diff --git a/swarm-controller/src/main.rs b/swarm-controller/src/main.rs
index 04f69945..bc22d654 100644
--- a/swarm-controller/src/main.rs
+++ b/swarm-controller/src/main.rs
@@ -795,6 +795,26 @@ fn error_problem(status: axum::http::StatusCode, detail: &str) -> problem_detail
     problem_details::ProblemDetails::from_status_code(status).with_detail(detail)
 }
 
+/// The status a [`wanted::WantedWriter`] failure should answer with.
+///
+/// `WantedWriter::view`/`set` call `ensure_connected` internally and
+/// propagate through `anyhow`, so the concrete
+/// [`swarm_queue_client::Error`] survives underneath but is not the type in
+/// hand — `swarm_queue_client`'s own doc says a caller "gets a type it can
+/// match on", which means downcasting back to it rather than string-matching
+/// the rendered message. `NotConnected` is a retryable condition (the queue
+/// is reconnecting, or hasn't yet) and every other queue-backed route here
+/// already answers 503 for it; anything else is a genuine failure to publish
+/// or read, which stays 500.
+fn wanted_error_status(e: &anyhow::Error) -> axum::http::StatusCode {
+    match e.downcast_ref::<swarm_queue_client::Error>() {
+        Some(swarm_queue_client::Error::NotConnected(_)) => {
+            axum::http::StatusCode::SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE
+        }
+        _ => axum::http::StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR,
+    }
+}
+
 /// The state to declare for one agent.
 #[derive(Debug, Deserialize, ToSchema)]
 struct SetAgentStateRequest {
@@ -905,7 +925,7 @@ fn declaration_target(
     responses(
         (status = 200, description = "the declaration as now published", body = Vec<AgentDeclaration>),
         (status = 400, description = "a name is not an identifier, the hive is not in this swarm, or the state is unknown (problem+json)", body = String),
-        (status = 503, description = "no swarm queue is wired up (problem+json)", body = String),
+        (status = 503, description = "no swarm queue is wired up, or it is not connected (problem+json)", body = String),
         (status = 500, description = "the declaration could not be published (problem+json)", body = String),
     ),
     tag = "agents"
@@ -923,10 +943,7 @@ async fn set_agent_state(
 
     let declaration = writer.set(&hive, &agent, req.state).await.map_err(|e| {
         tracing::warn!(hive = %hive, agent = %agent, error = %format!("{e:#}"), "declaring agent state failed");
-        error_problem(
-            axum::http::StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR,
-            &format!("{e:#}"),
-        )
+        error_problem(wanted_error_status(&e), &format!("{e:#}"))
     })?;
     Ok(Json(render(&declaration)))
 }
@@ -942,7 +959,7 @@ async fn set_agent_state(
     responses(
         (status = 200, description = "the declaration, empty when nothing is published yet", body = Vec<AgentDeclaration>),
         (status = 400, description = "not an identifier, or not a hive in this swarm (problem+json)", body = String),
-        (status = 503, description = "no swarm queue is wired up (problem+json)", body = String),
+        (status = 503, description = "no swarm queue is wired up, or it is not connected (problem+json)", body = String),
         (status = 500, description = "the declaration could not be read (problem+json)", body = String),
     ),
     tag = "agents"
@@ -955,10 +972,7 @@ async fn get_hive_wanted(
         declaration_target(&state, &hive).map_err(|(s, d)| error_problem(s, &d))?;
     let declaration = writer.view(&hive).await.map_err(|e| {
         tracing::warn!(hive = %hive, error = %format!("{e:#}"), "reading the declaration failed");
-        error_problem(
-            axum::http::StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR,
-            &format!("{e:#}"),
-        )
+        error_problem(wanted_error_status(&e), &format!("{e:#}"))
     })?;
     Ok(Json(declaration.as_ref().map(render).unwrap_or_default()))
 }
@@ -1970,8 +1984,9 @@ fn build_app(state: AppState) -> axum::Router {
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::{
-        DEFAULT_SOCKET, HIVES_ENV, HiveEntry, LINKS_ENV, NAME_ENV, ServiceLink, StatusUnavailable,
-        SwarmNodeKind, WorkerDeps, load_hives, load_links, load_swarm_name, run_swarm_node,
+        DEFAULT_SOCKET, HIVES_ENV, HiveEntry, LINKS_ENV, NAME_ENV, ServiceLink,
+        SetAgentStateRequest, StatusUnavailable, SwarmNodeKind, WorkerDeps, load_hives, load_links,
+        load_swarm_name, run_swarm_node, wanted,
     };
     use std::path::Path;
 
@@ -2782,6 +2797,150 @@ mod tests {
             std::env::remove_var(NAME_ENV);
         }
     }
+
+    // ── NotConnected maps to 503, everything else stays 500 ─────────────
+
+    /// `wanted_error_status` as a pure function first: build the exact
+    /// `swarm_queue_client::Error::NotConnected` `ensure_connected` raises,
+    /// wrap it the same way `?` inside `WantedWriter::view`/`set` does, and
+    /// confirm it downcasts back to the status those routes are meant to
+    /// answer.
