diff --git a/services/web/app/src/Features/Compile/CompileManager.mjs b/services/web/app/src/Features/Compile/CompileManager.mjs
index 9a4ac41946..e983c4d514 100644
--- a/services/web/app/src/Features/Compile/CompileManager.mjs
+++ b/services/web/app/src/Features/Compile/CompileManager.mjs
@@ -28,12 +28,17 @@ function generateBuildId() {
 }
 
 async function compile(projectId, userId, options = {}) {
-  const recentlyCompiled = await CompileManager._checkIfRecentlyCompiled(
-    projectId,
-    userId
-  )
-  if (recentlyCompiled) {
-    return { status: 'too-recently-compiled', outputFiles: [] }
+  // Publishing a presentation needs a full output set on demand, so it can ask
+  // to skip the debounce that suppresses compiles right after the editor's
+  // auto-compile (which would otherwise return no output files).
+  if (!options.bypassRecentCompileCheck) {
+    const recentlyCompiled = await CompileManager._checkIfRecentlyCompiled(
+      projectId,
+      userId
+    )
+    if (recentlyCompiled) {
+      return { status: 'too-recently-compiled', outputFiles: [] }
+    }
   }
 
   try {
diff --git a/services/web/app/src/Features/PublishedPresentation/PublishedPresentationController.mjs b/services/web/app/src/Features/PublishedPresentation/PublishedPresentationController.mjs
index f25ba3bc96..8df698cd8d 100644
--- a/services/web/app/src/Features/PublishedPresentation/PublishedPresentationController.mjs
+++ b/services/web/app/src/Features/PublishedPresentation/PublishedPresentationController.mjs
@@ -23,14 +23,22 @@ function _serialize(record) {
 async function publish(req, res) {
   const projectId = req.params.Project_id
   const userId = SessionManager.getLoggedInUserId(req.session)
+  const requested = req.body?.visibility
   const visibility =
-    req.body?.visibility === 'public' ? 'public' : req.body?.visibility
-  const record = await PublishedPresentationManager.promises.publish(
-    projectId,
-    userId,
-    { visibility: visibility === 'public' || visibility === 'private' ? visibility : undefined }
-  )
-  res.json(_serialize(record))
+    requested === 'public' || requested === 'private' ? requested : undefined
+  try {
+    const record = await PublishedPresentationManager.promises.publish(
+      projectId,
+      userId,
+      { visibility }
+    )
+    res.json(_serialize(record))
+  } catch (err) {
+    logger.error({ err, projectId }, 'failed to publish presentation')
+    res
+      .status(400)
+      .json({ message: err.message || 'failed to publish presentation' })
+  }
 }
 
 async function status(req, res) {
diff --git a/services/web/app/src/Features/PublishedPresentation/PublishedPresentationManager.mjs b/services/web/app/src/Features/PublishedPresentation/PublishedPresentationManager.mjs
index 9daa9575c2..3068899bf1 100644
--- a/services/web/app/src/Features/PublishedPresentation/PublishedPresentationManager.mjs
+++ b/services/web/app/src/Features/PublishedPresentation/PublishedPresentationManager.mjs
@@ -55,14 +55,19 @@ async function _downloadOutputFile(
 // omitted, an existing record keeps its visibility and a new one defaults to
 // 'private'.
 async function publish(projectId, userId, { visibility } = {}) {
-  const { outputFiles, clsiServerId, buildId } =
-    await CompileManager.promises.compile(projectId, userId, {})
+  const { status, outputFiles, clsiServerId, buildId } =
+    await CompileManager.promises.compile(projectId, userId, {
+      bypassRecentCompileCheck: true,
+    })
 
-  if (!buildId || !outputFiles?.some(f => f.path === 'output.html')) {
+  if (!outputFiles?.some(f => f.path === 'output.html')) {
     throw new Errors.InvalidError(
-      'project did not produce an HTML presentation'
+      `project did not produce an HTML presentation (compile status: ${status})`
     )
   }
+  if (!buildId) {
+    throw new Errors.InvalidError('compile produced no build id')
+  }
 
   // Output files are stored per-user unless per-user compiles are disabled;
   // mirror CompileManager so the download URLs resolve to the right location.
diff --git a/services/web/frontend/js/features/share-project-modal/components/publish-presentation-section.tsx b/services/web/frontend/js/features/share-project-modal/components/publish-presentation-section.tsx
index 01e0ed43e0..d7ad420cdd 100644
--- a/services/web/frontend/js/features/share-project-modal/components/publish-presentation-section.tsx
+++ b/services/web/frontend/js/features/share-project-modal/components/publish-presentation-section.tsx
@@ -1,7 +1,12 @@
 import { useCallback, useEffect, useState } from 'react'
 import { useTranslation } from 'react-i18next'
 import { useProjectContext } from '@/shared/context/project-context'
-import { getJSON, postJSON, deleteJSON } from '@/infrastructure/fetch-json'
+import {
+  getJSON,
+  postJSON,
+  deleteJSON,
+  getUserFacingMessage,
+} from '@/infrastructure/fetch-json'
 import getMeta from '@/utils/meta'
 import OLButton from '@/shared/components/ol/ol-button'
 import OLNotification from '@/shared/components/ol/ol-notification'
@@ -26,7 +31,7 @@ export default function PublishPresentationSection() {
   const [state, setState] = useState<PublishState>({ published: false })
   const [visibility, setVisibility] = useState<Visibility>('private')
   const [loading, setLoading] = useState(false)
-  const [error, setError] = useState(false)
+  const [error, setError] = useState<string | null>(null)
   const [copied, setCopied] = useState(false)
 
   useEffect(() => {
@@ -41,21 +46,21 @@ export default function PublishPresentationSection() {
 
   const publish = useCallback(() => {
     setLoading(true)
-    setError(false)
+    setError(null)
     postJSON(`/project/${projectId}/publish-presentation`, {
       body: { visibility },
     })
       .then((data: PublishState) => setState(data))
-      .catch(() => setError(true))
+      .catch(err => setError(getUserFacingMessage(err) ?? 'error'))
       .finally(() => setLoading(false))
   }, [projectId, visibility])
 
   const unpublish = useCallback(() => {
     setLoading(true)
-    setError(false)
+    setError(null)
     deleteJSON(`/project/${projectId}/publish-presentation`)
       .then(() => setState({ published: false }))
-      .catch(() => setError(true))
+      .catch(err => setError(getUserFacingMessage(err) ?? 'error'))
       .finally(() => setLoading(false))
   }, [projectId])
 
@@ -132,7 +137,9 @@ export default function PublishPresentationSection() {
         <div className="mt-2">
           <OLNotification
             type="error"
-            content={t('generic_something_went_wrong')}
+            content={
+              error === 'error' ? t('generic_something_went_wrong') : error
+            }
           />
         </div>
       )}