diff --git a/pkg/agent/dispatch_request.go b/pkg/agent/dispatch_request.go
index 40548c41a..cb54264d6 100644
--- a/pkg/agent/dispatch_request.go
+++ b/pkg/agent/dispatch_request.go
@@ -93,9 +93,7 @@ func normalizeProcessOptions(opts processOptions) processOptions {
 				MessageID:        strings.TrimSpace(opts.MessageID),
 				ReplyToMessageID: strings.TrimSpace(opts.ReplyToMessageID),
 			}
-			if inbound.Channel != "" && inbound.ChatID != "" {
-				inbound.ChatType = "direct"
-			}
+			inbound.ChatType = inferChatTypeFromSessionScope(opts.Dispatch.SessionScope)
 			if inbound.Channel != "" || inbound.ChatID != "" || inbound.SenderID != "" ||
 				inbound.MessageID != "" || inbound.ReplyToMessageID != "" {
 				inbound = bus.NormalizeInboundMessage(bus.InboundMessage{Context: inbound}).Context
@@ -132,3 +130,18 @@ func normalizeProcessOptions(opts processOptions) processOptions {
 
 	return opts
 }
+
+func inferChatTypeFromSessionScope(scope *session.SessionScope) string {
+	if scope == nil || len(scope.Values) == 0 {
+		return ""
+	}
+	chatValue := strings.TrimSpace(scope.Values["chat"])
+	if chatValue == "" {
+		return ""
+	}
+	chatType, _, ok := strings.Cut(chatValue, ":")
+	if !ok {
+		return ""
+	}
+	return strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(chatType))
+}
diff --git a/pkg/agent/dispatch_request_test.go b/pkg/agent/dispatch_request_test.go
index 89fc01a3b..ec5f70339 100644
--- a/pkg/agent/dispatch_request_test.go
+++ b/pkg/agent/dispatch_request_test.go
@@ -108,3 +108,28 @@ func TestNormalizeProcessOptions_UsesDispatchAsSourceOfTruth(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("SessionScope = %#v, want support scope", opts.SessionScope)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestNormalizeProcessOptions_InfersLegacyChatTypeFromSessionScope(t *testing.T) {
+	opts := normalizeProcessOptions(processOptions{
+		Channel:     "telegram",
+		ChatID:      "-100123",
+		SenderID:    "user-1",
+		UserMessage: "hello",
+		SessionScope: &session.SessionScope{
+			Version:    session.ScopeVersionV1,
+			AgentID:    "main",
+			Channel:    "telegram",
+			Dimensions: []string{"chat"},
+			Values: map[string]string{
+				"chat": "group:-100123",
+			},
+		},
+	})
+
+	if opts.Dispatch.InboundContext == nil {
+		t.Fatal("Dispatch.InboundContext is nil")
+	}
+	if opts.Dispatch.InboundContext.ChatType != "group" {
+		t.Fatalf("Dispatch.InboundContext.ChatType = %q, want group", opts.Dispatch.InboundContext.ChatType)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/agent/steering.go b/pkg/agent/steering.go
index d70c92731..a2e5fec21 100644
--- a/pkg/agent/steering.go
+++ b/pkg/agent/steering.go
@@ -292,16 +292,18 @@ func (al *AgentLoop) continueWithSteeringMessages(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	agent *AgentInstance,
 	sessionKey, channel, chatID string,
+	scope *session.SessionScope,
 	steeringMsgs []providers.Message,
 ) (string, error) {
 	dispatch := DispatchRequest{
-		SessionKey: sessionKey,
+		SessionKey:   sessionKey,
+		SessionScope: session.CloneScope(scope),
 	}
 	if channel != "" || chatID != "" {
 		dispatch.InboundContext = &bus.InboundContext{
 			Channel:  channel,
 			ChatID:   chatID,
-			ChatType: "direct",
+			ChatType: inferChatTypeFromSessionScope(scope),
 		}
 	}
 	return al.runAgentLoop(ctx, agent, processOptions{
@@ -372,7 +374,12 @@ func (al *AgentLoop) Continue(ctx context.Context, sessionKey, channel, chatID s
 		}
 	}
 
