diff --git a/CONTEXT.md b/CONTEXT.md
index 0d68ea6e0..41ca245fe 100644
--- a/CONTEXT.md
+++ b/CONTEXT.md
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@
 
 ## Glossary — Domain modules and seams
 
+### Dispatch Pipeline Module
+Module that composes Dispatch Policy Module, Query Execution Policy Module, and per-stage handlers (input-validation, plan, execution, result-builder, formatting, error-mapping, observability) into the end-to-end pipeline that produces a `QueryDispatchResult`. Entry point: `sdk/src/query/query-dispatch.ts`. Typed contract: `sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-contract.ts`.
+
 ### Dispatch Policy Module
 Module owning dispatch error mapping, fallback policy, timeout classification, and CLI exit mapping contract.
 
diff --git a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-error-mapper.test.ts b/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-error-mapper.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index b4fe8beb5..000000000
--- a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-error-mapper.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,62 +0,0 @@
-import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
-import {
-  mapNativeDispatchError,
-  mapFallbackDispatchError,
-  toDispatchFailure,
-} from './query-dispatch-error-mapper.js';
-import { GSDToolsError } from '../gsd-tools-error.js';
-
-describe('query dispatch error mapper', () => {
-  it('maps native timeout errors', () => {
-    const err = mapNativeDispatchError(
-      new Error('gsd-tools timed out after 30000ms: state load'),
-      'state.load',
-      [],
-    );
-    expect(err.kind).toBe('native_timeout');
-    expect(err.code).toBe(1);
-    expect(err.details).toMatchObject({ command: 'state.load', args: [], timeout_ms: 30000 });
-  });
-
-  it('maps native non-timeout errors', () => {
-    const err = mapNativeDispatchError(new Error('boom'), 'state.json', []);
-    expect(err.kind).toBe('native_failure');
-    expect(err.code).toBe(1);
-    expect(err.details).toMatchObject({ command: 'state.json', args: [] });
-  });
-
-  it('maps typed timeout classification from GSDToolsError', () => {
-    const err = mapNativeDispatchError(
-      GSDToolsError.timeout('timeout', 'state', ['load'], '', 1234),
-      'state.load',
-      [],
-    );
-    expect(err.kind).toBe('native_timeout');
-    expect(err.details).toMatchObject({ timeout_ms: 1234 });
-  });
-
-  it('maps typed failure classification from GSDToolsError', () => {
-    const err = mapNativeDispatchError(
-      GSDToolsError.failure('boom', 'state', ['load'], 1),
-      'state.load',
-      [],
-    );
-    expect(err.kind).toBe('native_failure');
-  });
-
-  it('maps fallback errors', () => {
-    const err = mapFallbackDispatchError(new Error('spawn ENOENT'), 'state', ['load']);
-    expect(err.kind).toBe('fallback_failure');
-    expect(err.code).toBe(1);
-    expect(err.details).toMatchObject({ command: 'state', args: ['load'], backend: 'cjs' });
-  });
-
-  it('builds failure result union', () => {
-    const out = toDispatchFailure({ kind: 'internal_error', code: 1, message: 'Error: x' }, ['warn']);
-    expect(out.ok).toBe(false);
-    if (out.ok) throw new Error('expected failure');
-    expect(out.exit_code).toBe(1);
-    expect(out.stderr).toEqual(['warn']);
-    expect(out.error.kind).toBe('internal_error');
-  });
-});
diff --git a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-formatting.test.ts b/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-formatting.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index b5da8a293..000000000
--- a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-formatting.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
-import { formatPick, formatSuccess } from './query-dispatch-formatting.js';
-
-describe('query-dispatch-formatting', () => {
-  it('formats text with trailing newline', () => {
-    expect(formatSuccess('USAGE', 'text')).toBe('USAGE\n');
-  });
-
-  it('formats json with pretty printing', () => {
-    expect(formatSuccess({ nested: { value: 3 } }, 'json')).toBe([
-      '{',
-      '  "nested": {',
-      '    "value": 3',
-      '  }',
-      '}',
-      '',
-    ].join('\n'));
-  });
-
-  it('formats json and applies pick', () => {
-    expect(formatSuccess({ nested: { value: 3 } }, 'json', 'nested.value')).toBe('3\n');
-  });
-
-  it('formatPick returns input when no pickField', () => {
-    const input = { ok: true };
-    expect(formatPick(input)).toBe(input);
-  });
-});
diff --git a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-input-validation.test.ts b/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-input-validation.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 78640b465..000000000
--- a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-input-validation.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
-import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
-import { validateQueryDispatchInput } from './query-dispatch-input-validation.js';
-
-describe('query-dispatch-input-validation', () => {
-  it('fails when --pick value missing', () => {
-    const out = validateQueryDispatchInput(['state', 'json', '--pick']);
-    expect(out.error?.ok).toBe(false);
-  });
-
-  it('extracts pick field and query args', () => {
-    const out = validateQueryDispatchInput(['state', 'json', '--pick', 'x.y']);
-    expect(out.error).toBeUndefined();
-    expect(out.queryArgs).toEqual(['state', 'json']);
-    expect(out.pickField).toBe('x.y');
-  });
-
-  it('fails when --pick is the only command token', () => {
-    const out = validateQueryDispatchInput(['--pick', 'x.y']);
-    expect(out.error?.ok).toBe(false);
-    if (out.error?.ok) throw new Error('expected failure');
-    expect(out.error?.error.kind).toBe('validation_error');
-  });
-});
diff --git a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-input-validation.ts b/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-input-validation.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 74384ce07..000000000
--- a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-input-validation.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * @deprecated Compatibility seam after Query Dispatch Module deepening.
