diff --git a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.StoreAndForward/StoreAndForwardService.cs b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.StoreAndForward/StoreAndForwardService.cs
index 2f1ef7b6..98136439 100644
--- a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.StoreAndForward/StoreAndForwardService.cs
+++ b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.StoreAndForward/StoreAndForwardService.cs
@@ -451,6 +451,14 @@ public class StoreAndForwardService
     /// When <c>false</c>, the caller has already made its own delivery attempt and the
     /// message is buffered directly for the retry sweep (the handler is not invoked here).
     /// </param>
+    /// <param name="deferToSweep">
+    /// When <c>true</c>, the handler is never invoked inline — the message is buffered
+    /// due-immediately (<see cref="StoreAndForwardMessage.LastAttemptAt"/> stays null)
+    /// and a background sweep is kicked. Use for callers on latency-sensitive threads
+    /// (e.g. script dispatchers) whose delivery involves a long Ask timeout. Unlike
+    /// <paramref name="attemptImmediateDelivery"/><c>: false</c>, no delivery attempt is
+    /// presumed to have already been made, so the row is due on the very next sweep.
+    /// </param>
     /// <param name="messageId">
     /// An explicit, caller-supplied message id. <c>null</c> (the default) makes the
     /// service mint a fresh GUID. The Notification Outbox enqueue path supplies its own
@@ -487,6 +495,7 @@ public class StoreAndForwardService
         int? maxRetries = null,
         TimeSpan? retryInterval = null,
         bool attemptImmediateDelivery = true,
+        bool deferToSweep = false,
         string? messageId = null,
         Guid? executionId = null,
         string? sourceScript = null,
@@ -509,6 +518,18 @@ public class StoreAndForwardService
             ParentExecutionId = parentExecutionId
         };
 
+        // Latency-sensitive caller: never run the handler inline. Buffer
+        // due-immediately (LastAttemptAt intentionally left null so the row is due
+        // on the very next sweep, not held back by RetryInterval) and kick a
+        // background sweep so the healthy-path latency is milliseconds.
+        if (deferToSweep)
+        {
+            await BufferAsync(message);
+            RaiseActivity("Queued", category, $"Deferred to sweep: {target}");
+            TriggerSweep();
+            return new StoreAndForwardResult(true, message.Id, true);
+        }
+
         // Attempt immediate delivery — unless the caller has already made a
         // delivery attempt of its own (attemptImmediateDelivery: false). In that
         // case re-invoking the handler here would dispatch the request twice.
@@ -571,6 +592,18 @@ public class StoreAndForwardService
         Interlocked.Increment(ref _bufferedCount);
     }
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Kicks a background retry sweep now (fire-and-forget). No-op before
+    /// <see cref="StartAsync"/> (storage may be uninitialized and the timer, whose
+    /// presence gates this, is not yet set). Overlap-safe: the sweep's
+    /// <see cref="_retryInProgress"/> CAS makes a concurrent kick a cheap no-op.
+    /// </summary>
+    public void TriggerSweep()
+    {
+        if (_retryTimer == null) return;
+        Volatile.Write(ref _sweepTask, RetryPendingMessagesAsync());
+    }
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Background retry sweep. Processes all pending messages that are due for retry.
     /// </summary>
diff --git a/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.StoreAndForward.Tests/StoreAndForwardServiceTests.cs b/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.StoreAndForward.Tests/StoreAndForwardServiceTests.cs
index 8fd5fda9..4facffa7 100644
--- a/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.StoreAndForward.Tests/StoreAndForwardServiceTests.cs
+++ b/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.StoreAndForward.Tests/StoreAndForwardServiceTests.cs
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ public class StoreAndForwardServiceTests : IAsyncLifetime, IDisposable
     private readonly StoreAndForwardStorage _storage;
     private readonly StoreAndForwardService _service;
     private readonly StoreAndForwardOptions _options;
+    private readonly List<SqliteConnection> _extraKeepAlives = new();
 
     public StoreAndForwardServiceTests()
     {
@@ -38,7 +39,35 @@ public class StoreAndForwardServiceTests : IAsyncLifetime, IDisposable
 
     public Task DisposeAsync() => Task.CompletedTask;
 
