diff --git a/internal/agent/systemprompt.go b/internal/agent/systemprompt.go
index 5700eed7..7a4192e6 100644
--- a/internal/agent/systemprompt.go
+++ b/internal/agent/systemprompt.go
@@ -160,6 +160,11 @@ func BuildSystemPrompt(cfg SystemPromptConfig) string {
 		lines = append(lines, buildMessagingSection()...)
 	}
 
+	// 9.5. Channel formatting hints (e.g. Zalo → plain text)
+	if hint := buildChannelFormattingHint(cfg.ChannelType); hint != nil {
+		lines = append(lines, hint...)
+	}
+
 	// 10. Extra system prompt (wrapped in tags for context isolation)
 	if cfg.ExtraPrompt != "" {
 		header := "## Additional Context"
diff --git a/internal/agent/systemprompt_sections.go b/internal/agent/systemprompt_sections.go
index 9cba3581..a6a867d7 100644
--- a/internal/agent/systemprompt_sections.go
+++ b/internal/agent/systemprompt_sections.go
@@ -248,6 +248,24 @@ func buildRuntimeSection(cfg SystemPromptConfig) []string {
 	return lines
 }
 
+// buildChannelFormattingHint returns platform-specific formatting guidance.
+// Zalo does not render any markup, so we instruct the model to use plain text.
+func buildChannelFormattingHint(channelType string) []string {
+	switch channelType {
+	case "zalo", "zalo_personal":
+		return []string{
+			"## Output Formatting",
+			"",
+			"This channel (Zalo) does NOT support any text formatting — no Markdown, no HTML, no bold/italic/code.",
+			"Always respond in clean plain text. Do not use **, __, `, ```, #, > or any markup syntax.",
+			"For lists use simple dashes or bullets (•). For code, just paste the code as-is without fencing.",
+			"",
+		}
+	default:
+		return nil
+	}
+}
+
 // hasBootstrapFile checks if BOOTSTRAP.md is present in the context files.
 func hasBootstrapFile(files []bootstrap.ContextFile) bool {
 	for _, f := range files {
diff --git a/internal/channels/zalo/format.go b/internal/channels/zalo/format.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fbdcb294
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/channels/zalo/format.go
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+package zalo
+
+import (
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// StripMarkdown removes markdown formatting artifacts from text, producing
+// clean plain text suitable for Zalo which does not support any markup.
+func StripMarkdown(text string) string {
+	if text == "" {
+		return text
+	}
+
+	// 1. Strip fenced code blocks — keep content, remove ``` delimiters
+	text = reFencedCode.ReplaceAllString(text, "$1")
+
+	// 2. Strip inline code backticks
+	text = reInlineCode.ReplaceAllString(text, "$1")
+
+	// 3. Strip images ![alt](url) — remove entirely
+	text = reImage.ReplaceAllString(text, "")
+
+	// 4. Strip links [text](url) → text (url)
+	text = reLink.ReplaceAllString(text, "$1 ($2)")
+
+	// 5. Strip bold+italic (***text*** or ___text___)
+	text = reBoldItalicStar.ReplaceAllString(text, "$1")
+	text = reBoldItalicUnder.ReplaceAllString(text, "$1")
+
+	// 6. Strip bold (**text** or __text__)
+	text = reBoldStar.ReplaceAllString(text, "$1")
+	text = reBoldUnder.ReplaceAllString(text, "$1")
+
+	// 7. Strip strikethrough ~~text~~
+	text = reStrikethrough.ReplaceAllString(text, "$1")
+
+	// 8. Strip headers (lines starting with #)
+	text = reHeader.ReplaceAllString(text, "$1")
+
+	// 9. Strip horizontal rules
+	text = reHorizontalRule.ReplaceAllString(text, "")
+
+	// 10. Strip blockquotes
+	text = reBlockquote.ReplaceAllString(text, "$1")
+
+	// 11. Replace bullet markers with •
+	text = reBullet.ReplaceAllString(text, "${1}• ")
+
+	// Clean up excessive blank lines (3+ → 2)
+	text = reExcessiveNewlines.ReplaceAllString(text, "\n\n")
+
+	return strings.TrimSpace(text)
+}
+
+var (
+	reFencedCode      = regexp.MustCompile("(?s)```[a-zA-Z0-9]*\\n?(.*?)```")
+	reInlineCode      = regexp.MustCompile("`([^`]+)`")
+	reImage           = regexp.MustCompile(`!\[[^\]]*\]\([^)]+\)`)
+	reLink            = regexp.MustCompile(`\[([^\]]+)\]\(([^)]+)\)`)
+	reBoldItalicStar  = regexp.MustCompile(`\*{3}(.+?)\*{3}`)
+	reBoldItalicUnder = regexp.MustCompile(`_{3}(.+?)_{3}`)
+	reBoldStar        = regexp.MustCompile(`\*{2}(.+?)\*{2}`)
+	reBoldUnder       = regexp.MustCompile(`_{2}(.+?)_{2}`)
+	reStrikethrough   = regexp.MustCompile(`~~(.+?)~~`)
+	reHeader          = regexp.MustCompile(`(?m)^#{1,6}\s+(.+)$`)
+	reHorizontalRule  = regexp.MustCompile(`(?m)^[\s]*[-*_]{3,}[\s]*$`)
