diff --git a/src/agents/agent-command.ts b/src/agents/agent-command.ts
index ff718d4506a..6335205a4d0 100644
--- a/src/agents/agent-command.ts
+++ b/src/agents/agent-command.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ import { defaultRuntime, type RuntimeEnv } from "../runtime.js";
 import { applyVerboseOverride } from "../sessions/level-overrides.js";
 import { applyModelOverrideToSessionEntry } from "../sessions/model-overrides.js";
 import { resolveSendPolicy } from "../sessions/send-policy.js";
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { sanitizeForLog } from "../terminal/ansi.js";
 import { resolveMessageChannel } from "../utils/message-channel.js";
 import {
@@ -252,7 +253,7 @@ async function prepareAgentCommandExecution(
     throw new Error('Invalid verbose level. Use "on", "full", or "off".');
   }
 
-  const laneRaw = typeof opts.lane === "string" ? opts.lane.trim() : "";
+  const laneRaw = normalizeOptionalString(opts.lane) ?? "";
   const isSubagentLane = laneRaw === String(AGENT_LANE_SUBAGENT);
   const timeoutSecondsRaw =
     opts.timeout !== undefined
diff --git a/src/agents/auth-profiles/state.ts b/src/agents/auth-profiles/state.ts
index 823d64264c2..90fc8291277 100644
--- a/src/agents/auth-profiles/state.ts
+++ b/src/agents/auth-profiles/state.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import fs from "node:fs";
 import { loadJsonFile, saveJsonFile } from "../../infra/json-file.js";
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { AUTH_STORE_VERSION } from "./constants.js";
 import { resolveAuthStatePath } from "./paths.js";
 import type { AuthProfileState, AuthProfileStateStore, ProfileUsageStats } from "./types.js";
@@ -13,9 +14,7 @@ function normalizeAuthProfileOrder(raw: unknown): AuthProfileState["order"] {
       if (!Array.isArray(value)) {
         return acc;
       }
-      const list = value
-        .map((entry) => (typeof entry === "string" ? entry.trim() : ""))
-        .filter(Boolean);
+      const list = value.map((entry) => normalizeOptionalString(entry) ?? "").filter(Boolean);
       if (list.length > 0) {
         acc[provider] = list;
       }
diff --git a/src/agents/bootstrap-files.ts b/src/agents/bootstrap-files.ts
index 401531e0cc8..5bc5cc889c9 100644
--- a/src/agents/bootstrap-files.ts
+++ b/src/agents/bootstrap-files.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import fs from "node:fs/promises";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/config.js";
 import type { AgentContextInjection } from "../config/types.agent-defaults.js";
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { resolveAgentConfig, resolveSessionAgentIds } from "./agent-scope.js";
 import { getOrLoadBootstrapFiles } from "./bootstrap-cache.js";
 import { applyBootstrapHookOverrides } from "./bootstrap-hooks.js";
@@ -115,7 +116,7 @@ function sanitizeBootstrapFiles(
 ): WorkspaceBootstrapFile[] {
   const sanitized: WorkspaceBootstrapFile[] = [];
   for (const file of files) {
-    const pathValue = typeof file.path === "string" ? file.path.trim() : "";
+    const pathValue = normalizeOptionalString(file.path) ?? "";
     if (!pathValue) {
       warn?.(
         `skipping bootstrap file "${file.name}" — missing or invalid "path" field (hook may have used "filePath" instead)`,
diff --git a/src/agents/mcp-transport.ts b/src/agents/mcp-transport.ts
index 04c059f3f05..6c35f9710d3 100644
--- a/src/agents/mcp-transport.ts
+++ b/src/agents/mcp-transport.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import { StreamableHTTPClientTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/
 import type { FetchLike, Transport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/shared/transport.js";
 import { loadUndiciRuntimeDeps } from "../infra/net/undici-runtime.js";
 import { logDebug } from "../logger.js";
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { resolveMcpTransportConfig } from "./mcp-transport-config.js";
 
 export type ResolvedMcpTransport = {
@@ -23,7 +24,8 @@ function attachStderrLogging(serverName: string, transport: StdioClientTransport
     return undefined;
   }
   const onData = (chunk: Buffer | string) => {
-    const message = String(chunk).trim();
+    const message =
+      normalizeOptionalString(typeof chunk === "string" ? chunk : String(chunk)) ?? "";
     if (!message) {
       return;
     }
diff --git a/src/agents/models-config.merge.ts b/src/agents/models-config.merge.ts
index 04654f773b8..38bedf4615f 100644
--- a/src/agents/models-config.merge.ts
+++ b/src/agents/models-config.merge.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { isNonSecretApiKeyMarker } from "./model-auth-markers.js";
 import type { ProviderConfig } from "./models-config.providers.secrets.js";
 
