diff --git a/src/services/mcp/client.ts b/src/services/mcp/client.ts
index cec272642..571527b57 100644
--- a/src/services/mcp/client.ts
+++ b/src/services/mcp/client.ts
@@ -74,7 +74,10 @@ import {
 } from '../../utils/errors.js'
 import { getMCPUserAgent } from '../../utils/http.js'
 import { maybeNotifyIDEConnected } from '../../utils/ide.js'
-import { maybeResizeAndDownsampleImageBuffer } from '../../utils/imageResizer.js'
+import {
+  type ImageLimits,
+  maybeResizeAndDownsampleImageBuffer,
+} from '../../utils/imageResizer.js'
 import { logMCPDebug, logMCPError } from '../../utils/log.js'
 import {
   getBinaryBlobSavedMessage,
@@ -102,6 +105,7 @@ import {
   isPersistError,
   persistToolResult,
 } from '../../utils/toolResultStorage.js'
+import { checkStatsigFeatureGate_CACHED_MAY_BE_STALE } from '../analytics/growthbook.js'
 import {
   type AnalyticsMetadata_I_VERIFIED_THIS_IS_NOT_CODE_OR_FILEPATHS,
   logEvent,
@@ -2486,15 +2490,23 @@ export function prefetchAllMcpResources(
 export async function transformResultContent(
   resultContent: PromptMessage['content'],
   serverName: string,
+  limits?: ImageLimits,
+  includeMeta = false,
 ): Promise<Array<ContentBlockParam>> {
   switch (resultContent.type) {
-    case 'text':
-      return [
-        {
-          type: 'text',
-          text: resultContent.text,
-        },
-      ]
+    case 'text': {
+      const block: ContentBlockParam = {
+        type: 'text',
+        text: resultContent.text,
+      }
+      if (includeMeta) {
+        const meta = resultContent._meta
+        if (meta) {
+          ;(block as { _meta?: unknown })._meta = meta
+        }
+      }
+      return [block]
+    }
     case 'audio': {
       const audioData = resultContent as {
         type: 'audio'
@@ -2516,6 +2528,7 @@ export async function transformResultContent(
         imageBuffer,
         imageBuffer.length,
         ext,
+        limits,
       )
       return [
         {
@@ -2551,6 +2564,7 @@ export async function transformResultContent(
             imageBuffer,
             imageBuffer.length,
             ext,
+            limits,
           )
           const content: MessageParam['content'] = []
           if (prefix) {
@@ -2671,6 +2685,7 @@ export async function transformMCPResult(
   result: unknown,
   tool: string, // Tool name for validation (e.g., "search")
   name: string, // Server name for transformation (e.g., "slack")
+  limits?: ImageLimits, // Image processing limits, plumbed to transformResultContent
 ): Promise<TransformedMCPResult> {
   if (result && typeof result === 'object') {
     if ('toolResult' in result) {
@@ -2694,7 +2709,9 @@ export async function transformMCPResult(
     if ('content' in result && Array.isArray(result.content)) {
       const transformedContent = (
         await Promise.all(
-          result.content.map(item => transformResultContent(item, name)),
+          result.content.map(item =>
+            transformResultContent(item, name, limits, true),
+          ),
         )
       ).flat()
       return {
@@ -2729,8 +2746,15 @@ export async function processMCPResult(
   result: unknown,
   tool: string, // Tool name for validation (e.g., "search")
   name: string, // Server name for IDE check and transformation (e.g., "slack")
+  limits?: ImageLimits, // Image processing limits, plumbed to transformMCPResult
+  skipLargeOutput = false, // If true, skip large-output handling for non-image content
 ): Promise<MCPToolResult> {
-  const { content, type, schema } = await transformMCPResult(result, tool, name)
+  const { content, type, schema } = await transformMCPResult(
+    result,
+    tool,
+    name,
+    limits,
+  )
 
   // IDE tools are not going to the model directly, so we don't need to
   // handle large output.
@@ -2738,6 +2762,12 @@ export async function processMCPResult(
     return content
   }
 
