Improve Nostr sync failure messaging for offline mode

memory-update.md

@@ -25,3 +25,15 @@
 - Added `docs/nostr_namespace_reset.md` documenting menu options `8` (reset sync state) and `9` (start fresh namespace), plus validation steps for robust publish/restore.
 - Linked the new guide from `docs/nostr_setup.md`, `docs/README.md`, and root `README.md`.
 - Exposed the guide in website docs navigation via `landing/docs.html` (`Nostr Namespace Reset`).
+
+## Nostr sync failure after namespace increment
+- Root-cause pattern: when profile `offline_mode` is enabled, `sync_vault_async()` exits early and previously returned `None` without a helpful message, so UI showed only `❌ Sync failed…`.
+- Fixes:
+  - `PasswordManager.sync_vault_async()` now sets `nostr_client.last_error` for early-return cases (`offline_mode`, missing encrypted index, and missing publish result).
+  - `main.handle_post_to_nostr()` now explicitly reports offline mode when no detailed error is present.
+- Regression tests added:
+  - `src/tests/test_post_sync_messages.py::test_handle_post_failure_offline_mode_message`
+  - `src/tests/test_background_vault_sync_paths.py::test_sync_vault_async_sets_offline_error`
+- Verified with local venv:
+  - `./.venv/bin/pytest -q src/tests/test_post_sync_messages.py`
+  - `./.venv/bin/pytest -q src/tests/test_background_vault_sync_paths.py`

src/main.py

@@ -431,6 +431,10 @@ def handle_post_to_nostr(
             if detail:
                 print(colored(f"\N{CROSS MARK} Sync failed… {detail}", "red"))
                 logging.error("Failed to post encrypted index to Nostr: %s", detail)
+            elif getattr(password_manager, "offline_mode", False):
+                detail = "Offline mode is enabled. Disable it in Settings to sync."
+                print(colored(f"\N{CROSS MARK} Sync failed… {detail}", "red"))
+                logging.error("Failed to post encrypted index to Nostr: %s", detail)
             else:
                 print(colored("\N{CROSS MARK} Sync failed…", "red"))
                 logging.error("Failed to post encrypted index to Nostr.")

src/seedpass/core/manager.py

@@ -3930,11 +3930,20 @@ class PasswordManager:
     ) -> dict[str, list[str] | str] | None:
         """Publish the current vault contents to Nostr and return event IDs."""
         try:
+            client = getattr(self, "nostr_client", None)
             if getattr(self, "offline_mode", False):
+                if client is not None and hasattr(client, "last_error"):
+                    client.last_error = (
+                        "Offline mode is enabled. Disable it in Settings to sync."
+                    )
                 return None
             encrypted = self.get_encrypted_data()
             if not encrypted:
+                if client is not None and hasattr(client, "last_error"):
+                    client.last_error = "No encrypted index data available to sync."
                 return None
+            if client is not None and hasattr(client, "last_error"):
+                client.last_error = None
             pub_snap = getattr(self.nostr_client, "publish_snapshot", None)
             manifest = None
             event_id = None
@@ -3948,6 +3957,14 @@ class PasswordManager:
                 event_id = await self.nostr_client.publish_json_to_nostr(encrypted)
             self.is_dirty = False
             if event_id is None:
+                if (
+                    client is not None
+                    and hasattr(client, "last_error")
+                    and not client.last_error
+                ):
+                    client.last_error = (
+                        "Failed to publish encrypted index to configured relays."
+                    )
                 return None
             chunk_ids: list[str] = []
             if manifest is not None:

src/tests/test_background_vault_sync_paths.py

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import asyncio
+from types import SimpleNamespace
 
 from seedpass.core.manager import PasswordManager
 from seedpass.core import manager as manager_module
@@ -56,3 +57,16 @@ def test_start_background_vault_sync_async_worker_path(monkeypatch):
 
     assert ("sync_started",) in events
     assert ("sync_finished", {"alt_summary": "async-path"}) in events
+
+
+def test_sync_vault_async_sets_offline_error():
+    pm = PasswordManager.__new__(PasswordManager)
+    pm.offline_mode = True
+    pm.nostr_client = SimpleNamespace(last_error=None)
+
+    result = asyncio.run(pm.sync_vault_async())
+
+    assert result is None
+    assert pm.nostr_client.last_error == (
+        "Offline mode is enabled. Disable it in Settings to sync."
+    )

src/tests/test_post_sync_messages.py

@@ -41,6 +41,16 @@ def test_handle_post_failure_shows_nostr_error(capsys):
     assert "❌ Sync failed… Manifest out of date" in out
 
 
+def test_handle_post_failure_offline_mode_message(capsys):
+    pm = SimpleNamespace(
+        sync_vault=lambda alt_summary=None: None,
+        offline_mode=True,
+    )
+    main.handle_post_to_nostr(pm)
+    out = capsys.readouterr().out
+    assert "Offline mode is enabled. Disable it in Settings to sync." in out
+
+
 def test_handle_post_prints_all_ids(capsys):
     pm = SimpleNamespace(
         sync_vault=lambda alt_summary=None: {