diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 2ee11972b..0766d9357 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -295,6 +295,8 @@ if log.Enabled() {
 import "github.com/github/gh-aw-mcpg/internal/logger"
 
 // Log operational events (written to mcp-gateway.log)
+// Un-suffixed Log* functions target the unified file logger sink.
+// Use Log*ToMarkdown or Log*ToServer when you need those explicit destinations.
 logger.LogInfo("category", "Operation completed successfully")
 logger.LogWarn("category", "Potential issue detected: %s", issue)
 logger.LogError("category", "Operation failed: %v", err)
diff --git a/internal/config/config_env.go b/internal/config/config_env.go
index f4a50a488..e92edd7c5 100644
--- a/internal/config/config_env.go
+++ b/internal/config/config_env.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package config
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"strconv"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/github/gh-aw-mcpg/internal/config/rules"
@@ -13,16 +12,15 @@ import (
 const ToolTimeoutMin = 10
 
 func parseAndValidateIntEnv(envKey string, validate func(int) *rules.ValidationError) (int, bool, error) {
-	raw := envutil.GetEnvString(envKey, "")
-	if raw == "" {
+	value, present, err := envutil.GetEnvIntRaw(envKey)
+	if !present {
 		logConfig.Printf("%s not set in environment", envKey)
 		return 0, false, nil
 	}
 
-	value, err := strconv.Atoi(raw)
 	if err != nil {
-		logConfig.Printf("%s=%q is not a valid integer: %v", envKey, raw, err)
-		return 0, false, fmt.Errorf("invalid %s value: %s", envKey, raw)
+		logConfig.Printf("%s is not a valid integer: %v", envKey, err)
+		return 0, false, fmt.Errorf("invalid %s value", envKey)
 	}
 
 	if validationErr := validate(value); validationErr != nil {
diff --git a/internal/envutil/envutil.go b/internal/envutil/envutil.go
index 9a85dedd1..b86beb6cd 100644
--- a/internal/envutil/envutil.go
+++ b/internal/envutil/envutil.go
@@ -28,17 +28,36 @@ func GetEnvString(envKey, defaultValue string) string {
 	return defaultValue
 }
 
