diff --git a/crates/adapters/postgres/src/activitypub.rs b/crates/adapters/postgres/src/activitypub.rs
index 67050f4..39bb1ab 100644
--- a/crates/adapters/postgres/src/activitypub.rs
+++ b/crates/adapters/postgres/src/activitypub.rs
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ impl ActivityPubRepository for PgActivityPubRepository {
         content_warning: Option<String>,
         visibility: &str,
         in_reply_to: Option<&str>,
-    ) -> Result<(), DomainError> {
+    ) -> Result<ThoughtId, DomainError> {
         let capped: String = content.chars().take(MAX_REMOTE_CONTENT_CHARS).collect();
         let (in_reply_to_id, in_reply_to_url) = match in_reply_to {
             Some(url) => {
@@ -251,8 +251,16 @@ impl ActivityPubRepository for PgActivityPubRepository {
         .bind(&in_reply_to_url)
         .execute(&self.pool)
         .await
-        .into_domain()
-        .map(|_| ())
+        .into_domain()?;
+
+        // SELECT the id — works whether the INSERT was a no-op or not (idempotent).
+        let row: (uuid::Uuid,) =
+            sqlx::query_as("SELECT id FROM thoughts WHERE ap_id=$1")
+                .bind(ap_id)
+                .fetch_one(&self.pool)
+                .await
+                .into_domain()?;
+        Ok(ThoughtId::from_uuid(row.0))
     }
 
     async fn apply_note_update(&self, ap_id: &str, new_content: &str) -> Result<(), DomainError> {
@@ -365,4 +373,34 @@ mod tests {
         let repo = PgActivityPubRepository::new(pool);
         assert_eq!(repo.count_local_notes().await.unwrap(), 0);
     }
+
+    #[sqlx::test(migrations = "./migrations")]
+    async fn accept_note_returns_thought_id(pool: sqlx::PgPool) {
+        let repo = PgActivityPubRepository::new(pool.clone());
+        let actor_user_id = repo
+            .intern_remote_actor("https://remote.example/users/alice")
+            .await
+            .unwrap();
+
+        let thought_id = repo
+            .accept_note(
+                "https://remote.example/notes/1",
+                &actor_user_id,
+                "Hello #rust world",
+                chrono::Utc::now(),
+                false,
+                None,
+                "public",
+                None,
+            )
+            .await
+            .unwrap();
+
+        let row: (uuid::Uuid,) = sqlx::query_as("SELECT id FROM thoughts WHERE ap_id=$1")
+            .bind("https://remote.example/notes/1")
+            .fetch_one(&pool)
+            .await
+            .unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(thought_id.as_uuid(), row.0);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/crates/application/src/testing.rs b/crates/application/src/testing.rs
index 689289e..b35a40c 100644
--- a/crates/application/src/testing.rs
+++ b/crates/application/src/testing.rs
@@ -103,8 +103,8 @@ impl ActivityPubRepository for TestApRepo {
         _content_warning: Option<String>,
         _visibility: &str,
         _in_reply_to: Option<&str>,
-    ) -> Result<(), DomainError> {
-        Ok(())
+    ) -> Result<ThoughtId, DomainError> {
+        Ok(ThoughtId::from_uuid(uuid::Uuid::new_v4()))
     }
     async fn apply_note_update(
         &self,
diff --git a/crates/presentation/src/testing.rs b/crates/presentation/src/testing.rs
index 1e801f9..b1bc505 100644
--- a/crates/presentation/src/testing.rs
+++ b/crates/presentation/src/testing.rs
@@ -76,8 +76,8 @@ impl ActivityPubRepository for NoOpApRepo {
         _content_warning: Option<String>,
         _visibility: &str,
         _in_reply_to: Option<&str>,
-    ) -> Result<(), DomainError> {
-        Ok(())
+    ) -> Result<ThoughtId, DomainError> {
+        Ok(ThoughtId::from_uuid(uuid::Uuid::new_v4()))
     }
     async fn apply_note_update(
         &self,