diff --git a/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.Workflows/InProc/InProcessRunner.cs b/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.Workflows/InProc/InProcessRunner.cs
index d1291ff982..a6d7081c1c 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.Workflows/InProc/InProcessRunner.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.Workflows/InProc/InProcessRunner.cs
@@ -214,6 +214,8 @@ internal class InProcessRunner<TInput> : ISuperStepRunner, ICheckpointingRunner
     {
         if (this.CheckpointManager == null)
         {
+            // Always publish the state updates, even in the absence of a CheckpointManager.
+            await this.RunContext.StateManager.PublishUpdatesAsync(this.StepTracer).ConfigureAwait(false);
             return;
         }
 
diff --git a/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.Workflows.UnitTests/ForwardMessageExecutor.cs b/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.Workflows.UnitTests/ForwardMessageExecutor.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7724f73630
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.Workflows.UnitTests/ForwardMessageExecutor.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft. All rights reserved.
+
+namespace Microsoft.Agents.Workflows.UnitTests;
+
+internal sealed class ForwardMessageExecutor<TMessage> : Executor where TMessage : notnull
+{
+    protected override RouteBuilder ConfigureRoutes(RouteBuilder routeBuilder)
+    {
+        return routeBuilder.AddHandler<TMessage>((message, ctx) => ctx.SendMessageAsync(message));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.Workflows.UnitTests/InProcessStateTests.cs b/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.Workflows.UnitTests/InProcessStateTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..63bdf4455d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.Workflows.UnitTests/InProcessStateTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft. All rights reserved.
+
+using System;
+using System.Threading;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using FluentAssertions;
+
+namespace Microsoft.Agents.Workflows.UnitTests;
+
+public class InProcessStateTests
+{
+    private sealed class TurnToken
+    {
+        public int Count { get; }
+
+        public TurnToken() : this(0)
+        { }
+
+        private TurnToken(int count)
+        {
+            this.Count = count;
+        }
+
+        public TurnToken Next => new(this.Count + 1);
+    }
+
+    private sealed class StateTestExecutor<TState> : TestingExecutor<TurnToken, TurnToken>
+    {
+        private static Func<TurnToken, IWorkflowContext, CancellationToken, ValueTask<TurnToken>>[] WrapActions(ScopeKey stateKey, Func<TState?, TState?>[] stateActions)
+        {
+            Func<TurnToken, IWorkflowContext, CancellationToken, ValueTask<TurnToken>>[] result
+                = new Func<TurnToken, IWorkflowContext, CancellationToken, ValueTask<TurnToken>>[stateActions.Length];
+
+            for (int i = 0; i < stateActions.Length; i++)
+            {
+                result[i] = CreateWrapperAsync(stateActions[i]);
+            }
+
+            return result;
+
+            Func<TurnToken, IWorkflowContext, CancellationToken, ValueTask<TurnToken>> CreateWrapperAsync(Func<TState?, TState?> action)
+            {
+                return
+                    async (turn, context, cancellation) =>
+                    {
+                        TState? state = await context.ReadStateAsync<TState>(stateKey.Key, stateKey.ScopeId.ScopeName)
+                                                     .ConfigureAwait(false);
+
+                        state = action(state);
+
+                        await context.QueueStateUpdateAsync(stateKey.Key, state, stateKey.ScopeId.ScopeName);
+
+                        return turn.Next;
+                    };
+            }
+        }
+
+        public ScopeKey StateKey { get; }
+
+        public StateTestExecutor(ScopeKey stateKey, bool loop = false, params Func<TState?, TState?>[] stateActions)
+            : base(stateKey.ScopeId.ExecutorId, loop, WrapActions(stateKey, stateActions))
+        {
+            this.StateKey = stateKey;
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static Func<int?, int?> CreateOrIncrement(int defaultValue = default)
+        => currState => currState.HasValue ? currState + 1 : defaultValue;
+
+    private static Func<int?, int?> ValidateState(int expectedValue, string? because = null, params object[] becauseArgs)
+        => (int? currState) =>
+           {
+               currState.Should().Be(expectedValue, because, becauseArgs);
+
+               return currState;
+           };
+
+    private static Func<object?, bool> MaxTurns(int maxTurns)
+        => (object? maybeTurn) => maybeTurn is not TurnToken turn || turn.Count < maxTurns;
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task InProcessRun_StateShouldPersist_NotCheckpointedAsync()
+    {
+        StateTestExecutor<int?> writer = new(
+                new ScopeKey("Writer", "TestScope", "TestKey"),
+                loop: false,
+                CreateOrIncrement(),
+                CreateOrIncrement()
+            );
+
+        StateTestExecutor<int?> validator = new(
+                new ScopeKey("Validator", "TestScope", "TestKey"),
+                loop: false,
+                ValidateState(0),
+                ValidateState(1)
+            );
