fix(gateway): keep routed CLI prompts off the owner's side in chat history (#163521)

* fix(gateway): keep routed CLI prompts off the owner's side in chat history

Claude CLI imported user rows that carry an inter-session envelope now get
inter_session provenance, and the history merge matches them against the
local row even when a drift note sits under the envelope, the local row
stores the text without the envelope, or queued System: event lines sit
above the prompt.

Literal text still matches first. The envelope-free fallback only matches
rows from the same source session and tool, so equal bodies from different
senders, or from the owner, stay separate rows.

* fix(gateway): only strip System lines with a generated event timestamp

Typed text such as "System: [manual note]" matched the loose prefix check, so the
compare-only view dropped it and the import could absorb an unrelated local turn.
Match the exact timestamp formats the system event formatter writes.

* fix(gateway): retain raw routed prompts until history matching

* test(gateway): assert canonical imported identity metadata

* style(gateway): format routed history regressions

---------

Co-authored-by: Rogério Chaves <rogerio@langwatch.ai>
Co-authored-by: Dallin Romney <dallinromney@gmail.com>

src/agents/cli-session.ts

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { normalizeOptionalString } from "@openclaw/normalization-core/string-coe
 import type { CliSessionBinding, SessionEntry } from "../config/sessions.js";
 import { normalizeCliSessionReseedReceipt } from "../config/sessions/cli-session-binding.js";
 import { readErrorName } from "../infra/errors.js";
+import { readInterSessionPromptEnvelope } from "../sessions/input-provenance.js";
 import { isFailoverError } from "./failover-error.js";
 import type { FailoverReason } from "./failover/signal.js";
 export {
@@ -193,17 +194,21 @@ export function buildCliSessionDriftNote(reasons: readonly CliSessionContentDrif
   return `${CLI_SESSION_DRIFT_NOTE_PREFIX} Follow the current turn's instructions; changed=${reasons.join(",")}.`;
 }
 
-const CLI_SESSION_DRIFT_NOTE_PREFIXES = [
+const CLI_SESSION_DRIFT_NOTES = [
   buildCliSessionDriftNote(["system-prompt"]),
   buildCliSessionDriftNote(["prompt-tools"]),
   buildCliSessionDriftNote(["system-prompt", "prompt-tools"]),
-].map((note) => `${note}\n\n`);
+];
 
 // Match only complete notes the producer emits; similar native user text is not context.
+// Inter-session prompts move their envelope above the note, joined by single newlines.
 export function stripCliSessionDriftNote(text: string): string {
-  for (const prefix of CLI_SESSION_DRIFT_NOTE_PREFIXES) {
+  const envelopeLength = readInterSessionPromptEnvelope(text)?.length ?? 0;
-    if (text.startsWith(prefix)) {
+  const separator = envelopeLength > 0 ? "\n" : "\n\n";
-      return text.slice(prefix.length);
+  for (const note of CLI_SESSION_DRIFT_NOTES) {
+    const prefix = `${note}${separator}`;
+    if (text.startsWith(prefix, envelopeLength)) {
+      return text.slice(0, envelopeLength) + text.slice(envelopeLength + prefix.length);
     }
   }
   return text;

src/gateway/cli-session-history-index.worker.ts

@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import {
   hashCliImageTurnEntryId,
   readCliImageTurnContext,
 } from "../agents/cli-image-turn-correlation.js";
-import { stripCliSessionDriftNote } from "../agents/cli-session.js";
 import { isOpenClawCliImageCachePath } from "../agents/embedded-agent-runner/run/images.media-refs.js";
 import { stripInboundMetadata } from "../auto-reply/reply/strip-inbound-meta.js";
 import {
@@ -23,6 +22,10 @@ import { openNodeSqliteDatabase } from "../infra/node-sqlite.js";
 import { runSqliteImmediateTransactionSync } from "../infra/sqlite-transaction.js";
 import { isImageMediaFact, readPersistedMediaFacts } from "../media/media-facts.js";
 import { stripInlineDirectiveTagsForDisplay } from "../utils/directive-tags.js";
+import {
+  readRoutedPromptView,
+  stripCliPromptDecorations,
+} from "./cli-session-history.prompt-text.js";
 
