diff --git a/src/core/tools/askFollowupQuestionTool.ts b/src/core/tools/askFollowupQuestionTool.ts
index 43ad48f8e2..801f8c19fd 100644
--- a/src/core/tools/askFollowupQuestionTool.ts
+++ b/src/core/tools/askFollowupQuestionTool.ts
@@ -61,54 +61,67 @@ export async function askFollowupQuestionTool(
 					? parsedSuggest.suggest
 					: [parsedSuggest?.suggest].filter((sug): sug is ParsedSuggestion => sug !== undefined)
 
+				// Helper functions for parsing different formats
+				const parseNestedFormat = (sug: any): Suggest | null => {
+					// New nested element format
+					if (sug.content) {
+						return { answer: sug.content, ...(sug.mode && { mode: sug.mode }) }
+					}
+					return null
+				}
+
+				const parseAttributeFormat = (sug: any): Suggest | null => {
+					// Old attribute format (backward compatibility)
+					if (sug["#text"]) {
+						return { answer: sug["#text"], ...(sug["@_mode"] && { mode: sug["@_mode"] }) }
+					}
+					return null
+				}
+
+				const parseStringWithNestedXml = (str: string): Suggest | null => {
+					// Check if string contains nested XML (new format with stopNodes)
+					if (str.includes("<content>") || str.includes("<mode>")) {
+						try {
+							const nestedParsed = parseXml(`<suggest>${str}</suggest>`) as any
+							if (nestedParsed?.suggest) {
+								const nested = nestedParsed.suggest
+								return { answer: nested.content || str, ...(nested.mode && { mode: nested.mode }) }
+							}
+						} catch {
+							// If parsing fails, return null to try other formats
+						}
+					}
+					return null
+				}
+
 				// Transform parsed XML to our Suggest format
 				const normalizedSuggest: Suggest[] = rawSuggestions.map((sug: ParsedSuggestion) => {
+					// Handle string suggestions
 					if (typeof sug === "string") {
-						// Check if it's a string containing nested XML (new format with stopNodes)
-						if (sug.includes("<content>") || sug.includes("<mode>")) {
-							try {
-								// Parse the nested XML structure
-								const nestedParsed = parseXml(`<suggest>${sug}</suggest>`) as any
-								if (nestedParsed?.suggest) {
-									const nested = nestedParsed.suggest
-									const result: Suggest = { answer: nested.content || sug }
-									if (nested.mode) {
-										result.mode = nested.mode
-									}
-									return result
-								}
-							} catch {
-								// If parsing fails, treat as simple string
-								return { answer: sug }
-							}
-						}
+						// Try parsing as nested XML first
+						const nestedResult = parseStringWithNestedXml(sug)
+						if (nestedResult) return nestedResult
+
 						// Simple string suggestion (backward compatibility)
 						return { answer: sug }
-					} else if (sug && typeof sug === "object") {
-						// Check for new nested element format (when not using stopNodes)
-						if ("content" in sug) {
-							const result: Suggest = { answer: sug.content }
-							if (sug.mode) {
-								result.mode = sug.mode
-							}
-							return result
-						}
-						// Old attribute format (backward compatibility)
-						else if ("#text" in sug) {
-							const result: Suggest = { answer: sug["#text"] }
-							if (sug["@_mode"]) {
-								result.mode = sug["@_mode"]
-							}
-							return result
-						}
-						// Fallback for any other object structure
-						else {
-							return { answer: JSON.stringify(sug) }
-						}
-					} else {
-						// Fallback for any unexpected type
-						return { answer: String(sug) }
 					}
+
+					// Handle object suggestions
+					if (sug && typeof sug === "object") {
+						// Try new nested element format first
+						const nestedResult = parseNestedFormat(sug)
+						if (nestedResult) return nestedResult
+
+						// Try old attribute format
+						const attributeResult = parseAttributeFormat(sug)
+						if (attributeResult) return attributeResult
+
+						// Fallback for any other object structure
+						return { answer: JSON.stringify(sug) }
+					}
+
+					// Fallback for any unexpected type
+					return { answer: String(sug) }
 				})
 
 				follow_up_json.suggest = normalizedSuggest