diff --git a/e2e/tests/chat-plugin-hooks.test.ts b/e2e/tests/chat-plugin-hooks.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4a8d3dd9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/tests/chat-plugin-hooks.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,287 @@
+/**
+ * e2e — the chat plugin's `pulse.sh` (UserPromptSubmit) hook against the
+ * REAL compiled `rt`, not the stub `rt` from
+ * plugins/chat/hooks/tests/test-pulse.sh. That stub proves the script's shell
+ * logic against canned JSON; this suite is the one place the whole chain —
+ * compiled rt, `rt chat pulse --json`'s actual output shape, pulse.sh's jq
+ * parse of it, and the line it injects — runs for real, against a real
+ * daemon, real sign-ins, and real posts.
+ *
+ * The plugin lives in a sibling repo (mattstack-marketplace), not this one.
+ * resolvePluginDir() locates its checkout; when none is found this whole
+ * file skips itself rather than failing CI on a machine that never cloned
+ * it.
+ */
+
+import { afterAll, afterEach, beforeAll, beforeEach, describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
+import { existsSync, mkdirSync, mkdtempSync, rmSync, symlinkSync } from "fs";
+import { homedir, tmpdir } from "os";
+import { join } from "path";
+import { createTestHome, RT_BINARY } from "../harness.ts";
+
+function resolvePluginDir(): string | null {
+  const candidates = [
+    process.env.RT_CHAT_PLUGIN_DIR,
+    join(homedir(), "Documents", "GitHub", "mattstack-marketplace", "plugins", "chat"),
+    join(homedir(), "Documents", "GitHub", "mattstack-marketplace-chat-wt", "plugins", "chat"),
+  ].filter((p): p is string => !!p);
+  return candidates.find((p) => existsSync(join(p, "hooks", "pulse.sh"))) ?? null;
+}
+
+const PLUGIN_DIR = resolvePluginDir();
+if (!PLUGIN_DIR) {
+  console.log(
+    "chat-plugin-hooks: skipping — no chat plugin checkout found. Set RT_CHAT_PLUGIN_DIR to " +
+      "plugins/chat, or check out mattstack-marketplace (or its -chat-wt worktree) alongside this repo.",
+  );
+}
+const PULSE_SH = PLUGIN_DIR ? join(PLUGIN_DIR, "hooks", "pulse.sh") : "";
+
+let home = "";
+let cleanupHome: () => void = () => {};
+let apiPort = 0;
+let rtBinDir = "";
+const children: Array<ReturnType<typeof Bun.spawn>> = [];
+
+function freePort(): number {
+  const srv = Bun.serve({ port: 0, fetch: () => new Response("") });
+  const port = srv.port;
+  srv.stop(true);
+  if (!port) throw new Error("failed to allocate a free port");
+  return port;
+}
+
+async function waitForSocket(sockPath: string, timeoutMs = 15_000): Promise<void> {
+  const deadline = Date.now() + timeoutMs;
+  while (!existsSync(sockPath)) {
+    if (Date.now() > deadline) throw new Error(`daemon socket never appeared at ${sockPath}`);
+    await Bun.sleep(100);
+  }
+}
+
+function runRt(args: string[], homeDir: string, extraEnv: Record<string, string> = {}) {
+  const bunDir = join(process.execPath, "..");
+  const proc = Bun.spawn([RT_BINARY, ...args], {
+    env: {
+      HOME: homeDir,
+      PATH: `${join(RT_BINARY, "..")}:${bunDir}:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/opt/homebrew/bin`,
+      TERM: "xterm-256color",
+      RT_SKIP_SETUP: "1",
+      CI: "true",
+      RT_API_PORT: String(apiPort),
+      RT_CHAT_BACKOFF_MS: "1500",
+      ...extraEnv,
+    },
+    stdout: "pipe",
+    stderr: "pipe",
+  });
+  children.push(proc);
+  return proc;
+}
+
+async function finished(proc: {
+  exited: Promise<number>;
+  stdout: ReadableStream;
+  stderr: ReadableStream;
+}) {
+  const exitCode = await proc.exited;
+  return {
+    exitCode,
+    stdout: await new Response(proc.stdout).text(),
+    stderr: await new Response(proc.stderr).text(),
