diff --git a/spec/06-payload-encrypted.md b/spec/06-payload-encrypted.md
index d16fb64..e017539 100644
--- a/spec/06-payload-encrypted.md
+++ b/spec/06-payload-encrypted.md
@@ -75,9 +75,73 @@ For TXT_MSG payloads, the decrypted plaintext has this structure:
 | Field | Offset | Size | Type | Description |
 |-------|--------|------|------|-------------|
 | timestamp | 0 | 4 bytes | uint32_le | Message timestamp |
-| txt_type_attempt | 4 | 1 byte | uint8 | Upper 6 bits: message type, lower 2 bits: attempt (0-3) |
+| txt_type_attempt | 4 | 1 byte | uint8 | Bits 2-7: message type (see [Section 4](04-payload-ack.md)); bits 0-1: attempt counter (0-3). See "Attempt Counter Semantics" below. |
 | text | 5 | remaining | UTF-8 | Message text |
 
+#### Attempt Counter Semantics
+
+The `attempt` sub-field (bits 0-1 of `txt_type_attempt`) carries the low two
+bits of a transmission attempt counter used by the sender's retry logic. For
+a given logical TXT_MSG:
+
+- The `timestamp` field MUST remain stable across all retries of the same
+  message.
+- The `attempt` counter MUST be 0 on the first transmission and MUST be
+  incremented by 1 on each retry.
+- Bits 0–1 of `txt_type_attempt` MUST always carry `attempt & 3`. These bits
+  are part of the ACK CRC input (see
+  [Section 4](04-payload-ack.md#ack-crc-computation)), so each retry of a
+  message produces a distinct expected ACK CRC.
+- For attempts in `0..3`, no further encoding is needed; the plaintext ends
+  with the text.
+- For attempts `> 3`, the sender MUST append a 2-byte tail
+  `[NUL_terminator(1)][attempt_full(1)]` to the plaintext after the text,
+  where `attempt_full` is the full 1-byte counter value (not just the low
+  2 bits). The receiver locates the text by scanning for the NUL terminator
+  and recovers the full attempt value from the trailing byte. Because this
+  tail costs 2 bytes of plaintext capacity, the maximum text length is
+  reduced by 2 bytes when `attempt > 3`.
+- The ACK CRC is computed over `timestamp(4) || txt_type_attempt(1) || text`
+  only. The `[NUL][attempt_full]` tail (when present) and the implicit C
+  string NUL terminator (when not) are excluded from the hash input. This
+  means a retry with attempt 4 and a retry with attempt 0 produce ACK CRCs
+  that match (since `4 & 3 == 0`); senders relying on attempts beyond 3
+  SHOULD also verify the trailing attempt byte if they need to distinguish
+  rolled-over attempts.
+
+See `BaseChatMesh::composeMsgPacket()` in
+`src/helpers/BaseChatMesh.cpp` for the reference encoding.
+
+### Reliable DM Delivery
+
+The following sender-side behavior is informational and documents how
+interoperating implementations deliver TXT_MSG reliably. Exact timeouts,
+backoff schedules, and queue depths are implementation-defined; see
+[Section 17 — Sender Behavior](17-routing.md#sender-behavior-informational)
+for routing-layer details.
+
+- **Expected-ACK tracking.** On transmit, the sender SHOULD compute the
+  expected `ack_crc` (see [Section 4](04-payload-ack.md#ack-crc-computation))
+  and record it in a pending-ACK table keyed by CRC. The table SHOULD bound
+  entries by capacity and age out entries after the retry schedule has
+  completed (plus a margin for in-flight ACKs).
+- **Retry.** If no matching ACK is received within an implementation-defined
+  timeout, the sender SHOULD retransmit with `attempt` incremented (per
+  "Attempt Counter Semantics" above) and re-register the new expected
+  `ack_crc`. Up to 4 attempts are representable in the 2-bit `attempt`
+  field.
+- **ACK consumption.** On receipt of a PAYLOAD_TYPE_ACK or a MULTIPART-wrapped
+  ACK whose `ack_crc` matches a pending entry, the sender MUST treat the
+  message as delivered, remove the pending-ACK entry, and cancel any queued
+  retries for that CRC.
+- **Duplicate DM handling at the receiver.** A receiver MAY cache its most
+  recent reply per peer keyed by the inbound DM's plaintext and, on a
+  duplicate inbound DM within a short window, re-emit the cached reply as a
+  loss-recovery optimization. This is not normative; the normative behavior
+  is "process once and rely on [Section 16](16-packet-hash.md) dedup."
+  Implementations that re-emit cached replies SHOULD suppress re-emission
+  while a retry for that reply is still pending, to avoid piling on.
+
 ### Plaintext Format (REQUEST / RESPONSE)
 
 The plaintext format for REQUEST and RESPONSE is application-defined. Common