diff --git a/extensions/nostr/src/nostr-bus.publish.test.ts b/extensions/nostr/src/nostr-bus.publish.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..191158c34
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extensions/nostr/src/nostr-bus.publish.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+const TEST_HEX_KEY = "0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef";
+const TEST_PUBKEY = "f".repeat(64);
+
+let lastPool: {
+  publish: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>;
+  subscribeMany: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>;
+} | null = null;
+
+vi.mock("nostr-tools", async () => {
+  const actual = await vi.importActual<typeof import("nostr-tools")>("nostr-tools");
+  class MockPool {
+    publish = vi.fn();
+    subscribeMany = vi.fn(() => ({ close: vi.fn() }));
+    constructor() {
+      lastPool = this as unknown as {
+        publish: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>;
+        subscribeMany: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>;
+      };
+    }
+  }
+  return {
+    ...actual,
+    SimplePool: MockPool,
+  };
+});
+
+vi.mock("nostr-tools/nip04", async () => {
+  return {
+    encrypt: vi.fn(async () => "cipher"),
+    decrypt: vi.fn(async () => "plain"),
+  };
+});
+
+vi.mock("./nostr-state-store.js", () => {
+  return {
+    readNostrBusState: vi.fn(async () => null),
+    writeNostrBusState: vi.fn(async () => undefined),
+    computeSinceTimestamp: vi.fn(() => 0),
+    readNostrProfileState: vi.fn(async () => null),
+    writeNostrProfileState: vi.fn(async () => undefined),
+  };
+});
+
+describe("startNostrBus publish handling", () => {
+  it("awaits publish rejections for DMs without unhandled rejection", async () => {
+    const { startNostrBus } = await import("./nostr-bus.js");
+    const onError = vi.fn();
+    const bus = await startNostrBus({
+      privateKey: TEST_HEX_KEY,
+      relays: ["wss://relay.test"],
+      onMessage: async () => {},
+      onError,
+    });
+
+    expect(lastPool).not.toBeNull();
+    lastPool?.publish.mockReturnValue([Promise.reject(new Error("rate-limited"))]);
+
+    let unhandled: unknown;
+    process.once("unhandledRejection", (reason) => {
+      unhandled = reason;
+    });
+
+    await expect(bus.sendDm(TEST_PUBKEY, "hi")).rejects.toThrow("rate-limited");
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setImmediate(resolve));
+
+    expect(unhandled).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(onError).toHaveBeenCalled();
+
+    bus.close();
+  });
+
+  it("does not throw on typing publish failures", async () => {
+    const { startNostrBus } = await import("./nostr-bus.js");
+    const onError = vi.fn();
+    const bus = await startNostrBus({
+      privateKey: TEST_HEX_KEY,
+      relays: ["wss://relay.test"],
+      onMessage: async () => {},
+      onError,
+    });
+
+    expect(lastPool).not.toBeNull();
+    lastPool?.publish.mockReturnValue([Promise.reject(new Error("rate-limited"))]);
+
+    let unhandled: unknown;
+    process.once("unhandledRejection", (reason) => {
+      unhandled = reason;
+    });
+
+    await expect(bus.sendTypingStart(TEST_PUBKEY)).resolves.toBeUndefined();
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setImmediate(resolve));
+
+    expect(unhandled).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(onError).toHaveBeenCalled();
+
+    bus.close();
+  });
+});