diff --git a/pkg/jsonutil/json.go b/pkg/jsonutil/json.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5b3397469f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/jsonutil/json.go
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+package jsonutil
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// MarshalCompactNoHTMLEscape marshals a value to compact JSON without HTML escaping.
+// It trims the trailing newline emitted by json.Encoder.
+func MarshalCompactNoHTMLEscape(v any) (string, error) {
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	encoder := json.NewEncoder(&buf)
+	encoder.SetEscapeHTML(false)
+	if err := encoder.Encode(v); err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	return strings.TrimSuffix(buf.String(), "\n"), nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/jsonutil/json_test.go b/pkg/jsonutil/json_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..54f225e798
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/jsonutil/json_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+//go:build !integration
+
+package jsonutil
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestMarshalCompactNoHTMLEscape(t *testing.T) {
+	input := map[string]string{
+		"expr": "${{ env.MCP_ENV == 'staging' && env.MCP_URL_STAGING || env.MCP_URL_PROD }}",
+	}
+
+	result, err := MarshalCompactNoHTMLEscape(input)
+	require.NoError(t, err, "marshal should succeed")
+
+	assert.Contains(t, result, "&&", "expected expression operators to be preserved")
+	assert.NotContains(t, result, "\\u0026", "expected '&' to not be HTML-escaped")
+	assert.NotContains(t, result, "\n", "expected compact JSON without trailing newline")
+}
diff --git a/pkg/parser/frontmatter_hash.go b/pkg/parser/frontmatter_hash.go
index af96c372f8..8bcdf62c4e 100644
--- a/pkg/parser/frontmatter_hash.go
+++ b/pkg/parser/frontmatter_hash.go
@@ -1,10 +1,8 @@
 package parser
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"crypto/sha256"
 	"encoding/hex"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
@@ -13,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/github/gh-aw/pkg/jsonutil"
 	"github.com/github/gh-aw/pkg/logger"
 	"github.com/github/gh-aw/pkg/typeutil"
 )
@@ -38,15 +37,7 @@ var DefaultFileReader FileReader = os.ReadFile
 // marshalJSONWithoutHTMLEscape marshals a value to JSON without HTML escaping
 // This matches JavaScript's JSON.stringify behavior
 func marshalJSONWithoutHTMLEscape(v any) (string, error) {
-	var buf bytes.Buffer
-	enc := json.NewEncoder(&buf)
-	enc.SetEscapeHTML(false)
-	if err := enc.Encode(v); err != nil {
-		return "", err
-	}
-	// Remove the trailing newline that Encoder adds
-	result := buf.String()
-	return strings.TrimSuffix(result, "\n"), nil
+	return jsonutil.MarshalCompactNoHTMLEscape(v)
 }
 
 // marshalSorted recursively marshals data with sorted keys
diff --git a/pkg/workflow/awf_config.go b/pkg/workflow/awf_config.go
index 834061795f..b51db5ce34 100644
--- a/pkg/workflow/awf_config.go
+++ b/pkg/workflow/awf_config.go
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ import (
 	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/github/gh-aw/pkg/constants"
+	"github.com/github/gh-aw/pkg/jsonutil"
 	"github.com/github/gh-aw/pkg/logger"
 	"github.com/santhosh-tekuri/jsonschema/v6"
 )
@@ -283,12 +284,12 @@ func BuildAWFConfigJSON(config AWFCommandConfig) (string, error) {
 		awfConfigLog.Printf("Container section: image_tag=%s", awfImageTag)
 	}
 
-	jsonBytes, err := json.Marshal(awfConfig)
+	jsonStr, err := jsonutil.MarshalCompactNoHTMLEscape(awfConfig)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to marshal AWF config to JSON: %w", err)
 	}
-	jsonStr := string(jsonBytes)
-	awfConfigLog.Printf("AWF config JSON generated: %d bytes", len(jsonBytes))
+
+	awfConfigLog.Printf("AWF config JSON generated: %d bytes", len(jsonStr))
 
 	if err := validateAWFConfigJSON(jsonStr); err != nil {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("generated AWF config failed schema validation: %w", err)
diff --git a/pkg/workflow/awf_config_test.go b/pkg/workflow/awf_config_test.go
index 8320208ec8..c27adb1572 100644
--- a/pkg/workflow/awf_config_test.go
+++ b/pkg/workflow/awf_config_test.go
@@ -195,6 +195,25 @@ func TestBuildAWFConfigJSON(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.NotContains(t, jsonStr, "\n", "JSON output should not contain newlines (must be compact)")
 		assert.NotContains(t, jsonStr, "    ", "JSON output should not contain indentation")
 	})
+
+	t.Run("github actions expressions preserve && operators in allowDomains", func(t *testing.T) {
+		config := AWFCommandConfig{
+			EngineName:     "copilot",
+			AllowedDomains: "${{ env.MCP_ENV == 'staging' && env.MCP_URL_STAGING || env.MCP_URL_PROD }}",
+			WorkflowData: &WorkflowData{
+				EngineConfig: &EngineConfig{ID: "copilot"},
+				NetworkPermissions: &NetworkPermissions{
+					Firewall: &FirewallConfig{Enabled: true},
+				},
+			},
+		}
+
+		jsonStr, err := BuildAWFConfigJSON(config)
+		require.NoError(t, err, "BuildAWFConfigJSON should not return an error")
+
+		assert.Contains(t, jsonStr, "&&", "JSON output should preserve && in GitHub Actions expressions")
+		assert.NotContains(t, jsonStr, "\\u0026", "JSON output should not HTML-escape '&' characters")
+	})
 }
 
 // TestBuildAWFConfigSchemaURL verifies that buildAWFConfigSchemaURL returns a release-pinned
@@ -416,6 +435,27 @@ func TestBuildAWFCommand_UsesConfigFile(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Contains(t, command, `"enabled":true`, "config JSON should have apiProxy enabled")
 }
 
+func TestBuildAWFCommand_PreservesGitHubExpressionOperatorsInConfigJSON(t *testing.T) {
+	config := AWFCommandConfig{
+		EngineName:     "copilot",
+		EngineCommand:  "copilot --prompt-file /tmp/prompt.txt",
+		LogFile:        "/tmp/gh-aw/agent-stdio.log",
+		AllowedDomains: "${{ env.MCP_ENV == 'staging' && env.MCP_URL_STAGING || env.MCP_URL_PROD }}",
+		WorkflowData: &WorkflowData{
+			EngineConfig: &EngineConfig{ID: "copilot"},
+			NetworkPermissions: &NetworkPermissions{
+				Firewall: &FirewallConfig{Enabled: true},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	command := BuildAWFCommand(config)
+
+	assert.Contains(t, command, "env.MCP_ENV == 'staging'", "expected full GitHub Actions expression to be preserved")
+	assert.Contains(t, command, "&&", "expected AWF config JSON in command to preserve &&")
+	assert.NotContains(t, command, "\\u0026", "expected AWF config JSON in command to not HTML-escape '&'")
+}
+
 // TestBuildAWFCommand_ConfigFileWithPathSetup verifies that the config file write command
 // is correctly integrated with the path setup section.
 func TestBuildAWFCommand_ConfigFileWithPathSetup(t *testing.T) {