From 325ff603edd9be5a192c961f8bf7a3016fc85496 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: npub1mn7jgtj4w2pd0g0zeuhxsa6jy6p0rewxz4kujt98my82ahfmp72sxjexk7
 <dcfd242e557282d7a1e2cf2e6877522682f1e5c6156dc92ca7d90eaedd3b0f95@sprout-oss.stage.blox.sqprod.co>
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2026 14:00:09 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] fix(desktop): release remote-tombstone draft sync

A remote tombstone that already won a raced publish could leave a synthetic deletion intent durable forever and block future edits.

Complete a deletion based on the winning head, and let an explicit later edit carry a known tombstone base so it can supersede that delete.

Co-authored-by: Will Pfleger <pfleger.will@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Will Pfleger <pfleger.will@gmail.com>
---
 .../features/messages/lib/draftSync.test.mjs  | 53 +++++++++++++++++++
 .../src/features/messages/lib/draftSync.ts    | 18 +++++--
 2 files changed, 67 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/desktop/src/features/messages/lib/draftSync.test.mjs b/desktop/src/features/messages/lib/draftSync.test.mjs
index dbf9de571..76d2f4fb6 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/messages/lib/draftSync.test.mjs
+++ b/desktop/src/features/messages/lib/draftSync.test.mjs
@@ -545,3 +545,56 @@ test("test_stale_tombstone_completion_preserves_rebased_delete", async () => {
   assert.ok(retried.some((event) => event.content === ""));
   assert.ok(retried.every((event) => event.created_at > draftEvent.created_at));
 });
+
+test("test_remote_tombstone_during_publish_allows_later_draft", async () => {
+  setup();
+  const published = [];
+  const draftPublish = deferred();
+  const remoteTombstone = wrapped({
+    id: "remote-tombstone",
+    createdAt: Math.floor(Date.now() / 1_000) + 100,
+    address: "address-a",
+    channelId: channelA,
+    content: "",
+  });
+  const manager = new DraftSyncManager(pubkey, "wss://relay.example", {
+    deriveAddress: async () => "address-a",
+    encrypt: async (content) => content,
+    fetchEvents: async () => [],
+    sign: async (input) => ({
+      id: `signed-${published.length}`,
+      created_at: input.createdAt ?? 0,
+      kind: input.kind,
+      pubkey,
+      content: input.content,
+      sig: "",
+      tags: input.tags,
+    }),
+    publishEvent: async (event) => {
+      published.push(event);
+      if (published.length === 1) await draftPublish.promise;
+    },
+  });
+
+  manager.queuePublish(channelA, draft(channelA, "raced draft"));
+  const flush = manager.flushPublishes();
+  while (published.length === 0) await Promise.resolve();
+  await manager.mergeEvent(remoteTombstone);
+  draftPublish.resolve();
+  await flush;
+
+  assert.equal(
+    localStorage.getItem(`buzz-draft-sync.v1:wss://relay.example:${pubkey}`),
+    "{}",
+  );
+
+  manager.queuePublish(channelA, draft(channelA, "new draft"));
+  await manager.flushPublishes();
+  await manager.destroy();
+
+  const newDraft = published.find((event) =>
+    event.content.includes("new draft"),
+  );
+  assert.ok(newDraft);
+  assert.ok(newDraft.created_at > remoteTombstone.created_at);
+});
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/messages/lib/draftSync.ts b/desktop/src/features/messages/lib/draftSync.ts
index 6de775d49..8041e6b6e 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/messages/lib/draftSync.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/features/messages/lib/draftSync.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ type PendingPublish = {
   draft: DraftState;
   channelId: string;
   address?: string;
+  base?: RemoteHead;
 };
 type PendingDeletion = {
   draftKey: string;
@@ -121,7 +122,12 @@ export class DraftSyncManager {
       return;
     }
     entry.draftKey = draftKey;
-    entry.pendingPublish = { draftKey, draft, channelId: draft.channelId };
+    entry.pendingPublish = {
+      draftKey,
+      draft,
+      channelId: draft.channelId,
+      base: entry.remoteHead?.content === "" ? entry.remoteHead : undefined,
+    };
     this.state.set(draftKey, entry);
     // Resolve the opaque address while the draft is alive so normal delete
     // paths can durably record it before removing visible local state.
@@ -248,7 +254,7 @@ export class DraftSyncManager {
         this.reschedulePublishes();
         return;
       }
-      if (state.remoteHead?.content === "") {
+      if (state.remoteHead?.content === "" && !pending.base) {
         state.pendingPublish = undefined;
         removeRemoteDraftEntry(pending.draftKey);
         this.reschedulePublishes();
@@ -328,12 +334,16 @@ export class DraftSyncManager {
         "Failed to delete draft.",
       );
       const current = this.state.get(pending.address) ?? state;
+      const winning =
+        !current.remoteHead || compareHeads(event, current.remoteHead) >= 0
+          ? event
+          : current.remoteHead;
       if (
         current.pendingDeletion?.address === pending.address &&
-        (!current.remoteHead || compareHeads(event, current.remoteHead) >= 0)
+        winning.content === ""
       ) {
         current.pendingDeletion = undefined;
-        current.remoteHead = event;
+        current.remoteHead = winning;
         this.writeSidecar();
       }
     } catch (error) {