diff --git a/.claude/skills/add-atomic-chat-tool/SKILL.md b/.claude/skills/add-atomic-chat-tool/SKILL.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6a6d85862
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.claude/skills/add-atomic-chat-tool/SKILL.md
@@ -0,0 +1,243 @@
+---
+name: add-atomic-chat-tool
+description: Add Atomic Chat MCP server so the container agent can call local models served by the Atomic Chat desktop app via its OpenAI-compatible API.
+---
+
+# Add Atomic Chat Integration
+
+This skill adds a stdio-based MCP server that exposes models running in the local [Atomic Chat](https://github.com/AtomicBot-ai/Atomic-Chat) desktop app as tools for the container agent. Claude remains the orchestrator but can offload work to local models served by Atomic Chat on `http://127.0.0.1:1337/v1` (OpenAI-compatible).
+
+Tools exposed:
+- `atomic_chat_list_models` — list models currently available in Atomic Chat (`GET /v1/models`)
+- `atomic_chat_generate` — send a prompt to a specified model and return the response (`POST /v1/chat/completions`)
+
+Model management (download, delete) is done through the **Atomic Chat desktop UI** — the app is a fork of Jan and manages its own model library.
+
+The skill ships the MCP server source in this folder and copies it into the agent-runner tree at install time, then wires it up with small edits to `index.ts`, `providers/claude.ts`, and `container-runner.ts`. No branch merge — all edits are additive and idempotent.
+
+## Phase 1: Pre-flight
+
+### Check if already applied
+
+Check if `container/agent-runner/src/atomic-chat-mcp-stdio.ts` exists. If it does, skip to Phase 3 (Configure).
+
+### Check prerequisites
+
+Verify Atomic Chat is installed and its local API server is running. On the host:
+
+```bash
+curl -s http://127.0.0.1:1337/v1/models | head
+```
+
+If the request fails:
+
+1. Install Atomic Chat from the [latest release](https://github.com/AtomicBot-ai/Atomic-Chat/releases) (macOS only for now — `atomic-chat.dmg`).
+2. Open the app.
+3. Open **Settings → Local API Server** and make sure it's enabled on port `1337`.
+4. Go to the **Hub** (or **Models**) tab and download at least one model (e.g. Llama 3.2 3B, Qwen 2.5 Coder 7B).
+5. Load the model once by sending any message in Atomic Chat's UI to warm it up.
+
+## Phase 2: Apply Code Changes
+
+### Copy the MCP server source
+
+```bash
+cp .claude/skills/add-atomic-chat-tool/atomic-chat-mcp-stdio.ts container/agent-runner/src/atomic-chat-mcp-stdio.ts
+```
+
+### Register the MCP server in the agent-runner
+
+Edit `container/agent-runner/src/index.ts`. Find the `mcpServers` object that currently looks like this:
+
+```ts
+  const mcpServers: Record<string, { command: string; args: string[]; env: Record<string, string> }> = {
+    nanoclaw: {
+      command: 'bun',
+      args: ['run', mcpServerPath],
+      env: {},
+    },
+  };
+```
+
+Add an `atomic_chat` entry alongside `nanoclaw`:
+
+```ts
+  const mcpServers: Record<string, { command: string; args: string[]; env: Record<string, string> }> = {
+    nanoclaw: {
+      command: 'bun',
+      args: ['run', mcpServerPath],
+      env: {},
+    },
+    atomic_chat: {
+      command: 'bun',
+      args: ['run', path.join(__dirname, 'atomic-chat-mcp-stdio.ts')],
+      env: {
+        ...(process.env.ATOMIC_CHAT_HOST ? { ATOMIC_CHAT_HOST: process.env.ATOMIC_CHAT_HOST } : {}),
+        ...(process.env.ATOMIC_CHAT_API_KEY ? { ATOMIC_CHAT_API_KEY: process.env.ATOMIC_CHAT_API_KEY } : {}),
+      },
+    },
+  };
+```
+
+### Add the tool glob to the allowlist
+
+Edit `container/agent-runner/src/providers/claude.ts`. Find `'mcp__nanoclaw__*',` in the `TOOL_ALLOWLIST` array and add `'mcp__atomic_chat__*',` on the following line:
+
+```ts
+  'mcp__nanoclaw__*',
+  'mcp__atomic_chat__*',
+];
+```
+
+### Forward host env vars into the container
+
+Edit `src/container-runner.ts` in `buildContainerArgs`. Find the `TZ` env line:
+
+```ts
+  args.push('-e', `TZ=${TIMEZONE}`);
+```
+
+Add ATOMIC_CHAT forwarding right after it:
+
+```ts
+  args.push('-e', `TZ=${TIMEZONE}`);
+
+  // Atomic Chat MCP tool: forward host overrides if set (default is host.docker.internal:1337).
+  if (process.env.ATOMIC_CHAT_HOST) {
+    args.push('-e', `ATOMIC_CHAT_HOST=${process.env.ATOMIC_CHAT_HOST}`);
+  }
+  if (process.env.ATOMIC_CHAT_API_KEY) {
+    args.push('-e', `ATOMIC_CHAT_API_KEY=${process.env.ATOMIC_CHAT_API_KEY}`);
+  }
+```
+
+### Surface `[ATOMIC]` log lines at info level
+
+In the same file, find the stderr logger:
+
+```ts
+  container.stderr?.on('data', (data) => {
+    for (const line of data.toString().trim().split('\n')) {
+      if (line) log.debug(line, { container: agentGroup.folder });
+    }
+  });
+```
+
+Replace it with:
+
+```ts
+  container.stderr?.on('data', (data) => {
+    for (const line of data.toString().trim().split('\n')) {
+      if (!line) continue;
+      if (line.includes('[ATOMIC]')) {
+        log.info(line, { container: agentGroup.folder });
+      } else {
+        log.debug(line, { container: agentGroup.folder });
+      }
+    }
+  });
+```
+
+### Add env-var stubs to `.env.example`
+
+Append to `.env.example`:
+
+```bash
+# Atomic Chat MCP tool (.claude/skills/add-atomic-chat-tool)
+# Override the host where Atomic Chat exposes its OpenAI-compatible API.
+# Default: http://host.docker.internal:1337 (with fallback to localhost)
+# ATOMIC_CHAT_HOST=http://host.docker.internal:1337
+
+# Optional API key. Leave unset for a local Atomic Chat install — it does not require auth.
+# ATOMIC_CHAT_API_KEY=
+```
+
+### Validate code changes
+
+```bash
+pnpm run build
+pnpm exec tsc -p container/agent-runner/tsconfig.json --noEmit
+./container/build.sh
+```
+
+All three must be clean before proceeding.
+
+## Phase 3: Configure
+
+### Set Atomic Chat host (optional)
+
+By default, the MCP server connects to `http://host.docker.internal:1337` (Docker Desktop) with a fallback to `localhost`. To use a custom host, add to `.env`:
+
+```bash
+ATOMIC_CHAT_HOST=http://your-atomic-chat-host:1337
+```
+
+### Set API key (optional)
+
+Atomic Chat does **not require authentication** when running locally — leave this unset. Only set it if you've put Atomic Chat behind a reverse proxy that enforces auth:
+
+```bash
+ATOMIC_CHAT_API_KEY=sk-...
+```
+
+### Restart the service
+
+```bash
+launchctl kickstart -k gui/$(id -u)/com.nanoclaw  # macOS
+# Linux: systemctl --user restart nanoclaw
+```
+
+## Phase 4: Verify
+
+### Test inference
+
+Tell the user:
+
+> Send a message like: "use atomic chat to tell me the capital of France"
+>
+> The agent should use `atomic_chat_list_models` to find available models, then `atomic_chat_generate` to get a response.
+
+### Check logs if needed
+
+```bash
+tail -f logs/nanoclaw.log | grep -i atomic
+```
+
+Look for:
+- `[ATOMIC] Listing models...` — list request started
+- `[ATOMIC] Found N models` — models discovered
+- `[ATOMIC] >>> Generating with <model>` — generation started
+- `[ATOMIC] <<< Done: <model> | Xs | N tokens | M chars` — generation completed
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+### Agent says "Atomic Chat is not installed" or tries to run a CLI
+
+The agent is looking for a CLI that doesn't exist instead of using the MCP tools. This means:
+1. The MCP server wasn't copied — check `container/agent-runner/src/atomic-chat-mcp-stdio.ts` exists
+2. The MCP server wasn't registered — check `container/agent-runner/src/index.ts` has the `atomic_chat` entry in `mcpServers`
+3. The allowlist wasn't updated — check `container/agent-runner/src/providers/claude.ts` includes `mcp__atomic_chat__*` in `TOOL_ALLOWLIST`
+4. The container wasn't rebuilt — run `./container/build.sh`
+
+### "Failed to connect to Atomic Chat"
+
+1. Verify the host API is reachable: `curl http://127.0.0.1:1337/v1/models`
+2. Confirm the Local API Server is enabled in Atomic Chat's settings
+3. Check Docker can reach the host: `docker run --rm curlimages/curl curl -s http://host.docker.internal:1337/v1/models`
+4. If using a custom host, check `ATOMIC_CHAT_HOST` in `.env`
+
+### `model not found` / 404 on generate
+
+The model ID passed to `atomic_chat_generate` must exactly match one of the IDs returned by `atomic_chat_list_models`. Ask the agent to list models first, then pick one from that list.
+
+### Slow first response
+
+Atomic Chat lazy-loads models into memory on first use. The initial call may take longer while the model warms up. Subsequent calls against the same model are fast.
+
+### Agent doesn't use Atomic Chat tools
+
+The agent may not know about the tools. Try being explicit: "use the atomic_chat_generate tool with llama3.2-3b-instruct to answer: ..."
+
+### Context window or output size issues
+
+Atomic Chat respects each model's native context length. If you hit limits, pass `max_tokens` explicitly when calling `atomic_chat_generate`, or switch to a model with a larger context window in the Atomic Chat UI.
diff --git a/.claude/skills/add-atomic-chat-tool/atomic-chat-mcp-stdio.ts b/.claude/skills/add-atomic-chat-tool/atomic-chat-mcp-stdio.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..019864420
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.claude/skills/add-atomic-chat-tool/atomic-chat-mcp-stdio.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,229 @@
+/**
+ * Atomic Chat MCP Server for NanoClaw
+ * Exposes local Atomic Chat models (OpenAI-compatible, /v1) as tools for the container agent.
+ * Uses host.docker.internal to reach the host's Atomic Chat desktop app from Docker.
+ */
+
+import { McpServer } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js';
+import { StdioServerTransport } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/stdio.js';
+import { z } from 'zod';
+
+import fs from 'fs';
+import path from 'path';
+
+const ATOMIC_CHAT_HOST =
+  process.env.ATOMIC_CHAT_HOST || 'http://host.docker.internal:1337';
+const ATOMIC_CHAT_API_KEY = process.env.ATOMIC_CHAT_API_KEY || '';
+const ATOMIC_CHAT_STATUS_FILE = '/workspace/ipc/atomic_chat_status.json';
+
+function log(msg: string): void {
+  console.error(`[ATOMIC] ${msg}`);
+}
+
+function writeStatus(status: string, detail?: string): void {
+  try {
+    const data = { status, detail, timestamp: new Date().toISOString() };
+    const tmpPath = `${ATOMIC_CHAT_STATUS_FILE}.tmp`;
+    fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(ATOMIC_CHAT_STATUS_FILE), { recursive: true });
+    fs.writeFileSync(tmpPath, JSON.stringify(data));
+    fs.renameSync(tmpPath, ATOMIC_CHAT_STATUS_FILE);
+  } catch {
+    /* best-effort */
+  }
+}
+
+async function atomicFetch(
+  apiPath: string,
+  options?: RequestInit,
+): Promise<Response> {
+  const url = `${ATOMIC_CHAT_HOST}${apiPath}`;
+  const headers: Record<string, string> = {
+    ...((options?.headers as Record<string, string>) || {}),
+  };
+  if (ATOMIC_CHAT_API_KEY) {
+    headers.Authorization = `Bearer ${ATOMIC_CHAT_API_KEY}`;
+  }
+  const finalOptions: RequestInit = { ...options, headers };
+  try {
+    return await fetch(url, finalOptions);
+  } catch (err) {
+    // Fallback to localhost if host.docker.internal fails
+    if (ATOMIC_CHAT_HOST.includes('host.docker.internal')) {
+      const fallbackUrl = url.replace('host.docker.internal', 'localhost');
+      return await fetch(fallbackUrl, finalOptions);
+    }
+    throw err;
+  }
+}
+
+const server = new McpServer({
+  name: 'atomic_chat',
+  version: '1.0.0',
+});
+
+server.tool(
+  'atomic_chat_list_models',
+  'List all models available in the local Atomic Chat desktop app. Use this to see which models are loaded before calling atomic_chat_generate.',
+  {},
+  async () => {
+    log('Listing models...');
+    writeStatus('listing', 'Listing available models');
+    try {
+      const res = await atomicFetch('/v1/models');
+      if (!res.ok) {
+        return {
+          content: [
+            {
+              type: 'text' as const,
+              text: `Atomic Chat API error: ${res.status} ${res.statusText}`,
+            },
+          ],
+          isError: true,
+        };
+      }
+
+      const data = (await res.json()) as {
+        data?: Array<{ id: string; owned_by?: string }>;
+      };
+      const models = data.data || [];
+
+      if (models.length === 0) {
+        return {
+          content: [
+            {
+              type: 'text' as const,
+              text: 'No models available. Open Atomic Chat on the host and download a model from the Hub.',
+            },
+          ],
+        };
+      }
+
+      const list = models
+        .map((m) => `- ${m.id}${m.owned_by ? ` (${m.owned_by})` : ''}`)
+        .join('\n');
+
+      log(`Found ${models.length} models`);
+      return {
+        content: [
+          { type: 'text' as const, text: `Available models:\n${list}` },
+        ],
+      };
+    } catch (err) {
+      return {
+        content: [
+          {
+            type: 'text' as const,
+            text: `Failed to connect to Atomic Chat at ${ATOMIC_CHAT_HOST}: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`,
+          },
+        ],
+        isError: true,
+      };
+    }
+  },
+);
+
+server.tool(
+  'atomic_chat_generate',
+  'Send a prompt to a local Atomic Chat model and get a response. Good for cheaper/faster tasks like summarization, translation, or general queries. Use atomic_chat_list_models first to see available models.',
+  {
+    model: z
+      .string()
+      .describe(
+        'The model ID as returned by atomic_chat_list_models (e.g. "llama3.2-3b-instruct")',
+      ),
+    prompt: z.string().describe('The prompt to send to the model'),
+    system: z
+      .string()
+      .optional()
+      .describe('Optional system prompt to set model behavior'),
+    temperature: z
+      .number()
+      .optional()
+      .describe('Sampling temperature (0.0–2.0). Defaults to model default.'),
+    max_tokens: z
+      .number()
+      .optional()
+      .describe('Maximum number of tokens to generate in the response.'),
+  },
+  async (args) => {
+    log(`>>> Generating with ${args.model} (${args.prompt.length} chars)...`);
+    writeStatus('generating', `Generating with ${args.model}`);
+    try {
+      const messages: Array<{ role: string; content: string }> = [];
+      if (args.system) {
+        messages.push({ role: 'system', content: args.system });
+      }
+      messages.push({ role: 'user', content: args.prompt });
+
+      const body: Record<string, unknown> = {
+        model: args.model,
+        messages,
+        stream: false,
+      };
+      if (args.temperature !== undefined) body.temperature = args.temperature;
+      if (args.max_tokens !== undefined) body.max_tokens = args.max_tokens;
+
+      const startedAt = Date.now();
+      const res = await atomicFetch('/v1/chat/completions', {
+        method: 'POST',
+        headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
+        body: JSON.stringify(body),
+      });
+
+      if (!res.ok) {
+        const errorText = await res.text();
+        return {
+          content: [
+            {
+              type: 'text' as const,
+              text: `Atomic Chat error (${res.status}): ${errorText}`,
+            },
+          ],
+          isError: true,
+        };
+      }
+
+      const data = (await res.json()) as {
+        choices?: Array<{ message?: { content?: string } }>;
+        usage?: {
+          prompt_tokens?: number;
+          completion_tokens?: number;
+          total_tokens?: number;
+        };
+      };
+
+      const response = data.choices?.[0]?.message?.content ?? '';
+      const elapsedSec = ((Date.now() - startedAt) / 1000).toFixed(1);
+      const completionTokens = data.usage?.completion_tokens;
+
+      const meta = `\n\n[${args.model} | ${elapsedSec}s${
+        completionTokens !== undefined ? ` | ${completionTokens} tokens` : ''
+      }]`;
+
+      log(
+        `<<< Done: ${args.model} | ${elapsedSec}s | ${
+          completionTokens ?? '?'
+        } tokens | ${response.length} chars`,
+      );
+      writeStatus(
+        'done',
+        `${args.model} | ${elapsedSec}s | ${completionTokens ?? '?'} tokens`,
+      );
+
+      return { content: [{ type: 'text' as const, text: response + meta }] };
+    } catch (err) {
+      return {
+        content: [
+          {
+            type: 'text' as const,
+            text: `Failed to call Atomic Chat: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`,
+          },
+        ],
+        isError: true,
+      };
+    }
+  },
+);
+
+const transport = new StdioServerTransport();
+await server.connect(transport);
diff --git a/.claude/skills/add-codex/SKILL.md b/.claude/skills/add-codex/SKILL.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3411bae78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.claude/skills/add-codex/SKILL.md
@@ -0,0 +1,161 @@
+---
+name: add-codex
+description: Use Codex (CLI + AppServer) as the full agent provider — planning, tool orchestration, native compaction, MCP tools, session resume — in place of the Claude Agent SDK. ChatGPT subscription or OPENAI_API_KEY. Per-group via agent_provider. Distinct from using OpenAI as an MCP tool (where Claude remains the planner).
+---
+
+# Codex agent provider
+
+NanoClaw runs agents in a long-lived **poll loop** inside the container. The backend is selected with **`AGENT_PROVIDER`** (`claude` | `opencode` | `codex` | `mock`).
+
+Trunk ships with only the `claude` provider baked in. This skill copies the Codex provider files in from the `providers` branch, wires them into the host and container barrels, updates the Dockerfile to install the Codex CLI, and rebuilds the image.
+
+The Codex provider runs `codex app-server` as a child process and speaks JSON-RPC over stdio. That gives it native session resume, streaming events, MCP tool access, and `thread/compact/start` compaction — same feature bar as the Claude Agent SDK, without the Anthropic-only lock-in.
+
+## Install
+
+### Pre-flight
+
+If all of the following are already present, skip to **Configuration**:
+
+- `src/providers/codex.ts`
+- `container/agent-runner/src/providers/codex.ts`
+- `container/agent-runner/src/providers/codex-app-server.ts`
+- `container/agent-runner/src/providers/codex.factory.test.ts`
+- `import './codex.js';` line in `src/providers/index.ts`
+- `import './codex.js';` line in `container/agent-runner/src/providers/index.ts`
+- `ARG CODEX_VERSION` and `"@openai/codex@${CODEX_VERSION}"` in the pnpm global-install block in `container/Dockerfile`
+
+Missing pieces — continue below. All steps are idempotent; re-running is safe.
+
+### 1. Fetch the providers branch
+
+```bash
+git fetch origin providers
+```
+
+### 2. Copy the Codex source files
+
+Wholesale copies (owned entirely by this skill — user edits to these files won't survive a re-run, as designed):
+
+```bash
+git show origin/providers:src/providers/codex.ts                                      > src/providers/codex.ts
+git show origin/providers:container/agent-runner/src/providers/codex.ts               > container/agent-runner/src/providers/codex.ts
+git show origin/providers:container/agent-runner/src/providers/codex-app-server.ts    > container/agent-runner/src/providers/codex-app-server.ts
+git show origin/providers:container/agent-runner/src/providers/codex.factory.test.ts  > container/agent-runner/src/providers/codex.factory.test.ts
+```
+
+### 3. Append the self-registration imports
+
+Each barrel gets one line — alphabetical placement keeps diffs small.
+
+`src/providers/index.ts`:
+
+```typescript
+import './codex.js';
+```
+
+`container/agent-runner/src/providers/index.ts`:
+
+```typescript
+import './codex.js';
+```
+
+### 4. Add the Codex CLI to the container Dockerfile
+
+Two edits to `container/Dockerfile`, both idempotent (skip if already present):
+
+**(a)** In the "Pin CLI versions" ARG block (around line 18), add after `ARG CLAUDE_CODE_VERSION=...`:
+
+```dockerfile
+ARG CODEX_VERSION=0.124.0
+```
+
+**(b)** Add a new standalone `RUN` block for the Codex CLI, after the existing per-CLI install blocks (around line 106, right after the `@anthropic-ai/claude-code` block). The Dockerfile splits each global CLI into its own layer for cache granularity — keep that pattern; do not collapse them into a single combined `pnpm install -g` call:
+
+```dockerfile
+RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/pnpm \
+    pnpm install -g "@openai/codex@${CODEX_VERSION}"
+```
+
+Note: **no agent-runner package dependency** — Codex is a CLI binary, not a library. Unlike OpenCode, there's nothing to add to `container/agent-runner/package.json`.
+
+### 5. Build
+
+```bash
+pnpm run build                                         # host
+pnpm exec tsc -p container/agent-runner/tsconfig.json --noEmit   # container typecheck
+./container/build.sh                                   # agent image
+```
+
+## Configuration
+
+Codex supports two primary auth paths and one experimental BYO-endpoint path. Pick the one that matches your setup.
+
+### Option A — ChatGPT subscription (recommended for individuals)
+
+On the host (not inside the container), run Codex's OAuth login:
+
+```bash
+codex login
+```
+
+This writes `~/.codex/auth.json` with a subscription token. The host-side Codex provider ([src/providers/codex.ts](../../../src/providers/codex.ts)) copies `auth.json` into a per-session `~/.codex` directory mounted into the container — your host's own Codex CLI is never touched.
+
+No `.env` variables required for this mode.
+
+### Option B — API key (recommended for CI or API billing)
+
+```env
+OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
+CODEX_MODEL=gpt-5.4-mini
+```
+
+The host forwards both variables into the container. If both subscription (`auth.json`) and `OPENAI_API_KEY` are present, Codex prefers the subscription.
+
+### Option C — BYO OpenAI-compatible endpoint (experimental)
+
+Codex's built-in `openai` provider honors the `OPENAI_BASE_URL` env var directly. Point it at any OpenAI-compatible endpoint — Groq, Together, self-hosted vLLM, an OpenAI proxy, etc.
+
+```env
+OPENAI_API_KEY=...
+OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://api.groq.com/openai/v1
+CODEX_MODEL=llama-3.3-70b-versatile
+```
+
+Codex also ships first-class local-runner flags — `codex --oss --local-provider ollama` or `--local-provider lmstudio` — that auto-detect a local server. To use those inside NanoClaw, set `CODEX_MODEL` to a model your local runner serves and add the corresponding base URL; see the Codex CLI docs for the full `model_provider = oss` configuration.
+
+**Experimental caveat:** tool-calling quality depends on the model and endpoint. Not every OpenAI-compat provider implements the full function-calling spec, and smaller models (< 30B) often struggle with multi-step tool orchestration. Test before committing.
+
+### Per group / per session
+
+Schema: **`agent_groups.agent_provider`** and **`sessions.agent_provider`**. Set to `codex` for groups or sessions that should use Codex. The container receives `AGENT_PROVIDER` from the resolved value (session overrides group).
+
+`CODEX_MODEL` applies process-wide via `.env`; if you need different models for different groups, set them via `container_config.env` on the group.
+
+Extra MCP servers still come from **`NANOCLAW_MCP_SERVERS`** / `container_config.mcpServers` on the host. The runner merges them into the same `mcpServers` object passed to all providers.
+
+## Operational notes
+
+- **Spawn-per-query:** Codex's app-server is spawned fresh per query invocation, matching the OpenCode pattern. No long-lived daemon to keep healthy across sessions.
+- **Per-session `~/.codex` isolation:** each group gets its own copy of the host's `auth.json`. The container can rewrite `config.toml` freely on every wake without touching the host's Codex config.
+- **Native compaction:** kicks in automatically at 40K cumulative input tokens between turns, via `thread/compact/start`. If compaction fails, the provider logs and continues uncompacted — no fatal error.
+- **Approvals:** auto-accepted inside the container (the container is the sandbox; same posture as Claude/OpenCode).
+- **Mid-turn input:** Codex turns don't accept mid-turn messages. Follow-up `push()` calls queue and drain between turns, matching the OpenCode pattern. The poll-loop only pushes between turns anyway, so no messages are dropped.
+- **Stale thread recovery:** `isSessionInvalid` matches on stale-thread-ID errors (`thread not found`, `unknown thread`, etc.) so a cold-started app-server can recover cleanly when it sees a stored continuation it no longer has.
+
+## Verify
+
+```bash
+grep -q "./codex.js" container/agent-runner/src/providers/index.ts && echo "container barrel: OK"
+grep -q "./codex.js" src/providers/index.ts && echo "host barrel: OK"
+grep -q "@openai/codex@" container/Dockerfile && echo "Dockerfile install: OK"
+cd container/agent-runner && bun test src/providers/codex.factory.test.ts && cd -
+```
+
+After the image rebuild, set `agent_provider = 'codex'` on a test group and send a message. Successful round-trip looks like:
+
+- `init` event with a stable thread ID as continuation
+- One or more `activity` / `progress` events during the turn
+- `result` event with the model's reply
+
+If the agent hangs or errors, check `~/.codex/auth.json` exists on the host (Option A) or that `OPENAI_API_KEY` is forwarding correctly (Option B) — `docker exec` into a running container and `env | grep -i openai` to confirm.
diff --git a/.claude/skills/add-signal/REMOVE.md b/.claude/skills/add-signal/REMOVE.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..db37ade8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.claude/skills/add-signal/REMOVE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+# Remove Signal
+
+1. Comment out `import './signal.js'` in `src/channels/index.ts`
+2. Remove `SIGNAL_ACCOUNT` (and any other `SIGNAL_*` vars) from `.env`
+3. Rebuild and restart
+
+If you also want to unlink the Signal account from `signal-cli`:
+
+```bash
+signal-cli -a +1YOURNUMBER removeDevice --deviceId <id>
+```
+
+(Find the device id with `signal-cli -a +1YOURNUMBER listDevices`.)
diff --git a/.claude/skills/add-signal/SKILL.md b/.claude/skills/add-signal/SKILL.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e6d41aa67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.claude/skills/add-signal/SKILL.md
@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+---
+name: add-signal
+description: Add Signal channel integration via signal-cli TCP daemon. Native adapter — no Chat SDK bridge.
+---
+
+# Add Signal Channel
+
+Adds Signal messaging support via a native adapter that speaks JSON-RPC to a [signal-cli](https://github.com/AsamK/signal-cli) TCP daemon. No Chat SDK bridge, no npm deps — only Node.js builtins.
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+`signal-cli` installed and a Signal account linked:
+
+- macOS: `brew install signal-cli`
+- Linux: download from [GitHub releases](https://github.com/AsamK/signal-cli/releases)
+- Link your account: `signal-cli -a +1YOURNUMBER link` (follow the QR instructions)
+
+## Install
+
+NanoClaw doesn't ship channels in trunk. This skill copies the Signal adapter and its tests in from the `channels` branch.
+
+### Pre-flight (idempotent)
+
+Skip to **Credentials** if all of these are already in place:
+
+- `src/channels/signal.ts` and `src/channels/signal.test.ts` both exist
+- `src/channels/index.ts` contains `import './signal.js';`
+
+Otherwise continue. Every step below is safe to re-run.
+
+### 1. Fetch the channels branch
+
+```bash
+git fetch origin channels
+```
+
+### 2. Copy the adapter and tests
+
+```bash
+git show origin/channels:src/channels/signal.ts      > src/channels/signal.ts
+git show origin/channels:src/channels/signal.test.ts > src/channels/signal.test.ts
+```
+
+### 3. Append the self-registration import
+
+Append to `src/channels/index.ts` (skip if the line is already present):
+
+```typescript
+import './signal.js';
+```
+
+### 4. Build
+
+```bash
+pnpm run build
+```
+
+No npm packages to install — the adapter uses only Node.js builtins (`node:net`, `node:child_process`, `node:fs`).
+
+## Credentials
+
+Add to `.env`:
+
+```bash
+SIGNAL_ACCOUNT=+1YOURNUMBER
+```
+
+### Optional settings
+
+```bash
+# TCP daemon host and port (default: 127.0.0.1:7583)
+SIGNAL_TCP_HOST=127.0.0.1
+SIGNAL_TCP_PORT=7583
+
+# Path to the signal-cli binary (default: resolved on PATH)
+SIGNAL_CLI_PATH=/usr/local/bin/signal-cli
+
+# Whether NanoClaw manages the daemon lifecycle (default: true).
+# Set to false if you run signal-cli daemon externally.
+SIGNAL_MANAGE_DAEMON=true
+
+# signal-cli data directory (default: ~/.local/share/signal-cli)
+SIGNAL_DATA_DIR=~/.local/share/signal-cli
+```
+
+**Security note:** keep the TCP host on `127.0.0.1`. The daemon has no auth — binding it to a public interface would expose your full Signal account to the network.
+
+Sync to container: `mkdir -p data/env && cp .env data/env/env`
+
+### Restart
+
+```bash
+# macOS
+launchctl kickstart -k gui/$(id -u)/com.nanoclaw
+
+# Linux
+systemctl --user restart nanoclaw
+```
+
+## Next Steps
+
+If you're in the middle of `/setup`, return to the setup flow now.
+
+Otherwise, run `/init-first-agent` to create an agent and wire it to your Signal DM, or `/manage-channels` to wire this channel to an existing agent group. Signal is direct-addressable — your phone number is the platform ID.
+
+## Channel Info
+
+- **type**: `signal`
+- **terminology**: Signal has "chats" (1:1 DMs) and "groups."
+- **how-to-find-id**: DMs use your phone number (e.g. `+15555550123`). Groups use `group:<groupId>` — find group IDs via `signal-cli -a +1YOURNUMBER listGroups`.
+- **supports-threads**: no
+- **typical-use**: Personal assistant via Signal DMs or small group chats
+- **default-isolation**: One agent per Signal account. Multiple chats with the same operator can share an agent group; groups with other people should typically be separate.
+
+### Features
+
+- Markdown formatting — `**bold**`, `*italic*` / `_italic_`, `` `code` ``, ` ```code fence``` `, `~~strike~~`, `||spoiler||` (converted to Signal's offset-based text styles)
+- Quoted replies — `replyTo*` fields populated from Signal quotes
+- Typing indicators — DMs only (Signal doesn't support group typing)
+- Echo suppression — outbound messages are matched on `(platformId, text)` within a 10 s TTL to avoid syncMessage loops
+- Note to Self — messages you send to your own account from another device route to the agent as inbound with `isFromMe: true`
+- Voice attachments — detected but not transcribed by default; the agent receives `[Voice Message]` placeholder text. Run `/add-voice-transcription` for local transcription via parakeet-mlx
+
+Not supported yet: outbound file attachments (logged and dropped), edit/delete messages, reactions.
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+### Daemon not reachable
+
+```bash
+grep "Signal" logs/nanoclaw.log | tail
+```
+
+If you see `Signal daemon failed to start. Is signal-cli installed and your account linked?`:
+- Confirm `signal-cli` is on PATH (or set `SIGNAL_CLI_PATH`)
+- Confirm the account is linked: `signal-cli -a +1YOURNUMBER listIdentities` should succeed without prompting
+
+If you see `Signal daemon not reachable at 127.0.0.1:7583` and `SIGNAL_MANAGE_DAEMON=false`, start the daemon yourself: `signal-cli -a +1YOURNUMBER daemon --tcp 127.0.0.1:7583`.
+
+### Bot not responding
+
+1. Channel initialized: `grep "Signal channel connected" logs/nanoclaw.log | tail -1`
+2. Channel wired: `sqlite3 data/v2.db "SELECT mg.platform_id, mg.name FROM messaging_groups mg JOIN messaging_group_agents mga ON mg.id = mga.messaging_group_id WHERE mg.channel_type='signal'"`
+3. Service running: `launchctl print gui/$(id -u)/com.nanoclaw` (macOS) / `systemctl --user status nanoclaw` (Linux)
+
+### Lost connection mid-session
+
+If you see `Signal channel lost TCP connection to signal-cli daemon` in the logs, the daemon dropped us. There's no auto-reconnect yet — restart the service to re-establish.
diff --git a/.claude/skills/add-signal/VERIFY.md b/.claude/skills/add-signal/VERIFY.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b1ae8518c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.claude/skills/add-signal/VERIFY.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# Verify Signal
+
+Send a message to your own Signal number (Note to Self) from another device, or have someone send your linked number a DM. The bot should respond within a few seconds.
+
+If nothing happens, tail `logs/nanoclaw.log` for `Signal channel connected` and `Signal message received`.
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 1d67485dc..20afddb92 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "nanoclaw",
-  "version": "2.0.4",
+  "version": "2.0.10",
   "description": "Personal Claude assistant. Lightweight, secure, customizable.",
   "type": "module",
   "packageManager": "pnpm@10.33.0",
diff --git a/repo-tokens/badge.svg b/repo-tokens/badge.svg
index 3fc904ec7..fd8a4363f 100644
--- a/repo-tokens/badge.svg
+++ b/repo-tokens/badge.svg
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" width="90" height="20" role="img" aria-label="128k tokens, 64% of context window">
-  <title>128k tokens, 64% of context window</title>
+<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" width="90" height="20" role="img" aria-label="130k tokens, 65% of context window">
+  <title>130k tokens, 65% of context window</title>
   <linearGradient id="s" x2="0" y2="100%">
     <stop offset="0" stop-color="#bbb" stop-opacity=".1"/>
     <stop offset="1" stop-opacity=".1"/>
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@
       <g fill="#fff" text-anchor="middle" font-family="Verdana,Geneva,DejaVu Sans,sans-serif" font-size="11">
         <text aria-hidden="true" x="26" y="15" fill="#010101" fill-opacity=".3">tokens</text>
         <text x="26" y="14">tokens</text>
-        <text aria-hidden="true" x="71" y="15" fill="#010101" fill-opacity=".3">128k</text>
-        <text x="71" y="14">128k</text>
+        <text aria-hidden="true" x="71" y="15" fill="#010101" fill-opacity=".3">130k</text>
+        <text x="71" y="14">130k</text>
       </g>
     </g>
   </a>
diff --git a/scripts/init-first-agent.ts b/scripts/init-first-agent.ts
index dcb99b511..fc61b9c75 100644
--- a/scripts/init-first-agent.ts
+++ b/scripts/init-first-agent.ts
@@ -137,13 +137,29 @@ function namespacedUserId(channel: string, raw: string): string {
   return raw.includes(':') ? raw : `${channel}:${raw}`;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Determine whether a platform ID needs a channel-type prefix.
+ *
+ * Chat SDK adapters (Telegram, Discord, Slack, Teams, etc.) namespace their
+ * platform IDs with a channel prefix: "telegram:123456", "discord:guild:chan".
+ * The router stores `channel_type` and `platform_id` in separate columns, but
+ * Chat SDK adapters send the prefixed form as the platform_id, so this script
+ * must match that format.
+ *
+ * Native adapters (Signal, WhatsApp) use their own ID formats and send them
+ * as-is — no channel prefix. Signal sends raw phone numbers (+15551234567)
+ * for DMs and "group:<id>" for group chats. WhatsApp sends JIDs containing
+ * '@' (<phone>@s.whatsapp.net, <groupId>@g.us). Prefixing these would cause
+ * a mismatch between what the adapter sends and what the DB stores, breaking
+ * message routing.
+ */
 function namespacedPlatformId(channel: string, raw: string): string {
   if (raw.startsWith(`${channel}:`)) return raw;
-  // Adapters using native JID format (WhatsApp: <phone>@s.whatsapp.net,
-  // <groupId>@g.us) store platform_id without a channel prefix. The '@' is
-  // the discriminator — telegram/discord platform_ids don't contain it
-  // except after a channel prefix, which is already handled above.
+  // Native WhatsApp JIDs contain '@' — no prefix needed.
   if (raw.includes('@')) return raw;
+  // Native Signal IDs: phone numbers (+...) and group IDs (group:...).
+  if (raw.startsWith('+') || raw.startsWith('group:')) return raw;
+  // Chat SDK adapters — add the channel prefix.
   return `${channel}:${raw}`;
 }
 
diff --git a/setup/add-imessage.sh b/setup/add-imessage.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..ea1986203
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup/add-imessage.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,160 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# Install the iMessage adapter, persist mode/creds to .env + data/env/env,
+# and restart the service. Non-interactive — the Full Disk Access walkthrough
+# (local mode) and Photon URL/key prompts (remote mode) live in
+# setup/channels/imessage.ts. Creds come in via env vars:
+#   IMESSAGE_LOCAL   'true' | 'false'  (required)
+#   IMESSAGE_ENABLED 'true'            (required when IMESSAGE_LOCAL=true)
+#   IMESSAGE_SERVER_URL                (required when IMESSAGE_LOCAL=false)
+#   IMESSAGE_API_KEY                   (required when IMESSAGE_LOCAL=false)
+#
+# Emits exactly one status block on stdout (ADD_IMESSAGE) at the end.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+PROJECT_ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+cd "$PROJECT_ROOT"
+
+# Keep in sync with .claude/skills/add-imessage/SKILL.md.
+ADAPTER_VERSION="chat-adapter-imessage@0.1.1"
+
+# Resolve which remote carries the channels branch — handles forks where
+# upstream lives on a different remote than `origin`.
+# shellcheck source=setup/lib/channels-remote.sh
+source "$PROJECT_ROOT/setup/lib/channels-remote.sh"
+CHANNELS_REMOTE=$(resolve_channels_remote)
+CHANNELS_BRANCH="${CHANNELS_REMOTE}/channels"
+
+emit_status() {
+  local status=$1 error=${2:-}
+  local already=${ADAPTER_ALREADY_INSTALLED:-false}
+  local mode=${IMESSAGE_LOCAL:-}
+  echo "=== NANOCLAW SETUP: ADD_IMESSAGE ==="
+  echo "STATUS: ${status}"
+  echo "ADAPTER_VERSION: ${ADAPTER_VERSION}"
+  echo "ADAPTER_ALREADY_INSTALLED: ${already}"
+  [ -n "$mode" ] && echo "MODE: $([ "$mode" = "true" ] && echo local || echo remote)"
+  [ -n "$error" ] && echo "ERROR: ${error}"
+  echo "=== END ==="
+}
+
+log() { echo "[add-imessage] $*" >&2; }
+
+# Validate creds based on mode.
+if [ -z "${IMESSAGE_LOCAL:-}" ]; then
+  emit_status failed "IMESSAGE_LOCAL env var not set (expected true|false)"
+  exit 1
+fi
+if [ "${IMESSAGE_LOCAL}" = "true" ]; then
+  if [ -z "${IMESSAGE_ENABLED:-}" ]; then
+    emit_status failed "IMESSAGE_ENABLED env var not set for local mode"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  if [ "$(uname -s)" != "Darwin" ]; then
+    emit_status failed "local mode requires macOS"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+else
+  if [ -z "${IMESSAGE_SERVER_URL:-}" ]; then
+    emit_status failed "IMESSAGE_SERVER_URL env var not set for remote mode"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  if [ -z "${IMESSAGE_API_KEY:-}" ]; then
+    emit_status failed "IMESSAGE_API_KEY env var not set for remote mode"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+fi
+
+need_install() {
+  [ ! -f src/channels/imessage.ts ] && return 0
+  ! grep -q "^import './imessage.js';" src/channels/index.ts 2>/dev/null && return 0
+  return 1
+}
+
+ADAPTER_ALREADY_INSTALLED=true
+if need_install; then
+  ADAPTER_ALREADY_INSTALLED=false
+  log "Fetching channels branch…"
+  git fetch "$CHANNELS_REMOTE" channels >&2 2>/dev/null || {
+    emit_status failed "git fetch ${CHANNELS_REMOTE} channels failed"
+    exit 1
+  }
+
+  log "Copying adapter from ${CHANNELS_BRANCH}…"
+  git show "${CHANNELS_BRANCH}:src/channels/imessage.ts" > src/channels/imessage.ts
+
+  # Append self-registration import if missing.
+  if ! grep -q "^import './imessage.js';" src/channels/index.ts; then
+    echo "import './imessage.js';" >> src/channels/index.ts
+  fi
+
+  log "Installing ${ADAPTER_VERSION}…"
+  pnpm install "${ADAPTER_VERSION}" >&2 2>/dev/null || {
+    emit_status failed "pnpm install ${ADAPTER_VERSION} failed"
+    exit 1
+  }
+
+  log "Building…"
+  pnpm run build >&2 2>/dev/null || {
+    emit_status failed "pnpm run build failed"
+    exit 1
+  }
+else
+  log "Adapter files already installed — skipping install phase."
+fi
+
+touch .env
+upsert_env() {
+  local key=$1 value=$2
+  if grep -q "^${key}=" .env; then
+    awk -v k="$key" -v v="$value" \
+        'BEGIN{FS=OFS="="} $1==k {print k "=" v; next} {print}' \
+      .env > .env.tmp && mv .env.tmp .env
+  else
+    echo "${key}=${value}" >> .env
+  fi
+}
+
+remove_env() {
+  local key=$1
+  if grep -q "^${key}=" .env 2>/dev/null; then
+    grep -v "^${key}=" .env > .env.tmp && mv .env.tmp .env
+  fi
+}
+
+# Write the canonical keys for the chosen mode, strip the opposite mode's
+# keys so stale values can't confuse the adapter's factory.
+upsert_env IMESSAGE_LOCAL "$IMESSAGE_LOCAL"
+if [ "$IMESSAGE_LOCAL" = "true" ]; then
+  upsert_env IMESSAGE_ENABLED "$IMESSAGE_ENABLED"
+  remove_env IMESSAGE_SERVER_URL
+  remove_env IMESSAGE_API_KEY
+else
+  upsert_env IMESSAGE_SERVER_URL "$IMESSAGE_SERVER_URL"
+  upsert_env IMESSAGE_API_KEY "$IMESSAGE_API_KEY"
+  remove_env IMESSAGE_ENABLED
+fi
+
+# Container reads from data/env/env (the host mounts it).
+mkdir -p data/env
+cp .env data/env/env
+
+log "Restarting service so the new adapter picks up the creds…"
+# shellcheck source=setup/lib/install-slug.sh
+source "$PROJECT_ROOT/setup/lib/install-slug.sh"
+case "$(uname -s)" in
+  Darwin)
+    launchctl kickstart -k "gui/$(id -u)/$(launchd_label)" >&2 2>/dev/null || true
+    ;;
+  Linux)
+    systemctl --user restart "$(systemd_unit)" >&2 2>/dev/null \
+      || sudo systemctl restart "$(systemd_unit)" >&2 2>/dev/null \
+      || true
+    ;;
+esac
+
+# Give the adapter a moment to open chat.db (local) or handshake with
+# Photon (remote) before emitting success.
+sleep 3
+
+emit_status success
diff --git a/setup/add-signal.sh b/setup/add-signal.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..8ebf2b9aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup/add-signal.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# Install the Signal adapter in an already-running NanoClaw checkout.
+# Non-interactive — the operator-facing "install signal-cli" + QR scan
+# live in setup/channels/signal.ts. This script only:
+#
+#   1. Fetches src/channels/signal.ts + signal.test.ts from the channels
+#      branch.
+#   2. Appends the self-registration import to src/channels/index.ts.
+#   3. Installs qrcode (for setup-flow QR rendering — adapter itself has
+#      no npm deps).
+#   4. Builds.
+#
+# SIGNAL_ACCOUNT is persisted separately by the driver once signal-cli
+# link has produced a number; that keeps this script idempotent and
+# re-runnable without re-auth.
+#
+# Emits exactly one status block on stdout (ADD_SIGNAL) at the end. All
+# chatty progress goes to stderr so setup:auto's raw-log capture sees
+# the full story without cluttering the final block for the parser.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+PROJECT_ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+cd "$PROJECT_ROOT"
+
+# Keep in sync with .claude/skills/add-signal/SKILL.md.
+QRCODE_VERSION="qrcode@1.5.4"
+QRCODE_TYPES_VERSION="@types/qrcode@1.5.6"
+
+# shellcheck source=setup/lib/channels-remote.sh
+source "$PROJECT_ROOT/setup/lib/channels-remote.sh"
+CHANNELS_REMOTE=$(resolve_channels_remote)
+CHANNELS_BRANCH="${CHANNELS_REMOTE}/channels"
+
+emit_status() {
+  local status=$1 error=${2:-}
+  local already=${ADAPTER_ALREADY_INSTALLED:-false}
+  echo "=== NANOCLAW SETUP: ADD_SIGNAL ==="
+  echo "STATUS: ${status}"
+  echo "ADAPTER_ALREADY_INSTALLED: ${already}"
+  [ -n "$error" ] && echo "ERROR: ${error}"
+  echo "=== END ==="
+}
+
+log() { echo "[add-signal] $*" >&2; }
+
+need_install() {
+  [ ! -f src/channels/signal.ts ] && return 0
+  ! grep -q "^import './signal.js';" src/channels/index.ts 2>/dev/null && return 0
+  return 1
+}
+
+ADAPTER_ALREADY_INSTALLED=true
+if need_install; then
+  ADAPTER_ALREADY_INSTALLED=false
+  log "Fetching channels branch…"
+  git fetch "$CHANNELS_REMOTE" channels >&2 2>/dev/null || {
+    emit_status failed "git fetch ${CHANNELS_REMOTE} channels failed"
+    exit 1
+  }
+
+  log "Copying adapter files from ${CHANNELS_BRANCH}…"
+  for f in \
+    src/channels/signal.ts \
+    src/channels/signal.test.ts
+  do
+    git show "${CHANNELS_BRANCH}:$f" > "$f" || {
+      emit_status failed "git show ${CHANNELS_BRANCH}:$f failed"
+      exit 1
+    }
+  done
+
+  if ! grep -q "^import './signal.js';" src/channels/index.ts; then
+    echo "import './signal.js';" >> src/channels/index.ts
+  fi
+fi
+
+# qrcode is needed by setup/signal-auth.ts to render the linking URL as a
+# terminal QR. Install idempotently — if it's already present (e.g. from a
+# prior WhatsApp install) pnpm is a no-op.
+if ! node -e "require.resolve('qrcode')" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  log "Installing ${QRCODE_VERSION}…"
+  pnpm install "${QRCODE_VERSION}" "${QRCODE_TYPES_VERSION}" >&2 2>/dev/null || {
+    emit_status failed "pnpm install ${QRCODE_VERSION} failed"
+    exit 1
+  }
+fi
+
+log "Building…"
+pnpm run build >&2 2>/dev/null || {
+  emit_status failed "pnpm run build failed"
+  exit 1
+}
+
+emit_status success
diff --git a/setup/add-slack.sh b/setup/add-slack.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..3eea3e5e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup/add-slack.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# Install the Slack adapter, persist SLACK_BOT_TOKEN + SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET to
+# .env + data/env/env, and restart the service. Non-interactive — the
+# operator-facing app creation walkthrough + credential paste live in
+# setup/channels/slack.ts. Credentials come in via env vars:
+# SLACK_BOT_TOKEN, SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET.
+#
+# Emits exactly one status block on stdout (ADD_SLACK) at the end. All chatty
+# progress messages go to stderr so setup:auto's raw-log capture sees the full
+# story without cluttering the final block for the parser.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+PROJECT_ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+cd "$PROJECT_ROOT"
+
+# Keep in sync with .claude/skills/add-slack/SKILL.md.
+ADAPTER_VERSION="@chat-adapter/slack@4.26.0"
+
+# Resolve which remote carries the channels branch — handles forks where
+# upstream lives on a different remote than `origin`.
+# shellcheck source=setup/lib/channels-remote.sh
+source "$PROJECT_ROOT/setup/lib/channels-remote.sh"
+CHANNELS_REMOTE=$(resolve_channels_remote)
+CHANNELS_BRANCH="${CHANNELS_REMOTE}/channels"
+
+emit_status() {
+  local status=$1 error=${2:-}
+  local already=${ADAPTER_ALREADY_INSTALLED:-false}
+  echo "=== NANOCLAW SETUP: ADD_SLACK ==="
+  echo "STATUS: ${status}"
+  echo "ADAPTER_VERSION: ${ADAPTER_VERSION}"
+  echo "ADAPTER_ALREADY_INSTALLED: ${already}"
+  [ -n "$error" ] && echo "ERROR: ${error}"
+  echo "=== END ==="
+}
+
+log() { echo "[add-slack] $*" >&2; }
+
+if [ -z "${SLACK_BOT_TOKEN:-}" ]; then
+  emit_status failed "SLACK_BOT_TOKEN env var not set"
+  exit 1
+fi
+if [ -z "${SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET:-}" ]; then
+  emit_status failed "SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET env var not set"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+need_install() {
+  [ ! -f src/channels/slack.ts ] && return 0
+  ! grep -q "^import './slack.js';" src/channels/index.ts 2>/dev/null && return 0
+  return 1
+}
+
+ADAPTER_ALREADY_INSTALLED=true
+if need_install; then
+  ADAPTER_ALREADY_INSTALLED=false
+  log "Fetching channels branch…"
+  git fetch "$CHANNELS_REMOTE" channels >&2 2>/dev/null || {
+    emit_status failed "git fetch ${CHANNELS_REMOTE} channels failed"
+    exit 1
+  }
+
+  log "Copying adapter from ${CHANNELS_BRANCH}…"
+  git show "${CHANNELS_BRANCH}:src/channels/slack.ts" > src/channels/slack.ts
+
+  # Append self-registration import if missing.
+  if ! grep -q "^import './slack.js';" src/channels/index.ts; then
+    echo "import './slack.js';" >> src/channels/index.ts
+  fi
+
+  log "Installing ${ADAPTER_VERSION}…"
+  pnpm install "${ADAPTER_VERSION}" >&2 2>/dev/null || {
+    emit_status failed "pnpm install ${ADAPTER_VERSION} failed"
+    exit 1
+  }
+
+  log "Building…"
+  pnpm run build >&2 2>/dev/null || {
+    emit_status failed "pnpm run build failed"
+    exit 1
+  }
+else
+  log "Adapter files already installed — skipping install phase."
+fi
+
+# Persist credentials. auto.ts validates via auth.test before this point, so
+# bad values here would be an internal bug rather than operator input.
+touch .env
+upsert_env() {
+  local key=$1 value=$2
+  if grep -q "^${key}=" .env; then
+    awk -v k="$key" -v v="$value" \
+        'BEGIN{FS=OFS="="} $1==k {print k "=" v; next} {print}' \
+      .env > .env.tmp && mv .env.tmp .env
+  else
+    echo "${key}=${value}" >> .env
+  fi
+}
+upsert_env SLACK_BOT_TOKEN "$SLACK_BOT_TOKEN"
+upsert_env SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET "$SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET"
+
+# Container reads from data/env/env (the host mounts it).
+mkdir -p data/env
+cp .env data/env/env
+
+log "Restarting service so the new adapter picks up the credentials…"
+# shellcheck source=setup/lib/install-slug.sh
+source "$PROJECT_ROOT/setup/lib/install-slug.sh"
+case "$(uname -s)" in
+  Darwin)
+    launchctl kickstart -k "gui/$(id -u)/$(launchd_label)" >&2 2>/dev/null || true
+    ;;
+  Linux)
+    systemctl --user restart "$(systemd_unit)" >&2 2>/dev/null \
+      || sudo systemctl restart "$(systemd_unit)" >&2 2>/dev/null \
+      || true
+    ;;
+esac
+
+# Give the Slack adapter a moment to finish starting the webhook listener
+# before emitting success.
+sleep 3
+
+emit_status success
diff --git a/setup/auto.ts b/setup/auto.ts
index 4becf6ec6..cff2f63a8 100644
--- a/setup/auto.ts
+++ b/setup/auto.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ import * as p from '@clack/prompts';
 import k from 'kleur';
 
