diff --git a/tests/tools/test_send_message_tool.py b/tests/tools/test_send_message_tool.py
index 3a6ad11fd..e1b6a21c6 100644
--- a/tests/tools/test_send_message_tool.py
+++ b/tests/tools/test_send_message_tool.py
@@ -1220,6 +1220,42 @@ class TestParseTargetRefSlack:
         assert _parse_target_ref("telegram", "C0B0QV5434G")[2] is False
 
 
+class TestParseTargetRefEmail:
+    """_parse_target_ref recognizes email addresses as explicit for the email platform."""
+
+    def test_standard_email_is_explicit(self):
+        chat_id, thread_id, is_explicit = _parse_target_ref("email", "user@example.com")
+        assert chat_id == "user@example.com"
+        assert thread_id is None
+        assert is_explicit is True
+
+    def test_email_with_dots_in_local_part(self):
+        chat_id, _, is_explicit = _parse_target_ref("email", "first.last@example.co.uk")
+        assert chat_id == "first.last@example.co.uk"
+        assert is_explicit is True
+
+    def test_email_with_plus_tag(self):
+        chat_id, _, is_explicit = _parse_target_ref("email", "user+tag@gmail.com")
+        assert chat_id == "user+tag@gmail.com"
+        assert is_explicit is True
+
+    def test_email_strips_whitespace(self):
+        chat_id, _, is_explicit = _parse_target_ref("email", "  user@example.com  ")
+        assert chat_id == "user@example.com"
+        assert is_explicit is True
+
+    def test_invalid_email_not_explicit(self):
+        assert _parse_target_ref("email", "not-an-email")[2] is False
+        assert _parse_target_ref("email", "@example.com")[2] is False
+        assert _parse_target_ref("email", "user@")[2] is False
+        assert _parse_target_ref("email", "user@.com")[2] is False
+
+    def test_email_not_explicit_for_other_platforms(self):
+        assert _parse_target_ref("telegram", "user@example.com")[2] is False
+        assert _parse_target_ref("discord", "user@example.com")[2] is False
+        assert _parse_target_ref("slack", "user@example.com")[2] is False
+
+
 class TestSendDiscordThreadId:
     """_send_discord uses thread_id when provided."""
 
diff --git a/tools/send_message_tool.py b/tools/send_message_tool.py
index 9ea0b9af4..13689dc1d 100644
--- a/tools/send_message_tool.py
+++ b/tools/send_message_tool.py
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@ _NUMERIC_TOPIC_RE = _TELEGRAM_TOPIC_TARGET_RE
 # downstream adapters (signal, etc.) expect.
 _PHONE_PLATFORMS = frozenset({"signal", "sms", "whatsapp"})
 _E164_TARGET_RE = re.compile(r"^\s*\+(\d{7,15})\s*$")
+# Email addresses — a valid email like "user@domain.com" should be treated as
+# an explicit target for the email platform, not fall through to channel-name
+# resolution which has no way to resolve a raw address.
+_EMAIL_TARGET_RE = re.compile(r"^\s*[A-Za-z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,}\s*$")
 _IMAGE_EXTS = {".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".webp", ".gif"}
 _VIDEO_EXTS = {".mp4", ".mov", ".avi", ".mkv", ".3gp"}
 _AUDIO_EXTS = {".ogg", ".opus", ".mp3", ".wav", ".m4a", ".flac"}
@@ -383,6 +387,10 @@ def _parse_target_ref(platform_name: str, target_ref: str):
         if target_ref.strip().isdigit():
             return f"group:{target_ref.strip()}", None, True
         return None, None, False
+    if platform_name == "email":
+        match = _EMAIL_TARGET_RE.fullmatch(target_ref)
+        if match:
+            return target_ref.strip(), None, True
     if platform_name in _PHONE_PLATFORMS:
         match = _E164_TARGET_RE.fullmatch(target_ref)
         if match: