diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 85c53eb8..1f7d3870 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "imwald",
-  "version": "23.17.1",
+  "version": "23.17.2",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "imwald",
-      "version": "23.17.1",
+      "version": "23.17.2",
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "@asciidoctor/core": "^3.0.4",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 641a2a1c..fb51bb56 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "imwald",
-  "version": "23.17.1",
+  "version": "23.17.2",
   "description": "Imwald — a user-friendly Nostr client focused on relay feed browsing, publications, and relay discovery",
   "private": true,
   "type": "module",
diff --git a/src/components/NoteStats/LikeButton.tsx b/src/components/NoteStats/LikeButton.tsx
index e57d8d22..ac40f6ef 100644
--- a/src/components/NoteStats/LikeButton.tsx
+++ b/src/components/NoteStats/LikeButton.tsx
@@ -244,13 +244,13 @@ export function LikeButtonWithStats({
   const likeIconButton = (
     <button
       type="button"
-      className="flex h-full items-center gap-0.5 px-1.5 text-muted-foreground enabled:hover:text-primary"
+      className="flex h-full min-w-0 items-center gap-1.5 px-2 text-muted-foreground enabled:hover:text-primary touch-manipulation"
       title={t('Like')}
       disabled={liking}
       onClick={openReactionPicker}
     >
       {liking ? (
-        <Skeleton className="size-4 shrink-0 rounded-full" aria-hidden />
+        <Skeleton className="size-5 shrink-0 rounded-full" aria-hidden />
       ) : myLastEmoji && !useIconOnlyLikeTrigger ? (
         <Emoji emoji={myLastEmoji} classNames={{ img: EMOJI_IMG_INLINE_CLASS }} />
       ) : (
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ export function LikeButtonWithStats({
             >
               <button
                 type="button"
-                className="flex h-full shrink-0 items-center px-1.5 sm:px-2 enabled:hover:text-primary"
+                className="flex h-full shrink-0 items-center px-2 sm:px-2.5 enabled:hover:text-primary touch-manipulation"
                 title={emoji === '+' ? t('Upvote') : t('Downvote')}
                 disabled={liking}
                 onClick={() => {
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ export function LikeButtonWithStats({
                 }}
               >
                 {liking ? (
-                  <Skeleton className="size-4 shrink-0 rounded-full" aria-hidden />
+                  <Skeleton className="size-5 shrink-0 rounded-full" aria-hidden />
                 ) : (
                   <span className="text-base leading-none" aria-hidden>
                     {arrow}
diff --git a/src/components/NoteStats/ReplyButton.tsx b/src/components/NoteStats/ReplyButton.tsx
index 2c75f271..9fa59b88 100644
--- a/src/components/NoteStats/ReplyButton.tsx
+++ b/src/components/NoteStats/ReplyButton.tsx
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ export function ReplyButtonWithStats({ event, hideCount = false, noteStats }: Re
     <>
       <button
         className={cn(
-          'flex gap-1 items-center enabled:hover:text-blue-400 px-1.5 h-full',
+          'flex gap-1.5 items-center enabled:hover:text-blue-400 px-2 h-full min-h-11 touch-manipulation',
           hasReplied ? 'text-blue-400' : 'text-muted-foreground'
         )}
         onClick={(e) => {
diff --git a/src/components/NoteStats/RepostButton.tsx b/src/components/NoteStats/RepostButton.tsx
index 9ccd38c4..5db85385 100644
--- a/src/components/NoteStats/RepostButton.tsx
+++ b/src/components/NoteStats/RepostButton.tsx
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ export function RepostButtonWithStats({ event, hideCount = false, noteStats }: R
     <button
       type="button"
       className={cn(
-        'flex h-full items-center enabled:hover:text-lime-500 px-1.5',
+        'flex h-full items-center enabled:hover:text-lime-500 px-2 touch-manipulation',
         hasReposted ? 'text-lime-500' : 'text-muted-foreground'
       )}
       title={t('Boost')}
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ export function RepostButtonWithStats({ event, hideCount = false, noteStats }: R
         }
       }}
     >
-      {reposting ? <Skeleton className="size-4 shrink-0 rounded-full" aria-hidden /> : <Repeat />}
+      {reposting ? <Skeleton className="size-5 shrink-0 rounded-full" aria-hidden /> : <Repeat />}
     </button>
   )
 
