diff --git a/pkg/config/config.go b/pkg/config/config.go
index 46ffa2ecf..2e0215278 100644
--- a/pkg/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/config/config.go
@@ -224,11 +224,11 @@ type PlaceholderConfig struct {
 }
 
 type WhatsAppConfig struct {
-	Enabled          bool                `json:"enabled"            env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_WHATSAPP_ENABLED"`
-	BridgeURL        string              `json:"bridge_url"         env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_WHATSAPP_BRIDGE_URL"`
-	UseNative        bool                `json:"use_native"         env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_WHATSAPP_USE_NATIVE"`
-	SessionStorePath string              `json:"session_store_path" env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_WHATSAPP_SESSION_STORE_PATH"`
-	AllowFrom        FlexibleStringSlice `json:"allow_from"         env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_WHATSAPP_ALLOW_FROM"`
+	Enabled            bool                `json:"enabled"              env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_WHATSAPP_ENABLED"`
+	BridgeURL          string              `json:"bridge_url"           env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_WHATSAPP_BRIDGE_URL"`
+	UseNative          bool                `json:"use_native"           env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_WHATSAPP_USE_NATIVE"`
+	SessionStorePath   string              `json:"session_store_path"   env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_WHATSAPP_SESSION_STORE_PATH"`
+	AllowFrom          FlexibleStringSlice `json:"allow_from"           env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_WHATSAPP_ALLOW_FROM"`
 	ReasoningChannelID string              `json:"reasoning_channel_id" env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_WHATSAPP_REASONING_CHANNEL_ID"`
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/utils/string.go b/pkg/utils/string.go
index 6a78f59fe..02f346db4 100644
--- a/pkg/utils/string.go
+++ b/pkg/utils/string.go
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"unicode"
 )
 
-// SanitizeMessage removes Unicode control characters, format characters (RTL overrides,
+// SanitizeMessageContent removes Unicode control characters, format characters (RTL overrides,
 // zero-width characters), and other non-graphic characters that could confuse an LLM
 // or cause display issues in the agent UI.
 func SanitizeMessageContent(input string) string {
diff --git a/pkg/utils/string_test.go b/pkg/utils/string_test.go
index fffa0cff3..e3b5af052 100644
--- a/pkg/utils/string_test.go
+++ b/pkg/utils/string_test.go
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ func TestSanitizeMessageContent(t *testing.T) {
 		{"strip RTL override", "Hi\u202eevil", "Hievil"},
 		{"strip BOM", "\uFEFFcontent", "content"},
 		{"strip multiple", "a\u200c\u202ab\u202cc", "abc"},
-		{"unicode letters preserved", "café 日本語", "café 日本語"},
+		{"unicode letters preserved", "café \u65e5\u672c\u8a9e", "café \u65e5\u672c\u8a9e"},
 	}
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {