diff --git a/src/agents/pi-embedded-utils.ts b/src/agents/pi-embedded-utils.ts
index 82020a149..1a392c2f1 100644
--- a/src/agents/pi-embedded-utils.ts
+++ b/src/agents/pi-embedded-utils.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import { formatToolDetail, resolveToolDisplay } from "./tool-display.js";
  * - <invoke name="...">...</invoke> blocks
  * - </minimax:tool_call> closing tags
  */
-function stripMinimaxToolCallXml(text: string): string {
+export function stripMinimaxToolCallXml(text: string): string {
   if (!text) return text;
   if (!/minimax:tool_call/i.test(text)) return text;
 
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ function stripMinimaxToolCallXml(text: string): string {
  * downgraded to text blocks like `[Tool Call: name (ID: ...)]`. These should
  * not be shown to users.
  */
-function stripDowngradedToolCallText(text: string): string {
+export function stripDowngradedToolCallText(text: string): string {
   if (!text) return text;
   if (!/\[Tool (?:Call|Result)/i.test(text)) return text;
 
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ function stripDowngradedToolCallText(text: string): string {
  * This is a safety net for cases where the model outputs <think> tags
  * that slip through other filtering mechanisms.
  */
-function stripThinkingTagsFromText(text: string): string {
+export function stripThinkingTagsFromText(text: string): string {
   if (!text) return text;
   // Quick check to avoid regex overhead when no tags present.
   if (!/(?:think(?:ing)?|thought|antthinking)/i.test(text)) return text;
diff --git a/src/agents/tools/sessions-helpers.ts b/src/agents/tools/sessions-helpers.ts
index a7f94b63b..7af647080 100644
--- a/src/agents/tools/sessions-helpers.ts
+++ b/src/agents/tools/sessions-helpers.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,10 @@
 import type { ClawdbotConfig } from "../../config/config.js";
+import { sanitizeUserFacingText } from "../pi-embedded-helpers.js";
+import {
+  stripDowngradedToolCallText,
+  stripMinimaxToolCallXml,
+  stripThinkingTagsFromText,
+} from "../pi-embedded-utils.js";
 import { normalizeMainKey } from "../../routing/session-key.js";
 
 export type SessionKind = "main" | "group" | "cron" | "hook" | "node" | "other";
@@ -100,6 +106,16 @@ export function stripToolMessages(messages: unknown[]): unknown[] {
   });
 }
 
+/**
+ * Sanitize text content to strip tool call markers and thinking tags.
+ * This ensures user-facing text doesn't leak internal tool representations.
+ */
+export function sanitizeTextContent(text: string): string {
+  return stripThinkingTagsFromText(
+    stripDowngradedToolCallText(stripMinimaxToolCallXml(text)),
+  ).trim();
+}
+
 export function extractAssistantText(message: unknown): string | undefined {
   if (!message || typeof message !== "object") return undefined;
   if ((message as { role?: unknown }).role !== "assistant") return undefined;
@@ -110,10 +126,13 @@ export function extractAssistantText(message: unknown): string | undefined {
     if (!block || typeof block !== "object") continue;
     if ((block as { type?: unknown }).type !== "text") continue;
     const text = (block as { text?: unknown }).text;
-    if (typeof text === "string" && text.trim()) {
-      chunks.push(text);
+    if (typeof text === "string") {
+      const sanitized = sanitizeTextContent(text);
+      if (sanitized) {
+        chunks.push(sanitized);
+      }
     }
   }
-  const joined = chunks.join("").trim();
-  return joined ? joined : undefined;
+  const joined = chunks.join("\n").trim();
+  return joined ? sanitizeUserFacingText(joined) : undefined;
 }
diff --git a/src/auto-reply/reply/commands-subagents.ts b/src/auto-reply/reply/commands-subagents.ts
index a1e33c642..7122dc01b 100644
--- a/src/auto-reply/reply/commands-subagents.ts
+++ b/src/auto-reply/reply/commands-subagents.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import {
   extractAssistantText,
   resolveInternalSessionKey,
   resolveMainSessionAlias,
+  sanitizeTextContent,
   stripToolMessages,
 } from "../../agents/tools/sessions-helpers.js";
 import type { SubagentRunRecord } from "../../agents/subagent-registry.js";
@@ -110,7 +111,8 @@ function extractMessageText(message: ChatMessage): { role: string; text: string
   const role = typeof message.role === "string" ? message.role : "";
   const content = message.content;
   if (typeof content === "string") {
-    const normalized = normalizeMessageText(content);
+    const sanitized = sanitizeTextContent(content);
+    const normalized = normalizeMessageText(sanitized);
     return normalized ? { role, text: normalized } : null;
   }
   if (!Array.isArray(content)) return null;
@@ -119,8 +121,11 @@ function extractMessageText(message: ChatMessage): { role: string; text: string
     if (!block || typeof block !== "object") continue;
     if ((block as { type?: unknown }).type !== "text") continue;
     const text = (block as { text?: unknown }).text;
-    if (typeof text === "string" && text.trim()) {
-      chunks.push(text);
+    if (typeof text === "string") {
+      const sanitized = sanitizeTextContent(text);
+      if (sanitized) {
+        chunks.push(sanitized);
+      }
     }
   }
   const joined = normalizeMessageText(chunks.join(" "));