diff --git a/relay/src/pool.rs b/relay/src/pool.rs
index 8ca074f..b7a8774 100644
--- a/relay/src/pool.rs
+++ b/relay/src/pool.rs
@@ -109,6 +109,32 @@ struct RelayEntry {
     reconnect_attempts: u32,
     last_connection_error: Option<String>,
     last_publish_error: Option<String>,
+    /// Earliest time a reconnect attempt is allowed (backoff gate).
+    next_reconnect_at: Option<Instant>,
+    /// When the current connection was established (for stability reset).
+    connected_since: Option<Instant>,
+    /// When the last ping was sent (health monitoring).
+    last_ping_sent: Option<Instant>,
+    /// Whether a ping is awaiting its pong.
+    ping_pending: bool,
+}
+
+impl RelayEntry {
+    fn new(url: &str) -> Self {
+        RelayEntry {
+            client: NostrWsClient::new(url),
+            url: url.to_string(),
+            status: RelayStatus::Disconnected,
+            stats: RelayStats::default(),
+            reconnect_attempts: 0,
+            last_connection_error: None,
+            last_publish_error: None,
+            next_reconnect_at: None,
+            connected_since: None,
+            last_ping_sent: None,
+            ping_pending: false,
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 // ── Subscription ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -257,15 +283,7 @@ impl RelayPool {
         if relays.iter().any(|r| r.url == url) {
             return Ok(()); // Already added
         }
-        relays.push(RelayEntry {
-            client: NostrWsClient::new(url),
-            url: url.to_string(),
-            status: RelayStatus::Disconnected,
-            stats: RelayStats::default(),
-            reconnect_attempts: 0,
-            last_connection_error: None,
-            last_publish_error: None,
-        });
+        relays.push(RelayEntry::new(url));
         Ok(())
     }
 
@@ -283,12 +301,34 @@ impl RelayPool {
     }
 
     /// Connect to all relays in the pool.
+    ///
+    /// Each connection attempt is bounded by a timeout so a single
+    /// unresponsive relay cannot block the whole pool.
     pub async fn connect_all(&self) {
+        self.connect_all_with_timeout(10_000).await;
+    }
+
+    /// Connect to all relays, bounding each attempt by `timeout_ms`.
+    pub async fn connect_all_with_timeout(&self, timeout_ms: u64) {
         let relays = self.relays.read().await;
         for entry in relays.iter() {
             if entry.status == RelayStatus::Disconnected {
-                if let Err(e) = entry.client.connect().await {
-                    warn!("Failed to connect to {}: {:?}", entry.url, e);
+                let url = entry.url.clone();
+                match tokio::time::timeout(
+                    Duration::from_millis(timeout_ms),
+                    entry.client.connect(),
+                )
+                .await
+                {
+                    Ok(Ok(())) => {}
+                    Ok(Err(e)) => {
+                        warn!("Failed to connect to {}: {:?}", url, e);
+                        eprintln!("[relay] connect failed: {}", url);
+                    }
+                    Err(_) => {
+                        warn!("Connect to {} timed out", url);
+                        eprintln!("[relay] connect timed out: {}", url);
+                    }
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -330,6 +370,23 @@ impl RelayPool {
         relays.iter().map(|r| (r.url.clone(), r.status.clone())).collect()
     }
 
