diff --git a/app/bot.py b/app/bot.py
index 913a5394..414e576c 100644
--- a/app/bot.py
+++ b/app/bot.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ Bot execution module for automatic message responses.
 
 This module provides functionality for executing user-defined Python code
 in response to incoming messages. The user's code can process message data
-and optionally return a response string.
+and optionally return a response string or a list of strings.
 
 SECURITY WARNING: This executes arbitrary Python code provided by the user.
 It should only be enabled on trusted systems where the user understands
diff --git a/app/routers/messages.py b/app/routers/messages.py
index 4e8ba69b..fe043925 100644
--- a/app/routers/messages.py
+++ b/app/routers/messages.py
@@ -175,9 +175,15 @@ async def send_channel_message(request: SendChannelMessageRequest) -> Message:
 
     logger.info("Sending channel message to %s: %s", db_channel.name, request.text[:50])
 
+    # Capture timestamp BEFORE sending so we can pass the same value to both the radio
+    # and the database. This ensures the echo's timestamp matches our stored message
+    # for proper deduplication.
+    now = int(time.time())
+
     result = await mc.commands.send_chan_msg(
         chan=TEMP_RADIO_SLOT,
         msg=request.text,
+        timestamp=now,
     )
 
     if result.type == EventType.ERROR:
@@ -186,7 +192,6 @@ async def send_channel_message(request: SendChannelMessageRequest) -> Message:
     # Store outgoing message with sender prefix (to match echo format)
     # The radio includes "SenderName: " prefix when broadcasting, so we store it the same way
     # to enable proper deduplication when the echo comes back
-    now = int(time.time())
     channel_key_upper = request.channel_key.upper()
     radio_name = mc.self_info.get("name", "") if mc.self_info else ""
     text_with_sender = f"{radio_name}: {request.text}" if radio_name else request.text