diff --git a/internal/middleware/jqschema.go b/internal/middleware/jqschema.go
index 7820aa97..c211b38d 100644
--- a/internal/middleware/jqschema.go
+++ b/internal/middleware/jqschema.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
+	"unicode/utf8"
 
 	"github.com/github/gh-aw-mcpg/internal/logger"
 	"github.com/itchyny/gojq"
@@ -54,6 +55,15 @@ type PayloadMetadata struct {
 //
 // For arrays, only the first element's schema is retained to represent the array structure.
 // Empty arrays are preserved as [].
+//
+// NOTE: This defines a custom walk function rather than using gojq's built-in walk(f).
+// The built-in walk(f) applies f to every node but preserves the original structure.
+// Our custom walk does two things the built-in cannot:
+//  1. Replaces leaf values with their type name (e.g., "test" → "string")
+//  2. Collapses arrays to only the first element for schema inference
+//
+// These behaviors are incompatible with standard walk(f) semantics, which would
+// apply f post-recursion without structural changes to arrays.
 const jqSchemaFilter = `
 def walk(f):
   . as $in |
@@ -143,6 +153,8 @@ func applyJqSchema(ctx context.Context, jsonData interface{}) (interface{}, erro
 	}
 
 	// Run the pre-compiled query with context support (much faster than Parse+Run)
+	// The iterator is consumed only once because the walk(.) filter produces exactly
+	// one output value (the fully-transformed schema). There is no need to drain it.
 	iter := jqSchemaCode.RunWithContext(ctx, jsonData)
 	v, ok := iter.Next()
 	if !ok {
@@ -331,10 +343,16 @@ func WrapToolHandler(
 		logger.LogDebug("payload", "Applying jq schema transformation: tool=%s, queryID=%s", toolName, queryID)
 		var schemaObj interface{}
 		if schemaErr := func() error {
-			// Unmarshal to interface{} for jq processing
+			// Prepare data for jq processing. If data is already a native Go type
+			// (map or slice), use it directly to avoid a redundant JSON round-trip.
 			var jsonData interface{}
-			if err := json.Unmarshal(payloadJSON, &jsonData); err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("failed to unmarshal for schema: %w", err)
+			switch data.(type) {
+			case map[string]interface{}, []interface{}:
+				jsonData = data
+			default:
+				if err := json.Unmarshal(payloadJSON, &jsonData); err != nil {
+					return fmt.Errorf("failed to unmarshal for schema: %w", err)
+				}
 			}
 
 			schema, err := applyJqSchema(ctx, jsonData)
@@ -356,14 +374,22 @@ func WrapToolHandler(
 		logger.LogDebug("payload", "Schema transformation completed: tool=%s, queryID=%s, schemaSize=%d bytes",
 			toolName, queryID, len(schemaBytes))
 
-		// Build the transformed response: first PayloadPreviewSize chars + schema.
+		// Build the transformed response: first PayloadPreviewSize bytes + schema.
 		// Slice the bytes before converting to string to avoid allocating a full copy of the
-		// (potentially multi-MB) payload when only the first PayloadPreviewSize bytes are needed.
+		// (potentially multi-MB) payload when only a short preview is needed.
+		//
+		// json.Marshal emits raw UTF-8 for non-ASCII runes, so a naive byte slice could
+		// split a multi-byte sequence. We adjust the cut point backward to the nearest
+		// valid rune boundary to guarantee the preview is valid UTF-8.
 		payloadLen := len(payloadJSON)
 		var preview string
 		truncated := payloadLen > PayloadPreviewSize
 		if truncated {
-			preview = string(payloadJSON[:PayloadPreviewSize]) + "..."
+			cutPoint := PayloadPreviewSize
+			for cutPoint > 0 && !utf8.RuneStart(payloadJSON[cutPoint]) {
+				cutPoint--
+			}
+			preview = string(payloadJSON[:cutPoint]) + "..."
 			logger.LogInfo("payload", "Payload truncated for preview: tool=%s, queryID=%s, originalSize=%d bytes, previewSize=%d bytes",
 				toolName, queryID, payloadLen, PayloadPreviewSize)
 		} else {
diff --git a/internal/middleware/jqschema_integration_test.go b/internal/middleware/jqschema_integration_test.go
index 97e4ea73..e69a24c4 100644
--- a/internal/middleware/jqschema_integration_test.go
+++ b/internal/middleware/jqschema_integration_test.go
@@ -13,21 +13,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
-// integrationPayloadMetadataToMap converts PayloadMetadata to map[string]interface{} for test assertions
-func integrationPayloadMetadataToMap(t *testing.T, data interface{}) map[string]interface{} {
-	t.Helper()
-	pm, ok := data.(PayloadMetadata)
-	if !ok {
-		t.Fatalf("expected PayloadMetadata, got %T", data)
-	}
-	jsonBytes, err := json.Marshal(pm)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	var result map[string]interface{}
-	err = json.Unmarshal(jsonBytes, &result)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	return result
-}
-
 // TestMiddlewareIntegration tests the complete middleware flow
 func TestMiddlewareIntegration(t *testing.T) {
 	// Create temporary directory for test
@@ -214,7 +199,7 @@ func TestMiddlewareWithLargePayload(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	// Also check data return value
-	dataMap := integrationPayloadMetadataToMap(t, data)
+	dataMap := payloadMetadataToMap(t, data)
 
 	// Verify preview truncation (check if it ends with ...)
 	preview := dataMap["payloadPreview"].(string)