diff --git a/server/packages/sandbox-agent/src/acp_proxy_runtime.rs b/server/packages/sandbox-agent/src/acp_proxy_runtime.rs
index 47bc2b0..ec33581 100644
--- a/server/packages/sandbox-agent/src/acp_proxy_runtime.rs
+++ b/server/packages/sandbox-agent/src/acp_proxy_runtime.rs
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ use futures::Stream;
 use sandbox_agent_agent_management::agents::{AgentId, AgentManager, InstallOptions};
 use sandbox_agent_error::SandboxError;
 use sandbox_agent_opencode_adapter::{AcpDispatch, AcpDispatchResult, AcpPayloadStream};
-use serde_json::Value;
+use serde_json::{Number, Value};
 use tokio::sync::{Mutex, RwLock};
 
 const DEFAULT_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS: u64 = 120_000;
@@ -134,6 +134,8 @@ impl AcpProxyRuntime {
             "acp_proxy: instance resolved"
         );
 
+        let payload = normalize_payload_for_agent(instance.agent, payload);
+
         match instance.runtime.post(payload).await {
             Ok(PostOutcome::Response(value)) => {
                 let total_ms = start.elapsed().as_millis() as u64;
@@ -510,6 +512,57 @@ fn map_adapter_error(err: AdapterError, agent: Option<AgentId>) -> SandboxError
     }
 }
 
+fn normalize_payload_for_agent(agent: AgentId, payload: Value) -> Value {
+    if agent != AgentId::Pi {
+        return payload;
+    }
+
+    normalize_pi_payload(payload)
+}
+
+fn normalize_pi_payload(mut payload: Value) -> Value {
+    let method = payload
+        .get("method")
+        .and_then(Value::as_str)
+        .unwrap_or_default();
+
+    match method {
+        "initialize" => {
+            if let Some(protocol) = payload.pointer_mut("/params/protocolVersion") {
+                if let Some(raw) = protocol.as_str() {
+                    if let Some(number) = parse_json_number(raw) {
+                        *protocol = Value::Number(number);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        "session/new" => {
+            if let Some(params) = payload.get_mut("params").and_then(Value::as_object_mut) {
+                params
+                    .entry("mcpServers".to_string())
+                    .or_insert_with(|| Value::Array(Vec::new()));
+            }
+        }
+        _ => {}
+    }
+
+    payload
+}
+
+fn parse_json_number(raw: &str) -> Option<Number> {
+    let trimmed = raw.trim();
+
+    if let Ok(unsigned) = trimmed.parse::<u64>() {
+        return Some(Number::from(unsigned));
+    }
+
+    if let Ok(signed) = trimmed.parse::<i64>() {
+        return Some(Number::from(signed));
+    }
+
+    trimmed.parse::<f64>().ok().and_then(Number::from_f64)
+}
+
 /// Inspect JSON-RPC error responses from agent processes and add helpful hints
 /// when we can infer the root cause from a known error pattern.
 fn annotate_agent_error(agent: AgentId, mut value: Value) -> Value {
diff --git a/server/packages/sandbox-agent/tests/v1_api/acp_transport.rs b/server/packages/sandbox-agent/tests/v1_api/acp_transport.rs
index 46b0198..7b1c6cd 100644
--- a/server/packages/sandbox-agent/tests/v1_api/acp_transport.rs
+++ b/server/packages/sandbox-agent/tests/v1_api/acp_transport.rs
@@ -33,6 +33,44 @@ done
     write_executable(path, &script);
 }
 