-	return al.continueWithSteeringMessages(ctx, agent, sessionKey, channel, chatID, steeringMsgs)
+	var scope *session.SessionScope
+	if metaStore, ok := agent.Sessions.(session.MetadataAwareSessionStore); ok {
+		scope = metaStore.GetSessionScope(sessionKey)
+	}
+
+	return al.continueWithSteeringMessages(ctx, agent, sessionKey, channel, chatID, scope, steeringMsgs)
 }
 
 func (al *AgentLoop) InterruptGraceful(hint string) error {
diff --git a/pkg/bus/bus_test.go b/pkg/bus/bus_test.go
index fc1f8b611..5145d4759 100644
--- a/pkg/bus/bus_test.go
+++ b/pkg/bus/bus_test.go
@@ -278,6 +278,33 @@ func TestPublishOutbound_PreservesExplicitReplyToMessageID(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestPublishOutbound_PreservesExplicitReplyToMessageIDWhenContextReplyIsBlank(t *testing.T) {
+	mb := NewMessageBus()
+	defer mb.Close()
+
+	msg := OutboundMessage{
+		Context: InboundContext{
+			Channel:          "telegram",
+			ChatID:           "chat-42",
+			ReplyToMessageID: "   ",
+		},
+		ReplyToMessageID: "msg-9",
+		Content:          "reply",
+	}
+
+	if err := mb.PublishOutbound(context.Background(), msg); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("PublishOutbound failed: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	got := <-mb.OutboundChan()
+	if got.ReplyToMessageID != "msg-9" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected mirrored reply_to_message_id msg-9, got %q", got.ReplyToMessageID)
+	}
+	if got.Context.ReplyToMessageID != "msg-9" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected context reply_to_message_id msg-9, got %q", got.Context.ReplyToMessageID)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestPublishOutboundMedia_MirrorsContextToLegacyFields(t *testing.T) {
 	mb := NewMessageBus()
 	defer mb.Close()
diff --git a/pkg/bus/outbound_context.go b/pkg/bus/outbound_context.go
index 4861483a1..cbbbc99c7 100644
--- a/pkg/bus/outbound_context.go
+++ b/pkg/bus/outbound_context.go
@@ -34,7 +34,12 @@ func NormalizeOutboundMessage(msg OutboundMessage) OutboundMessage {
 	if msg.ChatID == "" {
 		msg.ChatID = msg.Context.ChatID
 	}
-	msg.ReplyToMessageID = msg.Context.ReplyToMessageID
+	if msg.ReplyToMessageID == "" {
+		msg.ReplyToMessageID = msg.Context.ReplyToMessageID
+	}
+	if msg.Context.ReplyToMessageID == "" {
+		msg.Context.ReplyToMessageID = msg.ReplyToMessageID
+	}
 	msg.Scope = cloneOutboundScope(msg.Scope)
 	return msg
 }
diff --git a/pkg/memory/jsonl.go b/pkg/memory/jsonl.go
index a1b794b97..8d3320f3f 100644
--- a/pkg/memory/jsonl.go
+++ b/pkg/memory/jsonl.go
@@ -374,6 +374,11 @@ func (s *JSONLStore) promoteAliasHistoryLocked(
 		return false, nil
 	}
 
+	previousJSONL, hadPreviousJSONL, err := s.readRawJSONL(sessionKey)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+
 	now := time.Now()
 	if canonicalMeta.CreatedAt.IsZero() {
 		canonicalMeta.CreatedAt = now
@@ -387,10 +392,13 @@ func (s *JSONLStore) promoteAliasHistoryLocked(
 		canonicalMeta.Summary = aliasSummary
 	}
 
-	if err := s.writeMeta(sessionKey, canonicalMeta); err != nil {
+	if err := s.rewriteJSONL(sessionKey, aliasHistory); err != nil {
 		return false, err
 	}
-	if err := s.rewriteJSONL(sessionKey, aliasHistory); err != nil {
+	if err := s.writeMeta(sessionKey, canonicalMeta); err != nil {
+		if rollbackErr := s.restoreRawJSONL(sessionKey, previousJSONL, hadPreviousJSONL); rollbackErr != nil {
+			return false, fmt.Errorf("memory: write promoted meta: %w (rollback jsonl: %v)", err, rollbackErr)
+		}
 		return false, err
 	}
 	return true, nil
@@ -410,6 +418,31 @@ func (s *JSONLStore) sessionHasVisibleContentLocked(sessionKey string, meta Sess
 	return len(history) > 0, nil
 }
 
