diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 6be0d46..89f60c5 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -595,14 +595,42 @@ bot.on('text', async (ctx) => {
   }
 
   // No active project session — use chatbot if enabled
+  // Only respond when bot is mentioned (@username) or message is a reply to bot
   if (isChatbotEnabled()) {
+    const botInfo = bot.botInfo;
+    const botId = botInfo?.id;
+    const botUsername = botInfo?.username?.toLowerCase();
+
+    // Check if bot is mentioned via @username in message entities
+    const entities = ctx.message.entities || [];
+    const isMentioned = botUsername && entities.some(e =>
+      e.type === 'mention' &&
+      message.substring(e.offset, e.offset + e.length).toLowerCase() === `@${botUsername}`
+    );
+
+    // Check if message is a reply to bot's own message
+    const replyTo = ctx.message.reply_to_message;
+    const isReplyToBot = replyTo?.from?.id === botId;
+
+    if (!isMentioned && !isReplyToBot) {
+      // Not addressed to bot — ignore silently
+      return;
+    }
+
+    // Strip @mention from message text before sending to Claude
+    let cleanMessage = message;
+    if (isMentioned && botUsername) {
+      cleanMessage = message.replace(new RegExp(`@${botUsername}`, 'gi'), '').trim();
+    }
+    if (!cleanMessage) cleanMessage = message;
+
     const userChatId = ctx.chat.id.toString();
-    console.log(`🤖 Chatbot handling message from ${from}: "${message.substring(0, 50)}..."`);
+    console.log(`🤖 Chatbot handling message from ${from}: "${cleanMessage.substring(0, 50)}..."`);
 
     // Fire-and-forget: don't block Telegraf's handler
     handleChatbotMessage(
       userChatId,
-      message,
+      cleanMessage,
       async () => {
         await ctx.sendChatAction('typing');
       },