diff --git a/src/components/NoteStats/ZapButton.tsx b/src/components/NoteStats/ZapButton.tsx
index 05acb7cc..f7ea2ca3 100644
--- a/src/components/NoteStats/ZapButton.tsx
+++ b/src/components/NoteStats/ZapButton.tsx
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ export function ZapButtonWithStats({ event, hideCount = false, noteStats }: ZapB
         <button
           type="button"
           className={cn(
-            'group flex h-full items-center px-1.5',
+            'group flex h-full items-center px-2 touch-manipulation',
             disable ? 'cursor-not-allowed' : 'cursor-pointer'
           )}
           title={zapButtonTitle}
diff --git a/src/components/NoteStats/index.tsx b/src/components/NoteStats/index.tsx
index 3bd85667..f5ccb9ae 100644
--- a/src/components/NoteStats/index.tsx
+++ b/src/components/NoteStats/index.tsx
@@ -184,8 +184,8 @@ export default function NoteStats({
     >
       <div
         className={cn(
-          'flex w-full min-w-0 flex-wrap items-center justify-start gap-x-3 gap-y-1 sm:gap-x-4',
-          '[&_svg]:size-[15px] [&_button]:min-h-9 [&_button]:max-w-full [&_button]:px-1 sm:[&_button]:px-1.5',
+          'flex w-full min-w-0 flex-wrap items-center justify-start gap-x-6 gap-y-2 sm:gap-x-5',
+          '[&_svg]:size-5 [&_button]:min-h-11 [&_button]:max-w-full [&_button]:px-3 [&_button]:touch-manipulation sm:[&_button]:min-h-10 sm:[&_button]:px-2',
           loading ? 'animate-pulse' : '',
           classNames?.buttonBar
         )}
diff --git a/src/components/ProfileListBySearch/index.tsx b/src/components/ProfileListBySearch/index.tsx
index 2fec5446..f7ca50c5 100644
--- a/src/components/ProfileListBySearch/index.tsx
+++ b/src/components/ProfileListBySearch/index.tsx
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 import { useSecondaryPage } from '@/PageManager'
 import { PROFILE_RELAY_URLS } from '@/constants'
+import { dedupeNormalizeRelayUrlsOrdered } from '@/lib/relay-url-priority'
 import { decodeProfileSearchQueryToPubkeyHex } from '@/lib/profile-search-query'
 import { toProfile } from '@/lib/link'
-import { normalizeUrl } from '@/lib/url'
 import client from '@/services/client.service'
 import { cn } from '@/lib/utils'
 import dayjs from 'dayjs'
@@ -13,9 +13,7 @@ import { AlexandriaEventsSearchEmptyCta } from '@/components/AlexandriaEventsSea
 
 const LIMIT = 50
 
-const PROFILE_SEARCH_RELAY_URLS = Array.from(
-  new Set(PROFILE_RELAY_URLS.map((u) => normalizeUrl(u) || u).filter(Boolean))
-)
+const PROFILE_SEARCH_RELAY_URLS = dedupeNormalizeRelayUrlsOrdered(PROFILE_RELAY_URLS)
 
 export function ProfileListBySearch({
   search,
diff --git a/src/components/SearchBar/index.tsx b/src/components/SearchBar/index.tsx
index 7b2e2b8a..caa9ac6b 100644
--- a/src/components/SearchBar/index.tsx
+++ b/src/components/SearchBar/index.tsx
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import { toNote, toNoteList } from '@/lib/link'
 import client from '@/services/client.service'
 import { eventService } from '@/services/client.service'
 import { randomString } from '@/lib/random'
-import { isKind10243HttpRelayTagUrl, isWebsocketUrl, normalizeAnyRelayUrl, normalizeHttpRelayUrl } from '@/lib/url'
+import { isKind10243HttpRelayTagUrl, isWebsocketUrl, looksLikeNostrBech32Identifier, normalizeAnyRelayUrl, normalizeHttpRelayUrl } from '@/lib/url'
 import { normalizeToDTag } from '@/lib/search-parser'
 import { cn } from '@/lib/utils'
 import { useSmartNoteNavigation, useSmartHashtagNavigation } from '@/PageManager'
@@ -55,8 +55,10 @@ const SearchBar = forwardRef<
     if (['w', 'ws', 'ws:', 'ws:/', 'wss', 'wss:', 'wss:/'].includes(input)) {
       return undefined
     }
+    const trimmed = input.trim()
+    if (!trimmed || looksLikeNostrBech32Identifier(trimmed)) return undefined
     try {
-      const n = normalizeAnyRelayUrl(input) || normalizeHttpRelayUrl(input)
+      const n = normalizeAnyRelayUrl(trimmed) || normalizeHttpRelayUrl(trimmed)
       if (!n || (!isWebsocketUrl(n) && !isKind10243HttpRelayTagUrl(n))) return undefined
       return n
     } catch {
diff --git a/src/components/SearchResult/index.tsx b/src/components/SearchResult/index.tsx
index 3ddf1381..79fc4d7c 100644
--- a/src/components/SearchResult/index.tsx
+++ b/src/components/SearchResult/index.tsx
@@ -33,7 +33,8 @@ export default function SearchResult({ searchParams }: { searchParams: TSearchPa
     ) {
       return
     }
-    client.interruptBackgroundQueries({ closePooledRelayConnections: true })
+    /** Yield pool capacity to search REQs without closing in-flight NIP-50 sockets (that zeroed results). */
+    client.interruptBackgroundQueries()
   }, [searchParams?.type, searchParams?.search, searchParams?.input])
 
   /** NIP-50 / index relays — always queried first on their own shard so dead personal relays cannot zero out search. */
diff --git a/src/constants.ts b/src/constants.ts
index c39b0d27..d14013f5 100644
--- a/src/constants.ts
+++ b/src/constants.ts
@@ -471,7 +471,7 @@ export const READ_ONLY_RELAY_URLS = [
   'wss://filter.nostr.wine',
   'wss://primus.nostr1.com',
   'wss://feeds.nostrarchives.com',
-  'wss://feeds.nostrarchives.com/notes/trending/reactions/today'
+  'wss://spatia-arcana.com'
 ]
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/lib/relay-list-builder.test.ts b/src/lib/relay-list-builder.test.ts
index 28043c26..2fe04210 100644
--- a/src/lib/relay-list-builder.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/relay-list-builder.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,31 @@
+import { PROFILE_RELAY_URLS } from '@/constants'
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
-import { buildReplyReadRelayList } from '@/lib/relay-list-builder'
+import {
+  buildAccountSessionNetworkHydrateRelayUrls,
+  buildReplyReadRelayList
+} from '@/lib/relay-list-builder'
+import { kinds } from 'nostr-tools'
+
+describe('buildAccountSessionNetworkHydrateRelayUrls', () => {
+  it('uses personal mailbox and profile index relays, not FAST_READ', () => {
+    const relayListEvent = {
+      id: 'a',
+      pubkey: 'b'.repeat(64),
+      created_at: 1,
+      kind: kinds.RelayList,
+      tags: [
+        ['r', 'wss://relay.example.com/', 'read'],
+        ['r', 'wss://relay.example.com/', 'write']
+      ],
+      content: '',
+      sig: 'c'.repeat(128)
+    }
+    const urls = buildAccountSessionNetworkHydrateRelayUrls({ relayListEvent })
+    expect(urls).toContain('wss://relay.example.com/')
+    expect(urls.some((u) => PROFILE_RELAY_URLS.includes(u))).toBe(true)
+    expect(urls.some((u) => u.includes('theforest.nostr1.com'))).toBe(false)
+  })
+})
 
 describe('buildReplyReadRelayList relayAuthoritative', () => {
   it('returns only thread hints and author/user layers without favorite bootstrap', async () => {
diff --git a/src/lib/relay-list-builder.ts b/src/lib/relay-list-builder.ts
index 6ec86cd0..8127b67c 100644
--- a/src/lib/relay-list-builder.ts
+++ b/src/lib/relay-list-builder.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
  */
 
 import { FAST_READ_RELAY_URLS, PROFILE_RELAY_URLS, SEARCHABLE_RELAY_URLS } from '@/constants'
+import { getHttpRelayListFromEvent, getRelayListFromEvent } from '@/lib/event-metadata'
 import { feedRelayPolicyUrls } from '@/features/feed/relay-policy'
 import { mergeRelayUrlLayers, userReadRelaysWithHttp } from '@/lib/favorites-feed-relays'
 import { isRelayBlockedByUser } from '@/lib/relay-blocked'
@@ -33,6 +34,57 @@ import type { Event } from 'nostr-tools'
 /** Max author NIP-65 read / write URLs merged into comprehensive read lists (shared with viewer first). */
 export const AUTHOR_NIP65_RELAY_CAP = 2
 
+/**
+ * Relays for logged-in account session network hydrate (NostrProvider).
+ * Uses the viewer's cached mailbox / favorites plus {@link PROFILE_RELAY_URLS} — not {@link FAST_READ_RELAY_URLS},
+ * which are blocked under the personal-relay read policy and caused empty/slow startup merges.
+ */
+export function buildAccountSessionNetworkHydrateRelayUrls(options: {
+  relayListEvent?: Event | null
+  cacheRelayListEvent?: Event | null
+  httpRelayListEvent?: Event | null
+  favoriteRelaysEvent?: Event | null
+  blockedRelays?: string[]
+  cap?: number
+}): string[] {
+  const blocked = options.blockedRelays ?? []
+  const seen = new Set<string>()
+  const out: string[] = []
+  const push = (raw: string | undefined) => {
+    if (!raw) return
+    const n = normalizeAnyRelayUrl(raw) || normalizeUrl(raw) || raw.trim()
+    if (!n) return
+    const key = relayKey(n)
+    if (!key || seen.has(key)) return
+    seen.add(key)
+    out.push(n)
+  }
+
+  if (options.relayListEvent) {
+    const rl = getRelayListFromEvent(options.relayListEvent, blocked)
+    for (const u of [...rl.read, ...rl.write, ...(rl.httpRead ?? []), ...(rl.httpWrite ?? [])]) {
+      push(u)
+    }
+  }
+  if (options.cacheRelayListEvent) {
+    const crl = getRelayListFromEvent(options.cacheRelayListEvent)
+    for (const u of [...crl.read, ...crl.write]) push(u)
+  }
+  if (options.httpRelayListEvent) {
+    const hrl = getHttpRelayListFromEvent(options.httpRelayListEvent, blocked)
+    for (const u of [...hrl.httpRead, ...hrl.httpWrite]) push(u)
+  }
+  if (options.favoriteRelaysEvent) {
+    for (const [tag, val] of options.favoriteRelaysEvent.tags) {
+      if (tag === 'relay' && val) push(val)
+    }
+  }
+  for (const u of PROFILE_RELAY_URLS) push(u)
+
+  const cap = options.cap ?? 16
+  return out.slice(0, cap)
+}
+
 function relayKey(url: string): string {
   return canonicalRelaySessionKey(url)
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/relay-nip42-auth.ts b/src/lib/relay-nip42-auth.ts
index 51a783fe..10ce04a8 100644
--- a/src/lib/relay-nip42-auth.ts
+++ b/src/lib/relay-nip42-auth.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,16 @@ export function isRelayAuthRequiredErrorMessage(message: string): boolean {
   return /auth-required/i.test(message)
 }
 
+/** Socket dropped between AUTH and EVENT, or nostr-tools {@link SendingOnClosedConnection}. */
+export function isRelayConnectionClosedError(err: unknown): boolean {
+  if (err != null && typeof err === 'object' && 'name' in err) {
+    const name = String((err as { name: unknown }).name)
+    if (name === 'SendingOnClosedConnection') return true
+  }
+  const msg = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)
+  return /SendingOnClosedConnection|on a closed connection|relay connection closed|websocket closed/i.test(msg)
+}
+
 /** nostr-tools default when {@link Subscription.close} runs from the client. */
 export function isRelaySubscriptionClosedByCaller(reason: string): boolean {
   return reason.trim() === 'closed by caller'
diff --git a/src/lib/relay-publish-filter.test.ts b/src/lib/relay-publish-filter.test.ts
index 7544677b..a6e865ed 100644
--- a/src/lib/relay-publish-filter.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/relay-publish-filter.test.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 import {
   filterContextAuthorReadRelaysForPublish,
   filterRelaysForEventPublish,
+  isReadOnlyRelayUrl,
   isRelayPublishPolicyRejection,
   relayAllowsPublishKind
 } from './relay-publish-filter'
@@ -32,6 +33,17 @@ describe('relay-publish-filter', () => {
     expect(out).toEqual(['wss://relay.primal.net/'])
   })
 