 import { runDiscordChannel } from './channels/discord.js';
+import { runIMessageChannel } from './channels/imessage.js';
+import { runSignalChannel } from './channels/signal.js';
+import { runSlackChannel } from './channels/slack.js';
 import { runTeamsChannel } from './channels/teams.js';
 import { runTelegramChannel } from './channels/telegram.js';
 import { runWhatsAppChannel } from './channels/whatsapp.js';
@@ -48,6 +51,16 @@ import { isValidTimezone } from '../src/timezone.js';
 const CLI_AGENT_NAME = 'Terminal Agent';
 const RUN_START = Date.now();
 
+type ChannelChoice =
+  | 'telegram'
+  | 'discord'
+  | 'whatsapp'
+  | 'signal'
+  | 'teams'
+  | 'slack'
+  | 'imessage'
+  | 'skip';
+
 async function main(): Promise<void> {
   printIntro();
   initProgressionLog();
@@ -295,8 +308,7 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
     await runTimezoneStep();
   }
 
-  let channelChoice: 'telegram' | 'discord' | 'whatsapp' | 'teams' | 'skip' =
-    'skip';
+  let channelChoice: ChannelChoice = 'skip';
   if (!skip.has('channel')) {
     channelChoice = await askChannelChoice();
     if (channelChoice === 'telegram') {
@@ -305,12 +317,18 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
       await runDiscordChannel(displayName!);
     } else if (channelChoice === 'whatsapp') {
       await runWhatsAppChannel(displayName!);
+    } else if (channelChoice === 'signal') {
+      await runSignalChannel(displayName!);
     } else if (channelChoice === 'teams') {
       await runTeamsChannel(displayName!);
+    } else if (channelChoice === 'slack') {
+      await runSlackChannel(displayName!);
+    } else if (channelChoice === 'imessage') {
+      await runIMessageChannel(displayName!);
     } else {
       p.log.info(
         wrapForGutter(
-          'No messaging app for now. You can add one later (like Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp, Teams, or Slack).',
+          'No messaging app for now. You can add one later (like Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp, Teams, Slack, or iMessage).',
           4,
         ),
       );
@@ -420,9 +438,7 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
   }
 }
 
-function channelDmLabel(
-  choice: 'telegram' | 'discord' | 'whatsapp' | 'teams' | 'skip',
-): string | null {
+function channelDmLabel(choice: ChannelChoice): string | null {
   switch (choice) {
     case 'telegram':
       return 'Telegram';
@@ -430,8 +446,17 @@ function channelDmLabel(
       return 'Discord DMs';
     case 'whatsapp':
       return 'WhatsApp';
+    case 'signal':
+      return 'Signal';
     case 'teams':
       return 'Teams';
+    case 'imessage':
+      return 'iMessage';
+    case 'slack':
+      // Slack install doesn't wire an agent or send a welcome DM — the
+      // driver prints its own "finish in your Slack app" note. Falling
+      // through to null avoids a misleading "check your Slack DMs" banner.
+      return null;
     default:
       return null;
   }
@@ -807,16 +832,30 @@ async function askDisplayName(fallback: string): Promise<string> {
   return value;
 }
 
