diff --git a/apps/cli/package.json b/apps/cli/package.json
index 2e2d0f6..f893c30 100644
--- a/apps/cli/package.json
+++ b/apps/cli/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "claudemesh-cli",
-  "version": "1.36.0",
+  "version": "1.37.0",
   "description": "Peer mesh for Claude Code sessions — CLI + MCP server.",
   "keywords": [
     "claude-code",
diff --git a/apps/cli/src/commands/peers.ts b/apps/cli/src/commands/peers.ts
index 33022a4..541cfaa 100644
--- a/apps/cli/src/commands/peers.ts
+++ b/apps/cli/src/commands/peers.ts
@@ -241,14 +241,6 @@ export async function runPeers(flags: PeersFlags): Promise<void> {
     try {
       const peers = await listPeersForMesh(slug);
 
-      if (wantsJson) {
-        const projected = fieldList
-          ? peers.map((p) => projectFields(p, fieldList))
-          : peers;
-        allJson.push({ mesh: slug, peers: projected });
-        continue;
-      }
-
       // Hide control-plane rows by default — they're infrastructure
       // (daemon-WS member-keyed presence), not interactive peers, and
       // they confused users into thinking the daemon counted as a
@@ -258,10 +250,22 @@ export async function runPeers(flags: PeersFlags): Promise<void> {
       // 2026-05-04). annotateSelf() filled in 'session' for older
       // brokers that don't emit peerRole yet, so this filter is
       // backwards-compatible by construction — legacy rows show up.
+      //
+      // Applied to JSON too (was human-output-only): `peer list --json`
+      // leaking the daemon's control-plane row is what made the daemon
+      // look like an addressable peer and sent DMs into a black hole.
       const visible = flags.all
         ? peers
         : peers.filter((p) => p.peerRole !== "control-plane");
 
+      if (wantsJson) {
+        const projected = fieldList
+          ? visible.map((p) => projectFields(p, fieldList))
+          : visible;
+        allJson.push({ mesh: slug, peers: projected });
+        continue;
+      }
+
       // Sort: this-session first, then your-other-sessions, then real
       // peers. Within each group, idle/working ahead of dnd. Inside the
       // groups, leave broker order. The point is: when you run peer
diff --git a/apps/cli/src/commands/send.ts b/apps/cli/src/commands/send.ts
index e2aa262..49a9785 100644
--- a/apps/cli/src/commands/send.ts
+++ b/apps/cli/src/commands/send.ts
@@ -78,6 +78,11 @@ export async function runSend(flags: SendFlags, to: string, message: string): Pr
       if (peers === null) continue; // daemon unreachable for this query
       daemonReachable = true;
       for (const p of peers) {
+        // Never resolve a name/prefix to a control-plane daemon row — it's
+        // infrastructure, not an addressable peer, and matching it sends a
+        // DM that the daemon swallows. (peerRole is the reliable marker;
+        // the daemon's own row is control-plane.)
+        if ((p as { peerRole?: string }).peerRole === "control-plane") continue;
         const pk = ((p as { pubkey?: string }).pubkey ?? "").toLowerCase();
         const mpk = ((p as { memberPubkey?: string }).memberPubkey ?? "").toLowerCase();
         const dn = (p as { displayName?: string }).displayName ?? "?";
@@ -165,10 +170,14 @@ export async function runSend(flags: SendFlags, to: string, message: string): Pr
         const session = await getSessionInfo();
         const ownSessionPk = session?.presence?.sessionPubkey?.toLowerCase();
         const siblings = peers.filter((p) => {
-          const r = p as { memberPubkey?: string; pubkey?: string; channel?: string };
+          const r = p as { memberPubkey?: string; pubkey?: string; channel?: string; peerRole?: string };
           if (!r.pubkey) return false;
           if (ownSessionPk && r.pubkey.toLowerCase() === ownSessionPk) return false;
-          if (r.channel === "claudemesh-daemon") return false;
+          // Exclude the daemon's own control-plane presence row. peerRole is
+          // the reliable marker (the live daemon row is control-plane even
+          // when its channel reads "claudemesh-session"); keep the channel
+          // check too for older brokers that don't emit peerRole.
+          if (r.peerRole === "control-plane" || r.channel === "claudemesh-daemon") return false;
           return r.memberPubkey?.toLowerCase() === to.toLowerCase();
         });
         if (siblings.length === 0) {
@@ -214,6 +223,45 @@ export async function runSend(flags: SendFlags, to: string, message: string): Pr
     }
   }
 
