diff --git a/src/main.ts b/src/main.ts
index 4669621..d4d2b10 100644
--- a/src/main.ts
+++ b/src/main.ts
@@ -518,7 +518,11 @@ export default function () {
       } catch (pe) {
         emit('PROBE_RESULT', { msg: 'example.com UNREACHABLE · ' + (pe != null ? (typeof pe === 'string' ? pe : JSON.stringify(pe)) : 'unknown') })
       }
-      const base = payload.baseUrl.replace(/\/+$/, '')
+      const base = String(payload.baseUrl == null ? '' : payload.baseUrl)
+        .replace(/`/g, '')            // drop stray markdown backticks
+        .replace(/^@url:\s*/i, '')    // drop '@url:' annotation if pasted from chat
+        .trim()
+        .replace(/\/+$/, '')          // drop trailing slashes
       const res = await fetch(base + '/models', {
         headers: { Authorization: 'Bearer ' + payload.apiKey }
       })