diff --git a/quartz/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/quartz/concord/cord02Community/ImagePointer.kt b/quartz/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/quartz/concord/cord02Community/ImagePointer.kt
index 8c194f660e..aa29780901 100644
--- a/quartz/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/quartz/concord/cord02Community/ImagePointer.kt
+++ b/quartz/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/quartz/concord/cord02Community/ImagePointer.kt
@@ -25,6 +25,11 @@ import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.core.toHexKey
 import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.utils.ciphers.AESGCM
 import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.utils.sha256.sha256
 import kotlinx.serialization.Serializable
+import kotlinx.serialization.json.JsonElement
+import kotlinx.serialization.json.JsonPrimitive
+import kotlinx.serialization.json.JsonTransformingSerializer
+import kotlinx.serialization.json.buildJsonObject
+import kotlinx.serialization.json.put
 
 /**
  * A CORD-02 §6 **encrypted-media** pointer (community/channel icon or banner). The media host stores
@@ -59,3 +64,20 @@ data class ImagePointer(
         return plaintext
     }
 }
+
+/**
+ * Decodes an [ImagePointer] that may arrive on the wire as either the canonical object
+ * `{"url":…,"key":…,"nonce":…,"hash":…}` or as a bare URL string. Some reference clients
+ * (e.g. relayop.xyz) emit a plain public URL for an unencrypted icon; a bare string is
+ * lifted to `ImagePointer(url=<string>)` (empty key/nonce/hash → [ImagePointer.isResolvable]
+ * is false, so it is treated as a plaintext image rather than an encrypted blob). Serialization
+ * is unchanged — we always emit the object form to stay Concord-v2 compliant.
+ */
+object LenientImagePointerSerializer : JsonTransformingSerializer<ImagePointer>(ImagePointer.serializer()) {
+    override fun transformDeserialize(element: JsonElement): JsonElement =
+        if (element is JsonPrimitive && element.isString) {
+            buildJsonObject { put("url", element.content) }
+        } else {
+            element
+        }
+}
diff --git a/quartz/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/quartz/concord/cord05Invites/CommunityInvite.kt b/quartz/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/quartz/concord/cord05Invites/CommunityInvite.kt
index 2cafcfe5f3..10bc1c2fbd 100644
--- a/quartz/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/quartz/concord/cord05Invites/CommunityInvite.kt
+++ b/quartz/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/quartz/concord/cord05Invites/CommunityInvite.kt
@@ -21,14 +21,21 @@
 package com.vitorpamplona.quartz.concord.cord05Invites
 
 import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.concord.cord02Community.ImagePointer
+import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.concord.cord02Community.LenientImagePointerSerializer
 import kotlinx.serialization.SerialName
 import kotlinx.serialization.Serializable
 
