diff --git a/tai.py b/tai.py
index 90dc6c0..53029b5 100755
--- a/tai.py
+++ b/tai.py
@@ -881,6 +881,11 @@ def as_int(value, default=0):
         return default
 
 
+def tool_name_clean(raw_name):
+    # Some backends leak harmony control tokens into the name ("shell<|channel|>commentary").
+    return str(raw_name or "").split("<|", 1)[0].strip()
+
+
 def tool_args_text(raw_arguments):
     if not raw_arguments:
         return "{}"
@@ -4344,7 +4349,7 @@ class ChatClient:
         calls = []
         for call in message.get("tool_calls") or []:
             func = call.get("function") or {}
-            calls.append({"id": call.get("id") or uuid.uuid4().hex, "name": func.get("name") or "", "arguments": tool_args_text(func.get("arguments"))})
+            calls.append({"id": call.get("id") or uuid.uuid4().hex, "name": tool_name_clean(func.get("name")), "arguments": tool_args_text(func.get("arguments"))})
         return {"role": "assistant", "content": message.get("content") or "", "reasoning": message.get("reasoning") or message.get("reasoning_content") or "", "tool_calls": calls, "backend": label}
 
     def streaming(self, url, key, payload, label, sink, extra=None):
@@ -4398,6 +4403,7 @@ class ChatClient:
             response.close()
         ordered = [calls[pos] for pos in sorted(calls)]
         for slot in ordered:
+            slot["name"] = tool_name_clean(slot["name"])
             if not slot["id"]:
                 slot["id"] = uuid.uuid4().hex
         return {"role": "assistant", "content": "".join(content_parts), "reasoning": "".join(reasoning_parts), "tool_calls": ordered, "backend": label}
@@ -4509,7 +4515,7 @@ class ChatClient:
     def muse_reply(self, answer, label):
         calls = []
         for call in answer.get("tool_calls") or []:
-            calls.append({"id": uuid.uuid4().hex, "name": call.get("name") or "", "arguments": tool_args_text(call.get("arguments"))})
+            calls.append({"id": uuid.uuid4().hex, "name": tool_name_clean(call.get("name")), "arguments": tool_args_text(call.get("arguments"))})
         return {"role": "assistant", "content": answer.get("content") or "", "reasoning": "", "tool_calls": calls, "backend": label}
 
 
diff --git a/test_tai.py b/test_tai.py
index e22f102..95619e3 100644
--- a/test_tai.py
+++ b/test_tai.py
@@ -3743,6 +3743,11 @@ class ToolArgumentsTests(unittest.TestCase):
         self.tmp.cleanup()
         os.environ.pop("TAI_HOME", None)
 
+    def test_tool_name_clean(self):
+        self.assertEqual(tai.tool_name_clean("shell<|channel|>commentary"), "shell")
+        self.assertEqual(tai.tool_name_clean(" read_file "), "read_file")
+        self.assertEqual(tai.tool_name_clean(None), "")
+
     def test_tool_args_text(self):
         self.assertEqual(tai.tool_args_text(None), "{}")
         self.assertEqual(tai.tool_args_text(""), "{}")