 const INDEX_INSERT_BATCH_ROWS = 65;
 const INDEX_ORDINAL_BATCH_ROWS = 256;
@@ -58,7 +61,8 @@ function extractComparableText(
   hasCliImageMentions: boolean;
   cliImageTurnKey?: string;
   text?: string;
-  driftNoteText?: string;
+  undecoratedText?: string;
+  routedKey?: string;
 } {
   const parts: string[] = [];
   const text = readStringValue(record.text);
@@ -100,11 +104,18 @@ function extractComparableText(
     return visible.replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim();
   };
   const normalized = normalizeText(stripResult.text);
-  const withoutDriftNote = isClaudeImport ? stripCliSessionDriftNote(rawText) : rawText;
+  const withoutDecorations = isClaudeImport ? stripCliPromptDecorations(rawText) : rawText;
-  const driftNoteText =
+  const undecoratedText =
-    withoutDriftNote !== rawText
+    withoutDecorations !== rawText
-      ? normalizeText(stripTrailingCliImageMentions(withoutDriftNote.trim()).text)
+      ? normalizeText(stripTrailingCliImageMentions(withoutDecorations.trim()).text)
       : undefined;
+  const routed =
+    role === "user" ? readRoutedPromptView(record.provenance, joined, isClaudeImport) : undefined;
+  const routedBody =
+    routed &&
+    normalizeText(
+      isClaudeImport ? stripTrailingCliImageMentions(routed.body.trim()).text : routed.body,
+    );
   const storedImageTurnKey = normalizeOptionalString(meta?.cliImageTurnKey);
   return {
     hasCliImageMentions: stripResult.stripped,
@@ -112,7 +123,8 @@ function extractComparableText(
       ? { cliImageTurnKey: storedImageTurnKey ?? readCliImageTurnContext(joined) }
       : {}),
     ...(normalized ? { text: normalized } : {}),
-    ...(driftNoteText ? { driftNoteText } : {}),
+    ...(undecoratedText ? { undecoratedText } : {}),
+    ...(routed && routedBody ? { routedKey: JSON.stringify([routed.sender, routedBody]) } : {}),
   };
 }
 