+	reBlockquote      = regexp.MustCompile(`(?m)^>\s?(.*)$`)
+	reBullet          = regexp.MustCompile(`(?m)^(\s*)[-*+]\s+`)
+
+	reExcessiveNewlines = regexp.MustCompile(`\n{3,}`)
+)
diff --git a/internal/channels/zalo/format_test.go b/internal/channels/zalo/format_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ea3935c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/channels/zalo/format_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+package zalo
+
+import "testing"
+
+func TestStripMarkdown(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		in   string
+		want string
+	}{
+		{"empty", "", ""},
+		{"plain text", "hello world", "hello world"},
+
+		// Bold & italic
+		{"bold stars", "this is **bold** text", "this is bold text"},
+		{"bold underscores", "this is __bold__ text", "this is bold text"},
+		{"bold+italic stars", "***important***", "important"},
+		{"strikethrough", "this is ~~deleted~~ text", "this is deleted text"},
+
+		// Code
+		{"inline code", "use `fmt.Println` here", "use fmt.Println here"},
+		{"fenced code block", "before\n```go\nfmt.Println(\"hi\")\n```\nafter", "before\nfmt.Println(\"hi\")\n\nafter"},
+		{"fenced code block no lang", "```\ncode here\n```", "code here"},
+
+		// Links & images
+		{"link", "click [here](https://example.com) now", "click here (https://example.com) now"},
+		{"image", "see ![alt](https://img.png) below", "see  below"},
+
+		// Headers
+		{"h1", "# Title", "Title"},
+		{"h3", "### Section", "Section"},
+		{"h6", "###### Deep", "Deep"},
+
+		// Horizontal rules
+		{"hr dashes", "above\n---\nbelow", "above\n\nbelow"},
+		{"hr stars", "above\n***\nbelow", "above\n\nbelow"},
+
+		// Blockquotes
+		{"blockquote", "> this is quoted\n> second line", "this is quoted\nsecond line"},
+		{"nested blockquote", "> > deep", "> deep"},
+
+		// Bullets
+		{"dash bullet", "- item one\n- item two", "• item one\n• item two"},
+		{"star bullet", "* item one\n* item two", "• item one\n• item two"},
+		{"plus bullet", "+ item one", "• item one"},
+		{"indented bullet", "list:\n  - nested item", "list:\n  • nested item"},
+
+		// Excessive newlines
+		{"excessive newlines", "a\n\n\n\nb", "a\n\nb"},
+
+		// Mixed
+		{"mixed markdown", "## Hello\n\nThis is **bold** and `code`.\n\n- item\n- [link](url)\n\n> quote", "Hello\n\nThis is bold and code.\n\n• item\n• link (url)\n\nquote"},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := StripMarkdown(tt.in)
+			if got != tt.want {
+				t.Errorf("StripMarkdown(%q)\n got: %q\nwant: %q", tt.in, got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/channels/zalo/personal/channel.go b/internal/channels/zalo/personal/channel.go
index f4ab8274..73bdfdcf 100644
--- a/internal/channels/zalo/personal/channel.go
+++ b/internal/channels/zalo/personal/channel.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/nextlevelbuilder/goclaw/internal/bus"
 	"github.com/nextlevelbuilder/goclaw/internal/channels"
 	"github.com/nextlevelbuilder/goclaw/internal/channels/typing"
+	"github.com/nextlevelbuilder/goclaw/internal/channels/zalo"
 	"github.com/nextlevelbuilder/goclaw/internal/channels/zalo/personal/protocol"
 	"github.com/nextlevelbuilder/goclaw/internal/config"
 	"github.com/nextlevelbuilder/goclaw/internal/store"
@@ -159,6 +160,9 @@ func (c *Channel) Send(ctx context.Context, msg bus.OutboundMessage) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("zalo_personal channel not running")
 	}
 
+	// Strip markdown — Zalo does not support any markup rendering.
+	msg.Content = zalo.StripMarkdown(msg.Content)
+
 	// Stop typing indicator before sending response
 	if ctrl, ok := c.typingCtrls.LoadAndDelete(msg.ChatID); ok {
 		ctrl.(*typing.Controller).Stop()
diff --git a/internal/channels/zalo/zalo.go b/internal/channels/zalo/zalo.go
index 724d2e00..91825153 100644
--- a/internal/channels/zalo/zalo.go
+++ b/internal/channels/zalo/zalo.go
@@ -111,6 +111,9 @@ func (c *Channel) Send(_ context.Context, msg bus.OutboundMessage) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("zalo bot not running")
 	}
 
+	// Strip markdown — Zalo does not support any markup rendering.
+	msg.Content = StripMarkdown(msg.Content)
+
 	// Check for media in content (URL-based photo sending)
 	if strings.Contains(msg.Content, "[photo:") {
 		// Extract photo URL from "[photo:URL]" pattern