diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cc7380273..af056f1be 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ In chat, send `/status` to see if the agent is reachable, how much context the s
 - Inbound contexts carry a `Surface` hint (e.g., `whatsapp`, `webchat`, `telegram`) for logging; replies still go back to the originating surface deterministically.
 - Every inbound message is wrapped for the agent as `[Surface FROM HOST/IP TIMESTAMP] body`:
   - WhatsApp: `[WhatsApp +15551234567 2025-12-09 12:34] …`
-  - Telegram: `[Telegram telegram:123456789 2025-12-09 12:34] …`
+- Telegram: `[Telegram Ada Lovelace (@ada_bot) id:123456789 2025-12-09 12:34] …`
   - WebChat: `[WebChat my-mac.local 10.0.0.5 2025-12-09 12:34] …`
   This keeps the model aware of the transport, sender, host, and time without relying on implicit context.
 
diff --git a/src/telegram/bot.test.ts b/src/telegram/bot.test.ts
index e4282b1e6..c578f8fc4 100644
--- a/src/telegram/bot.test.ts
+++ b/src/telegram/bot.test.ts
@@ -53,6 +53,11 @@ describe("createTelegramBot", () => {
       chat: { id: 1234, type: "private" },
       text: "hello world",
       date: 1736380800, // 2025-01-09T00:00:00Z
+      from: {
+        first_name: "Ada",
+        last_name: "Lovelace",
+        username: "ada_bot",
+      },
     };
     await handler({
       message,
@@ -62,7 +67,9 @@ describe("createTelegramBot", () => {
 
     expect(replySpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
     const payload = replySpy.mock.calls[0][0];
-    expect(payload.Body).toMatch(/^\[Telegram telegram:1234 2025-01-09 00:00]/);
+    expect(payload.Body).toMatch(
+      /^\[Telegram Ada Lovelace \(@ada_bot\) id:1234 2025-01-09 00:00]/,
+    );
     expect(payload.Body).toContain("hello world");
   });
 });
diff --git a/src/telegram/bot.ts b/src/telegram/bot.ts
index b9f86aaa6..3bc0b0394 100644
--- a/src/telegram/bot.ts
+++ b/src/telegram/bot.ts
@@ -104,7 +104,9 @@ export function createTelegramBot(opts: TelegramBotOptions) {
 
       const body = formatAgentEnvelope({
         surface: "Telegram",
-        from: isGroup ? `group:${chatId}` : `telegram:${chatId}`,
+        from: isGroup
+          ? buildGroupLabel(msg, chatId)
+          : buildSenderLabel(msg, chatId),
         timestamp: msg.date ? msg.date * 1000 : undefined,
         body: rawBody,
       });
@@ -208,6 +210,25 @@ function buildSenderName(msg: TelegramMessage) {
   return name || undefined;
 }
 
+function buildSenderLabel(msg: TelegramMessage, chatId: number | string) {
+  const name = buildSenderName(msg);
+  const username = msg.from?.username ? `@${msg.from.username}` : undefined;
+  let label = name;
+  if (name && username) {
+    label = `${name} (${username})`;
+  } else if (!name && username) {
+    label = username;
+  }
+  const idPart = `id:${chatId}`;
+  return label ? `${label} ${idPart}` : idPart;
+}
+
+function buildGroupLabel(msg: TelegramMessage, chatId: number | string) {
+  const title = msg.chat?.title;
+  if (title) return `${title} id:${chatId}`;
+  return `group:${chatId}`;
+}
+
 function hasBotMention(msg: TelegramMessage, botUsername: string) {
   const text = (msg.text ?? msg.caption ?? "").toLowerCase();
   if (text.includes(`@${botUsername}`)) return true;