diff --git a/src/state/messages/convo/agent.ts b/src/state/messages/convo/agent.ts
index 79cc23ee40..70a03a3f41 100644
--- a/src/state/messages/convo/agent.ts
+++ b/src/state/messages/convo/agent.ts
@@ -772,7 +772,7 @@ export class Convo {
 
   private pendingMessageFailure: 'recoverable' | 'unrecoverable' | null = null
 
-  async sendMessage(message: ChatBskyConvoSendMessage.InputSchema['message']) {
+  sendMessage(message: ChatBskyConvoSendMessage.InputSchema['message']) {
     // Ignore empty messages for now since they have no other purpose atm
     if (!message.text.trim()) return
 
@@ -825,6 +825,9 @@ export class Convo {
       })
       const res = response.data
 
+      // remove from queue
+      this.pendingMessages.delete(id)
+
       /*
        * Insert into `newMessages` as soon as we have a real ID. That way, when
        * we get an event log back, we can replace in situ.
@@ -833,15 +836,14 @@ export class Convo {
         ...res,
         $type: 'chat.bsky.convo.defs#messageView',
       })
-      this.pendingMessages.delete(id)
+      // render new message state, prior to firehose
+      this.commit()
 
+      // continue queue processing
       await this.processPendingMessages()
-
-      this.commit()
     } catch (e: any) {
       logger.error(e, {context: `Convo: failed to send message`})
       this.handleSendMessageFailure(e)
-    } finally {
       this.isProcessingPendingMessages = false
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/state/messages/convo/types.ts b/src/state/messages/convo/types.ts
index 6197a3b424..53e205e211 100644
--- a/src/state/messages/convo/types.ts
+++ b/src/state/messages/convo/types.ts
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ export type ConvoItem =
 type DeleteMessage = (messageId: string) => Promise<void>
 type SendMessage = (
   message: ChatBskyConvoSendMessage.InputSchema['message'],
-) => Promise<void>
+) => void
 type FetchMessageHistory = () => Promise<void>
 
 export type ConvoStateUninitialized = {