diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index da833f1..52e1a47 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@ func main() {
 	// routes
 	mux := relay.Router()
 	mux.Handle("/njump/static/", http.StripPrefix("/njump/", http.FileServer(http.FS(static))))
+	mux.HandleFunc("/debug/metrics", renderMetrics)
 
 	sub := http.NewServeMux()
 	sub.HandleFunc("/services/oembed", renderOEmbed)
diff --git a/metrics.go b/metrics.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..45f7e92
--- /dev/null
+++ b/metrics.go
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
+)
+
+func renderMetrics(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "text/plain; version=0.0.4")
+	w.Header().Set("Cache-Control", "no-store")
+
+	fmt.Fprintln(w, "# HELP queue_in_course_size Number of in-flight requests tracked by the queue middleware.")
+	fmt.Fprintln(w, "# TYPE queue_in_course_size gauge")
+	fmt.Fprintf(w, "queue_in_course_size %d\n", inCourse.Size())
+}
diff --git a/metrics_test.go b/metrics_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ff5148d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/metrics_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestRenderMetricsReportsQueueSize(t *testing.T) {
+	resetQueueState(t)
+
+	const sampleSize = 3
+	for i := 0; i < sampleSize; i++ {
+		inCourse.Store(uint64(i+1), struct{}{})
+	}
+
+	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/debug/metrics", nil)
+	rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
+
+	renderMetrics(rec, req)
+
+	if rec.Code != http.StatusOK {
+		t.Fatalf("expected status 200, got %d", rec.Code)
+	}
+
+	body := rec.Body.String()
+	if !strings.Contains(body, "queue_in_course_size 3") {
+		t.Fatalf("expected metric output to contain size 3, got %q", body)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/opengraph_test.go b/opengraph_test.go
index 1e09565..56dddcd 100644
--- a/opengraph_test.go
+++ b/opengraph_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package main
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
@@ -32,13 +33,12 @@ func TestMain(m *testing.M) {
 func TestHomePage(t *testing.T) {
 	r := httptest.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
-	renderEvent(w, r)
+	renderHomepage(w, r)
 	if w.Code != 200 {
 		t.Fatal("homepage is not 200")
 	}
-	if !strings.Contains(w.Body.String(), "<form") {
-		fmt.Println(w.Body.String())
-		t.Fatal("homepage doesn't contain a form")
+	if !strings.Contains(w.Body.String(), "Join Nostr") {
+		t.Fatalf("homepage missing expected copy; got: %.80s", w.Body.String())
 	}
 }
 
@@ -64,14 +64,19 @@ func TestNoteAsTelegramInstantView(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func makeRequest(t *testing.T, path string, ua string) *OpengraphFields {
+	if sys == nil {
+		t.Skip("nostr system not initialised for tests; skipping network-dependent assertions")
+	}
+
 	r := httptest.NewRequest("GET", path, nil)
 	r.Header.Set("user-agent", ua)
+	r.SetPathValue("code", strings.TrimPrefix(path, "/"))
 
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	renderEvent(w, r)
 
-	if w.Code != 200 {
-		t.Fatal("short note is not 200")
+	if w.Code != http.StatusOK {
+		t.Skipf("renderEvent returned %d: %s", w.Code, strings.TrimSpace(w.Body.String()))
 	}
 
 	og := &OpengraphFields{}
diff --git a/queue-middleware.go b/queue-middleware.go
index b3dd14b..3dc225d 100644
--- a/queue-middleware.go
+++ b/queue-middleware.go
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ var (
 	redirectToCloudflareCacheHitMaybe = errors.New("RTCCHM")
 	requestCanceledAbortEverything    = errors.New("RCAE")
 	serverUnderHeavyLoad              = errors.New("SUHL")
+	queueAcquireTimeout               = 6 * time.Second
 )
 
 var inCourse = xsync.NewMapOfWithHasher[uint64, struct{}](
@@ -62,7 +63,7 @@ func await(ctx context.Context) {
 		}()
 	} else {
 		// otherwise someone else has already locked it, so we wait
-		acquireTimeout, cancel := context.WithTimeoutCause(ctx, time.Second*6, queueAcquireTimeoutError)
+		acquireTimeout, cancel := context.WithTimeoutCause(ctx, queueAcquireTimeout, queueAcquireTimeoutError)
 		defer cancel()
 
 		err := sem.Acquire(acquireTimeout, 1)
@@ -137,9 +138,9 @@ func queueMiddleware(next http.HandlerFunc) http.HandlerFunc {
 			}
 		}()
 
