diff --git a/decnet/ttp/factory.py b/decnet/ttp/factory.py
index 9e5513a9..53b07506 100644
--- a/decnet/ttp/factory.py
+++ b/decnet/ttp/factory.py
@@ -142,9 +142,16 @@ def get_tagger() -> Tagger:
         from decnet.ttp.impl.email_lifter import EmailLifter
         from decnet.ttp.impl.identity_lifter import IdentityLifter
         from decnet.ttp.impl.intel_lifter import IntelLifter
+        from decnet.ttp.impl.rule_engine import RuleEngineTagger
         from decnet.ttp.store.factory import get_rule_store
         store = get_rule_store()
+        # RuleEngineTagger first so generic pattern rules dispatch
+        # before the per-source lifters' cross-event logic. Order is
+        # observational — every tagger sees every event for its
+        # `HANDLES` set; tags from all of them aggregate into a single
+        # `ttp.tagged` envelope at the worker.
         return CompositeTagger(lifters=[
+            RuleEngineTagger(store),
             BehavioralLifter(store),
             IntelLifter(store),
             CanaryFingerprintLifter(store),
diff --git a/decnet/ttp/impl/rule_engine.py b/decnet/ttp/impl/rule_engine.py
index a5e5708e..4c047315 100644
--- a/decnet/ttp/impl/rule_engine.py
+++ b/decnet/ttp/impl/rule_engine.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
 
 from decnet import telemetry as _telemetry
 from decnet.logging import get_logger
-from decnet.ttp.base import TaggerEvent
+from decnet.ttp.base import Tagger, TaggerEvent
 from decnet.ttp.impl._rule_index import RuleIndex
 from decnet.ttp.impl._state import apply_ceiling, is_active
 from decnet.web.db.models.ttp import TTPTag, compute_tag_uuid
@@ -344,8 +344,66 @@ def _evaluate_rules(
     return out
 
 
+def _is_engine_owned(rule: CompiledRule) -> bool:
+    """Predicate: rule belongs to the generic RuleEngine, not a lifter.
+
+    Per-source lifters (Behavioral, Intel, …) tag their rules with
+    ``match.kind: lifter:<name>_*``. The :class:`RuleEngineTagger`
+    claims everything else — pure ``pattern`` rules whose semantics
+    are "regex against a payload field" with no cross-event state.
+    """
+    kind = rule.match_spec.get("kind", "")
+    if isinstance(kind, str) and kind.startswith("lifter:"):
+        return False
+    return True
+
+
+class RuleEngineTagger(Tagger):
+    """Tagger adapter that wires :class:`RuleEngine` into the composite.
+
+    The composite tagger fans events out to its children by
+    ``HANDLES``; without this adapter the canonical rule-based engine
+    from §"Tagging engines, layered §1" of TTP_TAGGING.md never sees
+    any traffic. This class is intentionally thin — all dispatch and
+    hot-reload logic lives in :class:`RuleEngine` / :class:`RuleIndex`;
+    we only translate between the ``Tagger.tag`` ABC and
+    :meth:`RuleEngine.evaluate`, and route ``watch_store()`` through a
+    predicate that excludes lifter-owned rules so the engine's
+    dispatch index doesn't hold rules another tagger already claims.
+
+    ``HANDLES`` enumerates the source kinds whose YAML rules typically
+    live outside any per-source lifter — shell command rules
+    (``command``), HTTP request pattern rules (``http_request``),
+    auth attempts handled by raw regex rather than the
+    :class:`CredentialLifter` cross-event counter, and generic
+    ``payload`` matches. The composite uses this for routing; the
+    engine itself filters by ``applies_to`` from the YAML.
+    """
+
+    name = "rule_engine"
+    HANDLES = frozenset({"command", "http_request", "auth_attempt", "payload"})
+
+    def __init__(self, store: "RuleStore") -> None:
+        self._engine = RuleEngine(store)
+        self._store = store
+
+    async def tag(self, event: TaggerEvent) -> list[TTPTag]:
+        return await self._engine.evaluate(event)
+
+    async def watch_store(self) -> None:
+        # Filter to engine-owned rules so the dispatch index stays
+        # disjoint from per-lifter ownership. Without the predicate
+        # the engine would carry every lifter's rules too — they would
+        # never match (no `pattern` operator), but they would inflate
+        # the index and confuse tooling.
+        await self._engine._index.watch(
+            self._store, predicate=_is_engine_owned,
+        )
+
+
 __all__ = [
     "CompiledRule",
     "RuleEngine",
+    "RuleEngineTagger",
     "RuleSchema",
 ]
diff --git a/tests/ttp/test_rule_engine_tagger.py b/tests/ttp/test_rule_engine_tagger.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..82bb76df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ttp/test_rule_engine_tagger.py
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+"""E.3.18c — RuleEngineTagger wires RuleEngine into the composite.
