diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6ce3ec3f..f1d1aa11 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -99,6 +99,16 @@ All notable changes to vouch are documented here. Format follows
   per-prompt block, the session banner, `vouch status` and the opt-in
   question all say so rather than calling it "this repo's" knowledge.
 
+### Fixed
+- `sync_vault` catches the `ProposalError` that `propose_page` raises for a
+  deleted citation (missing claim/entity/source id, with
+  `ArtifactNotFoundError` as cause), not just the raw
+  `ArtifactNotFoundError`. other proposal failures (empty title, page-kind
+  validation) surface as a neutral `vault edit rejected` `VaultSyncError`
+  rather than being mislabelled as an unknown artifact. the CLI's
+  `except VaultSyncError` renderer then prints a one-line `Error:` instead
+  of an uncaught traceback (#547).
+
 ## [1.5.0] — 2026-07-20
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/src/vouch/vault_sync.py b/src/vouch/vault_sync.py
index d7a7f027..f3e0d0e7 100644
--- a/src/vouch/vault_sync.py
+++ b/src/vouch/vault_sync.py
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
     ClaimStatus,
     PageStatus,
 )
-from .proposals import propose_page
+from .proposals import ProposalError, propose_page
 from .storage import (
     ArtifactNotFoundError,
     KBStore,
@@ -465,10 +465,20 @@ def sync_vault(
         try:
             r = vault_to_kb(store, vault_dir, actor=actor)
         except ArtifactNotFoundError as e:
-            # A vault edit referenced a claim/entity/source that no longer
-            # exists in the KB. That's a *real* conflict the user has to
+            # a vault edit referenced a claim/entity/source that no longer
+            # exists in the KB. that's a *real* conflict the user has to
             # resolve in Obsidian, not a vouch bug; surface it cleanly.
             raise VaultSyncError(f"vault edit references unknown artifact: {e}") from e
+        except ProposalError as e:
+            # propose_page converts missing claim/entity/source ids to
+            # ProposalError (ArtifactNotFoundError as __cause__), so the
+            # handler above never fired and the error escaped as a traceback
+            # past the CLI's VaultSyncError renderer. other ProposalErrors
+            # (empty title, page-kind validation) stay distinct — don't
+            # mislabel them as unknown artifacts.
+            if isinstance(e.__cause__, ArtifactNotFoundError):
+                raise VaultSyncError(f"vault edit references unknown artifact: {e}") from e
+            raise VaultSyncError(f"vault edit rejected: {e}") from e
         combined.pages_proposed.extend(r.pages_proposed)
         combined.pages_skipped_unchanged.extend(r.pages_skipped_unchanged)
         combined.pages_skipped_unknown_id.extend(r.pages_skipped_unknown_id)
diff --git a/tests/test_vault_sync.py b/tests/test_vault_sync.py
index b765b08c..82f9c156 100644
--- a/tests/test_vault_sync.py
+++ b/tests/test_vault_sync.py
@@ -248,6 +248,55 @@ def test_sync_vault_rejects_missing_vault(store: KBStore, tmp_path: Path) -> Non
         sync_vault(store, tmp_path / "does-not-exist")
 
 
+def test_sync_vault_surfaces_deleted_citation_as_vault_sync_error(
+    store: KBStore, vault: Path,
+) -> None:
+    """a vault edit to a page whose cited claim was since deleted must
+    surface as a clean VaultSyncError, not the raw ProposalError that
+    propose_page raises for an unknown id — otherwise it escapes the dead
+    `except ArtifactNotFoundError` handler as an uncaught traceback,
+    bypassing the CLI's VaultSyncError renderer. fixture cites `alpha-claim`."""
+    kb_to_vault(store, vault)
+    mirror = vault / VAULT_DIR / "pages" / "alpha-page.md"
+    mirror.write_text(
+        mirror.read_text(encoding="utf-8").replace("Original body.", "Edited."),
+        encoding="utf-8",
+    )
+    # delete the cited claim so propose_page's id validation fails.
+    (store.kb_dir / "claims" / "alpha-claim.yaml").unlink()
+
+    with pytest.raises(VaultSyncError, match="unknown artifact"):
+        sync_vault(store, vault, direction="forward")
+
+
+def test_sync_vault_does_not_mislabel_non_artifact_proposal_errors(
+    store: KBStore, vault: Path, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
+) -> None:
+    """other ProposalErrors from propose_page (e.g. empty title) must not
+    be reported as 'unknown artifact' — that wording is reserved for
+    missing claim/entity/source ids (#547 / CodeRabbit on #548). empty
+    titles are caught earlier by deserialise-and-skip, so drive the
+    non-artifact path by stubbing propose_page."""
+    from vouch.proposals import ProposalError
+
+    kb_to_vault(store, vault)
+    mirror = vault / VAULT_DIR / "pages" / "alpha-page.md"
+    mirror.write_text(
+        mirror.read_text(encoding="utf-8").replace("Original body.", "Edited."),
+        encoding="utf-8",
+    )
+
+    def _reject(*_args: object, **_kwargs: object) -> None:
+        raise ProposalError("page title is empty")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr("vouch.vault_sync.propose_page", _reject)
+
+    with pytest.raises(VaultSyncError, match="vault edit rejected") as ei:
+        sync_vault(store, vault, direction="forward")
+    assert "unknown artifact" not in str(ei.value)
+    assert "page title is empty" in str(ei.value)
+
+
 # --- CLI surface ----------------------------------------------------------
 
 
@@ -291,6 +340,36 @@ def test_cli_sync_missing_vault_is_clean_error(
     assert "Error:" in result.output
 
 
+def test_cli_sync_deleted_citation_is_clean_error(
+    store: KBStore, vault: Path, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
+) -> None:
+    """deleted-citation must hit the CLI's VaultSyncError renderer as a
+    one-line Error:, not an uncaught ProposalError traceback (#547)."""
+    monkeypatch.chdir(store.root)
+    runner = CliRunner()
+    runner.invoke(cli, ["sync", "--vault", str(vault)])
+    mirror = vault / VAULT_DIR / "pages" / "alpha-page.md"
+    mirror.write_text(
+        mirror.read_text(encoding="utf-8").replace("Original body.", "Edited."),
+        encoding="utf-8",
+    )
+    (store.kb_dir / "claims" / "alpha-claim.yaml").unlink()
+
+    result = runner.invoke(
+        cli, ["sync", "--vault", str(vault), "--direction", "forward"],
+    )
+    assert result.exit_code != 0
+    assert "Traceback" not in result.output
+    # documented CLI contract (#547): exactly one Error: line, not a
+    # multiline non-traceback rendering that still contains "Error:".
+    lines = [line for line in result.output.splitlines() if line.strip()]
+    assert lines == [
+        "Error: vault edit references unknown artifact: unknown claim id: alpha-claim"
+    ]
+    assert "unknown artifact" in lines[0]
+    assert "unknown claim id" in lines[0]
+
+
 def test_cli_sync_requires_vault_flag(
     store: KBStore, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
 ) -> None: