,18 @@ func baseAgent(agent string) string {
 //
 //	codex: {total: 2, models: {gpt-5.4: 1}} → max 2 codex total, max 1 gpt-5.4
 func (s *PrepSubsystem) canDispatchAgent(agent string) bool {
-	cfg := s.loadAgentsConfig()
+	// Read concurrency from shared config (loaded once at startup)
+	var concurrency map[string]ConcurrencyLimit
+	if s.core != nil {
+		concurrency = core.ConfigGet[map[string]ConcurrencyLimit](s.core.Config(), "agents.concurrency")
+	}
+	if concurrency == nil {
+		cfg := s.loadAgentsConfig()
+		concurrency = cfg.Concurrency
+	}
+
 	base := baseAgent(agent)
-	limit, ok := cfg.Concurrency[base]
+	limit, ok := concurrency[base]
 	if !ok || limit.Total <= 0 {
 		return true
 	}
@@ -253,13 +262,18 @@ func modelVariant(agent string) string {
 }
 
 // drainQueue fills all available concurrency slots from queued workspaces.
-// Loops until no slots remain or no queued tasks match. Serialised via drainMu.
+// Serialised via c.Lock("drain") when Core is available, falls back to local mutex.
 func (s *PrepSubsystem) drainQueue() {
 	if s.frozen {
 		return
 	}
-	s.drainMu.Lock()
-	defer s.drainMu.Unlock()
+	if s.core != nil {
+		s.core.Lock("drain").Mutex.Lock()
+		defer s.core.Lock("drain").Mutex.Unlock()
+	} else {
+		s.drainMu.Lock()
+		defer s.drainMu.Unlock()
+	}
 
 	for s.drainOne() {
 		// keep filling slots
diff --git a/pkg/agentic/register.go b/pkg/agentic/register.go
index 884e491..b428e2a 100644
--- a/pkg/agentic/register.go
+++ b/pkg/agentic/register.go
@@ -25,6 +25,12 @@ func Register(c *core.Core) core.Result {
 	prep := NewPrep()
 	prep.core = c
 
+	// Load agents config once into Core shared config
+	cfg := prep.loadAgentsConfig()
+	c.Config().Set("agents.concurrency", cfg.Concurrency)
+	c.Config().Set("agents.rates", cfg.Rates)
+	c.Config().Set("agents.dispatch", cfg.Dispatch)
+
 	c.Service("agentic", core.Service{
 		OnStart: func() core.Result {
 			prep.StartRunner()