diff --git a/extensions/googlechat/src/channel.ts b/extensions/googlechat/src/channel.ts
index 333f5c74ac5..c7527652f55 100644
--- a/extensions/googlechat/src/channel.ts
+++ b/extensions/googlechat/src/channel.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import {
   deleteAccountFromConfigSection,
   formatPairingApproveHint,
   getChatChannelMeta,
+  listDirectoryGroupEntriesFromMapKeys,
+  listDirectoryUserEntriesFromAllowFrom,
   migrateBaseNameToDefaultAccount,
   missingTargetError,
   normalizeAccountId,
@@ -243,34 +245,23 @@ export const googlechatPlugin: ChannelPlugin<ResolvedGoogleChatAccount> = {
         cfg: cfg,
         accountId,
       });
-      const q = query?.trim().toLowerCase() || "";
-      const allowFrom = account.config.dm?.allowFrom ?? [];
-      const peers = Array.from(
-        new Set(
-          allowFrom
-            .map((entry) => String(entry).trim())
-            .filter((entry) => Boolean(entry) && entry !== "*")
-            .map((entry) => normalizeGoogleChatTarget(entry) ?? entry),
-        ),
-      )
-        .filter((id) => (q ? id.toLowerCase().includes(q) : true))
-        .slice(0, limit && limit > 0 ? limit : undefined)
-        .map((id) => ({ kind: "user", id }) as const);
-      return peers;
+      return listDirectoryUserEntriesFromAllowFrom({
+        allowFrom: account.config.dm?.allowFrom,
+        query,
+        limit,
+        normalizeId: (entry) => normalizeGoogleChatTarget(entry) ?? entry,
+      });
     },
     listGroups: async ({ cfg, accountId, query, limit }) => {
       const account = resolveGoogleChatAccount({
         cfg: cfg,
         accountId,
       });
-      const groups = account.config.groups ?? {};
-      const q = query?.trim().toLowerCase() || "";
-      const entries = Object.keys(groups)
-        .filter((key) => key && key !== "*")
-        .filter((key) => (q ? key.toLowerCase().includes(q) : true))
-        .slice(0, limit && limit > 0 ? limit : undefined)
-        .map((id) => ({ kind: "group", id }) as const);
-      return entries;
+      return listDirectoryGroupEntriesFromMapKeys({
+        groups: account.config.groups,
+        query,
+        limit,
+      });
     },
   },
   resolver: {
diff --git a/extensions/zalo/src/channel.ts b/extensions/zalo/src/channel.ts
index 54dce454693..9de72910ab7 100644
--- a/extensions/zalo/src/channel.ts
+++ b/extensions/zalo/src/channel.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import {
   formatAllowFromLowercase,
   formatPairingApproveHint,
   migrateBaseNameToDefaultAccount,
+  listDirectoryUserEntriesFromAllowFrom,
   normalizeAccountId,
   isNumericTargetId,
   PAIRING_APPROVED_MESSAGE,
@@ -196,19 +197,12 @@ export const zaloPlugin: ChannelPlugin<ResolvedZaloAccount> = {
     self: async () => null,
     listPeers: async ({ cfg, accountId, query, limit }) => {
       const account = resolveZaloAccount({ cfg: cfg, accountId });
-      const q = query?.trim().toLowerCase() || "";
-      const peers = Array.from(
-        new Set(
-          (account.config.allowFrom ?? [])
-            .map((entry) => String(entry).trim())
-            .filter((entry) => Boolean(entry) && entry !== "*")
-            .map((entry) => entry.replace(/^(zalo|zl):/i, "")),
-        ),
-      )
-        .filter((id) => (q ? id.toLowerCase().includes(q) : true))
-        .slice(0, limit && limit > 0 ? limit : undefined)
-        .map((id) => ({ kind: "user", id }) as const);
-      return peers;
+      return listDirectoryUserEntriesFromAllowFrom({
+        allowFrom: account.config.allowFrom,
+        query,
+        limit,
+        normalizeId: (entry) => entry.replace(/^(zalo|zl):/i, ""),
+      });
     },
     listGroups: async () => [],
   },
diff --git a/src/channels/plugins/directory-config-helpers.test.ts b/src/channels/plugins/directory-config-helpers.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c4f5370cc4a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/channels/plugins/directory-config-helpers.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import {
+  listDirectoryGroupEntriesFromMapKeys,
+  listDirectoryUserEntriesFromAllowFrom,
+} from "./directory-config-helpers.js";
+
+describe("listDirectoryUserEntriesFromAllowFrom", () => {
+  it("normalizes, deduplicates, filters, and limits user ids", () => {
+    const entries = listDirectoryUserEntriesFromAllowFrom({
+      allowFrom: ["", "*", "  user:Alice ", "user:alice", "user:Bob", "user:Carla"],
+      normalizeId: (entry) => entry.replace(/^user:/i, "").toLowerCase(),
+      query: "a",
+      limit: 2,
+    });
+
+    expect(entries).toEqual([
+      { kind: "user", id: "alice" },
+      { kind: "user", id: "carla" },
+    ]);
+  });
+});
+
+describe("listDirectoryGroupEntriesFromMapKeys", () => {
+  it("extracts normalized group ids from map keys", () => {
+    const entries = listDirectoryGroupEntriesFromMapKeys({
+      groups: {
+        "*": {},
+        " Space/A ": {},
+        "space/b": {},
+      },
+      normalizeId: (entry) => entry.toLowerCase().replace(/\s+/g, ""),
+    });
+
+    expect(entries).toEqual([
+      { kind: "group", id: "space/a" },
+      { kind: "group", id: "space/b" },
+    ]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/channels/plugins/directory-config-helpers.ts b/src/channels/plugins/directory-config-helpers.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b431bc14a8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/channels/plugins/directory-config-helpers.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+import type { ChannelDirectoryEntry } from "./types.js";
+
+function resolveDirectoryQuery(query?: string | null): string {
+  return query?.trim().toLowerCase() || "";
+}
+
+function resolveDirectoryLimit(limit?: number | null): number | undefined {
+  return typeof limit === "number" && limit > 0 ? limit : undefined;
+}
+
+function applyDirectoryQueryAndLimit(
+  ids: string[],
+  params: { query?: string | null; limit?: number | null },
+): string[] {
+  const q = resolveDirectoryQuery(params.query);
+  const limit = resolveDirectoryLimit(params.limit);
+  const filtered = ids.filter((id) => (q ? id.toLowerCase().includes(q) : true));
+  return typeof limit === "number" ? filtered.slice(0, limit) : filtered;
+}
+
+function toDirectoryEntries(kind: "user" | "group", ids: string[]): ChannelDirectoryEntry[] {
+  return ids.map((id) => ({ kind, id }) as const);
+}
+
+export function listDirectoryUserEntriesFromAllowFrom(params: {
+  allowFrom?: readonly unknown[];
+  query?: string | null;
+  limit?: number | null;
+  normalizeId?: (entry: string) => string | null | undefined;
+}): ChannelDirectoryEntry[] {
+  const ids = Array.from(
+    new Set(
+      (params.allowFrom ?? [])
+        .map((entry) => String(entry).trim())
+        .filter((entry) => Boolean(entry) && entry !== "*")
+        .map((entry) => {
+          const normalized = params.normalizeId ? params.normalizeId(entry) : entry;
+          return typeof normalized === "string" ? normalized.trim() : "";
+        })
+        .filter(Boolean),
+    ),
+  );
+  return toDirectoryEntries("user", applyDirectoryQueryAndLimit(ids, params));
+}
+
+export function listDirectoryGroupEntriesFromMapKeys(params: {
+  groups?: Record<string, unknown>;
+  query?: string | null;
+  limit?: number | null;
+  normalizeId?: (entry: string) => string | null | undefined;
+}): ChannelDirectoryEntry[] {
+  const ids = Array.from(
+    new Set(
+      Object.keys(params.groups ?? {})
+        .map((entry) => entry.trim())
+        .filter((entry) => Boolean(entry) && entry !== "*")
+        .map((entry) => {
+          const normalized = params.normalizeId ? params.normalizeId(entry) : entry;
+          return typeof normalized === "string" ? normalized.trim() : "";
+        })
+        .filter(Boolean),
+    ),
+  );
+  return toDirectoryEntries("group", applyDirectoryQueryAndLimit(ids, params));
+}
diff --git a/src/plugin-sdk/googlechat.ts b/src/plugin-sdk/googlechat.ts
index 0b84d803d5f..59bc1849119 100644
--- a/src/plugin-sdk/googlechat.ts
+++ b/src/plugin-sdk/googlechat.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ export {
   deleteAccountFromConfigSection,
   setAccountEnabledInConfigSection,
 } from "../channels/plugins/config-helpers.js";
+export {
+  listDirectoryGroupEntriesFromMapKeys,
+  listDirectoryUserEntriesFromAllowFrom,
+} from "../channels/plugins/directory-config-helpers.js";
 export { buildChannelConfigSchema } from "../channels/plugins/config-schema.js";
 export { resolveGoogleChatGroupRequireMention } from "../channels/plugins/group-mentions.js";
 export { formatPairingApproveHint } from "../channels/plugins/helpers.js";
diff --git a/src/plugin-sdk/zalo.ts b/src/plugin-sdk/zalo.ts
index 011b95e43cb..5732a4e138c 100644
--- a/src/plugin-sdk/zalo.ts
+++ b/src/plugin-sdk/zalo.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ export {
   deleteAccountFromConfigSection,
   setAccountEnabledInConfigSection,
 } from "../channels/plugins/config-helpers.js";
+export { listDirectoryUserEntriesFromAllowFrom } from "../channels/plugins/directory-config-helpers.js";
 export { buildChannelConfigSchema } from "../channels/plugins/config-schema.js";
 export { formatPairingApproveHint } from "../channels/plugins/helpers.js";
 export type {