@@ -140,7 +152,8 @@ type HistoryRow = {
   bytes: number;
   role: string | null;
   text: string | null;
-  drift_text: string | null;
+  undecorated_text: string | null;
+  routed_key: string | null;
   timestamp: number | null;
   external_key: string | null;
   image_key: string | null;
@@ -176,7 +189,7 @@ export class CliSessionHistoryIndex {
     this.db = getNodeSqliteKysely<HistoryDatabase>(this.database);
     // Only imported bodies live here; local rows retain their canonical sequence.
     const columns = `id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, local_seq INTEGER, import_ref INTEGER, message_id TEXT, payload TEXT, bytes INTEGER NOT NULL, role TEXT,
-      text TEXT, drift_text TEXT, timestamp REAL, external_key TEXT, image_key TEXT,
+      text TEXT, undecorated_text TEXT, routed_key TEXT, timestamp REAL, external_key TEXT, image_key TEXT,
       image_mentions INTEGER NOT NULL, metadata TEXT, consumed INTEGER NOT NULL,
       ordinal INTEGER`;
     // sqlite-allow-raw -- Reconstructible temporary schema; no canonical writes or durability.
@@ -188,6 +201,7 @@ export class CliSessionHistoryIndex {
       CREATE INDEX match_text ON messages(role, text, consumed, id);
       CREATE INDEX match_timed_text ON messages(role, text, consumed, id) WHERE timestamp IS NOT NULL;
       CREATE INDEX match_undated_text ON messages(role, text, consumed, id) WHERE timestamp IS NULL;
+      CREATE INDEX match_routed ON messages(role, routed_key, consumed, id);
       CREATE INDEX match_image ON messages(image_key, consumed, id);
       CREATE INDEX message_identity ON messages(message_id);
       CREATE INDEX local_sequence ON messages(local_seq);
@@ -259,7 +273,8 @@ export class CliSessionHistoryIndex {
         bytes: parameter((row) => row.bytes),
         role: parameter((row) => row.role),
         text: parameter((row) => row.text),
-        drift_text: parameter((row) => row.drift_text),
+        undecorated_text: parameter((row) => row.undecorated_text),
+        routed_key: parameter((row) => row.routed_key),
         timestamp: parameter((row) => row.timestamp),
         external_key: parameter((row) => row.external_key),
         image_key: parameter((row) => row.image_key),
@@ -298,8 +313,11 @@ export class CliSessionHistoryIndex {
       bytes: Buffer.byteLength(serialized, "utf8"),
       role: role ?? null,
       text: comparable.text === undefined ? null : JSON.stringify(comparable.text),
-      drift_text:
+      undecorated_text:
-        comparable.driftNoteText === undefined ? null : JSON.stringify(comparable.driftNoteText),
+        comparable.undecoratedText === undefined
+          ? null
+          : JSON.stringify(comparable.undecoratedText),
+      routed_key: comparable.routedKey ?? null,
       timestamp: asFiniteNumber(record?.timestamp) ?? null,
       external_key: resolveImportedExternalIdentityKey(meta) ?? null,
       image_key:
@@ -409,7 +427,7 @@ export class CliSessionHistoryIndex {
         .limit(1),
     );
     type TextMatch = { role: string; text: string; floor: number; timestamp: number | null };
-    const textMatchers = (external: boolean) => {
+    const textMatchers = (external: boolean, column: "text" | "routed_key") => {
       const create = (time: "any" | "window" | "missing") =>
         prepareSqliteQueryTakeFirstSync<TextMatch, Match>(this.database, (parameter) => {
           let query = candidates()
@@ -419,7 +437,7 @@ export class CliSessionHistoryIndex {
               parameter((row) => row.role),
             )
             .where(
-              "text",
+              column,
               "=",
               parameter((row) => row.text),
             )
@@ -453,8 +471,16 @@ export class CliSessionHistoryIndex {
         });
       return { any: create("any"), window: create("window"), missing: create("missing") };
     };
-    const withIdentity = textMatchers(true);
+    const matchers = {
-    const withoutIdentity = textMatchers(false);
+      text: {
+        withIdentity: textMatchers(true, "text"),
+        withoutIdentity: textMatchers(false, "text"),
+      },
+      routed_key: {
+        withIdentity: textMatchers(true, "routed_key"),
+        withoutIdentity: textMatchers(false, "routed_key"),
+      },
+    };
     const consume = prepareSqliteQuerySync<Pick<HistoryRow, "id" | "metadata" | "external_key">>(
       this.database,
       (parameter) =>
@@ -474,12 +500,13 @@ export class CliSessionHistoryIndex {
     const minimumOrder = (role: string | null, text: string) =>
       this.readOrderFloor({ role: role ?? "", text })?.minimum_order ?? 0;
     const advance = (
-      imported: Pick<HistoryRow, "role" | "text" | "drift_text">,
+      imported: Pick<HistoryRow, "role" | "text" | "undecorated_text" | "routed_key">,
       matched: Pick<HistoryRow, "id" | "text">,
     ) => {
       for (const text of new Set([
         imported.text,
-        matched.text === imported.text ? imported.text : imported.drift_text,
+        matched.text === imported.text ? imported.text : imported.undecorated_text,
+        imported.routed_key,
       ])) {
         if (text) {
           this.advanceOrderFloor({ role: imported.role ?? "", text, minimumOrder: matched.id + 1 });
@@ -499,7 +526,8 @@ export class CliSessionHistoryIndex {
             "bytes",
             "role",
             "text",
-            "drift_text",
+            "undecorated_text",
+            "routed_key",
             "timestamp",
             "external_key",
             "image_key",
@@ -524,7 +552,12 @@ export class CliSessionHistoryIndex {
           }
           if (!duplicate && !imported.image_mentions) {
             const importedFloor = imported.text ? minimumOrder(imported.role, imported.text) : 0;
-            for (const text of [imported.text, imported.drift_text]) {
+            // Literal text first; a sender-scoped routed body only as the last fallback.
+            for (const [column, text] of [
+              ["text", imported.text],
+              ["text", imported.undecorated_text],
+              ["routed_key", imported.routed_key],
+            ] as const) {
               if (!text || !imported.role) {
                 continue;
               }
@@ -532,7 +565,9 @@ export class CliSessionHistoryIndex {
                 text === imported.text
                   ? importedFloor
                   : Math.max(minimumOrder(imported.role, text), importedFloor);
-              const match = imported.external_key ? withIdentity : withoutIdentity;
+              const match = imported.external_key
+                ? matchers[column].withIdentity
+                : matchers[column].withoutIdentity;
               const params = { role: imported.role, text, floor, timestamp: imported.timestamp };
               duplicate =
                 imported.timestamp === null

