diff --git a/backend.tests/DeviceHubWakeFlowTests.cs b/backend.tests/DeviceHubWakeFlowTests.cs
index 8d013fc..497fe88 100644
--- a/backend.tests/DeviceHubWakeFlowTests.cs
+++ b/backend.tests/DeviceHubWakeFlowTests.cs
@@ -52,11 +52,11 @@ public class DeviceHubWakeFlowTests(ApiFactory factory) : IClassFixture<ApiFacto
         });
         FakeRealtimeSessionFactory.Upstream.Push(new JsonObject { ["type"] = "response.done" });
 
-        var done = await ReceiveJson(ws);
+        var done = await ReceiveUntil(ws, "assistant_done");
         done.GetProperty("type").GetString().Should().Be("assistant_done");
 
         await SendJson(ws, new { type = "cancel" });
-        var ended = await ReceiveJson(ws);
+        var ended = await ReceiveUntil(ws, "session_ended");
         ended.GetProperty("type").GetString().Should().Be("session_ended");
     }
 
@@ -114,4 +114,16 @@ public class DeviceHubWakeFlowTests(ApiFactory factory) : IClassFixture<ApiFacto
         }
         return JsonDocument.Parse(stream.ToArray()).RootElement.Clone();
     }
+
+    // The relay forwards an upstream-event "debug" envelope for every event
+    // it sees, so envelopes the test cares about are interleaved with debugs.
+    private static async Task<JsonElement> ReceiveUntil(WebSocket ws, string type)
+    {
+        for (int i = 0; i < 50; i++)
+        {
+            var env = await ReceiveJson(ws);
+            if (env.GetProperty("type").GetString() == type) return env;
+        }
+        throw new TimeoutException($"never saw envelope type={type}");
+    }
 }
diff --git a/backend/Realtime/RealtimeSession.cs b/backend/Realtime/RealtimeSession.cs
index 8ea67a7..61ee09e 100644
--- a/backend/Realtime/RealtimeSession.cs
+++ b/backend/Realtime/RealtimeSession.cs
@@ -120,15 +120,47 @@ public class RealtimeSession
 
     private async Task PumpAsync(CancellationToken ct)
     {
+        int nullPolls = 0;
         while (!ct.IsCancellationRequested && !_endRequested)
         {
             var evt = await ReceiveOrIdleAsync(ct);
             if (evt is null && _endRequested) return;
             if (evt is null && ct.IsCancellationRequested) return;
-            if (evt is null) continue;
+            if (evt is null)
+            {
+                // Upstream has gone silent. If null persists for >2s, log so
+                // we can spot a dead upstream that's not surfacing as a close.
+                if (++nullPolls % 8 == 0)
+                    _logger.LogDebug("upstream silent ({Polls} x 250ms polls)", nullPolls);
+                continue;
+            }
+            nullPolls = 0;
             var type = (string?)evt["type"];
+            _logger.LogInformation("relay evt={EvtType}", type);
+            // Forward the event type to the device so it appears in the Pi
+            // journal — Coolify logs aren't accessible from the dev sandbox.
+            await _output.WriteEnvelopeAsync(new JsonObject
+            {
+                ["type"] = "debug",
+                ["message"] = "relay evt=" + (type ?? "<null>"),
+            }, ct);
             switch (type)
             {
+                case "error":
+                {
+                    var err = evt["error"] as JsonObject;
+                    var code = (string?)err?["code"] ?? "unknown";
+                    var msg = (string?)err?["message"] ?? evt.ToJsonString();
+                    _logger.LogWarning("upstream mid-session error code={Code} message={Message}", code, msg);
+                    await _output.WriteEnvelopeAsync(new JsonObject
+                    {
+                        ["type"] = "error",
+                        ["code"] = "upstream_" + code,
+                        ["message"] = msg,
+                        ["fatal"] = false,
+                    }, ct);
+                    break;
+                }
                 case "input_audio_buffer.speech_started":
                     _lastSpeechAt = DateTime.UtcNow;
                     break;
diff --git a/client/session.py b/client/session.py
index d52822c..deaf6fc 100644
--- a/client/session.py
+++ b/client/session.py
@@ -125,6 +125,8 @@ class Session:
             )
         elif t == "config_updated":
             _log.info("config_updated: %s", env.get("config"))
+        elif t == "debug":
+            _log.info("backend %s", env.get("message"))
         else:
             _log.info("unhandled envelope type=%s", t)