diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 1980bfad5..68d7e86ed 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -12,7 +12,9 @@
 - Status command reports web session health + session recipients; config paths are locked to `~/.clawdis` with session metadata stored under `~/.clawdis/sessions/`.
 - Simplified send/agent/relay/heartbeat to web-only delivery; removed Twilio mocks/tests and dead code.
 - Tau RPC timeout is now inactivity-based (5m without events) and error messages show seconds only.
+- Pi/Tau sessions now write to `~/.clawdis/sessions/` by default (legacy `~/.tau/agent/sessions/clawdis` files are copied over when present).
 - Directive triggers (`/think`, `/verbose`, `/stop` et al.) now reply immediately using normalized bodies (timestamps/group prefixes stripped) without waiting for the agent.
+- Directive/system acks carry a `⚙️` prefix and verbose parsing rejects typoed `/ver*` strings so unrelated text doesn’t flip verbosity.
 - Batched history blocks no longer trip directive parsing; `/think` in prior messages won't emit stray acknowledgements.
 - RPC fallbacks no longer echo the user's prompt (e.g., pasting a link) when the agent returns no assistant text.
 - Heartbeat prompts with `/think` no longer send directive acks; heartbeat replies stay silent on settings.
diff --git a/src/auto-reply/reply.directive.test.ts b/src/auto-reply/reply.directive.test.ts
index b122289a5..3a89a0825 100644
--- a/src/auto-reply/reply.directive.test.ts
+++ b/src/auto-reply/reply.directive.test.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,12 @@
-import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import * as tauRpc from "../process/tau-rpc.js";
 import { getReplyFromConfig, extractVerboseDirective, extractThinkDirective } from "./reply.js";
 
 describe("directive parsing", () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.restoreAllMocks();
+  });
+
   it("ignores verbose directive inside URL", () => {
     const body = "https://x.com/verioussmith/status/1997066835133669687";
     const res = extractVerboseDirective(body);
@@ -10,6 +14,13 @@ describe("directive parsing", () => {
     expect(res.cleaned).toBe(body);
   });
 
+  it("ignores typoed /verioussmith", () => {
+    const body = "/verioussmith";
+    const res = extractVerboseDirective(body);
+    expect(res.hasDirective).toBe(false);
+    expect(res.cleaned).toBe(body.trim());
+  });
+
   it("ignores think directive inside URL", () => {
     const body = "see https://example.com/path/thinkstuff";
     const res = extractThinkDirective(body);
@@ -61,4 +72,33 @@ describe("directive parsing", () => {
     expect(text).toBe("done");
     expect(rpcMock).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
   });
+
+  it("acks verbose directive immediately with system marker", async () => {
+    const rpcMock = vi.spyOn(tauRpc, "runPiRpc").mockResolvedValue({
+      stdout: "",
+      stderr: "",
+      code: 0,
+      signal: null,
+      killed: false,
+    });
+
+    const res = await getReplyFromConfig(
+      { Body: "/verbose on", From: "+1222", To: "+1222" },
+      {},
+      {
+        inbound: {
+          reply: {
+            mode: "command",
+            command: ["pi", "{{Body}}"],
+            agent: { kind: "pi" },
+            session: {},
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    );
+
+    const text = Array.isArray(res) ? res[0]?.text : res?.text;
+    expect(text).toMatch(/^⚙️ Verbose logging enabled\./);
+    expect(rpcMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/auto-reply/reply.ts b/src/auto-reply/reply.ts
index 3e1257159..535e74830 100644
--- a/src/auto-reply/reply.ts
+++ b/src/auto-reply/reply.ts
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ export type { GetReplyOptions, ReplyPayload } from "./types.js";
 
 const ABORT_TRIGGERS = new Set(["stop", "esc", "abort", "wait", "exit"]);
 const ABORT_MEMORY = new Map<string, boolean>();
+const SYSTEM_MARK = "⚙️";
 
 export function extractThinkDirective(body?: string): {
   cleaned: string;
@@ -67,8 +68,8 @@ export function extractVerboseDirective(body?: string): {
   hasDirective: boolean;
 } {
   if (!body) return { cleaned: "", hasDirective: false };
-  // Require start or whitespace before "/verbose" to avoid matching URLs like /verioussmith.
-  const match = body.match(/(?:^|\s)\/(?:verbose|v)\s*:?\s*([a-zA-Z-]+)\b/i);
+  // Require start or whitespace before "/verbose" and reject "/ver*" typos.
+  const match = body.match(/(?:^|\s)\/v(?:erbose)?\b\s*:?\s*([a-zA-Z-]+)\b/i);
   const verboseLevel = normalizeVerboseLevel(match?.[1]);
   const cleaned = match
     ? body.replace(match[0], "").replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim()
@@ -364,7 +365,7 @@ export async function getReplyFromConfig(
     if (!inlineThink) {
       cleanupTyping();
       return {
-        text: `Unrecognized thinking level "${rawThinkLevel ?? ""}". Valid levels: off, minimal, low, medium, high.`,
+        text: `${SYSTEM_MARK} Unrecognized thinking level "${rawThinkLevel ?? ""}". Valid levels: off, minimal, low, medium, high.`,
       };
     }
     if (sessionEntry && sessionStore && sessionKey) {
@@ -413,7 +414,7 @@ export async function getReplyFromConfig(
         );
       }
     }
-    const ack = parts.join(" ");
+    const ack = `${SYSTEM_MARK} ${parts.join(" ")}`;
     cleanupTyping();
     return { text: ack };
   }
@@ -430,7 +431,7 @@ export async function getReplyFromConfig(
     if (!inlineVerbose) {
       cleanupTyping();
       return {
-        text: `Unrecognized verbose level "${rawVerboseLevel ?? ""}". Valid levels: off, on.`,
+        text: `${SYSTEM_MARK} Unrecognized verbose level "${rawVerboseLevel ?? ""}". Valid levels: off, on.`,
       };
     }
     if (sessionEntry && sessionStore && sessionKey) {
@@ -445,8 +446,8 @@ export async function getReplyFromConfig(
     }
     const ack =
       inlineVerbose === "off"
-        ? "Verbose logging disabled."
-        : "Verbose logging enabled.";
+        ? `${SYSTEM_MARK} Verbose logging disabled.`
+        : `${SYSTEM_MARK} Verbose logging enabled.`;
     cleanupTyping();
     return { text: ack };
   }