diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/scripts/publish.sh b/.gitea/workflows/scripts/publish.sh
index 2422a4f..de880d5 100755
--- a/.gitea/workflows/scripts/publish.sh
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/scripts/publish.sh
@@ -334,7 +334,15 @@ if [ -n "$(git status --porcelain)" ]; then
   git add -A
   git commit -m "@$NAME: issue #$NUM"
 fi
-git push origin "HEAD:$BRANCH" || true
+push_ok=0
+if git push origin "HEAD:$BRANCH"; then
+  push_ok=1
+else
+  status=$?
+  echo "git push failed for $BRANCH (exit $status)"
+  post "$(printf '⚠️ Push to branch `%s` failed (git exit %s). The PR will not open until the push succeeds. Please check the Actions log.' "$BRANCH" "$status")"
+  exit 0
+fi
 git fetch -q origin 2>/dev/null || true
 
 prbody=$(printf '%s\n\n---\nResolves #%s' "$prdesc" "$NUM")
@@ -367,7 +375,12 @@ if [ -z "$url" ]; then
   url=$(printf '%s' "$resp" | jq -r '.html_url // empty' 2>/dev/null)
   prnum=$(printf '%s' "$resp" | jq -r '.number // empty' 2>/dev/null)
 fi
-[ -z "$url" ] && { echo "PR open/lookup failed for $br — posting reply on issue instead"; post "$(printf '%s%s' "$reply" "$activity")"; exit 0; }
+if [ -z "$url" ]; then
+  err_msg=$(printf '%s' "$resp" | jq -r 'if type=="object" and .message then .message else "(no error message in response)" end' 2>/dev/null)
+  echo "PR open/lookup failed for $br — response: $resp"
+  post "$(printf '⚠️ Failed to open PR for branch `%s`.%s\n\nGitea message: %s' "$br" "$activity" "$err_msg")"
+  exit 0
+fi
 
 # Posts to the PR thread when we have a PR number, else to the origin issue ($NUM).
 prpost() {