diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 56ad563..c957e07 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 - Fixed multi-workspace desktop/API sync scoping, fail-closed workspace authentication, workspace-qualified purges, and explicit watch workspace selection. Thanks @zm2231.
 - Prevented unchanged desktop refreshes from duplicating message events and added preview-first retained-history compaction with `purge --keep-message-events`. Thanks @barbieri.
 - Normalized relative runtime paths to absolute paths so commands can open databases created with `init --db <relative-path>`.
+- Treat nullable optional message metadata as empty when reading historical archives.
 
 ### Maintenance
 
diff --git a/internal/store/store.go b/internal/store/store.go
index 4a84f2d..cb12087 100644
--- a/internal/store/store.go
+++ b/internal/store/store.go
@@ -1372,9 +1372,10 @@ func (s *Store) searchAuto(ctx context.Context, workspaceID string, query string
 
 func (s *Store) searchFTS(ctx context.Context, workspaceID string, query string, limit int) ([]MessageRow, error) {
 	sqlQuery := `
-select m.workspace_id, coalesce(w.name, ''), m.channel_id, coalesce(c.name, ''), m.ts, m.user_id,
+select m.workspace_id, coalesce(w.name, ''), m.channel_id, coalesce(c.name, ''), m.ts, coalesce(m.user_id, ''),
        coalesce(nullif(u.display_name, ''), nullif(u.real_name, ''), nullif(u.name, ''), ''),
-       m.text, m.normalized_text, m.thread_ts, m.reply_count, m.latest_reply, m.subtype, m.source_name
+       m.text, m.normalized_text, coalesce(m.thread_ts, ''), m.reply_count,
+       coalesce(m.latest_reply, ''), coalesce(m.subtype, ''), m.source_name
 from message_fts f
 join messages m on f.message_key = m.channel_id || '|' || m.ts
 left join workspaces w on w.id = m.workspace_id
@@ -1400,9 +1401,10 @@ limit ?
 func (s *Store) searchLike(ctx context.Context, workspaceID string, query string, limit int) ([]MessageRow, error) {
 	pattern := "%" + escapeLike(strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(query))) + "%"
 	sqlQuery := `
-select m.workspace_id, coalesce(w.name, ''), m.channel_id, coalesce(c.name, ''), m.ts, m.user_id,
+select m.workspace_id, coalesce(w.name, ''), m.channel_id, coalesce(c.name, ''), m.ts, coalesce(m.user_id, ''),
        coalesce(nullif(u.display_name, ''), nullif(u.real_name, ''), nullif(u.name, ''), ''),
-       m.text, m.normalized_text, m.thread_ts, m.reply_count, m.latest_reply, m.subtype, m.source_name
+       m.text, m.normalized_text, coalesce(m.thread_ts, ''), m.reply_count,
+       coalesce(m.latest_reply, ''), coalesce(m.subtype, ''), m.source_name
 from messages m
 left join workspaces w on w.id = m.workspace_id
 left join channels c on c.id = m.channel_id
@@ -1471,9 +1473,10 @@ func escapeLike(value string) string {
 
 func (s *Store) Messages(ctx context.Context, workspaceID string, channelID string, userID string, limit int) ([]MessageRow, error) {
 	query := `
-select m.workspace_id, coalesce(w.name, ''), m.channel_id, coalesce(c.name, ''), m.ts, m.user_id,
+select m.workspace_id, coalesce(w.name, ''), m.channel_id, coalesce(c.name, ''), m.ts, coalesce(m.user_id, ''),
        coalesce(nullif(u.display_name, ''), nullif(u.real_name, ''), nullif(u.name, ''), ''),
-       m.text, m.normalized_text, m.thread_ts, m.reply_count, m.latest_reply, m.subtype, m.source_name
+       m.text, m.normalized_text, coalesce(m.thread_ts, ''), m.reply_count,
+       coalesce(m.latest_reply, ''), coalesce(m.subtype, ''), m.source_name
 from messages m
 left join workspaces w on w.id = m.workspace_id
 left join channels c on c.id = m.channel_id
@@ -1557,9 +1560,10 @@ func (s *Store) hydrateThreadContext(ctx context.Context, rows []MessageRow, lim
 		contextLimit = 2000
 	}
 	query := `
-select m.workspace_id, coalesce(w.name, ''), m.channel_id, coalesce(c.name, ''), m.ts, m.user_id,
+select m.workspace_id, coalesce(w.name, ''), m.channel_id, coalesce(c.name, ''), m.ts, coalesce(m.user_id, ''),
        coalesce(nullif(u.display_name, ''), nullif(u.real_name, ''), nullif(u.name, ''), ''),
-       m.text, m.normalized_text, m.thread_ts, m.reply_count, m.latest_reply, m.subtype, m.source_name
+       m.text, m.normalized_text, coalesce(m.thread_ts, ''), m.reply_count,
+       coalesce(m.latest_reply, ''), coalesce(m.subtype, ''), m.source_name
 from messages m
 left join workspaces w on w.id = m.workspace_id
 left join channels c on c.id = m.channel_id
diff --git a/internal/store/store_test.go b/internal/store/store_test.go
index 4dc5d5a..90d5024 100644
--- a/internal/store/store_test.go
+++ b/internal/store/store_test.go
@@ -52,6 +52,52 @@ func TestStoreRoundTrip(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, 1, status.Messages)
 }
 
+func TestMessageReadsHandleNullableOptionalFields(t *testing.T) {
+	dbPath := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "test.db")
+	s, err := Open(dbPath)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer func() { require.NoError(t, s.Close()) }()
+
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	now := time.Now().UTC()
+	require.NoError(t, s.UpsertWorkspace(ctx, Workspace{ID: "T1", Name: "team", RawJSON: "{}", UpdatedAt: now}))
+	require.NoError(t, s.UpsertChannel(ctx, Channel{ID: "C1", WorkspaceID: "T1", Name: "eng", Kind: "public_channel", RawJSON: "{}", UpdatedAt: now}))
+	require.NoError(t, s.UpsertMessage(ctx, Message{
+		ChannelID:      "C1",
+		TS:             "123.45",
+		WorkspaceID:    "T1",
+		Text:           "nullable optionals",
+		NormalizedText: "nullable optionals",
+		SourceRank:     1,
+		SourceName:     "api-user",
+		RawJSON:        "{}",
+		UpdatedAt:      now,
+	}, nil))
+	_, err = s.DB().ExecContext(ctx, `
+update messages
+set user_id = null, thread_ts = null, latest_reply = null, subtype = null
+where channel_id = 'C1' and ts = '123.45'
+`)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	assertEmptyOptionals := func(t *testing.T, rows []MessageRow, err error) {
+		t.Helper()
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Len(t, rows, 1)
+		require.Empty(t, rows[0].UserID)
+		require.Empty(t, rows[0].ThreadTS)
+		require.Empty(t, rows[0].LatestReply)
+		require.Empty(t, rows[0].Subtype)
+	}
+
+	rows, err := s.Search(ctx, "", "nullable", 10)
+	assertEmptyOptionals(t, rows, err)
+	rows, err = s.searchLike(ctx, "", "optionals", 10)
+	assertEmptyOptionals(t, rows, err)
+	rows, err = s.Messages(ctx, "T1", "C1", "", 10)
+	assertEmptyOptionals(t, rows, err)
+}
+
 func TestSearchMessagesAutoEscapesAndFallsBack(t *testing.T) {
 	dbPath := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "test.db")
 	s, err := Open(dbPath)