- * Remove-after: all imports migrate to `query-dispatch.ts`.
- */
-export { validateQueryDispatchInput, type DispatchInputValidationResult } from './query-dispatch.js';
diff --git a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-observability.test.ts b/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-observability.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 7eca73dcc..000000000
--- a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-observability.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
-import { fallbackBridgeNotices } from './query-dispatch-observability.js';
-
-describe('query-dispatch-observability', () => {
-  it('builds fallback notices', () => {
-    const notes = fallbackBridgeNotices('unknown-cmd');
-    expect(notes[0]).toContain('unknown-cmd');
-    expect(notes.length).toBe(2);
-  });
-});
diff --git a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-plan.test.ts b/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-plan.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 10884f6af..000000000
--- a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-plan.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
-import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
-import { createRegistry } from './index.js';
-import { planQueryDispatch } from './query-dispatch-plan.js';
-import { createCommandTopology } from './command-topology.js';
-
-describe('query-dispatch-plan', () => {
-  it('selects native mode for registered commands', () => {
-    const registry = createRegistry();
-    const plan = planQueryDispatch(['state', 'json'], createCommandTopology(registry), true);
-    expect(plan.mode).toBe('native');
-    expect(plan.normalized.command).toBe('state.json');
-  });
-
-  it('selects cjs mode for unknown command when fallback enabled', () => {
-    const registry = createRegistry();
-    const plan = planQueryDispatch(['unknown-cmd'], createCommandTopology(registry), true);
-    expect(plan.mode).toBe('cjs');
-  });
-
-  it('selects error mode for unknown command when fallback disabled', () => {
-    const registry = createRegistry();
-    const plan = planQueryDispatch(['unknown-cmd'], createCommandTopology(registry), false);
-    expect(plan.mode).toBe('error');
-  });
-});
diff --git a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-plan.ts b/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-plan.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index ad067ec7c..000000000
--- a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-plan.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * @deprecated Compatibility seam after Query Dispatch Module deepening.
- * Remove-after: all imports migrate to `query-dispatch.ts`.
- */
-export { planQueryDispatch, type DispatchMode, type DispatchPlan } from './query-dispatch.js';
diff --git a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-result-builder.test.ts b/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-result-builder.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 29203cd1e..000000000
--- a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-result-builder.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
-import { dispatchFailure, dispatchSuccess } from './query-dispatch-result-builder.js';
-
-describe('query-dispatch-result-builder', () => {
-  it('builds success result', () => {
-    expect(dispatchSuccess('ok\n')).toEqual({ ok: true, stdout: 'ok\n', stderr: [], exit_code: 0 });
-  });
-
-  it('builds failure result from error code', () => {
-    const out = dispatchFailure({ kind: 'internal_error', code: 7, message: 'Error: x' }, ['warn']);
-    expect(out.ok).toBe(false);
-    if (out.ok) throw new Error('expected failure');
-    expect(out.exit_code).toBe(7);
-    expect(out.stderr).toEqual(['warn']);
-  });
-});
diff --git a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-result-builder.ts b/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-result-builder.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 8fa5d55be..000000000
--- a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch-result-builder.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * @deprecated Compatibility seam after Query Dispatch Module deepening.
- * Remove-after: all imports migrate to `query-dispatch.ts`.
