#337: extend ConfigRefTopLevelReportingCoverageTest to DEFERRED_KEYS

ConfigRefTopLevelReportingCoverageTest (added by #333) proved every COLD_KEYS
and SPLIT_KEYS member has a real comparison behind it, but left
DEFERRED_TOP_LEVEL_KEYS unexercised. Re-measured by mutation (drop each
key's branch from changedDeferredKeys, run the suite, restore): 6 of the 11
deferred keys had no behavioural test naming them — guard, leadHeartbeat,
worktreeRoot, spawnReadyTimeoutMs, spawnReadyPollMs, quarantineCooldownSeconds
— which corrects the issue's own guessed list in two ways: lifecycle is
actually covered (ConfigRefTest.aDeferredChangeIsAppliedAndReported), and
worktreeRoot was missing from the issue's list entirely.

Promoted the test-side DEFERRED_TOP_LEVEL_KEYS copy into ConfigRef.DEFERRED_KEYS
(package-private, alongside COLD_KEYS/SPLIT_KEYS) so the reflective test reads
the same set changedDeferredKeys is compared against, and made
changedDeferredKeys package-private so the test can call it directly. Every
DEFERRED_KEYS component turned out to be a scalar or a simple record, so no
exclusion set was needed.

Mutation proof: dropping guard's branch from changedDeferredKeys leaves the
whole suite green except the new
everyDeferredKeyIsActuallyReportedByChangedDeferredKeys test, which fails
naming guard exactly.

fleetd/src/main/java/dev/ltms/fleet/config/ConfigRef.java

@@ -27,14 +27,14 @@ import java.util.function.Supplier;
  *
  * <ul>
  *   <li><strong>Hot</strong> — re-read per use, so a reload takes effect on the next spawn:
- *       {@code fleet:} (every role pool, {@code charters}, and {@code tabLabel}),
- *       {@code placement:}, and an existing profile's {@code weight} / {@code maxLoad}. Those
- *       three are read through a supplier on {@code CompositePeerLauncher}, which is what makes
- *       them hot — not the fact that they are config. <strong>This does NOT include
- *       {@code fleet.leaders}</strong>: {@code Fleetd.main} reads {@code cfg.fleet().leaders()}
- *       once at startup to build the {@code LeadTabScanner} and the {@code LeadLauncher}, and
- *       neither is reconstructed on reload — so a lead added, removed, or re-{@code tab}'d under
- *       {@code fleet.leaders} needs a restart, the same as any deferred key below.</li>
+ *       {@code placement:}, and an existing profile's {@code weight} / {@code maxLoad}. Both are
+ *       read through a supplier on {@code CompositePeerLauncher}, which is what makes them hot —
+ *       not the fact that they are config. Most of {@code fleet:} — every role pool
+ *       ({@code architects}/{@code developers}/{@code reviewers}), {@code charters}, and
+ *       {@code tabLabel} — is read the same live way, through the same supplier
+ *       ({@code () -> config.get().fleet()}). <strong>But {@code fleet:} as a whole is NOT in this
+ *       class</strong>: {@code fleet.leaders} inside the same key is frozen, which is exactly what
+ *       makes {@code fleet:} split rather than hot — see below.</li>
  *   <li><strong>Deferred</strong> — accepted into the new snapshot, but the wiring built at startup
  *       keeps the old value until a restart: {@code lifecycle:}, {@code leadHeartbeat:},
  *       {@code spawnReadyTimeoutMs} / {@code spawnReadyPollMs}, {@code quarantineCooldownSeconds}
@@ -71,12 +71,12 @@ import java.util.function.Supplier;
  *       {@code HerdrPeerLauncher} takes {@code Map.copyOf(profiles)} at construction and resolves
  *       each spawn out of that copy, so those never reach a launch until the daemon restarts. A
  *       reload logs these rather than pretending they applied.</li>
- *   <li><strong>Split</strong> (fleetd #330) — read <em>both</em> ways at different sites, so the
- *       key does not fit any class above as a whole: {@code health:} and {@code coordinator:}.
- *       Each is read off the startup snapshot to build a long-lived object, and read live off
- *       {@link #get()} at a different, unrelated site — so half of a reload's effect already
- *       applies while the other half waits for a restart, and a bare "config reloaded" would
- *       under-claim by exactly that half.
+ *   <li><strong>Split</strong> (fleetd #330; extended to a third key by fleetd #333) — read
+ *       <em>both</em> ways at different sites, so the key does not fit any class above as a whole:
+ *       {@code health:}, {@code coordinator:} and {@code fleet:}. Each is read off the startup
+ *       snapshot to build a long-lived object, and read live off {@link #get()} at a different,
+ *       unrelated site — so half of a reload's effect already applies while the other half waits
+ *       for a restart, and a bare "config reloaded" would under-claim by exactly that half.
  *       <ul>
  *         <li>{@code health:} — the monitor itself ({@code enabled}, {@code intervalSeconds},
  *             {@code workingSuspectAfterSeconds}) is built once at {@code Fleetd.java:556-563}
@@ -92,34 +92,75 @@ import java.util.function.Supplier;
  *             URI env-var <em>name</em> that {@code MemberEnvAllowList} keeps out of a member's
  *             environment is read live off {@link #get()} on every spawn
  *             ({@code HerdrPeerLauncher.java:1530}), so it already applies.</li>
+ *         <li>{@code fleet:} (fleetd #333) — {@code fleet.leaders} is the frozen half:
+ *             {@code Fleetd.java:281} reads {@code cfg.fleet().leaders()} off the startup snapshot
+ *             for two long-lived objects built right after it and never rebuilt — the
+ *             {@code LeadTabScanner}'s {@code tab label → lead name} map ({@code Fleetd.java:301},
+ *             wired into {@code CallerResolver.withLeadsAndMembers} at {@code Fleetd.java:620/624},
+ *             which is how a caller's pane is recognised as a lead at all) and, when herdr answered
+ *             at startup, {@code LeadLauncher(...).ensureLeads()} ({@code Fleetd.java:315}), which
+ *             auto-launches each declared lead up to its {@code instances} count. So a lead added,
+ *             removed, or given a new {@code tab:} label under {@code fleet.leaders} needs a
+ *             restart — until then it is invisible to identity resolution, and this is exactly the
+ *             scenario fleetd #333 named: an operator edits a lead's {@code tab:} to match a
+ *             renamed pane, sees "config reloaded", and the pane keeps resolving as a worker,
+ *             because {@code CallerResolver} is still matching against the old label. The live
+ *             half is the rest of {@code fleet:} — {@code architects}/{@code developers}/
+ *             {@code reviewers}, {@code charters}, {@code tabLabel} — read live through the same
+ *             {@code CompositePeerLauncher} supplier the Hot bullet above names, so a reload that
+ *             only touches those already applies with nothing to report. Because the hot and frozen
+ *             halves of {@code fleet:} are disjoint sub-fields rather than the same fields read two
+ *             ways (contrast {@code coordinator.uriEnv} above), {@link #changedSplitKeys} compares
+ *             {@code fleet.leaders} alone, not the whole {@code Fleet} record — comparing the whole
+ *             record would report "split" for a {@code tabLabel}-only change that is actually fully
+ *             hot, over-claiming in exactly the direction this class exists to avoid under-claiming
+ *             in.</li>
  *       </ul>
  *       A split change is still accepted — {@link Outcome#applied()} stays {@code true}, the same
  *       as a deferred change — because the live half genuinely took effect; refusing the whole
  *       reload would leave the operator worse off than today. {@link Outcome#split()} names the
  *       key and says which half is which each time, rather than trying to score "how changed" a
  *       mixed key is or handle "both halves changed in one reload" as a special case.</li>
- *   <li><strong>Cold</strong> — cannot change at all under a running daemon: {@code bind:},
- *       {@code herdrSocket:}, {@code broker:} and {@code auth:}. The socket is bound, the broker
+ *   <li><strong>Cold</strong> — cannot change at all under a running daemon. All five of
+ *       {@link #COLD_KEYS}: {@code bind:}, {@code herdrSocket:}, {@code memberHerdrSocket:},
+ *       {@code broker:} and {@code auth:}. The sockets are already connected, the broker
  *       connection is open, and the auth mode decides who may reach the port that is already
- *       listening.</li>
+ *       listening. This bullet omitted {@code memberHerdrSocket:} until fleetd #333 — say "all
+ *       five of COLD_KEYS" rather than re-listing them, so prose and set cannot drift again.</li>
  * </ul>
  *
- * <p><strong>The denominator, measured on 2026-09-04 (fleetd #330).</strong> {@code FleetConfig} has
- * 22 top-level record components. Two of them are named nowhere in this file, and the reason is the
- * same for both: {@code memberCredentials} and {@code memberLoginShell} are <strong>hot</strong> and
- * correctly absent — both are read live off {@code config.get()} at spawn time
- * ({@code Fleetd.java:198, 205, 729} and {@code HerdrPeerLauncher#configuredMemberLoginShell}), so a
- * reload takes effect on the next spawn with no entry needed here.
+ * <p><strong>The denominator, measured on 2026-09-04 (fleetd #330; recounted for fleetd #333).</strong>
+ * {@code FleetConfig} has 22 top-level record components: 5 cold, 11 deferred, 3 split, 3
+ * hot-excluded. Three of them are named nowhere in this file, and the reason is the same for all
+ * three: {@code placement}, {@code memberCredentials} and {@code memberLoginShell} are
+ * <strong>hot</strong> and correctly absent — all three are read live off {@code config.get()}
+ * (placement through the {@code CompositePeerLauncher} supplier the Hot bullet names;
+ * {@code memberCredentials}/{@code memberLoginShell} at spawn time, {@code Fleetd.java:198, 205, 729}
+ * and {@code HerdrPeerLauncher#configuredMemberLoginShell}), so a reload takes effect on the next
+ * spawn with no entry needed here.
  * {@code health} and {@code coordinator} used to be a third kind — <strong>undecided</strong>, not
  * hot — until fleetd #330 added the <strong>split</strong> class above and gave them a home. A
  * reload touching either used to report a bare "config reloaded", which under-claimed; now it names
- * the key and says which half is which.
+ * the key and says which half is which. {@code fleet} was the same story in reverse: fleetd #330's
+ * own fact-find named {@code health}/{@code coordinator} as "the complete set of split-shaped keys"
+ * and filed {@code fleet.leaders}'s restart requirement as a documented caveat sitting in the
+ * <strong>hot-excluded</strong> escape hatch instead — correctly documented, but in the one bucket
+ * this file's own coverage test cannot check the truth of (see that test's javadoc). fleetd #333
+ * moved it into <strong>split</strong>, where {@link #changedSplitKeys} actually reports it.
  * <p>The point of writing the count down: "not mentioned in this file" looks identical for a key
- * that is correctly hot and for a key nobody triaged. Twice now — {@code worktreeGroup} (#323) and
- * {@code primary}/{@code configReload} (#326) — the second kind hid among the first. A top-level
- * coverage checker in the {@link ConfigRefProfileCoverageTest} shape (one level up, over
- * {@code FleetConfig} itself rather than {@code FleetConfig.Profile}) proves this file's four
- * classes exhaust the record's components — see {@code ConfigRefTopLevelCoverageTest}.
+ * that is correctly hot and for a key nobody triaged. Three times now — {@code worktreeGroup} (#323),
+ * {@code primary}/{@code configReload} (#326), and {@code fleet.leaders} sitting in the escape hatch
+ * (#333) — the second kind hid among the first. A top-level coverage checker in the
+ * {@link ConfigRefProfileCoverageTest} shape (one level up, over {@code FleetConfig} itself rather
+ * than {@code FleetConfig.Profile}) proves this file's four classes exhaust the record's components
+ * — see {@code ConfigRefTopLevelCoverageTest}. That test proves the record's <em>shape</em> is fully
+ * triaged; it does NOT prove a {@code SPLIT_KEYS}/{@code COLD_KEYS}/{@code DEFERRED_KEYS} member has
+ * any reporting code behind it at all — {@code ConfigRefTopLevelReportingCoverageTest} is what
+ * fleetd #333 added for that, after measuring that a {@code SPLIT_KEYS} entry with its reporting
+ * branch deleted passes both this file's own "kept in step" assert and
+ * {@code ConfigRefTopLevelCoverageTest} unchanged. fleetd #337 extended it to {@code DEFERRED_KEYS}
+ * after measuring the same one-way gap there directly: dropping {@code guard}'s branch out of
+ * {@link #changedDeferredKeys} while {@code "guard"} stayed in the set left the whole suite green.
  *
  * <p><strong>A cold change refuses the whole reload.</strong> Not the hot half applied and the cold
  * half warned about: that would leave the running daemon in a state matching no file on disk, which
@@ -153,7 +194,26 @@ public final class ConfigRef implements Supplier<FleetConfig> {
      * {@code true}) and reported by name, with a message naming which half is live and which needs
      * a restart.
      */
-    static final Set<String> SPLIT_KEYS = Set.of("health", "coordinator");
+    static final Set<String> SPLIT_KEYS = Set.of("health", "coordinator", "fleet");
+
+    /**
+     * Top-level keys {@link #changedDeferredKeys} compares — see the class doc's Deferred bullet.
+     * Promoted here from a test-side copy in {@code ConfigRefTopLevelCoverageTest} by fleetd #337,
+     * the same reason {@link #COLD_KEYS} and {@link #SPLIT_KEYS} live here rather than in a test: a
+     * second, hand-maintained copy of this set is exactly the kind of thing that silently drifts
+     * from the method it is supposed to describe. {@code spawnReadyTimeoutMs} and
+     * {@code spawnReadyPollMs} are compared together in one branch and reported under the combined
+     * label {@code "spawnReady*"}; {@code profiles} is compared twice over (added/removed names,
+     * then an existing profile's launch settings) — see {@link #changedDeferredKeys}.
+     *
+     * <p>Package-private (not {@code private}) so {@code ConfigRefTopLevelCoverageTest} and
+     * {@code ConfigRefTopLevelReportingCoverageTest} can both read it, the same way they already
+     * read {@link #COLD_KEYS} and {@link #SPLIT_KEYS}.
+     */
+    static final Set<String> DEFERRED_KEYS = Set.of(
+            "guard", "worktreeRoot", "worktreeGroup", "primary", "configReload",
+            "leadHeartbeat", "lifecycle", "spawnReadyTimeoutMs", "spawnReadyPollMs",
+            "quarantineCooldownSeconds", "profiles");
 