+  // --self only governs the own-member-key fan-out above, which returns
+  // early. Reaching here with --self still set means the target was NOT
+  // your own member pubkey, so the flag did nothing. Say so rather than
+  // ignoring it silently — the old behavior made `send --self <session-
+  // pubkey>` look like it controlled routing when it was inert. Messaging
+  // a specific session pubkey (including one of your own sibling sessions)
+  // needs no flag and just works.
+  if (flags.self) {
+    render.warn("--self had no effect: it only applies when the target is your own member pubkey (fan-out to your sibling sessions). Sending to this specific pubkey directly.");
+  }
+
+  // Honest-delivery pre-check (direct sends only). The daemon path below
+  // queues into the local outbox and returns `queued` optimistically; the
+  // drain then delivers async and retries failures (incl. "no connected
+  // peer") forever. So a bare "sent" line was misleading — a DM to an
+  // offline or stale-session-key target looked delivered but never was.
+  // Resolve the live roster once to learn whether `to` is addressable
+  // right now; this only shapes the confirmation wording (the send still
+  // queues regardless, preserving store-and-forward for genuinely-offline
+  // peers). null = unknown (not a direct DM, or daemon unreachable).
+  let recipientOnline: boolean | null = null;
+  let recipientName: string | undefined;
+  if (isDirect && meshSlug) {
+    const { tryListPeersViaDaemon } = await import("~/services/bridge/daemon-route.js");
+    const peers = await tryListPeersViaDaemon(meshSlug);
+    if (peers !== null) {
+      const lower = to.toLowerCase();
+      const match = peers.find((p) => {
+        const r = p as { pubkey?: string; memberPubkey?: string; peerRole?: string };
+        if (r.peerRole === "control-plane") return false;
+        return r.pubkey?.toLowerCase() === lower || r.memberPubkey?.toLowerCase() === lower;
+      });
+      recipientOnline = !!match;
+      recipientName = match ? (match as { displayName?: string }).displayName : undefined;
+    }
+  }
+  const offlineHint =
+    "Session pubkeys are ephemeral — a key from an ended session never reconnects, so the message can't be delivered. Re-fetch a live target with `claudemesh peer list --json`.";
+
   // Daemon path — preferred when a long-lived daemon is local. UDS at
   // ~/.claudemesh/daemon/daemon.sock; ~1ms round-trip; persists outbox
   // across CLI invocations so a `claudemesh send` survives a daemon
@@ -222,8 +270,18 @@ export async function runSend(flags: SendFlags, to: string, message: string): Pr
     const dr = await trySendViaDaemon({ to, message, priority, expectedMesh: meshSlug ?? undefined });
     if (dr !== null) {
       if (dr.ok) {
-        if (flags.json) console.log(JSON.stringify({ ok: true, messageId: dr.messageId, target: to, via: "daemon", duplicate: !!dr.duplicate }));
-        else render.ok(`sent to ${to} (daemon)`, dr.messageId ? dim(dr.messageId.slice(0, 8)) : undefined);
+        if (flags.json) {
+          console.log(JSON.stringify({ ok: true, messageId: dr.messageId, target: to, via: "daemon", duplicate: !!dr.duplicate, status: dr.status, recipientOnline }));
+        } else if (recipientOnline === false) {
+          render.warn(`queued for ${recipientName ?? to.slice(0, 16) + "…"} — no connected peer matches this key on "${meshSlug}".`);
+          render.hint(offlineHint);
+        } else {
+          const who = recipientName ? `${recipientName} (${to.slice(0, 16)}…)` : to;
+          // recipientOnline === true → peer is present, delivery imminent.
+          // null → daemon couldn't tell (e.g. roster query failed); keep
+          // the neutral "(daemon)" transport tag rather than overclaiming.
+          render.ok(`sent to ${who}${recipientOnline === true ? " (online)" : " (daemon)"}`, dr.messageId ? dim(dr.messageId.slice(0, 8)) : undefined);
+        }
         return;
       }
       // Daemon answered but rejected (409 idempotency, 400 schema). Surface; do not fall through.
@@ -269,9 +327,13 @@ export async function runSend(flags: SendFlags, to: string, message: string): Pr
     const result = await client.send(targetSpec, message, priority);
     if (result.ok) {
       if (flags.json) {
-        console.log(JSON.stringify({ ok: true, messageId: result.messageId, target: to }));
+        console.log(JSON.stringify({ ok: true, messageId: result.messageId, target: to, recipientOnline }));
+      } else if (recipientOnline === false) {
+        render.warn(`queued for ${recipientName ?? to} — no connected peer matches this key on "${meshSlug ?? flags.mesh ?? "default"}".`);
+        render.hint(offlineHint);
       } else {
-        render.ok(`sent to ${to}`, result.messageId ? dim(result.messageId.slice(0, 8)) : undefined);
+        const who = recipientName ? `${recipientName} (${to.slice(0, 16)}…)` : to;
+        render.ok(`sent to ${who}${recipientOnline === true ? " (online)" : ""}`, result.messageId ? dim(result.messageId.slice(0, 8)) : undefined);
       }
     } else {
       if (flags.json) {
diff --git a/apps/cli/src/daemon/session-broker.ts b/apps/cli/src/daemon/session-broker.ts
index 4a49774..ed1158a 100644
--- a/apps/cli/src/daemon/session-broker.ts
+++ b/apps/cli/src/daemon/session-broker.ts
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
 import { hostname as osHostname } from "node:os";
 
 import type { JoinedMesh } from "~/services/config/facade.js";
-import { signSessionHello } from "~/services/broker/session-hello-sig.js";
+import { signSessionHello, signParentAttestation } from "~/services/broker/session-hello-sig.js";
 import { connectWsWithBackoff, type WsLifecycle, type WsStatus } from "./ws-lifecycle.js";
 import type { BrokerSendArgs, BrokerSendResult } from "./broker.js";
 
@@ -149,13 +149,35 @@ export class SessionBrokerClient {
           sessionPubkey: this.opts.sessionPubkey,
           sessionSecretKey: this.opts.sessionSecretKey,
         });
+        // Re-mint the parent attestation fresh on every (re)connect rather
+        // than reusing the one signed at `claudemesh launch`. The minted
+        // attestation has a 12h TTL; reusing the stored instance meant any
+        // reconnect past launch+12h — a network blip, a sleep/wake, or
+        // (most commonly) a broker redeploy that drops every WS at once —
+        // was rejected by the broker with `expired`, after which the daemon
+        // reconnect-looped forever with the same dead token and the session
+        // silently fell off the mesh (its ephemeral pubkey lingering in
+        // peer rosters, undeliverable). The member secret key is in memory
+        // (`mesh.secretKey`, already used at daemon rehydration), so the
+        // daemon can self-renew: fresh-minting keeps live attestations
+        // short-lived AND makes presence self-healing across reconnects.
+        let parentAttestation = this.opts.parentAttestation;
+        try {
+          parentAttestation = await signParentAttestation({
+            parentMemberPubkey: this.opts.mesh.pubkey,
+            parentSecretKey: this.opts.mesh.secretKey,
+            sessionPubkey: this.opts.sessionPubkey,
+          });
+        } catch (e) {
+          this.log("warn", "parent attestation re-mint failed; reusing stored token (may be expired)", { err: String(e) });
+        }
         return {
           type: "session_hello",
           meshId: this.opts.mesh.meshId,
           parentMemberId: this.opts.mesh.memberId,
           parentMemberPubkey: this.opts.mesh.pubkey,
           sessionPubkey: this.opts.sessionPubkey,
-          parentAttestation: this.opts.parentAttestation,
+          parentAttestation,
           displayName: this.opts.displayName,
           sessionId: this.opts.sessionId,
           pid: this.opts.pid,