+  it('strips filter.nostr.wine broadcast paths (hostname match on READ_ONLY_RELAY_URLS)', () => {
+    const broadcast =
+      'wss://filter.nostr.wine/npub13epj452d892app3mjath3uxgs9l03rylzxwkymdp50avukztmfeschauwt?broadcast=true'
+    expect(isReadOnlyRelayUrl(broadcast)).toBe(true)
+    const out = filterRelaysForEventPublish(
+      ['wss://relay.damus.io/', broadcast],
+      kinds.Reaction
+    )
+    expect(out).toEqual(['wss://relay.damus.io/'])
+  })
+
   it('strips profile mirrors from author read hints', () => {
     const out = filterContextAuthorReadRelaysForPublish([
       'wss://profiles.nostrver.se/',
diff --git a/src/lib/relay-publish-filter.ts b/src/lib/relay-publish-filter.ts
index 74865a24..c12b824b 100644
--- a/src/lib/relay-publish-filter.ts
+++ b/src/lib/relay-publish-filter.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,20 @@ export const PROFILE_INDEX_ONLY_RELAY_URLS = [
   'wss://indexer.coracle.social/'
 ] as const
 
+function relayKey(url: string): string {
+  return (normalizeAnyRelayUrl(url) || url.trim()).toLowerCase()
+}
+
+function relayHostname(url: string): string | null {
+  const normalized = normalizeAnyRelayUrl(url) || url.trim()
+  if (!normalized) return null
+  try {
+    return new URL(normalized).hostname.toLowerCase()
+  } catch {
+    return null
+  }
+}
+
 const profileIndexOnlyKeySet = new Set(
   PROFILE_INDEX_ONLY_RELAY_URLS.map((u) => (normalizeAnyRelayUrl(u) || u).toLowerCase()).filter(Boolean)
 )
@@ -24,20 +38,30 @@ const readOnlyKeySet = new Set(
   READ_ONLY_RELAY_URLS.map((u) => (normalizeAnyRelayUrl(u) || u).toLowerCase()).filter(Boolean)
 )
 
+const profileIndexOnlyHostSet = new Set(
+  PROFILE_INDEX_ONLY_RELAY_URLS.map((u) => relayHostname(u)).filter((h): h is string => !!h)
+)
+
+const readOnlyHostSet = new Set(
+  READ_ONLY_RELAY_URLS.map((u) => relayHostname(u)).filter((h): h is string => !!h)
+)
+
 const profileIndexPublishKindSet = new Set<number>(AUTHOR_PROFILE_VIEW_REPLACEABLE_KINDS)
 
-function relayKey(url: string): string {
-  return (normalizeAnyRelayUrl(url) || url.trim()).toLowerCase()
+/** True when `url` matches a known entry exactly or shares its hostname (e.g. filter.nostr.wine/npub… paths). */
+function relayMatchesHostOrExact(url: string, keySet: ReadonlySet<string>, hostSet: ReadonlySet<string>): boolean {
+  const key = relayKey(url)
+  if (key.length > 0 && keySet.has(key)) return true
+  const host = relayHostname(url)
+  return host != null && hostSet.has(host)
 }
 
 export function isProfileIndexOnlyRelay(url: string): boolean {
-  const key = relayKey(url)
-  return key.length > 0 && profileIndexOnlyKeySet.has(key)
+  return relayMatchesHostOrExact(url, profileIndexOnlyKeySet, profileIndexOnlyHostSet)
 }
 
 export function isReadOnlyRelayUrl(url: string): boolean {
-  const key = relayKey(url)
-  return key.length > 0 && readOnlyKeySet.has(key)
+  return relayMatchesHostOrExact(url, readOnlyKeySet, readOnlyHostSet)
 }
 
 /** True when this relay may receive an EVENT for `eventKind` (profile/list replaceables only on profile mirrors). */
diff --git a/src/lib/relay-url-priority.test.ts b/src/lib/relay-url-priority.test.ts
index 8bb886cf..4aaa56af 100644
--- a/src/lib/relay-url-priority.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/relay-url-priority.test.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,22 @@ import { buildProfilePageReadRelayUrls, getFavoritesFeedRelayUrls } from '@/lib/
 import { stripMailboxLocalUrlsForRemoteViewers } from '@/lib/relay-list-sanitize'
 import { syncViewerRelayStackNostrLandAggrEligible } from '@/lib/nostr-land-relay-eligibility'
 