+    #[test]
+    fn not_connected_downcasts_to_503() {
+        let e: anyhow::Error =
+            swarm_queue_client::Error::NotConnected(async_nats::connection::State::Pending).into();
+        assert_eq!(
+            super::wanted_error_status(&e),
+            axum::http::StatusCode::SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// Invert-proof for the test above: an `anyhow::Error` that does not
+    /// wrap a `swarm_queue_client::Error` at all (the shape a genuine write
+    /// or decode failure takes — `apply`'s "declaration is not decodable"
+    /// context, for instance) must NOT downcast to `NotConnected`, and must
+    /// stay 500. Without this, a `wanted_error_status` that answered 503
+    /// unconditionally would still pass the test above.
+    #[test]
+    fn an_unrelated_error_stays_500() {
+        let e = anyhow::anyhow!("the hive's current declaration is not decodable");
+        assert_eq!(
+            super::wanted_error_status(&e),
+            axum::http::StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// Second invert-proof, closer to the actual bug this closes: a
+    /// *different* `swarm_queue_client::Error` variant (a real connect
+    /// failure, not `NotConnected`) also stays 500 — proving the match
+    /// looks at the variant, not just at "was this crate's error type
+    /// involved at all".
+    #[test]
+    fn a_different_queue_client_error_variant_stays_500() {
+        let e: anyhow::Error = swarm_queue_client::Error::Connect {
+            url: "nats://queue.example:4222".to_owned(),
+            source: async_nats::ConnectErrorKind::TimedOut.into(),
+        }
+        .into();
+        assert_eq!(
+            super::wanted_error_status(&e),
+            axum::http::StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// A client that exists but has never connected — same shape
+    /// `matrix_account`'s tests build, duplicated here rather than shared:
+    /// both are a handful of lines and neither crate has a test-support
+    /// module to put a shared helper in.
+    async fn disconnected_client() -> async_nats::Client {
+        async_nats::ConnectOptions::new()
+            .retry_on_initial_connect()
+            .connect("127.0.0.1:1")
+            .await
+            .expect("retry_on_initial_connect returns without waiting for a real connection")
+    }
+
+    /// `state_with_roster` plus a `wanted` writer over a client that never
+    /// connected — the shape `set_agent_state`/`get_hive_wanted` see when
+    /// the queue is mid-reconnect.
+    async fn state_with_disconnected_wanted() -> super::AppState {
+        let (state, _sched) = state_with_roster();
+        super::AppState {
+            wanted: Some(std::sync::Arc::new(wanted::WantedWriter::new(
+                disconnected_client().await,
+            ))),
+            ..state
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// End to end through the real handler: `PUT .../state` against a
+    /// disconnected queue answers 503, not the 500 every other writer
+    /// error still gets.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn set_agent_state_answers_503_on_a_disconnected_queue() {
+        let state = state_with_disconnected_wanted().await;
+
+        let result = super::set_agent_state(
+            axum::extract::State(state),
+            axum::extract::Path(("pr1ma".to_owned(), "atlas".to_owned())),
+            axum::Json(SetAgentStateRequest {
+                state: swarm_queue_client::wanted::AgentState::Paused,
+            }),
+        )
+        .await;
+
+        let problem = result.expect_err("a disconnected queue must not read as success");
+        assert_eq!(
+            problem.status,
+            Some(axum::http::StatusCode::SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE),
+            "{problem:?}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// Same fix, the read side: `GET .../wanted` against a disconnected
+    /// queue also answers 503.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn get_hive_wanted_answers_503_on_a_disconnected_queue() {
+        let state = state_with_disconnected_wanted().await;
+
+        let result = super::get_hive_wanted(
+            axum::extract::State(state),
+            axum::extract::Path("pr1ma".to_owned()),
+        )
+        .await;
+
+        let problem = result.expect_err("a disconnected queue must not read as success");
+        assert_eq!(
+            problem.status,
+            Some(axum::http::StatusCode::SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE),
+            "{problem:?}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// Control for both tests above: a hive that is not in the roster is
+    /// still a plain 400, even with the same disconnected writer wired up —
+    /// so the 503 above is `ensure_connected` firing, not every error this
+    /// handler can produce collapsing to 503.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn set_agent_state_still_answers_400_for_an_unknown_hive() {
+        let state = state_with_disconnected_wanted().await;
+
+        let result = super::set_agent_state(
+            axum::extract::State(state),