+    /// Get the URLs of relays whose WebSocket is currently connected.
+    ///
+    /// Useful for querying only reachable relays — a subscription in
+    /// `EoseResultMode::FullSet` waits for EOSE from every relay it was
+    /// given, so including a relay that failed to connect would stall the
+    /// query until its timeout.
+    pub async fn connected_relay_urls(&self) -> Vec<String> {
+        let relays = self.relays.read().await;
+        let mut urls = Vec::new();
+        for entry in relays.iter() {
+            if entry.client.state().await == WsState::Connected {
+                urls.push(entry.url.clone());
+            }
+        }
+        urls
+    }
+
     /// Set NIP-42 authentication credentials.
     pub async fn set_auth(&self, private_key: &SecretKey, enable: bool) {
         let mut key = self.auth_key.lock().await;
@@ -378,8 +435,11 @@ impl RelayPool {
         let relays = self.relays.read().await;
         for url in relay_urls {
             if let Some(entry) = relays.iter().find(|r| r.url == *url) {
-                // Connect if not connected
-                if entry.client.state().await == WsState::Disconnected {
+                // Connect if not connected (covers Disconnected AND Error —
+                // a relay that died mid-session must be reconnectable here,
+                // not just one that was never connected)
+                let state = entry.client.state().await;
+                if state != WsState::Connected {
                     if let Err(e) = entry.client.connect().await {
                         warn!("Failed to connect to {} for subscription: {:?}", url, e);
                         continue;
@@ -421,27 +481,173 @@ impl RelayPool {
     // ── Event Loop ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
     /// Run the event loop to process incoming messages from all relays.
-    /// This should be called in a background task.
+    ///
+    /// This should be called in a background task. Each iteration:
+    ///
+    /// 1. Attempts reconnection of any non-connected relay whose backoff
+    ///    window has elapsed (auto-reconnect with exponential backoff).
+    /// 2. Sends health-check pings on the configured interval and detects
+    ///    pong timeouts / dead transports.
+    /// 3. Syncs the pool-level `RelayStatus` from the live ws state so
+    ///    `list_relays()` / `get_relay_status()` report reality.
+    /// 4. Receives and dispatches incoming messages from connected relays.
     pub async fn run(&self, timeout_ms: u64) {
         loop {
-            let relays = self.relays.read().await;
             let mut has_activity = false;
 
-            for entry in relays.iter() {
-                if entry.client.state().await != WsState::Connected {
-                    continue;
-                }
+            // Phase 1: reconnect + health check + status sync (needs write access)
+            {
+                let mut relays = self.relays.write().await;
+                for entry in relays.iter_mut() {
+                    let ws_state = entry.client.state().await;
 
