diff --git a/runtime/tests/runtime-signing.test.mjs b/runtime/tests/runtime-signing.test.mjs
index 86b11e2..ec36634 100644
--- a/runtime/tests/runtime-signing.test.mjs
+++ b/runtime/tests/runtime-signing.test.mjs
@@ -252,6 +252,37 @@ test("POST /execute dispatches execution.verb to clean and keeps canonical commo
   }
 });
 
+test("POST /execute normalizes nested execution into the handler body and preserves execution metadata", async () => {
+  const keys = makeKeys();
+  const srv = await startServer({
+    RECEIPT_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY_PEM_B64: keys.privatePemB64,
+    RECEIPT_SIGNING_PUBLIC_KEY_B64: keys.publicRaw32B64,
+    RECEIPT_SIGNER_ID: "runtime.commandlayer.eth",
+  });
+
+  try {
+    const resp = await fetch(`${srv.base}/execute`, {
+      method: "POST",
+      headers: { "content-type": "application/json" },
+      body: JSON.stringify({
+        execution: { verb: "describe", version: "1.1.0", class: "commons" },
+        input: { subject: "Normalize me" },
+      }),
+    });
+    const json = await resp.json();
+    const { receipt } = unwrapReceiptResponse(json);
+
+    assert.equal(resp.status, 200);
+    assert.equal(receipt.verb, "describe");
+    assert.equal(receipt.version, "1.1.0");
+    assert.equal(receipt.class, "commons");
+    assert.equal(typeof receipt.result.description, "string");
+    assert.ok(receipt.result.description.length > 0);
+  } finally {
+    await stop(srv.proc);
+  }
+});
+
 test("POST /execute falls back to top-level verb for summarize", async () => {
   const keys = makeKeys();
   const srv = await startServer({
diff --git a/server.mjs b/server.mjs
index 3e12633..277e8a8 100644
--- a/server.mjs
+++ b/server.mjs
@@ -1540,7 +1540,7 @@ async function handleVerb(verb, req, res) {
   };
 
   try {
-    const execution = normalizeExecutionEnvelope(req.body?.execution, verb);
+    const execution = normalizeExecutionEnvelope(req.body?.execution ?? req.body, verb);
     warmValidatorForVerb(execution.verb);
 
     const callerTimeout = Number(req.body?.limits?.timeout_ms || req.body?.limits?.max_latency_ms || 0);
@@ -1566,7 +1566,7 @@ async function handleVerb(verb, req, res) {
     }
 
   } catch (e) {
-    const execution = normalizeExecutionEnvelope(req.body?.execution, verb);
+    const execution = normalizeExecutionEnvelope(req.body?.execution ?? req.body, verb);
     warmValidatorForVerb(execution.verb);
 
     const actor = req.body?.actor
@@ -2025,10 +2025,20 @@ app.post("/verify", async (req, res) => {
 // verb routes
 // -----------------------
 app.post("/execute", (req, res) => {
-  const resolvedVerb = String(req.body?.execution?.verb || req.body?.verb || "").trim();
+  const body = req.body && typeof req.body === "object" ? req.body : {};
+  const execution = body.execution && typeof body.execution === "object" ? body.execution : body;
+  const resolvedVerb = String(execution.verb || body.verb || "").trim();
+
   if (!resolvedVerb) {
     return res.status(400).json({ ok: false, error: "missing_verb", message: "execution.verb or verb is required", ...instancePayload() });
   }
+
+  req.body = {
+    ...body,
+    ...execution,
+    verb: resolvedVerb,
+  };
+
   return handleVerb(resolvedVerb, req, res);
 });