+describe('dedupeNormalizeRelayUrlsOrdered', () => {
+  it('drops npub, nevent, and other non-relay strings', () => {
+    const npub = 'npub1uq6dv4yq94704gk5r22jsqg9gy2wpxkk5dft9q5gugc8tj53nq2qg5q22d'
+    const nevent =
+      'nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpcp56e2gqttul23dgx549qqs2sg5uzdddg6jk2pg3c3swh9frxq5qqsx3aamhhkjej4jhn0v7693j6hj08mpp7j87w2mt8vdnjja60t04rgalkuxh'
+    expect(
+      dedupeNormalizeRelayUrlsOrdered([
+        'wss://relay.example.com/',
+        npub,
+        nevent,
+        'not-a-relay'
+      ])
+    ).toEqual(['wss://relay.example.com/'])
+  })
+})
+
 describe('filterContextAuthorReadRelaysForPublish', () => {
   it('drops loopback, LAN, .onion, and profile/index mirrors; keeps public relays', () => {
     const out = filterContextAuthorReadRelaysForPublish([
diff --git a/src/lib/relay-url-priority.ts b/src/lib/relay-url-priority.ts
index 4466fc66..2005b171 100644
--- a/src/lib/relay-url-priority.ts
+++ b/src/lib/relay-url-priority.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import {
 import { feedRelayPolicyUrls, type FeedRelayLayer } from '@/features/feed/relay-policy'
 import {
   isLocalNetworkUrl,
+  isValidRelayFetchUrl,
   normalizeAnyRelayUrl,
   normalizeRelayUrlByScheme,
   normalizeUrl
@@ -18,7 +19,8 @@ export function dedupeNormalizeRelayUrlsOrdered(urls: readonly string[]): string
   const seen = new Set<string>()
   const out: string[] = []
   for (const u of urls) {
-    const n = normalizeRelayUrlByScheme(u) || u.trim()
+    if (!isValidRelayFetchUrl(u)) continue
+    const n = normalizeRelayUrlByScheme(u)
     if (!n || seen.has(n)) continue
     seen.add(n)
     out.push(n)
diff --git a/src/lib/url.ts b/src/lib/url.ts
index cc0f5c5d..2fb6ddbf 100644
--- a/src/lib/url.ts
+++ b/src/lib/url.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,25 @@ export function isKind10243HttpRelayTagUrl(url: string): boolean {
   return /^https?:\/\/.+/i.test(u)
 }
 
+/** Bech32 nostr identifiers (npub, nevent, …) — not relay URLs. */
+export function looksLikeNostrBech32Identifier(value: string): boolean {
+  const v = value.trim().replace(/^nostr:/i, '').trim()
+  if (!v) return false
+  if (/^[0-9a-f]{64}$/i.test(v)) return true
+  return /^(npub|nprofile|nevent|note|naddr)1[a-z0-9]+$/i.test(v)
+}
+
+/** True when normalized to a WebSocket relay or kind-10243 HTTP index base. */
+export function isValidRelayFetchUrl(url: string): boolean {
+  const trimmed = url.trim()
+  if (!trimmed || looksLikeNostrBech32Identifier(trimmed)) return false
+  if (isKind10243HttpRelayTagUrl(trimmed)) {
+    return Boolean(normalizeHttpRelayUrl(trimmed))
+  }
+  const ws = normalizeUrl(trimmed)
+  return Boolean(ws && isWebsocketUrl(ws))
+}
+
 /** @deprecated Prefer {@link isKind10243HttpRelayTagUrl} only when parsing kind 10243. */
 export function isHttpRelayUrl(url: string): boolean {
   return isKind10243HttpRelayTagUrl(url)
@@ -216,7 +235,9 @@ export function normalizeUrl(url: string): string {
     const trimmed = url.trim()
     if (!trimmed) return ''
     if (!trimmed.includes('://')) {
-      logger.warn('WebSocket relay URL requires ws: or wss: prefix', { url: trimmed })
+      if (!looksLikeNostrBech32Identifier(trimmed)) {
+        logger.warn('WebSocket relay URL requires ws: or wss: prefix', { url: trimmed })
+      }
       return ''
     }
 
diff --git a/src/providers/NostrProvider/index.tsx b/src/providers/NostrProvider/index.tsx
index c9410ff9..263d7c4f 100644
--- a/src/providers/NostrProvider/index.tsx
+++ b/src/providers/NostrProvider/index.tsx
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ import {
   mergeHydratedCacheRelayListEvents
 } from '@/lib/event-metadata'
 import logger from '@/lib/logger'
+import { buildAccountSessionNetworkHydrateRelayUrls } from '@/lib/relay-list-builder'
 import { viewerUsesGlobalRelayDefaults } from '@/lib/viewer-relay-defaults'
 import {
   parseBlockedRelayUrlsFromEvent,
@@ -445,6 +446,16 @@ export function NostrProvider({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
             Date.now() - lastNetworkHydrateAt < ACCOUNT_SESSION_NETWORK_HYDRATE_MIN_INTERVAL_MS))
 
       if (!skipNetworkHydrate) {
+        /** Personal-relay policy must be synced before network REQs so profile index relays stay allowed. */
+        await client.syncViewerPersonalRelayKeys(account.pubkey)
+        const hydrateNetworkRelays = buildAccountSessionNetworkHydrateRelayUrls({
+          relayListEvent: storedRelayListEvent,
+          cacheRelayListEvent: storedCacheRelayListEvent,
+          httpRelayListEvent: storedHttpRelayListEvent ?? null,
+          favoriteRelaysEvent: storedFavoriteRelaysEvent,
+          blockedRelays
+        })
+
         // Fetch RSS feed list from relays if cache is missing or stale (older than 1 hour)
         const rssFeedListStale =
           !storedRssFeedListEvent ||
@@ -457,7 +468,7 @@ export function NostrProvider({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
           })
 