+            axum::extract::Path(("not-a-hive".to_owned(), "atlas".to_owned())),
+            axum::Json(SetAgentStateRequest {
+                state: swarm_queue_client::wanted::AgentState::Paused,
+            }),
+        )
+        .await;
+
+        let problem = result.expect_err("an unknown hive is still a 400");
+        assert_eq!(
+            problem.status,
+            Some(axum::http::StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST),
+            "{problem:?}"
+        );
+    }
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
diff --git a/swarm-controller/src/matrix_account.rs b/swarm-controller/src/matrix_account.rs
index 310c6680..a9163382 100644
--- a/swarm-controller/src/matrix_account.rs
+++ b/swarm-controller/src/matrix_account.rs
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ pub struct PutMatrixAccountResponse {
     responses(
         (status = 200, description = "stored, and the hive has been told", body = PutMatrixAccountResponse),
         (status = 400, description = "a name is not an identifier, the account name is not a single path segment, the account is 'main' (reserved), the mode is unrecognized, a mode's required fields are missing, or the hive is not in this swarm (problem+json)", body = String),
-        (status = 503, description = "no swarm queue is wired up (problem+json)", body = String),
+        (status = 503, description = "no swarm queue is wired up, or it is not connected (problem+json)", body = String),
         (status = 500, description = "the store write, the encode or the publish failed (problem+json)", body = String),
     ),
     tag = "agents"
@@ -182,6 +182,21 @@ pub async fn put_matrix_account(
     // touched, so a failed login leaves no partial state behind.
     let (token, homeserver, user_id) = resolve_credential(&req).await.map_err(|b| *b)?;
 
+    // A queue that is configured but not yet (or no longer) connected does
+    // not fail the `publish`/`flush` further down outright — it *hangs*
+    // them, per `swarm_queue_client::ensure_connected`'s own doc. Checked
+    // here, immediately before the store is touched, so a request that
+    // cannot be delivered never leaves a credential behind — the same
+    // ordering rule the module doc states for "store first, notify
+    // second", extended one step earlier.
+    let client = status.queue_client();
+    swarm_queue_client::ensure_connected(&client).map_err(|e| {
+        error_problem(
+            StatusCode::SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE,
+            &swarm_queue_client::chain(&e),
+        )
+    })?;
+
     let store = crate::store::connect().await.map_err(|e| {
         tracing::warn!(error = %e, "connecting to the swarm secret store failed");
         error_problem(StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR, &e.to_string())
@@ -212,7 +227,6 @@ pub async fn put_matrix_account(
         )
     })?;
     let subject = credential_subject(&hive);
-    let client = status.queue_client();
     client
         .publish(subject.clone(), payload.into())
         .await
@@ -493,4 +507,134 @@ mod tests {
                 .is_err()
         );
     }
+
+    // ── the connected-but-not-yet-connected queue ───────────────────────
+
+    /// A client that exists but has never connected — the `Pending` state
+    /// `ensure_connected`'s own doc says a `Disconnected` check would miss.
+    /// `retry_on_initial_connect` is what makes `.connect()` return
+    /// immediately instead of blocking on a handshake that will never
+    /// succeed against a loopback port nothing listens on.
+    async fn disconnected_client() -> async_nats::Client {
+        async_nats::ConnectOptions::new()
+            .retry_on_initial_connect()
+            .connect("127.0.0.1:1")
+            .await
+            .expect("retry_on_initial_connect returns without waiting for a real connection")
+    }
+
+    /// Bare-minimum `AppState` for a handler test: one hive, no queue-backed
+    /// helpers beyond `status` (the field this handler actually reads), and
+    /// an empty in-memory job graph the endpoint under test never touches.
+    fn state_with_status(status: super::super::status::StatusReader) -> super::super::AppState {
+        super::super::AppState {
+            hives: std::sync::Arc::new(vec![super::super::HiveEntry {
+                name: "pr1ma".to_owned(),
+                domain: "pr1ma.example".to_owned(),
+            }]),
+            links: std::sync::Arc::new(Vec::new()),
+            status: Some(std::sync::Arc::new(status)),
+            wanted: None,
+            agent_status: None,
+            jobq: std::sync::Arc::new(std::sync::Mutex::new(hive_jobq::scheduler::Scheduler::new(
+                hive_jobq::Graph::new(),
+                hive_jobq::resources::ResourceTable::new(),
+            ))),
+            webhook_secret: None,
+            config_prs: None,
+            swarm_name: None,
+            auth: None,
+            forge: None,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// The defect this whole PR exists to close: a queue that is
+    /// configured but not connected must not let this handler reach the
+    /// store write at all.
