diff --git a/src/agents/agent-scope.ts b/src/agents/agent-scope.ts
index 66b823de493..271a8488d4a 100644
--- a/src/agents/agent-scope.ts
+++ b/src/agents/agent-scope.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import {
 import {
   lowercasePreservingWhitespace,
   normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty,
+  normalizeOptionalString,
   readStringValue,
   resolvePrimaryStringValue,
 } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
@@ -216,7 +217,7 @@ export function resolveFallbackAgentId(params: {
   agentId?: string | null;
   sessionKey?: string | null;
 }): string {
-  const explicitAgentId = typeof params.agentId === "string" ? params.agentId.trim() : "";
+  const explicitAgentId = normalizeOptionalString(params.agentId) ?? "";
   if (explicitAgentId) {
     return normalizeAgentId(explicitAgentId);
   }
diff --git a/src/agents/bootstrap-budget.ts b/src/agents/bootstrap-budget.ts
index 060541925b3..997dc29ab97 100644
--- a/src/agents/bootstrap-budget.ts
+++ b/src/agents/bootstrap-budget.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import path from "node:path";
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import type { EmbeddedContextFile } from "./pi-embedded-helpers.js";
 import type { WorkspaceBootstrapFile } from "./workspace.js";
 
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ function normalizeSeenSignatures(signatures?: string[]): string[] {
   const seen = new Set<string>();
   const result: string[] = [];
   for (const signature of signatures) {
-    const value = typeof signature === "string" ? signature.trim() : "";
+    const value = normalizeOptionalString(signature) ?? "";
     if (!value || seen.has(value)) {
       continue;
     }
@@ -116,7 +117,7 @@ export function resolveBootstrapWarningSignaturesSeen(report?: {
   }
   const single =
     typeof truncation?.promptWarningSignature === "string"
-      ? truncation.promptWarningSignature.trim()
+      ? (normalizeOptionalString(truncation.promptWarningSignature) ?? "")
       : "";
   return single ? [single] : [];
 }
@@ -128,7 +129,7 @@ export function buildBootstrapInjectionStats(params: {
   const injectedByPath = new Map<string, string>();
   const injectedByBaseName = new Map<string, string>();
   for (const file of params.injectedFiles) {
-    const pathValue = typeof file.path === "string" ? file.path.trim() : "";
+    const pathValue = normalizeOptionalString(file.path) ?? "";
     if (!pathValue) {
       continue;
     }
@@ -142,7 +143,7 @@ export function buildBootstrapInjectionStats(params: {
     }
   }
   return params.bootstrapFiles.map((file) => {
-    const pathValue = typeof file.path === "string" ? file.path.trim() : "";
+    const pathValue = normalizeOptionalString(file.path) ?? "";
     const rawChars = file.missing ? 0 : (file.content ?? "").trimEnd().length;
     const injected =
       (pathValue ? injectedByPath.get(pathValue) : undefined) ??
diff --git a/src/agents/model-alias-lines.ts b/src/agents/model-alias-lines.ts
index d3361171881..af3118eb614 100644
--- a/src/agents/model-alias-lines.ts
+++ b/src/agents/model-alias-lines.ts
@@ -1,14 +1,17 @@
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/config.js";
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 
 export function buildModelAliasLines(cfg?: OpenClawConfig) {
   const models = cfg?.agents?.defaults?.models ?? {};
   const entries: Array<{ alias: string; model: string }> = [];
   for (const [keyRaw, entryRaw] of Object.entries(models)) {
-    const model = String(keyRaw ?? "").trim();
+    const model = normalizeOptionalString(String(keyRaw ?? "")) ?? "";
     if (!model) {
       continue;
     }
