diff --git a/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/workers/parse-worker.ts b/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/workers/parse-worker.ts
index a096cf597..cbdca83fc 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/workers/parse-worker.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/workers/parse-worker.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { parentPort } from 'node:worker_threads';
 import Parser from 'tree-sitter';
+import { encodeMessage, decodeMessage, MessageTag } from './protocol.js';
 import JavaScript from 'tree-sitter-javascript';
 import TypeScript from 'tree-sitter-typescript';
 import Python from 'tree-sitter-python';
@@ -1390,7 +1391,7 @@ const processFileGroup = (
   } catch (err) {
     const message = `Query compilation failed for ${language}: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`;
     if (parentPort) {
-      parentPort.postMessage({ type: 'warning', message });
+      parentPort.postMessage(encodeMessage(MessageTag.Warning, { type: 'warning', message }));
     } else {
       logger.warn(message);
     }
@@ -1406,7 +1407,11 @@ const processFileGroup = (
     // guessing from `items[lastProgress]` (which the language-grouped order
     // here would defeat). The pool gracefully ignores this when running an
     // older worker build that doesn't emit it.
-    if (parentPort) parentPort.postMessage({ type: 'starting-file', path: file.path });
+    if (parentPort) {
+      parentPort.postMessage(
+        encodeMessage(MessageTag.StartingFile, { type: 'starting-file', path: file.path }),
+      );
+    }
 
     // Vue SFC preprocessing: extract <script> block content
     let parseContent = file.content;
@@ -1465,8 +1470,11 @@ const processFileGroup = (
       parseContent,
       file.path,
       (message) => {
-        if (parentPort) parentPort.postMessage({ type: 'warning', message });
-        else logger.warn(message);
+        if (parentPort) {
+          parentPort.postMessage(encodeMessage(MessageTag.Warning, { type: 'warning', message }));
+        } else {
+          logger.warn(message);
+        }
       },
       tree,
     );
@@ -2453,37 +2461,69 @@ const mergeResult = (target: ParseWorkerResult, src: ParseWorkerResult) => {
 // before the script body runs) and the pool only notices via the first
 // dispatch's idle timeout (~30s). Emit once; the dispatch handler treats
 // any subsequent `ready` message as a benign no-op.
-parentPort!.postMessage({ type: 'ready' });
+//
+// Post-U17: every postMessage call uses `encodeMessage` from protocol.ts
+// so the bytes on the wire carry an explicit tag + length header. The pool
+// tolerates both encoded Buffer messages and raw POJO (for backward compat
+// with FakeWorkers in the test suite), but production parse-worker.ts is
+// strict — every outgoing message is encoded.
+parentPort!.postMessage(encodeMessage(MessageTag.Ready, { type: 'ready' }));
 
-parentPort!.on('message', (msg: WorkerIncomingMessage) => {
+// Decode a single incoming message. The pool always sends Buffer-encoded
+// frames post-U17, but the parameter type is `unknown` because Node's
+// worker_threads typings declare `on('message', (value: any) => void)`.
+//
+// `instanceof Uint8Array` (not `Buffer.isBuffer`) is load-bearing: Node's
+// worker_threads `postMessage` structured-clones the payload, which
+// strips the Buffer prototype — a frame sent as a Buffer arrives here
+// as a plain Uint8Array, where `Buffer.isBuffer` returns false.
+// `decodeMessage` already adopts a Uint8Array view zero-copy.
+//
+// Falling back to the raw value for non-Uint8Array inputs preserves the
+// legacy POJO path some tests might still exercise.
+function decodeIncomingMessage(raw: unknown): WorkerIncomingMessage {
+  if (raw instanceof Uint8Array) {
+    return decodeMessage(raw).payload as WorkerIncomingMessage;
+  }
+  return raw as WorkerIncomingMessage;
+}
+
+parentPort!.on('message', (raw: unknown) => {
   try {
+    const msg = decodeIncomingMessage(raw);
     // Legacy single-message mode (backward compat): array of files
     if (Array.isArray(msg)) {
       const result = processBatch(msg, (filesProcessed) => {
-        parentPort!.postMessage({ type: 'progress', filesProcessed });
+        parentPort!.postMessage(
+          encodeMessage(MessageTag.Progress, { type: 'progress', filesProcessed }),
+        );
       });
-      parentPort!.postMessage({ type: 'result', data: result });
+      parentPort!.postMessage(encodeMessage(MessageTag.Result, { type: 'result', data: result }));
       return;
     }
 