+fn write_strict_pi_agent_process(path: &Path) {
+    let script = r#"#!/usr/bin/env sh
+if [ "${1:-}" = "--help" ] || [ "${1:-}" = "--version" ] || [ "${1:-}" = "version" ] || [ "${1:-}" = "-V" ]; then
+  echo "pi-agent-process 0.0.1"
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+while IFS= read -r line; do
+  method=$(printf '%s\n' "$line" | sed -n 's/.*"method"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*"\([^"]*\)".*/\1/p')
+  id=$(printf '%s\n' "$line" | sed -n 's/.*"id"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*\([^,}]*\).*/\1/p')
+
+  if [ "$method" = "initialize" ] && [ -n "$id" ]; then
+    if printf '%s\n' "$line" | grep -Eq '"protocolVersion"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*"'; then
+      printf '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":%s,"error":{"code":-32603,"message":"Internal error","data":[{"expected":"number","code":"invalid_type","path":["protocolVersion"],"message":"Invalid input: expected number, received string"}]}}\n' "$id"
+    else
+      printf '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":%s,"result":{"ok":true,"echoedMethod":"initialize"}}\n' "$id"
+    fi
+    continue
+  fi
+
+  if [ "$method" = "session/new" ] && [ -n "$id" ]; then
+    if printf '%s\n' "$line" | grep -Eq '"mcpServers"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*\['; then
+      printf '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":%s,"result":{"sessionId":"pi-session","echoedMethod":"session/new"}}\n' "$id"
+    else
+      printf '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":%s,"error":{"code":-32603,"message":"Internal error","data":[{"expected":"array","code":"invalid_type","path":["mcpServers"],"message":"Invalid input: expected array, received undefined"}]}}\n' "$id"
+    fi
+    continue
+  fi
+
+  if [ -n "$method" ] && [ -n "$id" ]; then
+    printf '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":%s,"result":{"ok":true,"echoedMethod":"%s"}}\n' "$id" "$method"
+  fi
+done
+"#;
+
+    write_executable(path, script);
+}
+
 fn setup_stub_artifacts(install_dir: &Path, agent: &str) {
     let native = install_dir.join(agent);
     write_stub_native(&native, agent);
@@ -47,6 +85,17 @@ fn setup_stub_artifacts(install_dir: &Path, agent: &str) {
     write_stub_agent_process(&launcher, agent);
 }
 
+fn setup_strict_pi_agent_process_only(install_dir: &Path) {
+    let agent_processes = install_dir.join("agent_processes");
+    fs::create_dir_all(&agent_processes).expect("create agent processes dir");
+    let launcher = if cfg!(windows) {
+        agent_processes.join("pi-acp.cmd")
+    } else {
+        agent_processes.join("pi-acp")
+    };
+    write_strict_pi_agent_process(&launcher);
+}
+
 #[tokio::test]
 async fn acp_bootstrap_requires_agent_query() {
     let test_app = TestApp::new(AuthConfig::disabled());
@@ -115,6 +164,44 @@ async fn acp_round_trip_and_replay() {
     assert!(second_event_id > first_event_id);
 }
 
+#[cfg(unix)]
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn pi_initialize_and_session_new_are_normalized() {
+    let test_app = TestApp::with_setup(AuthConfig::disabled(), |install_dir| {
+        setup_strict_pi_agent_process_only(install_dir);
+    });
+
+    let (status, _, body) = send_request(
+        &test_app.app,
+        Method::POST,
+        "/v1/acp/server-pi?agent=pi",
+        Some(initialize_payload()),
+        &[],
+    )
+    .await;
+    assert_eq!(status, StatusCode::OK);
+    assert_eq!(parse_json(&body)["result"]["echoedMethod"], "initialize");
+
+    let session_new = json!({
+        "jsonrpc": "2.0",
+        "id": 2,
+        "method": "session/new",
+        "params": {
+            "cwd": "/tmp"
+        }
+    });
+    let (status, _, body) = send_request(
+        &test_app.app,
+        Method::POST,
+        "/v1/acp/server-pi",
+        Some(session_new),
+        &[],
+    )
+    .await;
+    assert_eq!(status, StatusCode::OK);
+    assert_eq!(parse_json(&body)["result"]["echoedMethod"], "session/new");
+}
+
 #[cfg(unix)]
 #[tokio::test]
 async fn acp_agent_mismatch_returns_conflict() {