+// GetEnvIntRaw returns the raw integer value of envKey without applying defaults
+// or positivity constraints.
+// It returns (0, false, nil) when envKey is unset or empty.
+// It returns (0, true, err) when envKey is set but cannot be parsed as an integer.
+func GetEnvIntRaw(envKey string) (int, bool, error) {
+	envValue := os.Getenv(envKey)
+	if envValue == "" {
+		return 0, false, nil
+	}
+
+	value, err := strconv.Atoi(envValue)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, true, err
+	}
+	return value, true, nil
+}
+
 // GetEnvInt returns the integer value of the environment variable specified by envKey.
 // If the environment variable is not set, is empty, cannot be parsed as an integer,
 // or is not positive (> 0), it returns the defaultValue.
 // This function validates that the value is a positive integer.
 func GetEnvInt(envKey string, defaultValue int) int {
-	if envValue := os.Getenv(envKey); envValue != "" {
-		if value, err := strconv.Atoi(envValue); err == nil && value > 0 {
-			return value
-		}
-		logEnvUtil.Printf("GetEnvInt: %s=%q is not a valid positive integer, using default=%d", envKey, sanitize.TruncateSecret(envValue), defaultValue)
+	value, ok, err := GetEnvIntRaw(envKey)
+	if !ok {
+		return defaultValue
+	}
+	if err == nil && value > 0 {
+		return value
 	}
+	logEnvUtil.Printf("GetEnvInt: %s=%q is not a valid positive integer, using default=%d", envKey, sanitize.TruncateSecret(os.Getenv(envKey)), defaultValue)
 	return defaultValue
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/envutil/envutil_test.go b/internal/envutil/envutil_test.go
index 4131eb529..5e4cbd7dd 100644
--- a/internal/envutil/envutil_test.go
+++ b/internal/envutil/envutil_test.go
@@ -289,6 +289,78 @@ func TestGetEnvInt(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestGetEnvIntRaw(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name      string
+		envKey    string
+		envValue  string
+		setEnv    bool
+		wantValue int
+		wantOK    bool
+		wantErr   bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name:      "valid integer",
+			envKey:    "TEST_INT_RAW_VAR",
+			envValue:  "42",
+			setEnv:    true,
+			wantValue: 42,
+			wantOK:    true,
+			wantErr:   false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "not set",
+			envKey:  "TEST_INT_RAW_VAR",
+			setEnv:  false,
+			wantOK:  false,
+			wantErr: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "empty",
+			envKey:   "TEST_INT_RAW_VAR",
+			envValue: "",
+			setEnv:   true,
+			wantOK:   false,
+			wantErr:  false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "invalid integer",
+			envKey:   "TEST_INT_RAW_VAR",
+			envValue: "not-a-number",
+			setEnv:   true,
+			wantOK:   true,
+			wantErr:  true,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if tt.setEnv {
+				t.Setenv(tt.envKey, tt.envValue)
+			} else {
+				previousValue, hadPreviousValue := os.LookupEnv(tt.envKey)
+				t.Cleanup(func() {
+					if hadPreviousValue {
+						_ = os.Setenv(tt.envKey, previousValue)
+					} else {
+						_ = os.Unsetenv(tt.envKey)
+					}
+				})
+				_ = os.Unsetenv(tt.envKey)
+			}
+
+			got, ok, err := GetEnvIntRaw(tt.envKey)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.wantValue, got)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.wantOK, ok)
+			if tt.wantErr {
+				assert.Error(t, err)
+			} else {
+				assert.NoError(t, err)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestGetEnvBool(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		name         string
diff --git a/internal/logger/file_logger.go b/internal/logger/file_logger.go
index 2ddc6d01e..9bcfff06b 100644
--- a/internal/logger/file_logger.go
+++ b/internal/logger/file_logger.go
@@ -131,22 +131,30 @@ var (
 	logDebug = makeLevelLogger(logWithLevel, LogLevelDebug)
 )
 
-// LogInfo logs an informational message.
+// LogInfo logs an informational message to the unified file logger sink.
+// The underlying filename depends on logger initialization. For
+// destination-specific logging use LogInfoToMarkdown or LogInfoToServer.
 func LogInfo(category, format string, args ...interface{}) {
 	logInfo(category, format, args...)
 }
 
-// LogWarn logs a warning message.
+// LogWarn logs a warning message to the unified file logger sink.
+// The underlying filename depends on logger initialization. For
+// destination-specific logging use LogWarnToMarkdown or LogWarnToServer.
 func LogWarn(category, format string, args ...interface{}) {
 	logWarn(category, format, args...)
 }
 
-// LogError logs an error message.
+// LogError logs an error message to the unified file logger sink.
+// The underlying filename depends on logger initialization. For
+// destination-specific logging use LogErrorToMarkdown or LogErrorToServer.
 func LogError(category, format string, args ...interface{}) {
 	logError(category, format, args...)
 }
 
-// LogDebug logs a debug message.
+// LogDebug logs a debug message to the unified file logger sink.
+// The underlying filename depends on logger initialization. For
+// destination-specific logging use LogDebugToMarkdown or LogDebugToServer.
 func LogDebug(category, format string, args ...interface{}) {
 	logDebug(category, format, args...)
 }
diff --git a/internal/server/difc_log.go b/internal/server/difc_log.go
index 697c11ec9..bb3150838 100644
--- a/internal/server/difc_log.go
+++ b/internal/server/difc_log.go
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ func buildFilteredItemLogEntry(serverID, toolName string, detail difc.FilteredIt
 
 // getFilteredItemStringField returns the first non-empty string value from the map
 // matching any of the given field names.
+// NOTE: This helper is intentionally generic; if similar untyped JSON map extraction
+// patterns appear elsewhere, consider moving it to a shared utility package.
 func getFilteredItemStringField(m map[string]interface{}, fields ...string) string {
 	for _, f := range fields {
 		if v, ok := m[f]; ok {