diff --git a/nanobot/channels/telegram.py b/nanobot/channels/telegram.py
index 916b9ba64..439d1c4d9 100644
--- a/nanobot/channels/telegram.py
+++ b/nanobot/channels/telegram.py
@@ -275,13 +275,10 @@ class TelegramChannel(BaseChannel):
         self._app = builder.build()
         self._app.add_error_handler(self._on_error)
 
-        # Add command handlers
-        self._app.add_handler(CommandHandler("start", self._on_start))
-        self._app.add_handler(CommandHandler("new", self._forward_command))
-        self._app.add_handler(CommandHandler("stop", self._forward_command))
-        self._app.add_handler(CommandHandler("restart", self._forward_command))
-        self._app.add_handler(CommandHandler("status", self._forward_command))
-        self._app.add_handler(CommandHandler("help", self._on_help))
+        # Add command handlers (using Regex to support @username suffixes before bot initialization)
+        self._app.add_handler(MessageHandler(filters.Regex(r"^/start(?:@\w+)?$"), self._on_start))
+        self._app.add_handler(MessageHandler(filters.Regex(r"^/(new|stop|restart|status)(?:@\w+)?$"), self._forward_command))
+        self._app.add_handler(MessageHandler(filters.Regex(r"^/help(?:@\w+)?$"), self._on_help))
 
         # Add message handler for text, photos, voice, documents
         self._app.add_handler(
@@ -765,10 +762,18 @@ class TelegramChannel(BaseChannel):
         message = update.message
         user = update.effective_user
         self._remember_thread_context(message)
+        
+        # Strip @bot_username suffix if present
+        content = message.text or ""
+        if content.startswith("/") and "@" in content:
+            cmd_part, *rest = content.split(" ", 1)
+            cmd_part = cmd_part.split("@")[0]
+            content = f"{cmd_part} {rest[0]}" if rest else cmd_part
+            
         await self._handle_message(
             sender_id=self._sender_id(user),
             chat_id=str(message.chat_id),
-            content=message.text or "",
+            content=content,
             metadata=self._build_message_metadata(message, user),
             session_key=self._derive_topic_session_key(message),
         )
diff --git a/nanobot/command/builtin.py b/nanobot/command/builtin.py
index 97fefe6cf..265f4c0ed 100644
--- a/nanobot/command/builtin.py
+++ b/nanobot/command/builtin.py
@@ -26,7 +26,10 @@ async def cmd_stop(ctx: CommandContext) -> OutboundMessage:
     sub_cancelled = await loop.subagents.cancel_by_session(msg.session_key)
     total = cancelled + sub_cancelled
     content = f"Stopped {total} task(s)." if total else "No active task to stop."
-    return OutboundMessage(channel=msg.channel, chat_id=msg.chat_id, content=content)
+    return OutboundMessage(
+        channel=msg.channel, chat_id=msg.chat_id, content=content,
+        metadata=dict(msg.metadata or {})
+    )
 
 
 async def cmd_restart(ctx: CommandContext) -> OutboundMessage:
@@ -38,7 +41,10 @@ async def cmd_restart(ctx: CommandContext) -> OutboundMessage:
         os.execv(sys.executable, [sys.executable, "-m", "nanobot"] + sys.argv[1:])
 
     asyncio.create_task(_do_restart())
-    return OutboundMessage(channel=msg.channel, chat_id=msg.chat_id, content="Restarting...")
+    return OutboundMessage(
+        channel=msg.channel, chat_id=msg.chat_id, content="Restarting...",
+        metadata=dict(msg.metadata or {})
+    )
 
 
 async def cmd_status(ctx: CommandContext) -> OutboundMessage:
@@ -62,7 +68,7 @@ async def cmd_status(ctx: CommandContext) -> OutboundMessage:
             session_msg_count=len(session.get_history(max_messages=0)),
             context_tokens_estimate=ctx_est,
         ),
-        metadata={"render_as": "text"},
+        metadata={**dict(ctx.msg.metadata or {}), "render_as": "text"},
     )
 
 
@@ -79,6 +85,7 @@ async def cmd_new(ctx: CommandContext) -> OutboundMessage:
     return OutboundMessage(
         channel=ctx.msg.channel, chat_id=ctx.msg.chat_id,
         content="New session started.",
+        metadata=dict(ctx.msg.metadata or {})
     )
 
 
@@ -122,7 +129,7 @@ async def cmd_help(ctx: CommandContext) -> OutboundMessage:
         channel=ctx.msg.channel,
         chat_id=ctx.msg.chat_id,
         content=build_help_text(),
-        metadata={"render_as": "text"},
+        metadata={**dict(ctx.msg.metadata or {}), "render_as": "text"},
     )