diff --git a/scripts/send-post.sh b/scripts/send-post.sh
index 6511f01..7ee2fbc 100755
--- a/scripts/send-post.sh
+++ b/scripts/send-post.sh
@@ -32,9 +32,9 @@ export GOCACHE=${GOCACHE:-$realhome/.cache/go-build}
 read -r want reviewed < <(python3 -c '
 import sys, yaml
 d = yaml.safe_load(open(sys.argv[1]))
-print(d["channel"], d["request"].get("reviewed_by") or "-")' "$post")
-[ "$want" = "$channel" ] || { echo "post is for channel '$want', not '$channel'" >&2; exit 2; }
-[ "$reviewed" != "-" ] || { echo "request.reviewed_by is empty; a person reviews before sending" >&2; exit 2; }
+r = str(d.get("reviewed_by") or "").strip()
+print(d["channel"], r if r and not r.startswith("<") else "-")' "$post")
+[ "$reviewed" != "-" ] || { echo "reviewed_by is not signed; a person reviews and signs before sending" >&2; exit 2; }
 
 TELEGRAM_CHANNEL_ID=$(go run ./cmd/provision adapter-config --spec "$spec" --channel "$channel" \
   | sed -n 's/^TELEGRAM_CHANNEL_ID=//p')
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ import json, os, subprocess, sys, yaml
 post, channel, tmp, hall, forge = sys.argv[1:]
 d = yaml.safe_load(open(post))
 req = d["request"]
+req["reviewed_by"] = str(d["reviewed_by"]).strip()   # the file's sign-off is the review
 if not req.get("visual_url"):
     cmd = [f"{tmp}/compose", "visual", "--hall-dir", hall,
            "--hall-raw-base", f"{forge}/hall-of-helix/raw/branch/main",