tenant.openagents/omega

diff --git a/crates/omega_effectd/src/sarah_conversation.rs b/crates/omega_effectd/src/sarah_conversation.rs
index c4c1951d34..a2e05c4c41 100644
--- a/crates/omega_effectd/src/sarah_conversation.rs
+++ b/crates/omega_effectd/src/sarah_conversation.rs
@@ -6326,9 +6326,17 @@ mod tests {
63266326     ) -> Result<(), SarahConversationError> {
63276327         match relay.publish(record) {
63286328             Err(SarahConversationError::IdentityRequired) => {
6329-                let challenge = relay
6330-                    .auth_challenge()
6331-                    .expect("relay must expose a challenge after refusing the publish");
6329+                // Every step here returns rather than panics. A relay that
6330+                // closed an idle socket fails *inside* this branch — `publish`
6331+                // reports `IdentityRequired`, control comes here, and the AUTH
6332+                // write hits the reset — so an `expect` on this path takes the
6333+                // whole harness down before any retry wrapper can see it, and
6334+                // reports a dead socket as Sarah failing to answer.
6335+                let challenge = relay.auth_challenge().ok_or_else(|| {
6336+                    SarahConversationError::Relay(
6337+                        "relay refused the publish without exposing a challenge".into(),
6338+                    )
6339+                })?;
63326340                 let auth_event = EventBuilder::new(Kind::Custom(22242), "")
63336341                     .tag(Tag::parse(["relay", auth_url]).expect("relay tag"))
63346342                     .tag(
@@ -6337,9 +6345,7 @@ mod tests {
63376345                     )
63386346                     .sign_with_keys(keys)
63396347                     .expect("signed auth event");
6340-                relay
6341-                    .authenticate(&auth_event)
6342-                    .expect("NIP-42 authenticate");
6348+                relay.authenticate(&auth_event)?;
63436349                 relay.publish(record)
63446350             }
63456351             other => other,