-    const alias = String((entryRaw as { alias?: string } | undefined)?.alias ?? "").trim();
+    const alias =
+      normalizeOptionalString(String((entryRaw as { alias?: string } | undefined)?.alias ?? "")) ??
+      "";
     if (!alias) {
       continue;
     }
diff --git a/src/agents/model-catalog.ts b/src/agents/model-catalog.ts
index 01615961900..dfeac293ad8 100644
--- a/src/agents/model-catalog.ts
+++ b/src/agents/model-catalog.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 import { type OpenClawConfig, loadConfig } from "../config/config.js";
 import { createSubsystemLogger } from "../logging/subsystem.js";
 import { augmentModelCatalogWithProviderPlugins } from "../plugins/provider-runtime.runtime.js";
-import { normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
+import {
+  normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty,
+  normalizeOptionalString,
+} from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { resolveOpenClawAgentDir } from "./agent-paths.js";
 import { ensureOpenClawModelsJson } from "./models-config.js";
 import { normalizeProviderId } from "./provider-id.js";
@@ -132,18 +135,18 @@ export async function loadModelCatalog(params?: {
       const entries = Array.isArray(registry) ? registry : registry.getAll();
       logStage("registry-read", `entries=${entries.length}`);
       for (const entry of entries) {
-        const id = String(entry?.id ?? "").trim();
+        const id = normalizeOptionalString(String(entry?.id ?? "")) ?? "";
         if (!id) {
           continue;
         }
-        const provider = String(entry?.provider ?? "").trim();
+        const provider = normalizeOptionalString(String(entry?.provider ?? "")) ?? "";
         if (!provider) {
           continue;
         }
         if (shouldSuppressBuiltInModel({ provider, id })) {
           continue;
         }
-        const name = String(entry?.name ?? id).trim() || id;
+        const name = normalizeOptionalString(String(entry?.name ?? id)) || id;
         const contextWindow =
           typeof entry?.contextWindow === "number" && entry.contextWindow > 0
             ? entry.contextWindow
diff --git a/src/agents/model-fallback.ts b/src/agents/model-fallback.ts
index 9c69700475f..0ea8d13fdc5 100644
--- a/src/agents/model-fallback.ts
+++ b/src/agents/model-fallback.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import {
 } from "../config/model-input.js";
 import { formatErrorMessage } from "../infra/errors.js";
 import { createSubsystemLogger } from "../logging/subsystem.js";
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { sanitizeForLog } from "../terminal/ansi.js";
 import { resolveAuthProfileOrder } from "./auth-profiles/order.js";
 import { ensureAuthProfileStore, loadAuthProfileStoreForRuntime } from "./auth-profiles/store.js";
@@ -386,8 +387,8 @@ function resolveFallbackCandidates(params: {
     : null;
   const defaultProvider = primary?.provider ?? DEFAULT_PROVIDER;
   const defaultModel = primary?.model ?? DEFAULT_MODEL;
-  const providerRaw = String(params.provider ?? "").trim() || defaultProvider;
-  const modelRaw = String(params.model ?? "").trim() || defaultModel;
+  const providerRaw = normalizeOptionalString(String(params.provider ?? "")) || defaultProvider;
+  const modelRaw = normalizeOptionalString(String(params.model ?? "")) || defaultModel;
   const normalizedPrimary = normalizeModelRef(providerRaw, modelRaw);
   const configuredPrimary = normalizeModelRef(defaultProvider, defaultModel);
   const aliasIndex = buildModelAliasIndex({
@@ -455,7 +456,7 @@ const PROBE_STATE_TTL_MS = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
 const MAX_PROBE_KEYS = 256;
 
