diff --git a/scripts/whatsapp-bridge/bridge.js b/scripts/whatsapp-bridge/bridge.js
index 26489896e2..02d0b7215c 100644
--- a/scripts/whatsapp-bridge/bridge.js
+++ b/scripts/whatsapp-bridge/bridge.js
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ import {
   normalizeWhatsAppId,
   pollCreationMessageFromPayload,
   pollUpdateForAggregation,
+  timestampedLine,
 } from './bridge_helpers.js';
 
 // Parse CLI args
@@ -426,7 +427,7 @@ async function startSocket() {
       if (reason === DisconnectReason.loggedOut) {
         emitPairEvent({ event: 'error', error: 'logged_out', reason });
         if (!PAIR_JSON) {
-          console.log('❌ Logged out. Delete session and restart to re-authenticate.');
+          console.log(timestampedLine('❌ Logged out. Delete session and restart to re-authenticate.'));
         }
         process.exit(1);
       } else {
@@ -434,9 +435,9 @@ async function startSocket() {
         emitPairEvent({ event: 'disconnected', reason });
         if (!PAIR_JSON) {
           if (reason === 515) {
-            console.log('↻ WhatsApp requested restart (code 515). Reconnecting...');
+            console.log(timestampedLine('↻ WhatsApp requested restart (code 515). Reconnecting...'));
           } else {
-            console.log(`⚠️  Connection closed (reason: ${reason}). Reconnecting in 3s...`);
+            console.log(timestampedLine(`⚠️  Connection closed (reason: ${reason}). Reconnecting in 3s...`));
           }
         }
         scheduleReconnect(reason === 515 ? 1000 : 3000);
@@ -451,11 +452,11 @@ async function startSocket() {
         : null;
       emitPairEvent({ event: 'connected', user: connectedUser });
       if (!PAIR_JSON) {
-        console.log('✅ WhatsApp connected!');
+        console.log(timestampedLine('✅ WhatsApp connected!'));
       }
       if (PAIR_ONLY) {
         if (!PAIR_JSON) {
-          console.log('✅ Pairing complete. Credentials saved.');
+          console.log(timestampedLine('✅ Pairing complete. Credentials saved.'));
         }
         // Give Baileys a moment to flush creds, then exit cleanly
         setTimeout(() => process.exit(0), 2000);
@@ -499,7 +500,7 @@ async function startSocket() {
           });
         }
       } catch (err) {
-        console.warn('[bridge] failed to aggregate poll update:', err.message);
+        console.warn(timestampedLine(`[bridge] failed to aggregate poll update: ${err.message}`));
       }
       const selectedOptions = normalizePollUpdateOptions(aggregation, pollUpdates?.[0]);
       logPollUpdateDiagnostic({
@@ -700,7 +701,7 @@ async function startSocket() {
             });
           }
         } catch (err) {
-          console.warn('[bridge] failed to aggregate poll upsert:', err.message);
+          console.warn(timestampedLine(`[bridge] failed to aggregate poll upsert: ${err.message}`));
         }
         const selectedOptions = normalizePollUpdateOptions(aggregation, pollUpdates[0]);
         logPollUpdateDiagnostic({
@@ -948,7 +949,7 @@ app.post('/send-media', async (req, res) => {
               gifPlayback: true,
             };
           } catch (gifErr) {
-            console.warn('[bridge] gif conversion failed, sending as image/gif:', gifErr.message);
+            console.warn(timestampedLine(`[bridge] gif conversion failed, sending as image/gif: ${gifErr.message}`));
             msgPayload = mediaPayloadForFile({ buffer, filePath, mediaType: type, caption, fileName });
           } finally {
             try { if (tmpGifMp4 && existsSync(tmpGifMp4)) unlinkSync(tmpGifMp4); } catch (_) {}
@@ -980,7 +981,7 @@ app.post('/send-media', async (req, res) => {
             audioExt = 'ogg';
           } catch (convErr) {
             // ffmpeg not available or conversion failed — fall back to original format
-            console.warn('[bridge] ffmpeg conversion failed, sending as file attachment:', convErr.message);
+            console.warn(timestampedLine(`[bridge] ffmpeg conversion failed, sending as file attachment: ${convErr.message}`));
           } finally {
             try { if (tmpPath && existsSync(tmpPath)) unlinkSync(tmpPath); } catch (_) {}
           }
@@ -1088,7 +1089,7 @@ app.post('/read', async (req, res) => {
     await sock.readMessages(receiptKeys);
     return res.json({ success: true, marked: true });
   } catch (err) {
-    console.warn('[bridge] failed to send read receipt:', err.message);
+    console.warn(timestampedLine(`[bridge] failed to send read receipt: ${err.message}`));
     return res.status(500).json({ error: 'Failed to send read receipt' });
   }
 });
@@ -1149,8 +1150,8 @@ if (PAIR_ONLY) {
   });
 } else {
   app.listen(PORT, '127.0.0.1', () => {
-    console.log(`🌉 WhatsApp bridge listening on port ${PORT} (mode: ${WHATSAPP_MODE})`);
-    console.log(`📁 Session stored in: ${SESSION_DIR}`);
+    console.log(timestampedLine(`🌉 WhatsApp bridge listening on port ${PORT} (mode: ${WHATSAPP_MODE})`));
+    console.log(timestampedLine(`📁 Session stored in: ${SESSION_DIR}`));
     if (ALLOWED_USERS.size > 0) {
       console.log(`🔒 Allowed users: ${Array.from(ALLOWED_USERS).join(', ')}`);
     } else if (WHATSAPP_MODE === 'self-chat') {
diff --git a/scripts/whatsapp-bridge/bridge_helpers.js b/scripts/whatsapp-bridge/bridge_helpers.js
index 6769c734e5..100744c6f2 100644
--- a/scripts/whatsapp-bridge/bridge_helpers.js
+++ b/scripts/whatsapp-bridge/bridge_helpers.js
@@ -725,3 +725,19 @@ export function createVersionResolver(fetchVersionFn, {
     return cachedVersion;
   };
 }
+
+/**
+ * Prefix a human-facing bridge log line with an ISO-8601 UTC timestamp.