     private final Path path;
     private final AtomicReference<FleetConfig> current;
@@ -283,8 +343,14 @@ public final class ConfigRef implements Supplier<FleetConfig> {
         return out;
     }
 
-    /** Cold keys whose value differs between the running config and the candidate. */
-    private static List<String> changedColdKeys(FleetConfig old, FleetConfig fresh) {
+    /**
+     * Cold keys whose value differs between the running config and the candidate.
+     *
+     * <p>Package-private (not {@code private}) so {@code ConfigRefTopLevelReportingCoverageTest}
+     * can call it directly with a reflection-built {@code FleetConfig} pair, the same reason
+     * {@link #sameLaunchSettings} is package-private — see that test's class doc (fleetd #333).
+     */
+    static List<String> changedColdKeys(FleetConfig old, FleetConfig fresh) {
         List<String> changed = new ArrayList<>();
         if (!Objects.equals(old.bind(), fresh.bind())) {
             changed.add("bind");
@@ -306,8 +372,16 @@ public final class ConfigRef implements Supplier<FleetConfig> {
         return changed;
     }
 
-    /** Changed keys that were accepted but whose effect waits for a restart. */
-    private static List<String> changedDeferredKeys(FleetConfig old, FleetConfig fresh) {
+    /**
+     * Changed keys that were accepted but whose effect waits for a restart.
+     *
+     * <p>Package-private (not {@code private}) so {@code ConfigRefTopLevelReportingCoverageTest}
+     * can call it directly with a reflection-built {@code FleetConfig} pair, the same reason
+     * {@link #changedColdKeys} and {@link #changedSplitKeys} already are (fleetd #333, extended to
+     * this method by fleetd #337 — membership in {@link #DEFERRED_KEYS} proved nothing about this
+     * method on its own until then; see that test's class doc).
+     */
+    static List<String> changedDeferredKeys(FleetConfig old, FleetConfig fresh) {
         List<String> changed = new ArrayList<>();
         if (!Objects.equals(old.lifecycle(), fresh.lifecycle())) {
             changed.add("lifecycle");
@@ -389,12 +463,24 @@ public final class ConfigRef implements Supplier<FleetConfig> {
 
     /**
      * Split keys whose value differs between the running config and the candidate — see the class
-     * doc's Split bullet (fleetd #330). Unlike {@link #changedDeferredKeys}, this does not try to
-     * tell which sub-field moved: any change to {@code health:} or {@code coordinator:} gets the
-     * same fixed message, because the message already names both halves every time, so there is no
-     * "which half changed" question left for the caller to answer.
+     * doc's Split bullet (fleetd #330, extended for {@code fleet:} by fleetd #333). Unlike
+     * {@link #changedDeferredKeys}, this does not try to tell which sub-field moved for {@code
+     * health:} or {@code coordinator:}: any change to either gets the same fixed message, because
+     * the message already names both halves every time, so there is no "which half changed"
+     * question left for the caller to answer. {@code fleet:} is different on purpose — see below.
+     *
+     * <p>Package-private (not {@code private}) so {@code ConfigRefTopLevelReportingCoverageTest}
+     * can call it directly with a reflection-built {@code FleetConfig} pair, the same reason
+     * {@link #sameLaunchSettings} is package-private — see that test's class doc (fleetd #333). That
+     * test exists because membership in {@link #SPLIT_KEYS} proves nothing about this method on its
+     * own: fleetd #333 measured that dropping the {@code coordinator} branch out of this method
+     * while leaving {@code "coordinator"} in {@code SPLIT_KEYS} left the whole suite green except a
+     * hand-written {@code ConfigRefTest} case — neither {@code ConfigRefTopLevelCoverageTest} (it
+     * only reads the set) nor the "kept in step" assert below (it only checks the reported keys are
+     * a SUBSET of {@code SPLIT_KEYS}, never that every {@code SPLIT_KEYS} member has a branch here)
+     * would have caught it.
      */
-    private static List<String> changedSplitKeys(FleetConfig old, FleetConfig fresh) {
+    static List<String> changedSplitKeys(FleetConfig old, FleetConfig fresh) {
         List<String> changed = new ArrayList<>();
         if (!Objects.equals(old.health(), fresh.health())) {
             changed.add("health: the monitor itself (enabled, interval, workingSuspectAfter) is "
@@ -406,13 +492,42 @@ public final class ConfigRef implements Supplier<FleetConfig> {
                     + "opened once and needs a restart; the broker URI env-var name kept out of a "
                     + "member's environment is read live on every spawn and already applied");
         }
+        // fleetd #333: unlike health/coordinator above, most of `fleet:` (architects, developers,
+        // reviewers, charters, tabLabel) is genuinely hot — ConfigRefTest.aHotChangeIsAppliedAndRead-
+        // ThroughGet and aCharterChangeIsHotAndReachesTheLiveConfig prove it reaches the live config
+        // with no restart note. Only fleet.leaders is frozen (Fleetd.java:281 reads
+        // cfg.fleet().leaders() off the startup snapshot to build both the LeadTabScanner's
+        // tab-label-to-name map, wired into CallerResolver.withLeadsAndMembers at Fleetd.java:620/624,
+        // and — when herdr answered — LeadLauncher(...).ensureLeads() at Fleetd.java:315, which
+        // auto-launches each lead up to its `instances` count; neither is rebuilt on reload). So this
+        // compares fleet.leaders alone, not the whole Fleet record: comparing the whole record would
+        // report "split" for a tabLabel-only or charters-only change that is actually fully hot,
+        // which is the over-claim mirror of the under-claim bug this class exists to prevent.
+        if (!Objects.equals(leadersOf(old), leadersOf(fresh))) {
+            changed.add("fleet: fleet.leaders (each lead's tab, workspace, cwd, profile and "
+                    + "instances count) is read once at startup to build the LeadTabScanner's "
+                    + "identity map and to auto-launch leads, and neither is rebuilt on reload, so a "
+                    + "lead added, removed, or given a new tab: label needs a restart — until then it "
+                    + "stays unrecognised, and a caller from its new tab resolves as a worker, not a "
+                    + "lead; the rest of fleet: (architects, developers, reviewers, charters, "
+                    + "tabLabel) is read live through the supplier on CompositePeerLauncher and "
+                    + "already applied");
+        }
         // Kept in step with SPLIT_KEYS the same way changedColdKeys is kept in step with COLD_KEYS —
-        // every message here must be traceable to one of the two split keys the class doc documents.
+        // every message here must be traceable to one of the split keys the class doc documents.
+        // NOTE what this does NOT prove, per the javadoc above: it does not catch a SPLIT_KEYS
+        // member with no branch above at all, only a branch whose message is mis-worded relative to
+        // the set. ConfigRefTopLevelReportingCoverageTest is what proves the former.
         assert changed.stream().allMatch(m -> SPLIT_KEYS.stream().anyMatch(k -> m.startsWith(k + ":")))
                 : "a split entry was reported that does not start with a SPLIT_KEYS name: " + changed;
         return changed;
     }
 
+    /** {@code cfg.fleet().leaders()}, defensively, in case a caller hands in a non-defaulted config. */
+    private static Map<String, FleetConfig.Leader> leadersOf(FleetConfig cfg) {
+        return cfg.fleet() == null ? Map.of() : cfg.fleet().leaders();
+    }
+
     /**
      * {@link FleetConfig.Profile} record components deliberately left out of
      * {@link #sameLaunchSettings} because they are read <em>live</em>, not baked in at spawn — see

