diff --git a/decnet/bus/publish.py b/decnet/bus/publish.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..727fce2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/decnet/bus/publish.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+"""Fire-and-forget publish helper shared across every worker.
+
+Lifted out of ``decnet/mutator/engine.py`` once a second caller showed up
+(DEBT-031).  Keeping one implementation means the "never break the worker
+loop" guarantee is audited in exactly one place.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from typing import Any
+
+from decnet.bus.base import BaseBus
+from decnet.logging import get_logger
+
+log = get_logger("bus.publish")
+
+
+async def publish_safely(
+    bus: BaseBus | None,
+    topic: str,
+    payload: dict[str, Any],
+    event_type: str = "",
+) -> None:
+    """Publish on *bus* without ever raising back at the caller.
+
+    The DB row (or equivalent side-effect) has already been committed by
+    the time a worker calls this; the bus is the notification layer, not
+    the source of truth.  A dropped publish is at most a few seconds of
+    UI latency until the next poll tick.  A raised exception here, by
+    contrast, would crash the worker — which is strictly worse.
+    """
+    if bus is None:
+        return
+    try:
+        await bus.publish(topic, payload, event_type=event_type)
+    except Exception as exc:  # noqa: BLE001
+        log.warning("bus publish failed topic=%s: %s", topic, exc)
diff --git a/decnet/bus/topics.py b/decnet/bus/topics.py
index 27e03184..3b02418d 100644
--- a/decnet/bus/topics.py
+++ b/decnet/bus/topics.py
@@ -11,8 +11,12 @@ Token structure (NATS-style, dot-separated):
     decky.{decky_id}.state
     decky.{decky_id}.traffic
     attacker.observed
+    attacker.scored
+    attacker.session.started
+    attacker.session.ended
     system.log
     system.bus.health
+    system.{worker}.health
 
 Wildcards (per :func:`decnet.bus.base.matches`):
 
@@ -47,9 +51,22 @@ TOPOLOGY_STATUS = "status"
 DECKY_STATE = "state"
 DECKY_TRAFFIC = "traffic"
 
+# Attacker event types (second token under the ``attacker`` root).  First
+# sighting, session boundary transitions, and score-threshold crossings
+# published by correlator + profiler.  Consumers typically subscribe to
+# the wildcard ``attacker.>``.
+ATTACKER_OBSERVED = "observed"
+ATTACKER_SCORED = "scored"
+ATTACKER_SESSION_STARTED = "session.started"
+ATTACKER_SESSION_ENDED = "session.ended"
+
 # System event types.
 SYSTEM_LOG = "log"
 SYSTEM_BUS_HEALTH = "bus.health"
+# Worker-health leaf — built per-worker as ``system.<worker>.health`` via
+# :func:`system_health`.  The leaf constant stays the same across workers;
+# the worker name goes in the middle token.
+SYSTEM_HEALTH = "health"
 
 
 # ─── Builders ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -89,6 +106,31 @@ def system(event_type: str) -> str:
     return f"{SYSTEM}.{event_type}"
 
 
+def attacker(event_type: str) -> str:
+    """Build ``attacker.<event_type>``.
+
+    *event_type* is typically one of ``ATTACKER_OBSERVED``,
+    ``ATTACKER_SCORED``, ``ATTACKER_SESSION_STARTED``,
+    ``ATTACKER_SESSION_ENDED``.  Dotted leaves (``session.started``) are
+    permitted — same rationale as :func:`system`.
+    """
+    if not event_type:
+        raise ValueError("attacker topic requires a non-empty event_type")
+    return f"{ATTACKER}.{event_type}"
+
+
+def system_health(worker: str) -> str:
+    """Build ``system.<worker>.health``.
+
+    Worker-health heartbeats live as a nested leaf under ``system`` so
+    consumers can subscribe to ``system.*.health`` for every worker at
+    once, or to ``system.mutator.health`` for a single one.  *worker* is
+    validated as a regular segment — no dots, wildcards, or whitespace.
+    """
+    _reject_tokens(worker)
+    return f"{SYSTEM}.{worker}.{SYSTEM_HEALTH}"
+
+
 def _reject_tokens(*parts: str) -> None:
     """Reject topic segments that would break NATS-style tokenization.
 
diff --git a/decnet/mutator/engine.py b/decnet/mutator/engine.py
index 4f3f9192..f0c22ede 100644
--- a/decnet/mutator/engine.py
+++ b/decnet/mutator/engine.py
@@ -25,32 +25,13 @@ import contextlib
 from decnet.bus import topics as _topics
 from decnet.bus.base import BaseBus
 from decnet.bus.factory import get_bus
+from decnet.bus.publish import publish_safely as _publish_safely
 from decnet.web.db.repository import BaseRepository
 
 log = get_logger("mutator")
 console = Console()
 