-async function askChannelChoice(): Promise<
-  'telegram' | 'discord' | 'whatsapp' | 'teams' | 'skip'
-> {
+async function askChannelChoice(): Promise<ChannelChoice> {
+  const isMac = process.platform === 'darwin';
   const choice = ensureAnswer(
-    await brightSelect({
+    await brightSelect<ChannelChoice>({
       message: 'Want to chat with your assistant from your phone?',
       options: [
         { value: 'telegram', label: 'Yes, connect Telegram', hint: 'recommended' },
         { value: 'discord', label: 'Yes, connect Discord' },
         { value: 'whatsapp', label: 'Yes, connect WhatsApp' },
+        {
+          value: 'signal',
+          label: 'Yes, connect Signal',
+          hint: 'needs signal-cli installed',
+        },
+        {
+          value: 'imessage',
+          label: 'Yes, connect iMessage (experimental)',
+          hint: isMac ? 'local macOS mode' : 'remote Photon only',
+        },
+        {
+          value: 'slack',
+          label: 'Yes, connect Slack (experimental)',
+          hint: 'needs public URL',
+        },
         { value: 'teams', label: 'Yes, connect Microsoft Teams', hint: 'complex setup' },
         { value: 'skip', label: 'Skip for now', hint: "I'll just use the terminal" },
       ],
@@ -824,7 +863,7 @@ async function askChannelChoice(): Promise<
   );
   setupLog.userInput('channel_choice', String(choice));
   phEmit('channel_chosen', { channel: String(choice) });
-  return choice as 'telegram' | 'discord' | 'whatsapp' | 'teams' | 'skip';
+  return choice;
 }
 
 // ─── interactive / env helpers ─────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/setup/channels/imessage.ts b/setup/channels/imessage.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d8b129fa8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup/channels/imessage.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,314 @@
+/**
+ * iMessage channel flow for setup:auto.
+ *
+ * `runIMessageChannel(displayName)` covers both deployment modes:
+ *
+ *   Local (macOS): the bot runs on this Mac and talks via the signed-in
+ *   iMessage account. Reading chat.db needs Full Disk Access granted to
+ *   the Node binary — we open the directory for them so they can drag
+ *   the `node` file into System Settings.
+ *
+ *   Remote (Photon API): the bot talks to a separate server (Photon)
+ *   that owns an iMessage account on another Mac. Used when this host
+ *   is Linux, or when the operator wants to keep their daily-driver
+ *   Mac's chat history out of the loop.
+ *
+ * Flow:
+ *   1. Pick mode (auto-defaults to local on macOS, remote elsewhere)
+ *   2. Local: FDA walkthrough (open node bin directory, wait for ack)
+ *      Remote: prompt for Photon server URL + API key
+ *   3. Ask for the phone or email the operator messages from — this is
+ *      the platform-id for first-agent wiring
+ *   4. Install the adapter (setup/add-imessage.sh, non-interactive)
+ *   5. Wire the agent via scripts/init-first-agent.ts — the welcome
+ *      iMessage goes out through the normal delivery path
+ *
+ * All output obeys the three-level contract. See docs/setup-flow.md.
+ */
+import { execSync } from 'child_process';
+import os from 'os';
+import path from 'path';
+
+import * as p from '@clack/prompts';
+import k from 'kleur';
+
+import * as setupLog from '../logs.js';
+import { brightSelect } from '../lib/bright-select.js';
+import { askOperatorRole } from '../lib/role-prompt.js';
+import { ensureAnswer, fail, runQuietChild } from '../lib/runner.js';
+import { wrapForGutter } from '../lib/theme.js';
+
+const DEFAULT_AGENT_NAME = 'Nano';
+
+type Mode = 'local' | 'remote';
+
+interface RemoteCreds {
+  serverUrl: string;
+  apiKey: string;
+}
+
+export async function runIMessageChannel(displayName: string): Promise<void> {
+  const isMac = os.platform() === 'darwin';
+
+  const mode = await askMode(isMac);
+  let remoteCreds: RemoteCreds | null = null;
+
+  if (mode === 'local') {
+    if (!isMac) {
+      await fail(
+        'imessage',
+        "Local iMessage mode only works on macOS.",
+        'Choose remote mode (Photon API) on Linux/WSL, or run setup from your Mac.',
+      );
+    }
+    await walkThroughFullDiskAccess();
+  } else {
+    remoteCreds = await collectRemoteCreds();
+  }
+
+  const handle = await askOperatorHandle();
+
+  const install = await runQuietChild(
+    'imessage-install',
+    'bash',
+    ['setup/add-imessage.sh'],
+    {
+      running:
+        mode === 'local'
+          ? "Connecting the iMessage adapter to this Mac…"
+          : `Connecting the iMessage adapter to ${remoteCreds!.serverUrl}…`,
+      done: 'iMessage adapter installed.',
+    },
+    {
+      env:
+        mode === 'local'
+          ? { IMESSAGE_LOCAL: 'true', IMESSAGE_ENABLED: 'true' }
+          : {
+              IMESSAGE_LOCAL: 'false',
+              IMESSAGE_SERVER_URL: remoteCreds!.serverUrl,
+              IMESSAGE_API_KEY: remoteCreds!.apiKey,
+            },
+      extraFields: { MODE: mode },
+    },
+  );
+  if (!install.ok) {
+    await fail(
+      'imessage-install',
+      "Couldn't install the iMessage adapter.",
+      'See logs/setup-steps/ for details, then retry setup.',
+    );
+  }
+
+  const role = await askOperatorRole('iMessage');
+  setupLog.userInput('imessage_role', role);
+
+  const agentName = await resolveAgentName();
+
+  const init = await runQuietChild(
+    'init-first-agent',
+    'pnpm',
+    [
+      'exec', 'tsx', 'scripts/init-first-agent.ts',
+      '--channel', 'imessage',
+      '--user-id', handle,
+      '--platform-id', handle,
+      '--display-name', displayName,
+      '--agent-name', agentName,
+      '--role', role,
+    ],
+    {
+      running: `Connecting ${agentName} to iMessage…`,
+      done: `${agentName} is ready. Check iMessage for a welcome message.`,
+    },
+    {
+      extraFields: {
+        CHANNEL: 'imessage',
+        AGENT_NAME: agentName,
+        PLATFORM_ID: handle,
+        MODE: mode,
+      },
+    },
+  );
+  if (!init.ok) {
+    await fail(
+      'init-first-agent',
+      `Couldn't finish connecting ${agentName}.`,
+      'Double-check Full Disk Access (local mode) or Photon credentials (remote), then retry.',
+    );
+  }
+}
+
+async function askMode(isMac: boolean): Promise<Mode> {
+  const choice = ensureAnswer(
+    await brightSelect<Mode>({
+      message: 'How should iMessage run?',
+      initialValue: isMac ? 'local' : 'remote',
+      options: isMac
+        ? [
+            {
+              value: 'local',
+              label: 'Local (this Mac)',
+              hint: "uses this machine's iMessage account",
+            },
+            {
+              value: 'remote',
+              label: 'Remote (Photon API)',
+              hint: 'the bot lives on another server',
+            },
+          ]
+        : [
+            {
+              value: 'remote',
+              label: 'Remote (Photon API)',
+              hint: 'only option off macOS',
+            },
+          ],
+    }),
+  );
+  setupLog.userInput('imessage_mode', String(choice));
+  return choice;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Grant Full Disk Access to the Node binary the host runs under — without
+ * it, the adapter can't read chat.db and inbound messages never arrive.
+ * Opening the containing directory in Finder makes the drag-and-drop
+ * target obvious; falling back to printing the path keeps us working in
+ * SSH/headless contexts where `open` is a no-op.
+ */
+async function walkThroughFullDiskAccess(): Promise<void> {
+  let nodePath = process.execPath;
+  try {
+    // `which node` picks up the user's shell-resolved node, which may differ
+    // from process.execPath (e.g. they launched setup under a different
+    // Node via `nvm`). If it succeeds and is resolvable, prefer it.
+    const which = execSync('which node', { encoding: 'utf-8' }).trim();
+    if (which) nodePath = which;
+  } catch {
+    // fall back to process.execPath
+  }
+  const nodeDir = path.dirname(nodePath);
+
+  p.note(
+    wrapForGutter(
+      [
+        `iMessage needs Full Disk Access granted to the Node binary:`,
+        '',
+        `  ${nodePath}`,
+        '',
+        '  1. System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access',
+        `  2. Click +, then drag the "node" file from the Finder window`,
+        '     we just opened for you',
+        '  3. Toggle it on, then come back here',
+      ].join('\n'),
+      6,
+    ),
+    'Grant Full Disk Access',
+  );
+
+  try {
+    execSync(`open "${nodeDir}"`, { stdio: 'ignore' });
+  } catch {
+    // No Finder (SSH/headless) — user sees the path in the note above.
+  }
+
+  ensureAnswer(
+    await p.confirm({
+      message: "Granted Full Disk Access?",
+      initialValue: true,
+    }),
+  );
+  setupLog.userInput('imessage_fda_confirmed', 'true');
+}
+
+async function collectRemoteCreds(): Promise<RemoteCreds> {
+  p.note(
+    [
+      "Photon is a separate service that owns an iMessage account and",
+      "exposes it over HTTP. NanoClaw will talk to it via its API.",
+      '',
+      '  1. Set up a Photon server: https://photon.im',
+      '  2. Copy the server URL and API key from your Photon dashboard',
+    ].join('\n'),
+    'Remote iMessage via Photon',
+  );
+
+  const urlAnswer = ensureAnswer(
+    await p.text({
+      message: 'Photon server URL',
+      placeholder: 'https://photon.example.com',
+      validate: (v) => {
+        const t = (v ?? '').trim();
+        if (!t) return 'URL is required';
+        if (!/^https?:\/\//i.test(t)) return 'Must start with http:// or https://';
+        return undefined;
+      },
+    }),
+  );
+  const serverUrl = (urlAnswer as string).trim();
+
+  const keyAnswer = ensureAnswer(
+    await p.password({
+      message: 'Photon API key',
+      validate: (v) => ((v ?? '').trim() ? undefined : 'API key is required'),
+    }),
+  );
+  const apiKey = (keyAnswer as string).trim();
+
+  setupLog.userInput('imessage_server_url', serverUrl);
+  setupLog.userInput(
+    'imessage_api_key',
+    `${apiKey.slice(0, 4)}…${apiKey.slice(-4)}`,
+  );
+  return { serverUrl, apiKey };
+}
+
+async function askOperatorHandle(): Promise<string> {
+  p.note(
+    [
+      "What phone number or email do you iMessage with?",
+      "That's where your assistant will send its welcome message.",
+      '',
+      k.dim('  • Phone: full E.164, e.g. +15551234567'),
+      k.dim('  • Email: whatever iMessage recognises (Apple ID, iCloud alias, …)'),
+    ].join('\n'),
+    'Your iMessage handle',
+  );
+
+  const answer = ensureAnswer(
+    await p.text({
+      message: 'Phone number or email',
+      validate: (v) => {
+        const t = (v ?? '').trim();
+        if (!t) return 'Required';
+        const isPhone = /^\+\d{8,15}$/.test(t);
+        const isEmail = /^[^\s@]+@[^\s@]+\.[^\s@]+$/.test(t);
+        if (!isPhone && !isEmail) {
+          return "Use a +E.164 phone number or an email address";
+        }
+        return undefined;
+      },
+    }),
+  );
+  const handle = (answer as string).trim();
+  setupLog.userInput('imessage_handle', handle);
+  return handle;
+}
+
+async function resolveAgentName(): Promise<string> {
+  const preset = process.env.NANOCLAW_AGENT_NAME?.trim();
+  if (preset) {
+    setupLog.userInput('agent_name', preset);
+    return preset;
+  }
+  const answer = ensureAnswer(
+    await p.text({
+      message: 'What should your assistant be called?',
+      placeholder: DEFAULT_AGENT_NAME,
+      defaultValue: DEFAULT_AGENT_NAME,
+    }),
+  );
+  const value = (answer as string).trim() || DEFAULT_AGENT_NAME;
+  setupLog.userInput('agent_name', value);
+  return value;
+}
diff --git a/setup/channels/signal.ts b/setup/channels/signal.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9e54cb971
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup/channels/signal.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,357 @@
+/**
+ * Signal channel flow for setup:auto.
+ *
+ * `runSignalChannel(displayName)` owns the full branch from signal-cli
+ * presence check through the welcome DM:
+ *
+ *   1. Probe signal-cli on PATH (or SIGNAL_CLI_PATH). On macOS without it,
+ *      offer `brew install signal-cli` inline. On Linux, surface the
+ *      GitHub releases URL and bail with an actionable error.
+ *   2. Install the adapter + qrcode via setup/add-signal.sh (idempotent).
+ *   3. Run the signal-auth step, rendering each SIGNAL_AUTH_QR block as
+ *      a terminal QR the operator scans from Signal → Linked Devices.
+ *   4. Persist SIGNAL_ACCOUNT to .env (+ data/env/env).
+ *   5. Kick the service so the adapter picks up the new credentials.
+ *   6. Ask operator role + agent name.
+ *   7. Wire the agent via scripts/init-first-agent.ts; the existing welcome
+ *      DM path delivers the greeting through the adapter.
+ *
+ * Signal's `link` flow creates a *secondary* device. The phone number
+ * comes from the primary (the phone that scanned the QR); this host then
+ * sends/receives as that primary number. No registration of new numbers.
+ *
+ * Output obeys the three-level contract: clack UI for the user, structured
+ * entries in logs/setup.log, full raw output in per-step files under
+ * logs/setup-steps/. See docs/setup-flow.md.
+ */
+import { spawnSync } from 'child_process';
+import fs from 'fs';
+import path from 'path';
+
+import * as p from '@clack/prompts';
+import k from 'kleur';
+
+import * as setupLog from '../logs.js';
+import { getLaunchdLabel, getSystemdUnit } from '../../src/install-slug.js';
+import {
+  type Block,
+  type StepResult,
+  dumpTranscriptOnFailure,
+  ensureAnswer,
+  fail,
+  runQuietChild,
+  spawnStep,
+  writeStepEntry,
+} from '../lib/runner.js';
+import { askOperatorRole } from '../lib/role-prompt.js';
+
+const DEFAULT_AGENT_NAME = 'Nano';
+
+export async function runSignalChannel(displayName: string): Promise<void> {
+  await ensureSignalCli();
+
+  const install = await runQuietChild(
+    'signal-install',
+    'bash',
+    ['setup/add-signal.sh'],
+    {
+      running: 'Installing the Signal adapter…',
+      done: 'Signal adapter installed.',
+      skipped: 'Signal adapter already installed.',
+    },
+  );
+  if (!install.ok) {
+    await fail(
+      'signal-install',
+      "Couldn't install the Signal adapter.",
+      'See logs/setup-steps/ for details, then retry setup.',
+    );
+  }
+
+  const auth = await runSignalAuth();
+  if (!auth.ok) {
+    const reason = auth.terminal?.fields.ERROR ?? 'unknown';
+    await fail(
+      'signal-auth',
+      `Signal link failed (${reason}).`,
+      reason === 'qr_timeout'
+        ? 'The code expired. Re-run setup to get a fresh one.'
+        : 'Re-run setup to try again.',
+    );
+  }
+
+  const account = auth.terminal?.fields.ACCOUNT;
+  if (!account) {
+    await fail(
+      'signal-auth',
+      'Linked with Signal but couldn\'t read the phone number back.',
+      'Run `signal-cli listAccounts` to confirm, then re-run setup.',
+    );
+  }
+
+  writeSignalAccount(account!);
+  await restartService();
+
+  const role = await askOperatorRole('Signal');
+  setupLog.userInput('signal_role', role);
+
+  const agentName = await resolveAgentName();
+
+  const init = await runQuietChild(
+    'init-first-agent',
+    'pnpm',
+    [
+      'exec', 'tsx', 'scripts/init-first-agent.ts',
+      '--channel', 'signal',
+      '--user-id', account!,
+      '--platform-id', account!,
+      '--display-name', displayName,
+      '--agent-name', agentName,
+      '--role', role,
+    ],
+    {
+      running: `Connecting ${agentName} to Signal…`,
+      done: `${agentName} is ready. Check Signal for a welcome message.`,
+    },
+    {
+      extraFields: {
+        CHANNEL: 'signal',
+        AGENT_NAME: agentName,
+        PLATFORM_ID: account!,
+        ROLE: role,
+      },
+    },
+  );
+  if (!init.ok) {
+    await fail(
+      'init-first-agent',
+      `Couldn't finish connecting ${agentName}.`,
+      'You can retry later with `/manage-channels`.',
+    );
+  }
+}
+
+async function ensureSignalCli(): Promise<void> {
+  const cli = process.env.SIGNAL_CLI_PATH || 'signal-cli';
+  const probe = spawnSync(cli, ['--version'], {
+    stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
+  });
+  if (!probe.error && probe.status === 0) return;
+
+  if (process.platform === 'darwin') {
+    p.note(
+      [
+        "NanoClaw talks to Signal through signal-cli, which isn't installed yet.",
+        '',
+        'The quickest way on macOS is Homebrew:',
+        '',
+        k.cyan('  brew install signal-cli'),
+        '',
+        "Install it in another terminal, then re-run setup.",
+      ].join('\n'),
+      'signal-cli not found',
+    );
+  } else {
+    p.note(
+      [
+        "NanoClaw talks to Signal through signal-cli, which isn't installed yet.",
+        '',
+        'Grab the latest release from GitHub:',
+        '',
+        k.cyan('  https://github.com/AsamK/signal-cli/releases'),
+        '',
+        "Install it, make sure `signal-cli --version` works, then re-run setup.",
+      ].join('\n'),
+      'signal-cli not found',
+    );
+  }
+  await fail(
+    'signal-install',
+    'signal-cli is required but not installed.',
+    'Install it and re-run setup.',
+  );
+}
+
+async function runSignalAuth(): Promise<
+  StepResult & { rawLog: string; durationMs: number }
+> {
+  const rawLog = setupLog.stepRawLog('signal-auth');
+  const start = Date.now();
+  const s = p.spinner();
+  s.start('Starting Signal link…');
+  let spinnerActive = true;
+
+  const stopSpinner = (msg: string, code?: number): void => {
+    if (spinnerActive) {
+      s.stop(msg, code);
+      spinnerActive = false;
+    }
+  };
+
+  // Tracks how many lines the QR block occupies so we can wipe it in-place
+  // once linking succeeds (Signal's link URL doesn't rotate like WhatsApp's,
+  // but we still want to erase the QR from screen once it's served).
+  let qrLinesPrinted = 0;
+
+  const result = await spawnStep(
+    'signal-auth',
+    [],
+    (block: Block) => {
+      if (block.type === 'SIGNAL_AUTH_QR') {
+        const qr = block.fields.QR ?? '';
+        if (!qr) return;
+        void renderQr(qr).then((lines) => {
+          stopSpinner('Scan this QR from Signal → Settings → Linked Devices.');
+          process.stdout.write(lines.join('\n') + '\n');
+          qrLinesPrinted = lines.length;
+          s.start('Waiting for you to scan…');
+          spinnerActive = true;
+        });
+      } else if (block.type === 'SIGNAL_AUTH') {
+        const status = block.fields.STATUS;
+        // Wipe the QR block regardless of outcome — it's either scanned
+        // and useless, or expired and misleading.
+        if (qrLinesPrinted > 0) {
+          process.stdout.write(`\x1b[${qrLinesPrinted}A\x1b[0J`);
+          qrLinesPrinted = 0;
+        }
+        const account = block.fields.ACCOUNT;
+        if (status === 'skipped') {
+          stopSpinner(
+            account
+              ? `Signal already linked as ${k.cyan(account)}.`
+              : 'Signal already linked.',
+          );
+        } else if (status === 'success') {
+          stopSpinner(`Signal linked as ${k.cyan(String(account ?? ''))}.`);
+        } else if (status === 'failed') {
+          const err = block.fields.ERROR ?? 'unknown';
+          stopSpinner(`Signal link failed: ${err}`, 1);
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    rawLog,
+  );
+  const durationMs = Date.now() - start;
+
+  if (spinnerActive) {
+    stopSpinner(
+      result.ok ? 'Done.' : 'Signal link ended unexpectedly.',
+      result.ok ? 0 : 1,
+    );
+    if (!result.ok) dumpTranscriptOnFailure(result.transcript);
+  }
+
+  writeStepEntry('signal-auth', result, durationMs, rawLog);
+  return { ...result, rawLog, durationMs };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Render the raw linking URL as a block-art QR, returned line-by-line so
+ * the caller can count lines for in-place cleanup. Uses small-mode so the
+ * code stays scannable on 24-row terminals. If qrcode isn't installed
+ * (add-signal.sh should have handled it, but we're defensive), fall back
+ * to the raw URL and ask the user to paste it into an external renderer.
+ */
+async function renderQr(url: string): Promise<string[]> {
+  try {
+    const QRCode = await import('qrcode');
+    const qrText = await QRCode.toString(url, { type: 'terminal', small: true });
+    const caption = k.dim(
+      '   Signal → Settings → Linked Devices → Link New Device → scan.',
+    );
+    return [...qrText.trimEnd().split('\n'), '', caption];
+  } catch {
+    return [
+      'Linking URL (render at https://qr.io or similar):',
+      '',
+      url,
+      '',
+      k.dim('Signal → Settings → Linked Devices → Link New Device → scan.'),
+    ];
+  }
+}
+
+/** Persist SIGNAL_ACCOUNT to .env and mirror to data/env/env for the container. */
+function writeSignalAccount(account: string): void {
+  const envPath = path.join(process.cwd(), '.env');
+  let contents = '';
+  try {
+    contents = fs.readFileSync(envPath, 'utf-8');
+  } catch {
+    contents = '';
+  }
+  if (/^SIGNAL_ACCOUNT=/m.test(contents)) {
+    contents = contents.replace(
+      /^SIGNAL_ACCOUNT=.*$/m,
+      `SIGNAL_ACCOUNT=${account}`,
+    );
+  } else {
+    if (contents.length > 0 && !contents.endsWith('\n')) contents += '\n';
+    contents += `SIGNAL_ACCOUNT=${account}\n`;
+  }
+  fs.writeFileSync(envPath, contents);
+
+  const containerEnvDir = path.join(process.cwd(), 'data', 'env');
+  fs.mkdirSync(containerEnvDir, { recursive: true });
+  fs.copyFileSync(envPath, path.join(containerEnvDir, 'env'));
+
+  setupLog.userInput('signal_account', account);
+}
+
+async function restartService(): Promise<void> {
+  const s = p.spinner();
+  s.start('Restarting NanoClaw so it sees your Signal account…');
+  const start = Date.now();
+  const platform = process.platform;
+  try {
+    if (platform === 'darwin') {
+      spawnSync(
+        'launchctl',
+        ['kickstart', '-k', `gui/${process.getuid?.() ?? 501}/${getLaunchdLabel()}`],
+        { stdio: 'ignore' },
+      );
+    } else if (platform === 'linux') {
+      const unit = getSystemdUnit();
+      const user = spawnSync('systemctl', ['--user', 'restart', unit], {
+        stdio: 'ignore',
+      });
+      if (user.status !== 0) {
+        spawnSync('sudo', ['systemctl', 'restart', unit], { stdio: 'ignore' });
+      }
+    }
+    // Give the adapter a moment to connect to signal-cli before
+    // init-first-agent's welcome DM hits the delivery path.
+    await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 5000));
+    const elapsed = Math.round((Date.now() - start) / 1000);
+    s.stop(`NanoClaw restarted. ${k.dim(`(${elapsed}s)`)}`);
+    setupLog.step('signal-restart', 'success', Date.now() - start, {
+      PLATFORM: platform,
+    });
+  } catch (err) {
+    const message = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+    s.stop(`Restart may have failed: ${message}`, 1);
+    setupLog.step('signal-restart', 'failed', Date.now() - start, {
+      ERROR: message,
+    });
+    // Non-fatal — the user can restart manually if init-first-agent fails.
+  }
+}
+
+async function resolveAgentName(): Promise<string> {
+  const preset = process.env.NANOCLAW_AGENT_NAME?.trim();
+  if (preset) {
+    setupLog.userInput('agent_name', preset);
+    return preset;
+  }
+  const answer = ensureAnswer(
+    await p.text({
+      message: 'What should your assistant be called?',
+      placeholder: DEFAULT_AGENT_NAME,
+      defaultValue: DEFAULT_AGENT_NAME,
+    }),
+  );
+  const value = (answer as string).trim() || DEFAULT_AGENT_NAME;
+  setupLog.userInput('agent_name', value);
+  return value;
+}
diff --git a/setup/channels/slack.ts b/setup/channels/slack.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f66c29afb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup/channels/slack.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,249 @@
+/**
+ * Slack channel flow for setup:auto.
+ *
+ * `runSlackChannel(displayName)` walks the operator from a bare Slack
+ * workspace through a running bot, then stops before wiring an agent:
+ *
+ *   1. Walk through creating a Slack app (api.slack.com/apps) — scopes,
+ *      event subscriptions, and signing secret
+ *   2. Paste the bot token + signing secret (clack password prompts)
+ *   3. Validate via auth.test → resolves workspace + bot identity
+ *   4. Install the adapter (setup/add-slack.sh, non-interactive)
+ *   5. Print the post-install checklist: set the public webhook URL in
+ *      Slack's Event Subscriptions, DM the bot to bootstrap the channel,
+ *      then `/manage-channels` to wire an agent.
+ *
+ * Why no welcome DM here: unlike Discord/Telegram (gateway / long-poll),
+ * Slack needs a public Event Subscriptions URL for inbound events, and
+ * opening an unsolicited DM would need `im:write` scope we don't force
+ * the SKILL.md to require. Shipping a honest "here's what's left" note
+ * is better than a welcome DM the user won't receive until they
+ * configure the webhook anyway.
+ *
+ * All output obeys the three-level contract. See docs/setup-flow.md.
+ */
+import * as p from '@clack/prompts';
+import k from 'kleur';
+
+import * as setupLog from '../logs.js';
+import { confirmThenOpen } from '../lib/browser.js';
+import { ensureAnswer, fail, runQuietChild } from '../lib/runner.js';
+import { wrapForGutter } from '../lib/theme.js';
+
+const SLACK_API = 'https://slack.com/api';
+const SLACK_APPS_URL = 'https://api.slack.com/apps';
+
+interface WorkspaceInfo {
+  teamName: string;
+  teamId: string;
+  botName: string;
+  botUserId: string;
+}
+
+// displayName is reserved for when we start wiring the first agent here.
+// Kept to match the `run<X>Channel(displayName)` signature every other
+// channel driver uses, so auto.ts can dispatch without a branch.
+export async function runSlackChannel(_displayName: string): Promise<void> {
+  await walkThroughAppCreation();
+
+  const token = await collectBotToken();
+  const signingSecret = await collectSigningSecret();
+  const info = await validateSlackToken(token);
+
+  const install = await runQuietChild(
+    'slack-install',
+    'bash',
+    ['setup/add-slack.sh'],
+    {
+      running: `Connecting Slack to @${info.botName} (${info.teamName})…`,
+      done: 'Slack adapter installed.',
+    },
+    {
+      env: {
+        SLACK_BOT_TOKEN: token,
+        SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET: signingSecret,
+      },
+      extraFields: {
+        BOT_NAME: info.botName,
+        TEAM_NAME: info.teamName,
+        TEAM_ID: info.teamId,
+      },
+    },
+  );
+  if (!install.ok) {
+    await fail(
+      'slack-install',
+      "Couldn't connect Slack.",
+      'See logs/setup-steps/ for details, then retry setup.',
+    );
+  }
+
+  showPostInstallChecklist(info);
+}
+
+async function walkThroughAppCreation(): Promise<void> {
+  p.note(
+    [
+      "You'll create a Slack app that the assistant talks through.",
+      "Free and stays inside the workspaces you pick.",
+      '',
+      '  1. Create a new app "From scratch", name it, pick a workspace',
+      '  2. OAuth & Permissions → add Bot Token Scopes:',
+      '     chat:write, channels:history, groups:history, im:history,',
+      '     channels:read, groups:read, users:read, reactions:write',
+      '  3. App Home → enable "Messages Tab" and "Allow users to send',
+      '     slash commands and messages from the messages tab"',
+      '  4. Basic Information → copy the "Signing Secret"',
+      '  5. Install to Workspace → copy the "Bot User OAuth Token" (xoxb-…)',
+      '',
+      k.dim(SLACK_APPS_URL),
+    ].join('\n'),
+    'Create a Slack app',
+  );
+  await confirmThenOpen(SLACK_APPS_URL, 'Press Enter to open Slack app settings');
+
+  ensureAnswer(
+    await p.confirm({
+      message: 'Got your bot token and signing secret?',
+      initialValue: true,
+    }),
+  );
+}
+
+async function collectBotToken(): Promise<string> {
+  const answer = ensureAnswer(
+    await p.password({
+      message: 'Paste your Slack bot token',
+      validate: (v) => {
+        const t = (v ?? '').trim();
+        if (!t) return 'Token is required';
+        if (!t.startsWith('xoxb-')) return 'Bot tokens start with xoxb-';
+        if (t.length < 24) return "That's shorter than a real Slack bot token";
+        return undefined;
+      },
+    }),
+  );
+  const token = (answer as string).trim();
+  setupLog.userInput(
+    'slack_bot_token',
+    `${token.slice(0, 10)}…${token.slice(-4)}`,
+  );
+  return token;
+}
+
+async function collectSigningSecret(): Promise<string> {
+  const answer = ensureAnswer(
+    await p.password({
+      message: 'Paste your Slack signing secret',
+      validate: (v) => {
+        const t = (v ?? '').trim();
+        if (!t) return 'Signing secret is required';
+        // Slack signing secrets are 32-char hex strings, but newer apps
+        // sometimes emit longer variants — leniently require hex only.
+        if (!/^[a-f0-9]{16,}$/i.test(t)) {
+          return 'Signing secrets are a string of hex characters';
+        }
+        return undefined;
+      },
+    }),
+  );
+  const secret = (answer as string).trim();
+  setupLog.userInput(
+    'slack_signing_secret',
+    `${secret.slice(0, 4)}…${secret.slice(-4)}`,
+  );
+  return secret;
+}
+
+async function validateSlackToken(token: string): Promise<WorkspaceInfo> {
+  const s = p.spinner();
+  const start = Date.now();
+  s.start('Checking your bot token…');
+  try {
+    const res = await fetch(`${SLACK_API}/auth.test`, {
+      method: 'POST',
+      headers: {
+        Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
+        'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded',
+      },
+    });
+    const data = (await res.json()) as {
+      ok?: boolean;
+      team?: string;
+      team_id?: string;
+      user?: string;
+      user_id?: string;
+      error?: string;
+    };
+    const elapsedS = Math.round((Date.now() - start) / 1000);
+    if (data.ok && data.team && data.user) {
+      s.stop(
+        `Connected to ${data.team} as @${data.user}. ${k.dim(`(${elapsedS}s)`)}`,
+      );
+      const info: WorkspaceInfo = {
+        teamName: data.team,
+        teamId: data.team_id ?? '',
+        botName: data.user,
+        botUserId: data.user_id ?? '',
+      };
+      setupLog.step('slack-validate', 'success', Date.now() - start, {
+        BOT_NAME: info.botName,
+        BOT_USER_ID: info.botUserId,
+        TEAM_NAME: info.teamName,
+        TEAM_ID: info.teamId,
+      });
+      return info;
+    }
+    const reason = data.error ?? `HTTP ${res.status}`;
+    s.stop(`Slack didn't accept that token: ${reason}`, 1);
+    setupLog.step('slack-validate', 'failed', Date.now() - start, {
+      ERROR: reason,
+    });
+    await fail(
+      'slack-validate',
+      "Slack didn't accept that token.",
+      reason === 'invalid_auth' || reason === 'token_revoked'
+        ? 'Copy the token again from OAuth & Permissions and retry setup.'
+        : `Slack said "${reason}". Check the token scopes and workspace install, then retry.`,
+    );
+  } catch (err) {
+    const elapsedS = Math.round((Date.now() - start) / 1000);
+    s.stop(`Couldn't reach Slack. ${k.dim(`(${elapsedS}s)`)}`, 1);
+    const message = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+    setupLog.step('slack-validate', 'failed', Date.now() - start, {
+      ERROR: message,
+    });
+    await fail(
+      'slack-validate',
+      "Couldn't reach Slack.",
+      'Check your internet connection and retry setup.',
+    );
+  }
+}
+
+function showPostInstallChecklist(info: WorkspaceInfo): void {
+  p.note(
+    wrapForGutter(
+      [
+        `The Slack adapter is installed and your creds are saved. ${info.teamName} still needs two things before it can talk to you:`,
+        '',
+        '  1. A public URL so Slack can deliver events.',
+        '     NanoClaw serves a webhook on port 3000 by default — expose it',
+        '     via ngrok, Cloudflare Tunnel, or a reverse proxy on a VPS.',
+        '',
+        '  2. In your Slack app → Event Subscriptions:',
+        '     • Toggle "Enable Events" on',
+        `     • Request URL: https://<your-public-host>/webhook/slack`,
+        '     • Subscribe to bot events: message.channels, message.groups,',
+        '       message.im, app_mention',
+        '     • Save, then reinstall the app when Slack prompts',
+        '',
+        `  3. DM @${info.botName} from Slack once — that bootstraps the`,
+        '     messaging group. Then run `/manage-channels` in `claude` to',
+        '     wire an agent to it.',
+      ].join('\n'),
+      6,
+    ),
+    'Finish setting up Slack',
+  );
+}
diff --git a/setup/environment.test.ts b/setup/environment.test.ts
index deda62f1f..7765693b6 100644
--- a/setup/environment.test.ts
+++ b/setup/environment.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
-import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach } from 'vitest';
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
 import fs from 'fs';
+import os from 'os';
+import path from 'path';
 
