diff --git a/packages/memory-service/src/entities/extraction.js b/packages/memory-service/src/entities/extraction.js
index 9a953ed..d6ce6dd 100644
--- a/packages/memory-service/src/entities/extraction.js
+++ b/packages/memory-service/src/entities/extraction.js
@@ -77,9 +77,12 @@ async function extractAndStoreEntities(userMessage, aiResponse, projectId=null)
 
         const data = await res.json();
         const raw = data.response?.trim() ?? '';
+        console.log('[entities] raw response:', raw.slice(0, 300));
 
-        // Strip markdown fences defensively — small models sometimes add them anyway
-        const clean = raw.replace(/^```(?:json)?\n?/, '').replace(/\n?```$/, '').trim();
+        // Extract just the JSON array — everything from [ to the last ]
+        const match = raw.match(/\[[\s\S]*\]/);
+        if (!match) throw new Error('No JSON array found in response');
+        const clean = match[0];
         const entities = JSON.parse(clean);
 
         if (!Array.isArray(entities)) throw new Error('Response was not a JSON array');