diff --git a/src/hooks/useMarkdownToHTML.ts b/src/hooks/useMarkdownToHTML.ts
index a04873ff..7e8248d2 100644
--- a/src/hooks/useMarkdownToHTML.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/useMarkdownToHTML.ts
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ export const useMarkdownToHTML = (
   console.log('[useMarkdownToHTML] Hook called, markdown length:', markdown?.length || 0, 'hasRelayPool:', !!relayPool)
 
   // Resolve profile labels progressively as profiles load
-  const profileLabels = useProfileLabels(markdown || '')
+  const profileLabels = useProfileLabels(markdown || '', relayPool)
   console.log('[useMarkdownToHTML] Profile labels size:', profileLabels.size)
 
   // Fetch article titles
diff --git a/src/hooks/useProfileLabels.ts b/src/hooks/useProfileLabels.ts
index 37bef275..0b93d642 100644
--- a/src/hooks/useProfileLabels.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/useProfileLabels.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
-import { useMemo } from 'react'
-import { useEventModel } from 'applesauce-react/hooks'
-import { Models, Helpers } from 'applesauce-core'
+import { useMemo, useState, useEffect } from 'react'
+import { Hooks } from 'applesauce-react'
+import { Helpers, IEventStore } from 'applesauce-core'
 import { getContentPointers } from 'applesauce-factory/helpers'
+import { RelayPool } from 'applesauce-relay'
+import { fetchProfiles } from '../services/profileService'
 
 const { getPubkeyFromDecodeResult, encodeDecodeResult } = Helpers
 
@@ -9,7 +11,9 @@ const { getPubkeyFromDecodeResult, encodeDecodeResult } = Helpers
  * Hook to resolve profile labels from content containing npub/nprofile identifiers
  * Returns a Map of encoded identifier -> display name that updates progressively as profiles load
  */
-export function useProfileLabels(content: string): Map<string, string> {
+export function useProfileLabels(content: string, relayPool?: RelayPool | null): Map<string, string> {
+  const eventStore = Hooks.useEventStore()
+  
   // Extract profile pointers (npub and nprofile) using applesauce helpers
   const profileData = useMemo(() => {
     console.log('[useProfileLabels] Processing content, length:', content?.length || 0)
@@ -18,19 +22,18 @@ export function useProfileLabels(content: string): Map<string, string> {
       console.log('[useProfileLabels] Found pointers:', pointers.length, 'types:', pointers.map(p => p.type))
       const filtered = pointers.filter(p => p.type === 'npub' || p.type === 'nprofile')
       console.log('[useProfileLabels] Profile pointers:', filtered.length)
-      const result = filtered
-        .map(pointer => {
-          try {
-            return {
-              pubkey: getPubkeyFromDecodeResult(pointer),
-              encoded: encodeDecodeResult(pointer)
-            }
-          } catch (err) {
-            console.error('[useProfileLabels] Error processing pointer:', err, pointer)
-            return null
+      const result: Array<{ pubkey: string; encoded: string }> = []
+      filtered.forEach(pointer => {
+        try {
+          const pubkey = getPubkeyFromDecodeResult(pointer)
+          const encoded = encodeDecodeResult(pointer)
+          if (pubkey && encoded) {
+            result.push({ pubkey, encoded: encoded as string })
           }
-        })
-        .filter((p): p is { pubkey: string; encoded: string } => p !== null && !!p.pubkey)
+        } catch (err) {
+          console.error('[useProfileLabels] Error processing pointer:', err, pointer)
+        }
+      })
       console.log('[useProfileLabels] Profile data after filtering:', result.length)
       return result
     } catch (err) {
@@ -39,27 +42,76 @@ export function useProfileLabels(content: string): Map<string, string> {
     }
   }, [content])
 
-  // Fetch profiles for all found pubkeys (progressive loading)
-  const profiles = profileData.map(({ pubkey }) => 
-    useEventModel(Models.ProfileModel, pubkey ? [pubkey] : null)
-  )
+  const [profileLabels, setProfileLabels] = useState<Map<string, string>>(new Map())
 