 import Database from 'better-sqlite3';
 
@@ -17,58 +19,63 @@ describe('environment detection', () => {
   });
 });
 
-describe('registered groups DB query', () => {
-  let db: Database.Database;
+describe('detectRegisteredGroups', () => {
+  let tempDir: string;
 
   beforeEach(() => {
-    db = new Database(':memory:');
-    db.exec(`CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS registered_groups (
-      jid TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
-      name TEXT NOT NULL,
-      folder TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE,
-      trigger_pattern TEXT NOT NULL,
-      added_at TEXT NOT NULL,
-      container_config TEXT,
-      requires_trigger INTEGER DEFAULT 1
-    )`);
+    tempDir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'nanoclaw-env-test-'));
+    fs.mkdirSync(path.join(tempDir, 'data'), { recursive: true });
   });
 
-  it('returns 0 for empty table', () => {
-    const row = db
-      .prepare('SELECT COUNT(*) as count FROM registered_groups')
-      .get() as { count: number };
-    expect(row.count).toBe(0);
+  afterEach(() => {
+    fs.rmSync(tempDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
   });
 
-  it('returns correct count after inserts', () => {
-    db.prepare(
-      `INSERT INTO registered_groups (jid, name, folder, trigger_pattern, added_at, requires_trigger)
-       VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)`,
-    ).run(
-      '123@g.us',
-      'Group 1',
-      'group-1',
-      '@Andy',
-      '2024-01-01T00:00:00.000Z',
-      1,
-    );
+  it('returns false when no registration state exists', async () => {
+    const { detectRegisteredGroups } = await import('./environment.js');
+    expect(detectRegisteredGroups(tempDir)).toBe(false);
+  });
 
-    db.prepare(
-      `INSERT INTO registered_groups (jid, name, folder, trigger_pattern, added_at, requires_trigger)
-       VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)`,
-    ).run(
-      '456@g.us',
-      'Group 2',
-      'group-2',
-      '@Andy',
-      '2024-01-01T00:00:00.000Z',
-      1,
-    );
+  it('detects pre-migration registered_groups.json', async () => {
+    const { detectRegisteredGroups } = await import('./environment.js');
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(tempDir, 'data', 'registered_groups.json'), '[]');
+    expect(detectRegisteredGroups(tempDir)).toBe(true);
+  });
 
