diff --git a/src/app/api/swarm/announce/route.ts b/src/app/api/swarm/announce/route.ts
index 7547230..4cb8629 100644
--- a/src/app/api/swarm/announce/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/swarm/announce/route.ts
@@ -13,11 +13,20 @@ import { buildAnnouncement } from '@/lib/swarm/discovery';
 import { verifySwarmRequest } from '@/lib/swarm/signature';
 import type { SwarmNodeInfo } from '@/lib/swarm/types';
 
+const optionalUrlSchema = z.preprocess((value) => {
+  if (typeof value !== 'string') {
+    return value;
+  }
+
+  const trimmed = value.trim();
+  return trimmed.length > 0 ? trimmed : undefined;
+}, z.string().url().optional());
+
 const announcementSchema = z.object({
   domain: z.string().min(1),
   name: z.string().optional(),
   description: z.string().optional(),
-  logoUrl: z.string().url().optional(),
+  logoUrl: optionalUrlSchema,
   publicKey: z.string().optional(),
   softwareVersion: z.string().optional(),
   userCount: z.number().optional(),
diff --git a/src/lib/background/scheduler.ts b/src/lib/background/scheduler.ts
index dc6e2f7..154883e 100644
--- a/src/lib/background/scheduler.ts
+++ b/src/lib/background/scheduler.ts
@@ -64,9 +64,21 @@ async function runBotTasks() {
 
 async function runSwarmGossip() {
   try {
+    const stats = await getSwarmStats();
+
+    // Recover from empty peer lists by periodically re-announcing to seeds.
+    if (stats.activeNodes === 0) {
+      const announceResult = await announceToSeeds();
+      if (announceResult.successful.length > 0 || announceResult.failed.length > 0) {
+        log('SWARM', `Re-announced to seeds: ${announceResult.successful.length} successful, ${announceResult.failed.length} failed`);
+      }
+    }
+
     const result = await runGossipRound();
     if (result.contacted > 0) {
       log('SWARM', `Gossip: contacted ${result.contacted}, successful ${result.successful}, received ${result.totalNodesReceived} nodes`);
+    } else if (stats.activeNodes === 0) {
+      log('SWARM', 'No active swarm peers yet');
     }
   } catch (error) {
     log('SWARM', `Gossip error: ${error}`);
diff --git a/src/lib/swarm/discovery.ts b/src/lib/swarm/discovery.ts
index bc1f8dd..726bb32 100644
--- a/src/lib/swarm/discovery.ts
+++ b/src/lib/swarm/discovery.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,15 @@ import { eq, sql } from 'drizzle-orm';
 import type { SwarmAnnouncement, SwarmNodeInfo, SwarmCapability } from './types';
 import { upsertSwarmNode, getSeedNodes, markNodeSuccess, markNodeFailure } from './registry';
 
+function normalizeOptionalUrl(value: string | null | undefined): string | undefined {
+  if (!value) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+
+  const trimmed = value.trim();
+  return trimmed.length > 0 ? trimmed : undefined;
+}
+
 /**
  * Build this node's announcement payload
  */
@@ -32,7 +41,7 @@ export async function buildAnnouncement(): Promise<SwarmAnnouncement> {
     if (node) {
       name = node.name;
       description = node.description ?? undefined;
-      logoUrl = node.logoUrl ?? undefined;
+      logoUrl = normalizeOptionalUrl(node.logoUrl);
       publicKey = node.publicKey ?? '';
       isNsfw = node.isNsfw;
     }