src/gateway/cli-session-history.claude.ts

@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@ import {
   getCliSessionBinding,
   normalizeCliSessionReseedReceipt,
 } from "../config/sessions/cli-session-binding.js";
+import {
+  type InputProvenance,
+  readInterSessionPromptEnvelope,
+} from "../sessions/input-provenance.js";
 import { attachOpenClawTranscriptMeta } from "./session-transcript-readers.js";
 
 const CLAUDE_CLI_PROVIDER = "claude-cli";
@@ -251,6 +255,25 @@ function isClaudeCliTaskNotification(
   );
 }
 
+// The native row keeps the routed prompt OpenClaw sent, envelope first. Its
+// provenance is the same fact the local transcript row stores structurally.
+// Preserve raw text so literal matches win before compare-only decoration removal.
+function readClaudeCliInterSessionProvenance(
+  content: string | unknown[],
+): InputProvenance | undefined {
+  const blockIndex =
+    typeof content === "string"
+      ? -1
+      : content.findIndex((item) => isRecord(item) && item.type === "text");
+  const candidate = blockIndex === -1 ? undefined : content[blockIndex];
+  const block = isRecord(candidate) ? candidate : undefined;
+  const text = typeof content === "string" ? content : block?.text;
+  if (typeof text !== "string") {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  return readInterSessionPromptEnvelope(text)?.provenance;
+}
+
 export function resolveClaudeCliPromptTextCandidates(
   entry: ClaudeCliProjectEntry,
   content: string | unknown[],
@@ -388,11 +411,14 @@ export function parseClaudeCliHistoryEntry(
       : isClaudeCliVisibleHarnessContext(entry)
         ? "cli_harness_context"
         : undefined;
+    const provenance = sourceTool
+      ? { kind: "internal_system", sourceTool }
+      : readClaudeCliInterSessionProvenance(content);
     return attachOpenClawTranscriptMeta(
       {
         role: "user",
         content,
-        ...(sourceTool ? { provenance: { kind: "internal_system", sourceTool } } : {}),
+        ...(provenance ? { provenance } : {}),
         ...(timestamp !== undefined ? { timestamp } : {}),
       },
       { ...baseMeta, ...(cliImageTurnKey ? { cliImageTurnKey } : {}) },

src/gateway/cli-session-history.prompt-text.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+// Compare-only text views for matching imported CLI prompts to local rows.
+import { stripCliSessionDriftNote } from "../agents/cli-session.js";
+import {
+  normalizeInputProvenance,
+  readInterSessionPromptEnvelope,
+} from "../sessions/input-provenance.js";
+
+// Some local inter-session rows store the routed text without the envelope the
+// CLI received. Equal bodies only count as one message when they came from the
+// same sender, so the view keeps the source next to the body.
+// CLI prompts can carry OpenClaw context around the envelope and below it.
+export function readRoutedPromptView(
+  provenanceValue: unknown,
+  rawText: string,
+  isCliPrompt: boolean,
+): { sender: string; body: string } | undefined {
+  const text = isCliPrompt ? stripCliPromptDecorations(rawText) : rawText;
+  const envelope = readInterSessionPromptEnvelope(text);
+  const provenance = normalizeInputProvenance(provenanceValue) ?? envelope?.provenance;
+  if (provenance?.kind !== "inter_session") {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  return {
+    sender: JSON.stringify([provenance.sourceSessionKey ?? null, provenance.sourceTool ?? null]),
+    body: isCliPrompt
+      ? stripCliPromptDecorations(text.slice(envelope?.length ?? 0))
+      : text.slice(envelope?.length ?? 0),
+  };
+}
+
+// Queued system events reach the CLI as a block of `System:` lines above the
+// prompt, separated by a blank line. The local row stores only the prompt.
+// Each queued event starts with the bracketed timestamp that
+// drainFormattedSystemEvents writes (UTC, zoned, or `unknown-time`), so a block
+// without one is text the sender typed.
+const SYSTEM_EVENT_TIMESTAMP_LINE =
+  /^System: \[(?:\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}T\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}Z|\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2} \d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}(?: [^\s\]]+)?|unknown-time)\] /u;
+
+function stripLeadingSystemEventLines(text: string): string {
+  const lines = text.replace(/^\n+/u, "").split("\n");
+  let end = 0;
+  let hasEvent = false;
+  while (end < lines.length && (lines[end] === "System:" || lines[end]?.startsWith("System: "))) {
+    hasEvent ||= SYSTEM_EVENT_TIMESTAMP_LINE.test(lines[end] ?? "");
+    end += 1;
+  }
+  if (!hasEvent || (end < lines.length && lines[end] !== "")) {
+    return text;
+  }
+  return lines.slice(end).join("\n");
+}
+
+// Compare-only view of an imported prompt without the context OpenClaw added
+// around the user's text before handing it to the CLI.
+export function stripCliPromptDecorations(text: string): string {
+  return stripLeadingSystemEventLines(stripCliSessionDriftNote(text));
+}