+
+Pins the wiring fix from ``development/TTP_TAGGING.md`` §"Tagging
+engines, layered §1": the canonical rule-based engine must dispatch
+through the :class:`CompositeTagger` like any other lifter. The
+adapter is intentionally thin — it is only here so the composite's
+fan-out reaches :class:`RuleEngine` and so the worker's per-watchable
+fan-out (E.3.18a) hydrates the engine's index alongside the lifters'.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from typing import Any
+
+import pytest
+
+from decnet.ttp.base import Tagger, TaggerEvent, WatchableTagger
+from decnet.ttp.factory import CompositeTagger, get_tagger
+from decnet.ttp.impl.rule_engine import (
+    CompiledRule,
+    RuleEngineTagger,
+    _is_engine_owned,
+)
+
+from tests.ttp._stub_store import StubRuleStore
+
+
+def _rule(
+    *,
+    rule_id: str = "R9001",
+    applies_to: frozenset[str] = frozenset({"command"}),
+    match_spec: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
+) -> CompiledRule:
+    from decnet.ttp.store.base import RuleState  # noqa: PLC0415
+
+    return CompiledRule(
+        rule_id=rule_id,
+        rule_version=1,
+        name="test",
+        applies_to=applies_to,
+        match_spec=match_spec or {"pattern": "whoami"},
+        emits=(("T1059", None, "TA0002", 0.9),),
+        evidence_fields=("command_text",),
+        state=RuleState(),
+    )
+
+
+def test_rule_engine_tagger_handles_generic_source_kinds() -> None:
+    assert "command" in RuleEngineTagger.HANDLES
+    assert "http_request" in RuleEngineTagger.HANDLES
+    assert "auth_attempt" in RuleEngineTagger.HANDLES
+    assert "payload" in RuleEngineTagger.HANDLES
+
+
+def test_rule_engine_tagger_is_a_tagger() -> None:
+    store = StubRuleStore()
+    tagger = RuleEngineTagger(store)
+    assert isinstance(tagger, Tagger)
+
+
+def test_rule_engine_tagger_is_watchable() -> None:
+    """Worker's `iter_watchables()` filters on this Protocol."""
+    store = StubRuleStore()
+    tagger = RuleEngineTagger(store)
+    assert isinstance(tagger, WatchableTagger)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_tag_proxies_to_engine_evaluate() -> None:
+    rule = _rule(match_spec={"field": "command_text", "pattern": r"\bwhoami\b"})
+    store = StubRuleStore(compiled=[rule])
+    tagger = RuleEngineTagger(store)
+    # Hydrate the engine's index (uses the predicate; pure pattern
+    # rule is engine-owned so it lands in the index).
+    await tagger._engine._index.hydrate_from(store, predicate=_is_engine_owned)
+    event = TaggerEvent(
+        source_kind="command",
+        source_id="cmd-1",
+        attacker_uuid="att-1",
+        identity_uuid=None,
+        session_id="sess-1",
+        decky_id=None,
+        payload={"command_text": "whoami"},
+    )
+    tags = await tagger.tag(event)
+    assert len(tags) == 1
+    assert tags[0].technique_id == "T1059"
+    assert tags[0].rule_id == "R9001"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_engine_predicate_excludes_lifter_owned_rules() -> None:
+    """Lifter-owned rules don't pollute the engine's dispatch index."""
+    engine_rule = _rule(rule_id="R9100", match_spec={"pattern": "x"})
+    lifter_rule = _rule(
+        rule_id="R9101",
+        match_spec={"kind": "lifter:behavioral_beaconing"},
+    )
+    assert _is_engine_owned(engine_rule)
+    assert not _is_engine_owned(lifter_rule)
+
+    store = StubRuleStore(compiled=[engine_rule, lifter_rule])
+    tagger = RuleEngineTagger(store)
+    await tagger._engine._index.hydrate_from(store, predicate=_is_engine_owned)
+    by_rule = tagger._engine._by_rule
+    assert "R9100" in by_rule
+    assert "R9101" not in by_rule
+
+
+def test_get_tagger_includes_rule_engine_tagger_first(
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
+) -> None:
+    """The canonical engine must be one of the composite's lifters."""
+    monkeypatch.setenv("DECNET_TTP_TAGGER_TYPE", "composite")
+    composite = get_tagger()
+    assert isinstance(composite, CompositeTagger)
+    names = [lifter.name for lifter in composite._lifters]
+    assert "rule_engine" in names
+    # Prepended so generic pattern rules dispatch before per-source
+    # lifters' cross-event logic.
+    assert names[0] == "rule_engine"
+
+
+def test_rule_engine_tagger_is_in_iter_watchables() -> None:
+    store = StubRuleStore()
+    engine_tagger = RuleEngineTagger(store)
+    composite = CompositeTagger(lifters=[engine_tagger])
+    yielded = list(composite.iter_watchables())
+    assert engine_tagger in yielded