-    const row = db
-      .prepare('SELECT COUNT(*) as count FROM registered_groups')
-      .get() as { count: number };
-    expect(row.count).toBe(2);
+  it('returns false for an empty v2 central DB', async () => {
+    const { detectRegisteredGroups } = await import('./environment.js');
+    const db = new Database(path.join(tempDir, 'data', 'v2.db'));
+    db.exec(`
+      CREATE TABLE agent_groups (id TEXT PRIMARY KEY);
+      CREATE TABLE messaging_group_agents (
+        id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
+        messaging_group_id TEXT NOT NULL,
+        agent_group_id TEXT NOT NULL
+      );
+    `);
+    db.close();
+
+    expect(detectRegisteredGroups(tempDir)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('detects wired agent groups in the v2 central DB', async () => {
+    const { detectRegisteredGroups } = await import('./environment.js');
+    const db = new Database(path.join(tempDir, 'data', 'v2.db'));
+    db.exec(`
+      CREATE TABLE agent_groups (id TEXT PRIMARY KEY);
+      CREATE TABLE messaging_group_agents (
+        id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
+        messaging_group_id TEXT NOT NULL,
+        agent_group_id TEXT NOT NULL
+      );
+    `);
+    db.prepare('INSERT INTO agent_groups (id) VALUES (?)').run('ag-1');
+    db.prepare(
+      'INSERT INTO messaging_group_agents (id, messaging_group_id, agent_group_id) VALUES (?, ?, ?)',
+    ).run('mga-1', 'mg-1', 'ag-1');
+    db.close();
+
+    expect(detectRegisteredGroups(tempDir)).toBe(true);
   });
 });
 
diff --git a/setup/environment.ts b/setup/environment.ts
index 4a8366503..6986396d7 100644
--- a/setup/environment.ts
+++ b/setup/environment.ts
@@ -7,11 +7,35 @@ import path from 'path';
 
 import Database from 'better-sqlite3';
 
-import { STORE_DIR } from '../src/config.js';
 import { log } from '../src/log.js';
 import { commandExists, getPlatform, isHeadless, isWSL } from './platform.js';
 import { emitStatus } from './status.js';
 
+export function detectRegisteredGroups(projectRoot: string): boolean {
+  if (fs.existsSync(path.join(projectRoot, 'data', 'registered_groups.json'))) {
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  const dbPath = path.join(projectRoot, 'data', 'v2.db');
+  if (!fs.existsSync(dbPath)) return false;
+
+  let db: Database.Database | null = null;
+  try {
+    db = new Database(dbPath, { readonly: true });
+    const row = db
+      .prepare(
+        `SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT ag.id) as count FROM agent_groups ag
+         JOIN messaging_group_agents mga ON mga.agent_group_id = ag.id`,
+      )
+      .get() as { count: number };
+    return row.count > 0;
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  } finally {
+    db?.close();
+  }
+}
+
 export async function run(_args: string[]): Promise<void> {
   const projectRoot = process.cwd();
 
@@ -39,26 +63,7 @@ export async function run(_args: string[]): Promise<void> {
   const authDir = path.join(projectRoot, 'store', 'auth');
   const hasAuth = fs.existsSync(authDir) && fs.readdirSync(authDir).length > 0;
 
-  let hasRegisteredGroups = false;
-  // Check JSON file first (pre-migration)
-  if (fs.existsSync(path.join(projectRoot, 'data', 'registered_groups.json'))) {
-    hasRegisteredGroups = true;
-  } else {
-    // Check SQLite directly using better-sqlite3 (no sqlite3 CLI needed)
-    const dbPath = path.join(STORE_DIR, 'messages.db');
-    if (fs.existsSync(dbPath)) {
-      try {
-        const db = new Database(dbPath, { readonly: true });
-        const row = db
-          .prepare('SELECT COUNT(*) as count FROM registered_groups')
-          .get() as { count: number };
-        if (row.count > 0) hasRegisteredGroups = true;
-        db.close();
-      } catch {
-        // Table might not exist yet
-      }
-    }
-  }
+  const hasRegisteredGroups = detectRegisteredGroups(projectRoot);
 
   // Check for existing OpenClaw installation
   const homedir = (await import('os')).homedir();
diff --git a/setup/index.ts b/setup/index.ts
index 25d1934c3..200b9e221 100644
--- a/setup/index.ts
+++ b/setup/index.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ const STEPS: Record<
   register: () => import('./register.js'),
   groups: () => import('./groups.js'),
   'whatsapp-auth': () => import('./whatsapp-auth.js'),
+  'signal-auth': () => import('./signal-auth.js'),
   mounts: () => import('./mounts.js'),
   service: () => import('./service.js'),
   verify: () => import('./verify.js'),
diff --git a/setup/lib/claude-assist.ts b/setup/lib/claude-assist.ts
index c2b03677a..1651a9c12 100644
--- a/setup/lib/claude-assist.ts
+++ b/setup/lib/claude-assist.ts
@@ -64,6 +64,10 @@ const STEP_FILES: Record<string, string[]> = {
   'telegram-validate': ['setup/channels/telegram.ts'],
   'pair-telegram': ['setup/pair-telegram.ts', 'setup/channels/telegram.ts'],
   'discord-install': ['setup/add-discord.sh', 'setup/channels/discord.ts'],
+  'slack-install': ['setup/add-slack.sh', 'setup/channels/slack.ts'],
+  'slack-validate': ['setup/channels/slack.ts'],
+  'imessage-install': ['setup/add-imessage.sh', 'setup/channels/imessage.ts'],
+  'imessage': ['setup/channels/imessage.ts'],
   'teams-install': ['setup/add-teams.sh', 'setup/channels/teams.ts'],
   'teams-manifest': ['setup/lib/teams-manifest.ts', 'setup/channels/teams.ts'],
   'init-first-agent': [
diff --git a/setup/peer-cleanup.ts b/setup/peer-cleanup.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..10b22b992
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup/peer-cleanup.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,186 @@
+/**
+ * Detect and clean up unhealthy NanoClaw peer services.
+ *
+ * Runs as a setup preflight before we install our own service. A crash-looping
+ * peer install (typically the legacy v1 `com.nanoclaw` plist) silently trashes
+ * this install's containers on every respawn because its `cleanupOrphans()`
+ * reaps anything matching `nanoclaw-`. We scope our reaper by label now, but
+ * we still need to stop the peer from killing us on its way down.
+ *
+ * A peer is "unhealthy" when:
+ *   - launchd: `state != running` AND `runs > UNHEALTHY_RUNS_THRESHOLD`
+ *   - systemd: unit is in `failed` state, OR `activating` with many restarts
+ *
+ * Healthy peers are left alone — multiple installs can coexist fine now that
+ * container-reaper is label-scoped.
+ */
+import { execFileSync } from 'child_process';
+import fs from 'fs';
+import os from 'os';
+import path from 'path';
+
+import { getLaunchdLabel, getSystemdUnit } from '../src/install-slug.js';
+import { log } from '../src/log.js';
+
+const UNHEALTHY_RUNS_THRESHOLD = 10;
+
+export interface PeerStatus {
+  label: string;
+  configPath: string;
+  state: string;
+  runs: number;
+  unhealthy: boolean;
+}
+
+export interface PeerCleanupResult {
+  checked: PeerStatus[];
+  unloaded: PeerStatus[];
+  failures: Array<{ label: string; err: string }>;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Scan for peer NanoClaw services and unload any that are crash-looping.
+ * Returns a summary suitable for emitStatus / setup-log reporting.
+ */
+export function cleanupUnhealthyPeers(projectRoot: string = process.cwd()): PeerCleanupResult {
+  const platform = os.platform();
+  if (platform === 'darwin') {
+    return cleanupLaunchdPeers(projectRoot);
+  }
+  if (platform === 'linux') {
+    return cleanupSystemdPeers(projectRoot);
+  }
+  return { checked: [], unloaded: [], failures: [] };
+}
+
+// ---- launchd (macOS) --------------------------------------------------------
+
+function cleanupLaunchdPeers(projectRoot: string): PeerCleanupResult {
+  const ownLabel = getLaunchdLabel(projectRoot);
+  const agentsDir = path.join(os.homedir(), 'Library', 'LaunchAgents');
+  const result: PeerCleanupResult = { checked: [], unloaded: [], failures: [] };
+
+  let plists: string[];
+  try {
+    plists = fs
+      .readdirSync(agentsDir)
+      .filter((f) => /^com\.nanoclaw.*\.plist$/.test(f))
+      .map((f) => path.join(agentsDir, f));
+  } catch {
+    return result;
+  }
+
+  const uid = process.getuid?.() ?? 0;
+
+  for (const plistPath of plists) {
+    const label = path.basename(plistPath, '.plist');
+    if (label === ownLabel) continue;
+
+    const status = probeLaunchdPeer(label, plistPath, uid);
+    if (!status) continue;
+    result.checked.push(status);
+
+    if (!status.unhealthy) continue;
+
+    try {
+      execFileSync('launchctl', ['unload', plistPath], { stdio: 'pipe' });
+      log.info('Unloaded unhealthy peer launchd service', {
+        label,
+        state: status.state,
+        runs: status.runs,
+        plistPath,
+      });
+      result.unloaded.push(status);
+    } catch (err) {
+      const message = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+      log.warn('Failed to unload peer launchd service', { label, err: message });
+      result.failures.push({ label, err: message });
+    }
+  }
+
+  return result;
+}
+
+function probeLaunchdPeer(label: string, plistPath: string, uid: number): PeerStatus | null {
+  let output: string;
+  try {
+    output = execFileSync('launchctl', ['print', `gui/${uid}/${label}`], {
+      stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
+      encoding: 'utf-8',
+    });
+  } catch {
+    // Not loaded → not currently a threat. Skip silently.
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  const state = /^\s*state\s*=\s*(.+?)\s*$/m.exec(output)?.[1] ?? 'unknown';
+  const runsStr = /^\s*runs\s*=\s*(\d+)/m.exec(output)?.[1];
+  const runs = runsStr ? parseInt(runsStr, 10) : 0;
+
+  const unhealthy = state !== 'running' && runs > UNHEALTHY_RUNS_THRESHOLD;
+  return { label, configPath: plistPath, state, runs, unhealthy };
+}
+
+// ---- systemd (Linux) --------------------------------------------------------
+
+function cleanupSystemdPeers(projectRoot: string): PeerCleanupResult {
+  const ownUnit = getSystemdUnit(projectRoot);
+  const unitDir = path.join(os.homedir(), '.config', 'systemd', 'user');
+  const result: PeerCleanupResult = { checked: [], unloaded: [], failures: [] };
+
+  let units: string[];
+  try {
+    units = fs
+      .readdirSync(unitDir)
+      .filter((f) => /^nanoclaw.*\.service$/.test(f))
+      .map((f) => f.replace(/\.service$/, ''));
+  } catch {
+    return result;
+  }
+
+  for (const unit of units) {
+    if (unit === ownUnit) continue;
+
+    const status = probeSystemdPeer(unit);
+    if (!status) continue;
+    result.checked.push(status);
+
+    if (!status.unhealthy) continue;
+
+    try {
+      execFileSync('systemctl', ['--user', 'disable', '--now', `${unit}.service`], { stdio: 'pipe' });
+      log.info('Disabled unhealthy peer systemd unit', {
+        unit,
+        state: status.state,
+        runs: status.runs,
+      });
+      result.unloaded.push(status);
+    } catch (err) {
+      const message = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+      log.warn('Failed to disable peer systemd unit', { unit, err: message });
+      result.failures.push({ label: unit, err: message });
+    }
+  }
+
+  return result;
+}
+
+function probeSystemdPeer(unit: string): PeerStatus | null {
+  const unitPath = path.join(os.homedir(), '.config', 'systemd', 'user', `${unit}.service`);
+  try {
+    const output = execFileSync(
+      'systemctl',
+      ['--user', 'show', '--property=ActiveState,NRestarts', `${unit}.service`],
+      { stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'], encoding: 'utf-8' },
+    );
+    const activeState = /^ActiveState=(.+)$/m.exec(output)?.[1]?.trim() ?? 'unknown';
+    const restartsStr = /^NRestarts=(\d+)/m.exec(output)?.[1];
+    const runs = restartsStr ? parseInt(restartsStr, 10) : 0;
+
+    const unhealthy =
+      activeState === 'failed' || (activeState !== 'active' && runs > UNHEALTHY_RUNS_THRESHOLD);
+    return { label: unit, configPath: unitPath, state: activeState, runs, unhealthy };
+  } catch {
+    return null;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/setup/service.ts b/setup/service.ts
index 79304610f..777c0c5cb 100644
--- a/setup/service.ts
+++ b/setup/service.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import path from 'path';
 
 import { log } from '../src/log.js';
 import { getLaunchdLabel, getSystemdUnit } from '../src/install-slug.js';
+import { cleanupUnhealthyPeers } from './peer-cleanup.js';
 import {
   commandExists,
   getPlatform,
@@ -53,6 +54,19 @@ export async function run(_args: string[]): Promise<void> {
 
   fs.mkdirSync(path.join(projectRoot, 'logs'), { recursive: true });
 
+  // Peer preflight — a crash-looping peer install (most often the legacy v1
+  // `com.nanoclaw` plist) will keep trashing this install's containers on
+  // every respawn via its own cleanupOrphans. Detect and unload any peer
+  // that's unhealthy before we install our service. Healthy peers are left
+  // alone now that container reaping is install-label-scoped.
+  const peerReport = cleanupUnhealthyPeers(projectRoot);
+  if (peerReport.unloaded.length > 0) {
+    log.warn('Unloaded unhealthy peer NanoClaw services', {
+      count: peerReport.unloaded.length,
+      labels: peerReport.unloaded.map((p) => p.label),
+    });
+  }
+
   if (platform === 'macos') {
     setupLaunchd(projectRoot, nodePath, homeDir);
   } else if (platform === 'linux') {
diff --git a/setup/signal-auth.ts b/setup/signal-auth.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ce289db28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup/signal-auth.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,182 @@
+/**
+ * Step: signal-auth — link this host to an existing Signal account via
+ * signal-cli's QR-code flow.
+ *
+ * signal-cli `link` opens a bi-directional handshake with the Signal
+ * servers: it prints one line containing a linking URL (`sgnl://linkdevice?…`
+ * or older `tsdevice://linkdevice?…`), then blocks until either the user
+ * scans it from an existing Signal install, or the code expires. On
+ * success, a secondary account is created under the user's signal-cli
+ * data directory, associated with the phone number of the scanner.
+ *
+ * Methods:
+ *   (no args)                    Spawn signal-cli link, emit SIGNAL_AUTH_QR
+ *                                with the URL, wait for completion.
+ *
+ * Block schema (parent parses these):
+ *   SIGNAL_AUTH_QR       { QR: "<sgnl:// or tsdevice:// url>" }   — one-shot
+ *   SIGNAL_AUTH          { STATUS: success, ACCOUNT: +<digits> }  — terminal
+ *                        { STATUS: skipped, ACCOUNT, REASON: already-authenticated }
+ *                        { STATUS: failed, ERROR: <reason> }
+ *
+ * STATUS values match the runner's vocabulary (success/skipped/failed) so
+ * spawnStep recognises them and sets `ok` correctly; Signal-specific UI
+ * lives in setup/channels/signal.ts.
+ *
+ * If one or more accounts are already linked (discovered via
+ * `signal-cli -o json listAccounts`), the step emits SIGNAL_AUTH
+ * STATUS=skipped with the first account so the driver can reuse it.
+ * Selecting a different existing account is a driver concern.
+ */
+import { spawn, spawnSync } from 'child_process';
+
+import { emitStatus } from './status.js';
+
+const LINK_TIMEOUT_MS = 180_000;
+const DEFAULT_DEVICE_NAME = 'NanoClaw';
+
+interface SignalAccount {
+  account?: string;
+  registered?: boolean;
+}
+
+function cliPath(): string {
+  return process.env.SIGNAL_CLI_PATH || 'signal-cli';
+}
+
+/**
+ * Query signal-cli for currently linked accounts. Empty array if none
+ * configured, no binary, or the call fails for any other reason.
+ */
+function listAccounts(): string[] {
+  const cli = cliPath();
+  try {
+    const res = spawnSync(cli, ['-o', 'json', 'listAccounts'], {
+      encoding: 'utf-8',
+      stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
+    });
+    if (res.status !== 0) return [];
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(res.stdout || '[]') as SignalAccount[];
+    return parsed
+      .filter((a) => a.registered !== false)
+      .map((a) => a.account ?? '')
+      .filter(Boolean);
+  } catch {
+    return [];
+  }
+}
+
+export async function run(_args: string[]): Promise<void> {
+  const cli = cliPath();
+
+  // Verify signal-cli exists before we commit to the long-running link.
+  // The driver checks too, but this keeps the step honest when run alone.
+  const probe = spawnSync(cli, ['--version'], {
+    stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
+  });
+  if (probe.error || probe.status !== 0) {
+    emitStatus('SIGNAL_AUTH', {
+      STATUS: 'failed',
+      ERROR: 'signal-cli not found. Install signal-cli first.',
+    });
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const existing = listAccounts();
+  if (existing.length > 0) {
+    emitStatus('SIGNAL_AUTH', {
+      STATUS: 'skipped',
+      ACCOUNT: existing[0],
+      REASON: 'already-authenticated',
+    });
+    return;
+  }
+
+  await new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
+    let settled = false;
+    let qrEmitted = false;
+
+    const finish = (block: Record<string, string | number | boolean>, code: number): void => {
+      if (settled) return;
+      settled = true;
+      clearTimeout(timer);
+      emitStatus('SIGNAL_AUTH', block);
+      resolve();
+      setTimeout(() => process.exit(code), 500);
+    };
+
+    const timer = setTimeout(() => {
+      try {
+        child.kill('SIGTERM');
+      } catch {
+        /* ignore */
+      }
+      finish({ STATUS: 'failed', ERROR: 'qr_timeout' }, 1);
+    }, LINK_TIMEOUT_MS);
+
+    const child = spawn(cli, ['link', '--name', DEFAULT_DEVICE_NAME], {
+      stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
+    });
+
+    // stdout carries the URL on the first line; subsequent lines may print
+    // status like "Associated with: +1555…". We don't strictly need to parse
+    // the number — listAccounts after exit is the source of truth — but the
+    // URL match drives the QR emit, which is the whole point.
+    let stdoutBuf = '';
+    const handleStdout = (chunk: Buffer): void => {
+      stdoutBuf += chunk.toString('utf-8');
+      let idx: number;
+      while ((idx = stdoutBuf.indexOf('\n')) !== -1) {
+        const line = stdoutBuf.slice(0, idx).trim();
+        stdoutBuf = stdoutBuf.slice(idx + 1);
+        if (!line) continue;
+        // Match both modern (sgnl://) and legacy (tsdevice://) schemes.
+        if (/^(sgnl|tsdevice):\/\/linkdevice\?/.test(line) && !qrEmitted) {
+          qrEmitted = true;
+          emitStatus('SIGNAL_AUTH_QR', { QR: line });
+        }
+      }
+    };
+    child.stdout.on('data', handleStdout);
+
+    // Capture stderr for the transcript / log — signal-cli writes warnings
+    // and errors there. We don't emit on partial stderr lines since a
+    // successful link can still produce noise.
+    let stderrBuf = '';
+    child.stderr.on('data', (chunk: Buffer) => {
+      stderrBuf += chunk.toString('utf-8');
+    });
+
+    child.on('error', (err) => {
+      finish({ STATUS: 'failed', ERROR: `spawn error: ${err.message}` }, 1);
+    });
+
+    child.on('close', (code) => {
+      // After a successful link, signal-cli exits 0 and the newly linked
+      // account shows up in listAccounts. Use that as the source of truth
+      // rather than scraping stdout — more robust across signal-cli versions.
+      if (code === 0) {
+        const post = listAccounts();
+        if (post.length === 0) {
+          finish(
+            { STATUS: 'failed', ERROR: 'link exited 0 but no account registered' },
+            1,
+          );
+          return;
+        }
+        finish({ STATUS: 'success', ACCOUNT: post[0] }, 0);
+        return;
+      }
+
+      // Non-zero exit. Surface the last non-empty stderr line for context;
+      // signal-cli's own error messages are usually informative.
+      const lastErr =
+        stderrBuf
+          .split('\n')
+          .map((l) => l.trim())
+          .filter(Boolean)
+          .slice(-1)[0] ?? `signal-cli link exited with code ${code}`;
+      finish({ STATUS: 'failed', ERROR: lastErr }, 1);
+    });
+  });
+}
diff --git a/src/channels/adapter.ts b/src/channels/adapter.ts
index d8d8f9d7b..82247a116 100644
--- a/src/channels/adapter.ts
+++ b/src/channels/adapter.ts
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ export interface InboundEvent {
      * See InboundMessage.isMention for the full explanation.
      */
     isMention?: boolean;
+    /** True when the source is a group/channel thread, false for DMs. */
+    isGroup?: boolean;
   };
   replyTo?: DeliveryAddress;
 }
@@ -81,6 +83,8 @@ export interface InboundMessage {
    * router falls back to text-match against agent_group_name.
    */
   isMention?: boolean;
+  /** True when the source is a group/channel thread, false for DMs. */
+  isGroup?: boolean;
 }
 