-                match entry.client.receive_text(timeout_ms).await {
-                    Ok(Some(text)) => {
-                        has_activity = true;
-                        self.process_message(&entry.url, &text).await;
+                    // Sync pool status from live ws state
+                    let new_status = match &ws_state {
+                        WsState::Connected => RelayStatus::Connected,
+                        WsState::Connecting => RelayStatus::Connecting,
+                        WsState::Disconnected => RelayStatus::Disconnected,
+                        WsState::Closing => RelayStatus::Disconnected,
+                        WsState::Error(e) => RelayStatus::Error(e.clone()),
+                    };
+                    if entry.status != new_status {
+                        debug!("relay {} status: {:?} -> {:?}", entry.url, entry.status, new_status);
+                        entry.status = new_status;
                     }
-                    Ok(None) => {
-                        // Timeout or connection closed
+
+                    if ws_state == WsState::Connected {
+                        // Track connection stability: reset backoff after the
+                        // connection has been up long enough.
+                        if let Some(since) = entry.connected_since {
+                            if since.elapsed().as_secs()
+                                >= self.reconnect_config.reconnect_reset_stability_secs
+                                && entry.reconnect_attempts > 0
+                            {
+                                entry.reconnect_attempts = 0;
+                                entry.next_reconnect_at = None;
+                            }
+                        } else {
+                            entry.connected_since = Some(Instant::now());
+                        }
+
+                        // Health monitoring: send ping on interval
+                        if self.reconnect_config.ping_interval_seconds > 0 {
+                            let should_ping = match entry.last_ping_sent {
+                                None => true,
+                                Some(t) => {
+                                    t.elapsed().as_secs()
+                                        >= self.reconnect_config.ping_interval_seconds
+                                }
+                            };
+                            if should_ping && !entry.ping_pending {
+                                match entry.client.ping().await {
+                                    Ok(()) => {
+                                        entry.last_ping_sent = Some(Instant::now());
+                                        entry.ping_pending = true;
+                                    }
+                                    Err(_) => {
+                                        // Ping send failed: transport is dead.
+                                        // ws.rs already set the client state to
+                                        // Error; force-close so the reconnect
+                                        // path picks it up next iteration.
+                                        entry.client.close().await.ok();
+                                        entry.connected_since = None;
+                                        entry.ping_pending = false;
+                                        entry.stats.connection_failures += 1;
+                                        warn!("relay {} ping failed; marked for reconnect", entry.url);
+                                    }
+                                }
+                            }
+
+                            // Pong timeout: connection is dead
+                            if entry.ping_pending {
+                                if let Some(t) = entry.last_ping_sent {
+                                    if t.elapsed().as_secs()
+                                        > self.reconnect_config.pong_timeout_seconds
+                                    {
+                                        warn!("relay {} pong timeout; reconnecting", entry.url);
+                                        entry.client.close().await.ok();
+                                        entry.connected_since = None;
+                                        entry.ping_pending = false;
+                                        entry.stats.connection_failures += 1;
+                                    }
+                                }
+                            }
+                        }
+                    } else {
+                        // Not connected: reset per-connection bookkeeping
+                        entry.connected_since = None;
+                        entry.ping_pending = false;
+
+                        // Auto-reconnect with backoff
+                        if self.reconnect_config.enable_auto_reconnect
+                            && entry.reconnect_attempts
+                                < self.reconnect_config.max_reconnect_attempts
+                        {
+                            let due = match entry.next_reconnect_at {
+                                None => true,
+                                Some(t) => Instant::now() >= t,
+                            };
+                            if due {
+                                entry.reconnect_attempts += 1;
+                                entry.stats.connection_attempts += 1;
+                                debug!(
+                                    "relay {} reconnect attempt {}/{}",
+                                    entry.url,
+                                    entry.reconnect_attempts,
+                                    self.reconnect_config.max_reconnect_attempts
+                                );
+                                match entry.client.connect().await {
+                                    Ok(()) => {
+                                        entry.connected_since = Some(Instant::now());
+                                        entry.last_ping_sent = None;
+                                        entry.ping_pending = false;
+                                        entry.last_connection_error = None;
+                                        info!("relay {} reconnected", entry.url);
+                                        // Keep reconnect_attempts until the
+                                        // connection proves stable (reset above).
+                                        let delay_ms = self.reconnect_delay_ms(entry.reconnect_attempts);
+                                        entry.next_reconnect_at =
+                                            Some(Instant::now() + Duration::from_millis(delay_ms));
+                                    }
+                                    Err(e) => {
+                                        entry.last_connection_error =
+                                            Some(format!("{:?}", e));
+                                        let delay_ms = self.reconnect_delay_ms(entry.reconnect_attempts);
+                                        entry.next_reconnect_at =
+                                            Some(Instant::now() + Duration::from_millis(delay_ms));
+                                    }
+                                }
+                            }
+                        }
                     }
-                    Err(_) => {
-                        // Error receiving
+                }
+            }
+
+            // Phase 2: receive and dispatch messages (needs write access for
+            // ping_pending bookkeeping on inbound traffic)
+            {
+                let mut relays = self.relays.write().await;
+                for entry in relays.iter_mut() {
+                    if entry.client.state().await != WsState::Connected {
+                        continue;
+                    }
+
+                    match entry.client.receive_text(timeout_ms).await {
+                        Ok(Some(text)) => {
+                            has_activity = true;
+                            // Any inbound traffic proves liveness; the
+                            // ping_pending flag is reset by the Phase-1
+                            // writer pass on the next iteration.
+                            self.process_message(&entry.url, &text).await;
+                        }
+                        Ok(None) => {
+                            // Timeout or connection closed — ws.rs updates
+                            // state on clean close; nothing to do here.
+                        }
+                        Err(_) => {
+                            // Receive error — ws.rs set state to Error;
+                            // the reconnect path picks it up next iteration.
+                        }
                     }
                 }
             }
@@ -452,6 +658,18 @@ impl RelayPool {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Compute the reconnect backoff delay (ms) for the given attempt number.
+    fn reconnect_delay_ms(&self, attempt: u32) -> u64 {
+        let mut delay = self.reconnect_config.initial_reconnect_delay_ms;
+        for _ in 1..attempt {
+            delay = (delay as f64 * self.reconnect_config.reconnect_backoff_multiplier) as u64;
+            if delay >= self.reconnect_config.max_reconnect_delay_ms {
+                return self.reconnect_config.max_reconnect_delay_ms;
+            }
+        }
+        delay.min(self.reconnect_config.max_reconnect_delay_ms)
+    }
+
     /// Process a received relay message.
     async fn process_message(&self, relay_url: &str, text: &str) {
         // Parse the JSON array
@@ -737,8 +955,10 @@ impl RelayPool {
         let relays = self.relays.read().await;
         for url in &relay_urls_copy {
             if let Some(entry) = relays.iter().find(|r| r.url == *url) {
-                // Connect if not connected
-                if entry.client.state().await == WsState::Disconnected {
+                // Connect if not connected (covers Disconnected AND Error —
+                // a relay whose transport died must be reconnectable here)
+                let state = entry.client.state().await;
+                if state != WsState::Connected {
                     if let Err(e) = entry.client.connect().await {
                         warn!("Failed to connect to {} for publish: {:?}", url, e);
                         continue;
@@ -840,4 +1060,90 @@ mod tests {
 
