diff --git a/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/labels/backend.rs b/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/labels/backend.rs
index 5c0b736d..0a9015e9 100644
--- a/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/labels/backend.rs
+++ b/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/labels/backend.rs
@@ -335,7 +335,7 @@ pub fn is_forked_pull_request_with_callback(
 
     let response_str = std::str::from_utf8(&result_buffer[..len]).ok()?;
     let response = serde_json::from_str::<Value>(response_str).ok()?;
-    let pr = extract_mcp_payload_json(&response);
+    let pr = super::extract_mcp_response(&response);
 
     let base_full_name = pr
         .get("base")
@@ -384,7 +384,7 @@ pub fn get_pull_request_facts_with_callback(
 
     let response_str = std::str::from_utf8(&result_buffer[..len]).ok()?;
     let response = serde_json::from_str::<Value>(response_str).ok()?;
-    let pr = extract_mcp_payload_json(&response);
+    let pr = super::extract_mcp_response(&response);
 
     let base_full_name = pr
         .get("base")
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ pub fn get_issue_author_association_with_callback(
 
     let response_str = std::str::from_utf8(&result_buffer[..len]).ok()?;
     let response = serde_json::from_str::<Value>(response_str).ok()?;
-    let issue = extract_mcp_payload_json(&response);
+    let issue = super::extract_mcp_response(&response);
 
     issue
         .get("author_association")
@@ -496,22 +496,6 @@ fn extract_repo_private_flag(response: &Value, repo_id: &str) -> Option<bool> {
     repo_visibility_from_items(&parsed, repo_id)
 }
 
-fn extract_mcp_payload_json(response: &Value) -> Value {
-    if let Some(content) = response.get("content").and_then(|v| v.as_array()) {
-        if let Some(text) = content
-            .first()
-            .and_then(|item| item.get("text"))
-            .and_then(|v| v.as_str())
-        {
-            if let Ok(parsed) = serde_json::from_str::<Value>(text) {
-                return parsed;
-            }
-        }
-    }
-
-    response.clone()
-}
-
 fn extract_backend_error_text(response: &Value) -> Option<&str> {
     if response.get("isError").and_then(|v| v.as_bool()) != Some(true) {
         return None;
diff --git a/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/labels/mod.rs b/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/labels/mod.rs
index 45cf8221..6bcc7fa7 100644
--- a/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/labels/mod.rs
+++ b/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/labels/mod.rs
@@ -92,9 +92,9 @@ pub(crate) fn extract_mcp_response(response: &Value) -> Value {
     // Log the top-level keys to understand the structure
     if let Some(obj) = response.as_object() {
         let keys: Vec<&str> = obj.keys().map(|s| s.as_str()).collect();
-        crate::log_info(&format!("extract_mcp_response: top-level keys={:?}", keys));
+        crate::log_debug(&format!("extract_mcp_response: top-level keys={:?}", keys));
     } else {
-        crate::log_info(&format!(
+        crate::log_debug(&format!(
             "extract_mcp_response: response is not an object, type={}",
             if response.is_array() {
                 "array"
@@ -110,34 +110,34 @@ pub(crate) fn extract_mcp_response(response: &Value) -> Value {
 
     // Try to extract content[0].text and parse it as JSON
     if let Some(content) = response.get("content").and_then(|v| v.as_array()) {
-        crate::log_info(&format!(
+        crate::log_debug(&format!(
             "extract_mcp_response: found content array with {} items",
             content.len()
         ));
         if let Some(first) = content.first() {
             if let Some(text) = first.get("text").and_then(|v| v.as_str()) {
-                crate::log_info(&format!(
+                crate::log_debug(&format!(
                     "extract_mcp_response: found text field, len={}",
                     text.len()
                 ));
                 // Try to parse the text as JSON
                 if let Ok(parsed) = serde_json::from_str::<Value>(text) {
-                    crate::log_info("extract_mcp_response: parsed content[0].text as JSON");
+                    crate::log_debug("extract_mcp_response: parsed content[0].text as JSON");
                     return parsed;
                 } else {
-                    crate::log_info("extract_mcp_response: failed to parse text as JSON");
+                    crate::log_debug("extract_mcp_response: failed to parse text as JSON");
                 }
             } else {
-                crate::log_info("extract_mcp_response: no text field in content[0]");
+                crate::log_debug("extract_mcp_response: no text field in content[0]");
             }
         }
     } else {
-        crate::log_info("extract_mcp_response: no content array found");
+        crate::log_debug("extract_mcp_response: no content array found");
     }
 
     // If we can't extract from MCP wrapper, return the original response
     // (it might already be unwrapped or in a different format)
-    crate::log_info("extract_mcp_response: using response as-is");
+    crate::log_debug("extract_mcp_response: using response as-is");
     response.clone()
 }
 
diff --git a/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/permissions.rs b/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/permissions.rs
index 532f9476..501da526 100644
--- a/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/permissions.rs
+++ b/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/permissions.rs
@@ -4,9 +4,7 @@
 //! using the backend MCP server. This enables dynamic integrity
 //! labeling based on actual GitHub permissions.
 
-#![allow(dead_code)]
-
-use crate::labels::{constants::label_constants, is_bot, MEDIUM_BUFFER_SIZE};
+use crate::labels::{constants::label_constants, MEDIUM_BUFFER_SIZE};
 use serde_json::Value;
 
 /// Repository permission level from GitHub
@@ -301,15 +299,6 @@ pub fn get_author_integrity_tags(author: &str, owner: &str, repo: &str) -> Vec<S
     vec![format!("{}{}", label_constants::READER_PREFIX, repo_id)]
 }
 
-/// Check if a user is likely a bot account
-///
-/// This is a re-export of `labels::is_bot` for backwards compatibility.
-/// Use `labels::is_bot` directly in new code.
-#[deprecated(since = "0.2.0", note = "Use `labels::is_bot` instead")]
-pub fn is_bot_account(username: &str) -> bool {
-    is_bot(username)
-}
-
 /// Get integrity tags for a bot account
 ///
 /// Bots typically have approved-level integrity for their automated actions.
@@ -344,6 +333,7 @@ pub fn get_bot_integrity_tags(bot_name: &str, owner: &str, repo: &str) -> Vec<St
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
+    use crate::labels::is_bot;
 
     #[test]
     fn test_permission_level_parsing() {
@@ -373,15 +363,6 @@ mod tests {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_bot_detection() {
-        // Test the re-exported function
-        #[allow(deprecated)]
-        {
-            assert!(is_bot_account("dependabot[bot]"));
-            assert!(is_bot_account("renovate-bot"));
-            assert!(is_bot_account("github-actions"));
-            assert!(!is_bot_account("octocat"));
-        }
-
         // Test the canonical function from labels module
         assert!(is_bot("dependabot[bot]"));
         assert!(is_bot("renovate-bot"));