diff --git a/ui/colony/src/App.tsx b/ui/colony/src/App.tsx
index 79a3302..3c74db2 100644
--- a/ui/colony/src/App.tsx
+++ b/ui/colony/src/App.tsx
@@ -42,13 +42,17 @@ export default function App() {
   // WebSocket: append new messages in real-time
   const handleWsMessage = useCallback((msg: Message) => {
     setMessages((prev) => {
-      // Deduplicate — the sender also fetches after posting
       if (prev.some((m) => m.id === msg.id)) return prev;
       return [...prev, msg];
     });
   }, []);
 
-  useChannelSocket(activeChannelId, handleWsMessage);
+  // On WS reconnect, refetch full history to catch missed messages
+  const handleWsReconnect = useCallback(() => {
+    loadMessages();
+  }, [loadMessages]);
+
+  useChannelSocket(activeChannelId, handleWsMessage, handleWsReconnect);
 
   useEffect(() => { loadChannels(); }, [loadChannels]);
 
diff --git a/ui/colony/src/hooks/useChannelSocket.ts b/ui/colony/src/hooks/useChannelSocket.ts
index df61e8b..0ebdccf 100644
--- a/ui/colony/src/hooks/useChannelSocket.ts
+++ b/ui/colony/src/hooks/useChannelSocket.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { useEffect, useRef, useCallback } from "react";
 import type { Message } from "@/types/Message";
-import { getCurrentUsername } from "@/api";
+import { getCurrentUsername, getMessages } from "@/api";
 
 interface WsMessageEvent {
   event: "message";
@@ -16,19 +16,22 @@ type WsEvent = WsMessageEvent | WsConnectedEvent;
 export function useChannelSocket(
   channelId: string | null,
   onMessage: (msg: Message) => void,
+  onReconnect: () => void,
 ) {
   const wsRef = useRef<WebSocket | null>(null);
   const reconnectTimer = useRef<ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null>(null);
+  const intentionalClose = useRef(false);
 
   const connect = useCallback(() => {
     if (!channelId) return;
 
+    intentionalClose.current = false;
+
     const protocol = window.location.protocol === "https:" ? "wss:" : "ws:";
     const host = window.location.host;
     const ws = new WebSocket(`${protocol}//${host}/ws/${channelId}`);
 
     ws.onopen = () => {
-      // Send auth message
       ws.send(JSON.stringify({
         type: "auth",
         user: getCurrentUsername(),
@@ -36,23 +39,38 @@ export function useChannelSocket(
     };
 
     ws.onmessage = (e) => {
-      const event: WsEvent = JSON.parse(e.data);
-      if (event.event === "message") {
-        onMessage(event.data);
+      try {
+        const event: WsEvent = JSON.parse(e.data);
+        if (event.event === "message") {
+          onMessage(event.data);
+        } else if (event.event === "connected") {
+          // Refetch history on reconnect to catch missed messages
+          onReconnect();
+        }
+      } catch {
+        // Ignore malformed messages
       }
     };
 
+    ws.onerror = () => {
+      // Will trigger onclose
+    };
+
     ws.onclose = () => {
-      // Reconnect after 3s
-      reconnectTimer.current = setTimeout(connect, 3000);
+      // Only reconnect if this wasn't an intentional teardown
+      if (!intentionalClose.current) {
+        reconnectTimer.current = setTimeout(connect, 3000);
+      }
     };
 
     wsRef.current = ws;
-  }, [channelId, onMessage]);
+  }, [channelId, onMessage, onReconnect]);
 
   useEffect(() => {
     connect();
     return () => {
+      // Mark as intentional so onclose doesn't reconnect
+      intentionalClose.current = true;
       if (reconnectTimer.current) clearTimeout(reconnectTimer.current);
       wsRef.current?.close();
       wsRef.current = null;