- */
-export { dispatchFailure, dispatchSuccess } from './query-dispatch.js';
diff --git a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch.test.ts b/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch.test.ts
index 70b22d72e..68cbff17f 100644
--- a/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch.test.ts
+++ b/sdk/src/query/query-dispatch.test.ts
@@ -5,10 +5,310 @@ import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
 import { existsSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { createRegistry } from './index.js';
 import { GSDToolsError } from '../gsd-tools-error.js';
-import { runQueryDispatch } from './query-dispatch.js';
+import {
+  runQueryDispatch,
+  validateQueryDispatchInput,
+  planQueryDispatch,
+  dispatchSuccess,
+  dispatchFailure,
+  formatPick,
+  formatSuccess,
+  mapNativeDispatchError,
+  mapFallbackDispatchError,
+  toDispatchFailure,
+} from './query-dispatch.js';
 import { createCommandTopology } from './command-topology.js';
 import { COMMAND_MUTATION_SET } from './command-definition.js';
-describe('runQueryDispatch', () => {
+import { fallbackBridgeNotices } from './query-dispatch-observability.js';
+
+// ─── stage: input-validation ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+describe('stage: input-validation', () => {
+  it('fails when --pick value is missing', () => {
+    const out = validateQueryDispatchInput(['state', 'json', '--pick']);
+    expect(out.error).toBeDefined();
+    expect(out.error?.ok).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('extracts pick field and strips it from queryArgs', () => {
+    const out = validateQueryDispatchInput(['state', 'json', '--pick', 'x.y']);
+    expect(out.error).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(out.queryArgs).toEqual(['state', 'json']);
+    expect(out.pickField).toBe('x.y');
+  });
+
+  it('fails when --pick is the only command token (missing_command)', () => {
+    const out = validateQueryDispatchInput(['--pick', 'x.y']);
+    expect(out.error).toBeDefined();
+    expect(out.error?.ok).toBe(false);
+    if (out.error?.ok) throw new Error('expected failure');
+    expect(out.error?.error.kind).toBe('validation_error');
+  });
+
+  it('fails for empty argv (requires_command)', () => {
+    const out = validateQueryDispatchInput([]);
+    expect(out.error).toBeDefined();
+    expect(out.error?.ok).toBe(false);
+    if (out.error?.ok) throw new Error('expected failure');
+    expect(out.error?.error.kind).toBe('validation_error');
+  });
+
+  // Counter-tests: absence under non-triggering input
+
+  it('counter: no error when argv is well-formed without --pick', () => {
+    const out = validateQueryDispatchInput(['state', 'json']);
+    expect(out.error).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(out.queryArgs).toEqual(['state', 'json']);
+    expect(out.pickField).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it('counter: no pickField when --pick is absent', () => {
+    const out = validateQueryDispatchInput(['state', 'json']);
+    expect(out.pickField).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+});
+
+// ─── stage: plan ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+describe('stage: plan', () => {
+  it('selects native mode for registered commands', () => {
+    const registry = createRegistry();
+    const plan = planQueryDispatch(['state', 'json'], createCommandTopology(registry), true);
+    expect(plan.mode).toBe('native');
+    expect(plan.normalized.command).toBe('state.json');
+  });
+
+  it('selects cjs mode for unknown command when fallback enabled', () => {
+    const registry = createRegistry();
+    const plan = planQueryDispatch(['unknown-cmd'], createCommandTopology(registry), true);
+    expect(plan.mode).toBe('cjs');
+  });
+
+  it('selects error mode for unknown command when fallback disabled', () => {
+    const registry = createRegistry();
+    const plan = planQueryDispatch(['unknown-cmd'], createCommandTopology(registry), false);
+    expect(plan.mode).toBe('error');
+  });
+
+  // Counter-tests: absence under non-triggering input
+
+  it('counter: cjs mode does not produce matched handler', () => {
+    const registry = createRegistry();
+    const plan = planQueryDispatch(['unknown-cmd'], createCommandTopology(registry), true);
+    expect(plan.matched).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it('counter: native mode carries matched handler', () => {
+    const registry = createRegistry();
+    const plan = planQueryDispatch(['state', 'json'], createCommandTopology(registry), true);
