diff --git a/src/lib/relay-publish-filter.test.ts b/src/lib/relay-publish-filter.test.ts
index 4a82718f..7544677b 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,
+  isRelayPublishPolicyRejection,
   relayAllowsPublishKind
 } from './relay-publish-filter'
 
@@ -38,4 +39,15 @@ describe('relay-publish-filter', () => {
     ])
     expect(out).toEqual(['wss://relay.example.com/'])
   })
+
+  it('detects relay kind-policy rejections (not infrastructure faults)', () => {
+    expect(
+      isRelayPublishPolicyRejection(
+        'only published longform articles accepted on this relay (kind 30023)'
+      )
+    ).toBe(true)
+    expect(isRelayPublishPolicyRejection('this relay only accepts kind 1')).toBe(true)
+    expect(isRelayPublishPolicyRejection('Remote relay connection timeout')).toBe(false)
+    expect(isRelayPublishPolicyRejection('Publish timeout after 8000ms')).toBe(false)
+  })
 })
diff --git a/src/lib/relay-publish-filter.ts b/src/lib/relay-publish-filter.ts
index ae79df16..74865a24 100644
--- a/src/lib/relay-publish-filter.ts
+++ b/src/lib/relay-publish-filter.ts
@@ -50,6 +50,27 @@ export function filterRelaysForEventPublish(urls: readonly string[], eventKind:
   return urls.filter((u) => relayAllowsPublishKind(u, eventKind) && !isReadOnlyRelayUrl(u))
 }
 
+/**
+ * Relay refused the EVENT due to kind / content policy (not connectivity).
+ * These are expected when publishing to specialty relays — do not session-strike the relay.
+ */
+export function isRelayPublishPolicyRejection(message: string): boolean {
+  const m = message.trim().toLowerCase()
+  if (!m) return false
+  if (/\bkind\s*[:\s]?\s*\d+\b/.test(m) && /(accept|accepted|only|not supported|unsupported|reject|refused|allow|allowed|permitted)/.test(m)) {
+    return true
+  }
+  if (/only .{0,120} (accept|accepted|allowed|permitted)/.test(m)) return true
+  if (/(does not|don't|do not) accept/.test(m)) return true
+  if (/not accepted on this relay/.test(m)) return true
+  if (/wrong kind/.test(m)) return true
+  if (/unsupported kind/.test(m)) return true
+  if (/kind not (supported|allowed|permitted)/.test(m)) return true
+  if (/event kind (blocked|not allowed|rejected)/.test(m)) return true
+  if (/this relay only accepts/.test(m)) return true
+  return false
+}
+
 /**
  * Reply/mention author **read** hints used as publish targets: never LAN/Tor, read-only aggregators,
  * or profile/index mirrors (those are not inboxes for notes or reactions).
diff --git a/src/lib/relay-strikes.test.ts b/src/lib/relay-strikes.test.ts
index fb27722d..ad2894bd 100644
--- a/src/lib/relay-strikes.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/relay-strikes.test.ts
@@ -96,6 +96,31 @@ describe('relaySessionStrikes.clearKey', () => {
   })
 })
 
+describe('relaySessionStrikes publish failures', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    relaySessionStrikes.reset()
+  })
+
+  it('does not strike when relay rejects due to kind policy', () => {
+    const url = 'wss://essayist.decentnewsroom.com/'
+    for (let i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
+      relaySessionStrikes.recordPublishFailure(
+        url,
+        'only published longform articles accepted on this relay (kind 30023)'
+      )
+    }
+    expect(relaySessionStrikes.isPublishSkipped(url)).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('strikes after repeated infrastructure publish failures', () => {
+    const url = 'wss://relay.example.com/'
+    relaySessionStrikes.recordPublishFailure(url, 'websocket closed')
+    const snap = relaySessionStrikes.getDebugSnapshot()
+    const entry = snap.entries.find((e) => e.key.includes('relay.example.com'))
+    expect(entry?.entry.publishFailures).toBe(1)
+  })
+})
+
 describe('isRelayStrikeEntryActive', () => {
   it('is false for empty entry', () => {
     expect(
diff --git a/src/lib/relay-strikes.ts b/src/lib/relay-strikes.ts
index cfb8f5d3..8957ffca 100644
--- a/src/lib/relay-strikes.ts
+++ b/src/lib/relay-strikes.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import {
 import type { Event } from 'nostr-tools'
 import { getRelayListFromEvent } from '@/lib/event-metadata'
 import logger from '@/lib/logger'
+import { isRelayPublishPolicyRejection } from '@/lib/relay-publish-filter'
 import { canonicalRelaySessionKey, httpIndexRelayBasesInUrlBatch, isLocalNetworkUrl } from '@/lib/url'
 import type { RelayOpTerminalRow } from '@/services/relay-operation-log.service'
 
@@ -288,7 +289,8 @@ class RelaySessionStrikes {
     return true
   }
 
-  recordPublishFailure(url: string): void {
+  recordPublishFailure(url: string, errorMessage?: string): void {
+    if (errorMessage && isRelayPublishPolicyRejection(errorMessage)) return
     const key = sessionKey(url)
     if (!key) return
     const now = Date.now()
diff --git a/src/services/client.service.ts b/src/services/client.service.ts
index 0d055c1c..16ac9cc8 100644
--- a/src/services/client.service.ts
+++ b/src/services/client.service.ts
@@ -1965,13 +1965,13 @@ class ClientService extends EventTarget {
                           logger.error(`[PublishEvent] Auth or publish failed`, { url, error: authError.message })
                           errors.push({ url, error: authError })
                           relayStatuses.push({ url, success: false, error: authError.message })
-                          relaySessionStrikes.recordPublishFailure(url)
+                          relaySessionStrikes.recordPublishFailure(url, authError.message)
                         })
                     } else {
                       logger.error(`[PublishEvent] Publish failed`, { url, error: error.message })
                       errors.push({ url, error })
                       relayStatuses.push({ url, success: false, error: error.message })
-                      relaySessionStrikes.recordPublishFailure(url)
+                      relaySessionStrikes.recordPublishFailure(url, error.message)
                     }
                   })
 
@@ -2029,7 +2029,8 @@ class ClientService extends EventTarget {
               success: false,
               error: error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'Connection failed'
             })
-            relaySessionStrikes.recordPublishFailure(url)
+            const errMsg = error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'Connection failed'
+            relaySessionStrikes.recordPublishFailure(url, errMsg)
           } finally {
             clearTimeout(relayTimeout)
             const currentFinished = ++finishedCount