diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/sync.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/sync.ts
index 55489bd..226b891 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/sync.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/sync.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import { createAgent, listDocuments } from "../lib/atproto";
 import {
 	scanContentDirectory,
 	getContentHash,
+	getTextContent,
 	updateFrontmatterWithAtUri,
 	resolvePostPath,
 } from "../lib/markdown";
@@ -181,8 +182,22 @@ export const syncCommand = command({
 				log.message(`    URI: ${doc.uri}`);
 				log.message(`    File: ${path.basename(localPost.filePath)}`);
 
-				// Update state (use relative path from config directory)
-				const contentHash = await getContentHash(localPost.rawContent);
+				// Compare local text content with PDS text content to detect changes.
+				// We must avoid storing the local rawContent hash blindly, because
+				// that would make publish think nothing changed even when content
+				// was modified since the last publish.
+				const localTextContent = getTextContent(
+					localPost,
+					config.textContentField,
+				);
+				const contentMatchesPDS =
+					localTextContent.slice(0, 10000) === doc.value.textContent;
+
+				// If local content matches PDS, store the local hash (up to date).
+				// If it differs, store empty hash so publish detects the change.
+				const contentHash = contentMatchesPDS
+					? await getContentHash(localPost.rawContent)
+					: "";
 				const relativeFilePath = path.relative(configDir, localPost.filePath);
 				state.posts[relativeFilePath] = {
 					contentHash,
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/atproto.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/atproto.ts
index b999c98..31123f2 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/atproto.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/atproto.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { Agent, AtpAgent } from "@atproto/api";
 import * as mimeTypes from "mime-types";
 import * as fs from "node:fs/promises";
 import * as path from "node:path";
-import { stripMarkdownForText, resolvePostPath } from "./markdown";
+import { getTextContent, resolvePostPath } from "./markdown";
 import { getOAuthClient } from "./oauth-client";
 import type {
 	BlobObject,
@@ -251,17 +251,7 @@ export async function createDocument(
 		config.pathTemplate,
 	);
 	const publishDate = new Date(post.frontmatter.publishDate);
-
-	// Determine textContent: use configured field from frontmatter, or fallback to markdown body
-	let textContent: string;
-	if (
-		config.textContentField &&
-		post.rawFrontmatter?.[config.textContentField]
-	) {
-		textContent = String(post.rawFrontmatter[config.textContentField]);
-	} else {
-		textContent = stripMarkdownForText(post.content);
-	}
+	const textContent = getTextContent(post, config.textContentField);
 
 	const record: Record<string, unknown> = {
 		$type: "site.standard.document",
@@ -316,17 +306,7 @@ export async function updateDocument(
 		config.pathTemplate,
 	);
 	const publishDate = new Date(post.frontmatter.publishDate);
-
-	// Determine textContent: use configured field from frontmatter, or fallback to markdown body
-	let textContent: string;
-	if (
-		config.textContentField &&
-		post.rawFrontmatter?.[config.textContentField]
-	) {
-		textContent = String(post.rawFrontmatter[config.textContentField]);
-	} else {
-		textContent = stripMarkdownForText(post.content);
-	}
+	const textContent = getTextContent(post, config.textContentField);
 
 	const record: Record<string, unknown> = {
 		$type: "site.standard.document",
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/markdown.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/markdown.ts
index 2d1afbd..0f2f27d 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/markdown.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/markdown.ts
@@ -435,3 +435,13 @@ export function stripMarkdownForText(markdown: string): string {
 		.replace(/\n{3,}/g, "\n\n") // Normalize multiple newlines
 		.trim();
 }
+
+export function getTextContent(
+	post: { content: string; rawFrontmatter?: Record<string, unknown> },
+	textContentField?: string,
+): string {
+	if (textContentField && post.rawFrontmatter?.[textContentField]) {
+		return String(post.rawFrontmatter[textContentField]);
+	}
+	return stripMarkdownForText(post.content);
+}