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@ function getProviderModelId(model: unknown): string {
     return "";
   }
   const id = (model as { id?: unknown }).id;
-  return typeof id === "string" ? id.trim() : "";
+  return normalizeOptionalString(id) ?? "";
 }
 
 export function mergeProviderModels(
@@ -136,7 +137,7 @@ export function mergeProviders(params: {
 }): Record<string, ProviderConfig> {
   const out: Record<string, ProviderConfig> = params.implicit ? { ...params.implicit } : {};
   for (const [key, explicit] of Object.entries(params.explicit ?? {})) {
-    const providerKey = key.trim();
+    const providerKey = normalizeOptionalString(key) ?? "";
     if (!providerKey) {
       continue;
     }
@@ -147,11 +148,7 @@ export function mergeProviders(params: {
 }
 
 function resolveProviderApi(entry: { api?: unknown } | undefined): string | undefined {
-  if (typeof entry?.api !== "string") {
-    return undefined;
-  }
-  const api = entry.api.trim();
-  return api || undefined;
+  return normalizeOptionalString(entry?.api);
 }
 
 function resolveModelApiSurface(entry: { models?: unknown } | undefined): string | undefined {
@@ -165,7 +162,8 @@ function resolveModelApiSurface(entry: { models?: unknown } | undefined): string
         return [];
       }
       const api = (model as { api?: unknown }).api;
-      return typeof api === "string" && api.trim() ? [api.trim()] : [];
+      const normalized = normalizeOptionalString(api);
+      return normalized ? [normalized] : [];
     })
     .toSorted();
 
diff --git a/src/agents/models-config.providers.policy.lookup.ts b/src/agents/models-config.providers.policy.lookup.ts
index 0965c1082a2..214acc0bc7f 100644
--- a/src/agents/models-config.providers.policy.lookup.ts
+++ b/src/agents/models-config.providers.policy.lookup.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { MODEL_APIS } from "../config/types.models.js";
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import type { ProviderConfig } from "./models-config.providers.secrets.js";
 
 const GENERIC_PROVIDER_APIS = new Set<string>([
@@ -12,7 +13,7 @@ export function resolveProviderPluginLookupKey(
   providerKey: string,
   provider?: ProviderConfig,
 ): string {
-  const api = typeof provider?.api === "string" ? provider.api.trim() : "";
+  const api = normalizeOptionalString(provider?.api) ?? "";
   if (
     api &&
     MODEL_APIS.includes(api as (typeof MODEL_APIS)[number]) &&
diff --git a/src/agents/pi-embedded-helpers/bootstrap.ts b/src/agents/pi-embedded-helpers/bootstrap.ts
index e6e0792f4ba..858c8722b51 100644
--- a/src/agents/pi-embedded-helpers/bootstrap.ts
+++ b/src/agents/pi-embedded-helpers/bootstrap.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import fs from "node:fs/promises";
 import path from "node:path";
 import type { AgentMessage } from "@mariozechner/pi-agent-core";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../../config/config.js";
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { truncateUtf16Safe } from "../../utils.js";
 import type { WorkspaceBootstrapFile } from "../workspace.js";
 import type { EmbeddedContextFile } from "./types.js";
@@ -210,7 +211,7 @@ export function buildBootstrapContextFiles(
     if (remainingTotalChars <= 0) {
       break;
     }
-    const pathValue = typeof file.path === "string" ? file.path.trim() : "";
+    const pathValue = normalizeOptionalString(file.path) ?? "";
     if (!pathValue) {
       opts?.warn?.(
         `skipping bootstrap file "${file.name}" — missing or invalid "path" field (hook may have used "filePath" instead)`,
diff --git a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/anthropic-family-tool-payload-compat.ts b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/anthropic-family-tool-payload-compat.ts
index 249084a3488..398dc96c910 100644
--- a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/anthropic-family-tool-payload-compat.ts
+++ b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/anthropic-family-tool-payload-compat.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import type { StreamFn } from "@mariozechner/pi-agent-core";
 import { streamSimple } from "@mariozechner/pi-ai";
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../../shared/string-coerce.js";
 type AnthropicToolSchemaMode = "openai-functions";
 type AnthropicToolChoiceMode = "openai-string-modes";
 
@@ -70,7 +71,7 @@ function normalizeOpenAiFunctionAnthropicToolDefinition(
     return toolObj;
   }
 