     // Sub-batch mode: { type: 'sub-batch', files: [...] }
     if (msg.type === 'sub-batch') {
       const result = processBatch(msg.files, (filesProcessed) => {
-        parentPort!.postMessage({
-          type: 'progress',
-          filesProcessed: cumulativeProcessed + filesProcessed,
-        });
+        parentPort!.postMessage(
+          encodeMessage(MessageTag.Progress, {
+            type: 'progress',
+            filesProcessed: cumulativeProcessed + filesProcessed,
+          }),
+        );
       });
       cumulativeProcessed += result.fileCount;
       mergeResult(accumulated, result);
       // Signal ready for next sub-batch
-      parentPort!.postMessage({ type: 'sub-batch-done' });
+      parentPort!.postMessage(encodeMessage(MessageTag.SubBatchDone, { type: 'sub-batch-done' }));
       return;
     }
 
     // Flush: send accumulated results
     if (msg.type === 'flush') {
-      parentPort!.postMessage({ type: 'result', data: accumulated });
+      parentPort!.postMessage(
+        encodeMessage(MessageTag.Result, { type: 'result', data: accumulated }),
+      );
       // Reset for potential reuse
       accumulated = {
         nodes: [],
@@ -2509,6 +2549,6 @@ parentPort!.on('message', (msg: WorkerIncomingMessage) => {
     }
   } catch (err) {
     const message = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
-    parentPort!.postMessage({ type: 'error', error: message });
+    parentPort!.postMessage(encodeMessage(MessageTag.Error, { type: 'error', error: message }));
   }
 });
diff --git a/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/workers/protocol.ts b/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/workers/protocol.ts
index 953e055f2..e8a603531 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/workers/protocol.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/workers/protocol.ts
@@ -113,10 +113,21 @@ export function encodeMessage(tag: MessageTagValue, payload: unknown): Buffer {
 }
 
 /**
- * Decode a single message from a Buffer. The buffer must start with a
- * complete protocol frame; trailing bytes beyond the declared length
- * are ignored (callers receiving a concatenated stream should slice at
- * `PROTOCOL_HEADER_BYTES + length` before decoding the next frame).
+ * Decode a single message from a Buffer (or any Uint8Array containing a
+ * frame). The buffer must start with a complete protocol frame; trailing
+ * bytes beyond the declared length are ignored (callers receiving a
+ * concatenated stream should slice at `PROTOCOL_HEADER_BYTES + length`
+ * before decoding the next frame).
+ *
+ * Accepts `Uint8Array` rather than only `Buffer` because Node's
+ * worker_threads `postMessage` uses structured clone, which strips the
+ * `Buffer` prototype: a `Buffer` sent over the wire arrives on the
+ * receiving thread as a plain `Uint8Array`. Buffer extends Uint8Array,
+ * so when the input is already a Buffer the readUInt / subarray fast
+ * paths still apply; when the input is a bare Uint8Array, we adopt its
+ * underlying memory via `Buffer.from(view.buffer, view.byteOffset,
+ * view.byteLength)` (a zero-copy view, not a clone) so the rest of the
+ * decode runs through the same code path.
  *
  * Throws {@link ProtocolDecodeError} for any of:
  *   - buffer shorter than the 5-byte header
@@ -124,10 +135,13 @@ export function encodeMessage(tag: MessageTagValue, payload: unknown): Buffer {
  *   - declared payload length exceeds available bytes
  *   - payload bytes are not valid UTF-8 JSON
  */
-export function decodeMessage(buf: Buffer): {
+export function decodeMessage(input: Uint8Array): {
   tag: MessageTagValue;
   payload: unknown;
 } {
+  const buf: Buffer = Buffer.isBuffer(input)
+    ? input
+    : Buffer.from(input.buffer, input.byteOffset, input.byteLength);
   if (buf.length < PROTOCOL_HEADER_BYTES) {
     throw new ProtocolDecodeError(
       `frame too small for header: got ${buf.length} bytes, need ${PROTOCOL_HEADER_BYTES}`,
diff --git a/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/workers/worker-pool.ts b/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/workers/worker-pool.ts
index c87f65449..790b0dc0b 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/workers/worker-pool.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/workers/worker-pool.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,28 @@ import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
 
