src/components/Feed.tsx

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import { useCallback, useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
 import { fetchFeedPage, FeedLoadError } from "@/lib/feed-client";
 import { applyLikeOutcome, LikeError, sendLike } from "@/lib/like-client";
-import { mergePosts, toCardPosts, upgradeVideos, type CardPost } from "@/lib/feed-model";
+import { firstLoadFailure, mergePosts, toCardPosts, upgradeVideos, type CardPost } from "@/lib/feed-model";
 import { PostError, publishAndConfirm } from "@/lib/post-client";
 import { DeleteError, sendDelete } from "@/lib/delete-client";
 import type { ComposerProps } from "./Composer";
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ export function Feed({
   const [nextCursor, setNextCursor] = useState<string | null>(null);
   const [loadingMore, setLoadingMore] = useState(false);
   const [refreshing, setRefreshing] = useState(false);
+  const [refreshFailed, setRefreshFailed] = useState(false);
   const [loadMoreFailed, setLoadMoreFailed] = useState(false);
   const [pending, setPending] = useState<CardPost[]>([]);
   const [likeBusy, setLikeBusy] = useState<ReadonlySet<string>>(new Set());
@@ -59,6 +60,7 @@ export function Feed({
   const loadFirst = useCallback(async (quiet = false) => {
     if (busy.current) return;
     busy.current = true;
+    setRefreshFailed(false);
     if (quiet) setRefreshing(true);
     else setStatus("loading");
     setLoadMoreFailed(false);
@@ -70,7 +72,9 @@ export function Feed({
       setStatus("ready");
     } catch (e) {
       fail(e);
-      setStatus("error");
+      const out = firstLoadFailure(quiet);
+      if (out.fullError) setStatus("error");
+      setRefreshFailed(out.refreshFailed);
     } finally {
       busy.current = false;
       setRefreshing(false);
@@ -262,6 +266,7 @@ export function Feed({
       onShowNew={showNew}
       onRefresh={refresh}
       refreshing={refreshing}
+      refreshFailed={refreshFailed}
       onToggleLike={(p) => void toggleLike(p)}
       likeBusy={likeBusy}
       likeErrors={likeErrors}

src/components/FeedView.tsx

@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ export interface FeedViewProps {
   /** Reloads the first page; the header shows the button when it is given. */
   onRefresh?: () => void;
   refreshing?: boolean;
+  /** The last refresh failed; the posts stay and a small message shows in the header. */
+  refreshFailed?: boolean;
   onToggleLike?: (post: CardPost) => void;
   likeBusy?: ReadonlySet<string>;
   likeErrors?: ReadonlySet<string>;
@@ -87,11 +89,12 @@ export function RefreshButton({ onRefresh, busy }: { onRefresh: () => void; busy
   );
 }
 
-function FeedPanel({ children, composer, onRefresh, busy }: { children: ReactNode; composer?: ReactNode; onRefresh?: () => void; busy?: boolean }) {
+function FeedPanel({ children, composer, onRefresh, busy, refreshFailed }: { children: ReactNode; composer?: ReactNode; onRefresh?: () => void; busy?: boolean; refreshFailed?: boolean }) {
   return (
     <section className="tile panel feed" aria-labelledby="h-feed">
       <div className="panel-head feed-head">
         <h2 id="h-feed" className="type-title type-title-strong">Home feed</h2>
+        {refreshFailed ? <span className="feed-refresh-error" role="alert">Could not refresh. Try again.</span> : null}
         {onRefresh ? <RefreshButton onRefresh={onRefresh} busy={busy} /> : null}
       </div>
       {composer}
@@ -121,7 +124,7 @@ export function FeedView(p: FeedViewProps) {
     );
   }
   return (
-    <FeedPanel composer={p.composer ? <Composer {...p.composer} /> : null} onRefresh={p.onRefresh} busy={p.refreshing}>
+    <FeedPanel composer={p.composer ? <Composer {...p.composer} /> : null} onRefresh={p.onRefresh} busy={p.refreshing} refreshFailed={p.refreshFailed}>
       <div ref={p.listRef} className="feed-list panel-scroll fade-edges">
         {p.newCount > 0 ? (
           <div className="feed-pill">

src/lib/feed-model.ts

@@ -194,6 +194,11 @@ export function upgradeVideos(current: CardPost[], fresh: CardPost[]): CardPost[
   return changed ? next : current;
 }
 
+/** A failed first-page load: a refresh keeps the posts and flags an inline error; an initial load shows the full error state. */
+export function firstLoadFailure(refresh: boolean): { fullError: boolean; refreshFailed: boolean } {
+  return { fullError: !refresh, refreshFailed: refresh };
+}
+
 /** "1 comment", "0 comments", "2 comments". */
 export function commentsLabel(count: number): string {
   return count === 1 ? "1 comment" : `${count} comments`;

src/styles/feed.css

@@ -69,3 +69,4 @@
 @media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
   .refresh-icon-spin { animation: none !important; }
 }
+.feed-refresh-error { margin-left: auto; font-size: 13px; color: var(--danger, #e5484d); }

tests/feed-view.test.ts

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { createElement } from "react";
 import { renderToStaticMarkup } from "react-dom/server";
 import { FeedView, RefreshButton, type FeedViewProps } from "@/components/FeedView";
 import { fetchFeedPage, FeedLoadError } from "@/lib/feed-client";
-import { commentsLabel, formatDuration, mergePosts, relativeTime, toCardPost, toCardPosts, upgradeVideos } from "@/lib/feed-model";
+import { commentsLabel, firstLoadFailure, formatDuration, mergePosts, relativeTime, toCardPost, toCardPosts, upgradeVideos } from "@/lib/feed-model";
 
 const NOW = Date.parse("2026-10-19T12:00:00Z");
 const post = (id: string, publishedAt: string, extra: Record<string, unknown> = {}) => ({
@@ -245,3 +245,25 @@ describe("comments label", () => {
     expect(html).not.toContain("1 comments");
   });
 });
+
+describe("failed refresh versus failed first load", () => {
+  it("a failed refresh keeps the posts and shows an inline error with a usable button", () => {
+    const posts = toCardPosts([post("1", "2026-10-19T11:00:00Z")]);
+    const html = render({ posts, onRefresh: () => {}, refreshFailed: true });
+    expect(html).toContain("Could not refresh. Try again.");
+    expect(html).toContain("text 1");
+    expect(html).not.toContain("The feed did not load.");
+    expect(html).not.toMatch(/<button[^>]*disabled[^>]*aria-label="Refresh feed"|<button[^>]*aria-label="Refresh feed"[^>]*disabled/);
+  });
+
+  it("a failed first load shows the full error state", () => {
+    const html = render({ status: "error", onRefresh: () => {} });
+    expect(html).toContain("The feed did not load.");
+    expect(html).not.toContain("Could not refresh");
+  });
+
+  it("the loader maps a failure to the right outcome", () => {
+    expect(firstLoadFailure(true)).toEqual({ fullError: false, refreshFailed: true });
+    expect(firstLoadFailure(false)).toEqual({ fullError: true, refreshFailed: false });
+  });
+});