+
+        Workflow<TurnToken> workflow =
+            new WorkflowBuilder(writer)
+                .AddEdge(writer, validator, MaxTurns(4))
+                .AddEdge(validator, writer, MaxTurns(4)).Build<TurnToken>();
+
+        Run run = await InProcessExecution.RunAsync(workflow, new());
+
+        run.Status.Should().Be(RunStatus.Idle);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task InProcessRun_StateShouldPersist_CheckpointedAsync()
+    {
+        StateTestExecutor<int?> writer = new(
+                new ScopeKey("Writer", "TestScope", "TestKey"),
+                loop: false,
+                CreateOrIncrement(),
+                CreateOrIncrement()
+            );
+
+        StateTestExecutor<int?> validator = new(
+                new ScopeKey("Validator", "TestScope", "TestKey"),
+                loop: false,
+                ValidateState(0),
+                ValidateState(1)
+            );
+
+        Workflow<TurnToken> workflow =
+            new WorkflowBuilder(writer)
+                .AddEdge(writer, validator, MaxTurns(4))
+                .AddEdge(validator, writer, MaxTurns(4)).Build<TurnToken>();
+
+        Checkpointed<Run> checkpointed = await InProcessExecution.RunAsync(workflow, new(), new CheckpointManager());
+
+        checkpointed.Checkpoints.Should().HaveCount(6);
+        checkpointed.Run.Status.Should().Be(RunStatus.Idle);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task InProcessRun_StateShouldError_TwoExecutorsAsync()
+    {
+        ForwardMessageExecutor<TurnToken> forward = new();
+        using StateTestExecutor<int?> testExecutor = new(
+                new ScopeKey("StateTestExecutor", "TestScope", "TestKey"),
+                loop: false,
+                CreateOrIncrement()
+            );
+
+        using StateTestExecutor<int?> testExecutor2 = new(
+                new ScopeKey("StateTestExecutor2", "TestScope", "TestKey"),
+                loop: false,
+                CreateOrIncrement()
+            );
+
+        Workflow<TurnToken> workflow =
+            new WorkflowBuilder(forward)
+                .AddFanOutEdge(forward, targets: [testExecutor, testExecutor2])
+                .Build<TurnToken>();
+
+        var act = async () => await InProcessExecution.RunAsync(workflow, new());
+
+        var result = await act.Should()
+                              .ThrowAsync("multiple writers to the same shared scope key");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.Workflows.UnitTests/TestingExecutor.cs b/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.Workflows.UnitTests/TestingExecutor.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c90e88416c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.Workflows.UnitTests/TestingExecutor.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft. All rights reserved.
+
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Threading;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+namespace Microsoft.Agents.Workflows.UnitTests;
+
+internal class TestingExecutor<TIn, TOut> : Executor, IDisposable
+{
+    private readonly bool _loop;
+    private readonly Func<TIn, IWorkflowContext, CancellationToken, ValueTask<TOut>>[] _actions;
+    private readonly HashSet<CancellationToken> _linkedTokens = new();
+    private CancellationTokenSource _internalCts = new();
+
+    public TestingExecutor(string? id = null, bool loop = false, params Func<TIn, IWorkflowContext, CancellationToken, ValueTask<TOut>>[] actions) : base(id)
+    {
+        this._loop = loop;
+        this._actions = actions;
+    }
+
+    public void UnlinkCancellation(CancellationToken token)
+    {
+        this._linkedTokens.Remove(token);
+    }
+
+    public void LinkCancellation(CancellationToken token)
+    {
+        this._linkedTokens.Add(token);
+        CancellationTokenSource tokenSource = CancellationTokenSource.CreateLinkedTokenSource(this._linkedTokens.ToArray());
+        tokenSource = Interlocked.Exchange(ref this._internalCts, tokenSource);
+        tokenSource.Dispose();
+    }
+
+    public void SetCancel()
+    {
+        Volatile.Read(ref this._internalCts).Cancel();
+    }
+
+    protected sealed override RouteBuilder ConfigureRoutes(RouteBuilder routeBuilder)
+    {
+        return routeBuilder.AddHandler<TIn, TOut>(this.RouteToActions);
+    }
+
+    private int _nextActionIndex = 0;
+    private ValueTask<TOut> RouteToActions(TIn message, IWorkflowContext context)
+    {
+        if (this._nextActionIndex >= this._actions.Length)
+        {
+            if (this._loop)
+            {
+                this._nextActionIndex = 0;
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                throw new InvalidOperationException("No more actions to execute and looping is disabled.");
+            }
+        }
+
+        try
+        {
+            Func<TIn, IWorkflowContext, CancellationToken, ValueTask<TOut>> action = this._actions[this._nextActionIndex];
+            return action(message, context, Volatile.Read(ref this._internalCts).Token);
+        }
+        finally
+        {
+            this._nextActionIndex++;
+        }
+    }
+
+    ~TestingExecutor()
+    {
+        this.Dispose(false);
+    }
+
+    protected virtual void Dispose(bool disposing)
+    {
+        this._internalCts.Dispose();
+    }
+
+    public void Dispose()
+    {
+        this.Dispose(true);
+        GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
+    }
+}