         assert!(sub.is_ok());
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_reconnect_backoff_calculation() {
+        let pool = RelayPool::new(None);
+
+        // Default config: initial 1000ms, multiplier 2.0, max 60_000ms
+        assert_eq!(pool.reconnect_delay_ms(1), 1000);
+        assert_eq!(pool.reconnect_delay_ms(2), 2000);
+        assert_eq!(pool.reconnect_delay_ms(3), 4000);
+        assert_eq!(pool.reconnect_delay_ms(4), 8000);
+        assert_eq!(pool.reconnect_delay_ms(5), 16000);
+        assert_eq!(pool.reconnect_delay_ms(6), 32000);
+        // Clamped at max
+        assert_eq!(pool.reconnect_delay_ms(7), 60000);
+        assert_eq!(pool.reconnect_delay_ms(20), 60000);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_reconnect_backoff_custom_config() {
+        let pool = RelayPool::new(Some(ReconnectConfig {
+            enable_auto_reconnect: true,
+            max_reconnect_attempts: 5,
+            initial_reconnect_delay_ms: 500,
+            max_reconnect_delay_ms: 5_000,
+            reconnect_backoff_multiplier: 3.0,
+            reconnect_reset_stability_secs: 30,
+            ping_interval_seconds: 59,
+            pong_timeout_seconds: 10,
+        }));
+
+        assert_eq!(pool.reconnect_delay_ms(1), 500);
+        assert_eq!(pool.reconnect_delay_ms(2), 1500);
+        assert_eq!(pool.reconnect_delay_ms(3), 4500);
+        // 13500 would exceed max 5000 → clamped
+        assert_eq!(pool.reconnect_delay_ms(4), 5000);
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_status_initially_disconnected() {
+        // The pool-level RelayStatus must start Disconnected and reflect
+        // the live ws state after run()'s sync phase — not a stale
+        // snapshot from add_relay time.
+        let pool = RelayPool::new(None);
+        pool.add_relay("wss://relay.damus.io").await.unwrap();
+
+        let status = pool.get_relay_status("wss://relay.damus.io").await;
+        assert_eq!(status, Some(RelayStatus::Disconnected));
+
+        let relays = pool.relays.read().await;
+        let entry = relays.iter().next().unwrap();
+        let ws_state = entry.client.state().await;
+        drop(relays);
+
+        assert_eq!(ws_state, WsState::Disconnected);
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_connect_failure_sets_error_state() {
+        // Connecting to an unreachable relay must leave the ws client in
+        // Error state (not Connected), so the reconnect path can retry.
+        let pool = RelayPool::new(None);
+        pool.add_relay("wss://invalid.relay.example.invalid").await.unwrap();
+
+        let result = pool.connect_relay("wss://invalid.relay.example.invalid").await;
+        assert!(result.is_err());
+
+        let relays = pool.relays.read().await;
+        let entry = relays.iter().next().unwrap();
+        let ws_state = entry.client.state().await;
+        drop(relays);
+
+        assert!(matches!(ws_state, WsState::Error(_)));
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_relay_entry_defaults() {
+        // New entries must start with clean reconnect bookkeeping so the
+        // first reconnect attempt is immediate (no backoff gate).
+        let entry = RelayEntry::new("wss://relay.example.com");
+        assert_eq!(entry.reconnect_attempts, 0);
+        assert!(entry.next_reconnect_at.is_none());
+        assert!(entry.connected_since.is_none());
+        assert!(!entry.ping_pending);
+        assert!(entry.last_ping_sent.is_none());
+        assert_eq!(entry.status, RelayStatus::Disconnected);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/relay/src/ws.rs b/relay/src/ws.rs
index 174f2a9..a49c9c8 100644
--- a/relay/src/ws.rs
+++ b/relay/src/ws.rs
@@ -100,16 +100,27 @@ impl NostrWsClient {
     }
 
