diff --git a/changelog.d/publish-receipt-validation.fixed.md b/changelog.d/publish-receipt-validation.fixed.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..eda5f2949
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/publish-receipt-validation.fixed.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- Require an explicit `delivered: true` receipt before reporting final channel speech as delivered. Missing or malformed publish receipts surface a routing failure with uncertain delivery and do not trigger an automatic resend.
diff --git a/src/framework.ts b/src/framework.ts
index 3bad57676..b2bf31ac5 100644
--- a/src/framework.ts
+++ b/src/framework.ts
@@ -11775,7 +11775,7 @@ export class AgentFramework {
         activeChannelResolver: (agentName) => this.activeTriggerChannels.get(agentName),
         // A text-only turn whose speech couldn't be delivered must not vanish
         // silently: record a `[discord-send-failed]` marker in chronicle so the
-        // agent sees, on her next turn, that her reply never reached the human.
+        // agent sees, on her next turn, that delivery of her reply was not confirmed.
         // addMessage() alone does not request inference, so this never wakes
         // her (matching the `discord-send-failed-skip` gate intent: context
         // yes, wake no).
@@ -11798,7 +11798,7 @@ export class AgentFramework {
               'user',
               [{
                 type: 'text',
-                text: `[discord-send-failed] Your previous reply (${textLen} chars) could not be delivered to ${where} (${reason}). It was saved to your archive but the human did not receive it.`,
+                text: `[discord-send-failed] Delivery of your previous reply (${textLen} chars) to ${where} was not confirmed (${reason}). It was saved to your archive. Check delivery status before resending; a missing receipt does not prove the human did not receive it.`,
               }],
               { system: true, kind: 'discord-send-failed', channelId: channelId ?? '', reason },
             );
diff --git a/src/mcpl/channel-registry.ts b/src/mcpl/channel-registry.ts
index 636e032dd..f82fca967 100644
--- a/src/mcpl/channel-registry.ts
+++ b/src/mcpl/channel-registry.ts
@@ -2794,9 +2794,9 @@ export class ChannelRegistry {
   ): Promise<{ delivered: boolean; channelId: string; messageId?: string } | null> {
     // Surface a routing failure: emit a trace AND notify the host (which drops
     // a `[discord-send-failed]` marker into chronicle) so the agent learns her
-    // reply never reached the human, instead of it vanishing silently.
+    // reply delivery was not confirmed, instead of it vanishing silently.
     const fail = (channelId: string | null, reason: string): null => {
-      console.error(`[routeSpeech] ${conversationId}: ${reason} — speech NOT routed (${text.length} chars stay in chronicle)`);
+      console.error(`[routeSpeech] ${conversationId}: ${reason} — speech delivery NOT confirmed (${text.length} chars stay in chronicle)`);
       this.emitTraceFn({
         type: 'mcpl:speech-route-failed',
         conversationId,
@@ -2876,7 +2876,7 @@ export class ChannelRegistry {
       content: [{ type: 'text', text }],
     };
     const result = await server.sendChannelsPublish(publishParams);
-    const delivered = (result as { delivered?: boolean } | undefined)?.delivered ?? true;
+    const delivered = (result as { delivered?: unknown } | undefined)?.delivered;
     // Surface the posted message's id (ChannelsPublishResult.messageId) so
     // trace consumers can act on the just-posted message — e.g. a TTS-relay
     // tap editing it down to the words actually voiced on interruption.
@@ -2890,6 +2890,12 @@ export class ChannelRegistry {
       return fail(channelId, `server "${entry.serverId}" reported delivered:false for "${channelId}"`);
     }
 
+    // Final publish is a request, so success requires an explicit receipt.
+    // Missing/malformed responses leave delivery uncertain; do not retry here.
+    if (delivered !== true) {
+      return fail(channelId, `server "${entry.serverId}" returned no valid delivery receipt for "${channelId}" (delivery uncertain)`);
+    }
+
     console.error(`[routeSpeech] ${conversationId}: routed ${text.length} chars -> ${channelId} (server=${entry.serverId}, delivered=${delivered})`);
     this.emitTraceFn({
       type: 'mcpl:speech-routed',
diff --git a/test/channel-registry-routing.test.ts b/test/channel-registry-routing.test.ts
index 8468c2d37..2d144a4df 100644
--- a/test/channel-registry-routing.test.ts
+++ b/test/channel-registry-routing.test.ts
@@ -526,3 +526,23 @@ test('DM prose targets resolve people-first: @name, prefix-lenient names, and <@
   assert.ok('error' in missing && /send_dm/.test(missing.error), 'no-match points at send_dm');
   assert.ok('error' in missing && (missing.candidates?.length ?? 0) === 2, 'lists known DMs by name');
 });
+
+for (const [label, receipt] of [
+  ['absent', undefined],
+  ['missing delivered', {}],
+  ['null delivered', { delivered: null }],
+  ['string delivered', { delivered: 'true' }],
+] as const) {
+  test(`routeSpeech does not claim delivery with ${label} receipt`, async () => {
+    // Malformed responses cross the JSON-RPC boundary despite static types.
+    const { registry, failures, traces, publishCalls } = makeRegistry(receipt as unknown as { delivered?: boolean } | undefined);
+    seedRegistered(registry, 'fixture', 'fixture-channel');
+    registry.handleIncoming('fixture', incoming('fixture-channel', 'synthetic input'));
+    const result = await registry.routeSpeech('fixture-agent', 'synthetic reply', 'fixture-channel');
+    assert.equal(result, null);
+    assert.equal(publishCalls.length, 1, 'uncertain delivery must not automatically retry');
+    assert.equal(failures.length, 1);
+    assert.ok(traces.some(t => t.type === 'mcpl:speech-route-failed'));
+    assert.ok(!traces.some(t => t.type === 'mcpl:speech-routed'));
+  });
+}