+ *
+ * Startup/connection-lifecycle console.log/console.warn lines carried no
+ * timestamp, and the platform adapter pipes the bridge's stdout/stderr
+ * verbatim into bridge.log (no timestamps are added downstream either) --
+ * only structured JSON events (pair events, allowlist rejections, #92683)
+ * were timestamped. During incident forensics this made bridge.log
+ * impossible to sequence on its own (issue #97021). Kept distinct from the
+ * JSON `ts: Date.now()` convention those structured events use since these
+ * are plain human-readable lines, not JSON payloads.
+ */
+export function timestampedLine(message) {
+  return `[${new Date().toISOString()}] ${message}`;
+}
diff --git a/scripts/whatsapp-bridge/bridge_helpers.timestamp.test.mjs b/scripts/whatsapp-bridge/bridge_helpers.timestamp.test.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2fe7670be0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/whatsapp-bridge/bridge_helpers.timestamp.test.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+/**
+ * Unit tests for timestampedLine, the ISO-8601-prefix helper for
+ * bridge.js's human-facing lifecycle log lines.
+ *
+ * Regression for issue #97021: startup/connection lifecycle console.log/
+ * console.warn lines (bridge listening, connected, logged out, reconnect,
+ * "[bridge] ..." warnings) carried no timestamp, and the platform adapter
+ * captures the bridge's stdout/stderr verbatim into bridge.log -- only
+ * structured JSON events (pair events, allowlist rejections, #92683) were
+ * timestamped, making bridge.log impossible to sequence on its own during
+ * incident forensics.
+ */
+
+import { strict as assert } from 'node:assert';
+
+import { timestampedLine } from './bridge_helpers.js';
+
+const ISO_8601_PREFIX_RE = /^\[\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}T\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}\.\d{3}Z\] /;
+
+// The prefix is a valid, parseable ISO-8601 UTC timestamp.
+{
+  const line = timestampedLine('✅ WhatsApp connected!');
+
+  assert.match(line, ISO_8601_PREFIX_RE);
+
+  const bracketed = line.slice(1, line.indexOf(']'));
+  assert.ok(!Number.isNaN(new Date(bracketed).getTime()));
+}
+
+// The original message text survives byte-for-byte after the prefix --
+// this is a display shim, not a message-mangling one.
+{
+  const message = '❌ Logged out. Delete session and restart to re-authenticate.';
+  const line = timestampedLine(message);
+
+  assert.ok(line.endsWith(message));
+}
+
+// A template-literal-interpolated message (matching the actual bridge.js
+// call sites, e.g. the reconnect/warn lines) is preserved intact too.
+{
+  const reason = 'stream error';
+  const message = `⚠️  Connection closed (reason: ${reason}). Reconnecting in 3s...`;
+  const line = timestampedLine(message);
+
+  assert.ok(line.includes('stream error'));
+  assert.ok(line.endsWith(message));
+}
+
+// Two calls a moment apart produce increasing (or equal, at ms resolution)
+// timestamps -- the prefix reflects the actual call time, not a cached or
+// module-load-time value, so a relaunch loop's individual lines remain
+// independently sequenceable.
+{
+  const first = timestampedLine('a');
+  await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 5));
+  const second = timestampedLine('b');
+
+  const firstTs = new Date(first.slice(1, first.indexOf(']'))).getTime();
+  const secondTs = new Date(second.slice(1, second.indexOf(']'))).getTime();
+
+  assert.ok(secondTs >= firstTs);
+}
+
+console.log('bridge_helpers.timestamp.test.mjs: all assertions passed');