src/gateway/cli-session-history.routed-prompts.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,289 @@
+import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { buildCliSessionDriftNote } from "../agents/cli-session.js";
+import {
+  buildInterSessionPromptContext,
+  type InputProvenance,
+} from "../sessions/input-provenance.js";
+import {
+  claudeUser,
+  cliMeta,
+  mergeImportedChatHistoryMessages,
+  user,
+  withClaudeProjectsDir,
+} from "./cli-session-history.test-support.js";
+
+const DRIFT_NOTE = buildCliSessionDriftNote(["system-prompt", "prompt-tools"]);
+
+function writeClaudeEntries(filePath: string, entries: readonly Record<string, unknown>[]) {
+  return fs.writeFile(filePath, entries.map((entry) => JSON.stringify(entry)).join("\n"), "utf-8");
+}
+
+describe("routed CLI prompts in chat history", () => {
+  it("records inter-session provenance from the routed prompt envelope", async () => {
+    await withClaudeProjectsDir(async ({ filePath, readMessages }) => {
+      const envelope = buildInterSessionPromptContext({
+        kind: "inter_session",
+        sourceSessionKey: "agent:main:main",
+        sourceChannel: "webchat",
+        sourceTool: "sessions_send",
+      }).text;
+      await writeClaudeEntries(filePath, [
+        claudeUser(`${envelope}\n${DRIFT_NOTE}\nPlease check the build.`, {
+          uuid: "routed-1",
+        }),
+        claudeUser([{ type: "text", text: `${envelope}\nBlock body.` }], { uuid: "routed-2" }),
+        claudeUser(
+          `[Inter-session message] sourceTool=sessions_send isUser=false\nTyped by hand.`,
+          {
+            uuid: "look-alike-1",
+          },
+        ),
+      ]);
+
+      const messages = await readMessages();
+
+      const provenance = {
+        kind: "inter_session",
+        sourceSessionKey: "agent:main:main",
+        sourceChannel: "webchat",
+        sourceTool: "sessions_send",
+      };
+      expect(messages).toMatchObject([
+        {
+          role: "user",
+          content: `${envelope}\n${DRIFT_NOTE}\nPlease check the build.`,
+          provenance,
+        },
+        { role: "user", content: [{ type: "text", text: `${envelope}\nBlock body.` }], provenance },
+        { role: "user" },
+      ]);
+      expect(messages[2]?.provenance).toBeUndefined();
+    });
+  });
+
+  it.each(["string", "text block"])(
+    "matches literal routed %s content before removing generated-looking decorations",
+    async (shape) => {
+      await withClaudeProjectsDir(async ({ filePath, readMessages, sessionId }) => {
+        const provenance: InputProvenance = {
+          kind: "inter_session",
+          sourceSessionKey: "agent:ops:main",
+          sourceTool: "sessions_send",
+        };
+        const envelope = buildInterSessionPromptContext(provenance).text;
+        const body = `${envelope}\nPlease check the build.`;
+        const raw = `${envelope}\n${DRIFT_NOTE}\nPlease check the build.`;
+        const content = shape === "string" ? raw : [{ type: "text", text: raw }];
+        const plain = { ...user(body), provenance };
+        const literal = { ...user(content), provenance };
+        await writeClaudeEntries(filePath, [claudeUser(content, { uuid: "routed-literal" })]);
+
+        const imported = await readMessages();
+        const merged = mergeImportedChatHistoryMessages({
+          localMessages: [plain, literal],
+          importedMessages: imported,
+        });
+
+        expect(merged).toEqual([
+          plain,
+          { ...literal, __openclaw: cliMeta("routed-literal", sessionId) },
+        ]);