+func (s *JSONLStore) readRawJSONL(sessionKey string) ([]byte, bool, error) {
+	data, err := os.ReadFile(s.jsonlPath(sessionKey))
+	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		return nil, false, nil
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, false, fmt.Errorf("memory: read jsonl: %w", err)
+	}
+	return data, true, nil
+}
+
+func (s *JSONLStore) restoreRawJSONL(sessionKey string, data []byte, existed bool) error {
+	path := s.jsonlPath(sessionKey)
+	if !existed {
+		if err := os.Remove(path); err != nil && !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			return fmt.Errorf("memory: remove jsonl rollback: %w", err)
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+	if err := fileutil.WriteFileAtomic(path, data, 0o644); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("memory: restore jsonl rollback: %w", err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // readMessages reads valid JSON lines from a .jsonl file, skipping
 // the first `skip` lines without unmarshaling them. This avoids the
 // cost of json.Unmarshal on logically truncated messages.
diff --git a/pkg/session/jsonl_backend.go b/pkg/session/jsonl_backend.go
index 2c4eb4e5a..68ef2d753 100644
--- a/pkg/session/jsonl_backend.go
+++ b/pkg/session/jsonl_backend.go
@@ -92,61 +92,6 @@ func (b *JSONLBackend) EnsureSessionMetadata(sessionKey string, scope *SessionSc
 		if _, err := promotingStore.PromoteAliasHistory(ctx, sessionKey, rawScope, aliases); err != nil {
 			log.Printf("session: promote alias history: %v", err)
 		}
-		return
-	}
-
-	canonicalMeta, metaErr := metaStore.GetSessionMeta(ctx, sessionKey)
-	if metaErr != nil {
-		log.Printf("session: get canonical session metadata: %v", metaErr)
-	} else if canonicalMeta.Count > 0 || strings.TrimSpace(canonicalMeta.Summary) != "" {
-		return
-	}
-
-	canonicalHistory, historyErr := b.store.GetHistory(ctx, sessionKey)
-	if historyErr != nil {
-		log.Printf("session: get canonical history: %v", historyErr)
-		return
-	}
-	canonicalSummary, summaryErr := b.store.GetSummary(ctx, sessionKey)
-	if summaryErr != nil {
-		log.Printf("session: get canonical summary: %v", summaryErr)
-		return
-	}
-	if len(canonicalHistory) > 0 || strings.TrimSpace(canonicalSummary) != "" {
-		return
-	}
-
-	for _, alias := range aliases {
-		alias = strings.TrimSpace(alias)
-		if alias == "" || alias == sessionKey {
-			continue
-		}
-		aliasHistory, err := b.store.GetHistory(ctx, alias)
-		if err != nil {
-			log.Printf("session: get alias history: %v", err)
-			continue
-		}
-		aliasSummary, err := b.store.GetSummary(ctx, alias)
-		if err != nil {
-			log.Printf("session: get alias summary: %v", err)
-			continue
-		}
-		if len(aliasHistory) == 0 && strings.TrimSpace(aliasSummary) == "" {
-			continue
-		}
-		if err := b.store.SetHistory(ctx, sessionKey, aliasHistory); err != nil {
-			log.Printf("session: promote alias history: %v", err)
-			return
-		}
-		if strings.TrimSpace(aliasSummary) != "" {
-			if err := b.store.SetSummary(ctx, sessionKey, aliasSummary); err != nil {
-				log.Printf("session: promote alias summary: %v", err)
-			}
-		}
-		if err := metaStore.UpsertSessionMeta(ctx, sessionKey, rawScope, aliases); err != nil {
-			log.Printf("session: refresh session metadata after promotion: %v", err)
-		}
-		return
 	}
 }