 
-async def _publish_safely(
-    bus: BaseBus | None,
-    topic: str,
-    payload: dict,
-    event_type: str = "",
-) -> None:
-    """Fire-and-forget bus publish.
-
-    A bus failure must never break the reconciler — the DB write already
-    happened before we got here, so losing the notification is at most a
-    few seconds of UI latency (the next poll tick picks it up).
-    """
-    if bus is None:
-        return
-    try:
-        await bus.publish(topic, payload, event_type=event_type)
-    except Exception as exc:  # noqa: BLE001
-        log.warning("bus publish failed topic=%s: %s", topic, exc)
-
-
 @_traced("mutator.mutate_decky")
 async def mutate_decky(decky_name: str, repo: BaseRepository) -> bool:
     """
diff --git a/tests/bus/test_publish.py b/tests/bus/test_publish.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4fae7d19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/bus/test_publish.py
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+"""Tests for :mod:`decnet.bus.publish`.
+
+The whole point of ``publish_safely`` is that it never raises back at the
+caller.  These tests pin that contract: ``None`` bus is a no-op, a real
+bus publishes, and a raising bus is swallowed + logged.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import logging
+
+import pytest
+
+from decnet.bus.base import BaseBus, Event, Subscription
+from decnet.bus.fake import FakeBus
+from decnet.bus.publish import publish_safely
+
+
+class _ExplodingBus(BaseBus):
+    """Minimal bus whose ``publish`` always raises."""
+
+    async def connect(self) -> None:  # pragma: no cover - trivial
+        return None
+
+    async def publish(self, topic, payload, *, event_type=""):
+        raise RuntimeError("transport exploded")
+
+    def subscribe(self, pattern: str) -> Subscription:  # pragma: no cover
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    async def close(self) -> None:  # pragma: no cover - trivial
+        return None
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_publish_safely_none_bus_is_noop() -> None:
+    # Must not raise.  A worker that couldn't connect at startup passes
+    # bus=None and expects every call to silently no-op.
+    await publish_safely(None, "system.log", {"msg": "hi"})
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_publish_safely_delivers_on_live_bus() -> None:
+    bus = FakeBus()
+    await bus.connect()
+    try:
+        sub = bus.subscribe("system.log")
+        async with sub:
+            await publish_safely(bus, "system.log", {"msg": "hi"}, event_type="log")
+            event = await sub.__anext__()
+            assert isinstance(event, Event)
+            assert event.topic == "system.log"
+            assert event.type == "log"
+            assert event.payload == {"msg": "hi"}
+    finally:
+        await bus.close()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_publish_safely_swallows_transport_errors(caplog: pytest.LogCaptureFixture) -> None:
+    caplog.set_level(logging.WARNING, logger="bus.publish")
+    # The exploding bus would crash the caller without publish_safely.
+    # After wrapping, the caller sees nothing but a log line.
+    await publish_safely(_ExplodingBus(), "system.log", {"msg": "hi"})
+    assert any("bus publish failed" in rec.message for rec in caplog.records)
diff --git a/tests/bus/test_topics.py b/tests/bus/test_topics.py
index 02c4cdbe..6d18153b 100644
--- a/tests/bus/test_topics.py
+++ b/tests/bus/test_topics.py
@@ -40,3 +40,23 @@ def test_segment_validation(bad: str) -> None:
         topics.topology_status(bad)
     with pytest.raises(ValueError):
         topics.decky(bad, topics.DECKY_STATE)
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        topics.system_health(bad)
+
+
+def test_attacker_builder() -> None:
+    assert topics.attacker(topics.ATTACKER_OBSERVED) == "attacker.observed"
+    assert topics.attacker(topics.ATTACKER_SCORED) == "attacker.scored"
+    # Dotted leaf is intentional — same as system.bus.health.
+    assert topics.attacker(topics.ATTACKER_SESSION_STARTED) == "attacker.session.started"
+    assert topics.attacker(topics.ATTACKER_SESSION_ENDED) == "attacker.session.ended"
+
+
+def test_attacker_builder_rejects_empty() -> None:
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        topics.attacker("")
+
+
+def test_system_health_builder() -> None:
+    assert topics.system_health("sniffer") == "system.sniffer.health"
+    assert topics.system_health("mutator") == "system.mutator.health"