-/** A channel grant carried in an invite: its id, delivered [key], [epoch], and [name]. */
+/**
+ * A channel grant carried in an invite: its id, delivered [key], [epoch], and [name].
+ *
+ * [key] defaults to empty: a public channel (e.g. an unencrypted `general`) carries no
+ * delivered grant key, and some reference clients omit the field entirely. Treat an empty
+ * [key] as "no grant" rather than rejecting the whole bundle.
+ */
 @Serializable
 class InviteChannel(
     val id: String,
-    val key: String,
+    val key: String = "",
     val epoch: Long,
     val name: String = "",
 )
@@ -54,7 +61,7 @@ class CommunityInvite(
     val channels: List<InviteChannel> = emptyList(),
     val relays: List<String> = emptyList(),
     val name: String = "",
-    val icon: ImagePointer? = null,
+    @Serializable(with = LenientImagePointerSerializer::class) val icon: ImagePointer? = null,
     @SerialName("expires_at") val expiresAt: Long? = null,
     @SerialName("creator_npub") val creatorNpub: String? = null,
     val label: String? = null,
diff --git a/quartz/src/commonTest/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/quartz/concord/cord05Invites/ConcordInviteRelayopInteropTest.kt b/quartz/src/commonTest/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/quartz/concord/cord05Invites/ConcordInviteRelayopInteropTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..63bed6cb5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/quartz/src/commonTest/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/quartz/concord/cord05Invites/ConcordInviteRelayopInteropTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2025 Vitor Pamplona
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of
+ * this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in
+ * the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use,
+ * copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the
+ * Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,
+ * subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+ * copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS
+ * FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR
+ * COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
+ * AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
+ * WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+package com.vitorpamplona.quartz.concord.cord05Invites
+
+import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.core.Event
+import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.core.hexToByteArray
+import kotlin.test.Test
+import kotlin.test.assertEquals
+import kotlin.test.assertIs
+
+/**
+ * A real, live relayop.xyz kind-33301 invite bundle (`vsk=6`) that decrypts fine but whose
+ * plaintext diverges from quartz's model on two CORD-05 wire details: its `general` channel
+ * omits the per-channel `key`, and `icon` is a bare public URL string rather than an
+ * [com.vitorpamplona.quartz.concord.cord02Community.ImagePointer] object. Before the tolerant
+ * decode both made [ConcordInviteBundle.parse] return null, so the invite reported
+ * [InviteBundleStatus.Unreadable] instead of opening. It must now open [InviteBundleStatus.Live].
+ *
+ * This is a *distinct* interop failure from [ConcordInviteClassifyTest.realRelayopBundleIsUnreadable]
+ * (a mis-posted `vsk=8` registry at the coordinate): here the sub-kind, token, and crypto are all
+ * correct — only the JSON schema was too strict.
+ */
+class ConcordInviteRelayopInteropTest {
+    private val bundleJson =
+        """{"content": "AqQnNNWuadQ7DNwyb719TF5WVAfsswHSdf8LVvRACfliNlTf9dIHpCUhcJzkZAnyTkleBY/vzyJkcXuPfj5gsVtJXTeG45BhH/Mrz923t8lDEoFjuNqZwP0qD3Or/GPdeGh7TXYwlfZEHlefdovjbJ0J7unnY6bVIkiKdqhCgAiyhs1xQr8YN7g4B+1lvptP1J5fiXNZrdas+zSIvZTNpGTwC0/lPXUuxv8BwO7fjZDnaV9mqvcp2hVPmWZLwwZKpxB/uwcAQDGodIteukcF30idYTgWvon42H4ysbjU2/Hnd9C4I+gth4uT95wllENNtDLAX/FVJRMpOT5iYF6XDzSVhUS7cffKRjhevPrB4r9oTQobbhrkvC3Id2IZfL8R38j63ElEFyBeaI9wtZqN433eVawkNo3cjLAPlCiC3t+hUgFHpidgamyTKWrg+wT9KSVLB8OPtyAAFBpec3/c6T3Eaf/gS+TnbusmI3Ym0gWcsvd6WNPpEjA88YRgdIJWJuKpQlvV2O+OWroHdNnBSYe3qwcwsugJJYOXJqVaLc+cAA1L0KRLPcQa4poOZxCfNhB574oEHcn7ZyQK2yeZe4RfwTl6GesvwuGeHBLqKRjCPaBoynJoo8HOtqV1rRkibRCUDU5byTBS/s9TvufrLmu5DkY7ZsfkivgBTKAdNPlN/vgrV/pdkg8Fh/fMQ2qm+ET30eHCBAAZ6KAhKRaFZKgi2lTtCfzNxpz4cfxdRFIaXOLl1ajVuSNexP8kGg+NKLTkmvv2yDbjXmSlCohNoIuwD/kFG1yH3b3DbmFew6rVRSW15enyum1mcRFB6snWPigUN/RbKpLww5WGJCiABWgph1KJNct8Je5+T9TqkA8J0kAucjxD+IvYmdp1o/yMbjBrCcTZJh0x9CGhGA3G4hUX0HgmwJ2yq+noQa4qR0aoHYbgcecz2s5F7hnqCLrIPEOm8/+2qgekxkGbyirRQAF8mHeSJCP02sZV4VbWwdblWg0qZlsC5QbYRt5Zs5WfTzF3SdQkHpbIntX95JnlhxK5eW36+kr948FG8VNqFQAmc9UrqbGTaaHr78Cs5kgsjfc6FPdQw72VYrBBZlq0Y1XUY7rm+yBEF6BhTUOV83n0wmsStH34ZZnu4kt11pFp3GCk5TOxzNBlHI2SN6pn6qIqO9Mz9atwmq3q4nSKcyWVDSpIJAN/lvUWA/ja+l2gghiEGITRo9qjKZyrOYT7ZBwiS02TviGRvxj36dZ7SOwYQpwPnrw8dNNReQZaH2i6weEm", "created_at": 1784256213, "id": "73be636113d27d5e58b95e4f5db27a6f340cd56af9f44d1e480a948b4813a228", "kind": 33301, "pubkey": "2165cb2d743d28f26b02986eded6db864eca2d8441ec26e319ed7eafd62db4ec", "sig": "72475894de360d77c4fd924fde1e5109f3ce60953529f203fc19ab846c77e77f0fb6fac194414dfccc409bfa13ac895dfb075004fae3e6102c85dee6055d9e83", "tags": [["d", ""], ["vsk", "6"]]}"""
+
+    // The 16-byte unlock token from the link's #fragment.
+    private val token = "34656ab00097a2963e315b7e88bccd97".hexToByteArray()
+
+    @Test
+    fun realRelayopBundleWithStringIconAndKeylessChannelOpens() {
+        val event = Event.fromJson(bundleJson)
+
+        val invite = ConcordInviteBundle.parse(event, token)
+        assertIs<CommunityInvite>(invite, "bundle must decrypt + deserialize despite string icon / keyless channel")
+        assertEquals("3rd times a charm?", invite.name)
+        assertEquals("3e6397fa824183b8b0eb2918eb7f038e26239cef376602dced9470b18352f296", invite.communityId)
+        // The keyless public channel survived decoding with an empty grant key.
+        assertEquals(1, invite.channels.size)
+        assertEquals("general", invite.channels[0].name)
+        assertEquals("", invite.channels[0].key)
+        // The bare-URL icon was lifted into a plaintext (non-encrypted) ImagePointer.
+        assertEquals("https://blossom.primal.net/a85a6b8f68cf602591b16846e1605f8034587b7220b44d7076d09f5e3bf5af71.jpg", invite.icon?.url)
+        assertEquals(false, invite.icon?.isResolvable())
+
+        val status = ConcordInviteBundle.classify(listOf(event), token)
+        assertIs<InviteBundleStatus.Live>(status)
+        assertEquals("3rd times a charm?", status.invite.name)
+    }
+}