-    public void Dispose() => _keepAlive.Dispose();
+    public void Dispose()
+    {
+        _keepAlive.Dispose();
+        foreach (var c in _extraKeepAlives) c.Dispose();
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Builds a fresh service over its own in-memory (shared-cache) SQLite so a test
+    /// can call StartAsync without racing the shared <c>_service</c>'s timer. The
+    /// keep-alive connection is tracked for disposal.
+    /// </summary>
+    private StoreAndForwardService CreateService(TimeSpan? retryTimerInterval = null)
+    {
+        var connStr = $"Data Source=DeferTests_{Guid.NewGuid():N};Mode=Memory;Cache=Shared";
+        var keepAlive = new SqliteConnection(connStr);
+        keepAlive.Open();
+        _extraKeepAlives.Add(keepAlive);
+
+        var storage = new StoreAndForwardStorage(connStr, NullLogger<StoreAndForwardStorage>.Instance);
+        storage.InitializeAsync().GetAwaiter().GetResult();
+
+        var options = new StoreAndForwardOptions
+        {
+            DefaultRetryInterval = TimeSpan.Zero,
+            DefaultMaxRetries = 3,
+            RetryTimerInterval = retryTimerInterval ?? TimeSpan.FromMinutes(10),
+        };
+        return new StoreAndForwardService(storage, options, NullLogger<StoreAndForwardService>.Instance);
+    }
 
     // ── WP-10: Immediate delivery ──
 
@@ -746,4 +775,50 @@ public class StoreAndForwardServiceTests : IAsyncLifetime, IDisposable
         do { current = Volatile.Read(ref target); if (value <= current) return; }
         while (Interlocked.CompareExchange(ref target, value, current) != current);
     }
+
+    // ── Task 12: deferToSweep enqueue mode ──
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// <c>deferToSweep: true</c> must NOT invoke the delivery handler inline (the
+    /// caller is on a latency-sensitive thread), and the buffered row must be due on
+    /// the very next sweep — <c>LastAttemptAt</c> stays null so it is not held back by
+    /// RetryInterval.
+    /// </summary>
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task Enqueue_DeferToSweep_DoesNotInvokeHandlerInline_AndRowIsDueImmediately()
+    {
+        var service = CreateService();
+        var inlineInvoked = false;
+        service.RegisterDeliveryHandler(StoreAndForwardCategory.Notification,
+            _ => { inlineInvoked = true; return Task.FromResult(true); });
+
+        var result = await service.EnqueueAsync(StoreAndForwardCategory.Notification, "ops", "{}",
+            deferToSweep: true, messageId: "n1");
+
+        Assert.False(inlineInvoked);
+        Assert.True(result.WasBuffered);
+        var row = await service.GetMessageByIdAsync("n1");
+        Assert.Null(row!.LastAttemptAt); // due on the very next sweep, not after RetryInterval
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// After StartAsync, <c>deferToSweep</c> must kick an immediate background sweep so
+    /// healthy-path latency is milliseconds, not one timer interval — proven with a
+    /// timer set to an hour so only the kicked sweep can deliver.
+    /// </summary>
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task Enqueue_DeferToSweep_AfterStart_KicksAnImmediateSweep()
+    {
+        var service = CreateService(retryTimerInterval: TimeSpan.FromHours(1)); // timer will never fire in-test
+        var delivered = new TaskCompletionSource();
+        service.RegisterDeliveryHandler(StoreAndForwardCategory.Notification,
+            _ => { delivered.TrySetResult(); return Task.FromResult(true); });
+        await service.StartAsync();
+        try
+        {
+            await service.EnqueueAsync(StoreAndForwardCategory.Notification, "ops", "{}", deferToSweep: true);
+            await delivered.Task.WaitAsync(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5)); // pre-fix: times out
+        }
+        finally { await service.StopAsync(); }
+    }
 }