-  const rawName = typeof toolObj.name === "string" ? toolObj.name.trim() : "";
+  const rawName = normalizeOptionalString(toolObj.name) ?? "";
   if (!rawName) {
     return toolObj;
   }
diff --git a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/google-prompt-cache.ts b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/google-prompt-cache.ts
index 09ae3583a29..5dd2a1ddbd5 100644
--- a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/google-prompt-cache.ts
+++ b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/google-prompt-cache.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import type { StreamFn } from "@mariozechner/pi-agent-core";
 import type { Api, Model } from "@mariozechner/pi-ai";
 import { parseGeminiAuth } from "../../infra/gemini-auth.js";
 import { normalizeGoogleApiBaseUrl } from "../../infra/google-api-base-url.js";
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { buildGuardedModelFetch } from "../provider-transport-fetch.js";
 import { stableStringify } from "../stable-stringify.js";
 import { stripSystemPromptCacheBoundary } from "../system-prompt-cache-boundary.js";
@@ -226,7 +227,7 @@ async function createGooglePromptCache(params: {
     return null;
   }
   const json = (await response.json()) as { name?: string; expireTime?: string };
-  const cachedContent = typeof json.name === "string" ? json.name.trim() : "";
+  const cachedContent = normalizeOptionalString(json.name) ?? "";
   return cachedContent ? { cachedContent, expireTime: json.expireTime } : null;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run/attempt.ts b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run/attempt.ts
index 38c23261368..5476a0a3344 100644
--- a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run/attempt.ts
+++ b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run/attempt.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import { resolveToolCallArgumentsEncoding } from "../../../plugins/provider-mode
 import { resolveProviderSystemPromptContribution } from "../../../plugins/provider-runtime.js";
 import { isSubagentSessionKey } from "../../../routing/session-key.js";
 import { normalizeOptionalLowercaseString } from "../../../shared/string-coerce.js";
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../../../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { buildTtsSystemPromptHint } from "../../../tts/tts.js";
 import { resolveUserPath } from "../../../utils.js";
 import { normalizeMessageChannel } from "../../../utils/message-channel.js";
@@ -1654,8 +1655,7 @@ export async function runEmbeddedAttempt(
               `hooks: prepended context to prompt (${hookResult.prependContext.length} chars)`,
             );
           }
-          const legacySystemPrompt =
-            typeof hookResult?.systemPrompt === "string" ? hookResult.systemPrompt.trim() : "";
+          const legacySystemPrompt = normalizeOptionalString(hookResult?.systemPrompt) ?? "";
           if (legacySystemPrompt) {
             applySystemPromptOverrideToSession(activeSession, legacySystemPrompt);
             systemPromptText = legacySystemPrompt;
diff --git a/src/agents/pi-embedded-subscribe.ts b/src/agents/pi-embedded-subscribe.ts
index 4288c727908..58651f869d8 100644
--- a/src/agents/pi-embedded-subscribe.ts
+++ b/src/agents/pi-embedded-subscribe.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import { emitAgentEvent } from "../infra/agent-events.js";
 import { createSubsystemLogger } from "../logging/subsystem.js";
 import type { InlineCodeState } from "../markdown/code-spans.js";
 import { buildCodeSpanIndex, createInlineCodeState } from "../markdown/code-spans.js";
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { EmbeddedBlockChunker } from "./pi-embedded-block-chunker.js";
 import {
   isMessagingToolDuplicateNormalized,
@@ -43,7 +44,7 @@ function collectPendingMediaFromInternalEvents(
       continue;
     }
     for (const mediaUrl of event.mediaUrls) {
-      const normalized = typeof mediaUrl === "string" ? mediaUrl.trim() : "";
+      const normalized = normalizeOptionalString(mediaUrl) ?? "";
       if (!normalized || seen.has(normalized)) {
         continue;
       }
diff --git a/src/agents/skills.ts b/src/agents/skills.ts
index c9c65449f5a..efa5cd945b9 100644
--- a/src/agents/skills.ts
+++ b/src/agents/skills.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/config.js";
-import { normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
+import {
+  normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty,
+  normalizeOptionalString,
+} from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import type { SkillsInstallPreferences } from "./skills/types.js";
 
