diff --git a/apps/web/features/editor/publish-dialog.test.ts b/apps/web/features/editor/publish-dialog.test.ts
index 29176c53..d280756c 100644
--- a/apps/web/features/editor/publish-dialog.test.ts
+++ b/apps/web/features/editor/publish-dialog.test.ts
@@ -33,4 +33,26 @@ describe("publish error messages", () => {
       "The draft changed while publishing. Review the latest changes and try again.",
     );
   });
+
+  test("prefers Convex error data over the client error envelope", () => {
+    const error = new ConvexError(
+      "[CONVEX M(releases:publish)] [Request ID: abc] Server Error\n  Called by client",
+    );
+    error.data =
+      "The draft changed while publishing. Review the latest changes and try again.";
+
+    expect(getPublishErrorMessage(error)).toBe(
+      "The draft changed while publishing. Review the latest changes and try again.",
+    );
+  });
+
+  test("uses the fallback for an empty Convex error envelope", () => {
+    expect(
+      getPublishErrorMessage(
+        new Error(
+          "[CONVEX M(releases:publish)] [Request ID: abc] Server Error\n  Called by client",
+        ),
+      ),
+    ).toBe("The site could not publish");
+  });
 });
diff --git a/apps/web/features/editor/publish-dialog.tsx b/apps/web/features/editor/publish-dialog.tsx
index 0db37a95..d4f3ad63 100644
--- a/apps/web/features/editor/publish-dialog.tsx
+++ b/apps/web/features/editor/publish-dialog.tsx
@@ -31,11 +31,14 @@ export function getPublishErrorMessage(
   error: unknown,
   fallback = "The site could not publish",
 ): string {
+  const dataMessage = getPublishErrorDataMessage(error);
+  if (dataMessage) return dataMessage;
+
   if (error instanceof Error && error.message.trim()) {
-    return cleanPublishErrorMessage(error.message);
+    return cleanPublishErrorMessage(error.message) || fallback;
   }
   if (typeof error === "string" && error.trim()) {
-    return cleanPublishErrorMessage(error);
+    return cleanPublishErrorMessage(error) || fallback;
   }
   if (
     error &&
@@ -44,17 +47,50 @@ export function getPublishErrorMessage(
     typeof error.message === "string" &&
     error.message.trim()
   ) {
-    return cleanPublishErrorMessage(error.message);
+    return cleanPublishErrorMessage(error.message) || fallback;
   }
   return fallback;
 }
 
+function getPublishErrorDataMessage(error: unknown): string | null {
+  if (!error || typeof error !== "object" || !("data" in error)) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  const data = error.data;
+  if (typeof data === "string" && data.trim()) {
+    return cleanPublishErrorMessage(data) || null;
+  }
+  if (
+    data &&
+    typeof data === "object" &&
+    "message" in data &&
+    typeof data.message === "string" &&
+    data.message.trim()
+  ) {
+    return cleanPublishErrorMessage(data.message) || null;
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
 function cleanPublishErrorMessage(message: string): string {
+  const trimmedMessage = message.trim();
   const convexErrorMarker = "Uncaught ConvexError:";
-  const markerIndex = message.indexOf(convexErrorMarker);
-  if (markerIndex === -1) return message;
+  const markerIndex = trimmedMessage.indexOf(convexErrorMarker);
+  if (markerIndex === -1) {
+    if (
+      /^\[CONVEX [^\]]+\([^)]*\)\](?: \[Request ID: [^\]]+\])? Server Error(?:\s+Called by client)?$/s.test(
+        trimmedMessage,
+      )
+    ) {
+      return "";
+    }
+    return trimmedMessage;
+  }
 
-  const errorMessage = message.slice(markerIndex + convexErrorMarker.length);
+  const errorMessage = trimmedMessage.slice(
+    markerIndex + convexErrorMarker.length,
+  );
   const [userMessage = errorMessage] = errorMessage.split(
     /\s+at\s+[^\s(]+\s*\(/,
     1,