diff --git a/nanobot/agent/memory.py b/nanobot/agent/memory.py
index fb630ce1..60b54208 100644
--- a/nanobot/agent/memory.py
+++ b/nanobot/agent/memory.py
@@ -221,10 +221,26 @@ class MemoryStore:
     # -- history.jsonl — append-only, JSONL format ---------------------------
 
     def append_history(self, entry: str) -> int:
-        """Append *entry* to history.jsonl and return its auto-incrementing cursor."""
+        """Append *entry* to history.jsonl and return its auto-incrementing cursor.
+
+        Entries are passed through `strip_think` to drop template-level leaks
+        (e.g. unclosed `<think` prefixes, `<channel|>` markers) before being
+        persisted. If the cleaned content is empty but the raw entry wasn't,
+        the record is persisted with an empty string rather than falling back
+        to the raw leak — otherwise `strip_think`'s guarantees would be
+        undone by history replay / consolidation downstream.
+        """
         cursor = self._next_cursor()
         ts = datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")
-        record = {"cursor": cursor, "timestamp": ts, "content": strip_think(entry.rstrip()) or entry.rstrip()}
+        raw = entry.rstrip()
+        content = strip_think(raw)
+        if raw and not content:
+            logger.debug(
+                "history entry {} stripped to empty (likely template leak); "
+                "persisting empty content to avoid re-polluting context",
+                cursor,
+            )
+        record = {"cursor": cursor, "timestamp": ts, "content": content}
         with open(self.history_file, "a", encoding="utf-8") as f:
             f.write(json.dumps(record, ensure_ascii=False) + "\n")
         self._cursor_file.write_text(str(cursor), encoding="utf-8")
diff --git a/tests/agent/test_memory_store.py b/tests/agent/test_memory_store.py
index 7bb23fc6..94adbf37 100644
--- a/tests/agent/test_memory_store.py
+++ b/tests/agent/test_memory_store.py
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 """Tests for the restructured MemoryStore — pure file I/O layer."""
 
-from datetime import datetime
 import json
-from pathlib import Path
+from datetime import datetime
 
 import pytest
 
@@ -65,6 +64,34 @@ class TestHistoryWithCursor:
         cursor = store.append_history("event 3")
         assert cursor == 3
 
+    def test_append_history_strips_thinking_content(self, store):
+        """`strip_think` must run before persistence — well-formed thinking
+        blocks shouldn't land in history."""
+        cursor = store.append_history("<think>reasoning</think>final answer")
+        content = store.read_file(store.history_file)
+        data = json.loads(content)
+        assert data["cursor"] == cursor
+        assert data["content"] == "final answer"
+
+    def test_append_history_drops_pure_leak_content(self, store):
+        """Regression: entries that strip down to empty (pure template-token
+        leak) must NOT fall back to the raw leak. Persisting the raw text
+        would re-pollute context via consolidation / replay, undoing the
+        protection `strip_think` provides."""
+        cursor = store.append_history("<think>nothing user-facing</think>")
+        content = store.read_file(store.history_file)
+        data = json.loads(content)
+        assert data["cursor"] == cursor
+        assert data["content"] == ""
+
+    def test_append_history_drops_malformed_leak_prefix(self, store):
+        """Channel-marker / malformed opening leaks should not survive."""
+        cursor = store.append_history("<channel|>")
+        content = store.read_file(store.history_file)
+        data = json.loads(content)
+        assert data["cursor"] == cursor
+        assert data["content"] == ""
+
     def test_read_unprocessed_history(self, store):
         store.append_history("event 1")
         store.append_history("event 2")
@@ -134,7 +161,8 @@ class TestLegacyHistoryMigration:
         """JSONL entries with cursor=1 are correctly parsed and returned."""
         store.history_file.write_text(
             '{"cursor": 1, "timestamp": "2026-03-30 14:30", "content": "Old event"}\n',
-            encoding="utf-8")
+            encoding="utf-8",
+        )
         entries = store.read_unprocessed_history(since_cursor=0)
         assert len(entries) == 1
         assert entries[0]["cursor"] == 1
@@ -218,8 +246,7 @@ class TestLegacyHistoryMigration:
         memory_dir.mkdir()
         legacy_file = memory_dir / "HISTORY.md"
         legacy_content = (
-            "[2026-03-25–2026-04-02] Multi-day summary.\n"
-            "[2026-03-26/27] Cross-day summary.\n"
+            "[2026-03-25–2026-04-02] Multi-day summary.\n[2026-03-26/27] Cross-day summary.\n"
         )
         legacy_file.write_text(legacy_content, encoding="utf-8")
 
@@ -277,9 +304,7 @@ class TestLegacyHistoryMigration:
         memory_dir = tmp_path / "memory"
         memory_dir.mkdir()
         legacy_file = memory_dir / "HISTORY.md"
-        legacy_file.write_bytes(
-            b"[2026-04-01 10:00] Broken \xff data still needs migration.\n\n"
-        )
+        legacy_file.write_bytes(b"[2026-04-01 10:00] Broken \xff data still needs migration.\n\n")
 
         store = MemoryStore(tmp_path)