diff --git a/src/routes/api/sessions.ts b/src/routes/api/sessions.ts
index b0ee0e8ec..a06cf9817 100644
--- a/src/routes/api/sessions.ts
+++ b/src/routes/api/sessions.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,37 @@ import {
   updateLocalSessionTitle,
 } from '../../server/local-session-store'
 
+const WORKSPACE_CONTEXT_PREFIX_RE = /^\s*<workspace_context\b/i
+
+function cleanSessionDisplayText(value: unknown): string | undefined {
+  if (typeof value !== 'string') return undefined
+  const trimmed = value.trim()
+  if (!trimmed) return undefined
+  if (WORKSPACE_CONTEXT_PREFIX_RE.test(trimmed)) return undefined
+  return trimmed
+}
+
+function cleanGatewaySessionSummary<T extends Record<string, unknown>>(session: T): T {
+  const cleanLabel = cleanSessionDisplayText(session.label)
+  const cleanTitle = cleanSessionDisplayText(session.title)
+  const cleanDerivedTitle = cleanSessionDisplayText(session.derivedTitle)
+  const cleanPreview = cleanSessionDisplayText(session.preview)
+
+  const fallbackId =
+    cleanSessionDisplayText(session.friendlyId) ||
+    cleanSessionDisplayText(session.key) ||
+    cleanSessionDisplayText(session.id) ||
+    'Session'
+
+  return {
+    ...session,
+    label: cleanLabel,
+    title: cleanTitle,
+    derivedTitle: cleanDerivedTitle || cleanTitle || cleanLabel || fallbackId,
+    preview: cleanPreview ?? null,
+  }
+}
+
 export const Route = createFileRoute('/api/sessions')({
   server: {
     handlers: {
@@ -41,7 +72,7 @@ export const Route = createFileRoute('/api/sessions')({
 
         try {
           const sessions = await listSessions(50, 0)
-          const gatewaySessions = sessions.map(toSessionSummary)
+          const gatewaySessions = sessions.map(toSessionSummary).map(cleanGatewaySessionSummary)
 
           // Merge local portable sessions (Ollama, Atomic Chat, etc.)
           const localSessions = listLocalSessions()
@@ -141,7 +172,7 @@ export const Route = createFileRoute('/api/sessions')({
             ok: true,
             sessionKey: session.id,
             friendlyId: session.id,
-            entry: toSessionSummary(session),
+            entry: cleanGatewaySessionSummary(toSessionSummary(session)),
             modelApplied: true,
           })
         } catch (err) {
@@ -248,7 +279,7 @@ export const Route = createFileRoute('/api/sessions')({
           return json({
             ok: true,
             sessionKey,
-            entry: toSessionSummary(session),
+            entry: cleanGatewaySessionSummary(toSessionSummary(session)),
           })
         } catch (err) {
           return json(
diff --git a/src/screens/chat/session-title-store.ts b/src/screens/chat/session-title-store.ts
index dc0696fc3..fd8015cbf 100644
--- a/src/screens/chat/session-title-store.ts
+++ b/src/screens/chat/session-title-store.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,23 @@ export type SessionTitleInfo = {
 
 const STORAGE_KEY = 'claude.sessionTitles.v1'
 
+const WORKSPACE_CONTEXT_TITLE_REGEX =
+  /^\s*<workspace_context\s+active="true"\s+name="[^"]*"\s+path="[^"]*"\s*\/?>\s*/i
+
+function cleanStoredTitleCandidate(value: unknown): string | undefined {
+  if (typeof value !== 'string') return undefined
+  const trimmed = value.trim()
+  if (!trimmed) return undefined
+
+  if (trimmed.includes('<workspace_context')) {
+    const cleaned = trimmed.replace(WORKSPACE_CONTEXT_TITLE_REGEX, '').trim()
+    if (cleaned && !cleaned.includes('<workspace_context')) return cleaned
+    return undefined
+  }
+
+  return trimmed
+}
+
 let persistedTitles: Record<string, PersistedTitle> = {}
 const runtimeStates = new Map<string, RuntimeState>()
 const listeners = new Set<() => void>()
@@ -49,11 +66,9 @@ function ensureLoaded() {
               const normalized: PersistedTitle = {}
               // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-unnecessary-condition -- runtime safety
               if (value && typeof value === 'object') {
-                if (
-                  typeof value.title === 'string' &&
-                  value.title.trim().length > 0
-                ) {
-                  normalized.title = value.title.trim()
+                const cleanTitle = cleanStoredTitleCandidate(value.title)
+                if (cleanTitle) {
+                  normalized.title = cleanTitle
                 }
                 if (value.source === 'auto' || value.source === 'manual') {
                   normalized.source = value.source
@@ -167,7 +182,7 @@ export function updateSessionTitleState(
   const nextRuntime: RuntimeState = { ...prevRuntime }
 
   if ('title' in patch) {
-    const nextTitle = patch.title?.trim() ?? ''
+    const nextTitle = cleanStoredTitleCandidate(patch.title) ?? ''
     if (nextTitle.length > 0) {
       nextPersisted = {
         ...nextPersisted,
diff --git a/src/screens/chat/utils.ts b/src/screens/chat/utils.ts
index a329003c5..c346984d4 100644
--- a/src/screens/chat/utils.ts
+++ b/src/screens/chat/utils.ts
@@ -183,6 +183,20 @@ export function getMessageTimestamp(message: ChatMessage): number {
   return Date.now()
 }
 
+function cleanTitleCandidate(raw: string): string | undefined {
+  const trimmed = raw.trim()
+  if (!trimmed) return undefined
+
+  if (trimmed.includes('<workspace_context')) {
+    const cleaned = cleanUserText(trimmed)
+    if (cleaned && !cleaned.includes('<workspace_context')) return cleaned
+    return undefined
+  }
+
+  const cleaned = cleanUserText(trimmed)
+  return cleaned || trimmed
+}
+
 function deriveTitleStatus(
   label?: string,
   explicitTitle?: string,
@@ -226,16 +240,14 @@ export function normalizeSessions(
         ? session.label.trim()
         : undefined
     const explicitTitle =
-      typeof session.title === 'string' && session.title.trim().length > 0
-        ? cleanUserText(session.title.trim()) || session.title.trim()
+      typeof session.title === 'string'
+        ? cleanTitleCandidate(session.title)
         : undefined
     const derivedTitle =
-      typeof session.derivedTitle === 'string' &&
-        session.derivedTitle.trim().length > 0
-        ? cleanUserText(session.derivedTitle.trim()) || session.derivedTitle.trim()
-        : typeof session.preview === 'string' &&
-          session.preview.trim().length > 0
-          ? cleanUserText(session.preview.trim()) || session.preview.trim()
+      typeof session.derivedTitle === 'string'
+        ? cleanTitleCandidate(session.derivedTitle)
+        : typeof session.preview === 'string'
+          ? cleanTitleCandidate(session.preview)
           : undefined
     const titleStatus = deriveTitleStatus(
       label,
@@ -264,7 +276,7 @@ export function normalizeSessions(
       titleError: session.titleError ?? null,
       preview:
         typeof session.preview === 'string'
-          ? cleanUserText(session.preview) || session.preview.trim() || null
+          ? cleanTitleCandidate(session.preview) ?? null
           : session.preview ?? null,
     }
   })