fleetd/src/main/java/dev/ltms/fleet/msg/MessageService.java

@@ -466,8 +466,18 @@ public final class MessageService {
         if (candidates.size() == 1) {
             Task orphan = candidates.get(0);
             if (orphan.future.complete(new Reply(Outcome.REPLIED, content))) {
-                if (orphan.turnId != null) {
-                    asyncTasksByTurn.remove(orphan.turnId, orphan);
+                // fleetd #329 (F3): read orphan.turnId once. It used to be read twice, under no
+                // lock — once for this null check, once as the removal key — the same double-read
+                // shape fleetd #324 fixed in finishAsyncTask. clearAsyncQuestion's unlocked
+                // forgetTurn=true path (ask()'s timeout cleanup) can null the field between the two
+                // reads; capturing it once removes the torn read here too.
+                String turnId = orphan.turnId;
+                if (turnId != null) {
+                    if (replyOrphanTurnIdRaceHookForTest != null) {
+                        // Test-only (fleetd #329, F3): see the field's own javadoc.
+                        replyOrphanTurnIdRaceHookForTest.run();
+                    }
+                    asyncTasksByTurn.remove(turnId, orphan);
                 }
                 count(FleetMetrics.REPLIES, "path", "async-recovered");
                 return true;                   // the ticket itself took it — no inbox stranding at all
@@ -1002,13 +1012,49 @@ public final class MessageService {
                 // Measured when #282 was merged: this guard is DEFENCE IN DEPTH, not the thing
                 // that makes the chained ask work. ask() calls markAsyncQuestion (:860) before
                 // resolveQuestion (:861), so by the time this thread wakes, the task has already
-                // moved to the new turnId and finishAsyncTask(oldTurnId, ...) finds nothing. Removing
-                // this guard alone leaves the test green. Keep it anyway: it mirrors sendAsync's
-                // sibling guard, and that sibling's own comment (:1017) warns the two orderings are
-                // not something to rely on. Do NOT delete it as dead code without re-checking that
-                // ordering, and do not treat it as the sole protection either.
-                if (result.outcome() != Outcome.QUESTION) {
-                    finishAsyncTask(turnId, result);
+                // moved to the new turnId — this outcome check, not a Task lookup, is what tells the
+                // two cases apart (see fleetd #329 below). Removing this guard alone leaves the test
+                // green. Keep it anyway: it mirrors sendAsync's sibling guard, and that sibling's own
+                // comment (:1017) warns the two orderings are not something to rely on. Do NOT delete
+                // it as dead code without re-checking that ordering, and do not treat it as the sole
+                // protection either.
+                //
+                // fleetd #329 (F1): complete the SAME Task object this method already looked up at
+                // :991, rather than re-resolving it from turnId a second time. The old
+                // finishAsyncTask(turnId, result) did its own asyncTasksByTurn.get(turnId) here, and
+                // that second lookup races ask()'s own timeout path: ask()'s ticket.answer().get(...)
+                // can time out (or lose that exact race) at essentially the same instant this method's
+                // rendezvous.answerAsk(turnId, ...) above already succeeded, running
+                // markAskTimedOut + clearAsyncQuestion(turnId, true) with no lock at all — which
+                // forgets turnId (removes it from asyncTasksByTurn, nulls Task.turnId) before this
+                // thread ever gets here. The worker's real reply then arrived, this method's own wait
+                // woke up with it, and the by-turnId lookup found nothing: the async ticket's future
+                // was never completed, so fleet_poll{ticket} stayed PENDING forever even though
+                // answer() itself correctly returned REPLIED. Reusing the reference captured at :991
+                // — before that race window opens — sidesteps the second lookup entirely: it is the
+                // identical Task whatever asyncTasksByTurn or Task.turnId say by the time we reach
+                // this point, so finishAsyncTask(Task, Reply) can still complete its future and detach
+                // it using whatever turnId it now reads. The #282 chained-ask case is unaffected
+                // because it is still gated purely by result.outcome() == QUESTION above, which does
+                // not depend on this lookup — widening what "task" means here cannot complete a ticket
+                // the chained ask deliberately left open.
+                //
+                // A null task is NOT only "this was never an async ticket". That reading was in this
+                // comment when #329 merged and it is wrong. A genuine async ticket also lands here
+                // with task == null, because ask()'s timeout path runs clearAsyncQuestion(turnId,
+                // true) — which drops the asyncTasksByTurn entry — in its catch block, while
+                // rendezvous.closeAsk(turnId) runs later, in its finally. Between those two the ask
+                // is still answerable but the map entry is already gone, so the lookup at :991
+                // returns null and this ticket is never completed. Measured on 2026-09-04: a probe
+                // firing only that first half before answer() runs printed
+                // "answer=REPLIED phase=PENDING reply=null" — the same stranded ticket #329 set out
+                // to fix, one step earlier in the same race. The probe used forgetTurnForTest, which
+                // omits ask()'s markAskTimedOut; that cannot change the outcome, because askTimedOut
+                // is read only by askAnsweredAsyncTasks, and reply() never reaches it while this
+                // method's own waiter is live. So #329 narrows this window rather than closing it.
+                // Open as fleetd #334 — do not read this guard as complete.
+                if (result.outcome() != Outcome.QUESTION && task != null) {
+                    finishAsyncTask(task, result);
                 }
                 return result;
             } catch (TimeoutException e) {
@@ -1059,7 +1105,7 @@ public final class MessageService {
             // this fires exactly once, from whichever path completes it: finishAsyncTask(task, result)
             // below on any non-QUESTION outcome of send() — a worker's fleet_reply, the CB-106
             // completion fallback, a CB-109 wedge, TIMED_OUT, BUSY, or BACKEND_EXHAUSTED — the same
-            // finishAsyncTask reached via answer()'s finishAsyncTask(turnId, result) once a QUESTION
+            // finishAsyncTask reached via answer()'s own finishAsyncTask(task, result) once a QUESTION
             // is resolved, completeExceptionally(t) just below when send() itself throws, or a CB-516
             // abandon() on teardown. Without this, MessageService.reply's rendezvous fast path (the
             // one an async ticket always takes) never told the push loop anything happened — see the
@@ -1079,7 +1125,22 @@ public final class MessageService {
                     finishAsyncTask(task, result);
                 }
             } catch (Throwable t) {
-                task.future.completeExceptionally(t);
+                // fleetd #329 (F2): finishAsyncTask above already completes task.future — on its very
+                // first line — before doing anything else, so anything that throws afterward (inside
+                // finishAsyncTask's own cleanup, or from a future addition to this try block) lands
+                // here with the future already resolved. completeExceptionally on an already-completed
+                // future is a silent no-op: it returns false and does nothing, so without the check
+                // below the exception simply vanished — no log, no metric, nothing. Measured (see the
+                // ticket): temporarily reintroducing the fleetd #324 NPE reproduced 19 real exceptions
+                // on the ordinary path, with 74/74 tests staying green and not one log line produced.
+                // Do not stop completing the future first — finishAsyncTask completing before it
+                // cleans up is what makes a late failure harmless to the ticket's own result — only
+                // add the missing visibility for the case where that step, or whatever ran after it,
+                // has already lost the race to report through the future.
+                if (!task.future.completeExceptionally(t)) {
+                    log.error("async send {} -> {} threw after its ticket was already resolved",
+                            ticket, target, t);
+                }
             }
         });
         pruneTerminalTickets();
@@ -1247,6 +1308,10 @@ public final class MessageService {
      */
     private void finishAsyncTask(Task task, Reply result) {
         task.future.complete(result);
+        if (afterFinishAsyncTaskCompleteHookForTest != null) {
+            // Test-only (fleetd #329, F2): see the field's own javadoc.
+            afterFinishAsyncTaskCompleteHookForTest.run();
+        }
         String turnId = task.turnId;
         if (turnId != null) {
             if (finishAsyncTaskRaceHook != null) {
@@ -1276,6 +1341,49 @@ public final class MessageService {
         this.finishAsyncTaskRaceHook = hook;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Null in production; test seam for fleetd #329 (F2) — invoked from {@link #finishAsyncTask(Task,
+     * Reply)} unconditionally, immediately after {@code task.future.complete(result)} runs (before
+     * {@link Task#turnId} is even read, so it fires regardless of whether this task was ever asked).
+     * A test installs this to force an exception into exactly the shape fleetd #329 identified:
+     * something throws inside {@link #sendAsync}'s executor task after the async ticket's future is
+     * already resolved, so the surrounding {@code catch (Throwable t)} can only report failure through
+     * {@code completeExceptionally} — a silent no-op on an already-completed future. Engineering a
+     * real exception to land in that exact post-completion window is what the ticket itself had to do
+     * by temporarily deleting a production guard (fleetd #324's {@code turnId != null} check); this
+     * hook drives the identical shape deterministically instead.
+     */
+    private volatile Runnable afterFinishAsyncTaskCompleteHookForTest;
+
+    /**
+     * Test-only (fleetd #329, F2): install {@link #afterFinishAsyncTaskCompleteHookForTest}.
+     * Package-private so the test, in the same package, can reach it without widening any production
+     * API.
+     */
+    void setAfterFinishAsyncTaskCompleteHookForTest(Runnable hook) {
+        this.afterFinishAsyncTaskCompleteHookForTest = hook;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Null in production; test seam for fleetd #329 (F3) — invoked from {@link #reply} right after
+     * the single local read of {@code orphan.turnId} passes its null-check and before that (now-local)
+     * value is used as the {@code asyncTasksByTurn} removal key. Mirrors {@link
+     * #finishAsyncTaskRaceHook} exactly, for the structurally identical double-read fleetd #324 fixed
+     * in {@link #finishAsyncTask}: a test installs this to force, deterministically, {@code
+     * clearAsyncQuestion}'s unlocked {@code forgetTurn=true} path nulling {@link Task#turnId} in that
+     * exact window, and to confirm the single-read fix tolerates it (the captured local is used
+     * unconditionally, so a hook that nulls the field afterward cannot affect this call).
+     */
+    private volatile Runnable replyOrphanTurnIdRaceHookForTest;
+
+    /**
+     * Test-only (fleetd #329, F3): install {@link #replyOrphanTurnIdRaceHookForTest}. Package-private
+     * so the test, in the same package, can reach it without widening any production API.
+     */
+    void setReplyOrphanTurnIdRaceHookForTest(Runnable hook) {
+        this.replyOrphanTurnIdRaceHookForTest = hook;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Test-only (fleetd #324): run the exact production cleanup {@link #ask}'s own timeout path runs
      * unlocked — {@link #clearAsyncQuestion(String, boolean)} with {@code forgetTurn=true} — so a test
@@ -1285,14 +1393,6 @@ public final class MessageService {
         clearAsyncQuestion(turnId, true);
     }
 
-    /** Complete the async ticket correlated to a specific answered turn. */
-    private void finishAsyncTask(String turnId, Reply result) {
-        Task task = asyncTasksByTurn.get(turnId);
-        if (task != null) {
-            finishAsyncTask(task, result);
-        }
-    }
-
     /** A new send must not open a waiter while an async ticket owns this worker's paused turn. */
     private boolean hasAsyncQuestion(String target) {
         return asyncTasksByTurn.values().stream().anyMatch(task -> target.equals(task.target));

fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/config/ConfigRefTest.java

@@ -638,6 +638,79 @@ class ConfigRefTest {
         assertEquals("mac-b", ref.get().coordinator().selfId());
     }
 
+    /**
+     * fleetd #333: {@code fleet:} is split too — {@code fleet.leaders} is read only at
+     * {@code Fleetd.java:281} to build the {@code LeadTabScanner}'s identity map (fed into
+     * {@code CallerResolver}) and to auto-launch leads via {@code LeadLauncher.ensureLeads()}, and
+     * neither is rebuilt on reload, while the rest of {@code fleet:} (role pools, charters,
+     * tabLabel) is read live through the {@code CompositePeerLauncher} supplier. Before this fix
+     * {@code fleet} sat in the coverage checker's hot-excluded escape hatch, so a reload that
+     * changed only {@code fleet.leaders} reported a bare "config reloaded" — exactly the
+     * under-claim the split class exists to prevent for {@code health}/{@code coordinator}.
+     */
+    @Test
+    void changingFleetLeadersIsReportedAsSplit(@TempDir Path dir) throws Exception {
+        Path f = dir.resolve("fleetd.yaml");
+        Files.writeString(f, yaml("""
+                fleet:
+                  leaders:
+                    opus:
+                      tab: "lead: opus-a"
+                      profile: sonnet
+                """));
+        ConfigRef ref = refFor(f);
+
+        Files.writeString(f, yaml("""
+                fleet:
+                  leaders:
+                    opus:
+                      tab: "lead: opus-b"
+                      profile: sonnet
+                """));
+        ConfigRef.Outcome out = ref.reload();
+
+        assertTrue(out.applied());
+        assertTrue(out.deferred().isEmpty(), out.deferred().toString());
+        assertEquals(1, out.split().size(), out.split().toString());
+        assertTrue(out.split().getFirst().startsWith("fleet:"), out.split().toString());
+        assertTrue(out.split().getFirst().contains("restart"), out.split().toString());
+        assertTrue(out.split().getFirst().contains("live"), out.split().toString());
+        assertTrue(out.summary().contains("partially live"), out.summary());
+        // The snapshot still carries the new value — the LeadTabScanner's identity map and
+        // LeadLauncher's auto-launch are what wait for a restart; a reload rebuilds neither.
+        assertEquals("lead: opus-b", ref.get().fleet().leaders().get("opus").tab());
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * fleetd #333: {@code fleet.leaders} is the ONLY frozen part of {@code fleet:}. A reload that
+     * changes {@code tabLabel} (or charters, or a role pool) without touching {@code fleet.leaders}
+     * must stay fully hot with nothing reported — proving {@link ConfigRef#changedSplitKeys}
+     * compares {@code fleet.leaders} specifically rather than the whole {@code Fleet} record, which
+     * would over-claim "needs a restart" for a change that is genuinely all live (the mirror
+     * mistake of the under-claim this class exists to prevent).
+     */
+    @Test
+    void changingFleetTabLabelWithoutLeadersStaysFullyHot(@TempDir Path dir) throws Exception {
+        Path f = dir.resolve("fleetd.yaml");
+        Files.writeString(f, yaml("""
+                fleet:
+                  tabLabel: "{role}: {profile} #{n}"
+                """));
+        ConfigRef ref = refFor(f);
+
+        Files.writeString(f, yaml("""
+                fleet:
+                  tabLabel: "[{profile}] {role}"
+                """));
+        ConfigRef.Outcome out = ref.reload();
+
+        assertTrue(out.applied());
+        assertTrue(out.deferred().isEmpty(), out.deferred().toString());
+        assertTrue(out.split().isEmpty(), out.split().toString());
+        assertEquals("config reloaded", out.summary());
+        assertEquals("[{profile}] {role}", ref.get().fleet().tabLabel());
+    }
+
     /**
      * A split change must not refuse the reload (invariant 2 of fleetd #330) and
      * {@code Outcome.applied()} must stay {@code true} (invariant 3) — unlike a cold change, the

fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/config/ConfigRefTopLevelCoverageTest.java

@@ -47,21 +47,21 @@ class ConfigRefTopLevelCoverageTest {
     private static final RecordComponent[] COMPONENTS = FleetConfig.class.getRecordComponents();
 
     /**
-     * Top-level components whose change {@code ConfigRef.changedDeferredKeys} reads and reports on
-     * — verified by reading that method as of fleetd #330, not derived from this test.
-     * {@code spawnReadyTimeoutMs}/{@code spawnReadyPollMs} are compared together and reported under
-     * one combined label ({@code "spawnReady*"}); {@code profiles} is compared twice over — once for
-     * added/removed profile names, once for an existing profile's launch settings — and that second
-     * comparison excludes {@code weight}/{@code maxLoad}/{@code credentialId} as hot sub-fields,
-     * which is what {@link ConfigRefProfileCoverageTest} exists to keep honest at the sub-field
-     * level. {@code profiles} itself still belongs here, not in the hot-exclusion set below: most of
-     * a profile's fields are NOT read live, so citing "read live off the config supplier" for the
-     * whole top-level key would be false.
+     * Top-level components whose change {@code ConfigRef.changedDeferredKeys} reads and reports on.
+     * Fleetd #337 promoted this out of a hand-maintained copy here into {@link ConfigRef#DEFERRED_KEYS}
+     * itself, the same reason {@link ConfigRef#COLD_KEYS} and {@link ConfigRef#SPLIT_KEYS} are
+     * production constants rather than test-side copies: two lists that are supposed to describe the
+     * same method are exactly the shape that silently drifts apart. {@code spawnReadyTimeoutMs}/
+     * {@code spawnReadyPollMs} are compared together and reported under one combined label
+     * ({@code "spawnReady*"}); {@code profiles} is compared twice over — once for added/removed
+     * profile names, once for an existing profile's launch settings — and that second comparison
+     * excludes {@code weight}/{@code maxLoad}/{@code credentialId} as hot sub-fields, which is what
+     * {@link ConfigRefProfileCoverageTest} exists to keep honest at the sub-field level. {@code
+     * profiles} itself still belongs here, not in the hot-exclusion set below: most of a profile's
+     * fields are NOT read live, so citing "read live off the config supplier" for the whole
+     * top-level key would be false.
      */
-    private static final Set<String> DEFERRED_TOP_LEVEL_KEYS = Set.of(
-            "guard", "worktreeRoot", "worktreeGroup", "primary", "configReload",
-            "leadHeartbeat", "lifecycle", "spawnReadyTimeoutMs", "spawnReadyPollMs",
-            "quarantineCooldownSeconds", "profiles");
+    private static final Set<String> DEFERRED_TOP_LEVEL_KEYS = ConfigRef.DEFERRED_KEYS;
 
     /**
      * The escape hatch: top-level components with no reload bookkeeping at all, because every read
@@ -76,20 +76,24 @@ class ConfigRefTopLevelCoverageTest {
      *   <li>{@code placement} — read live by the placement policy on every spawn (class doc, Hot
      *       bullet; {@code ConfigRefTest.aConsumerHoldingTheRefSeesTheNewValue} proves it
      *       behaviourally).</li>
-     *   <li>{@code fleet} — role pools, {@code charters} and {@code tabLabel} are read live through
-     *       the supplier on {@code CompositePeerLauncher} (class doc, Hot bullet). The one
-     *       documented exception, {@code fleet.leaders}, is read only at startup and genuinely needs
-     *       a restart — a real gap in {@code changedDeferredKeys}, but one the class doc already
-     *       carries and that fleetd #330 explicitly did not re-open (its "seven readers" fact-find
-     *       named {@code health}/{@code coordinator} as the complete set of split-shaped keys, not
-     *       {@code fleet}). Reported as a caveat, not fixed here.</li>
      *   <li>{@code memberCredentials} — read live at {@code Fleetd.java:198, 205, 729}.</li>
      *   <li>{@code memberLoginShell} — read live at
      *       {@code HerdrPeerLauncher#configuredMemberLoginShell}.</li>
      * </ul>
+     *
+     * <p>{@code fleet} used to sit here too, on the strength of most of it (role pools, charters,
+     * tabLabel) being read the same live way — but {@code fleet.leaders} inside the same key is
+     * read only at startup and genuinely needs a restart, which is a real gap this escape hatch
+     * cannot represent: it excuses a whole top-level key from reload bookkeeping, and {@code fleet}
+     * needed exactly half of it excused. fleetd #333 moved it into {@link ConfigRef#SPLIT_KEYS}
+     * instead, where {@code changedSplitKeys} reports the frozen half by name. That is the
+     * cautionary tale this test's own javadoc already told: this checker proves the record's shape
+     * is triaged, never that a bucket a key sits in is the right one — a person has to read the
+     * source, which is exactly how fleetd #333 found {@code fleet} sitting in the wrong bucket
+     * while this test stayed green throughout.</p>
      */
     private static final Set<String> HOT_EXCLUDED_TOP_LEVEL_KEYS =
-            Set.of("placement", "fleet", "memberCredentials", "memberLoginShell");
+            Set.of("placement", "memberCredentials", "memberLoginShell");
 
     @Test
     void everyTopLevelComponentIsAccountedForInExactlyOneClass() {
@@ -116,7 +120,7 @@ class ConfigRefTopLevelCoverageTest {
 
         // The escape hatch is pinned. Growing it requires editing this line — a visible, deliberate
         // diff, not a quiet one. See the field javadoc above for what "belongs here" actually means.
-        assertEquals(Set.of("placement", "fleet", "memberCredentials", "memberLoginShell"), hot,
+        assertEquals(Set.of("placement", "memberCredentials", "memberLoginShell"), hot,
                 "HOT_EXCLUDED_TOP_LEVEL_KEYS changed. A component belongs here ONLY if it is read "
                         + "live off the config supplier, never because adding it makes this test "
                         + "pass. If you are adding one to silence this test, that is fleetd #323 "

fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/config/ConfigRefTopLevelReportingCoverageTest.java