+  // Caller opted out of large-output handling (e.g., result already truncated
+  // upstream); only continue if the content has images that may need handling.
+  if (skipLargeOutput && !contentContainsImages(content)) {
+    return content
+  }
+
   // Check if content needs truncation (i.e., is too large)
   if (!(await mcpContentNeedsTruncation(content))) {
     return content
@@ -2775,9 +2805,15 @@ export async function processMCPResult(
   // Generate a unique ID for the persisted file (server__tool-timestamp)
   const timestamp = Date.now()
   const persistId = `mcp-${normalizeNameForMCP(name)}-${normalizeNameForMCP(tool)}-${timestamp}`
-  // Convert to string for persistence (persistToolResult expects string or specific block types)
+  // When the large-string format gate is on, unwrap a single bare text block
+  // (no annotations, no _meta) into raw text so the model gets plain text in
+  // the persisted file instead of a JSON-wrapped block. The `_meta` check is
+  // why transformResultContent preserves _meta on text blocks.
+  const unwrappedText = unwrapSingleTextBlock(content)
   const contentStr =
-    typeof content === 'string' ? content : jsonStringify(content, null, 2)
+    typeof content === 'string'
+      ? content
+      : (unwrappedText ?? jsonStringify(content, null, 2))
   const persistResult = await persistToolResult(contentStr, persistId)
 
   if (isPersistError(persistResult)) {
@@ -2798,7 +2834,10 @@ export async function processMCPResult(
     persistedSizeChars: persistResult.originalSize,
   } as AnalyticsMetadata_I_VERIFIED_THIS_IS_NOT_CODE_OR_FILEPATHS)
 
-  const formatDescription = getFormatDescription(type, schema)
+  const formatDescription =
+    unwrappedText !== undefined
+      ? getFormatDescription('toolResult')
+      : getFormatDescription(type, schema)
   return getLargeOutputInstructions(
     persistResult.filepath,
     persistResult.originalSize,
@@ -2806,6 +2845,39 @@ export async function processMCPResult(
   )
 }
 
+/**
+ * Returns true when the large-string output format is enabled (matches
+ * binary's `sf8()`). When enabled, processMCPResult unwraps a single bare
+ * text block to raw text for persistence instead of JSON-wrapping it.
+ *
+ * Gating sources, in order:
+ *   1. MCP_TRUNCATION_PROMPT_OVERRIDE env var (anything except "legacy" enables)
+ *   2. Statsig gate `tengu_mcp_subagent_prompt`
+ */
+function isLargeStringFormatEnabled(): boolean {
+  const override = process.env.MCP_TRUNCATION_PROMPT_OVERRIDE
+  if (override) return override !== 'legacy'
+  return checkStatsigFeatureGate_CACHED_MAY_BE_STALE(
+    'tengu_mcp_subagent_prompt',
+  )
+}
+
+/**
+ * Unwraps a single bare text content block to its raw text when the
+ * large-string format gate is on. Returns undefined when the gate is off,
+ * the content is not an array, the array doesn't contain exactly one text
+ * block, or the block carries annotations or _meta. Matches binary mg5's
+ * `M=...` computation.
+ */
+function unwrapSingleTextBlock(content: MCPToolResult): string | undefined {
+  if (!isLargeStringFormatEnabled()) return undefined
+  if (!Array.isArray(content) || content.length !== 1) return undefined
+  const block = content[0]
+  if (!block || block.type !== 'text') return undefined
+  if ('annotations' in block || '_meta' in block) return undefined
+  return block.text
+}
+
 /**
  * Call an MCP tool, handling UrlElicitationRequiredError (-32042) by
  * displaying the URL elicitation to the user, waiting for the completion
@@ -2827,6 +2899,8 @@ export async function callMCPToolWithUrlElicitationRetry({
   signal,
   setAppState,
   onProgress,
+  imageLimits,
+  hasResultSizeAnnotation = false,
   callToolFn = callMCPTool,
   handleElicitation,
 }: {
@@ -2838,6 +2912,8 @@ export async function callMCPToolWithUrlElicitationRetry({
   signal: AbortSignal
   setAppState: (f: (prev: AppState) => AppState) => void
   onProgress?: (data: MCPProgress) => void
+  imageLimits?: ImageLimits
+  hasResultSizeAnnotation?: boolean
   /** Injectable for testing. Defaults to callMCPTool. */
   callToolFn?: (opts: {
     client: ConnectedMCPServer
@@ -2846,6 +2922,8 @@ export async function callMCPToolWithUrlElicitationRetry({
     meta?: Record<string, unknown>
     signal: AbortSignal
     onProgress?: (data: MCPProgress) => void
+    imageLimits?: ImageLimits
+    hasResultSizeAnnotation?: boolean
   }) => Promise<MCPToolCallResult>
   /** Handler for URL elicitations when no hook handles them.
    * In print/SDK mode, delegates to structuredIO. In REPL, falls back to queue. */
@@ -2865,6 +2943,8 @@ export async function callMCPToolWithUrlElicitationRetry({
         meta,
         signal,
         onProgress,
+        imageLimits,
+        hasResultSizeAnnotation,
       })
     } catch (error) {
       // The MCP SDK's Protocol creates plain McpError (not UrlElicitationRequiredError)
@@ -3041,6 +3121,8 @@ async function callMCPTool({
   meta,
   signal,
   onProgress,
+  imageLimits,
+  hasResultSizeAnnotation = false,
 }: {
   client: ConnectedMCPServer
   tool: string
@@ -3048,6 +3130,8 @@ async function callMCPTool({
   meta?: Record<string, unknown>
   signal: AbortSignal
   onProgress?: (data: MCPProgress) => void
+  imageLimits?: ImageLimits
+  hasResultSizeAnnotation?: boolean
 }): Promise<{
   content: MCPToolResult
   _meta?: Record<string, unknown>
@@ -3176,7 +3260,13 @@ async function callMCPTool({
       })
     }
 
