diff --git a/fireflyframework_agentic/pipeline/state_pipeline.py b/fireflyframework_agentic/pipeline/state_pipeline.py
index aae0c0c4..07a3b1ea 100644
--- a/fireflyframework_agentic/pipeline/state_pipeline.py
+++ b/fireflyframework_agentic/pipeline/state_pipeline.py
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 import logging
 import time
 import uuid
+import warnings
 from collections.abc import Awaitable, Callable
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from datetime import UTC, datetime
@@ -97,6 +98,30 @@ class StatePipelineResult:
 class StatePipeline:
     """Compiled state-based pipeline. Returned by ``PipelineBuilder.build()``
     when a ``state=`` schema is configured.
+
+    .. deprecated::
+        :class:`StatePipeline` is being subsumed by
+        :class:`fireflyframework_agentic.pipeline.engine.PipelineEngine`
+        configured with ``state_schema=``. The unified engine supports
+        the same features (state overlay, reducers, Pause, Send, cycles,
+        recursion_limit, checkpointing, audit, resume, start_at) and adds
+        true parallelism for state-aware pipelines via the topological
+        scheduler. New code should prefer ``PipelineEngine`` directly:
+
+        .. code-block:: python
+
+            engine = PipelineEngine(
+                dag,
+                state_schema=MyState,
+                checkpointer=cp,
+                audit_log=al,
+                recursion_limit=10,
+            )
+            result = await engine.run(state=MyState(...))
+
+        See issue #245 for the full migration plan. The next layer of
+        unification removes :class:`StatePipeline` after a deprecation
+        cycle.
     """
 
     def __init__(
@@ -112,6 +137,13 @@ def __init__(
         event_handler: StatePipelineEventHandler | None = None,
         audit_log: AuditLog | None = None,
     ) -> None:
+        warnings.warn(
+            "StatePipeline is deprecated; use PipelineEngine(state_schema=...) "
+            "for the unified API. The unified engine supports the same features "
+            "and adds parallel state-aware execution. See issue #245.",
+            DeprecationWarning,
+            stacklevel=2,
+        )
         self._name = name
         self._dag = dag
         self._state_schema = state_schema
diff --git a/tests/unit/pipeline/test_state_pipeline_deprecation.py b/tests/unit/pipeline/test_state_pipeline_deprecation.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ec65da49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/pipeline/test_state_pipeline_deprecation.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+"""Layer 7 of the unification (#245): StatePipeline deprecation.
+
+Constructing :class:`StatePipeline` now emits a :class:`DeprecationWarning`
+pointing at :class:`PipelineEngine` configured with ``state_schema=`` as
+the supported replacement.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import warnings
+
+from pydantic import BaseModel
+
+from fireflyframework_agentic.pipeline.builder import PipelineBuilder
+
+
+class _S(BaseModel):
+    x: int = 0
+
+
+async def _noop(state):
+    return None
+
+
+def test_state_pipeline_emits_deprecation_warning():
+    with warnings.catch_warnings(record=True) as caught:
+        warnings.simplefilter("always")
+        PipelineBuilder("p", state=_S).add_node(_noop).build()
+    deprec = [w for w in caught if issubclass(w.category, DeprecationWarning)]
+    assert deprec, "expected a DeprecationWarning when constructing StatePipeline"
+    assert "PipelineEngine" in str(deprec[0].message)
+    assert "#245" in str(deprec[0].message)