+        expect(imported[0]?.content).toEqual(content);
+      });
+    },
+  );
+
+  it("dedupes routed prompts whose drift note sits under the inter-session envelope", () => {
+    const envelope = buildInterSessionPromptContext({
+      kind: "inter_session",
+      sourceSessionKey: "agent:main:main",
+      sourceTool: "sessions_send",
+    }).text;
+    const provenance = {
+      kind: "inter_session",
+      sourceSessionKey: "agent:main:main",
+      sourceTool: "sessions_send",
+    };
+    const routed = { ...user(`${envelope}\nPlease check the build.`, 1_000), provenance };
+    const settled = {
+      ...user("[Subagent Context] Every subagent has settled.", 2_000),
+      provenance: { kind: "inter_session", sourceTool: "subagent_settle" },
+    };
+    const importedRouted = user(
+      `${envelope}\n${DRIFT_NOTE}\nPlease check the build.`,
+      1_001,
+      cliMeta("routed"),
+    );
+    const settleEnvelope = buildInterSessionPromptContext({
+      kind: "inter_session",
+      sourceTool: "subagent_settle",
+    }).text;
+    const importedSettled = user(
+      `${settleEnvelope}\n[Subagent Context] Every subagent has settled.`,
+      2_001,
+      cliMeta("settled"),
+    );
+
+    const merged = mergeImportedChatHistoryMessages({
+      localMessages: [routed, settled],
+      importedMessages: [importedRouted, importedSettled],
+    });
+
+    expect(merged).toEqual([
+      { ...routed, __openclaw: cliMeta("routed") },
+      { ...settled, __openclaw: cliMeta("settled") },
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps equal routed bodies from different source sessions apart", () => {
+    const routedFrom = (sourceSessionKey: string) => ({
+      envelope: buildInterSessionPromptContext({
+        kind: "inter_session",
+        sourceSessionKey,
+        sourceTool: "sessions_send",
+      }).text,
+      provenance: { kind: "inter_session", sourceSessionKey, sourceTool: "sessions_send" },
+    });
+    const ops = routedFrom("agent:ops:main");
+    const finance = routedFrom("agent:finance:main");
+    const localWithEnvelope = {
+      ...user(`${ops.envelope}\ndone`, 1_000),
+      provenance: ops.provenance,
+    };
+    const localBodyOnly = { ...user("done", 1_000_000), provenance: ops.provenance };
+    const importedFinance = {
+      ...user(`${finance.envelope}\ndone`, 1_001, cliMeta("finance-1")),
+      provenance: finance.provenance,
+    };
+    const importedFinanceLater = {
+      ...user(`${finance.envelope}\ndone`, 1_000_001, cliMeta("finance-2")),
+      provenance: finance.provenance,
+    };
+    const importedOps = {
+      ...user(`${ops.envelope}\ndone`, 1_000_002, cliMeta("ops-2")),
+      provenance: ops.provenance,
+    };
+
+    expect(
+      mergeImportedChatHistoryMessages({
+        localMessages: [localWithEnvelope, localBodyOnly],
+        importedMessages: [importedFinance, importedFinanceLater, importedOps],
+      }),
+    ).toEqual([
+      localWithEnvelope,
+      importedFinance,
+      { ...localBodyOnly, __openclaw: cliMeta("ops-2") },
+      importedFinanceLater,
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps an owner message apart from a routed message with the same body", () => {
+    const provenance: InputProvenance = {
+      kind: "inter_session",
+      sourceSessionKey: "agent:ops:main",
+      sourceTool: "sessions_send",
+    };
+    const envelope = buildInterSessionPromptContext(provenance).text;
+    const owner = user("done", 1_000);
+    const importedRouted = {
+      ...user(`${envelope}\ndone`, 1_001, cliMeta("routed")),
+      provenance,