 import { logger } from '../../logger.js';
 import { createQuarantine } from './quarantine.js';
+import { encodeMessage, decodeMessage, MessageTag } from './protocol.js';
+
+/**
+ * Decode an incoming worker message. Production `parse-worker.ts` (post-U17)
+ * always sends Buffer-encoded frames via `encodeMessage`. Test scaffolding
+ * (FakeWorkers in worker-pool-resilience.test.ts and siblings) still emits
+ * raw POJO messages — the pool tolerates both so the existing in-process
+ * mock workers don't need rewriting. If a future commit wants to strictly
+ * require encoded frames (rejecting POJO), this helper is the single point
+ * to harden.
+ */
+function decodeIncomingWorkerMessage(raw: unknown): WorkerOutgoingMessage {
+  // `instanceof Uint8Array` (not `Buffer.isBuffer`): Node's worker_threads
+  // postMessage structured-clones the payload, which strips the Buffer
+  // prototype, so a frame sent as `Buffer` arrives here as a plain
+  // Uint8Array. Buffer extends Uint8Array so this check covers both,
+  // and `decodeMessage` adopts a Uint8Array view zero-copy.
+  if (raw instanceof Uint8Array) {
+    return decodeMessage(raw).payload as WorkerOutgoingMessage;
+  }
+  return raw as WorkerOutgoingMessage;
+}
 export interface WorkerPool {
   /**
    * Dispatch items across workers. Items are split into bounded jobs, each job
@@ -319,7 +341,20 @@ function waitForWorkerReady(worker: Worker): Promise<void> {
       worker.removeListener('exit', onExit);
       worker.removeListener('messageerror', onMessageError);
     };
-    const onMessage = (msg: unknown) => {
+    const onMessage = (raw: unknown) => {
+      // U17: production parse-worker.ts emits the ready handshake as a
+      // Buffer-encoded frame; FakeWorkers in the test suite still emit
+      // POJO. Tolerate both. ProtocolDecodeError on a malformed frame is
+      // swallowed locally — the wait keeps listening, and the eventual
+      // timeout / exit / error handlers catch a genuinely-broken worker.
+      let msg: unknown = raw;
+      if (raw instanceof Uint8Array) {
+        try {
+          msg = decodeMessage(raw).payload;
+        } catch {
+          return;
+        }
+      }
       if (typeof msg === 'object' && msg !== null && (msg as { type?: unknown }).type === 'ready') {
         cleanup();
         resolve();
@@ -1092,9 +1127,29 @@ export const createWorkerPool = (
         // stale generation. The guard catches future-refactor mistakes.
         const slotGen = slotGenerations[workerIndex];
 