+    ///
+    /// `BAO_ADDR`/`BAO_CLIENT_CERT`/`BAO_CLIENT_KEY` are asserted unset
+    /// first — not incidental setup, but the control that makes the 503
+    /// meaningful. If `put_matrix_account` reached `crate::store::connect()`
+    /// with those unset, *that* call fails too, and would also answer with
+    /// a `problem+json` body (500, "connecting to the swarm secret store
+    /// failed"). A 503 here is therefore proof execution never got past
+    /// `ensure_connected`, not a coincidence of two paths landing on the
+    /// same status family.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn a_disconnected_queue_answers_503_and_never_reaches_the_store() {
+        for var in ["BAO_ADDR", "BAO_CLIENT_CERT", "BAO_CLIENT_KEY"] {
+            assert!(
+                std::env::var(var).is_err(),
+                "{var} must be unset for this test to prove anything"
+            );
+        }
+
+        let reader = super::super::status::StatusReader::new(
+            disconnected_client().await,
+            std::time::Duration::from_mins(1),
+        );
+        let state = state_with_status(reader);
+
+        let result = super::put_matrix_account(
+            axum::extract::State(state),
+            axum::extract::Path((
+                "pr1ma".to_owned(),
+                "atlas".to_owned(),
+                "workaccount".to_owned(),
+            )),
+            axum::Json(PutMatrixAccountRequest {
+                mode: "token".to_owned(),
+                token: Some("t0k3n".to_owned()),
+                user_id: None,
+                password: None,
+                homeserver: None,
+            }),
+        )
+        .await;
+
+        let problem = result.expect_err("a disconnected queue must refuse, not hang or 500");
+        assert_eq!(
+            problem.status,
+            Some(axum::http::StatusCode::SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE),
+            "{problem:?}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// The control for the test above: a client that starts in `Pending`
+    /// but genuinely never connects is exactly what `ensure_connected` is
+    /// specified to reject — proving the 503 above tracks the connection
+    /// state and is not simply what every call through this handler
+    /// returns. Same client shape, mode rejected before either queue or
+    /// store is touched, so it exercises a different early return
+    /// (`is_reserved_account`) and confirms the handler still validates
+    /// normally on a path that never reaches `ensure_connected`'s sibling
+    /// checks.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn a_reserved_account_name_is_still_refused_before_any_queue_check_matters() {
+        let reader = super::super::status::StatusReader::new(
+            disconnected_client().await,
+            std::time::Duration::from_mins(1),
+        );
+        let state = state_with_status(reader);
+
+        let result = super::put_matrix_account(
+            axum::extract::State(state),
+            axum::extract::Path(("pr1ma".to_owned(), "atlas".to_owned(), "main".to_owned())),
+            axum::Json(PutMatrixAccountRequest {
+                mode: "token".to_owned(),
+                token: Some("t0k3n".to_owned()),
+                user_id: None,
+                password: None,
+                homeserver: None,
+            }),
+        )
+        .await;
+
+        let problem = result.expect_err("'main' is reserved regardless of queue state");
+        assert_eq!(
+            problem.status,
+            Some(axum::http::StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST),
+            "{problem:?}"
+        );
+    }
 }
diff --git a/swarm-controller/src/webhook.rs b/swarm-controller/src/webhook.rs
index 3da6d8ae..bdaa9551 100644
--- a/swarm-controller/src/webhook.rs
+++ b/swarm-controller/src/webhook.rs
@@ -419,6 +419,16 @@ async fn announce_knowledge_change(state: &AppState) {
     let client = status.queue_client();
     let subject = swarm_queue_client::KNOWLEDGE_SUBJECT;
 
+    // A queue that is configured but not (yet, or no longer) connected does
+    // not fail `publish`/`flush` below outright — it *hangs* them, per
+    // `ensure_connected`'s own doc — and this fn is awaited inline from the
+    // webhook handler, so that hang would sit inside forgejo's own delivery
+    // timeout instead of failing soft the way every other branch here does.
+    if let Err(e) = swarm_queue_client::ensure_connected(&client) {
+        tracing::warn!(%subject, error = %e, "webhook: swarm queue is not connected; not publishing");
+        return;
+    }
+
     // One publish, not one per hive: every subscriber gets the same empty
     // event, so the roster is not consulted at all. The controller does not
     // need to know who the hives are in order to say the repository moved.