 function resolveProbeThrottleKey(provider: string, agentDir?: string): string {
-  const scope = String(agentDir ?? "").trim();
+  const scope = normalizeOptionalString(String(agentDir ?? "")) ?? "";
   return scope ? `${scope}${PROBE_SCOPE_DELIMITER}${provider}` : provider;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/agents/model-scan.ts b/src/agents/model-scan.ts
index f40bf9d04f3..d2731f62e42 100644
--- a/src/agents/model-scan.ts
+++ b/src/agents/model-scan.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,10 @@ import {
 import { Type } from "@sinclair/typebox";
 import { formatErrorMessage } from "../infra/errors.js";
 import { inferParamBFromIdOrName } from "../shared/model-param-b.js";
-import { normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
+import {
+  normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty,
+  normalizeOptionalString,
+} from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { normalizeProviderId } from "./provider-id.js";
 
 const OPENROUTER_MODELS_URL = "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/models";
@@ -193,7 +196,7 @@ async function fetchOpenRouterModels(fetchImpl: typeof fetch): Promise<OpenRoute
         return null;
       }
       const obj = entry as Record<string, unknown>;
-      const id = typeof obj.id === "string" ? obj.id.trim() : "";
+      const id = normalizeOptionalString(obj.id) ?? "";
       if (!id) {
         return null;
       }
diff --git a/src/agents/model-selection.ts b/src/agents/model-selection.ts
index c5981065885..bef947cb127 100644
--- a/src/agents/model-selection.ts
+++ b/src/agents/model-selection.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import { resolvePluginSetupCliBackendRuntime } from "../plugins/setup-registry.r
 import {
   normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty,
   normalizeOptionalLowercaseString,
+  normalizeOptionalString,
 } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { sanitizeForLog, stripAnsi } from "../terminal/ansi.js";
 import {
@@ -276,7 +277,9 @@ export function buildModelAliasIndex(params: {
     if (!parsed) {
       continue;
     }
-    const alias = String((entryRaw as { alias?: string } | undefined)?.alias ?? "").trim();
+    const alias =
+      normalizeOptionalString(String((entryRaw as { alias?: string } | undefined)?.alias ?? "")) ??
+      "";
     if (!alias) {
       continue;
     }
@@ -603,11 +606,11 @@ export function buildConfiguredModelCatalog(params: { cfg: OpenClawConfig }): Mo
       continue;
     }
     for (const model of provider.models) {
-      const id = typeof model?.id === "string" ? model.id.trim() : "";
+      const id = normalizeOptionalString(model?.id) ?? "";
       if (!id) {
         continue;
       }
-      const name = typeof model?.name === "string" && model.name.trim() ? model.name.trim() : id;
+      const name = normalizeOptionalString(model?.name) || id;
       const contextWindow =
         typeof model?.contextWindow === "number" && model.contextWindow > 0
           ? model.contextWindow
diff --git a/src/agents/openai-ws-message-conversion.ts b/src/agents/openai-ws-message-conversion.ts
index 506f03e0c36..c734bc8590c 100644
--- a/src/agents/openai-ws-message-conversion.ts
+++ b/src/agents/openai-ws-message-conversion.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
   normalizeAssistantPhase,
   parseAssistantTextSignature,
 } from "../shared/chat-message-content.js";
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import {
   normalizeOpenAIStrictToolParameters,
   resolveOpenAIStrictToolFlagForInventory,
@@ -39,7 +40,7 @@ function toNonEmptyString(value: unknown): string | null {
   if (typeof value !== "string") {
     return null;
   }
-  const trimmed = value.trim();
+  const trimmed = normalizeOptionalString(value) ?? "";
   return trimmed.length > 0 ? trimmed : null;
 }
 
@@ -223,7 +224,7 @@ function extractReasoningSummaryText(value: unknown): string {
         return "";
       }
       const record = item as { text?: unknown };
-      return typeof record.text === "string" ? record.text.trim() : "";
+      return normalizeOptionalString(record.text) ?? "";
     })
     .filter(Boolean)
     .join("\n")
@@ -239,7 +240,7 @@ function extractResponseReasoningText(item: unknown): string {
   if (summaryText) {
     return summaryText;
   }
-  return typeof record.content === "string" ? record.content.trim() : "";
+  return normalizeOptionalString(record.content) ?? "";
 }
 
 export function convertTools(
diff --git a/src/agents/pi-auth-credentials.ts b/src/agents/pi-auth-credentials.ts
index bf35328843d..42fc4b03704 100644
--- a/src/agents/pi-auth-credentials.ts
+++ b/src/agents/pi-auth-credentials.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import type { AuthProfileCredential, AuthProfileStore } from "./auth-profiles.js";
 import { normalizeProviderId } from "./model-selection.js";
 
@@ -14,7 +15,7 @@ export type PiCredentialMap = Record<string, PiCredential>;
 
 export function convertAuthProfileCredentialToPi(cred: AuthProfileCredential): PiCredential | null {
   if (cred.type === "api_key") {
-    const key = typeof cred.key === "string" ? cred.key.trim() : "";
+    const key = normalizeOptionalString(cred.key) ?? "";
     if (!key) {
       return null;
     }
@@ -22,7 +23,7 @@ export function convertAuthProfileCredentialToPi(cred: AuthProfileCredential): P
   }
 
   if (cred.type === "token") {
-    const token = typeof cred.token === "string" ? cred.token.trim() : "";
+    const token = normalizeOptionalString(cred.token) ?? "";
     if (!token) {
       return null;
     }
@@ -37,8 +38,8 @@ export function convertAuthProfileCredentialToPi(cred: AuthProfileCredential): P
   }
 