+  };
+}
+
+/** extraEnv lands in the DAEMON's spawn env — presenceThresholds() reads process.env in the daemon, so a threshold override only takes effect there, never via a CLI invocation's own env. */
+async function startDaemonForHome(homeDir: string, extraEnv: Record<string, string> = {}): Promise<void> {
+  apiPort = freePort();
+  runRt(["--daemon"], homeDir, extraEnv);
+  await waitForSocket(join(homeDir, ".mattstack", "rt", "rt.sock"));
+}
+
+interface SignInResult {
+  ok: true;
+  handle: string;
+  room: string | null;
+}
+
+async function signIn(
+  homeDir: string,
+  sessionId: string,
+  baseHandle: string,
+  roomArgs: string[] = ["--no-room"],
+): Promise<SignInResult> {
+  const res = await finished(
+    runRt(["chat", "sign-in", "--as", baseHandle, "--session", sessionId, ...roomArgs, "--json"], homeDir),
+  );
+  if (res.exitCode !== 0) throw new Error(`sign-in(${sessionId}) failed: ${res.stderr || res.stdout}`);
+  return JSON.parse(res.stdout) as SignInResult;
+}
+
+interface BuddyRow {
+  handle: string;
+  status: "live" | "idle" | "deaf" | "offline";
+  armedAt?: number;
+}
+
+async function getBuddies(homeDir: string): Promise<BuddyRow[]> {
+  const { stdout } = await finished(runRt(["chat", "buddies", "--json"], homeDir));
+  return (JSON.parse(stdout).buddies ?? []) as BuddyRow[];
+}
+
+async function waitForBuddyArmed(homeDir: string, handle: string, timeoutMs = 15_000): Promise<BuddyRow> {
+  const deadline = Date.now() + timeoutMs;
+  while (Date.now() < deadline) {
+    const row = (await getBuddies(homeDir)).find((b) => b.handle === handle);
+    if (row?.armedAt != null) return row;
+    await Bun.sleep(100);
+  }
+  throw new Error(`waitForBuddyArmed: "${handle}" never armed`);
+}
+
+function sessionFilePath(homeDir: string, sessionId: string): string {
+  return join(homeDir, ".mattstack", "rt", "chat", "sessions", `${sessionId}.json`);
+}
+
+interface HookResult {
+  exitCode: number;
+  stdout: string;
+  stderr: string;
+}
+
+/** Runs the real pulse.sh as a subprocess: bare `rt` on PATH resolves to RT_BINARY via rtBinDir's symlink, exactly as the plugin expects it installed. */
+async function runPulseHook(homeDir: string, sessionId: string, cwd: string = homeDir): Promise<HookResult> {
+  const bunDir = join(process.execPath, "..");
+  const input = JSON.stringify({ session_id: sessionId, hook_event_name: "UserPromptSubmit", cwd });
+  const proc = Bun.spawn([PULSE_SH], {
+    env: {
+      HOME: homeDir,
+      PATH: `${rtBinDir}:${bunDir}:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/opt/homebrew/bin`,
+      TERM: "xterm-256color",
+      RT_SKIP_SETUP: "1",
+      CI: "true",
+      RT_API_PORT: String(apiPort),
+      RT_CHAT_BACKOFF_MS: "1500",
+    },
+    stdin: Buffer.from(input),
+    stdout: "pipe",
+    stderr: "pipe",
+  });
+  children.push(proc);
+  return finished(proc);
+}
+
+describe.skipIf(!PLUGIN_DIR)("rt chat plugin — pulse.sh against a real compiled rt (e2e)", () => {
+  beforeAll(() => {
+    rtBinDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "rt-chat-plugin-bin-"));
+    mkdirSync(rtBinDir, { recursive: true });
+    symlinkSync(RT_BINARY, join(rtBinDir, "rt"));
+  });
+
+  afterAll(() => {
+    rmSync(rtBinDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  });
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    ({ path: home, cleanup: cleanupHome } = createTestHome());
+  });
+
+  afterEach(async () => {
+    for (const child of children) {
+      try { child.kill(); } catch { /* already gone */ }
+    }
+    await Promise.all(children.map((c) => c.exited));
+    children.length = 0;
+    cleanupHome();
+  });
+
+  test("no session file: exit 0, silent", async () => {