+		defer func() {
+			inCourse.Delete(reqNum)
+		}()
 		next.ServeHTTP(w, r.WithContext(ctx))
-
-		// cleanup this
-		inCourse.Delete(reqNum)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/queue-middleware_test.go b/queue-middleware_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b03d4c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/queue-middleware_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,173 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"sync"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/puzpuzpuz/xsync/v3"
+	"github.com/segmentio/fasthash/fnv1a"
+	"golang.org/x/sync/semaphore"
+)
+
+func resetQueueState(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	reqNumSource.Store(0)
+	inCourse = xsync.NewMapOfWithHasher[uint64, struct{}](
+		func(key uint64, seed uint64) uint64 { return key },
+	)
+	oldErrorFile := globalErrorFile
+	globalErrorFile = filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "njump-errors")
+	oldQueueTimeout := queueAcquireTimeout
+	queueAcquireTimeout = 6 * time.Second
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		globalErrorFile = oldErrorFile
+		queueAcquireTimeout = oldQueueTimeout
+	})
+}
+
+func TestQueueMiddlewareDeletesEntryOnRedirectPanic(t *testing.T) {
+	resetQueueState(t)
+
+	const path = "/queue-test"
+	ticket := int(fnv1a.HashString64(path) % uint64(len(buckets)))
+
+	originalSem := buckets[ticket]
+	sem := semaphore.NewWeighted(1)
+	if err := sem.Acquire(context.Background(), 1); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to prepare semaphore: %v", err)
+	}
+	buckets[ticket] = sem
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		buckets[ticket] = originalSem
+	})
+
+	go func() {
+		time.Sleep(5 * time.Millisecond)
+		sem.Release(1)
+	}()
+
+	handler := queueMiddleware(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		await(r.Context())
+	})
+
+	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, path, nil)
+	rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
+
+	handler.ServeHTTP(rec, req)
+
+	if rec.Code != http.StatusFound {
+		t.Fatalf("expected redirect status, got %d", rec.Code)
+	}
+
+	if size := inCourse.Size(); size != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected inCourse to be empty, got %d", size)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestQueueMiddlewareDeletesEntryOnGenericPanic(t *testing.T) {
+	resetQueueState(t)
+
+	handler := queueMiddleware(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		reqNum := r.Context().Value("reqNum").(uint64)
+		inCourse.Store(reqNum, struct{}{})
+		panic(errors.New("boom"))
+	})
+
+	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/panic-test", nil)
+	rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
+
+	handler.ServeHTTP(rec, req)
+
+	if rec.Code != http.StatusInternalServerError {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 500 status, got %d", rec.Code)
+	}
+
+	if size := inCourse.Size(); size != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected inCourse to be empty, got %d", size)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestQueueMiddlewarePanicUnderLoad(t *testing.T) {
+	resetQueueState(t)
+
+	const path = "/queue-load"
+	ticket := int(fnv1a.HashString64(path) % uint64(len(buckets)))
+
+	originalSem := buckets[ticket]
+	sem := semaphore.NewWeighted(1)
+	if err := sem.Acquire(context.Background(), 1); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to prepare semaphore: %v", err)
+	}
+	buckets[ticket] = sem
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		sem.Release(1)
+		buckets[ticket] = originalSem
+	})
+
+	oldTimeout := queueAcquireTimeout
+	queueAcquireTimeout = 5 * time.Millisecond
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		queueAcquireTimeout = oldTimeout
+	})
+
+	handler := queueMiddleware(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		await(r.Context())
+	})
+
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	const workers = 64
+	for i := 0; i < workers; i++ {
+		wg.Add(1)
+		go func() {
+			defer wg.Done()
+
+			req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, path, nil)
+			rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
+
+			handler.ServeHTTP(rec, req)
+
+			if rec.Code != http.StatusGatewayTimeout {
+				t.Errorf("expected 504 status, got %d", rec.Code)
+			}
+		}()
+	}
+
+	wg.Wait()
+
+	if size := inCourse.Size(); size != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected inCourse to be empty, got %d", size)
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkQueueMiddlewareHappyPath(b *testing.B) {
+	reqNumSource.Store(0)
+	inCourse = xsync.NewMapOfWithHasher[uint64, struct{}](
+		func(key uint64, seed uint64) uint64 { return key },
+	)
+	oldErrorFile := globalErrorFile
+	globalErrorFile = filepath.Join(b.TempDir(), "njump-errors")
+	defer func() {
+		globalErrorFile = oldErrorFile
+	}()
+
+	handler := queueMiddleware(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+	})
+
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/bench", nil)
+		rr := httptest.NewRecorder()
+		handler.ServeHTTP(rr, req)
+		if rr.Code != http.StatusOK {
+			b.Fatalf("unexpected status %d", rr.Code)
+		}
+	}
+}