   if (cred.type === "oauth") {
-    const access = typeof cred.access === "string" ? cred.access.trim() : "";
-    const refresh = typeof cred.refresh === "string" ? cred.refresh.trim() : "";
+    const access = normalizeOptionalString(cred.access) ?? "";
+    const refresh = normalizeOptionalString(cred.refresh) ?? "";
     if (!access || !refresh || !Number.isFinite(cred.expires) || cred.expires <= 0) {
       return null;
     }
@@ -56,7 +57,7 @@ export function convertAuthProfileCredentialToPi(cred: AuthProfileCredential): P
 export function resolvePiCredentialMapFromStore(store: AuthProfileStore): PiCredentialMap {
   const credentials: PiCredentialMap = {};
   for (const credential of Object.values(store.profiles)) {
-    const provider = normalizeProviderId(String(credential.provider ?? "")).trim();
+    const provider = normalizeProviderId(String(credential.provider ?? ""));
     if (!provider || credentials[provider]) {
       continue;
     }
diff --git a/src/agents/pi-embedded-messaging.ts b/src/agents/pi-embedded-messaging.ts
index c586c5ac96a..04ef97ffcb7 100644
--- a/src/agents/pi-embedded-messaging.ts
+++ b/src/agents/pi-embedded-messaging.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { getChannelPlugin, normalizeChannelId } from "../channels/plugins/index.js";
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 
 export type MessagingToolSend = {
   tool: string;
@@ -23,7 +24,7 @@ export function isMessagingToolSendAction(
   toolName: string,
   args: Record<string, unknown>,
 ): boolean {
-  const action = typeof args.action === "string" ? args.action.trim() : "";
+  const action = normalizeOptionalString(args.action) ?? "";
   if (toolName === "sessions_send") {
     return true;
   }
diff --git a/src/agents/pi-embedded-subscribe.handlers.messages.ts b/src/agents/pi-embedded-subscribe.handlers.messages.ts
index 49474947bdf..d5fa9c26401 100644
--- a/src/agents/pi-embedded-subscribe.handlers.messages.ts
+++ b/src/agents/pi-embedded-subscribe.handlers.messages.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import { isSilentReplyText, SILENT_REPLY_TOKEN } from "../auto-reply/tokens.js";
 import { emitAgentEvent } from "../infra/agent-events.js";
 import { createInlineCodeState } from "../markdown/code-spans.js";
 import { resolveAssistantMessagePhase } from "../shared/chat-message-content.js";
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import {
   isMessagingToolDuplicateNormalized,
   normalizeTextForComparison,
@@ -75,8 +76,8 @@ function isTranscriptOnlyOpenClawAssistantMessage(message: AgentMessage | undefi
   if (!message || message.role !== "assistant") {
     return false;
   }
-  const provider = typeof message.provider === "string" ? message.provider.trim() : "";
-  const model = typeof message.model === "string" ? message.model.trim() : "";
+  const provider = normalizeOptionalString(message.provider) ?? "";
+  const model = normalizeOptionalString(message.model) ?? "";
   return provider === "openclaw" && (model === "delivery-mirror" || model === "gateway-injected");
 }
 
diff --git a/src/agents/pi-embedded-subscribe.handlers.tools.ts b/src/agents/pi-embedded-subscribe.handlers.tools.ts
index cb4cd71d75e..c1c80178df4 100644
--- a/src/agents/pi-embedded-subscribe.handlers.tools.ts
+++ b/src/agents/pi-embedded-subscribe.handlers.tools.ts
@@ -342,8 +342,8 @@ function readExecApprovalPendingDetails(result: unknown): {
   if (details.status !== "approval-pending") {
     return null;
   }
-  const approvalId = typeof details.approvalId === "string" ? details.approvalId.trim() : "";
-  const approvalSlug = typeof details.approvalSlug === "string" ? details.approvalSlug.trim() : "";
+  const approvalId = readStringValue(details.approvalId) ?? "";
+  const approvalSlug = readStringValue(details.approvalSlug) ?? "";
   const command = typeof details.command === "string" ? details.command : "";
   const host = details.host === "node" ? "node" : details.host === "gateway" ? "gateway" : null;
   if (!approvalId || !approvalSlug || !command || !host) {
diff --git a/src/agents/session-async-task-status.ts b/src/agents/session-async-task-status.ts
index e4964e00dba..1ba4bae290a 100644
--- a/src/agents/session-async-task-status.ts
+++ b/src/agents/session-async-task-status.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { listTasksForOwnerKey } from "../tasks/runtime-internal.js";
 import type { TaskRecord, TaskRuntime, TaskStatus } from "../tasks/task-registry.types.js";
 