+    expect(plan.matched).not.toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it('counter: error mode does not carry noMatchMessage for empty argv', () => {
+    const registry = createRegistry();
+    const plan = planQueryDispatch([], createCommandTopology(registry), false);
+    // empty argv yields error mode with empty normalized command
+    expect(plan.mode).toBe('error');
+    expect(plan.normalized.command).toBe('');
+  });
+});
+
+// ─── stage: execution + result-builder ───────────────────────────────────────
+
+describe('stage: execution + result-builder', () => {
+  it('dispatchSuccess builds the ok=true IR correctly', () => {
+    const out = dispatchSuccess('ok\n');
+    expect(out).toEqual({ ok: true, stdout: 'ok\n', stderr: [], exit_code: 0 });
+  });
+
+  it('dispatchSuccess accepts optional stderr lines', () => {
+    const out = dispatchSuccess('hello\n', ['warning']);
+    expect(out.ok).toBe(true);
+    expect(out.stderr).toEqual(['warning']);
+  });
+
+  it('dispatchFailure builds the ok=false IR from error code', () => {
+    const out = dispatchFailure({ kind: 'internal_error', code: 7, message: 'Error: x' }, ['warn']);
+    expect(out.ok).toBe(false);
+    if (out.ok) throw new Error('expected failure');
+    expect(out.exit_code).toBe(7);
+    expect(out.stderr).toEqual(['warn']);
+    expect(out.error.kind).toBe('internal_error');
+    expect(out.error.code).toBe(7);
+  });
+
+  it('dispatchFailure defaults to empty stderr when not provided', () => {
+    const out = dispatchFailure({ kind: 'internal_error', code: 1, message: 'Error: x' });
+    expect(out.ok).toBe(false);
+    if (out.ok) throw new Error('expected failure');
+    expect(out.stderr).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  // Counter-tests
+
+  it('counter: dispatchSuccess exit_code is always 0', () => {
+    const out = dispatchSuccess('x\n');
+    expect(out.exit_code).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  it('counter: dispatchFailure.ok is never true', () => {
+    const out = dispatchFailure({ kind: 'validation_error', code: 10, message: 'err' });
+    expect(out.ok).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
+// ─── stage: formatting ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+describe('stage: formatting', () => {
+  it('formatSuccess formats text with trailing newline', () => {
+    expect(formatSuccess('USAGE', 'text')).toBe('USAGE\n');
+  });
+
+  it('formatSuccess does not double-add newline if text already ends with one', () => {
+    expect(formatSuccess('USAGE\n', 'text')).toBe('USAGE\n');
+  });
+
+  it('formatSuccess formats json with pretty printing', () => {
+    expect(formatSuccess({ nested: { value: 3 } }, 'json')).toBe(
+      '{\n  "nested": {\n    "value": 3\n  }\n}\n',
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('formatSuccess formats json and applies pick', () => {
+    expect(formatSuccess({ nested: { value: 3 } }, 'json', 'nested.value')).toBe('3\n');
+  });
+
+  it('formatPick returns input unchanged when no pickField provided', () => {
+    const input = { ok: true };
+    expect(formatPick(input)).toBe(input);
+  });
+
+  it('formatPick extracts nested field when pickField is provided', () => {
+    expect(formatPick({ a: { b: 42 } }, 'a.b')).toBe(42);
+  });
+
+  // Counter-tests
+
+  it('counter: formatPick with undefined pickField returns original object reference', () => {
+    const obj = { x: 1 };
+    expect(formatPick(obj, undefined)).toBe(obj);
+  });
+
+  it('counter: formatSuccess json without pickField returns full serialized object', () => {
+    const out = formatSuccess({ a: 1, b: 2 }, 'json');
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(out) as Record<string, unknown>;
+    expect(parsed['a']).toBe(1);
+    expect(parsed['b']).toBe(2);
+  });
+});
+
+// ─── stage: error-mapping ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+describe('stage: error-mapping', () => {
+  it('mapNativeDispatchError maps string-pattern timeout to native_timeout', () => {
+    const err = mapNativeDispatchError(
+      new Error('gsd-tools timed out after 30000ms: state load'),
+      'state.load',
+      [],
+    );
+    expect(err.kind).toBe('native_timeout');
+    expect(err.code).toBe(1);
+    expect(err.details).toMatchObject({ command: 'state.load', args: [], timeout_ms: 30000 });
+  });
+
+  it('mapNativeDispatchError maps non-timeout errors to native_failure', () => {
+    const err = mapNativeDispatchError(new Error('boom'), 'state.json', []);
+    expect(err.kind).toBe('native_failure');
+    expect(err.code).toBe(1);