           queryService
-            .fetchEvents(FAST_READ_RELAY_URLS.concat(PROFILE_RELAY_URLS), {
+            .fetchEvents(hydrateNetworkRelays, {
               kinds: [ExtendedKind.RSS_FEED_LIST],
               authors: [account.pubkey],
               limit: 1
@@ -500,15 +511,15 @@ export function NostrProvider({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
         }
 
         const [relayListEvents, cacheRelayListEvents, httpRelayListEvents] = await Promise.all([
-        queryService.fetchEvents(FAST_READ_RELAY_URLS, {
+        queryService.fetchEvents(hydrateNetworkRelays, {
           kinds: [kinds.RelayList],
           authors: [account.pubkey]
         }, hydrateFetchOpts),
-        queryService.fetchEvents(FAST_READ_RELAY_URLS, {
+        queryService.fetchEvents(hydrateNetworkRelays, {
           kinds: [ExtendedKind.CACHE_RELAYS],
           authors: [account.pubkey]
         }, hydrateFetchOpts),
-        queryService.fetchEvents(FAST_READ_RELAY_URLS, {
+        queryService.fetchEvents(hydrateNetworkRelays, {
           kinds: [ExtendedKind.HTTP_RELAY_LIST],
           authors: [account.pubkey],
           limit: 1
@@ -550,13 +561,13 @@ export function NostrProvider({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
       }
       setRelayList(mergedRelayList)
 
-      const normalizedRelays = [
-        ...mergedRelayList.write.map((url: string) => normalizeUrl(url) || url),
-        ...mergedRelayList.read.map((url: string) => normalizeUrl(url) || url),
-        ...FAST_READ_RELAY_URLS.map((url: string) => normalizeUrl(url) || url),
-        ...PROFILE_RELAY_URLS.map((url: string) => normalizeUrl(url) || url)
-      ]
-      const fetchRelays = Array.from(new Set(normalizedRelays)).slice(0, 16)
+      const fetchRelays = buildAccountSessionNetworkHydrateRelayUrls({
+        relayListEvent: relayListEvent ?? storedRelayListEvent,
+        cacheRelayListEvent: cacheRelayListEvent ?? storedCacheRelayListEvent,
+        httpRelayListEvent: httpRelayListEventFetched ?? storedHttpRelayListEvent ?? null,
+        favoriteRelaysEvent: storedFavoriteRelaysEvent,
+        blockedRelays
+      })
       const events = await queryService.fetchEvents(fetchRelays, [
         {
           kinds: [...AUTHOR_PROFILE_VIEW_REPLACEABLE_KINDS],
@@ -798,7 +809,7 @@ export function NostrProvider({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
         }
       }
 
-      await replaceableEventService
+      void replaceableEventService
         .refreshAuthorPublishedReplaceablesFromRelays(account.pubkey)
         .catch((err) => {
           logger.debug('[NostrProvider] Author replaceables refresh after hydrate failed', { error: err })
diff --git a/src/services/client-replaceable-events.service.ts b/src/services/client-replaceable-events.service.ts
index 565bc82d..c9019507 100644
--- a/src/services/client-replaceable-events.service.ts
+++ b/src/services/client-replaceable-events.service.ts
@@ -726,7 +726,9 @@ export class ReplaceableEventService {
         const queryOpts = {
           replaceableRace: useReplaceableRace,
           eoseTimeout: isSlowReplaceableBatch ? METADATA_BATCH_QUERY_EOSE_TIMEOUT_MS : 100,
-          globalTimeout: isSlowReplaceableBatch ? METADATA_BATCH_QUERY_GLOBAL_TIMEOUT_MS : 2000
+          globalTimeout: isSlowReplaceableBatch ? METADATA_BATCH_QUERY_GLOBAL_TIMEOUT_MS : 2000,
+          /** Feed avatar batches must not be aborted by feed/search {@link interruptBackgroundQueries}. */
+          ...(kind === kinds.Metadata ? { foreground: true as const } : {})
         }
 