-        const handler = (msg: WorkerOutgoingMessage) => {
+        const handler = (raw: unknown) => {
           if (slotGenerations[workerIndex] !== slotGen) return;
           if (settled || stopped) return;
+          // U17: production parse-worker.ts emits Buffer-encoded messages;
+          // FakeWorkers in the test suite still emit POJOs. Tolerate both
+          // via `decodeIncomingWorkerMessage`. A malformed frame from a
+          // real worker is treated as a worker-side bug — the protocol
+          // error escapes and is caught by the `messageerror` handler
+          // below, routing through the existing recovery layer.
+          let msg: WorkerOutgoingMessage;
+          try {
+            msg = decodeIncomingWorkerMessage(raw);
+          } catch (err) {
+            settled = true;
+            cleanup();
+            void recoverAndResume(
+              `Worker ${workerIndex} protocol decode error: ${
+                err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)
+              }`,
+              resolveExcludePaths(),
+            );
+            return;
+          }
           if (msg.type === 'starting-file') {
             inFlightPath = msg.path;
             resetIdleTimer();
@@ -1111,7 +1166,7 @@ export const createWorkerPool = (
           } else if (msg.type === 'sub-batch-done') {
             waitingForFlush = true;
             resetIdleTimer();
-            worker.postMessage({ type: 'flush' });
+            worker.postMessage(encodeMessage(MessageTag.DispatchJob, { type: 'flush' }));
           } else if (msg.type === 'error') {
             settled = true;
             cleanup();
@@ -1214,7 +1269,9 @@ export const createWorkerPool = (
           cleanup();
           return;
         }
-        worker.postMessage({ type: 'sub-batch', files: job.items });
+        worker.postMessage(
+          encodeMessage(MessageTag.DispatchJob, { type: 'sub-batch', files: job.items }),
+        );
       };
 
       for (const slotIndex of activeSlots) runWorker(slotIndex);
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/integration/worker-pool.test.ts b/gitnexus/test/integration/worker-pool.test.ts
index 34ba5a169..5896e4ca8 100644
--- a/gitnexus/test/integration/worker-pool.test.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/test/integration/worker-pool.test.ts
@@ -30,13 +30,43 @@ const DIST_WORKER = path.resolve(
 );
 const hasDistWorker = fs.existsSync(DIST_WORKER);
 
-// Prepend the M4 ready handshake to every ad-hoc test worker source so the
-// pool's `waitForWorkerReady` resolves immediately for replacement spawns.
-// Production `parse-worker.ts` emits the same handshake at top-of-script
-// before installing its message handler. Without it, every test that triggers
-// a replacement (worker crash + recover) would hit the 5s WORKER_READY_TIMEOUT_MS
-// and fail with "Replacement worker startup failed and no slots remain".
-const READY_PREAMBLE = `require('node:worker_threads').parentPort.postMessage({ type: 'ready' });\n`;
+// Prepend two things to every ad-hoc test worker source:
+//
+//   1. The M4 ready handshake so the pool's `waitForWorkerReady` resolves
+//      immediately for replacement spawns. Production `parse-worker.ts`
+//      emits the same handshake at top-of-script before installing its
+//      message handler. Without it, every test that triggers a
+//      replacement (worker crash + recover) would hit the 5s
+//      WORKER_READY_TIMEOUT_MS and fail with "Replacement worker startup
+//      failed and no slots remain".
+//
+//   2. (U17) A transparent decode wrapper around `parentPort.on('message', ...)`
+//      so the 9 ad-hoc test worker scripts don't need rewriting now that
+//      the pool sends Buffer-encoded `sub-batch` / `flush` dispatches.
+//      Test workers continue to receive POJO objects in their existing
+//      `msg.type === 'sub-batch'` checks. The inline mini-decoder mirrors
+//      protocol.ts's wire layout (1-byte tag + 4-byte LE uint32 length +
+//      UTF-8 JSON body) — duplicated here because ad-hoc test workers
+//      `require` Node builtins only; they can't import the compiled
+//      dist/protocol.js without knowing its absolute path. The pool is
+//      tolerant of POJO incoming, so outgoing `parentPort.postMessage`
+//      calls in the test scripts stay as POJO (unchanged).
+const READY_PREAMBLE = `
+const { parentPort: __pp } = require('node:worker_threads');
+const __decodeFrame = (raw) => {
+  // structured clone strips the Buffer prototype; raw arrives as Uint8Array.
+  if (!(raw instanceof Uint8Array)) return raw;
+  const buf = Buffer.from(raw.buffer, raw.byteOffset, raw.byteLength);
+  const length = buf.readUInt32LE(1);
+  return JSON.parse(buf.subarray(5, 5 + length).toString('utf8'));
+};
+const __origOn = __pp.on.bind(__pp);
+__pp.on = (event, handler) => {
+  if (event !== 'message') return __origOn(event, handler);
+  return __origOn(event, (raw) => handler(__decodeFrame(raw)));
+};
+__pp.postMessage({ type: 'ready' });
+`;
 