 export {
@@ -38,8 +41,7 @@ export { buildWorkspaceSkillCommandSpecs } from "./skills/command-specs.js";
 export function resolveSkillsInstallPreferences(config?: OpenClawConfig): SkillsInstallPreferences {
   const raw = config?.skills?.install;
   const preferBrew = raw?.preferBrew ?? true;
-  const managerRaw = typeof raw?.nodeManager === "string" ? raw.nodeManager.trim() : "";
-  const manager = normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty(managerRaw);
+  const manager = normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty(normalizeOptionalString(raw?.nodeManager));
   const nodeManager: SkillsInstallPreferences["nodeManager"] =
     manager === "pnpm" || manager === "yarn" || manager === "bun" || manager === "npm"
       ? manager
diff --git a/src/agents/skills/refresh.ts b/src/agents/skills/refresh.ts
index f6293e0becd..e8e571e01ad 100644
--- a/src/agents/skills/refresh.ts
+++ b/src/agents/skills/refresh.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import path from "node:path";
 import chokidar, { type FSWatcher } from "chokidar";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../../config/config.js";
 import { createSubsystemLogger } from "../../logging/subsystem.js";
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { CONFIG_DIR, resolveUserPath } from "../../utils.js";
 import { resolvePluginSkillDirs } from "./plugin-skills.js";
 import {
@@ -62,7 +63,7 @@ function resolveWatchPaths(workspaceDir: string, config?: OpenClawConfig): strin
   paths.push(path.join(os.homedir(), ".agents", "skills"));
   const extraDirsRaw = config?.skills?.load?.extraDirs ?? [];
   const extraDirs = extraDirsRaw
-    .map((d) => (typeof d === "string" ? d.trim() : ""))
+    .map((d) => normalizeOptionalString(d) ?? "")
     .filter(Boolean)
     .map((dir) => resolveUserPath(dir));
   paths.push(...extraDirs);
diff --git a/src/agents/skills/workspace.ts b/src/agents/skills/workspace.ts
index 2b51a6d80b1..303b281c3fc 100644
--- a/src/agents/skills/workspace.ts
+++ b/src/agents/skills/workspace.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import path from "node:path";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../../config/config.js";
 import { isPathInside } from "../../infra/path-guards.js";
 import { createSubsystemLogger } from "../../logging/subsystem.js";
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { CONFIG_DIR, resolveUserPath } from "../../utils.js";
 import { resolveSandboxPath } from "../sandbox-paths.js";
 import { resolveEffectiveAgentSkillFilter } from "./agent-filter.js";
@@ -410,9 +411,7 @@ function loadSkillEntries(
   const workspaceSkillsDir = path.resolve(workspaceDir, "skills");
   const bundledSkillsDir = opts?.bundledSkillsDir ?? resolveBundledSkillsDir();
   const extraDirsRaw = opts?.config?.skills?.load?.extraDirs ?? [];
-  const extraDirs = extraDirsRaw
-    .map((d) => (typeof d === "string" ? d.trim() : ""))
-    .filter(Boolean);
+  const extraDirs = extraDirsRaw.map((d) => normalizeOptionalString(d) ?? "").filter(Boolean);
   const pluginSkillDirs = resolvePluginSkillDirs({
     workspaceDir,
     config: opts?.config,
diff --git a/src/agents/subagent-announce.ts b/src/agents/subagent-announce.ts
index 9f75dda1089..d1a49bc8f6f 100644
--- a/src/agents/subagent-announce.ts
+++ b/src/agents/subagent-announce.ts
@@ -282,7 +282,7 @@ async function wakeSubagentRunAfterDescendants(params: {
           timeoutMs: announceTimeoutMs,
         }),
     });
-    wakeRunId = typeof wakeResponse?.runId === "string" ? wakeResponse.runId.trim() : "";
+    wakeRunId = normalizeOptionalString(wakeResponse?.runId) ?? "";
   } catch {
     return false;
   }
diff --git a/src/agents/subagent-attachments.ts b/src/agents/subagent-attachments.ts
index d8093dd3fab..b50fb741f41 100644
--- a/src/agents/subagent-attachments.ts
+++ b/src/agents/subagent-attachments.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import crypto from "node:crypto";
 import { promises as fs } from "node:fs";
 import path from "node:path";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/config.js";
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { resolveAgentWorkspaceDir } from "./agent-scope.js";
 
 export function decodeStrictBase64(value: string, maxDecodedBytes: number): Buffer | null {
@@ -137,9 +138,9 @@ export async function materializeSubagentAttachments(params: {
     let totalBytes = 0;
 
     for (const raw of requestedAttachments) {
-      const name = typeof raw?.name === "string" ? raw.name.trim() : "";
+      const name = normalizeOptionalString(raw?.name) ?? "";
       const contentVal = typeof raw?.content === "string" ? raw.content : "";
-      const encodingRaw = typeof raw?.encoding === "string" ? raw.encoding.trim() : "utf8";
+      const encodingRaw = normalizeOptionalString(raw?.encoding) ?? "utf8";
       const encoding = encodingRaw === "base64" ? "base64" : "utf8";
 
       if (!name) {
diff --git a/src/agents/tools/gateway.ts b/src/agents/tools/gateway.ts
index fdcb55ae830..7fb752f4694 100644
--- a/src/agents/tools/gateway.ts
+++ b/src/agents/tools/gateway.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,10 @@ import {
   type OperatorScope,
 } from "../../gateway/method-scopes.js";
 import { formatErrorMessage } from "../../infra/errors.js";
-import { normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty } from "../../shared/string-coerce.js";
+import {
+  normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty,
+  normalizeOptionalString,
+} from "../../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { GATEWAY_CLIENT_MODES, GATEWAY_CLIENT_NAMES } from "../../utils/message-channel.js";
 import { readStringParam } from "./common.js";
 