+    };
+
+    expect(
+      mergeImportedChatHistoryMessages({
+        localMessages: [owner],
+        importedMessages: [importedRouted],
+      }),
+    ).toEqual([owner, importedRouted]);
+  });
+
+  it("dedupes routed prompts carrying queued system event lines", () => {
+    const provenance: InputProvenance = {
+      kind: "inter_session",
+      sourceSessionKey: "agent:ops:main",
+      sourceTool: "sessions_send",
+    };
+    const envelope = buildInterSessionPromptContext(provenance).text;
+    const local = { ...user("what changed?", 1_000), provenance };
+    const imported = {
+      ...user(
+        `${envelope}\nSystem: [2026-09-30 17:16:38 UTC] Gateway connected.\n\nwhat changed?`,
+        1_001,
+        cliMeta("routed-events"),
+      ),
+      provenance,
+    };
+
+    expect(
+      mergeImportedChatHistoryMessages({ localMessages: [local], importedMessages: [imported] }),
+    ).toEqual([{ ...local, __openclaw: cliMeta("routed-events") }]);
+  });
+
+  it("dedupes a body-only routed row against an import with a drift note", () => {
+    const provenance: InputProvenance = {
+      kind: "inter_session",
+      sourceSessionKey: "agent:ops:main",
+      sourceTool: "sessions_send",
+    };
+    const envelope = buildInterSessionPromptContext(provenance).text;
+    const local = { ...user("Please check the build.", 1_000), provenance };
+    const imported = user(
+      `${envelope}\n${DRIFT_NOTE}\nPlease check the build.`,
+      1_001,
+      cliMeta("routed-drift"),
+    );
+
+    expect(
+      mergeImportedChatHistoryMessages({ localMessages: [local], importedMessages: [imported] }),
+    ).toEqual([{ ...local, __openclaw: cliMeta("routed-drift") }]);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps typed System lines as part of the prompt", () => {
+    const local = user("what changed?", 1_000);
+    const imported = user("System: review the logs\n\nwhat changed?", 1_001, cliMeta("typed"));
+
+    expect(
+      mergeImportedChatHistoryMessages({ localMessages: [local], importedMessages: [imported] }),
+    ).toEqual([local, imported]);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps typed bracketed System lines apart from an unrelated local turn", () => {
+    const local = user("done", 1_000);
+    const imported = user("System: [manual note]\n\ndone", 1_001, cliMeta("bracketed"));
+
+    expect(
+      mergeImportedChatHistoryMessages({ localMessages: [local], importedMessages: [imported] }),
+    ).toEqual([local, imported]);
+  });
+
+  it("strips queued system event lines with UTC and unknown timestamps", () => {
+    const local = user("done", 1_000);
+    const imported = user(
+      "System: [2026-09-30T17:16:38Z] Gateway connected.\nSystem: [unknown-time] Node paired.\n\ndone",
+      1_001,
+      cliMeta("utc-events"),
+    );
+
+    expect(
+      mergeImportedChatHistoryMessages({ localMessages: [local], importedMessages: [imported] }),
+    ).toEqual([{ ...local, __openclaw: cliMeta("utc-events") }]);
+  });
+
+  it("dedupes prompts carrying queued system event lines", () => {
+    const localMessage = user("what changed?", 1_000);
+    const importedMessage = user(
+      `${DRIFT_NOTE}\n\nSystem: [2026-09-30 17:16:38 UTC] Gateway connected.\nSystem: second line\n\nwhat changed?`,
+      1_001,
+      cliMeta("system-events"),
+    );
+
+    expect(
+      mergeImportedChatHistoryMessages({
+        localMessages: [localMessage],
+        importedMessages: [importedMessage],
+      }),
+    ).toEqual([{ ...localMessage, __openclaw: cliMeta("system-events") }]);
+  });
+});

