diff --git a/apps/server/src/handlers/task/task.decompose.handler.ts b/apps/server/src/handlers/task/task.decompose.handler.ts
index 65111bf..ce75bf6 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/handlers/task/task.decompose.handler.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/handlers/task/task.decompose.handler.ts
@@ -117,17 +117,23 @@ export class TaskDecomposeHandler {
 		
 		// Get worker's working directory from instance metadata
 		let workingDirectory: string | undefined;
-		if (ctx.instanceId) {
-			const instanceKey = `cb:instance:${ctx.instanceId}`;
+		// First check if a specific worker was requested in the input metadata
+		const requestedWorkerId = input.metadata?.workerId;
+		const workerId = requestedWorkerId || ctx.instanceId;
+		
+		if (workerId) {
+			const instanceKey = `cb:instance:${workerId}`;
 			const instanceMetadata = await redis.pub.hget(instanceKey, 'metadata');
 			if (instanceMetadata) {
 				try {
 					const metadata = JSON.parse(instanceMetadata);
 					workingDirectory = metadata.workingDirectory;
-					console.log(`[TaskDecompose] Using working directory from instance ${ctx.instanceId}: ${workingDirectory}`);
+					console.log(`[TaskDecompose] Using working directory from instance ${workerId}: ${workingDirectory}`);
 				} catch (e) {
-					console.warn(`[TaskDecompose] Failed to parse instance metadata:`, e);
+					console.warn(`[TaskDecompose] Failed to parse instance metadata for ${workerId}:`, e);
 				}
+			} else if (requestedWorkerId) {
+				console.warn(`[TaskDecompose] Requested worker ${requestedWorkerId} not found or has no metadata`);
 			}
 		}
 		
diff --git a/apps/web/src/services/event-client.ts b/apps/web/src/services/event-client.ts
index 61b0a33..4c623c7 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/services/event-client.ts
+++ b/apps/web/src/services/event-client.ts
@@ -83,7 +83,16 @@ export class EventClient {
 		const id = ++this.requestId;
 		
 		// Use longer timeout for context generation and other long-running operations
-		const longRunningMethods = ['task.context', 'swarm.context', 'swarm.decompose', 'swarm.synthesize', 'swarm.resolve'];
+		const longRunningMethods = [
+			'task.context', 
+			'task.decompose',
+			'task.create_project',
+			'swarm.context', 
+			'swarm.decompose', 
+			'swarm.synthesize', 
+			'swarm.resolve',
+			'swarm.create_project'
+		];
 		const isLongRunning = longRunningMethods.includes(method);
 		const originalTimeout = this.config.timeout;
 		
@@ -106,8 +115,11 @@ export class EventClient {
 
 		let lastError: Error | undefined;
 		
+		// For long-running operations, don't retry automatically as they may not be idempotent
+		const maxAttempts = isLongRunning ? 1 : this.config.retries + 1;
+		
 		try {
-			for (let attempt = 0; attempt <= this.config.retries; attempt++) {
+			for (let attempt = 0; attempt < maxAttempts; attempt++) {
 				try {
 					const response = await this.sendRequest(request);