@@ -10,13 +11,13 @@ export function findActiveSessionTask(params: {
   statuses?: ReadonlySet<TaskStatus>;
   sourceIdPrefix?: string;
 }): TaskRecord | undefined {
-  const normalizedSessionKey = params.sessionKey?.trim();
+  const normalizedSessionKey = normalizeOptionalString(params.sessionKey);
   if (!normalizedSessionKey) {
     return undefined;
   }
   const statuses = params.statuses ?? DEFAULT_ACTIVE_STATUSES;
-  const taskKind = params.taskKind?.trim();
-  const sourceIdPrefix = params.sourceIdPrefix?.trim();
+  const taskKind = normalizeOptionalString(params.taskKind);
+  const sourceIdPrefix = normalizeOptionalString(params.sourceIdPrefix);
   const matches = listTasksForOwnerKey(normalizedSessionKey).filter((task) => {
     if (task.scopeKind !== "session") {
       return false;
@@ -31,7 +32,7 @@ export function findActiveSessionTask(params: {
       return false;
     }
     if (sourceIdPrefix) {
-      const sourceId = task.sourceId?.trim() ?? "";
+      const sourceId = normalizeOptionalString(task.sourceId) ?? "";
       if (sourceId !== sourceIdPrefix && !sourceId.startsWith(`${sourceIdPrefix}:`)) {
         return false;
       }
diff --git a/src/agents/skills/source.ts b/src/agents/skills/source.ts
index 5bb07f4abc8..6ad1ac7027f 100644
--- a/src/agents/skills/source.ts
+++ b/src/agents/skills/source.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import type { Skill } from "./skill-contract.js";
 
 type SkillSourceCompat = Skill & {
@@ -8,11 +9,10 @@ type SkillSourceCompat = Skill & {
 
 export function resolveSkillSource(skill: Skill): string {
   const compatSkill = skill as SkillSourceCompat;
-  const canonical = typeof compatSkill.source === "string" ? compatSkill.source.trim() : "";
+  const canonical = normalizeOptionalString(compatSkill.source) ?? "";
   if (canonical) {
     return canonical;
   }
-  const legacy =
-    typeof compatSkill.sourceInfo?.source === "string" ? compatSkill.sourceInfo.source.trim() : "";
+  const legacy = normalizeOptionalString(compatSkill.sourceInfo?.source) ?? "";
   return legacy || "unknown";
 }
diff --git a/src/agents/tool-description-summary.ts b/src/agents/tool-description-summary.ts
index 67d38cca095..1c0b6b74a15 100644
--- a/src/agents/tool-description-summary.ts
+++ b/src/agents/tool-description-summary.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
+
 function normalizeSummaryWhitespace(value: string): string {
   return value.replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim();
 }
@@ -41,12 +43,12 @@ export function summarizeToolDescriptionText(params: {
   displaySummary?: string | null;
   maxLen?: number;
 }): string {
-  const explicit = typeof params.displaySummary === "string" ? params.displaySummary.trim() : "";
+  const explicit = normalizeOptionalString(params.displaySummary) ?? "";
   if (explicit) {
     return truncateSummary(normalizeSummaryWhitespace(explicit), params.maxLen);
   }
 
-  const raw = typeof params.rawDescription === "string" ? params.rawDescription.trim() : "";
+  const raw = normalizeOptionalString(params.rawDescription) ?? "";
   if (!raw) {
     return "Tool";
   }
@@ -92,7 +94,7 @@ export function describeToolForVerbose(params: {
   fallback: string;
   maxLen?: number;
 }): string {
-  const raw = typeof params.rawDescription === "string" ? params.rawDescription.trim() : "";
+  const raw = normalizeOptionalString(params.rawDescription) ?? "";
   if (!raw) {
     return params.fallback;
   }
diff --git a/src/agents/tool-display-common.ts b/src/agents/tool-display-common.ts
index fcb280ddd8d..487682de7da 100644
--- a/src/agents/tool-display-common.ts
+++ b/src/agents/tool-display-common.ts
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ export function coerceDisplayValue(
     if (!trimmed) {
       return undefined;
     }
-    const firstLine = trimmed.split(/\r?\n/)[0]?.trim() ?? "";
+    const firstLine = normalizeOptionalString(trimmed.split(/\r?\n/)[0]) ?? "";
     if (!firstLine) {
       return undefined;
     }
@@ -231,8 +231,7 @@ export function resolveWriteDetail(toolKey: string, args: unknown): string | und
     return undefined;
   }
 
