From 951a4ea065226cadb44bf2df1a0672ed12d2f4dc Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Peter Steinberger <steipete@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2026 03:46:07 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] fix: anchor MEDIA tag parsing

---
 CHANGELOG.md            |  1 +
 src/media/parse.test.ts | 13 +++++++++++++
 src/media/parse.ts      |  7 +++++++
 3 files changed, 21 insertions(+)

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 804ec6e78..7b3f4d913 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.clawd.bot
 - Tests: skip embedded runner ordering assertion on Windows to avoid CI timeouts.
 - Linux: include env-configured user bin roots in systemd PATH and align PATH audits. (#1512) Thanks @robbyczgw-cla.
 - TUI: render Gateway slash-command replies as system output (for example, `/context`).
+- Media: only parse `MEDIA:` tags when they start the line to avoid stripping prose mentions. (#1206)
 - Media: preserve PNG alpha when possible; fall back to JPEG when still over size cap. (#1491) Thanks @robbyczgw-cla.
 - Agents: treat plugin-only tool allowlists as opt-ins; keep core tools enabled. (#1467)
 - Exec approvals: persist allowlist entry ids to keep macOS allowlist rows stable. (#1521) Thanks @ngutman.
diff --git a/src/media/parse.test.ts b/src/media/parse.test.ts
index 74c1eb52d..de60ca357 100644
--- a/src/media/parse.test.ts
+++ b/src/media/parse.test.ts
@@ -34,4 +34,17 @@ describe("splitMediaFromOutput", () => {
     expect(first.audioAsVoice).toBe(true);
     expect(second.audioAsVoice).toBe(true);
   });
+
+  it("keeps MEDIA mentions in prose", () => {
+    const input = "The MEDIA: tag fails to deliver";
+    const result = splitMediaFromOutput(input);
+    expect(result.mediaUrls).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(result.text).toBe(input);
+  });
+
+  it("parses MEDIA tags with leading whitespace", () => {
+    const result = splitMediaFromOutput("  MEDIA:/tmp/screenshot.png");
+    expect(result.mediaUrls).toEqual(["/tmp/screenshot.png"]);
+    expect(result.text).toBe("");
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/media/parse.ts b/src/media/parse.ts
index 4e35d6775..de0c6a5bc 100644
--- a/src/media/parse.ts
+++ b/src/media/parse.ts
@@ -71,6 +71,13 @@ export function splitMediaFromOutput(raw: string): {
       continue;
     }
 
+    const trimmedStart = line.trimStart();
+    if (!trimmedStart.startsWith("MEDIA:")) {
+      keptLines.push(line);
+      lineOffset += line.length + 1; // +1 for newline
+      continue;
+    }
+
     const matches = Array.from(line.matchAll(MEDIA_TOKEN_RE));
     if (matches.length === 0) {
       keptLines.push(line);