-  // Build profile labels map that updates reactively as profiles load
-  return useMemo(() => {
+  // Build initial labels from eventStore, then fetch missing profiles
+  useEffect(() => {
+    console.log('[useProfileLabels] Building labels, profileData:', profileData.length, 'hasEventStore:', !!eventStore)
+    
+    // First, get profiles from eventStore synchronously
     const labels = new Map<string, string>()
-    console.log('[useProfileLabels] Building labels map, profileData:', profileData.length, 'profiles:', profiles.length)
-    profileData.forEach(({ encoded }, index) => {
-      const profile = profiles[index]
-      if (profile) {
-        const displayName = profile.name || profile.display_name || profile.nip05
-        if (displayName) {
-          labels.set(encoded, `@${displayName}`)
-          console.log('[useProfileLabels] Set label:', encoded, '->', displayName)
+    const pubkeysToFetch: string[] = []
+    
+    profileData.forEach(({ encoded, pubkey }) => {
+      if (eventStore) {
+        const profileEvent = eventStore.getEvent(pubkey + ':0')
+        if (profileEvent) {
+          try {
+            const profileData = JSON.parse(profileEvent.content || '{}') as { name?: string; display_name?: string; nip05?: string }
+            const displayName = profileData.display_name || profileData.name || profileData.nip05
+            if (displayName) {
+              labels.set(encoded, `@${displayName}`)
+              console.log('[useProfileLabels] Found in eventStore:', encoded, '->', displayName)
+            } else {
+              pubkeysToFetch.push(pubkey)
+            }
+          } catch {
+            pubkeysToFetch.push(pubkey)
+          }
+        } else {
+          pubkeysToFetch.push(pubkey)
         }
+      } else {
+        pubkeysToFetch.push(pubkey)
       }
     })
-    console.log('[useProfileLabels] Final labels map size:', labels.size)
-    return labels
-  }, [profileData, profiles])
+    
+    // Update labels with what we found in eventStore
+    setProfileLabels(new Map(labels))
+    
+    // Fetch missing profiles asynchronously
+    if (pubkeysToFetch.length > 0 && relayPool && eventStore) {
+      console.log('[useProfileLabels] Fetching', pubkeysToFetch.length, 'missing profiles')
+      fetchProfiles(relayPool, eventStore as unknown as IEventStore, pubkeysToFetch)
+        .then(profiles => {
+          // Rebuild labels map with fetched profiles
+          const updatedLabels = new Map(labels)
+          profileData.forEach(({ encoded, pubkey }) => {
+            if (!updatedLabels.has(encoded)) {
+              const profileEvent = profiles.find(p => p.pubkey === pubkey)
+              if (profileEvent) {
+                try {
+                  const profileData = JSON.parse(profileEvent.content || '{}') as { name?: string; display_name?: string; nip05?: string }
+                  const displayName = profileData.display_name || profileData.name || profileData.nip05
+                  if (displayName) {
+                    updatedLabels.set(encoded, `@${displayName}`)
+                    console.log('[useProfileLabels] Fetched profile:', encoded, '->', displayName)
+                  }
+                } catch {
+                  // ignore parse errors
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          })
+          setProfileLabels(updatedLabels)
+        })
+        .catch(err => {
+          console.error('[useProfileLabels] Error fetching profiles:', err)
+        })
+    }
+  }, [profileData, eventStore, relayPool])
+
+  console.log('[useProfileLabels] Final labels map size:', profileLabels.size)
+  return profileLabels
 }
 
diff --git a/src/utils/nostrUriResolver.tsx b/src/utils/nostrUriResolver.tsx
index 4124bda9..d9b3a490 100644
--- a/src/utils/nostrUriResolver.tsx
+++ b/src/utils/nostrUriResolver.tsx
@@ -20,14 +20,17 @@ export function extractNostrUris(text: string): string[] {
   try {
     const pointers = getContentPointers(text)
     console.log('[nostrUriResolver] Found pointers:', pointers.length)
-    const result = pointers.map(pointer => {
+    const result: string[] = []
+    pointers.forEach(pointer => {
       try {
-        return encodeDecodeResult(pointer)
+        const encoded = encodeDecodeResult(pointer)
+        if (encoded) {
+          result.push(encoded)
+        }
       } catch (err) {
         console.error('[nostrUriResolver] Error encoding pointer:', err, pointer)
-        return null
       }
-    }).filter((v): v is string => v !== null)
+    })
     console.log('[nostrUriResolver] Extracted URIs:', result.length)
     return result
   } catch (err) {