-    const content = await processMCPResult(result, tool, name)
+    const content = await processMCPResult(
+      result,
+      tool,
+      name,
+      imageLimits,
+      hasResultSizeAnnotation,
+    )
     return {
       content,
       _meta: result._meta as Record<string, unknown> | undefined,
diff --git a/src/utils/imageResizer.ts b/src/utils/imageResizer.ts
index f7c7347d1..ba5acd4da 100644
--- a/src/utils/imageResizer.ts
+++ b/src/utils/imageResizer.ts
@@ -162,6 +162,16 @@ interface CompressedImageResult {
   originalSize: number
 }
 
+/**
+ * Per-call image processing limits, overriding the module-level defaults.
+ */
+export interface ImageLimits {
+  targetRawSize: number
+  maxWidth: number
+  maxHeight: number
+  maxBase64Size: number
+}
+
 /**
  * Extracted from FileReadTool's readImage function
  * Resizes image buffer to meet size and dimension constraints
@@ -170,7 +180,13 @@ export async function maybeResizeAndDownsampleImageBuffer(
   imageBuffer: Buffer,
   originalSize: number,
   ext: string,
+  limits?: ImageLimits,
 ): Promise<ResizeResult> {
+  const targetRawSize = limits?.targetRawSize ?? IMAGE_TARGET_RAW_SIZE
+  const maxWidth = limits?.maxWidth ?? IMAGE_MAX_WIDTH
+  const maxHeight = limits?.maxHeight ?? IMAGE_MAX_HEIGHT
+  const maxBase64Size = limits?.maxBase64Size ?? API_IMAGE_MAX_BASE64_SIZE
+
   if (imageBuffer.length === 0) {
     // Empty buffer would fall through the catch block below (sharp throws
     // "Unable to determine image format"), and the fallback's size check
@@ -189,7 +205,7 @@ export async function maybeResizeAndDownsampleImageBuffer(
 
     // If dimensions aren't available from metadata
     if (!metadata.width || !metadata.height) {
-      if (originalSize > IMAGE_TARGET_RAW_SIZE) {
+      if (originalSize > targetRawSize) {
         // Create fresh sharp instance for compression
         const compressedBuffer = await sharp(imageBuffer)
           .jpeg({ quality: 80 })
@@ -210,9 +226,9 @@ export async function maybeResizeAndDownsampleImageBuffer(
 
     // Check if the original file just works
     if (
-      originalSize <= IMAGE_TARGET_RAW_SIZE &&
-      width <= IMAGE_MAX_WIDTH &&
-      height <= IMAGE_MAX_HEIGHT
+      originalSize <= targetRawSize &&
+      width <= maxWidth &&
+      height <= maxHeight
     ) {
       return {
         buffer: imageBuffer,
@@ -226,20 +242,19 @@ export async function maybeResizeAndDownsampleImageBuffer(
       }
     }
 
-    const needsDimensionResize =
-      width > IMAGE_MAX_WIDTH || height > IMAGE_MAX_HEIGHT
+    const needsDimensionResize = width > maxWidth || height > maxHeight
     const isPng = normalizedMediaType === 'png'
 