 function writeReadyWorker(workerPath: string, source: string): void {
   fs.writeFileSync(workerPath, READY_PREAMBLE + source);
@@ -892,27 +922,45 @@ describe('worker pool integration', () => {
   });
 
   it('drops a slot after maxRespawnsPerSlot and continues on the survivor', async () => {
-    // 2-worker pool, budget=1. Worker A crashes twice on its assigned
-    // chunk; slot A is dropped. Slot B handles the requeued remainder
-    // successfully. Validates the per-slot drop + wakeIdleSlots flow
-    // under real worker timing.
+    // 2-worker pool, budget=1. The worker that's assigned the chunk
+    // containing `a.ts` crashes on a.ts (quarantines a), respawns, gets
+    // the requeued remainder containing `b.ts`, crashes on b.ts
+    // (quarantines b). That slot's respawn budget is now exhausted, so
+    // the pool drops it. The OTHER slot — assigned the chunk with
+    // [c,d] — never sees the poison files and completes its work
+    // normally. Validates the per-slot drop + wakeIdleSlots flow under
+    // real worker timing.
+    //
+    // The path-based crash trigger replaces an earlier shared-counter-
+    // file design that was a write-write race between the two workers:
+    // pre-U17 timing happened to land on counter=2 by the end of
+    // round 1 (so round-2 workers saw counter==2 and didn't crash),
+    // but the post-U17 protocol-decoding latency shifted the window
+    // so round 2's first worker read counter=1 and crashed too,
+    // producing 3 quarantines instead of 2. Switching to a path-based
+    // trigger removes the inter-worker race entirely — the outcome
+    // depends only on which chunk contains the poison files, which is
+    // deterministic given the dispatch ordering of [a,b,c,d] with
+    // subBatchSize=2.
     const tempDir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'gitnexus-resilience-slot-drop-'));
-    const counterPath = path.join(tempDir, 'crash-count.txt');
     const workerPath = path.join(tempDir, 'worker.js');
     writeReadyWorker(
       workerPath,
       `
-      const fs = require('node:fs');
       const { parentPort } = require('node:worker_threads');
-      const counterPath = ${JSON.stringify(counterPath)};
       let current = [];
       parentPort.on('message', (msg) => {
         if (msg && msg.type === 'sub-batch') {
           current = msg.files.map((f) => f.path);
-          const prior = fs.existsSync(counterPath) ? Number(fs.readFileSync(counterPath, 'utf-8')) : 0;
-          if (prior < 2) {
-            fs.writeFileSync(counterPath, String(prior + 1));
-            parentPort.postMessage({ type: 'starting-file', path: current[0] });
+          // Crash deterministically on the poison files. The pool
+          // filters quarantined paths from subsequent re-dispatches,
+          // so the first crash quarantines a.ts and the requeue then
+          // contains b.ts; the second crash quarantines b.ts and the
+          // slot's respawn budget is exhausted. Worker handling the
+          // [c,d] chunk never enters this branch.
+          const poison = current.find((p) => p === 'a.ts' || p === 'b.ts');
+          if (poison) {
+            parentPort.postMessage({ type: 'starting-file', path: poison });
             process.exit(134);
           }
           parentPort.postMessage({ type: 'progress', filesProcessed: current.length });
@@ -941,18 +989,12 @@ describe('worker pool integration', () => {
         { path: 'd.ts', content: '' },
       ]);
 
-      // Two crashes both attributed to their starting-file (a.ts, then
-      // whatever the requeued chunk's items[0] was — b.ts or c.ts
-      // depending on dispatch order). At minimum a.ts is quarantined.
-      const quarantine = pool.getQuarantinedPaths?.() ?? [];
-      expect(quarantine.length).toBe(2);
-      expect(quarantine).toContain('a.ts');
-      // All non-quarantined files eventually parsed.
+      // Deterministically: a.ts crashes round 1, b.ts crashes round 2.
+      const quarantine = (pool.getQuarantinedPaths?.() ?? []).sort();
+      expect(quarantine).toEqual(['a.ts', 'b.ts']);
+      // All non-quarantined files eventually parsed by the survivor slot.
       const allPaths = results.flatMap((r) => r.paths).sort();
-      const expectedAllowed = ['a.ts', 'b.ts', 'c.ts', 'd.ts'].filter(
-        (p) => !quarantine.includes(p),
-      );
-      expect(allPaths.sort()).toEqual(expectedAllowed.sort());
+      expect(allPaths).toEqual(['c.ts', 'd.ts']);
     } finally {
       fs.rmSync(tempDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
     }
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/unit/worker-pool-resilience.test.ts b/gitnexus/test/unit/worker-pool-resilience.test.ts
index b64137559..6857aaf76 100644
--- a/gitnexus/test/unit/worker-pool-resilience.test.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/test/unit/worker-pool-resilience.test.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import {
   resolveWorkerPoolOptions,
   resolveAutoPoolSize,
 } from '../../src/core/ingestion/workers/worker-pool.js';
+import { decodeMessage } from '../../src/core/ingestion/workers/protocol.js';
 
 /**
  * Minimal `node:worker_threads` Worker double for unit-testing the pool's
@@ -43,7 +44,16 @@ class FakeWorker extends EventEmitter {
     });
   }
 
-  postMessage(msg: unknown): void {
+  postMessage(rawMsg: unknown): void {
+    // U17: production pool now sends Buffer-encoded dispatch frames.
+    // Decode them here so this in-process mock can keep its existing
+    // POJO-shaped action-scripting API — the action queue still sees
+    // `{type, files}` shapes regardless of whether the pool encoded
+    // the message on the way in. Store the DECODED payload in
+    // `seenMessages` so test-side introspection assertions (which
+    // expect `msg.type` / `msg.files`) keep working after the wire
+    // format flipped to Buffer.
+    const msg = Buffer.isBuffer(rawMsg) ? decodeMessage(rawMsg).payload : rawMsg;
     this.seenMessages.push(msg);
     if (typeof msg !== 'object' || msg === null) return;
     const m = msg as { type?: string; files?: { path: string }[] };
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/unit/worker-pool-slot-generation.test.ts b/gitnexus/test/unit/worker-pool-slot-generation.test.ts
index b53991f23..4919dbe90 100644
--- a/gitnexus/test/unit/worker-pool-slot-generation.test.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/test/unit/worker-pool-slot-generation.test.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import { pathToFileURL } from 'node:url';
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import os from 'node:os';
 import { createWorkerPool } from '../../src/core/ingestion/workers/worker-pool.js';
+import { decodeMessage } from '../../src/core/ingestion/workers/protocol.js';
 
 type FakeAction =
   | { kind: 'crash-after-starting'; startingPath: string; code: number }
@@ -42,7 +43,9 @@ class FakeWorker extends EventEmitter {
       this.emit('message', { type: 'ready' });
     });
   }
-  postMessage(msg: unknown): void {
+  postMessage(rawMsg: unknown): void {
+    // U17: decode Buffer-encoded dispatches; pool is now strict-encoded.
+    const msg = rawMsg instanceof Uint8Array ? decodeMessage(rawMsg).payload : rawMsg;
     if (typeof msg !== 'object' || msg === null) return;
     const m = msg as { type?: string };
     if (m.type !== 'sub-batch') return;
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/unit/worker-pool-windows-quarantine.test.ts b/gitnexus/test/unit/worker-pool-windows-quarantine.test.ts
index 05e5f0b52..ebd2ca9c5 100644
--- a/gitnexus/test/unit/worker-pool-windows-quarantine.test.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/test/unit/worker-pool-windows-quarantine.test.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import { pathToFileURL } from 'node:url';
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import os from 'node:os';
 import { createWorkerPool } from '../../src/core/ingestion/workers/worker-pool.js';
+import { decodeMessage } from '../../src/core/ingestion/workers/protocol.js';
 
