diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 124bd7617..9c0e8edf2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.clawd.bot
 - Web UI: hide internal `message_id` hints in chat bubbles.
 - Heartbeat: normalize target identifiers for consistent routing.
 - Gateway: reduce log noise for late invokes + remote node probes; debounce skills refresh. (#1607) Thanks @petter-b.
+- Tlon: fix Zod v4 record keys + aura v3 DM ids. (#1631) Thanks @arthyn.
 
 ## 2026.1.23-1
 
diff --git a/extensions/tlon/src/config-schema.test.ts b/extensions/tlon/src/config-schema.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6a5b52439
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extensions/tlon/src/config-schema.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { TlonAuthorizationSchema, TlonConfigSchema } from "./config-schema.js";
+
+describe("Tlon config schema", () => {
+  it("accepts channelRules with string keys", () => {
+    const parsed = TlonAuthorizationSchema.parse({
+      channelRules: {
+        "chat/~zod/test": {
+          mode: "open",
+          allowedShips: ["~zod"],
+        },
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(parsed.channelRules?.["chat/~zod/test"]?.mode).toBe("open");
+  });
+
+  it("accepts accounts with string keys", () => {
+    const parsed = TlonConfigSchema.parse({
+      accounts: {
+        primary: {
+          ship: "~zod",
+          url: "https://example.com",
+          code: "code-123",
+        },
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(parsed.accounts?.primary?.ship).toBe("~zod");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/extensions/tlon/src/config-schema.ts b/extensions/tlon/src/config-schema.ts
index 13c7cd7c0..20b5eb4dd 100644
--- a/extensions/tlon/src/config-schema.ts
+++ b/extensions/tlon/src/config-schema.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ export const TlonChannelRuleSchema = z.object({
 });
 
 export const TlonAuthorizationSchema = z.object({
-  channelRules: z.record(TlonChannelRuleSchema).optional(),
+  channelRules: z.record(z.string(), TlonChannelRuleSchema).optional(),
 });
 
 export const TlonAccountSchema = z.object({
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ export const TlonConfigSchema = z.object({
   showModelSignature: z.boolean().optional(),
   authorization: TlonAuthorizationSchema.optional(),
   defaultAuthorizedShips: z.array(ShipSchema).optional(),
-  accounts: z.record(TlonAccountSchema).optional(),
+  accounts: z.record(z.string(), TlonAccountSchema).optional(),
 });
 
 export const tlonChannelConfigSchema = buildChannelConfigSchema(TlonConfigSchema);
diff --git a/extensions/tlon/src/urbit/send.test.ts b/extensions/tlon/src/urbit/send.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..aad3a674e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extensions/tlon/src/urbit/send.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+vi.mock("@urbit/aura", () => ({
+  scot: vi.fn(() => "mocked-ud"),
+  da: {
+    fromUnix: vi.fn(() => 123n),
+  },
+}));
+
+describe("sendDm", () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.restoreAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it("uses aura v3 helpers for the DM id", async () => {
+    const { sendDm } = await import("./send.js");
+    const aura = await import("@urbit/aura");
+    const scot = vi.mocked(aura.scot);
+    const fromUnix = vi.mocked(aura.da.fromUnix);
+
+    const sentAt = 1_700_000_000_000;
+    vi.spyOn(Date, "now").mockReturnValue(sentAt);
+
+    const poke = vi.fn(async () => ({}));
+
+    const result = await sendDm({
+      api: { poke },
+      fromShip: "~zod",
+      toShip: "~nec",
+      text: "hi",
+    });
+
+    expect(fromUnix).toHaveBeenCalledWith(sentAt);
+    expect(scot).toHaveBeenCalledWith("ud", 123n);
+    expect(poke).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(result.messageId).toBe("~zod/mocked-ud");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/extensions/tlon/src/urbit/send.ts b/extensions/tlon/src/urbit/send.ts
index 6a90fcbf9..35f7f2d74 100644
--- a/extensions/tlon/src/urbit/send.ts
+++ b/extensions/tlon/src/urbit/send.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { unixToDa, formatUd } from "@urbit/aura";
+import { scot, da } from "@urbit/aura";
 
 export type TlonPokeApi = {
   poke: (params: { app: string; mark: string; json: unknown }) => Promise<unknown>;
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ type SendTextParams = {
 export async function sendDm({ api, fromShip, toShip, text }: SendTextParams) {
   const story = [{ inline: [text] }];
   const sentAt = Date.now();
-  const idUd = formatUd(unixToDa(sentAt));
+  const idUd = scot('ud', da.fromUnix(sentAt));
   const id = `${fromShip}/${idUd}`;
 
   const delta = {