 /** A file attachment to deliver alongside a message. */
diff --git a/src/channels/chat-sdk-bridge.ts b/src/channels/chat-sdk-bridge.ts
index 5c120e074..c8cf3cc41 100644
--- a/src/channels/chat-sdk-bridge.ts
+++ b/src/channels/chat-sdk-bridge.ts
@@ -81,6 +81,26 @@ export interface ChatSdkBridgeConfig {
  * chunk boundary will render as two independent blocks on the receiving
  * platform, which is the same behavior as manually re-opening a fence.
  */
+/**
+ * Decode the actual option value from a button callback. Buttons are encoded
+ * with an integer index (to keep under Telegram's 64-byte callback_data cap),
+ * and the real value is looked up via `getAskQuestionRender(questionId)`.
+ * Falls back to treating the tail as a literal value so old in-flight cards
+ * (encoded before this shortening landed) still resolve.
+ */
+function resolveSelectedOption(
+  render: { options: NormalizedOption[] } | undefined,
+  eventValue: string | undefined,
+  tail: string | undefined,
+): string {
+  const candidate = eventValue ?? tail ?? '';
+  if (render && /^\d+$/.test(candidate)) {
+    const idx = Number(candidate);
+    if (render.options[idx]) return render.options[idx].value;
+  }
+  return candidate;
+}
+
 export function splitForLimit(text: string, limit: number): string[] {
   if (text.length <= limit) return [text];
   const chunks: string[] = [];
@@ -105,7 +125,7 @@ export function createChatSdkBridge(config: ChatSdkBridgeConfig): ChannelAdapter
   let setupConfig: ChannelSetup;
   let gatewayAbort: AbortController | null = null;
 
-  async function messageToInbound(message: ChatMessage, isMention: boolean): Promise<InboundMessage> {
+  async function messageToInbound(message: ChatMessage, isMention: boolean, isGroup?: boolean): Promise<InboundMessage> {
     // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
     const serialized = message.toJSON() as Record<string, any>;
 
@@ -162,6 +182,7 @@ export function createChatSdkBridge(config: ChatSdkBridgeConfig): ChannelAdapter
       content: serialized,
       timestamp: message.metadata.dateSent.toISOString(),
       isMention,
+      isGroup,
     };
   }
 
@@ -195,13 +216,13 @@ export function createChatSdkBridge(config: ChatSdkBridgeConfig): ChannelAdapter
       // wirings still fire on in-thread mentions.
       chat.onSubscribedMessage(async (thread, message) => {
         const channelId = adapter.channelIdFromThreadId(thread.id);
-        await setupConfig.onInbound(channelId, thread.id, await messageToInbound(message, message.isMention === true));
+        await setupConfig.onInbound(channelId, thread.id, await messageToInbound(message, message.isMention === true, true));
       });
 
       // @mention in an unsubscribed thread — SDK-confirmed bot mention.
       chat.onNewMention(async (thread, message) => {
         const channelId = adapter.channelIdFromThreadId(thread.id);
-        await setupConfig.onInbound(channelId, thread.id, await messageToInbound(message, true));
+        await setupConfig.onInbound(channelId, thread.id, await messageToInbound(message, true, true));
       });
 
       // DMs — by definition addressed to the bot. Thread id flows through
@@ -216,7 +237,7 @@ export function createChatSdkBridge(config: ChatSdkBridgeConfig): ChannelAdapter
           sender: (message.author as any)?.fullName ?? (message.author as any)?.userId ?? 'unknown',
           threadId: thread.id,
         });
-        await setupConfig.onInbound(channelId, thread.id, await messageToInbound(message, true));
+        await setupConfig.onInbound(channelId, thread.id, await messageToInbound(message, true, false));
       });
 
       // Plain messages in unsubscribed threads.
@@ -231,7 +252,7 @@ export function createChatSdkBridge(config: ChatSdkBridgeConfig): ChannelAdapter
       // flood gate.
       chat.onNewMessage(/./, async (thread, message) => {
         const channelId = adapter.channelIdFromThreadId(thread.id);
-        await setupConfig.onInbound(channelId, thread.id, await messageToInbound(message, false));
+        await setupConfig.onInbound(channelId, thread.id, await messageToInbound(message, false, true));
       });
 
       // Handle button clicks (ask_user_question)
@@ -240,11 +261,15 @@ export function createChatSdkBridge(config: ChatSdkBridgeConfig): ChannelAdapter
         const parts = event.actionId.split(':');
         if (parts.length < 3) return;
         const questionId = parts[1];
-        const selectedOption = event.value || '';
+        const tail = parts.slice(2).join(':');
         const userId = event.user?.userId || '';
 
         // Resolve render metadata BEFORE dispatching onAction (which deletes the row).
         const render = getAskQuestionRender(questionId);
+        // New format: button id/value is an integer index into options (kept
+        // short to fit Telegram's 64-byte callback_data cap). Old format:
+        // the full value is embedded in actionId/value directly.
+        const selectedOption = resolveSelectedOption(render, event.value, tail);
         const title = render?.title ?? '❓ Question';
         const matched = render?.options.find((o) => o.value === selectedOption);
         const selectedLabel = matched?.selectedLabel ?? selectedOption ?? '(clicked)';
@@ -348,8 +373,13 @@ export function createChatSdkBridge(config: ChatSdkBridgeConfig): ChannelAdapter
           children: [
             CardText(question),
             Actions(
-              options.map((opt) =>
-                Button({ id: `ncq:${questionId}:${opt.value}`, label: opt.label, value: opt.value }),
+              // Encode button id/value with the option index rather than the
+              // full value. Telegram caps callback_data at 64 bytes, and
+              // long values (e.g. ISO datetimes, URLs) push the JSON payload
+              // well past that. The onAction handlers resolve the index back
+              // to the real value via getAskQuestionRender(questionId).
+              options.map((opt, idx) =>
+                Button({ id: `ncq:${questionId}:${idx}`, label: opt.label, value: String(idx) }),
               ),
             ),
           ],
@@ -501,18 +531,21 @@ async function handleForwardedEvent(
     // type 3 = MessageComponent (button/select)
     if (interaction.type === 3) {
       const customId = (interaction.data as Record<string, unknown>)?.custom_id as string;
-      const user = (interaction.member as Record<string, unknown>)?.user as Record<string, string> | undefined;
+      // In guilds the clicker is at interaction.member.user; in DMs it's interaction.user directly.
+      const user =
+        ((interaction.member as Record<string, unknown>)?.user as Record<string, string> | undefined) ??
+        (interaction.user as Record<string, string> | undefined);
       const interactionId = interaction.id as string;
       const interactionToken = interaction.token as string;
 
       // Parse the selected option from custom_id
       let questionId: string | undefined;
-      let selectedOption: string | undefined;
+      let tail: string | undefined;
       if (customId?.startsWith('ncq:')) {
         const colonIdx = customId.indexOf(':', 4); // after "ncq:"
         if (colonIdx !== -1) {
           questionId = customId.slice(4, colonIdx);
-          selectedOption = customId.slice(colonIdx + 1);
+          tail = customId.slice(colonIdx + 1);
         }
       }
 
@@ -521,6 +554,9 @@ async function handleForwardedEvent(
         ((interaction.message as Record<string, unknown>)?.embeds as Array<Record<string, unknown>>) || [];
       const originalDescription = (originalEmbeds[0]?.description as string) || '';
       const render = questionId ? getAskQuestionRender(questionId) : undefined;
+      // Discord custom_id mirrors the new index-based encoding (see Button
+      // construction). Decode back to the real option value for downstream.
+      const selectedOption = resolveSelectedOption(render, tail, tail);
       const cardTitle = render?.title ?? ((originalEmbeds[0]?.title as string) || '❓ Question');
       const matchedOpt = render?.options.find((o) => o.value === selectedOption);
       const selectedLabel = matchedOpt?.selectedLabel ?? selectedOption ?? customId;
diff --git a/src/config.ts b/src/config.ts
index 79a1ce9df..a82d4f5c9 100644
--- a/src/config.ts
+++ b/src/config.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import os from 'os';
 import path from 'path';
 
 import { readEnvFile } from './env.js';
-import { getContainerImageBase, getDefaultContainerImage } from './install-slug.js';
+import { getContainerImageBase, getDefaultContainerImage, getInstallSlug } from './install-slug.js';
 import { isValidTimezone } from './timezone.js';
 
 // Read config values from .env (falls back to process.env).
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ export const DATA_DIR = path.resolve(PROJECT_ROOT, 'data');
 // `nanoclaw-agent:latest` and clobber each other on rebuild.
 export const CONTAINER_IMAGE_BASE = process.env.CONTAINER_IMAGE_BASE || getContainerImageBase(PROJECT_ROOT);
 export const CONTAINER_IMAGE = process.env.CONTAINER_IMAGE || getDefaultContainerImage(PROJECT_ROOT);
+// Install slug — stamped onto every spawned container via --label so
+// cleanupOrphans only reaps containers from this install, not peers.
+export const INSTALL_SLUG = getInstallSlug(PROJECT_ROOT);
+export const CONTAINER_INSTALL_LABEL = `nanoclaw-install=${INSTALL_SLUG}`;
 export const CONTAINER_TIMEOUT = parseInt(process.env.CONTAINER_TIMEOUT || '1800000', 10);
 export const CONTAINER_MAX_OUTPUT_SIZE = parseInt(process.env.CONTAINER_MAX_OUTPUT_SIZE || '10485760', 10); // 10MB default
 export const ONECLI_URL = process.env.ONECLI_URL || envConfig.ONECLI_URL;
diff --git a/src/container-runner.test.ts b/src/container-runner.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cd18a7289
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/container-runner.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+
+import { resolveProviderName } from './container-runner.js';
+
+describe('resolveProviderName', () => {
+  it('prefers session over group and container.json', () => {
+    expect(resolveProviderName('codex', 'opencode', 'claude')).toBe('codex');
+  });
+
+  it('falls back to group when session is null', () => {
+    expect(resolveProviderName(null, 'codex', 'claude')).toBe('codex');
+  });
+
+  it('falls back to container.json when session and group are null', () => {
+    expect(resolveProviderName(null, null, 'opencode')).toBe('opencode');
+  });
+
+  it('defaults to claude when nothing is set', () => {
+    expect(resolveProviderName(null, null, undefined)).toBe('claude');
+  });
+
+  it('lowercases the resolved name', () => {
+    expect(resolveProviderName('CODEX', null, null)).toBe('codex');
+    expect(resolveProviderName(null, 'OpenCode', null)).toBe('opencode');
+    expect(resolveProviderName(null, null, 'Claude')).toBe('claude');
+  });
+
+  it('treats empty string as unset (falls through)', () => {
+    expect(resolveProviderName('', 'codex', null)).toBe('codex');
+    expect(resolveProviderName(null, '', 'opencode')).toBe('opencode');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/container-runner.ts b/src/container-runner.ts
index 646b11811..029b5fe3d 100644
--- a/src/container-runner.ts
+++ b/src/container-runner.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { OneCLI } from '@onecli-sh/sdk';
 import {
   CONTAINER_IMAGE,
   CONTAINER_IMAGE_BASE,
+  CONTAINER_INSTALL_LABEL,
   DATA_DIR,
   GROUPS_DIR,
   ONECLI_API_KEY,
@@ -35,7 +36,13 @@ import {
   type ProviderContainerContribution,
   type VolumeMount,
 } from './providers/provider-container-registry.js';
-import { markContainerRunning, markContainerStopped, sessionDir, writeSessionRouting } from './session-manager.js';
+import {
+  heartbeatPath,
+  markContainerRunning,
+  markContainerStopped,
+  sessionDir,
+  writeSessionRouting,
+} from './session-manager.js';
 import type { AgentGroup, Session } from './types.js';
 
 const onecli = new OneCLI({ url: ONECLI_URL, apiKey: ONECLI_API_KEY });
@@ -130,6 +137,12 @@ async function spawnContainer(session: Session): Promise<void> {
 
   log.info('Spawning container', { sessionId: session.id, agentGroup: agentGroup.name, containerName });
 
+  // Clear any orphan heartbeat from a previous container instance — the
+  // sweep's ceiling check treats a missing file as "fresh spawn, give grace"
+  // (host-sweep.ts line 87). Without this, the stale mtime can trigger an
+  // immediate kill before the new container touches the file itself.
+  fs.rmSync(heartbeatPath(agentGroup.id, session.id), { force: true });
+
   const container = spawn(CONTAINER_RUNTIME_BIN, args, { stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'] });
 
   activeContainers.set(session.id, { process: container, containerName });
@@ -178,12 +191,31 @@ export function killContainer(sessionId: string, reason: string): void {
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Resolve the provider name for a session using the precedence documented in
+ * the provider-install skills:
+ *
+ *   sessions.agent_provider
+ *     → agent_groups.agent_provider
+ *     → container.json `provider`
+ *     → 'claude'
+ *
+ * Pure so the precedence can be unit-tested without a DB or filesystem.
+ */
+export function resolveProviderName(
+  sessionProvider: string | null | undefined,
+  agentGroupProvider: string | null | undefined,
+  containerConfigProvider: string | null | undefined,
+): string {
+  return (sessionProvider || agentGroupProvider || containerConfigProvider || 'claude').toLowerCase();
+}
+
 function resolveProviderContribution(
   session: Session,
   agentGroup: AgentGroup,
   containerConfig: import('./container-config.js').ContainerConfig,
 ): { provider: string; contribution: ProviderContainerContribution } {
-  const provider = (containerConfig.provider || 'claude').toLowerCase();
+  const provider = resolveProviderName(session.agent_provider, agentGroup.agent_provider, containerConfig.provider);
   const fn = getProviderContainerConfig(provider);
   const contribution = fn
     ? fn({
@@ -389,7 +421,7 @@ async function buildContainerArgs(
   providerContribution: ProviderContainerContribution,
   agentIdentifier?: string,
 ): Promise<string[]> {
-  const args: string[] = ['run', '--rm', '--name', containerName];
+  const args: string[] = ['run', '--rm', '--name', containerName, '--label', CONTAINER_INSTALL_LABEL];
 
   // Environment — only vars read by code we don't own.
   // Everything NanoClaw-specific is in container.json (read by runner at startup).
diff --git a/src/container-runtime.test.ts b/src/container-runtime.test.ts
index 47d97448e..f6f6e8a82 100644
--- a/src/container-runtime.test.ts
+++ b/src/container-runtime.test.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import {
   ensureContainerRuntimeRunning,
   cleanupOrphans,
 } from './container-runtime.js';
+import { CONTAINER_INSTALL_LABEL } from './config.js';
 import { log } from './log.js';
 
 beforeEach(() => {
@@ -84,6 +85,17 @@ describe('ensureContainerRuntimeRunning', () => {
 // --- cleanupOrphans ---
 
 describe('cleanupOrphans', () => {
+  it('filters ps by the install label so peers are not reaped', () => {
+    mockExecSync.mockReturnValueOnce('');
+
+    cleanupOrphans();
+
+    expect(mockExecSync).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      `${CONTAINER_RUNTIME_BIN} ps --filter label=${CONTAINER_INSTALL_LABEL} --format '{{.Names}}'`,
+      expect.any(Object),
+    );
+  });
+
   it('stops orphaned nanoclaw containers', () => {
     // docker ps returns container names, one per line
     mockExecSync.mockReturnValueOnce('nanoclaw-group1-111\nnanoclaw-group2-222\n');
diff --git a/src/container-runtime.ts b/src/container-runtime.ts
index 5e684269a..82ddb5eca 100644
--- a/src/container-runtime.ts
+++ b/src/container-runtime.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import { execSync } from 'child_process';
 import os from 'os';
 
+import { CONTAINER_INSTALL_LABEL } from './config.js';
 import { log } from './log.js';
 
 /** The container runtime binary name. */
@@ -56,13 +57,22 @@ export function ensureContainerRuntimeRunning(): void {
   }
 }
 