         let events: NEvent[]
diff --git a/src/services/client.service.ts b/src/services/client.service.ts
index a4bbacd3..7cb4a18d 100644
--- a/src/services/client.service.ts
+++ b/src/services/client.service.ts
@@ -152,6 +152,7 @@ import {
   authenticateNip42Relay,
   isRelayAuthRequiredCloseReason,
   isRelayAuthRequiredErrorMessage,
+  isRelayConnectionClosedError,
   isRelaySubscriptionClosedByCaller
 } from '@/lib/relay-nip42-auth'
 import { applyRelayNip42AckTimeout } from '@/lib/relay-nip42-tuning'
@@ -160,7 +161,7 @@ import { hexPubkeysEqual, isValidPubkey, pubkeyToNpub, userIdToPubkey } from '@/
 import { collectNip05ValuesFromKind0 } from '@/lib/profile-metadata-search'
 import { decodeProfileSearchQueryToPubkeyHex } from '@/lib/profile-search-query'
 import { getPubkeysFromPTags, tagNameEquals } from '@/lib/tag'
-import { filterRelaysForEventPublish } from '@/lib/relay-publish-filter'
+import { filterRelaysForEventPublish, isReadOnlyRelayUrl } from '@/lib/relay-publish-filter'
 import { getPaymentAttestationTargetId } from '@/lib/superchat'
 import {
   buildPublicMessagePublishRelayUrls,
@@ -503,13 +504,15 @@ class ClientService extends EventTarget {
         })
       } catch (err) {
         const msg = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)
+        const skipStrike =
+          msg.includes('[metadata-relays-only]') ||
+          msg.includes('[relay-strike]') ||
+          msg.includes('[relay-rate-limit]') ||
+          msg.includes('[offline]') ||
+          msg.includes('[http-index-relay]')
         if (
-          params?.purpose !== 'write' &&
-          !msg.includes('[metadata-relays-only]') &&
-          !msg.includes('[relay-strike]') &&
-          !msg.includes('[relay-rate-limit]') &&
-          !msg.includes('[offline]') &&
-          !msg.includes('[http-index-relay]')
+          !skipStrike &&
+          (params?.purpose !== 'write' || isLocalNetworkUrl(url))
         ) {
           relaySessionStrikes.recordConnectionFailure(url, msg, 'connection')
         }
@@ -1389,11 +1392,7 @@ class ClientService extends EventTarget {
           spellRelayList = this.emptyRelayListForPublish()
         }
         const spellWriteFilteredRaw = await collectViewerWriteOutboxUrls(event.pubkey, spellRelayList)
-        const readOnlySet = new Set(READ_ONLY_RELAY_URLS.map((u) => normalizeUrl(u) || u))
-        const spellWriteFiltered = spellWriteFilteredRaw.filter((url) => {
-          const n = normalizeRelayUrlByScheme(url) || url
-          return !readOnlySet.has(n)
-        })
+        const spellWriteFiltered = spellWriteFilteredRaw.filter((url) => !isReadOnlyRelayUrl(url))
         return finish(
           this.filterPublishingRelays(
             buildPrioritizedWriteRelayUrls({
@@ -1586,12 +1585,11 @@ class ClientService extends EventTarget {
    * so they stay in the random-relay pool even if not currently in monitoring data.
    */
   getSessionSuccessfulPublishRelayUrlsForRandomPool(): string[] {
-    const readOnlySet = new Set(READ_ONLY_RELAY_URLS.map((u) => normalizeUrl(u) || u))
     const out: string[] = []
     for (const [url, stats] of this.sessionRelayPublishStats.entries()) {
       if (stats.successCount < 1) continue
       const n = canonicalRelaySessionKey(url)
-      if (!n || readOnlySet.has(n)) continue
+      if (!n || isReadOnlyRelayUrl(n)) continue
       out.push(n)
     }
     out.sort((a, b) => {
@@ -1667,10 +1665,9 @@ class ClientService extends EventTarget {
    * preferring those that have succeeded and been fast this session. Excludes read-only relays.
    */
   getPreferredRelaysForRandom(candidateUrls: string[], count: number): string[] {
-    const readOnlySet = new Set(READ_ONLY_RELAY_URLS.map((u) => normalizeAnyRelayUrl(u) || u))
     const normalizedCandidates = candidateUrls
       .map((u) => normalizeAnyRelayUrl(u) || u)
-      .filter((n) => n && !readOnlySet.has(n))
+      .filter((n) => n && !isReadOnlyRelayUrl(n))
     const unique = Array.from(new Set(normalizedCandidates))
     const preferred: string[] = []
     const rest: string[] = []
@@ -2026,13 +2023,43 @@ class ClientService extends EventTarget {
                     ) {
                       logger.debug(`[PublishEvent] Auth required, attempting authentication`, { url })
                       applyRelayNip42AckTimeout(relay as unknown as AbstractRelay)
-                      return authenticateNip42Relay(relay, (authEvt: EventTemplate) =>
+                      const signAuth = (authEvt: EventTemplate) =>
                         queueRelayAuthSign(() => that.signer!.signEvent(authEvt))
-                      )
-                        .then(() => {
-                          logger.debug(`[PublishEvent] Auth successful, retrying publish`, { url })
-                          return relay.publish(event)
-                        })
+                      const preparePublishRelay = async (): Promise<Relay> => {
+                        const r = await that.pool.ensureRelay(url, ensureOpts)
+                        const relayKeyPub = normalizeUrl(url) || url
+                        patchRelayNoticeForFetchFailures(r as unknown as AbstractRelay, relayKeyPub, (u, m) =>
+                          that.handleRelayNoticeSession(u, m)
+                        )
+                        applyRelayNip42AckTimeout(r as unknown as AbstractRelay)
+                        return r
+                      }
+                      const publishAfterAuth = async (): Promise<void> => {
+                        await authenticateNip42Relay(relay as unknown as AbstractRelay, signAuth)
+                        let liveRelay = await preparePublishRelay()
+                        for (let authPubAttempt = 0; authPubAttempt < 2; authPubAttempt++) {
+                          try {
+                            await liveRelay.publish(event)
+                            return
+                          } catch (retryErr) {
+                            if (!isRelayConnectionClosedError(retryErr) || authPubAttempt === 1) {
+                              throw retryErr
+                            }
+                            logger.debug('[PublishEvent] Publish after auth on closed socket; reconnecting', {
+                              url
+                            })
+                            try {
+                              that.pool.close([url])
+                            } catch {
+                              /* ignore */
+                            }
+                            await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 350))
+                            liveRelay = await preparePublishRelay()
+                            await authenticateNip42Relay(liveRelay as unknown as AbstractRelay, signAuth)
+                          }
+                        }
+                      }
+                      return publishAfterAuth()
                         .then(() => {
                           logger.debug(`[PublishEvent] Successfully published after auth`, { url })
                           that.recordPublishSuccess(url, Date.now() - startMs)
@@ -2041,10 +2068,12 @@ class ClientService extends EventTarget {
                           relayStatuses.push({ url, success: true })
                         })
                         .catch((authError) => {
-                          logger.error(`[PublishEvent] Auth or publish failed`, { url, error: authError.message })
+                          const authMsg =
+                            authError instanceof Error ? authError.message : String(authError)
+                          logger.error(`[PublishEvent] Auth or publish failed`, { url, error: authMsg })
                           errors.push({ url, error: authError })
-                          relayStatuses.push({ url, success: false, error: authError.message })
-                          relaySessionStrikes.recordPublishFailure(url, authError.message)
+                          relayStatuses.push({ url, success: false, error: authMsg })
+                          relaySessionStrikes.recordPublishFailure(url, authMsg)
                         })
                     } else {
                       logger.error(`[PublishEvent] Publish failed`, { url, error: error.message })
@@ -3989,18 +4018,16 @@ class ClientService extends EventTarget {
   ): Promise<TProfile[]> {
     void this.ensureProfileSearchIndexFromIdb()
     const searchStr = typeof filter.search === 'string' ? filter.search.trim() : ''
-    const normalizedAll = dedupeNormalizeRelayUrlsOrdered(
-      relayUrls.map((u) => normalizeUrl(u) || u).filter(Boolean)
-    )
-    const profileRelayLayer = dedupeNormalizeRelayUrlsOrdered(
-      PROFILE_RELAY_URLS.map((u) => normalizeUrl(u) || u).filter(Boolean)
+    const normalizedAll = dedupeNormalizeRelayUrlsOrdered(relayUrls)
+    const profileRelayLayer = dedupeNormalizeRelayUrlsOrdered(PROFILE_RELAY_URLS)
+    const searchableSet = new Set(
+      dedupeNormalizeRelayUrlsOrdered([
+        ...SEARCHABLE_RELAY_URLS,
+        ...getViewerNostrLandAggrSearchRelayUrls(),
+        ...nip66Service.getSearchableRelayUrls(),
+        ...PROFILE_RELAY_URLS
+      ])
     )
-    const searchableSet = new Set([
-      ...SEARCHABLE_RELAY_URLS.map((u) => normalizeUrl(u) || u),
-      ...getViewerNostrLandAggrSearchRelayUrls().map((u) => normalizeUrl(u) || u),
-      ...nip66Service.getSearchableRelayUrls().map((u) => normalizeUrl(u) || u),
-      ...PROFILE_RELAY_URLS.map((u) => normalizeUrl(u) || u).filter(Boolean)
-    ])
     let urls = normalizedAll
     if (searchStr.length > 0 && !options?.relaysOnly) {
       const searchCapable = normalizedAll.filter(
@@ -4042,7 +4069,7 @@ class ClientService extends EventTarget {
         options?.globalTimeout ??
         (usesNip50TextSearch ? NIP50_QUERY_GLOBAL_TIMEOUT_FLOOR_MS + 18_000 : 9000),
       relayOpSource: 'ClientService.searchProfiles',
-      foreground: usesNip50TextSearch || usesAuthorsLookup,
+      foreground: usesNip50TextSearch || usesAuthorsLookup || options?.relaysOnly === true,
       signal: options?.signal
     })
 