 /**
  * Minimal FakeWorker for this test: emit `starting-file` for the script's
@@ -48,7 +49,9 @@ class FakeWorker extends EventEmitter {
       this.emit('message', { type: 'ready' });
     });
   }
-  postMessage(msg: unknown): void {
+  postMessage(rawMsg: unknown): void {
+    // U17: decode Buffer-encoded dispatches; pool is now strict-encoded.
+    const msg = rawMsg instanceof Uint8Array ? decodeMessage(rawMsg).payload : rawMsg;
     if (typeof msg !== 'object' || msg === null) return;
     const m = msg as { type?: string };
     if (m.type !== 'sub-batch') return;
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/unit/workers/protocol.test.ts b/gitnexus/test/unit/workers/protocol.test.ts
index b080ba5f5..f9eb8f18c 100644
--- a/gitnexus/test/unit/workers/protocol.test.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/test/unit/workers/protocol.test.ts
@@ -133,3 +133,44 @@ describe('worker IPC protocol — decode error paths (U16)', () => {
     }
   });
 });
+
+describe('worker IPC protocol — Uint8Array decode path (U17)', () => {
+  // Pins the U17 production fix: Node's worker_threads `postMessage`
+  // structured-clones the payload, which strips the Buffer prototype, so
+  // a frame sent as Buffer arrives on the receiver as a bare Uint8Array.
+  // `decodeMessage` must accept a Uint8Array view zero-copy. Without this
+  // path, every Buffer-encoded message sent through worker_threads would
+  // silently fail to decode and the worker would never reply to the
+  // dispatch — observed pre-fix as a 30s test timeout on every real
+  // dispatch through dist/parse-worker.js.
+  it('decodes a Uint8Array view (no Buffer prototype) identically to the Buffer original', () => {
+    const original = encodeMessage(MessageTag.Result, { fileCount: 5, paths: ['a.ts', 'b.ts'] });
+    // Strip the Buffer prototype while keeping the same backing memory —
+    // mirrors what structured clone does to a Buffer on the receive side.
+    const stripped = new Uint8Array(original.buffer, original.byteOffset, original.byteLength);
+    expect(Buffer.isBuffer(stripped)).toBe(false);
+    expect(stripped).toBeInstanceOf(Uint8Array);
+
+    const decoded = decodeMessage(stripped);
+    expect(decoded.tag).toBe(MessageTag.Result);
+    expect(decoded.payload).toEqual({ fileCount: 5, paths: ['a.ts', 'b.ts'] });
+  });
+
+  it('decodes a Uint8Array that views a slice of a larger ArrayBuffer (non-zero byteOffset)', () => {
+    // Pins the zero-copy adoption path. If `decodeMessage` were to call
+    // `Buffer.from(uint8)` (which copies and zeroes the offset) instead
+    // of `Buffer.from(buf.buffer, buf.byteOffset, buf.byteLength)`, the
+    // header parse would still succeed on the copy, but the wider
+    // ArrayBuffer-with-offset case below also catches `Buffer.from(uint8)`
+    // semantics regressions on Node versions that materialize structured
+    // clones into shared ArrayBuffers with offsets.
+    const original = encodeMessage(MessageTag.Progress, { filesProcessed: 11 });
+    const padded = new Uint8Array(original.byteLength + 8);
+    padded.set(original, 4); // place the frame at offset 4 in a wider buffer
+    const view = new Uint8Array(padded.buffer, 4, original.byteLength);
+
+    const decoded = decodeMessage(view);
+    expect(decoded.tag).toBe(MessageTag.Progress);
+    expect(decoded.payload).toEqual({ filesProcessed: 11 });
+  });
+});