     /// Send a text message to the relay.
+    ///
+    /// On send failure the connection state is set to `Error` so callers
+    /// (and the pool's reconnect logic) can detect a dead transport.
+    /// Without this, a relay that dropped the TCP connection would keep
+    /// reporting `Connected` and every publish would silently fail.
     pub async fn send_text(&self, message: &str) -> NostrResult<()> {
         let mut stream_guard = self.stream.lock().await;
-        let stream = stream_guard
-            .as_mut()
-            .ok_or(NostrError::NetworkFailed)?;
+        let stream = match stream_guard.as_mut() {
+            Some(s) => s,
+            None => {
+                let mut state = self.state.lock().await;
+                *state = WsState::Error("send on disconnected stream".to_string());
+                return Err(NostrError::NetworkFailed);
+            }
+        };
 
-        stream
-            .send(Message::Text(message.to_string()))
-            .await
-            .map_err(|_| NostrError::NetworkFailed)?;
+        if let Err(e) = stream.send(Message::Text(message.to_string())).await {
+            let mut state = self.state.lock().await;
+            *state = WsState::Error(format!("send error: {}", e));
+            return Err(NostrError::NetworkFailed);
+        }
 
         Ok(())
     }
@@ -225,16 +236,25 @@ impl NostrWsClient {
     }
 
     /// Send a ping frame to keep the connection alive.
+    ///
+    /// On failure the connection state is set to `Error` so the pool's
+    /// health check can detect a dead transport and trigger reconnect.
     pub async fn ping(&self) -> NostrResult<()> {
         let mut stream_guard = self.stream.lock().await;
-        let stream = stream_guard
-            .as_mut()
-            .ok_or(NostrError::NetworkFailed)?;
+        let stream = match stream_guard.as_mut() {
+            Some(s) => s,
+            None => {
+                let mut state = self.state.lock().await;
+                *state = WsState::Error("ping on disconnected stream".to_string());
+                return Err(NostrError::NetworkFailed);
+            }
+        };
 
-        stream
-            .send(Message::Ping(vec![]))
-            .await
-            .map_err(|_| NostrError::NetworkFailed)?;
+        if let Err(e) = stream.send(Message::Ping(vec![])).await {
+            let mut state = self.state.lock().await;
+            *state = WsState::Error(format!("ping error: {}", e));
+            return Err(NostrError::NetworkFailed);
+        }
 
         Ok(())
     }