src/sessions/input-provenance.test.ts

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import {
   INTER_SESSION_PROMPT_PREFIX_BASE,
   isAgentMediatedCompletionSourceTool,
   normalizeInputProvenance,
+  readInterSessionPromptEnvelope,
   shouldPreserveUserFacingSessionStateForInputProvenance,
   stripInterSessionPromptPrefixForDisplay,
 } from "./input-provenance.js";
@@ -113,6 +114,40 @@ describe("inter-session body whitespace", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("readInterSessionPromptEnvelope", () => {
+  it("reads source provenance from a generated envelope", () => {
+    const text = annotateInterSessionPromptText("body", {
+      kind: "inter_session",
+      sourceSessionKey: "agent:main:main",
+      sourceChannel: "webchat",
+      sourceTool: "sessions_send",
+    });
+
+    const envelope = readInterSessionPromptEnvelope(text);
+
+    expect(envelope?.provenance).toEqual({
+      kind: "inter_session",
+      sourceSessionKey: "agent:main:main",
+      sourceChannel: "webchat",
+      sourceTool: "sessions_send",
+    });
+    expect(text.slice(envelope?.length)).toBe("body");
+  });
+
+  it("ignores headers without the generated explanation or with unknown fields", () => {
+    expect(
+      readInterSessionPromptEnvelope(`${INTER_SESSION_PROMPT_PREFIX_BASE} isUser=false\nhello`),
+    ).toBeUndefined();
+    const generated = annotateInterSessionPromptText("x", { kind: "inter_session" });
+    expect(
+      readInterSessionPromptEnvelope(
+        generated.replace("isUser=false", "sourceRole=user isUser=false"),
+      ),
+    ).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(readInterSessionPromptEnvelope(`quoted ${generated}`)).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+});
+
 describe("isAgentMediatedCompletionSourceTool", () => {
   it.each(["agent_harness_task", "image_generate", "music_generate", "video_generate"])(
     "identifies %s as an agent-mediated completion source",

src/sessions/input-provenance.ts

@@ -205,6 +205,55 @@ export function buildInterSessionPromptContext(inputProvenance: InputProvenance
   };
 }
 
+const INTER_SESSION_PROMPT_HEADER_FIELDS: ReadonlyMap<
+  string,
+  "sourceSessionKey" | "sourceChannel" | "sourceTool"
+> = new Map([
+  ["sourceSession", "sourceSessionKey"],
+  ["sourceChannel", "sourceChannel"],
+  ["sourceTool", "sourceTool"],
+]);
+
+/**
+ * Reads the generated envelope at the start of prompt text. Only the exact
+ * header plus explanation counts, so ordinary text that mentions the prefix
+ * stays authored by its sender.
+ */
+export function readInterSessionPromptEnvelope(
+  text: string,
+): { provenance: InputProvenance; length: number } | undefined {
+  if (!text.startsWith(`${INTER_SESSION_PROMPT_PREFIX_BASE} `)) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  const headerEnd = text.indexOf("\n");
+  if (headerEnd === -1) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  const explanationEnd = headerEnd + 1 + INTER_SESSION_PROMPT_EXPLANATION.length;
+  if (text.slice(headerEnd + 1, explanationEnd) !== INTER_SESSION_PROMPT_EXPLANATION) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  const details = text
+    .slice(INTER_SESSION_PROMPT_PREFIX_BASE.length, headerEnd)
+    .trim()
+    .split(/\s+/u);
+  if (details.at(-1) !== "isUser=false") {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  const provenance: InputProvenance = { kind: "inter_session" };
+  for (const detail of details.slice(0, -1)) {
+    const separator = detail.indexOf("=");
+    const field = INTER_SESSION_PROMPT_HEADER_FIELDS.get(detail.slice(0, separator));
+    const value = normalizeOptionalString(detail.slice(separator + 1));
+    if (separator <= 0 || !field || !value) {
+      return undefined;
+    }
+    provenance[field] = value;
+  }
+  const length = text.startsWith("\n", explanationEnd) ? explanationEnd + 1 : explanationEnd;
+  return { provenance, length };
+}
+
 export function stripInterSessionPromptPrefixForDisplay(text: string): string {
   const index = text.indexOf(INTER_SESSION_PROMPT_PREFIX_BASE);
   if (index === -1) {