@@ -0,0 +1,284 @@
+package dev.ltms.fleet.config;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import java.lang.reflect.Constructor;
+import java.lang.reflect.RecordComponent;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.TreeSet;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+
+/**
+ * fleetd #333, finding F2: {@link ConfigRefTopLevelCoverageTest} proves every {@link FleetConfig}
+ * top-level component sits in exactly one of {@link ConfigRef#COLD_KEYS}, {@link
+ * ConfigRef#DEFERRED_KEYS}, {@link ConfigRef#SPLIT_KEYS} or the hot-excluded set. It does
+ * <strong>not</strong> prove that a key's membership in one of the first three sets corresponds to
+ * any actual comparison in {@link ConfigRef}: a key can sit in a set with no branch in {@code
+ * changedColdKeys}/{@code changedSplitKeys}/{@code changedDeferredKeys} checking it, and both
+ * {@link ConfigRefTopLevelCoverageTest} and the "kept in step" {@code assert} inside the first two
+ * of those methods stay green, because neither one reads the method body — the coverage test only
+ * reads set membership, and the assert only checks that reported entries are a SUBSET of the set,
+ * never that every set member produced a reported entry. {@code changedDeferredKeys} does not even
+ * have a "kept in step" assert of its own.
+ *
+ * <p>Measured directly, live, while fixing fleetd #333: dropping the {@code coordinator} branch out
+ * of {@code ConfigRef.changedSplitKeys} while leaving {@code "coordinator"} in
+ * {@link ConfigRef#SPLIT_KEYS} left {@link ConfigRefTopLevelCoverageTest} and the in-method assert
+ * both green — only a hand-written behavioural case in {@link ConfigRefTest} caught it, because it
+ * happened to name that exact key. This is the {@link ConfigRefProfileCoverageTest} mechanism one
+ * level up, generalised over every {@code COLD_KEYS}/{@code SPLIT_KEYS}/{@code DEFERRED_KEYS}
+ * member rather than one hand-picked field: enumerate {@link FleetConfig}'s own record components by
+ * reflection, build "a config where only {@code <key>} differs" for each key, and call the real
+ * {@link ConfigRef#changedColdKeys}/{@link ConfigRef#changedSplitKeys}/
+ * {@link ConfigRef#changedDeferredKeys} methods (all package-private for exactly this, the same
+ * reason {@link ConfigRef#sameLaunchSettings} already is) to prove each one is actually reported —
+ * not assumed from a set literal.
+ *
+ * <h2>fleetd #337 — DEFERRED_KEYS was the gap left open here</h2>
+ * This class originally covered {@code COLD_KEYS} and {@code SPLIT_KEYS} only — {@code
+ * DEFERRED_TOP_LEVEL_KEYS} (now {@link ConfigRef#DEFERRED_KEYS}) carried the identical one-way risk
+ * in principle, unexercised. fleetd #337 measured the real consequence rather than assuming it from
+ * the shape of the gap: dropping {@code guard}'s comparison out of {@code changedDeferredKeys} while
+ * {@code "guard"} stayed in the set left all 1355 tests green — the same failure mode {@code
+ * coordinator} demonstrated for {@code SPLIT_KEYS} in fleetd #333, now confirmed for {@code
+ * DEFERRED_KEYS} too. Re-deriving the full list by mutation (drop each key's branch in turn, run the
+ * suite, restore) found six of the eleven {@code DEFERRED_KEYS} members with no behavioural test in
+ * {@link ConfigRefTest} naming them: {@code guard}, {@code leadHeartbeat}, {@code worktreeRoot},
+ * {@code spawnReadyTimeoutMs}, {@code spawnReadyPollMs} and {@code quarantineCooldownSeconds}. That
+ * list corrects fleetd #333's own guess at it in two ways the mutation proved and a reading did not:
+ * {@code lifecycle} is NOT on it — {@code ConfigRefTest.aDeferredChangeIsAppliedAndReported} already
+ * names it, and dropping its branch fails that test — and {@code worktreeRoot} IS on it, which #333
+ * never named at all. The other five {@code DEFERRED_KEYS} members ({@code lifecycle}, {@code
+ * worktreeGroup}, {@code primary}, {@code configReload}, {@code profiles}) already had a hand-written
+ * case each. {@link #everyDeferredKeyIsActuallyReportedByChangedDeferredKeys} below now covers all
+ * eleven the reflective way, so the six with no hand-written test are no longer silently unpinned —
+ * every {@code DEFERRED_KEYS} component turned out to be a scalar or a simple record, so, unlike
+ * {@code fleet.leaders} in fleetd #333, none needed an exclusion set: {@link #BASE}/{@link #ALT} give
+ * every top-level component (not only {@code COLD_KEYS}/{@code SPLIT_KEYS}) a real, distinct value.
+ */
+class ConfigRefTopLevelReportingCoverageTest {
+
+    private static final RecordComponent[] COMPONENTS = FleetConfig.class.getRecordComponents();
+
+    /**
+     * One valid value per top-level {@link FleetConfig} component — "the a value". fleetd #337 gave
+     * every {@code DEFERRED_KEYS} component a real value here too (previously left {@code null} on
+     * both sides, which meant {@code mutate(key)} produced no actual difference for any of them);
+     * only {@code placement}, {@code memberCredentials} and {@code memberLoginShell} — the
+     * hot-excluded set, never compared by any {@code changed*Keys} method — stay {@code null}.
+     * {@link FleetConfig}'s compact constructor only normalizes {@code profiles}, so every other
+     * field accepts whatever is put here unmutated.
+     */
+    private static final Map<String, Object> BASE = baseValues();
+
+    /** The same shape, each value distinct from {@link #BASE} — "the b value". */
+    private static final Map<String, Object> ALT = altValues();
+
+    private static Map<String, Object> baseValues() {
+        Map<String, Object> v = new LinkedHashMap<>();
+        v.put("bind", new FleetConfig.Bind("127.0.0.1", 8765));
+        v.put("herdrSocket", "~/.config/herdr/a.sock");
+        v.put("memberHerdrSocket", "~/.config/herdr/member-a.sock");
+        v.put("profiles", Map.of());
+        v.put("guard", new FleetConfig.Guard(List.of("host-a")));
+        v.put("worktreeRoot", "/wt/a");
+        v.put("lifecycle", new FleetConfig.Lifecycle(300, 5, 30, false));
+        v.put("spawnReadyTimeoutMs", 5000);
+        v.put("spawnReadyPollMs", 100);
+        v.put("broker", new FleetConfig.Broker("amqp://a", null, 1));
+        v.put("primary", new FleetConfig.Primary("term-a", 1, 1000));
+        v.put("fleet", new FleetConfig.Fleet(
+                Map.of("opus", new FleetConfig.Leader("sonnet", "lead: opus-a", 1, null, 10,
+                        "claude", null, null, null)),
+                Map.of(), Map.of(), Map.of(), Map.of(), "{role}: {profile} #{n}"));
+        v.put("leadHeartbeat", new FleetConfig.LeadHeartbeat(300, 60_000L, 3));
+        v.put("health", new FleetConfig.Health(true, 30, 600, null, null));
+        v.put("placement", null);
+        v.put("auth", new FleetConfig.Auth("loopback-trust", null));
+        v.put("configReload", new FleetConfig.ConfigReload(true, 10));
+        v.put("quarantineCooldownSeconds", 1800);
+        v.put("memberCredentials", null);
+        v.put("coordinator", new FleetConfig.Coordinator("amqp://coord-a", null, "self-a", 1));
+        v.put("worktreeGroup", "group-a");
+        v.put("memberLoginShell", null);
+        assertNamesMatchComponents(v);
+        return v;
+    }
+
+    private static Map<String, Object> altValues() {
+        Map<String, Object> v = new LinkedHashMap<>();
+        v.put("bind", new FleetConfig.Bind("127.0.0.2", 8766));
+        v.put("herdrSocket", "~/.config/herdr/b.sock");
+        v.put("memberHerdrSocket", "~/.config/herdr/member-b.sock");
+        // A single added profile — enough to trip the "added/removed" comparison in
+        // ConfigRef.changedDeferredKeys, which is all this mechanism needs to prove "profiles" has
+        // a branch behind it; the launch-settings comparison already has its own hand-written cases
+        // in ConfigRefTest (changingAProfilesLaunchSettingsIsReportedAsDeferred and siblings).
+        v.put("profiles", Map.of("sonnet", minimalProfile("sonnet")));
+        v.put("guard", new FleetConfig.Guard(List.of("host-b")));
+        v.put("worktreeRoot", "/wt/b");
+        v.put("lifecycle", new FleetConfig.Lifecycle(600, 10, 60, true));
+        v.put("spawnReadyTimeoutMs", 10_000);
+        v.put("spawnReadyPollMs", 200);
+        v.put("broker", new FleetConfig.Broker("amqp://b", null, 2));
+        v.put("primary", new FleetConfig.Primary("term-b", 2, 2000));
+        // Differs from BASE.fleet only in fleet.leaders (a different tab for "opus") — the frozen
+        // sub-field ConfigRef.changedSplitKeys actually compares. A Fleet that instead differed only
+        // in tabLabel would correctly NOT be reported (see
+        // ConfigRefTest.changingFleetTabLabelWithoutLeadersStaysFullyHot) and would wrongly fail this