@@ -4065,15 +4092,13 @@ class ClientService extends EventTarget {
   }
 
   private profileRelaySearchUrls(): string[] {
-    return dedupeNormalizeRelayUrlsOrdered(
-      PROFILE_RELAY_URLS.map((u) => normalizeUrl(u) || u).filter(Boolean)
-    )
+    return dedupeNormalizeRelayUrlsOrdered(PROFILE_RELAY_URLS)
   }
 
   private nip50ProfileIndexRelayUrls(): string[] {
     return dedupeNormalizeRelayUrlsOrdered([
-      ...SEARCHABLE_RELAY_URLS.map((u) => normalizeUrl(u) || u),
-      ...nip66Service.getSearchableRelayUrls().map((u) => normalizeUrl(u) || u)
+      ...SEARCHABLE_RELAY_URLS,
+      ...nip66Service.getSearchableRelayUrls()
     ])
   }
 
diff --git a/src/services/nip66.service.ts b/src/services/nip66.service.ts
index 49a07ddf..845f6bd7 100644
--- a/src/services/nip66.service.ts
+++ b/src/services/nip66.service.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
  * require this data to function; use as a hint only.
  */
 
-import { normalizeUrl } from '@/lib/url'
+import { normalizeUrl, looksLikeNostrBech32Identifier, isWebsocketUrl } from '@/lib/url'
 import indexDb from '@/services/indexed-db.service'
 import { TNip66RelayDiscovery } from '@/types'
 import { Event as NEvent } from 'nostr-tools'
@@ -22,7 +22,10 @@ function parseEvent(ev: NEvent): TNip66RelayDiscovery | null {
   if (ev.kind !== RELAY_DISCOVERY_KIND) return null
   const d = ev.tags.find((t) => t[0] === 'd')?.[1]
   if (!d) return null
-  const url = d.startsWith('wss://') || d.startsWith('ws://') ? d : `wss://${d}`
+  const dTrim = d.trim()
+  if (!dTrim || looksLikeNostrBech32Identifier(dTrim)) return null
+  const url = dTrim.startsWith('wss://') || dTrim.startsWith('ws://') ? dTrim : `wss://${dTrim}`
+  if (!isWebsocketUrl(url)) return null
 
   const nips = ev.tags.filter((t) => t[0] === 'N').map((t) => parseInt(t[1], 10)).filter((n) => !Number.isNaN(n))
   const requirements: TNip66RelayDiscovery['requirements'] = {}