-/** Kill orphaned NanoClaw containers from previous runs. */
+/**
+ * Kill orphaned NanoClaw containers from THIS install's previous runs.
+ *
+ * Scoped by label `nanoclaw-install=<slug>` so a crash-looping peer install
+ * cannot reap our containers, and we cannot reap theirs. The label is
+ * stamped onto every container at spawn time — see container-runner.ts.
+ */
 export function cleanupOrphans(): void {
   try {
-    const output = execSync(`${CONTAINER_RUNTIME_BIN} ps --filter name=nanoclaw- --format '{{.Names}}'`, {
-      stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
-      encoding: 'utf-8',
-    });
+    const output = execSync(
+      `${CONTAINER_RUNTIME_BIN} ps --filter label=${CONTAINER_INSTALL_LABEL} --format '{{.Names}}'`,
+      {
+        stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
+        encoding: 'utf-8',
+      },
+    );
     const orphans = output.trim().split('\n').filter(Boolean);
     for (const name of orphans) {
       try {
diff --git a/src/db/migrations/013-approval-render-metadata.ts b/src/db/migrations/013-approval-render-metadata.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3a1af2828
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/db/migrations/013-approval-render-metadata.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/**
+ * Persist ask_question render metadata (title + options_json) on
+ * `pending_channel_approvals` and `pending_sender_approvals`, mirroring the
+ * columns migration 003 / module-approvals-title-options added to
+ * `pending_approvals`.
+ *
+ * Before this, `getAskQuestionRender` hardcoded the title + option labels
+ * for these two tables in the DB-access layer — duplicating wording that
+ * also lived in the approval modules and causing a visible drift between
+ * the initial card title ("📣 Bot mentioned in new chat" / "💬 New direct
+ * message", chosen per event) and the post-click render ("📣 Channel
+ * registration", constant). Storing the render metadata alongside the row
+ * lets both sides read from the same source.
+ */
+import type Database from 'better-sqlite3';
+import type { Migration } from './index.js';
+
+export const migration013: Migration = {
+  version: 13,
+  name: 'approval-render-metadata',
+  up(db: Database.Database) {
+    db.exec(`ALTER TABLE pending_channel_approvals ADD COLUMN title TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT ''`);
+    db.exec(`ALTER TABLE pending_channel_approvals ADD COLUMN options_json TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT '[]'`);
+    db.exec(`ALTER TABLE pending_sender_approvals ADD COLUMN title TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT ''`);
+    db.exec(`ALTER TABLE pending_sender_approvals ADD COLUMN options_json TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT '[]'`);
+  },
+};
diff --git a/src/db/migrations/index.ts b/src/db/migrations/index.ts
index 33e6963a9..b46e6787c 100644
--- a/src/db/migrations/index.ts
+++ b/src/db/migrations/index.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { migration009 } from './009-drop-pending-credentials.js';
 import { migration010 } from './010-engage-modes.js';
 import { migration011 } from './011-pending-sender-approvals.js';
 import { migration012 } from './012-channel-registration.js';
+import { migration013 } from './013-approval-render-metadata.js';
 import { moduleApprovalsPendingApprovals } from './module-approvals-pending-approvals.js';
 import { moduleApprovalsTitleOptions } from './module-approvals-title-options.js';
 
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ const migrations: Migration[] = [
   migration010,
   migration011,
   migration012,
+  migration013,
 ];
 
 export function runMigrations(db: Database.Database): void {
diff --git a/src/db/session-db.ts b/src/db/session-db.ts
index aea255d19..48e92970d 100644
--- a/src/db/session-db.ts
+++ b/src/db/session-db.ts
@@ -139,10 +139,10 @@ export function getMessageForRetry(
   db: Database.Database,
   messageId: string,
   status: string,
-): { id: string; tries: number } | undefined {
-  return db.prepare('SELECT id, tries FROM messages_in WHERE id = ? AND status = ?').get(messageId, status) as
-    | { id: string; tries: number }
-    | undefined;
+): { id: string; tries: number; processAfter: string | null } | undefined {
+  return db
+    .prepare('SELECT id, tries, process_after as processAfter FROM messages_in WHERE id = ? AND status = ?')
+    .get(messageId, status) as { id: string; tries: number; processAfter: string | null } | undefined;
 }
 
 export function syncProcessingAcks(inDb: Database.Database, outDb: Database.Database): void {
diff --git a/src/db/sessions.ts b/src/db/sessions.ts
index bdca8a66e..504aa2660 100644
--- a/src/db/sessions.ts
+++ b/src/db/sessions.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import type { PendingApproval, PendingQuestion, Session } from '../types.js';
-import { getDb } from './connection.js';
+import { getDb, hasTable } from './connection.js';
 
 // ── Sessions ──
 
@@ -97,10 +97,16 @@ export function deleteSession(id: string): void {
 
 // ── Pending Questions ──
 
-export function createPendingQuestion(pq: PendingQuestion): void {
-  getDb()
+/**
+ * Insert a pending question row. Idempotent: when delivery fails and retries,
+ * the second attempt calls this with the same question_id — without `OR
+ * IGNORE` that would throw UNIQUE and prevent the retry from reaching the
+ * actual send step. Returns true if a new row was inserted.
+ */
+export function createPendingQuestion(pq: PendingQuestion): boolean {
+  const result = getDb()
     .prepare(
-      `INSERT INTO pending_questions (question_id, session_id, message_out_id, platform_id, channel_type, thread_id, title, options_json, created_at)
+      `INSERT OR IGNORE INTO pending_questions (question_id, session_id, message_out_id, platform_id, channel_type, thread_id, title, options_json, created_at)
        VALUES (@question_id, @session_id, @message_out_id, @platform_id, @channel_type, @thread_id, @title, @options_json, @created_at)`,
     )
     .run({
@@ -114,6 +120,7 @@ export function createPendingQuestion(pq: PendingQuestion): void {
       options_json: JSON.stringify(pq.options),
       created_at: pq.created_at,
     });
+  return result.changes > 0;
 }
 
 export function getPendingQuestion(questionId: string): PendingQuestion | undefined {
@@ -131,16 +138,21 @@ export function deletePendingQuestion(questionId: string): void {
 
 // ── Pending Approvals ──
 
+/**
+ * Insert a pending approval row. Idempotent for the same reason as
+ * createPendingQuestion: delivery retries with the same approval_id must not
+ * fail on UNIQUE before the send step gets a chance to succeed.
+ */
 export function createPendingApproval(
   pa: Partial<PendingApproval> &
     Pick<
       PendingApproval,
       'approval_id' | 'request_id' | 'action' | 'payload' | 'created_at' | 'title' | 'options_json'
     >,
-): void {
-  getDb()
+): boolean {
+  const result = getDb()
     .prepare(
-      `INSERT INTO pending_approvals
+      `INSERT OR IGNORE INTO pending_approvals
          (approval_id, session_id, request_id, action, payload, created_at,
           agent_group_id, channel_type, platform_id, platform_message_id, expires_at, status,
           title, options_json)
@@ -159,6 +171,7 @@ export function createPendingApproval(
       status: 'pending',
       ...pa,
     });
+  return result.changes > 0;
 }
 
 export function getPendingApproval(approvalId: string): PendingApproval | undefined {
@@ -192,6 +205,23 @@ export function getAskQuestionRender(
   const a = getDb().prepare('SELECT title, options_json FROM pending_approvals WHERE approval_id = ?').get(id) as
     | { title: string; options_json: string }
     | undefined;
-  if (!a || !a.title) return undefined;
-  return { title: a.title, options: JSON.parse(a.options_json) };
+  if (a?.title) return { title: a.title, options: JSON.parse(a.options_json) };
+
+  // Channel-registration + unknown-sender approvals persist title/options_json
+  // the same way pending_approvals does — just SELECT and return.
+  if (hasTable(getDb(), 'pending_channel_approvals')) {
+    const c = getDb()
+      .prepare('SELECT title, options_json FROM pending_channel_approvals WHERE messaging_group_id = ?')
+      .get(id) as { title: string; options_json: string } | undefined;
+    if (c?.title) return { title: c.title, options: JSON.parse(c.options_json) };
+  }
+
+  if (hasTable(getDb(), 'pending_sender_approvals')) {
+    const s = getDb().prepare('SELECT title, options_json FROM pending_sender_approvals WHERE id = ?').get(id) as
+      | { title: string; options_json: string }
+      | undefined;
+    if (s?.title) return { title: s.title, options: JSON.parse(s.options_json) };
+  }
+
+  return undefined;
 }
diff --git a/src/delivery.ts b/src/delivery.ts
index 2e193d4c2..036153a8b 100644
--- a/src/delivery.ts
+++ b/src/delivery.ts
@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@ async function deliverMessage(
         questionId: content.questionId,
       });
     } else {
-      createPendingQuestion({
+      const inserted = createPendingQuestion({
         question_id: content.questionId,
         session_id: session.id,
         message_out_id: msg.id,
@@ -332,7 +332,9 @@ async function deliverMessage(
         options: normalizeOptions(rawOptions as never),
         created_at: new Date().toISOString(),
       });
-      log.info('Pending question created', { questionId: content.questionId, sessionId: session.id });
+      if (inserted) {
+        log.info('Pending question created', { questionId: content.questionId, sessionId: session.id });
+      }
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/src/host-sweep.ts b/src/host-sweep.ts
index 1a2901ccc..4dc2fb70c 100644
--- a/src/host-sweep.ts
+++ b/src/host-sweep.ts
@@ -159,23 +159,31 @@ async function sweepSession(session: Session): Promise<void> {
       syncProcessingAcks(inDb, outDb);
     }
 
-    const alive = isContainerRunning(session.id);
-
-    // 2. Crashed-container cleanup: processing rows left behind get retried.
-    if (!alive && outDb) {
-      resetStuckProcessingRows(inDb, outDb, session, 'container not running');
+    // 2. Wake a container if work is due and nothing is running. Ordered
+    // before the crashed-container cleanup so a fresh container gets a chance
+    // to clean its own orphan processing_ack rows on startup (see
+    // container/agent-runner/src/db/connection.ts). Otherwise the reset path
+    // would keep bumping process_after into the future, dueCount would stay 0,
+    // and the wake would never fire.
+    const dueCount = countDueMessages(inDb);
+    if (dueCount > 0 && !isContainerRunning(session.id)) {
+      log.info('Waking container for due messages', { sessionId: session.id, count: dueCount });
+      await wakeContainer(session);
     }
 
+    const alive = isContainerRunning(session.id);
+
     // 3. Running-container SLA: absolute ceiling + per-claim stuck rules.
     if (alive && outDb) {
       enforceRunningContainerSla(inDb, outDb, session, agentGroup.id);
     }
 
-    // 4. Wake a container if new work is due and nothing is running.
-    const dueCount = countDueMessages(inDb);
-    if (dueCount > 0 && !isContainerRunning(session.id)) {
-      log.info('Waking container for due messages', { sessionId: session.id, count: dueCount });
-      await wakeContainer(session);
+    // 4. Crashed-container cleanup: processing rows left behind get retried.
+    // Only fires when wake in step 2 didn't pick up the work (no due messages,
+    // or wake failed). resetStuckProcessingRows itself is idempotent — it
+    // skips messages already scheduled for a future retry.
+    if (!alive && outDb) {
+      resetStuckProcessingRows(inDb, outDb, session, 'container not running');
     }
 
     // 5. Recurrence fanout for completed recurring tasks.
@@ -246,10 +254,16 @@ function resetStuckProcessingRows(
   reason: string,
 ): void {
   const claims = getProcessingClaims(outDb);
+  const now = Date.now();
   for (const { message_id } of claims) {
     const msg = getMessageForRetry(inDb, message_id, 'pending');
     if (!msg) continue;
 
+    // Already rescheduled for a future retry — don't bump tries again. The
+    // wake path (sweep step 2) will fire when process_after elapses and a
+    // fresh container will clean the orphan claim on startup.
+    if (msg.processAfter && Date.parse(msg.processAfter) > now) continue;
+
     if (msg.tries >= MAX_TRIES) {
       markMessageFailed(inDb, msg.id);
       log.warn('Message marked as failed after max retries', {
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index d3de4d981..ea9fba63c 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
             content: JSON.stringify(message.content),
             timestamp: message.timestamp,
             isMention: message.isMention,
+            isGroup: message.isGroup,
           },
         }).catch((err) => {
           log.error('Failed to route inbound message', { channelType: adapter.channelType, err });
diff --git a/src/modules/permissions/channel-approval.ts b/src/modules/permissions/channel-approval.ts
index caef81563..8ab41bc62 100644
--- a/src/modules/permissions/channel-approval.ts
+++ b/src/modules/permissions/channel-approval.ts
@@ -101,13 +101,26 @@ export async function requestChannelApproval(input: RequestChannelApprovalInput)
     return;
   }
 
-  const originName = originMg?.name ?? originMg?.platform_id ?? 'an unfamiliar chat';
-  const isGroup = originMg?.is_group === 1;
+  const isGroup = event.message?.isGroup ?? originMg?.is_group === 1;
+
+  // Extract sender name from the event content for a human-readable card.
+  let senderName: string | undefined;
+  try {
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(event.message.content) as Record<string, unknown>;
+    senderName = (parsed.senderName ?? parsed.sender) as string | undefined;
+  } catch {
+    // non-critical — fall through to generic wording
+  }
 
   const title = isGroup ? '📣 Bot mentioned in new chat' : '💬 New direct message';
   const question = isGroup
-    ? `Your agent was mentioned in ${originName} on ${originChannelType}. Wire it to ${target.name} and let it engage?`
-    : `Someone DM'd your agent on ${originChannelType} (${originName}). Wire it to ${target.name} and let it respond?`;
+    ? senderName
+      ? `${senderName} mentioned your agent in a ${originChannelType} channel. Wire it to ${target.name} and let it engage?`
+      : `Your agent was mentioned in a ${originChannelType} channel. Wire it to ${target.name} and let it engage?`
+    : senderName
+      ? `${senderName} DM'd your agent on ${originChannelType}. Wire it to ${target.name} and let it respond?`
+      : `Someone DM'd your agent on ${originChannelType}. Wire it to ${target.name} and let it respond?`;
+  const options = normalizeOptions(APPROVAL_OPTIONS);
 
   createPendingChannelApproval({
     messaging_group_id: messagingGroupId,
@@ -115,6 +128,8 @@ export async function requestChannelApproval(input: RequestChannelApprovalInput)
     original_message: JSON.stringify(event),
     approver_user_id: delivery.userId,
     created_at: new Date().toISOString(),
+    title,
+    options_json: JSON.stringify(options),
   });
 
   const adapter = getDeliveryAdapter();
@@ -139,7 +154,7 @@ export async function requestChannelApproval(input: RequestChannelApprovalInput)
         questionId: messagingGroupId,
         title,
         question,
-        options: normalizeOptions(APPROVAL_OPTIONS),
+        options,
       }),
     );
     log.info('Channel registration card delivered', {
diff --git a/src/modules/permissions/db/pending-channel-approvals.ts b/src/modules/permissions/db/pending-channel-approvals.ts
index d3e665ad2..d402074b7 100644
--- a/src/modules/permissions/db/pending-channel-approvals.ts
+++ b/src/modules/permissions/db/pending-channel-approvals.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ export interface PendingChannelApproval {
   original_message: string;
   approver_user_id: string;
   created_at: string;
+  /** Card title shown at creation and re-used by getAskQuestionRender on click. */
+  title: string;
+  /** Normalized options (JSON-encoded NormalizedOption[]) — same shape persisted on pending_approvals. */
+  options_json: string;
 }
 
 export function createPendingChannelApproval(row: PendingChannelApproval): void {
@@ -24,11 +28,11 @@ export function createPendingChannelApproval(row: PendingChannelApproval): void
     .prepare(
       `INSERT INTO pending_channel_approvals (
          messaging_group_id, agent_group_id, original_message,
-         approver_user_id, created_at
+         approver_user_id, created_at, title, options_json
        )
        VALUES (
          @messaging_group_id, @agent_group_id, @original_message,
-         @approver_user_id, @created_at
+         @approver_user_id, @created_at, @title, @options_json
        )`,
     )
     .run(row);
diff --git a/src/modules/permissions/db/pending-sender-approvals.ts b/src/modules/permissions/db/pending-sender-approvals.ts
index 77a5699af..4d32bf4fa 100644
--- a/src/modules/permissions/db/pending-sender-approvals.ts
+++ b/src/modules/permissions/db/pending-sender-approvals.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ export interface PendingSenderApproval {
   original_message: string;
   approver_user_id: string;
   created_at: string;
+  /** Card title shown at creation and re-used by getAskQuestionRender on click. */
+  title: string;
+  /** Normalized options (JSON-encoded NormalizedOption[]) — same shape persisted on pending_approvals. */
+  options_json: string;
 }
 
 export function createPendingSenderApproval(row: PendingSenderApproval): void {
@@ -26,11 +30,13 @@ export function createPendingSenderApproval(row: PendingSenderApproval): void {
     .prepare(
       `INSERT INTO pending_sender_approvals (
          id, messaging_group_id, agent_group_id, sender_identity,
-         sender_name, original_message, approver_user_id, created_at
+         sender_name, original_message, approver_user_id, created_at,
+         title, options_json
        )
        VALUES (
          @id, @messaging_group_id, @agent_group_id, @sender_identity,
-         @sender_name, @original_message, @approver_user_id, @created_at
+         @sender_name, @original_message, @approver_user_id, @created_at,
+         @title, @options_json
        )`,
     )
     .run(row);
diff --git a/src/modules/permissions/sender-approval.ts b/src/modules/permissions/sender-approval.ts
index e08123ac1..fb3e24e01 100644
--- a/src/modules/permissions/sender-approval.ts
+++ b/src/modules/permissions/sender-approval.ts
@@ -88,10 +88,11 @@ export async function requestSenderApproval(input: RequestSenderApprovalInput):
 
   const approvalId = generateId();
   const senderDisplay = senderName && senderName.length > 0 ? senderName : senderIdentity;
-  const originName = originMg?.name ?? originMg?.platform_id ?? 'an unfamiliar chat';
+  const originName = originMg?.name ?? `a ${originChannelType} channel`;
 
   const title = '👤 New sender';
   const question = `${senderDisplay} wants to talk to your agent in ${originName}. Allow?`;
+  const options = normalizeOptions(APPROVAL_OPTIONS);
 
   createPendingSenderApproval({
     id: approvalId,
@@ -102,6 +103,8 @@ export async function requestSenderApproval(input: RequestSenderApprovalInput):
     original_message: JSON.stringify(event),
     approver_user_id: target.userId,
     created_at: new Date().toISOString(),
+    title,
+    options_json: JSON.stringify(options),
   });
 
   const adapter = getDeliveryAdapter();
@@ -126,7 +129,7 @@ export async function requestSenderApproval(input: RequestSenderApprovalInput):
         questionId: approvalId,
         title,
         question,
-        options: APPROVAL_OPTIONS,
+        options,
       }),
     );
     log.info('Unknown-sender approval card delivered', {
diff --git a/src/router.ts b/src/router.ts
index 538c270a7..3cf0192df 100644
--- a/src/router.ts
+++ b/src/router.ts
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ export async function routeInbound(event: InboundEvent): Promise<void> {
       channel_type: event.channelType,
       platform_id: event.platformId,
       name: null,
-      is_group: 0,
+      is_group: event.message.isGroup ? 1 : 0,
       unknown_sender_policy: 'request_approval',
       denied_at: null,
       created_at: new Date().toISOString(),