+        // test — that is by design, not a gap: this map exists to prove fleet.leaders is covered.
+        v.put("fleet", new FleetConfig.Fleet(
+                Map.of("opus", new FleetConfig.Leader("sonnet", "lead: opus-b", 1, null, 10,
+                        "claude", null, null, null)),
+                Map.of(), Map.of(), Map.of(), Map.of(), "{role}: {profile} #{n}"));
+        v.put("leadHeartbeat", new FleetConfig.LeadHeartbeat(600, 120_000L, 5));
+        v.put("health", new FleetConfig.Health(false, 90, 900, null, null));
+        v.put("placement", null);
+        v.put("auth", new FleetConfig.Auth("token", "TOKEN_ENV"));
+        v.put("configReload", new FleetConfig.ConfigReload(false, 20));
+        v.put("quarantineCooldownSeconds", 3600);
+        v.put("memberCredentials", null);
+        v.put("coordinator", new FleetConfig.Coordinator("amqp://coord-b", null, "self-b", 2));
+        v.put("worktreeGroup", "group-b");
+        v.put("memberLoginShell", null);
+        assertNamesMatchComponents(v);
+        return v;
+    }
+
+    /** A minimal, otherwise-null {@link FleetConfig.Profile} — just enough to name one in a map. */
+    private static FleetConfig.Profile minimalProfile(String name) {
+        return new FleetConfig.Profile(name, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null,
+                null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null,
+                null, null);
+    }
+
+    private static void assertNamesMatchComponents(Map<String, Object> values) {
+        Set<String> names = new TreeSet<>();
+        for (RecordComponent rc : COMPONENTS) {
+            names.add(rc.getName());
+        }
+        assertEquals(names, new TreeSet<>(values.keySet()),
+                "this test's value map has drifted from FleetConfig's actual top-level components — "
+                        + "update BASE/ALT alongside the record");
+    }
+
+    private static FleetConfig configOf(Map<String, Object> values) throws ReflectiveOperationException {
+        Class<?>[] types = Arrays.stream(COMPONENTS).map(RecordComponent::getType).toArray(Class<?>[]::new);
+        Object[] args = Arrays.stream(COMPONENTS).map(rc -> values.get(rc.getName())).toArray();
+        Constructor<FleetConfig> ctor = FleetConfig.class.getDeclaredConstructor(types);
+        return ctor.newInstance(args);
+    }
+
+    /** {@code BASE} with exactly one named top-level component swapped for its {@code ALT} value. */
+    private static FleetConfig mutate(String componentName) throws ReflectiveOperationException {
+        Map<String, Object> values = new LinkedHashMap<>(BASE);
+        values.put(componentName, ALT.get(componentName));
+        return configOf(values);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * The mechanism fleetd #333 F2 asked for, applied to {@link ConfigRef#COLD_KEYS}: mutate each
+     * cold key in isolation and prove {@code changedColdKeys} actually names it, not just that
+     * {@code COLD_KEYS} claims it does.
+     */
+    @Test
+    void everyColdKeyIsActuallyReportedByChangedColdKeys() throws ReflectiveOperationException {
+        FleetConfig base = configOf(BASE);
+        List<String> uncovered = new ArrayList<>();
+        for (String key : new TreeSet<>(ConfigRef.COLD_KEYS)) {
+            FleetConfig mutated = mutate(key);
+            if (!ConfigRef.changedColdKeys(base, mutated).contains(key)) {
+                uncovered.add(key);
+            }
+        }
+        System.out.printf(
+                "ConfigRef.changedColdKeys reporting coverage — %d COLD_KEYS, %d verified%n",
+                ConfigRef.COLD_KEYS.size(), ConfigRef.COLD_KEYS.size() - uncovered.size());
+        assertEquals(List.of(), uncovered,
+                "these keys are in ConfigRef.COLD_KEYS but mutating them alone produces no matching "
+                        + "entry from changedColdKeys — a set entry with no comparison behind it: "
+                        + uncovered);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * The same mechanism applied to {@link ConfigRef#SPLIT_KEYS}: mutate each split key in
+     * isolation and prove {@code changedSplitKeys} actually names it (message starting with
+     * {@code "<key>:"}), not just that {@code SPLIT_KEYS} claims it does. This is the exact check
+     * that would have failed fleetd #333's own reproduction — dropping the {@code coordinator}
+     * branch from {@code changedSplitKeys} while {@code "coordinator"} stayed in {@code SPLIT_KEYS}
+     * — see the mutation proof in the fleetd #333 PR description; the earlier checkers here (the
+     * shape test and the in-method assert) do not.
+     */
+    @Test
+    void everySplitKeyIsActuallyReportedByChangedSplitKeys() throws ReflectiveOperationException {
+        FleetConfig base = configOf(BASE);
+        List<String> uncovered = new ArrayList<>();
+        for (String key : new TreeSet<>(ConfigRef.SPLIT_KEYS)) {
+            FleetConfig mutated = mutate(key);
+            List<String> split = ConfigRef.changedSplitKeys(base, mutated);
+            if (split.stream().noneMatch(s -> s.startsWith(key + ":"))) {
+                uncovered.add(key);
+            }
+        }
+        System.out.printf(
+                "ConfigRef.changedSplitKeys reporting coverage — %d SPLIT_KEYS, %d verified%n",
+                ConfigRef.SPLIT_KEYS.size(), ConfigRef.SPLIT_KEYS.size() - uncovered.size());
+        assertEquals(List.of(), uncovered,
+                "these keys are in ConfigRef.SPLIT_KEYS but mutating them alone produces no matching "
+                        + "entry from changedSplitKeys — a set entry with no comparison behind it, "
+                        + "exactly the fleetd #333 F2 shape: " + uncovered);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * For most {@link ConfigRef#DEFERRED_KEYS} members, {@code changedDeferredKeys} reports the key
+     * name verbatim — the default this map assumes. Two entries don't: {@code spawnReadyTimeoutMs}
+     * and {@code spawnReadyPollMs} are compared together in one branch and reported under the
+     * combined label {@code "spawnReady*"} (see {@link ConfigRef#changedDeferredKeys}). {@code
+     * profiles} keeps the default: mutating it here only exercises the added/removed comparison
+     * (see {@link #altValues}), which reports {@code "profiles (added/removed: …)"} — starts with
+     * {@code "profiles"}, same as the default would expect.
+     */
+    private static final Map<String, String> DEFERRED_REPORT_PREFIX = Map.of(
+            "spawnReadyTimeoutMs", "spawnReady*",
+            "spawnReadyPollMs", "spawnReady*");
+
+    /**
+     * fleetd #337: the same mechanism applied to {@link ConfigRef#DEFERRED_KEYS}, closing the gap
+     * this class's own javadoc left open since fleetd #333. Mutate each deferred key in isolation
+     * and prove {@code changedDeferredKeys} actually names it (message starting with the key's
+     * expected report prefix — see {@link #DEFERRED_REPORT_PREFIX}), not just that {@code
+     * DEFERRED_KEYS} claims it does. This is the exact check that fails for {@code guard} the way
+     * {@code coordinator} failed {@link #everySplitKeyIsActuallyReportedByChangedSplitKeys} in
+     * fleetd #333 — verified live: dropping {@code guard}'s branch from {@code changedDeferredKeys}
+     * while {@code "guard"} stayed in {@code DEFERRED_KEYS} left the whole 1355-test suite green,
+     * and this test is what now catches it (it fails naming {@code guard} with that mutation in
+     * place).
+     */
+    @Test
+    void everyDeferredKeyIsActuallyReportedByChangedDeferredKeys() throws ReflectiveOperationException {
+        FleetConfig base = configOf(BASE);
+        List<String> uncovered = new ArrayList<>();
+        for (String key : new TreeSet<>(ConfigRef.DEFERRED_KEYS)) {
+            FleetConfig mutated = mutate(key);
+            List<String> deferred = ConfigRef.changedDeferredKeys(base, mutated);
+            String prefix = DEFERRED_REPORT_PREFIX.getOrDefault(key, key);
+            if (deferred.stream().noneMatch(s -> s.startsWith(prefix))) {
+                uncovered.add(key);
+            }
+        }
+        System.out.printf(
+                "ConfigRef.changedDeferredKeys reporting coverage — %d DEFERRED_KEYS, %d verified%n",
+                ConfigRef.DEFERRED_KEYS.size(), ConfigRef.DEFERRED_KEYS.size() - uncovered.size());
+        assertEquals(List.of(), uncovered,
+                "these keys are in ConfigRef.DEFERRED_KEYS but mutating them alone produces no "
+                        + "matching entry from changedDeferredKeys — a set entry with no comparison "
+                        + "behind it, exactly the fleetd #333 F2 shape, confirmed here for "
+                        + "DEFERRED_KEYS by fleetd #337: " + uncovered);
+    }
+}

fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/msg/MessageServiceTest.java

@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 package dev.ltms.fleet.msg;
 
+import ch.qos.logback.classic.Level;
+import ch.qos.logback.classic.Logger;
+import ch.qos.logback.classic.spi.ILoggingEvent;
+import ch.qos.logback.core.read.ListAppender;
 import dev.ltms.fleet.herdr.AgentControl;
 import dev.ltms.fleet.herdr.AgentStatus;
 import dev.ltms.fleet.herdr.FakeHerdr;
@@ -11,6 +15,7 @@ import dev.ltms.fleet.mcp.PrimaryRegistry;
 import dev.ltms.fleet.inject.Injector;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
@@ -1041,6 +1046,105 @@ class MessageServiceTest {
                 "the reply completed its own ticket directly and never touched the inbox");
     }
 
+    /**
+     * fleetd #329 (F1). {@code answer()} completes the async ticket by looking {@code turnId} up in
+     * {@code asyncTasksByTurn} a SECOND time (the first is at :991, purely to re-register the
+     * {@code asyncTasksByWaiter} entry for #282's chained-ask case). That second lookup races
+     * {@code ask()}'s own unlocked timeout cleanup ({@code clearAsyncQuestion(turnId, true)}, run from
+     * {@code markAskTimedOut} + forgetting): {@code ask()}'s {@code ticket.answer().get(timeoutMillis)}
+     * can time out at essentially the same instant {@code answer()}'s {@code rendezvous.answerAsk}
+     * call above already succeeded and unblocked the worker. fleetd #324's single-read fix does not
+     * help here — that fixed a torn read of one already-held {@link MessageService} internal
+     * {@code Task}; this is a second, independent map lookup by a caller that no longer holds the
+     * {@code Task} it already found once.
+     *
+     * <p>This test does not wait for that real race to land on its own schedule — it drives the exact
+     * sequence the ticket describes (worker asks, primary answers, worker's real reply arrives) and
+     * fires the identical production cleanup {@code ask()}'s timeout path runs
+     * ({@code clearAsyncQuestion(turnId, true)}, via the {@code forgetTurnForTest} seam fleetd #324
+     * already merged) at the point between "the worker's own {@code ask()} call has unblocked" and
+     * "the worker's real {@code fleet_reply} arrives" — the exact window fleetd #329 names.
+     *
+     * <p>What this proves: given that exact interleaving, the async ticket must still resolve to the
+     * worker's real reply, not stay stuck {@link MessageService.Phase#PENDING} forever. What it does
+     * not prove: that the interleaving itself is reachable in production on its own timing — that is
+     * established by reading the code (see the ticket's "path in"), not by this test, for the same
+     * reason fleetd #324's own race test says so.
+     */
+    @Test
+    void aReplyRacingAsksTimeoutCleanupStillCompletesTheAsyncTicket() throws Exception {
+        String ticket = messages.sendAsync(T, "task that asks");
+        awaitWaiting();
+        injectDelivery();
+
+        CompletableFuture<MessageService.AskResult> ask =
+                CompletableFuture.supplyAsync(() -> messages.ask(T, "which config?", 5000));
+        MessageService.TaskView asking = awaitTicketPhase(ticket, MessageService.Phase.ASKING);
+        String turnId = asking.turnId();
+
+        CompletableFuture<MessageService.Reply> answer =
+                CompletableFuture.supplyAsync(() -> messages.answer(turnId, "config.yaml", 5000));
+        assertEquals("config.yaml", ask.get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS).answer(),
+                "the worker's own ask() call must have already unblocked with the primary's answer "
+                        + "before we force the race below");
+
+        // ask()'s own unlocked timeout cleanup can forget this exact turnId at essentially the same
+        // instant answer() has already unblocked the worker and is now waiting on the resumed turn's
+        // real reply — reproduce that interleaving directly instead of trying to win a real race.
+        messages.forgetTurnForTest(turnId);
+
+        assertTrue(messages.reply(T, "PR opened: https://example/pulls/42"));
+
+        assertEquals(MessageService.Outcome.REPLIED, answer.get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS).outcome(),
+                "the primary's own answer() call must still see the worker's real reply");
+        MessageService.TaskView done = awaitTicketPhase(ticket, MessageService.Phase.DONE);
+        assertEquals("PR opened: https://example/pulls/42", done.reply(),
+                "fleet_poll{ticket} must return the worker's real reply, not stay PENDING forever "
+                        + "just because ask()'s timeout cleanup forgot this turnId first");
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * fleetd #329 (F3). {@link MessageService#reply} reads the same orphan {@code Task}'s {@code
+     * turnId} twice on this path (once to check it is non-null, once as the {@code
+     * asyncTasksByTurn.remove} key) — the exact double-read shape fleetd #324 fixed in {@code
+     * finishAsyncTask}. This test drives the same real sequence as {@code
+     * aReplyAfterAnswerTimesOutStillCompletesTheAsyncTicket} (worker asks, primary answers, the
+     * primary's own bounded wait for the resumed turn expires) to reach a task with {@code turnId}
+     * genuinely stamped and no live rendezvous waiter open — the state {@code askAnsweredAsyncTasks}
+     * matches here — then fires the identical production cleanup {@code ask()}'s own timeout path
+     * runs ({@code clearAsyncQuestion(turnId, true)}, via the {@code forgetTurnForTest} seam fleetd
+     * #324 merged) at the point between the check and the removal use, via a dedicated test hook
+     * mirroring {@code finishAsyncTaskRaceHook}.
+     */
+    @Test
+    void replyToAnOrphanedTaskSurvivesTurnIdGoingNullBetweenItsTwoReads() throws Exception {
+        String ticket = messages.sendAsync(T, "task that asks");
+        awaitWaiting();
+        injectDelivery();
+
+        CompletableFuture<MessageService.AskResult> ask =
+                CompletableFuture.supplyAsync(() -> messages.ask(T, "which config?", 5000));
+        MessageService.TaskView asking = awaitTicketPhase(ticket, MessageService.Phase.ASKING);
+        String turnId = asking.turnId();
+
+        MessageService.Reply answerReply = messages.answer(turnId, "config.yaml", 150);
+        assertEquals("config.yaml", ask.get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS).answer());
+        assertEquals(MessageService.Outcome.TIMED_OUT_WORKING, answerReply.outcome(),
+                "the primary's own bounded wait must give up first, leaving turnId stamped with no "
+                        + "live waiter — the state reply()'s F3 code path matches");
+
+        messages.setReplyOrphanTurnIdRaceHookForTest(() -> messages.forgetTurnForTest(turnId));
+        try {
+            assertTrue(messages.reply(T, "PR opened: https://example/pulls/42"));
+
+            MessageService.TaskView done = awaitTicketPhase(ticket, MessageService.Phase.DONE);
+            assertEquals("PR opened: https://example/pulls/42", done.reply(),
+                    "the ticket must still resolve to the worker's real reply despite the forced race");
+        } finally {
+            messages.setReplyOrphanTurnIdRaceHookForTest(null);
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * fleetd #307's ambiguity guard: an ask timeout frees its target ({@code hasAsyncQuestion}
      * becomes false the instant it lapses — proven above), so a second, independent delegation can
@@ -1151,6 +1255,63 @@ class MessageServiceTest {
         assertEquals("done", done.reply());
     }
 
+    // --- fleetd #329 (F2): an exception after the ticket's future completes must reach a log -----
+    //
+    // sendAsync's own executor task ends with catch (Throwable t) { task.future.completeExceptionally(t); }
+    // — but finishAsyncTask completes that same future on its first line, so anything that throws
+    // afterward hits an already-completed future: completeExceptionally returns false and does
+    // nothing, and (before this fix) nothing logged it either. Measured on the ticket: temporarily
+    // reintroducing the fleetd #324 NPE reproduced 19 real exceptions on the ordinary path with
+    // 74/74 tests staying green and zero log lines. There is no reachable production call site where
+    // finishAsyncTask throws after completing the future (fleetd #324 already closed the one that
+    // used to), so this test drives the shape directly via a dedicated test-only hook
+    // (afterFinishAsyncTaskCompleteHookForTest) rather than trying to engineer a real exception into
+    // that narrow window — the same technique fleetd #324's own race test and this ticket's F1/F3
+    // tests use for their own races.
+
+    private static ListAppender<ILoggingEvent> attachMessageServiceLog() {
+        Logger logger = (Logger) LoggerFactory.getLogger(MessageService.class);
+        ListAppender<ILoggingEvent> appender = new ListAppender<>();
+        appender.start();
+        logger.addAppender(appender);
+        return appender;
+    }
+
+    private static void detachMessageServiceLog(ListAppender<ILoggingEvent> appender) {
+        ((Logger) LoggerFactory.getLogger(MessageService.class)).detachAppender(appender);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void anExceptionAfterTheTicketFutureCompletesStillReachesTheLog() throws Exception {
+        ListAppender<ILoggingEvent> appender = attachMessageServiceLog();
+        try {
+            messages.setAfterFinishAsyncTaskCompleteHookForTest(() -> {
+                throw new RuntimeException("PROBE-329-F2");
+            });
+
+            String ticket = messages.sendAsync(T, "do the task");
+            awaitWaiting();
+            assertTrue(rendezvous.resolve(T, "done"));
+
+            // finishAsyncTask's own first line already completed the future with the real result
+            // BEFORE the hook threw — F2 is a visibility gap, not a correctness gap for the ticket
+            // itself, so the ticket's own outcome must be unaffected by the swallowed exception.
+            MessageService.TaskView done = awaitTicketPhase(ticket, MessageService.Phase.DONE);
+            assertEquals("done", done.reply());
+
+            assertTrue(appender.list.stream().anyMatch(e ->
+                            e.getLevel() == Level.ERROR
+                                    && e.getFormattedMessage().contains(ticket)
+                                    && e.getThrowableProxy() != null
+                                    && "PROBE-329-F2".equals(e.getThrowableProxy().getMessage())),
+                    "an exception thrown after the ticket's future already completed must still "
+                            + "reach the log, not vanish silently");
+        } finally {
+            messages.setAfterFinishAsyncTaskCompleteHookForTest(null);
+            detachMessageServiceLog(appender);
+        }
+    }
+
     // --- CB-582: fleet_status pendingAsk() ------------------------------------------------------
 
     @Test