-  const path =
-    resolvePathArg(record) ?? (typeof record.url === "string" ? record.url.trim() : undefined);
+  const path = resolvePathArg(record) ?? normalizeOptionalString(record.url);
   if (!path) {
     return undefined;
   }
@@ -264,7 +263,7 @@ export function resolveWebSearchDetail(args: unknown): string | undefined {
     return undefined;
   }
 
-  const query = typeof record.query === "string" ? record.query.trim() : undefined;
+  const query = normalizeOptionalString(record.query);
   const count =
     typeof record.count === "number" && Number.isFinite(record.count) && record.count > 0
       ? Math.floor(record.count)
@@ -283,12 +282,12 @@ export function resolveWebFetchDetail(args: unknown): string | undefined {
     return undefined;
   }
 
-  const url = typeof record.url === "string" ? record.url.trim() : undefined;
+  const url = normalizeOptionalString(record.url);
   if (!url) {
     return undefined;
   }
 
-  const mode = typeof record.extractMode === "string" ? record.extractMode.trim() : undefined;
+  const mode = normalizeOptionalString(record.extractMode);
   const maxChars =
     typeof record.maxChars === "number" && Number.isFinite(record.maxChars) && record.maxChars > 0
       ? Math.floor(record.maxChars)
diff --git a/src/agents/tools-effective-inventory.ts b/src/agents/tools-effective-inventory.ts
index 0fee4b5e8f2..22ca48dcdce 100644
--- a/src/agents/tools-effective-inventory.ts
+++ b/src/agents/tools-effective-inventory.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/config.js";
 import { getPluginToolMeta } from "../plugins/tools.js";
-import { normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
+import {
+  normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty,
+  normalizeOptionalString,
+} from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { resolveAgentDir, resolveAgentWorkspaceDir, resolveSessionAgentId } from "./agent-scope.js";
 import { getChannelAgentToolMeta } from "./channel-tools.js";
 import { resolveModel } from "./pi-embedded-runner/model.js";
@@ -63,7 +66,7 @@ export type ResolveEffectiveToolInventoryParams = {
 };
 
 function resolveEffectiveToolLabel(tool: AnyAgentTool): string {
-  const rawLabel = typeof tool.label === "string" ? tool.label.trim() : "";
+  const rawLabel = normalizeOptionalString(tool.label) ?? "";
   if (
     rawLabel &&
     normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty(rawLabel) !== normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty(tool.name)
@@ -74,7 +77,7 @@ function resolveEffectiveToolLabel(tool: AnyAgentTool): string {
 }
 
 function resolveRawToolDescription(tool: AnyAgentTool): string {
-  return typeof tool.description === "string" ? tool.description.trim() : "";
+  return normalizeOptionalString(tool.description) ?? "";
 }
 
 function summarizeToolDescription(tool: AnyAgentTool): string {
diff --git a/src/agents/tools/sessions-resolution.ts b/src/agents/tools/sessions-resolution.ts
index c4a1e0e7c2c..dd6b26f10d3 100644
--- a/src/agents/tools/sessions-resolution.ts
+++ b/src/agents/tools/sessions-resolution.ts
@@ -66,10 +66,7 @@ export async function listSpawnedSessionKeys(params: {
       },
     });
     const sessions = Array.isArray(list?.sessions) ? list.sessions : [];
-    const keys = sessions
-      .map((entry) => (typeof entry?.key === "string" ? entry.key : ""))
-      .map((value) => value.trim())
-      .filter(Boolean);
+    const keys = sessions.map((entry) => normalizeOptionalString(entry?.key) ?? "").filter(Boolean);
     return new Set(keys);
   } catch {
     return new Set();
@@ -238,7 +235,7 @@ async function callGatewayResolveSessionId(params: {
     method: "sessions.resolve",
     params: buildSessionIdResolveParams(params),
   });
-  const key = typeof result?.key === "string" ? result.key.trim() : "";
+  const key = normalizeOptionalString(result?.key) ?? "";
   if (!key) {
     throw new Error(
       `Session not found: ${params.sessionId} (use the full sessionKey from sessions_list)`,
@@ -298,7 +295,7 @@ async function resolveSessionKeyFromKey(params: {
         spawnedBy: params.restrictToSpawned ? params.requesterInternalKey : undefined,
       },
     });
-    const key = typeof result?.key === "string" ? result.key.trim() : "";
+    const key = normalizeOptionalString(result?.key) ?? "";
     if (!key) {
       return null;
     }