+    await startDaemonForHome(home);
+
+    const result = await runPulseHook(home, "sess-never-signed-in");
+    expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(result.stdout).toBe("");
+  }, 30_000);
+
+  test("signed in, nothing waiting: exit 0, silent", async () => {
+    await startDaemonForHome(home);
+
+    await signIn(home, "sess-quiet", "quiet-one");
+    const result = await runPulseHook(home, "sess-quiet");
+    expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(result.stdout).toBe("");
+  }, 30_000);
+
+  test("signed in, a DM and a mention waiting, tail not armed: injects the exact README line", async () => {
+    await startDaemonForHome(home);
+
+    const signed = await signIn(home, "sess-waiting", "waiter", ["--room", "crew"]);
+    expect(signed.handle).toBe("waiter");
+
+    await finished(runRt(["chat", "dm", signed.handle, "first"], home));
+    await finished(runRt(["chat", "dm", signed.handle, "second"], home));
+    await finished(runRt(["chat", "post", "crew", `@${signed.handle} heads up`, "--as", "notifier"], home));
+
+    const result = await runPulseHook(home, "sess-waiting");
+    expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
+
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(result.stdout);
+    expect(parsed.hookSpecificOutput.hookEventName).toBe("UserPromptSubmit");
+    // The literal line the plugin README documents as the waiting-line
+    // example (2 DMs + 1 mention, rooms omitted since it's 0).
+    expect(parsed).toEqual({
+      hookSpecificOutput: {
+        hookEventName: "UserPromptSubmit",
+        additionalContext: "rt chat: 2 DMs, 1 mention are waiting — run rt chat read",
+      },
+    });
+  }, 30_000);
+
+  test("signed in with a live (armed) tail, something waiting: exit 0, silent — the tail is trusted to have delivered it", async () => {
+    await startDaemonForHome(home);
+
+    const signed = await signIn(home, "sess-live", "listener");
+    const tail = runRt(["chat", "tail", "--session", "sess-live"], home);
+    await waitForBuddyArmed(home, signed.handle);
+
+    await finished(runRt(["chat", "dm", signed.handle, "are you there"], home));
+
+    const result = await runPulseHook(home, "sess-live");
+    expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(result.stdout).toBe("");
+
+    tail.kill();
+  }, 30_000);
+
+  test("reclaimed handle: additionalContext carries the reclaimed notice, and pulse deletes the dead session file", async () => {
+    await startDaemonForHome(home, {
+      RT_CHAT_SESSION_STALE_MS: "50",
+      RT_CHAT_TAIL_STALE_MS: "50",
+    });
+
+    const a = await signIn(home, "sess-reclaim-a", "x");
+    expect(a.handle).toBe("x");
+    expect(existsSync(sessionFilePath(home, "sess-reclaim-a"))).toBe(true);
+
+    // Past both thresholds: A's row is now reclaimable (never armed, so its
+    // tail heartbeat is already maximally stale — only the session heartbeat
+    // needs to age out).
+    await Bun.sleep(300);
+
+    const b = await signIn(home, "sess-reclaim-b", "x");
+    expect(b.handle).toBe("x"); // reclaimed, not suffixed to "x-2"
+
+    const result = await runPulseHook(home, "sess-reclaim-a");
+    expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
+
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(result.stdout);
+    expect(parsed).toEqual({
+      hookSpecificOutput: {
+        hookEventName: "UserPromptSubmit",
+        additionalContext: "rt chat: your handle was reclaimed while you were away — run `rt chat sign-in` again.",
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(existsSync(sessionFilePath(home, "sess-reclaim-a"))).toBe(false);
+  }, 30_000);
+});