diff --git a/modules/cachix-push.nix b/modules/cachix-push.nix
index 02bff51e..e24e1bf0 100644
--- a/modules/cachix-push.nix
+++ b/modules/cachix-push.nix
@@ -1,12 +1,16 @@
 _: {
   flake.nixosModules.cachix-push =
     {
+      self,
       config,
       lib,
       pkgs,
       ...
     }:
     let
+      inherit (pkgs.stdenv.hostPlatform) system;
+      inherit (self.packages.${system}) ntfy-wrapped;
+
       # Push only locally-built paths to soft-nix. A Nix post-build hook fires
       # solely for paths the daemon builds, so substituted paths (already on
       # cache.nixos.org) are never re-uploaded, and non-build store additions
@@ -16,7 +20,9 @@ _: {
 
         runtimeInputs = [
           pkgs.cachix
+          pkgs.coreutils
           pkgs.gnugrep
+          ntfy-wrapped
         ];
 
         inheritPath = false;
@@ -37,8 +43,19 @@ _: {
           CACHIX_AUTH_TOKEN="$(< ${config.age.secrets.cachix-token.path})"
           export CACHIX_AUTH_TOKEN
 
+          # Bounded and non-fatal: this hook blocks `nix build`, and main CI
+          # never cancels, so a stalled or misconfigured cache must never wedge
+          # or fail a build. cachix retries transient 5xx/429 with a bounded
+          # backoff but does NOT bound a stalled-open connection, so `timeout`
+          # is the outer stop. Any non-zero exit — a fast-fatal 401/404 (bad
+          # token, wrong cache name) or a timed-out stall — pings ntfy, so a
+          # broken or misconfigured cache stays visible instead of silent.
           # shellcheck disable=SC2086 # intentional word-splitting of $OUT_PATHS
-          cachix push soft-nix $OUT_PATHS
+          if ! timeout 180 cachix push soft-nix $OUT_PATHS; then
+            ntfy publish --quiet \
+              --title "cachix push failed on ${config.networking.hostName}" \
+              "$OUT_PATHS"
+          fi
         '';
       };
     in