     // If dimensions are within limits but file is too large, try compression first
     // This preserves full resolution when possible
-    if (!needsDimensionResize && originalSize > IMAGE_TARGET_RAW_SIZE) {
+    if (!needsDimensionResize && originalSize > targetRawSize) {
       // For PNGs, try PNG compression first to preserve transparency
       if (isPng) {
         // Create fresh sharp instance for each compression attempt
         const pngCompressed = await sharp(imageBuffer)
           .png({ compressionLevel: 9, palette: true })
           .toBuffer()
-        if (pngCompressed.length <= IMAGE_TARGET_RAW_SIZE) {
+        if (pngCompressed.length <= targetRawSize) {
           return {
             buffer: pngCompressed,
             mediaType: 'png',
@@ -258,7 +273,7 @@ export async function maybeResizeAndDownsampleImageBuffer(
         const compressedBuffer = await sharp(imageBuffer)
           .jpeg({ quality })
           .toBuffer()
-        if (compressedBuffer.length <= IMAGE_TARGET_RAW_SIZE) {
+        if (compressedBuffer.length <= targetRawSize) {
           return {
             buffer: compressedBuffer,
             mediaType: 'jpeg',
@@ -275,14 +290,14 @@ export async function maybeResizeAndDownsampleImageBuffer(
     }
 
     // Constrain dimensions if needed
-    if (width > IMAGE_MAX_WIDTH) {
-      height = Math.round((height * IMAGE_MAX_WIDTH) / width)
-      width = IMAGE_MAX_WIDTH
+    if (width > maxWidth) {
+      height = Math.round((height * maxWidth) / width)
+      width = maxWidth
     }
 
-    if (height > IMAGE_MAX_HEIGHT) {
-      width = Math.round((width * IMAGE_MAX_HEIGHT) / height)
-      height = IMAGE_MAX_HEIGHT
+    if (height > maxHeight) {
+      width = Math.round((width * maxHeight) / height)
+      height = maxHeight
     }
 
     // IMPORTANT: Always create fresh sharp(imageBuffer) instances for each operation.
@@ -298,7 +313,7 @@ export async function maybeResizeAndDownsampleImageBuffer(
       .toBuffer()
 
     // If still too large after resize, try compression
-    if (resizedImageBuffer.length > IMAGE_TARGET_RAW_SIZE) {
+    if (resizedImageBuffer.length > targetRawSize) {
       // For PNGs, try PNG compression first to preserve transparency
       if (isPng) {
         const pngCompressed = await sharp(imageBuffer)
@@ -308,7 +323,7 @@ export async function maybeResizeAndDownsampleImageBuffer(
           })
           .png({ compressionLevel: 9, palette: true })
           .toBuffer()
-        if (pngCompressed.length <= IMAGE_TARGET_RAW_SIZE) {
+        if (pngCompressed.length <= targetRawSize) {
           return {
             buffer: pngCompressed,
             mediaType: 'png',
@@ -331,7 +346,7 @@ export async function maybeResizeAndDownsampleImageBuffer(
           })
           .jpeg({ quality })
           .toBuffer()
-        if (compressedBuffer.length <= IMAGE_TARGET_RAW_SIZE) {
+        if (compressedBuffer.length <= targetRawSize) {
           return {
             buffer: compressedBuffer,
             mediaType: 'jpeg',
@@ -407,11 +422,11 @@ export async function maybeResizeAndDownsampleImageBuffer(
       imageBuffer[1] === 0x50 &&
       imageBuffer[2] === 0x4e &&
       imageBuffer[3] === 0x47 &&
-      (imageBuffer.readUInt32BE(16) > IMAGE_MAX_WIDTH ||
-        imageBuffer.readUInt32BE(20) > IMAGE_MAX_HEIGHT)
+      (imageBuffer.readUInt32BE(16) > maxWidth ||
+        imageBuffer.readUInt32BE(20) > maxHeight)
 
     // If original image's base64 encoding is within API limit, allow it through uncompressed
-    if (base64Size <= API_IMAGE_MAX_BASE64_SIZE && !overDim) {
+    if (base64Size <= maxBase64Size && !overDim) {
       logEvent('tengu_image_resize_fallback', {
         original_size_bytes: originalSize,
         base64_size_bytes: base64Size,
@@ -423,7 +438,7 @@ export async function maybeResizeAndDownsampleImageBuffer(
     // Image is too large and we failed to compress it - fail with user-friendly error
     throw new ImageResizeError(
       overDim
-        ? `Unable to resize image — dimensions exceed the ${IMAGE_MAX_WIDTH}x${IMAGE_MAX_HEIGHT}px limit and image processing failed. ` +
+        ? `Unable to resize image — dimensions exceed the ${maxWidth}x${maxHeight}px limit and image processing failed. ` +
             `Please resize the image to reduce its pixel dimensions.`
         : `Unable to resize image (${formatFileSize(originalSize)} raw, ${formatFileSize(base64Size)} base64). ` +
             `The image exceeds the 5MB API limit and compression failed. ` +