+    expect(err.details).toMatchObject({ command: 'state.json', args: [] });
+  });
+
+  it('mapNativeDispatchError maps typed GSDToolsError.timeout to native_timeout', () => {
+    const err = mapNativeDispatchError(
+      GSDToolsError.timeout('timeout', 'state', ['load'], '', 1234),
+      'state.load',
+      [],
+    );
+    expect(err.kind).toBe('native_timeout');
+    expect(err.details).toMatchObject({ timeout_ms: 1234 });
+  });
+
+  it('mapNativeDispatchError maps typed GSDToolsError.failure to native_failure', () => {
+    const err = mapNativeDispatchError(
+      GSDToolsError.failure('boom', 'state', ['load'], 1),
+      'state.load',
+      [],
+    );
+    expect(err.kind).toBe('native_failure');
+  });
+
+  it('mapFallbackDispatchError maps spawn errors to fallback_failure with details', () => {
+    const err = mapFallbackDispatchError(new Error('spawn ENOENT'), 'state', ['load']);
+    expect(err.kind).toBe('fallback_failure');
+    expect(err.code).toBe(1);
+    expect(err.details).toMatchObject({ command: 'state', args: ['load'], backend: 'cjs' });
+  });
+
+  it('toDispatchFailure builds ok=false result union from error', () => {
+    const out = toDispatchFailure({ kind: 'internal_error', code: 1, message: 'Error: x' }, ['warn']);
+    expect(out.ok).toBe(false);
+    if (out.ok) throw new Error('expected failure');
+    expect(out.exit_code).toBe(1);
+    expect(out.stderr).toEqual(['warn']);
+    expect(out.error.kind).toBe('internal_error');
+  });
+
+  // Counter-tests
+
+  it('counter: mapNativeDispatchError does not produce native_timeout for generic errors', () => {
+    const err = mapNativeDispatchError(new Error('some generic error'), 'state.json', []);
+    expect(err.kind).toBe('native_failure');
+    expect(err.kind).not.toBe('native_timeout');
+  });
+
+  it('counter: mapFallbackDispatchError does not produce native_failure kind', () => {
+    const err = mapFallbackDispatchError(new Error('spawn ENOENT'), 'state', []);
+    expect(err.kind).toBe('fallback_failure');
+    expect(err.kind).not.toBe('native_failure');
+  });
+
+  it('counter: toDispatchFailure.ok is never true', () => {
+    const out = toDispatchFailure({ kind: 'validation_error', code: 10, message: 'err' });
+    expect(out.ok).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
+// ─── stage: observability ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+describe('stage: observability', () => {
+  it('fallbackBridgeNotices returns two notices containing the command name', () => {
+    const notes = fallbackBridgeNotices('unknown-cmd');
+    expect(notes[0]).toContain('unknown-cmd');
+    expect(notes.length).toBe(2);
+  });
+
+  it('fallbackBridgeNotices second notice mentions fallback bridge intent', () => {
+    const notes = fallbackBridgeNotices('any-cmd');
+    expect(notes[1]).toContain('bridge');
+  });
+
+  // Counter-tests
+
+  it('counter: fallbackBridgeNotices result does not contain the command name in wrong slot', () => {
+    const notes = fallbackBridgeNotices('my-special-cmd');
+    // The command name is in the first notice, not necessarily the second
+    expect(notes[0]).toContain('my-special-cmd');
+  });
+
+  it('counter: fallbackBridgeNotices always returns exactly 2 entries', () => {
+    expect(fallbackBridgeNotices('cmd-a').length).toBe(2);
+    expect(fallbackBridgeNotices('cmd-b').length).toBe(2);
+  });
+});
+
+// ─── end-to-end IR contract ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+describe('end-to-end IR contract', () => {
   let tmpDir: string;
   let fixtureDir: string;
 
@@ -268,8 +568,8 @@ describe('--help guard: dispatcher short-circuits mutating native handlers', ()
 
     // Response must contain help stub, not a milestone record
     const parsed = JSON.parse(out.stdout) as Record<string, unknown>;
-    expect(typeof parsed.help).toBe('string');
-    expect(parsed.help).toContain('milestone.complete');
+    expect(typeof parsed['help']).toBe('string');
+    expect(parsed['help']).toContain('milestone.complete');
 
     // .planning/ directory must be byte-identical (no new or modified files)
     const postDig = await collectPlanningDigest(tmpDir);
@@ -299,7 +599,7 @@ describe('--help guard: dispatcher short-circuits mutating native handlers', ()
     if (!out.ok) throw new Error('expected success');
 
     const parsed = JSON.parse(out.stdout) as Record<string, unknown>;
-    expect(typeof parsed.help).toBe('string');
+    expect(typeof parsed['help']).toBe('string');
 
     const postDig = await collectPlanningDigest(tmpDir);
     expect(postDig.size).toBe(preDig.size);