@@ -74,8 +77,7 @@ function validateGatewayUrlOverrideForAgentTools(params: {
   ]);
 
   let remoteKey: string | undefined;
-  const remoteUrl =
-    typeof cfg.gateway?.remote?.url === "string" ? cfg.gateway.remote.url.trim() : "";
+  const remoteUrl = normalizeOptionalString(cfg.gateway?.remote?.url) ?? "";
   if (remoteUrl) {
     try {
       const remote = canonicalizeToolGatewayWsUrl(remoteUrl);
diff --git a/src/agents/tools/sessions-access.ts b/src/agents/tools/sessions-access.ts
index f456f2efeea..d22579393ee 100644
--- a/src/agents/tools/sessions-access.ts
+++ b/src/agents/tools/sessions-access.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../../config/config.js";
 import { isSubagentSessionKey, resolveAgentIdFromSessionKey } from "../../routing/session-key.js";
-import { normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty } from "../../shared/string-coerce.js";
+import {
+  normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty,
+  normalizeOptionalString,
+} from "../../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import {
   listSpawnedSessionKeys,
   resolveInternalSessionKey,
@@ -64,14 +67,14 @@ export function resolveSandboxedSessionToolContext(params: {
 } {
   const { mainKey, alias } = resolveMainSessionAlias(params.cfg);
   const visibility = resolveSandboxSessionToolsVisibility(params.cfg);
-  const requesterInternalKey =
-    typeof params.agentSessionKey === "string" && params.agentSessionKey.trim()
-      ? resolveInternalSessionKey({
-          key: params.agentSessionKey,
-          alias,
-          mainKey,
-        })
-      : undefined;
+  const requesterSessionKey = normalizeOptionalString(params.agentSessionKey);
+  const requesterInternalKey = requesterSessionKey
+    ? resolveInternalSessionKey({
+        key: requesterSessionKey,
+        alias,
+        mainKey,
+      })
+    : undefined;
   const effectiveRequesterKey = requesterInternalKey ?? alias;
   const restrictToSpawned =
     params.sandboxed === true &&
@@ -97,7 +100,9 @@ export function createAgentToAgentPolicy(cfg: OpenClawConfig): AgentToAgentPolic
       return true;
     }
     return allowPatterns.some((pattern) => {
-      const raw = String(pattern ?? "").trim();
+      const raw =
+        normalizeOptionalString(typeof pattern === "string" ? pattern : String(pattern ?? "")) ??
+        "";
       if (!raw) {
         return false;
       }
diff --git a/src/agents/tools/sessions-send-tool.ts b/src/agents/tools/sessions-send-tool.ts
index 602d055b9ac..cc09c415b3a 100644
--- a/src/agents/tools/sessions-send-tool.ts
+++ b/src/agents/tools/sessions-send-tool.ts
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ export function createSessionsSendTool(opts?: {
             params: resolveParams,
             timeoutMs: 10_000,
           });
-          resolvedKey = typeof resolved?.key === "string" ? resolved.key.trim() : "";
+          resolvedKey = normalizeOptionalString(resolved?.key) ?? "";
         } catch (err) {
           const msg = formatErrorMessage(err);
           if (restrictToSpawned) {
diff --git a/src/agents/tools/sessions-spawn-tool.ts b/src/agents/tools/sessions-spawn-tool.ts
index acfde709a35..fdd84cf7c15 100644
--- a/src/agents/tools/sessions-spawn-tool.ts
+++ b/src/agents/tools/sessions-spawn-tool.ts
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ export function createSessionsSpawnTool(
         );
       }
       const task = readStringParam(params, "task", { required: true });
-      const label = typeof params.label === "string" ? params.label.trim() : "";
+      const label = readStringParam(params, "label") ?? "";
       const runtime = params.runtime === "acp" ? "acp" : "subagent";
       const requestedAgentId = readStringParam(params, "agentId");
       const resumeSessionId = readStringParam(params, "resumeSessionId");