diff --git a/src/components/ChatViewer.tsx b/src/components/ChatViewer.tsx
index af29920..53696b5 100644
--- a/src/components/ChatViewer.tsx
+++ b/src/components/ChatViewer.tsx
@@ -1126,7 +1126,7 @@ export function ChatViewer({
           >
             Sign in
           </button>{" "}
-          to send messages
+          to post
         </div>
       )}
 
diff --git a/src/lib/chat/adapters/nip-29-adapter.ts b/src/lib/chat/adapters/nip-29-adapter.ts
index 3f51c30..541ccae 100644
--- a/src/lib/chat/adapters/nip-29-adapter.ts
+++ b/src/lib/chat/adapters/nip-29-adapter.ts
@@ -189,83 +189,65 @@ export class Nip29Adapter extends ChatProtocolAdapter {
 
     console.log(`[NIP-29] Group title: ${title}`);
 
-    // Fetch admins (kind 39001) and members (kind 39002)
+    // Fetch admins (kind 39001) and members (kind 39002) in parallel
     // Both use d tag (addressable events signed by relay)
-    const participantsFilter: Filter = {
-      kinds: [39001, 39002],
+    const adminsFilter: Filter = {
+      kinds: [39001],
       "#d": [groupId],
-      limit: 10, // Should be 1 of each kind, but allow for duplicates
+      limit: 1,
     };
 
-    const participantEvents: NostrEvent[] = [];
-    const participantsObs = pool.subscription(
-      [relayUrl],
-      [participantsFilter],
-      {
-        eventStore,
-      },
+    const membersFilter: Filter = {
+      kinds: [39002],
+      "#d": [groupId],
+      limit: 1,
+    };
+
+    // Use pool.request with both filters to fetch and auto-close on EOSE
+    const participantEvents = await firstValueFrom(
+      pool
+        .request([relayUrl], [adminsFilter, membersFilter], { eventStore })
+        .pipe(toArray()),
     );
 
-    await new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
-      const timeout = setTimeout(() => {
-        console.log("[NIP-29] Participants fetch timeout");
-        resolve();
-      }, 5000);
+    console.log(`[NIP-29] Got ${participantEvents.length} participant events`);
 
-      const sub = participantsObs.subscribe({
-        next: (response) => {
-          if (typeof response === "string") {
-            // EOSE received
-            clearTimeout(timeout);
-            console.log(
-              `[NIP-29] Got ${participantEvents.length} participant events`,
-            );
-            sub.unsubscribe();
-            resolve();
-          } else {
-            // Event received
-            participantEvents.push(response);
-          }
-        },
-        error: (err) => {
-          clearTimeout(timeout);
-          console.error("[NIP-29] Participants fetch error:", err);
-          sub.unsubscribe();
-          reject(err);
-        },
-      });
-    });
+    const adminEvents = participantEvents.filter((e) => e.kind === 39001);
+    const memberEvents = participantEvents.filter((e) => e.kind === 39002);
 
     // Helper to validate and normalize role names
-    const normalizeRole = (role: string | undefined): ParticipantRole => {
-      if (!role) return "member";
+    const normalizeRole = (
+      role: string | undefined,
+      defaultRole: ParticipantRole,
+    ): ParticipantRole => {
+      if (!role) return defaultRole;
       const lower = role.toLowerCase();
       if (lower === "admin") return "admin";
       if (lower === "moderator") return "moderator";
       if (lower === "host") return "host";
-      // Default to member for unknown roles
-      return "member";
+      // Default to provided default for unknown roles
+      return defaultRole;
     };
 
     // Extract participants from both admins and members events
     const participantsMap = new Map<string, Participant>();
 
     // Process kind:39001 (admins with roles)
-    const adminEvents = participantEvents.filter((e) => e.kind === 39001);
+    // Users in kind 39001 are admins by default
     for (const event of adminEvents) {
       // Each p tag: ["p", "<pubkey>", "<role1>", "<role2>", ...]
       for (const tag of event.tags) {
         if (tag[0] === "p" && tag[1]) {
           const pubkey = tag[1];
           const roles = tag.slice(2).filter((r) => r); // Get all roles after pubkey
-          const primaryRole = normalizeRole(roles[0]); // Use first role as primary
+          const primaryRole = normalizeRole(roles[0], "admin"); // Default to "admin" for kind 39001
           participantsMap.set(pubkey, { pubkey, role: primaryRole });
         }
       }
     }
 
     // Process kind:39002 (members without roles)
-    const memberEvents = participantEvents.filter((e) => e.kind === 39002);
+    // Users in kind 39002 are regular members
     for (const event of memberEvents) {
       // Each p tag: ["p", "<pubkey>"]
       for (const tag of event.tags) {