diff --git a/desktop/src/features/projects/hooks.ts b/desktop/src/features/projects/hooks.ts
index d121115a69..6fc0c60891 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/projects/hooks.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/features/projects/hooks.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { useMutation, useQuery, useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import * as React from "react";
 
 import { relayClient } from "@/shared/api/relayClient";
+import { getRelaySelf } from "@/features/moderation/lib/relaySelf";
 import { getCachedRelayOrigin } from "@/shared/lib/mediaUrl";
 import { signRelayEvent } from "@/shared/api/tauri";
 import { getIdentity } from "@/shared/api/tauriIdentity";
@@ -345,9 +346,17 @@ function eventToRepoState(event: RelayEvent): RepoState {
 }
 
 async function fetchRepoState(project: Project): Promise<RepoState | null> {
+  const relaySelf = await getRelaySelf();
+  const trustedAuthors = [
+    ...new Set(
+      [project.owner, relaySelf].filter((value): value is string =>
+        Boolean(value),
+      ),
+    ),
+  ];
   const events = await relayClient.fetchEvents({
     kinds: [KIND_REPO_STATE],
-    authors: [project.owner],
+    authors: trustedAuthors,
     "#d": [project.dtag],
     limit: 1,
   });
diff --git a/desktop/src/testing/e2eBridge.ts b/desktop/src/testing/e2eBridge.ts
index d79d2f6cf7..61bb1117b1 100644
--- a/desktop/src/testing/e2eBridge.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/testing/e2eBridge.ts
@@ -4748,6 +4748,36 @@ function mulberry32(seed: number) {
 }
 
 let mockProjectEventStore: RelayEvent[] | null = null;
+const MOCK_PROJECT_BRANCHES_KEY = "buzz-e2e-project-branches";
+
+function readMockProjectBranches(): Record<string, Record<string, string>> {
+  try {
+    return JSON.parse(
+      window.sessionStorage.getItem(MOCK_PROJECT_BRANCHES_KEY) ?? "{}",
+    );
+  } catch {
+    return {};
+  }
+}
+
+function writeMockProjectBranch(
+  dtag: string,
+  branch: string,
+  commit: string | null,
+) {
+  const projects = readMockProjectBranches();
+  const branches = { ...(projects[dtag] ?? {}) };
+  if (commit) {
+    branches[branch] = commit;
+  } else {
+    delete branches[branch];
+  }
+  projects[dtag] = branches;
+  window.sessionStorage.setItem(
+    MOCK_PROJECT_BRANCHES_KEY,
+    JSON.stringify(projects),
+  );
+}
 
 function buildMockProjectEvents(): RelayEvent[] {
   const events: RelayEvent[] = [];
@@ -4795,8 +4825,11 @@ function buildMockProjectEvents(): RelayEvent[] {
             }`,
           ],
           ["refs/heads/main", "0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef01234567"],
+          ...Object.entries(readMockProjectBranches()[seed.dtag] ?? {}).map(
+            ([branch, commit]) => [`refs/heads/${branch}`, commit],
+          ),
         ],
-        owner,
+        getConfig()?.mock?.relaySelf ?? owner,
         now - projectIndex,
         `mock-repo-state-${seed.dtag}`.replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/g, ""),
       ),
@@ -9427,6 +9460,9 @@ export function maybeInstallE2eTauriMocks() {
           ]);
           repoState.created_at = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000);
         }
+        if (dtag) {
+          writeMockProjectBranch(dtag, input.newBranch, input.expectedCommit);
+        }
         return {
           branch: input.newBranch,
           commit: input.expectedCommit,
@@ -9455,6 +9491,9 @@ export function maybeInstallE2eTauriMocks() {
           );
           repoState.created_at = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000);
         }
+        if (dtag) {
+          writeMockProjectBranch(dtag, input.branch, null);
+        }
         return {
           branch: input.branch,
           commit: input.expectedCommit,
diff --git a/desktop/tests/e2e/project-pr-review.spec.ts b/desktop/tests/e2e/project-pr-review.spec.ts
index d028f3e831..48289ceeee 100644
--- a/desktop/tests/e2e/project-pr-review.spec.ts
+++ b/desktop/tests/e2e/project-pr-review.spec.ts
@@ -712,7 +712,10 @@ test("project branches can be created from the selected remote branch", async ({
   page,
 }) => {
   await enableProjectsFeature(page);
-  await installMockBridge(page, { projectHeadBranch: "master" });
+  await installMockBridge(page, {
+    projectHeadBranch: "master",
+    relaySelf: TEST_IDENTITIES.bob.pubkey,
+  });
   await openBuzzProject(page);
 
   await page.getByRole("button", { name: /main/ }).click();
@@ -745,6 +748,12 @@ test("project branches can be created from the selected remote branch", async ({
     () => window.__BUZZ_E2E_COMMANDS__ ?? [],
   );
   expect(commands).toContain("create_project_remote_branch");
+
+  await openBuzzProject(page);
+  await page.getByRole("button", { name: /main/ }).click();
+  await expect(
+    page.getByRole("menuitemradio", { name: "feature/branch-management" }),
+  ).toBeVisible();
 });
 
 test("project branches can be deleted but the default branch cannot", async ({
diff --git a/desktop/tests/helpers/bridge.ts b/desktop/tests/helpers/bridge.ts
index b5a3edadfa..71bb7ba6e3 100644
--- a/desktop/tests/helpers/bridge.ts
+++ b/desktop/tests/helpers/bridge.ts
@@ -129,6 +129,8 @@ export type MockAgentMemoryListing = {
 type MockBridgeOptions = {
   /** Advertised HEAD for the first mock project without adding that branch. */
   projectHeadBranch?: string;
+  /** Relay NIP-11 identity used to sign authoritative repository state. */
+  relaySelf?: string | null;
   /** Builderlab account returned by hosted-community onboarding. Null/omitted = signed out. */
   builderlabAuth?: { email?: string; name?: string; expiresAt: string } | null;
   /** Bound Builderlab Nostr identity. Null/omitted = not linked yet. */